At the joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha emphasized the significance of Azerbaijans backing for Ukraines territorial sovereignty, Azernews reports.

Sybiha stated that it is crucial for Ukraine that Azerbaijan continues to support its territorial integrity. He expressed deep appreciation for this ongoing support, noting that it is especially vital during such a challenging period in Ukraines history. Sybiha also personally thanked Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev for his unwavering commitment and assistance in this regard.

" It is important for Ukraine that Azerbaijan supports its territorial integrity, said Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha at a joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, said Ukraines Foreign Minister

At this dramatic moment in Ukrainian history, it is very important that Azerbaijan consistently supports Ukraine and our territorial integrity. We highly appreciate this, and I personally thanked Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev for this support, he added.
Australian pest controllers have warned of an increasing property threat as the weather cools.

Gnawed lead flashings was a sign that something had entered the roof. Source: EBS Queensland

A "scary" noise coming from the roof of a family home has prompted a tradie to issue a warning to Aussie residents. Leading pest controller Jhy Carroll was called to a Gold Coast home this week after a resident reported her children were terrified to go to bed due to a noise coming from their roof.

After investigating, it was revealed possums had gnawed through thick lead flashings, which prevent water from entering a roof at its joints, to gain entry to the family's roof and make a home inside.

"A family of possums were living in a customer's roof void," Carroll, from EBS Queensland, told Yahoo. He warned that as the weather gets cooler around the country, possums will attempt to enter people's roofs to nest for the cooler months.

"Possums pose a risk of gnawing on wiring or other electrical components in the roof space; they also make a lot of noise, which in this case was scaring her young children at bedtime," he said, adding that the nocturnal animals are more active at night.

One of the possums who had made itself a home in a family's roof void. Source: EBS Queensland

The possums had urinated in the customer's roof. Source: EBS Queensland

Possum warning ahead of winter cool down

As the weather cools, wildlife around the country are looking for a warm and safe place for the winter.

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A similar warning was issued by a wildlife rescuer in the ACT after a brushtail possum was found attempting to make a home inside a hotel.

The possum was discovered hiding on top of the wood stacked high next to the foyers fireplace. Luckily, he didnt put up much of a fight, and after removing a few pieces, the rescuers were able to wrap a towel around the very healthy animal and place it in a rescue basket.

Carroll warned that if Aussies find a possum in their homes, they should "find their entry points and block them off" so that possums can't gain entry.

"Just make sure there are no possums in the roof as you block it off as they won't be able to get out," he added. "Alternatively, call your local pest control company to advise on the best solution for your home."

Wildlife rescuers suggest placing species-appropriate nest boxes around your property as a safer alternative for the animals.

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After seeing seagulls flocking around the water, the experienced skipper knew something thrilling was unfolding.

Around a dozen seagulls scavenged around a seal as it splattered fish flesh around the water. Source: Melinda Fredericks

Tourists have watched on with excitement as two unlikely Australian animals came together to perform a fascinating feeding display. Photos highlight the amazing cunningness of a seagull as it scavenges tiny pieces of fish strewn across the ocean by a hungry fur seal.

When the seals are eating they whack it around to make it a bit smaller, and the birds follow, Melinda Fredericks from Lonsdale Eco Cruises told Yahoo News.

Well often get around a dozen of them. If you watch the bird activity, theyre a good indication of when there are seals or even dolphins around.

Related: Tourists stunned by 'lifetime moment' off the Aussie coast

Cameras busily snapped as the seal smashed up its meal. Source: Melinda Fredericks

The spectacle happens regularly around the Victorian holiday town of Lakes Entrance. Tourists lucky enough to see it close-up often describe it as being like a nature documentary in real life.

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Tourists are amazed to see something in the wild like that, animals actually hunting and feeding, she said.

A week ago, when the seal was smashing up its fish, she heard the familiar cries of My God, wow, and look at it, she said.

Amazing images highlight variety of prey seals hunt

Out on the water several times a week, Melinda has been lucky enough to have seen the seal display before. The veteran guide has snapped images of seals attacking an unlikely array of prey, including puffer fish, eels and even an unfortunate octopus.

A seal smashes apart an octopus in Lakes Entrance. Source: Melinda Fredericks

In her years on the water, Melinda has seen seals hunt a variety of prey. Source: Melinda Fredericks

The seals are familiar with her boat, so they continue on as if no one is watching. But she doesnt like to stay more than 10 minutes, so as not to disturb the animals as they display natural behaviour.

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This time of year we get up to 100 seals, but it goes in cycles. Towards the end of May well get heaps of them and their pups. But when November comes, a lot of them will disappear and go offshore, she said.

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Australia has long been a land of extremes. And that is on full display right now. Source: AAP/Getty

As residents in NSW pick up the pieces after yet another devastating and deadly flooding event, southern parts of the country continue to cry out to the heavens for rain. When it comes to Australia's increasingly turbulent weather, it's been a case of all or nothing for many residents.

About 32,000 people on the NSW mid-north coast remain isolated by flood waters, according to the State Emergency Service. Thousands of households are beginning the major clean up effort this weekend as floodwaters begin to recede after the deluge this past week.

Five months worth of rain was dumped in a matter of days in some areas with crews still assessing the extent of the damage on Sunday.

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Taree resident Damian Newell says his rental home now resembles a rubbish dump. And because of the "ridiculous" cost of home and contents insurance, much of their belongings are now gone.

Taree resident Damian Newell and his daughter are seen cleaning up after floods. Source: AAP

Aerial photos shows flooding in Taree on Saturday. Source: AAP

A muddy swimming pool is seen at a flood-damaged house in Glenthorne on Saturday. Source: Getty

More than 10,000 homes have been damaged. With floodwaters carrying contaminants, further hazards expected in the days ahead. Source: Getty

Some 600 kilometres away in the southwest of the state, it's a different story. But perhaps an equally painful one.

Farmer Paul Manwaring has been living in the shadow of rain, watching promising forecasts disappear, while the occasional shower creates patches of growth on the parched plains around Cootamundra, a seven hour drive from flood zones in Taree.

"It's all green where a storm went through, but 200 metres down the road it's desolate," Mr Manwaring told AAP.

The region is in the grips of disaster, according to the NSW drought indicator, part of a large area lit up in orange on the map. Surrounding regions are also drying out, expected to slip into drought by mid-winter.

Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania struggle through drought

Meanwhile parts of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania have endured their driest start to a year on record.

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April rainfall has been well below average across much of the three states, as well as southern NSW, and the west coast and interior of WA, according to the Bureau of Meteorology's drought statement.

Victoria has faced an historic drought through the first half of 2025. Source: Mark Billings via ABC

Tasmania recorded its driest April in a decade, with falls 50 per cent below the 40-year average for the month.

South Australia has also been hit particularly hard, with $2 billion wiped from the state's economy after the worst harvest in 15 years.

Cassie Oster, whose family runs a grazing and cropping operation at Jabuk, about 150km southeast of Adelaide, says producers are always prepared for dry conditions, but this drought is particularly brutal.

"We are at a point where we're like ... this is really scary," she told AAP.

A truck loaded with sheep as a girl climbs on a fence at Cassie Oster's family farm in Jabuk, South Australia this week. Source: AAP

Sheep graze on the drought-stricken paddocks on the SA farm. Source: AAP

This aerial picture taken earlier this year shows small reservoirs in a drought-affected paddock in the district of Wildwood, located on the outskirts of Melbourne. Source: Getty

Bureau of Meteorology projects wet winter for inland Australia

According to the Bureau of Meteorology's long-range forecasts updated this week, the climate outlook for June through to September will see southeast parts of the country experience higher than average rainfall, including areas that have been lashed by floods.

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"Rainfall is likely to be above average for much of inland Australia and some southern and eastern parts ... including the Northern Rivers region of NSW," the BoM said, meaning farmers like Paul Manwaring in Cootamundra could enjoy a slight reprieve.

Rainfall is expected to be within the typical range for June to August for much of western WA and eastern Australia, and across the tropical north, according to the Bureau's outlook.

But the bad news will likely continue for drought affected areas in the south with a 60 to 80 per cent chance southern Victoria will experience below average rainfall in the months ahead.

Inland parts of the country can expect a wetter than usual winter but dry conditions will continue for southern Victoria. Source: BoM

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent a congratulatory letter to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of 28 May  Independence Day.

The letter reads as follows:

His Excellency Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Your Excellency,

On behalf of the people of Ukraine and on my own behalf, I congratulate you on the occasion of the national holiday of the Republic of Azerbaijan - Independence Day.

Free Ukraine and Azerbaijan have always sought to develop their relationship in the spirit of strategic partnership based on shared values, mutual support, respect and comprehensive cooperation.

I am confident that the dynamics of strategic partnership will not only be maintained but also enhanced even more in line with the interests of the peoples of Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Today, Ukraine highly values international support in its struggle against Russia. We are grateful to Azerbaijan for supporting our countrys sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with the fundamental principles of international law, as well as for providing humanitarian assistance.

Availing myself of this opportunity, I wish you, esteemed Mr. President, robust health and success in your high state activities, and the friendly people of Azerbaijan peace, prosperity and tranquility.

Sincerely,

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

President of Ukraine
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About This Property Offered at $349,900, this rare two-address package delivers three fully leased units with strong rents and minimal maintenance. 14 Hall Street features two spacious apartments (upstairs & downstairs), each generating $1,600/month--including heat, water, trash removal, and common-area utilities--and occupied by long-term, Home Base & NAHA-assisted tenants. At the rear is 16 Hall Street, a light-filled single-family home brings in $1,700/month (water & trash included) and boasts recent porch roofs and a new boiler was installed in Unit 14 to accommodate the two units in November 2023.Key Investment HighlightsStable Cash Flow: $4,900/month in gross rents (58,800/year) against just $24,700 of annual expenses, delivering a 10 plus cap rate at list price.



Land Details Community Details Acres Apx: 0.15

Parking Spaces: 5

Parking Type: Off Street

Region: North Registry

Elem School: Brayton

High School: Drury

Exterior Details Interior Details Color: Green & Peach

Style: Colonial

Construction: Wood Frame

Exterior: Asbestos,Vinyl,Other

Water: Public

Sewer: Public

Underground Oil Tank: Unk

Garage: None

Total Rooms: 19

Total Full Baths: 3

Fuel: Nat Gas

Hot Water: Nat Gas,Rental

Electric: Circuit Breaker,Individual Meter

Floor: Carpet,Wood,Linoleum

Lead Paint: Compliant

Heat/Cool: Hot Water,Steam

Insulation: Mixed



Search More Properties With these Features Trash Private Mature Landscaping Cable Avail
Residents at Berkshire Village have complained about the park's sewer and road conditions for years; the new owners say they're spending millions to upgrade the infrastructure.

Berkshire Village Residents, Owners Agree Better Communication Needed

CHESHIRE, Mass.  Berkshire Village residents and one of the park's owners agreed on the need for better communication between management, ownership, and tenants.

Those issues were hashed out once again on Tuesday at a meeting of the Board of Selectmen, acting as the Rent Control Board.

Residents have repeatedly demonstrated that the mobile home park's unsafe and deteriorating conditions for nearly 10 years because of neglect by the previous owners. They have described ongoing issues with the septic systems, electrical services, and road conditions and say the owners are not moving fast enough.

New owners Crown Communities LLC, which contracts with M. Shapiro Real Estate to manage the property, say they're spending millions to upgrade the park right now.

According to the town's property card, Crown Communities purchased the park in December 2022 for $1.

"Since we have taken over the property, we have spent close to $2 million on this project alone," states a document to the board from Alex Cabot, managing partner of Berkshire Village MHC LLC (Ignite Communities).

"We have opened the spigots not just to fix the issues that we inherited, but to send a message to both the residents and the community as a whole that we are committed to the long-term viability and success of Berkshire Village as a source of quality affordable housing."

Heath Biddlecome, another managing partner who attended the meeting, emphasized that they have not requested any rent increases for the capital improvements.

Once the work is complete, he expects to come back with a petition, potentially to request a rent increase.

William Morreau, the secretary of the Berkshire Village Tenants Association, expressed concern about differing opinions and emphasized the need for productive, straightforward, and honest communication.

The discussion on Tuesday night, he said, felt like the owners and engineers were speaking a different language compared to the residents and wanted knowledgeable individuals, such as water and health inspectors, to be included in the conversation.

During the meeting, the lead engineer on the project, Justin Damore, explained that the septic system project is at 80 percent completion and anticipates four more weeks of work.

"We're on the last things. We're moving the gravity sewer lines, and we have 40 percent of the force mains complete. We will finish the 60 percent of the force mains, which will be going down Fourth and Second Avenue, over the next 14 days, starting Tuesday  God willing, and if the creek don't rise, literally," Damore said.

"Then from there, we will start connecting homes in pairs, probably two to three a day, while also completing extra tank inspections to make sure that we didn't miss anything with the extra infrastructure that may have been existing, that was reused, ie, some of the original septic tanks which are still in compliance."

It is unclear how many homes are going to be connected to the system because multiple mobile homes share a tank, which is a common practice in Massachusetts.

As the weather gets nicer, Damore said he frequently lives in the park in his RV during construction and that he would be glad to show residents how the system works.

Damore verified with both the state Department of Environmental Protection and the town that there are no active or pending violations, Cabot wrote to the Rent Control Board.

"This is not something that we installed. This is something that we inherited, and we are trying to fix. So this is something that we're doing out of cash flow, and it does take time, and it takes a lot of money to fix," Biddlecome said.

"We are pushing forward every single day to make this community better, but just to let them know, the board know, that this is stuff that was inherited, deferred maintenance from the previous owner for many years of neglect."

In a follow-up, Morreau said there are 24 failed septic systems currently in use, which are affecting 38 homes. He said the system drains very slowly, there are restrictions in pipes, tanks need repeated pumping, and raw sewage was leaking onto the ground.

"It really needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed now. We don't have time to keep waiting. People are living in really adverse conditions, and that shouldn't be true. That shouldn't be happening," he said.

In one specific case, a resident went three days with raw sewage in her toilet and bathtub because she couldn't get it to drain.

Eventually, Morreau said, the resident had to pay $760 out of pocket to have a plumber fix the system because of the company's unresponsiveness. After being scoped, it was shown that the pipe had collapsed, and that's the case for several other homes, he said.

Damore said new baffles will be put in, and every line will be scoped because they all need to pass MassDEP inspection. He added that road repairs will begin after the septic system is complete, so the park should have new roads "hopefully by the end of this year."

Morreau said residents understand that road work can't start until the septic is done but the owners could fill in the potholes and trenches so that residents can travel safely.

He also recommended that the property owners assess the aging water line infrastructure before finalizing the road repairs, saying there's evidence of leaks.

Tenants have also complained about lack of plowing in the winter, outdated electrical services, slow response times in addressing maintenance calls and difficulty reaching management.

Damore said an electrician will be putting in 32 new services (Morreau says 54 are needed) to accommodate the electrical load that will be on the new pump station and that National Grid has not noted anything out of compliance.

There have been multiple management companies and site managers since 2021, with each saying they need time to understand the situation, Morreau said.

Biddlecome acknowledged the communication breakdown and agreed to improve communication.

A follow-up meeting with the Rent Control Board will be scheduled once the ongoing septic and electrical work is complete or near completion to ensure awareness of the project's progress and potential solutions.
MassDOT and RMV Launch New Online Citation Portal for Public Access to Data

BOSTON  The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) have introduced a new online Citation Portal. This self-service tool offers access to real-time citation and violation data.

The portal aims to increase public awareness of citation and violation information and is accessible online. Users can interact with the data through pre-built reports and interactive dashboards, or conduct their own analysis. The platform ensures that no personally identifiable information is available, adhering to data protection and privacy laws.

Transportation Secretary and CEO Monica Tibbits-Nutt stated, "Data is one of the most powerful tools we have to improve safety and accountability on our roads. By expanding access to this information, we are not only promoting transparencywere empowering the public to be informed, engaged partners in building a safer transportation system.

Registrar of Motor Vehicles Colleen Ogilvie noted the value of this information for law enforcement and other stakeholders, expressing satisfaction in making it "available to the general public on an easily accessible platform for the first time."

Merit Rating Board Director Sonja Singleton commented on the development, stating, "Following extensive conversations with our key stakeholders, we listened and delivered. With their input, we have created a dynamic data tool that can display citation information in wide range of formats, from a basic chart to a more complex grid for more complicated analysis.

The portal includes several modules:
The bell tolls as the names of Clarksburg's 'fallen sons' are read by Joseph Bushika of Peter A. Cook Post 9144 Veterans of Foreign Wars at Sunday's Memorial Day service. Lanesborough holds its parade on Sunday afternoon. PreviousNext

Memorial Day a Time for 'Acknowledging Cost of Peace'



Abby Beer, Ciera Crockwell and Dakota Hurlbut read The Gettysburg Address. See more photos here. CLARKSBURG, Mass.  As the county remembers its fallen over the past 250 years, Kurtis Durocher reminded the gathering at Town Hall that Memorial Day isn't about glorifying war.

"It is about acknowledging the cost of peace," said town's veterans agent. "The sacrifice of life for liberty is profound, and it depends or it demands more from us than parades or ceremonies. It asks for our vigilance in protecting the freedoms they died for. It asks us to care for their fellow veterans, to support their families and to build a country worthy of their sacrifice."

Clarksburg and Lanesborough held their ceremonies on Sunday.

Durocher is a retired, decorated Army master sergeant with multiple deployments including Iraq and Afghanistan. He was named as the regional veterans service officer earlier this year in North Adams and serves nearly a dozen North County towns.

He said the stories of those who were lost "are etched into the very soil of our community here in Northern Berkshire ... They are not statistics. They are our family."

"Let us also remember the Gold Star families, those who bear the weight of personal loss every single day we see you, we honor you, and we thank you for the unimaginable price your loved ones paid," Durocher continued. "So let us lower our heads, not in despair, but in gratitude. Let us speak their names, tell their stories and preserve their memory, because a hero remembered never truly dies."

The ceremony at Clarksburg included selections from the Drury High School band, an honor guard made up of the Clarksburg Volunteer Fire Departments and remarks from master of ceremonies Joseph Bushika of Peter A. Cook Post 9144 Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Town Administrator Ronald Boucher. Laurie Boudreau sang "God Bless America" and "American the Beautiful."

Boucher called for veterans in the crowd to raise the hands and thanked them for their service.

"We gather not just to remember, but to honor the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country," he said. "Their courage and dedication are etched in our in the history of our nation, and it is our duty to keep their legacy alive with that."

Clarksburg School eighth-graders Dakota Hurlbut, Ciera Crockwell and Abby Beer read the The Gettysburg Address and Dr. John McCrae's World War I poem "In Flanders Fields."

Bushika read off the names of the town's servicemen who died in war, from the Civil War to Vietnam, as the bell was tolled.

"They left their peacetime pursuits with confidence in their hearts and assurances upon their lips that they were fully aware of the dangers before them, and yet they responded without hesitance to this call of duty," he said. "So before we take that seat at the picnic table this weekend, take a few moments to reflect. Upon the deeds of those that gave their all for this generation of those to come. This is the very least we should do."
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An Indian lawmaker has been criticised for blaming women survivors of the deadly Kashmir terror attack for not fighting back against the armed gunmen to save the lives of the men who were killed.

Ram Chander Jangra, a member of Rajya Sabha, or the upper house of Indian parliament, from prime minister Narendra Modis ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was speaking at a public gathering in the northern Indian state of Haryana on Saturday when he accused the widows of lacking the spirit of a warrior.

He was referring to the attack on a popular tourist site in Kashmirs Pahalgam on 22 April which killed at least 26 men, most of them Hindu tourists.

According to the survivors and the witnesses of the attack which pushed India and Pakistan to a near-war situation, the armed gunmen approached the male tourists  several of them on honeymoon  and shot them dead.

The witnesses said the attack was carried out by four to six gunmen in military fatigues who emerged from a nearby forest and unleashed a barrage of gunfire from close range.

open image in gallery Sajjad Ahmad Bhatt (L), Waheed Ahmad (C), Rayees Ahmad (R), the pony riders who were among the first responders after Pahalgam attack on 22 April 2025 ( Supplied )

The brave women we had there, whose sindoor (vermillion powder many women wear on their forehead and hair parting to indicate marital status) was snatched away  they lacked the spirit of a warrior woman, lacked passion, emotion, heart, and so, with folded hands, they became victims of bullets, Mr Jangra said in Hindi language while addressing a crowd in Bhiwani.

He said the casualties would have been lower if the women had fought back. They should have absolutely fought back. If they had, there would have been fewer deaths and fewer people martyred. Who spares anyone just because they fold their hands? They had come to kill they were terrorists. There was no mercy in their hearts, the lawmaker said.

open image in gallery Kashmiri girls walk to school in Pahalgam in Kashmir, Thursday, 16 May 2025 ( AP )

The lawmaker also said the casualties would have been lower in the attack if the tourists would have received Indias latest flagship military training under the tour of duty style Agniveer scheme. Had our tourists passed the training, the three terrorists could not have killed 26 people, he said.

Mr Jangra has been widely condemned by the Indian opposition for putting the blame on women who were victims of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Kashmir.

The shameful statement of BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ramchandra Jangra has once again exposed the petty mentality of RSS-BJP, said Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of Indias main opposition party Congress, referring to the ideological organisation of BJP.

Even when the wife of the naval officer martyred in Pahalgam was being trolled on social media, Modi ji was silent, Mr Kharge said. He was referring to Navy officer Vinay Narwal who was on his honeymoon in the picturesque Indian federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir when he was shot dead in front of his wife by militants in one of the worst attacks on tourists in the Himalayan region in decades. His wife, Himanshi Narwal, was targeted in a online hate campaign after she called for peace. "People going against Muslims or Kashmiris  we don't want this. We want peace and only peace," she said. It led to a hate campaign by Internet trolls accusing her of dishonouring her late husband's memory.

Mr Kharge added: There is a competition among BJP leaders to malign the victims of Pahalgam and our brave army.

He also called for the lawmakers sacking. You say you have sindoor in your veins  If this is so, then you should dismiss these foul-mouthed leaders of yours for the sake of respect of women, he said in a direct appeal to Mr Modi, who said at an election rally the vermillion powder ran in veins, referring to the military operation named Sindoor to hit back at terrorist camps in Pakistan.

Another Indian opposition party, the All India Trinamool Congress, also condemned the statement calling the remarks by Mr Jangra vile and inhuman.

The BJP has mastered the art of degrading women, the AITC said. Misogyny isnt a bug in their ideology, its the core. And PM @narendramodi dares to talk about Naari Samman (women respect)? Spare us the hypocrisy. Women are NOT your vote bank slogans, the party said in a statement.

The backlash comes days after an Indian lawmaker faced criticism for making offensive remarks against a Muslim army spokesperson in the aftermath of the conflict with Pakistan, with opposition leaders calling for his apology and resignation.

In a public speech earlier this month, Vijay Shah, also a member of the BJP, suggested that Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who addressed the media on India-Pakistan air strikes, was from the community of people who had attacked India.
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Extreme weather fuelled by the climate crisis has cost some of the worlds poorest countries $156bn (116bn) across the past two decades, The Independent can reveal.

Intense drought, flooding, cyclones and more have impacted 364 million people and caused more than 42,000 deaths since 2000  17,000 of which can be directly attributed to climate change. The nations hardest hit are Somalia, Haiti and Uganda.

Researchers at ODI Global, an international think tank, also found the climate crisis had contributed to billions of dollars worth of agricultural losses, with farmers across Somalia and Ethiopia forced to abandon their livelihoods amid growing food scarcity, saying the stark findings should serve as a wake-up call for global policymakers.

If the UK suffered tens of billions of pounds worth of damage caused by other countries actions, our government and the public would rightfully be shouting from the rooftops about the injustice, Mike Childs, head of policy at Friends of the Earth, told The Independent.

Yet this is the reality for many countries on the front lines of climate breakdown that have contributed virtually nothing to global emissions.

With Donald Trump slashing US aid spending and the UK planning on cutting billions of pounds in funding, The Independent reports on the devastating impact on countries most affected by the climate crisis, due to losing support for food and disaster prevention.

Its deeply unjust that those who have done the least to contribute to the climate crisis are paying most dearly for it  the UK has a central role to play in righting that injustice, Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, said. While governments like ours delay, countries like Somalia and Ethiopia, and small island nations  some of the worlds poorest countries  are paying the price.

The governments recent cuts to the foreign aid budget are particularly disturbing in this context, with so many across the world relying on essential humanitarian aid as a result of extreme weather caused by the climate crisis, added Ms Denyer.

Every year we see more devastation

The study of 53 low-income countries includes 36 small-island developing states in the Caribbean, Pacific and the Atlantic, and 17 countries in the Sahel and the Greater Horn of Africa.

Since the year 2000, these countries have suffered $395bn in losses and damages from extreme weather events, $156bn of which can be attributed to the climate crisis.

Every year, we see more devastation from the worsening effects of climate change, said Emily Wilkinson, principal research fellow at ODI Global.

open image in gallery Immigrants from Haiti recover their belongings from the rubble in their destroyed homes, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in Abaco, Bahamas ( AP )

Wealthier nations urgently need to scale up climate finance and also make sure it reaches the right places. For remote or unstable places [facing conflict or other vulnerabilities], such as those featured in the study, getting projects off the ground might be harder, but the benefits will also be more keenly felt by affected populations.

In 2023, the Cop28 climate summit agreed to the creation of the Loss and Damage Fund, which would provide financial support for some destruction caused by climate change. But wealthy, higher-polluting countries pledged a total of $768m to the fund; a fraction of the financial losses that vulnerable countries face, and will continue to face. It was agreed this year that the fund will pay out $250m of this sum until the end of 2026.

Hurricanes, droughts and flooding

To calculate the proportion of losses and damages resulting from climate change, ODI Globals research uses climate mapping studies combined with figures from EM-DAT, the international database covering 26,00es0 mass disasters worldwide, and United Nations disaster reports.

Tropical cyclones  often referred to as hurricanes or typhoons  and flooding have caused the most damage in small-island developing states like the Bahamas, which has lost at least $4bn from climate-attributed events.

Scientists believe tropical cyclones are becoming more intense thanks to the climate crisis, due to warmer seas and stronger winds heightening their impact. Meanwhile, rising sea levels from melting ice caps will contribute to increased flooding of low-elevation islands.

open image in gallery Somalia is currently facing floods following another intense drought, once again forcing people into internal displacement ( AP )

Severe droughts and deadly flooding have ravaged the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, severely impacting many communities that rely on agriculture. The ODI Global report found that climate change contributed to at least $11.5bn in losses and damages to livestock and crops in these countries, causing lasting harm to livelihoods and food supplies in agrarian areas with already high poverty rates.

Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia have suffered tens of billions of dollars in losses between them, but Somalia has suffered the worst of all. Devastating droughts and subsequent floods have led to $151bn in losses and damages, $75bn of which ODI Global estimates is attributable to climate change.

Somalias extended droughts have been exacerbated by the climate crisis, researchers have found, contributing to lower rainfall, warmer air temperatures, and higher evapotranspiration  the combined processes that move water from the Earths surface into the atmosphere.

These droughts in recent years have caused widespread crop failures and livestock losses, plunging many farmers and herders into poverty. Nearly half of Somalias eight-million-strong population has also faced food insecurity. As The Independent has reported, Somalia is facing drought and low crop yields once again; this time, charities are worried that aid cuts will limit their ability to respond to food shortages.

Many of the nations included in the ODI Global study have smaller economies, increasing the impact of climate crisis-related losses. On the Caribbean island of Dominica, such damage has cost nearly a tenth (9.25 per cent) of gross domestic product (GDP) each year on average over the last two decades.

Haiti, Kenya and Grenada are among the nations already facing substantial losses, more than two per cent of their GDP per year, thanks to climate change. Extreme weather events such as hurricanes can increase that number substantially, given the damage they can do quickly.

This means that poorer nations, some of whom are facing further strain from regional conflicts, are disproportionately taking the brunt of climate-related destruction.

These effects will only continue to get worse, warn ODI Globals researchers, who estimate at least a further $235bn in these countries from climate-related damages if the planet warms by 2C compared to pre-industrial levels. According to climate scientists at Europes Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), each of the past 10 years (20152024) was one of the 10 warmest years on record. The monthly global average temperature exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for 11 months of the year.

The escalating costs from climate change will have a serious toll on economic growth and living standards, and a wider risk of geopolitical stability in some regions, Ms Wilkinson, a research fellow at ODI Global, said. Climate change contributing to a poorer, more dangerous, future is bad for everyone, but we are not too late to change course.

open image in gallery Ethiopia and other east African countries have suffered frequent and lasting droughts, which threaten access to food and water ( Fredrik Lerneryd/Save the Children )

Disruptions to aid increase risk of famine and poverty

In the wake of extreme weather events, communities are heavily reliant on aid as people are displaced from their homes and access to food and infrastructure is disrupted.

In 2023 alone, the countries in this study received some 7.5nn in aid from the US and the UK, with millions of people relying on life-saving food assistance.

But with the total dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and UK cuts threatening access to aid for some 55 million people, this support is drying up while the consequences of climate change are worsening.

In Ethiopia, food shortages in the northern region have led to starvation. A funding gap of $222m has already forced the World Food Programme to suspend malnutrition treatment for 650,000 women and children.

Just this week, the UK government refused to reconsider its cuts to aid spending and could not commit to funding for nutrition, the International Development Committee reported.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: Demands for action from the worlds most vulnerable and the requirements for delivering security for British citizens are fundamentally aligned.

That is why we are supporting those who are experiencing the worst impacts of the climate crisis and working together with partners to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

This article was produced as part of The Independents Rethinking Global Aid project
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A woman was left fighting for her life after using a so-called weight loss jab sourced from a salon with police making three arrests.

The woman suffered internal injuries earlier after using an injection earlier this month. She has since been discharged. Two other people also become unwell.

North Yorkshire Police has launched an investigation into the supply of the injections as they arrested three women from the Selby area.

Two women in their thirties were arrested on suspicion of causing or administering a poison or noxious thing. The duo have been released on police bail. A third, aged in her fifties, was arrested on suspicion of selling or supplying a prescription only medicine. She has been released while under investigation.

Medical professionals in North Yorkshire and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a warning against using weight loss medicines bought from private clinics or online.

They warned that buying products from unregulated suppliers significantly increases the risk of getting a product which is either falsified or not licensed for use in the UK and can pose a direct danger to health.

NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) Chief Pharmacy Officer, Laura Angus, said: There has been a lot of attention in the media and on social media about these so-called skinny jabs, but as with any medicines bought outside of legitimate supply chains, the contents may not match the ingredients on the label.

If you use such products you could be putting your health at serious risk.

If you are thinking of buying a weight-loss medicine, please talk to a healthcare professional first. The only way to guarantee you receive a genuine weight-loss medicine is to obtain it from a legitimate pharmacy  including those trading online  using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional.

open image in gallery Experts said more research is needed (Alamy/PA)

Ms Angus advised patients to check the legitimacy of the pharmacy and ensure it is regulated with the GPhC via the pharmacy regulation website.

North Yorkshire Councils executive member for health and adult services, Cllr Michael Harrison. added: We would encourage people to pursue their health goals in a safe way.

You can access lots of free tools to support you to make healthy changes, including getting active and losing weight, on the NHS Better Health website.

The Active North Yorkshire Healthy You programme can support you to help you meet your lifestyle goals, which might be to be more active, eat better, or manage your weight.

The NHS has made a number of clinically tested anti-obesity medicines available on prescription to certain patients through specialist weight management services. Drugs such as Liraglutide (sometimes called Saxenda), semaglutide (brands names include Wegovy and Ozempic) and tirzepatide (brand name Mounjaro) are among those in use on the NHS.

Andy Morling, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agencys Deputy Director of Criminal Enforcement said: Weight loss medicines are powerful medications and should only be used under the supervision of a qualified healthcare professional.

Public safety is our top priority, and our Criminal Enforcement Unit works tirelessly with partners to prevent, detect and investigate illegal activity involving medicines and medical devices.

Buying so-called weight loss medicines from illegal suppliers significantly increases the risk of receiving products that are either falsified or not licensed for use in the UK. Products purchased in this way will not meet the MHRAs strict quality and safety standards, and taking such medicines may put ones health at risk.

There is a Yellow Card scheme available for those who experience an advserse reaction to medicine and worry about the safety, efficacy or legitimacy. People who suspect they are experiencing an adverse reaction to a weight loss injection were advised my the professionals to seek appropriate medical attention.
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Security officials are investigating whether Russia was behind arson attacks on homes linked to Keir Starmer, according to reports.

Two Ukrainians and a Romanian man have been charged over the fires at two properties, including the prime ministers home in north London before he moved to Downing Street, and a car he sold last year.

The suspects are accused of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life over the attacks earlier this month. Now officials are said to be probing whether the trio could have been recruited by Vladimir Putins Russia, senior Whitehall sources told the Mail on Sunday and Sunday Mirror.

open image in gallery Aspiring model Roman Lavrynovych, 21, has been charged over three fires at properties and a car linked to Keir Starmer ( Facebook )

Builder Roman Lavrynovych, 21, an aspiring model and Ukrainian citizen living in Sydenham, south London, was charged last week with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life.

Ukrainian-born Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, also an aspiring model, was arrested by counterterrorism officers at Luton airport last Saturday and charged with being part of the conspiracy.

Petro Pochynok, 34, who calls himself a fashion entrepreneur on social media, was arrested in Chelsea, west London, on Monday.

open image in gallery Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court over the fires linked to Starmer ( Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire )

At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Sarah Przybylska told Westminster Magistrates Court the court at this stage the alleged offending is unexplained.

All three deny the charges and have been remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 6 June.

It comes after three fires hit property linked to Sir Keir, including a vehicle fire in Kentish Town on 8 May targeting a Toyota Rav4 he had sold to a neighbour, a fire at the entrance of a property in Islington on 11 May, and one at his former home in Kentish Town on 12 May.

open image in gallery Petro Pochynok, 34, was arrested in Chelsea, west London ( Elizabeth Cook/PA )

The Mets Counter-Terrorism Command has led the investigation into the fires because of the links to the prime minister.

The force declined to comment on the possible links to Russia because criminal proceedings are active.

However, an intelligence source told the Sunday Mirror: Russian involvement was the first option that was considered after these incidents took place.

There is a pattern in the past of incidents here taking place on the Kremlins authority and then being very flimsily covered up, if covered up at all.
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Rosamund Pike has revealed she had her phone snatched out of her hand and was punched in the face during a terrifying mugging incident in London.

The Gone Girl star said she was speaking to her mother when a kid sped past on a bike and grabbed the phone. The actor said her mother endured 15 minutes of hell until she managed to phone her back from another device.

The 46-year-old told Magic Radio: I was on the phone to my mother, on a mobile phone walking along a road, and I was mugged.

The phone was snatched so all she heard was me scream and a thud and the phone went dead.

open image in gallery Pike said her mother heard her scream from the other end of the line ( Reuters )

She said the attacker punched her while he sped past, leaving her with a bruise to her face. A spokesperson for the actor said the incident took place in 2006.

In London, residents, tourists and workers who commute into offices have witnessed a growing rise in mobile phone snatching, with a 151 per cent increase in the last year.

Criminals often use bikes and mopeds to snatch mobile phones, and often victims are approached from behind while talking or texting on phones. The charity Crimestoppers reports that 54 per cent of phone snatches involve thieves using pedal bikes.

Former Coronation Street actor Kym Marsh has also shared her experience of having her phone snatched in London.

The 48-year-old had been walking down Buckingham Palace Road at around 9.30pm when she had her phone ripped from her hands, leaving her feeling really vulnerable and shaken.

She said: It is quite a scary thing to happen to you, you;re walking down a road and then all of a sudden somethings taken out of your hand. And that was about a fortnight ago that was taken from me. But, thankfully, I was okay.

The number of phone thefts has increased significantly in London, with more than 200,000 phones stolen between 2020 and 2024, and over 1,000 stolen each week.
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Democracy is collapsing in the world and is not a given in Britains future, leading political biographer Sir Anthony Seldon has warned.

Sir Anthony, known for his political biographies of UK prime ministers, sat down at Wales Hay Festival on Saturday (24 May) to discuss Liz Truss short premiership and her predecessor, Boris Johnsons, turbulent time in office.

He also discussed the state of democracy today, and how fragile it could be for Britain.

Speaking about what he called the deep state, Sir Anthony said: I dont think they have their own agenda, other than preserving democracy.

On that point about democracy, let us not forget that democracy is collapsing in the world. The number of democracies are in decline and the reality of what it means to be a democracy is also in decline.

open image in gallery Sir Anthony sat down at Wales Hay Festival to discuss Truss short premiership and her predecessor, Boris Johnsons, turbulent time in office. ( Independent )

Democracy is not a given. There was a time when Britain was not a democracy, there well may be a time in the future when Britain will not be a democracy again.

And the United States, which was born out of the ribs of Britain, breaking away in 1776, has a head of state who does not believe in pluralism.

He added: Democracy is frail.

When asked at the end of the talk if he thought Britain would still be a democracy in 50 years, he referenced Britains instinct against revolution and said: Theres so much thats admirable in this country, theres so much resilience and care that I think that will hold us through. And good sense.

Sir Anthony also gave verdicts about former prime ministers Liz Truss and Boris Johnson during the wide ranging talk.

He claimed Johnson, the focus of Sir Anthonys 2023 book Johnson at 10: The Inside Story, does not believe in Brexit, despite championing it in the public sphere.

He wasnt interested. Brexit for Boris was his party ticket to get into Downing Street, he said.

He didnt believe in it. He does not believe in Brexit.

Hay Festival, which is spread over 11 days, is set in Hay-on-Wye, the idyllic and picturesque Town of Books. The lineup includes Mary Trump, Michael Sheen, Jameela Jamil, and more.

The Independent has partnered with the Festival once again to host a series of morning panels titled The News Review, where our journalists will explore current affairs with leading figures from politics, science, the arts and comedy every morning.
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Nigel Farage is preparing to outflank the prime minister on benefits by committing to restoring winter fuel payments in full to all pensioners and scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

It is understood the Reform UK leader will try to appeal to more left-wing voters in a speech next week, where he will brand Sir Keir Starmer one of the most unpatriotic prime ministers in our history.

The speech will pile further pressure on Sir Keir, who is already braced for a major rebellion from his own MPs on upcoming welfare cuts and facing growing concern over the direction of the Labour Party under his leadership.

A new survey found 29 per cent support for Nigel Farages Reform UK (PA) ( PA Wire )

Mr Farages upcoming speech  first reported in the Telegraph  marks an attempt to regain control of the narrative after he was criticised for taking a week of holiday while the House of Commons was sitting.

The Clacton MP was abroad while the prime minister struck a major UK-EU deal and signed a treaty to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

While MPs have left Westminster for recess, Mr Farage is expected to return to the political arena and say: The prime minister is out of touch with working people, he doesnt understand what they want and how they feel about the big issues facing Britain.

Its going to be these very same working people that will vote Reform at the next election and kick Labour out of government.

Reform UK is riding high in opinion polls after it stormed to victory at the local elections, winning nearly 700 seats, as well as overturning Labours hold of the Runcorn and Helsby constituency.

The latest opinion polling from YouGov revealed Reform is the most popular party among voters at 29 per cent, followed by Labour on 22 per cent and Liberal Democrats at 17 per cent. The Conservatives are in fourth place at 16 per cent.

Reform sources said Mr Farage is already outflanking Labour, revealing plans to scrap the two-child benefit cap and restore the winter fuel payment in full to all pensioners.

The payment was previously made to all pensioners, but Labour reduced it to only those receiving pension credit in one of its early acts in government.

Labour now appears to be scrambling to counter Mr Farages move, with reports emerging on Sunday that Sir Keir is gearing up to scrap the two-child benefit cap, in what would be his second U-turn following months of pressure over Labours approach to benefits.

While Downing Street has previously said there is no one silver bullet to tackle child poverty when pressed on whether the government would scrap the cap, sources have now told The Observer that the prime minister thinks ending it is the right thing to do.

It comes after new costings released by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) show that 109 children are pulled into poverty by the policy every day.

The number affected will continue to increase until 2035, when the first children born under the turn 18.

The charity says that scrapping the cap would be the most cost-effective way to lift kids out of poverty.
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A historian claims to have proof that the Princes in the Tower of London were not murdered by their uncle Richard III.

Most historians believe Richard killed his nephews in the summer of 1483 after their father, Edward IV, died unexpectedly, despite a lack of hard evidence linking him to the murders.

The boys, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, were 12 and nine respectively when their father died. They were taken one by one to the Tower of London in expectation of Edward Vs coronation, but never emerged.

Philippa Langley, the historian and screenwriter who played a key role in uncovering Richard IIIs remains in a Leicester car park, has spent the last ten years investigating the case.

Ms Langley teamed up with professional cold case investigators, some of whom work with the police on unsolved murder to join her Missing Princes Project.

open image in gallery Philippa Langley with a model of Richard III ( Getty )

Uncovering a treasure trove of never-before-seen documents and letters she believes she has built a strong enough case for the boys survival from the Tower of London.

The conventional narrative has always been Richard IIIs loyal servant, Sir James Tyrell, was the boys killer, after a confession, obtained under torture, before his execution for treason in 1502. Ms Langley argues that for it to have been worthwhile for Richard to kill the princes, he had to display their bodies, otherwise he did it for no reason, putting himself in jeopardy.

Following the death of King Richard at the battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485, Henry VII became King but Ms Langley said the Princes rose again and challenged him for the throne.

She said: But Henry attempted to cast the Yorkist Princes as impostors by giving them false names and reverse-engineering their stories: Edward V became a 10 year-old boy called Lambert Simnel, the son of a joiner, tailor, barber, baker, organ-maker or shoemaker, and Richard, Duke of York became Perkin Warbeck the son of a French boatman.

The documents she uncovered include letters supporting a rebellion by Edward IVs son in 1487, the year of Simnels uprising - which ended in him being crowned in Ireland. They also found fresh references to a boy said to be a son of King Edward.

On Richard, three items signed with his seal have emerged in Europe, as well as letters allegedly written by him to James IV of Scotland and even a document from the Pope.

A biography of his life as an escaped prince also emerged but the author remains a mystery.

Simnel and Warbeck ultimately confessed to being impostors, but Ms Langley and her team of researchers insist these were false confessions extracted by Henry VII to discredit the challengers.

Asked by The Times if this amounted to proof, she said: Had we supplied this amount of evidence in this book to say Richard III had murdered the Princes in the Tower, would you be asking me that question?

I would say that they now have to prove that Richard III murdered the Princes in the Tower.

open image in gallery The Princes in the Tower, Edward V (1470 - 1483) and Richard, Duke of York (1473 - 1483) ( Courtesy Scailyna, under Creative Commons )

Officially, the princes remains were found in 1674, when workmen at the Tower dug up a wooden box containing two skeletons. Four years later, the bones were placed in an urn and interred in Westminster Abbey on the orders of King Charles II.

The suspects

Richard III

The prime suspect, escorted Edward V to the Tower of London where he was last seen.

Motive  insecure hold on the Monarchy due to the way he obtained the crown, faced rebellions from the Yorkists loyal to Edward IV prior to Parliament conforming his title to the throne in January 1484.

Evidence  circumstantial. Ms Langley argues that it would have better served Richard III to display the dead bodies in public to prevent pretenders to the throne coming forward.

Henry VII (Henry Tudor)

Richard IIIs rival who defeated his forces at the Battle of Bosworth.

Motive  executed rival claimants to the throne following his coronation.

Evidence  Henry Tudor was out of the country at the time of the princes disappearance and so could only have murdered them post-accession. Historians have called the theory the only plausible alternative to Richard IIIs being the killer.

Henry Stafford

2nd Duke of Buckingham, kingmaker and breaker: played a major role in the rise and fall of Richard III.

Motive  held a claim to the throne through the House of Beaufort family.

Evidence  a manuscript found in the early 1980s in the College of Arms collection states that the princes were murdered be [by] the vise of the Duke of Buckingham. There is some argument over whether vise means advice or devise.

Sir James Tyrell

English knight, loyal servant to Richard III.

Motive  following the orders of his King.

Evidence  said to have confessed under torture to the murder of the princes before his execution for treason in 1502, according to Sir Thomas Mores The History of King Richard III. The original document containing his confession was never produced. Shakespeare portrayed Tyrell as the murderer in his play Richard III.
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It had been a 12-month-long whirlwind romance that ended amicably, but little did Kate Wilson know a phone call six years on would change her life forever.

Ms Wilson was in her mid-twenties when she met a man she believed was Mark Stone at an activist meeting in Nottingham in 2003.

The pair hit it off and began a romance which lasted over a year  but it was all a lie.

Mark Stones real name was actually Mark Kennedy. He was an undercover police officer sent by the now-disbanded National Public Order Intelligence Unit to spy on an activist group Ms Wilson was associated with in the early 2000s.

Speaking at Wales Hay Festival, with which The Independent has partnered again, Ms Wilson described the impact of the immense invasion of privacy and her fight for justice.

I met Mark at the end of 2003, after he had shown up in the summer and befriended some of my friends who were living in Nottingham, she said.

We had an awful lot in common. He even liked country music, which was pretty much unheard of in the circles I was in. He said he was from Battersea and from a broken home.

He used to get emotional, saying how his mother had brought up two sons on her own. But none of it was true.

open image in gallery Kate Wilson won a long-running legal battle with the Met after she was deceived into a relationship with an undercover officer ( Stefan Rousseau/PA )

After the relationship ended, the pair kept in touch, with Kennedy visiting Ms Wilson abroad in Barcelona and Berlin.

They remained friends until years later, when she got a phone call from another woman Kennedy had been in a relationship with for six years, telling her that he was an undercover police officer the entire time.

We were really close friends right until I got the phone call. A friend of mine said, Marks a cop, weve got the proof and were going public and I dont want you to find out from the internet, she said.

Kennedy, who resigned from the Met in 2010, had sexual relationships with as many as 10 other women while he was undercover.

Ms Wilsons revelation led to legal action against the Met and the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), both of which have admitted to a number of breaches of Ms Wilsons human rights and subsequently apologised for the hurt and damage the intelligence operation caused.

In 2021, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ordered the Met Police and NPCC to pay a total of 229,471 to Ms Wilson by way of just satisfaction for the breaches of her human rights.

open image in gallery Kate Wilson sat down to discuss her ordeal with investigative journalist Oliver Bullough in a wide-ranging talk at Hay Festival about her new book, Disclosure: Unravelling the Spycops File ( The Independent )

She is one of 60 victims of the spycops scandal. Taking place from 1968 to at least 2010, the operation is now the subject of a decade-long public inquiry that has already cost 88m and is due to conclude in 2026.

There is a fundamental problem with secret policing, Ms Wilson told an audience at the culture and arts festival. Theres an institutional problem with the fact theres no accountability, but theres also a personal problem when you take these individuals, who are mostly men, and you take them out of all of the normal social controls that make people behave decently.

They give them new names, they give them a mask, they tell them no one will ever find out who they were or what they did.

You remove them from their families and give them a whole bunch of power over a group of people  and horrific things happen.

Ms Wilson sat down to discuss her ordeal with investigative journalist Oliver Bullough in a wide-ranging talk at Hay Festival about her new book, Disclosure: Unravelling the Spycops File.

Im doing alright now, but there was some very dark moments, she said. When it first happened, I believed that not trusting was a good thing. I thought I had been really naive, and trusting was a bad thing. I kind of wore my distrust like a badge of honour.

I think one of the most important things to me about rebuilding trust is realising that you cant have a community without trust, and actually working to rebuild that stuff because its such an important part of what we do.

Addressing Ms Wilsons case previously, Helen Ball, the Mets then-assistant commissioner for professionalism, said: It is important to note that since Mark Kennedys deployment there has been enormous change in undercover policing, both in the Met and nationally, and I want to be clear that this case in no way reflects modern-day undercover policing.

Chief Constable Alan Pughsley, the NPCCs lead for undercover policing, also commented on the significant changes to the way undercover policing is conducted.

The selection and training of all undercover officers have been standardised and is licensed by the independent body, the College of Policing, he said.

Disclosure: Unravelling the Spycops Files by Kate Wilson is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on 29 May

The Independent has partnered with the Hay Festival once again to host a series of morning panels, The News Review, where our journalists will explore current affairs with leading figures from politics, science, the arts and comedy every morning.
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Angela Rayner has shut down growing rumours that she is seeking to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the leadership of the Labour Party, saying she doesnt want to lead the party.

Sir Keirs deputy categorically ruled out holding the position at any point in the future, despite a growing belief within Labour that she would be the most likely successor as the prime minister battles plummeting approval ratings following brutal results at the local elections.

It comes after The Independent revealed that a large number of MPs from the so-called soft left of the party are organising to try to force a change of direction, with allies of Ms Rayner urging her to organise a leadership contest.

Angela Rayner has ruled out becoming leader of the Labour Party ( Sky News )

But asked whether she would like to shut down the leadership rumours, Ms Rayner told Sky News: Yeah. Absolutely not. I don't want to be leader of the Labour Party.

She added: Im very happy and honoured to be deputy prime minister of the country, and Ive got a lot in my in-tray to prove that I can do the job that Im doing and deliver on those milestones for people in the country. Thats what Im interested in.

Pressed on whether she has any intention of being leader in the future, she said: I have no desire to go for the leadership of the Labour Party. My desire is to deliver for the people of this country who have given me opportunities beyond what I could have dreamed of.

Asked whether she could say she will never be leader, she said: Never.

There was fevered speculation over a possible leadership challenge from the deputy prime minister after a memo containing apparent tax rise plans was leaked, alongside media briefings alleging that she could be demoted.

There are growing questions over Sir Keirs leadership after Labour suffered a bruising defeat at the local elections, losing two-thirds of the council seats they had in 2021 as well as losing the previously Labour-held Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary seat to Reform UK.

There is also increasing unease over the direction of the party under Sir Keir following a turbulent 10 months in office  with concern over the partys hard line on migration, upcoming welfare cuts and last years decision to means-test winter fuel payments.

While the prime minister has since announced plans to water down the changes to winter fuel, there is still stark concern from backbenchers that the government is alienating its key voters.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer signalled a partial U-turn on restricting winter fuel payments earlier this week (Thomas Krych/PA) ( PA Wire )

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Kemi Badenoch has blasted Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage for making promises they cant deliver if they pledge to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

Taking aim at the Reform leader amid reports hes planning to outflank the prime minister on benefits by committing to restoring winter fuel payments and scrapping the two-child benefit cap, she said: "He's making the same mistake that Keir Starmer made of making promises, and then they'll get into government and can't deliver it."

The Conservative leader insisted we cannot afford to scrap it, adding: Nigel Farage and Keir Starmer are just saying things to please people.

It comes as Sir Keir is also said to be privately considering scrapping the two-child benefit cap in bid to reduce child poverty, in a move that would cost the Treasury 3.5bn a year.

Such a move would mark the second major welfare U-turn after last weeks reversal on the winter fuel allowance policy. With Labour MPs threatening to rebel over a wide-ranging package of welfare reforms, the Observer has reported that the prime minister has made it clear to his Cabinet that he wants the cap to be abolished.

It came as Angela Rayner piled pressure on Sir Keir by suggesting details on when winter fuel payments could be restored to more pensioners could come to light within a few weeks.

The deputy prime minister indicated the Spending Review by chancellor Rachel Reeves on 11 June could be when an announcement is made on winter fuel.
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Holidays to shoot endangered leopards are being sold online for up to 116,000, The Independent can reveal  while a long-promised UK ban on trophy hunt imports remains stalled.

Big-game tour companies are openly promoting online holiday packages or auctions to win the rights to kill the animals in Africa, whose numbers are in decline across the continent.

Some companies, which have dozens of hunting trips on sale, offer extras to wealthy hunters, including the chance to shoot elephants, lions and cheetahs.

open image in gallery Leopard populations are falling and nobody can be sure how many are left, but it is still legal to hunt them ( Getty/iStock )

One website has a points system, under which gunmen may be awarded silver, gold, platinum or diamond membership as they notch up rewards for hunting more animals and rarer species.

A new report by the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting reveals the disturbing tactics used, such as baiting leopards with live animals or starting fires deliberately to flush the big cats out of hiding.

In one case, a filmmaker recalled seeing a live duiker  or antelope  being tied by wire to a tree to lure a leopard, which was then shot illegally at night, the International Leopard Report says. It was not known who was responsible.

The report also reveals statistics showing that 709 leopard trophies  skins, skulls, bones and full bodies  were exported from Africa in 2023. Four of those mementoes were brought into the UK.

Governments have repeatedly promised to ban imports of hunting trophies to discourage Britons from overseas shooting safaris.

open image in gallery Joanna Lumley backs calls for a ban on trophy hunting ( Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting )

Both Conservative and Labour election manifestos have included pledges to introduce a ban, and in a government public consultation in 2020, 84 per cent of respondents backed a ban on imports and exports.

However, both the Tories and Labour have been accused of dithering since then. In 2022, Boris Johnsons government dropped the Animals Abroad Bill, which would have brought in a ban.

Last year, 11 peers in the Lords blocked the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, written by the government and passed by MPs. A private members bill of the same name by MP John Spellar later ran out of time.

Now, another private members bill, by Conservative David Reed, is due for a second reading next month. It is understood that the government will say then whether it supports it.

open image in gallery Wealthy hunters pay tens of thousands of pounds to shoot wildlife ( Getty/iStock )

The Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, backed by television stars Joanna Lumley and Chris Packham, is calling on the government to make a ban a priority.

Leopards are protected under international law and classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with some subspecies facing greater threats.

In 2016, scientists said the big cat had disappeared from 75 per cent of its historical habitat, but since then, population numbers have been difficult to determine.

The report says numbers may have plummeted by up to 90 per cent in 50 years, to around 50,000.

Safari Club International, a club that supports legal hunting, offers awards for shooting the African big five  elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos and buffalo.

Steven Chancellor, a top donor to US president Donald Trump, is one of the worlds most prolific hunters, according to hunting records for 2015 and 2016 from Safari Club International - the worlds largest trophy-hunting group.

Mr Chancellor logged nearly 500 kills, including at least 18 lions, six elephants, two rhinos and 13 leopards. One of those was the largest ever recorded. In 2018, he reportedly said illegal poaching was endangering African wildlife, not hunting.

Poachers are killing 30,000 elephants and 1,000 rhinos every year, The Columbus Dispatch reported. And a blogger quoted him as saying in 2012 that hunting saved elderly male lions from disease, starvation or being eaten by hyenas.

open image in gallery Protests have been staged urging past governments to adopt a ban ( Jane Dalton )

The US was the biggest importer of leopard trophies last year, with 356 recorded, followed by South Africa and Hungary, according to the Campaign to Ban Trophy Huntings new study.

The package being offered by a commercial company for $156,300 (116,476), which is for 28 days in Tanzania, may include chances to shoot elephants, lions, buffalo, hippos, antelope, guineafowl, ducks and geese.

Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, said: Leopards are shy, intelligent, and iconic animals that are now on the brink, yet theyre being massacred for bragging rights. Its not conservation, its barbarism.

Britain must show leadership. Nine out of ten voters want a ban. The government has drafted a bill. The bill passed unanimously in the Commons before the election.

open image in gallery More than 700 leopard parts were exported from Africa in 2023 ( Getty/iStock )

Why doesnt Defra [the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs] bring it back as a government bill? Labour made a manifesto pledge to ban hunting trophies but wont say when.

Its the 10th anniversary of the killing of Cecil the lion this year. The government should be prioritising this instead of seemingly sitting on its hands.

A Defra spokesperson said: The government was elected on mandate to ban the import of hunting trophies  that is exactly what we will do.
It was yet another moment that stunned even seasoned observers of the Trump presidency. During a meeting in the Oval Office earlier this week, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa found himself confronted by Donald Trump in an unexpected  and deeply disturbing way.

With cameras and advisers looking on, Trump asked Ramaphosa about a supposed white genocide in South Africa. The President of the United States had apparently been moved by reports that white South African farmers were being systematically killed in a campaign of racial extermination.

This is a narrative  discredited, conspiratorial and often rooted in white nationalist fantasy  that Trump has seemingly subscribed to for many years. In a tweet he posted on 23 August 2018, he asked then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large-scale killing of farmers. That tweet was a paraphrase of content aired on Fox News by Tucker Carlson, who cited fringe sources and extremist outlets.

And while since taking office, Donald Trumps administration has virtually shut down refugee admissions, the president has singled out one specific group of people who will be allowed entry into the United States and appear to be on a fast track to citizenship: white South Africans.

Earlier this month, Trump said, a group of 59 white South Africans were admitted to the United States as refugees and have been essentially extended citizenship.

The deeper roots of this thinking  and latest Oval Office ambush  reach into the complex lives and ideological convictions of two of Trump's wealthiest and most powerful supporters: Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.

Both men have significant ties to South Africa. Musk was born there, while Thiel spent part of his early life in the country. Their biographies offer insight into how narratives of white persecution, apartheid nostalgia, and libertarian techno-utopianism converge in todays far-right discourse. And in the Trump era, those convergences have a direct line to the Resolute Desk.

open image in gallery Donald Trumps tense exchange with Cyril Ramaphosa was unexpected, but not so much when you think about the people he surrounds himself with ( AP )

Elon Musks early life in South Africa is well known, though often sanitised in public accounts. He was born in Pretoria in 1971 and lived through the height of the apartheid regime. While much attention has been paid to Musks father, Errol Musk, a less-explored yet significant influence is his mother, Maye Musk. Born Maye Haldeman in Canada, she moved to South Africa in 1950 with her family. Her father, Joshua Haldeman, was a chiropractor and political activist who supported the apartheid regime. Haldeman was known to be racist and antisemitic, actively choosing South Africa as a home for his family as it was the last bastion of white Christian civilisation.

Maye Musk herself has cultivated an image of resilience and independence, escaping an abusive marriage and raising her children as a single mother. However, her political views have also sparked controversy. Initially a registered Democrat, she switched allegiance to the Republican party after claiming that Democrats spoke poorly of her son, Elon Musk.

Her public statements often echo far-right rhetoric. For instance, she has promoted anti-immigrant narratives, including claims that Democrats ship illegal immigrants across the Mexican border to secure votes  a narrative often seen as rooted in the white supremacist great replacement theory. These views, combined with her familys history, suggest a continuity of ideology that has influenced Elon Musks perspectives.

Musks own silence about apartheid is striking. Despite growing up in a racially segregated society that was under international sanction, he has rarely, if ever, addressed the regimes crimes or its legacy. Nor has he publicly reckoned with how being a white male growing up under apartheid might have influenced his views  or his blind spots.

Indeed, Musk has more often echoed themes that resonate in right-wing South African discourse. He has shared and liked tweets that flirt with the white genocide myth, and he has posted cryptic messages about anti-white racism and attacks on civilisation. These are not random thoughts. They are part of a pattern, and they matter because Musk  arguably the worlds most powerful tech figure  is not just an entrepreneur. He is a loud, mercurial, and influential participant in global political discourse.

Peter Thiels ties to South Africa are less direct but perhaps even more ideologically profound. Born in Germany in 1967 and raised in the US, Thiel spent part of his early childhood in Namibia and South Africa, as his father worked in mining and engineering projects in the region. Like Musk, Thiel came from a background where the white expatriate class often looked upon apartheid not as an abomination, but as a bulwark against communism and chaos.

open image in gallery Peter Thiel, pictured here with Trump 11 years ago, is a libertarian with a penchant for obscure reactionary philosophy ( Getty )

Thiel is a libertarian intellectual, a deep reader of obscure reactionary philosophy, and a man who has openly questioned the value of democracy. In his infamous 2009 essay The Education of a Libertarian, he wrote: I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible. He sees the modern world in terms of decline and siege  a place where productive, creative (read: rich, mostly white) men are beset by bureaucrats, populists, and the ungrateful masses.

Though Thiel has never publicly endorsed apartheid, his worldview bears striking resemblances to some of its rationalisations: a fear of demographic decline, the idea that western civilisation is being eroded from within, and a belief that only a small elite is capable of governing effectively. His support for Trump was not an aberration  it was a logical outcome of his ideology.

Thiel has funded projects that peddle paranoia about demographic change, and he has given platforms to figures who push the Great Replacement theory  a cousin of the white genocide myth, in which white populations are supposedly being replaced by non-white immigrants. That theory was cited by the perpetrators of mass shootings in Christchurch, El Paso, and Buffalo.

The overlap between Thiels worldview and the South African white nationalist narrative is not complete, but it is real. And in the Trump administration, it had an outlet. The idea that Trump merely heard about white genocide from Tucker Carlson underplays the deeper dynamics at work. The Trump presidency has been shaped by a confluence of far-right media, wealthy tech libertarians, and ethno-nationalist ideologues.

Steve Bannon, who helped steer Trumps early campaign and who remains closely allied with Thiel, has long pushed the notion of a global civilisational struggle. Bannon frequently invokes South Africa as a cautionary tale  an example of what happens when western civilisation loses power.

Musk, for his part, has increasingly flirted with reactionary discourse on his own social media platform, X. Since buying the platform, he has reinstated white nationalist figures, platformed misinformation, and amplified voices that echo the white genocide myth.

Then theres the more obscure but influential network of alt-tech and crypto libertarians  people like Balaji Srinivasan, Curtis Yarvin (aka Mencius Moldbug), and various neo-reactionary thinkers  who idolise Thiel and treat South Africa as both a warning and a laboratory. In their view, the post-apartheid South African state is proof of what happens when mob rule replaces elite governance.

For Trump, whose views are often shaped by flattery, television, and whispered rumours, these networks provide an ideological ecosystem. They feed on fear, racial anxiety, and nostalgia for a world in which white, male authority was unchallenged. South Africa  the old and the new  fits perfectly into that story.

In the Oval Office, Ramaphosa responded to Trumps insinuations with restraint. He later downplayed the encounter, diplomatically choosing not to escalate the issue. But the fact remains that a head of state was confronted in the White House with a white nationalist fantasy. That should have been a scandal. Instead, it was a symptom of a larger malaise  how reactionary tech elites have helped push mainstream racist fictions.

open image in gallery Elon Musk pictured with his mother, Maye, whose own father was a pro-apartheid activist in South Africa ( Getty )

A complex, painful, and deeply unequal South African society is still grappling with the legacy of apartheid, but white South Africans still disproportionately own land, wealth, and capital. Black South Africans continue to face structural poverty, landlessness, and violence. But the idea of a coordinated campaign to murder whites is an outright lie, peddled by groups like AfriForum and weaponised by American ideologues for political ends.

It would be comforting to dismiss Trumps Oval Office ambush as the rambling of a man addicted to right-wing television. But that would be a mistake. It reveals how deeply the toxic narratives of apartheid nostalgia and white victimhood have infiltrated the highest echelons of American power  carried there, in part, by men like Musk and Thiel.

These men wield extraordinary influence. They command billions of dollars, own platforms that shape global discourse, and maintain ideological networks that reach into the heart of government. And they bring with them ghosts  ghosts of Pretoria, Windhoek, and white enclaves ringed with electric fences and fear.

The tragedy is not just that Trump listened. Its that so many others still do.
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Hasan Piker, a popular left-wing political commentator, has been suspended from the live-streaming platform Twitch for the improper handling of terrorist propaganda.

A 24-hour suspension notice from the platform to the 33-year-old streamer followed his remarks regarding the shooting deaths of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday evening.

open image in gallery Hasan Piker was suspended from Twitch for 24 hours after sharing information from a suspected shooters alleged manifesto in the wake of the killings of two Israeli embassy workers ( AP )

While the notice didnt point to specific comments made by Piker, inappropriate behavior could include showing a violent extremist manifesto on stream while denouncing it and speaking out against terrorist organizations while displaying a recruitment video, according to Twitch.

Piker has 2.8 million followers on the platform.

I covered the motives of the Israeli Embassy staff shooter. Twitch [terms of service] dictates a suspension for even critical examination of the manifesto, Piker wrote on X, referring to written comments allegedly made by Elias Rodriguez, the suspected shooter.

I believe this is a bad policy for news and press freedom. Ill take the suspension, but hope Twitch changes this policy in the future, he said.

open image in gallery Yaron Lischinsky, 30, right, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, left, were killed in a shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday

Rodriguez has been charged with federal and local murder offenses in connection with the deaths of Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26. The couple left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum and were gunned down.

Lischinsky was hoping to propose to Milgrim during an upcoming trip to Israel.

During a livestream after the murders, Piker said: Im not saying it is a false flag incident at all, Im not saying that, I think this is just one dude who is genuine in his actions and maybe a little bit brain broken.

A flood of social media users denounced Pikers comments. In one X post, a user wrote: You called it a false flag. You hate the Jewish people and you are antisemitic.

Ironically enough, I was showing his motive to dispel the rumors of a false flag, which is the reason for this suspension but I dont think youre capable of critical thought, Piker wrote in response.

The Independent has emailed Twitch for comment.

Earlier this month, Piker said he was grilled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at Chicago OHare International Airport. Officials spent two hours questioning him about his views on Donald Trump and the war in Gaza, prompting concern from civil liberties advocates.

I think they did it because they know who the f*** I am, and they wanted to put the fear of God into me, Piker said about the encounter.
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An Indigenous tribe from the Brazilian Amazon has sued The New York Times for a report that led its members being widely portrayed as technology-addled and addicted to pornography.

The Marubo tribe of the Javari Valley, a sovereign community of about 2,000 people in the rainforest, filed the defamation lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages this week in a court in Los Angeles.

It also names TMZ and Yahoo as defendants, alleging that their stories amplified and sensationalized the Times' reporting and smeared the tribe in the process.

The suit says the Times' June 2024 story by reporter Jack Nicas on how the group was handling the introduction of satellite service through Elon Musk's Starlink portrayed the Marubo people as a community unable to handle basic exposure to the internet, highlighting allegations that their youth had become consumed by pornography.

The Marubo tribe is a community of about 2,000 people who live in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil (pictured) ( AFP via Getty Images )

These statements were not only inflammatory but conveyed to the average reader that the Marubo people had descended into moral and social decline as a direct result of internet access, an amended version of the lawsuit filed Thursday says.

Such portrayals go far beyond cultural commentary; they directly attack the character, morality, and social standing of an entire people, suggesting they lack the discipline or values to function in the modern world.

In a statement to The Associated Press, a Times spokesperson said: Any fair reading of this piece shows a sensitive and nuanced exploration of the benefits and complications of new technology in a remote Indigenous village with a proud history and preserved culture. We intend to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.

The theme of Nicas' story was that after less than a year of service, the community was now facing the same kinds of struggles with the pervasive effects of the internet and the proliferation of smartphones that much of the world has dealt with for years.

Nicas listed a broad range of those challenges: Teenagers glued to phones; group chats full of gossip; addictive social networks; online strangers; violent video games; scams; misinformation; and minors watching pornography.

He later wrote that a tribal leader is most unsettled by the pornography. He said young men were sharing explicit videos in group chats, a stunning development for a culture that frowns on kissing in public.

The piece makes no other mention of porn, but that aspect of the story was amplified and aggregated by other outlets including TMZ, which ran a story and accompanying video headlined, Elon Musks Starlink Hookup Leaves A Remote Tribe Addicted To Porn.

The suit says the video segment falsely framed the Marubo Tribe as having descended into moral collapse.

Messages seeking comment from TMZ and Yahoo were not immediately answered.

The misperceptions brought on by the aggregation and repackaging of the story led the Times to publish a follow-up.

The Marubo people are not addicted to pornography, Nicas wrote in the the second story. There was no hint of this in the forest, and there was no suggestion of it in The New York Timess article.

That did not satisfy the tribe, which says in the lawsuit that it failed to acknowledge the role the NYT itself played in fueling the defamatory narrative. Rather than issuing a retraction or apology, the follow-up downplayed the original articles emphasis on pornography by shifting blame to third-party aggregators.

Nicas wrote that he spent a week with the Marubo tribe. The lawsuit says that while he was invited for a week, he spent less than 48 hours in the village, "barely enough time to observe, understand, or respectfully engage with the community.

The lawsuit was first reported by Courthouse News.

The plaintiffs also include community leader Enoque Marubo and Brazilian journalist and sociologist Flora Dutra, both of whom appeared in the story.

Both were instrumental in bringing the tribe the internet connection, which they said has had many positive effects including facilitating emergency medicine and the education of children.

They cited the TMZ video, which shows them setting up antennas for the connection, as creating the "unmistakable impression that the two had introduced harmful, sexually explicit material into the community and facilitated the alleged moral and social decay.

The lawsuit seeks at least $180 million, including both general and punitive damages, from each of the defendants.

The fallout from the publication was not limited to public perception, the suit says, it destroyed lives, institutions, and culturally significant projects.
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An Oregon man who quit his job at a tire company and liquidated his retirement savings to set sail for Hawaii with his cat, Phoenix, reached his destination Saturday, welcomed by cheering fans at the end of a weekslong journey that he documented for his mass of followers on social media.

Oliver Widger, who also was greeted by Hawaii Governor Josh Green at the Waikiki Yacht Club on Oahu, acknowledged he was nervous facing the crowd, which included reporters. Widger said he was feeling really weird  not seasick, but, I just feel like I have to, like, hold on to things to not fall over.

open image in gallery Oliver Widger, 29-year-old Oregon man who sailed from Oregon to Hawai, arrives at the Waikiki Yacht Club, on May 24 ( AP )

He became an online sensation with his story, which followed a diagnosis four years ago with a syndrome that carried a risk of paralysis and made him realize he disliked his managerial job. He quit his job with no money, no plan and $10,000 of debt  and the goal of buying a sailboat and sailing around the world.

He taught himself to sail mostly via YouTube and moved from Portland to the Oregon coast. He spent months refitting the $50,000 boat he bought.

He set sail for Hawaii with Phoenix in late April, documenting their experiences for his more than 1 million followers on TikTok and 1.7 million followers on Instagram. He said he thinks his story, which made national news, resonated with people.

I think a lot of people are, you know, youre grinding at your job all day long and it doesnt really matter how much money you make at this point, everybodys just trying to do enough to get by and that just wears you out, he said. Its just the world's in a weird place, and I think people have seen that its possible to break out.

open image in gallery In this photo provided by Oliver Widger to the Associated Press via his Instagram account on May 15, his cat, Phoenix, sits inside their sailboat somewhere in the Pacific Ocean ( AP )

Green presented Widger with a proclamation. Fans swarmed Widger after the news conference, many holding cameras and seeking selfies.

The scariest point of the trip came when a rudder failed, Widger said. Highlights included seeing dolphins and whales and periods of calm Pacific waters

Being in the middle of the ocean when it was completely glass in every direction was an absurd feeling, he said.

open image in gallery In this screengrab taken from a video posted on Oliver Widger's Instagram account on Saturday, May 3, Widger talks to the camera somewhere in the Pacific Ocean ( AP )

Widger, 29, said he never truly felt alone, since he was communicating with friends by means including video conference. But he also lamented not experiencing the open waters in a way that other sailors  who didn't have access to tools like Starlink internet satellites  have in years before.

He said he may travel next to French Polynesia. But he said he had been focused on getting to Hawaii and not on what he'd do after that. He said he also needs to make repairs to his boat.
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A Maryland father who was erroneously deported back to El Salvador really did flee his home country to avoid gang recruitment, school records obtained byThe Washington Postshow.

There is no official evidence linking Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the MS-13 gang, despite repeated claims from Donald Trumps administration.

The president and administration officials claim Abrego Garcias tattoos are evidence of alleged gang ties, but law enforcement officials and gang experts say they do not definitively indicate any gang affiliation.

Although the Salvadoran boy was of prime age to be recruited by MS-13, like many boys in his neighborhood, Abrego Garcia was not one of them, his teacher and a classmate said in the report provided to The Washington Post.

open image in gallery Federal judges and the Supreme Court have ordered the Trump administration to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who fled El Salvador as a teen out of fears he would be recruited by MS-13 ( Murray Osorio PLLC )

School records from 2003 to 2011 reportedly state that Abrego Garcia consistently demonstrated very good conduct.

His friends, however, did become concerned during his school years that Abrego Garcia may be having issues at home.

He seemed sad, like his mind was on something else, an anonymous classmate told the outlet.

Abrego Garcia fled to the United States in 2011 at age 16 to join his older brother after gang threats against him and his family, according to his attorneys.

Last month, Abrego Garcaas wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura told The Washington Postthat her husbands fears from childhood followed him for years, making him cry and sweat in his sleep.

He never talked about them, but I could see it, Vasquez Sura said.

open image in gallery Jennifer Vasquez, wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, has said her husband's childhood fear of gangs has followed him into adulthood ( Getty )

Following a March traffic stop, Abrego Garcia was detained by federal agents and deported to El Salvadors brutal Terrorism Confinement Center despite a court order preventing his removal from the country. He was later transferred to a Salvadoran prison for non-gang members.

He had been working as a sheet-metal apprentice and living with his wife and their 5-year-old child, both U.S. citizens, along with two other children from a previous relationship.

Last month, District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcias return to the United States.

The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Xiniss ruling and called his removal illegal.

Xinis has since clashed with government attorneys as they push to withhold details on what, if anything, has been done to return him.

open image in gallery Maryland Rep. Glenn Ivey is now traveling to El Salvador to try and meet with Abrego Garcia ( Getty )

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland traveled to El Salvador to meet Abrego Garcia as members of Congress demand the administration return him to U.S. soil, where government attorneys can present evidence against him to support his removal.

Maryland Rep. Glenn Ivey is now traveling to El Salvador to try and meet with Abrego Garcia.

The court orders for him to come back so that he can have his day in court, Ivey told WBAL News Radio. Were not afraid of him having his day in court. Thats what due process is all about. He needs to be brought back so he can have his day in court.

Republicans have opposed efforts to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States, citing allegations of criminality and a protective order filed by his wife in 2020, which she later rescinded.

Ivey is expected to return from El Salvador on Tuesday.
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Donald Trumps Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing intense criticism from military reporters after his office announced extra restrictions to media access at the Pentagon.

The Pentagon Press Association  which represents reporters covering the Department of Defense  said in a statement that the move was a direct attack on the freedom of the press and Americas right to know what its military is doing.

open image in gallery Pete Hegseth has been heavily criticized by military reporters after announcing media restrictions at the Pentagon. He has yet to hold a press briefing since taking office ( REUTERS )

Hegseth  a former Fox News host  announced additional credentialing procedures would soon be implemented for the press at the Pentagon in the interest of national security.

Those new measures include making key parts of the Pentagon off-limits to journalists unless they have an official escort. The notice also said additional security measures and enhanced scrutiny of press members are incoming.

Top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on X that the changes were pragmatic to protect operational security.

But the press association pointed out that journalists have had access to non-secured, unclassified spaces in the Pentagon for decades under both Republican and Democratic administrations, including in the aftermath of 9/11, when hijackers crashed a plane into the building, killing all 64 people onboard and 125 inside the Pentagon.

The Washington Posts military correspondent Dan Lamothe was among reporters shocked by Hegseths announcement.

The most transparent DoD in U.S. history, as [Hegesth] and his team calls itself, cracks down on media access again, he wrote.

I've been on this beat 17 years through numerous administrations, he said. Never seen anything like this. One briefing all year. None again this week.

Hegseth has not personally delivered a briefing in his first 100 days. Parnell has only given one.

open image in gallery Hegseths new measures include making key parts of the Pentagon off-limits to journalists unless they have an official escort. The notice also mentioned that additional security measures and enhanced scrutiny of press members are incoming ( AP )

The secretarys memo also states that while the department remains committed to transparency, the department is equally obligated to protect [classified intelligence] and sensitive information, the unauthorized disclosure of which could put the lives of U.S. service members in danger.

Hegseth continues to face intense scrutiny after sharing operational details about military strikes in a group on the messaging app Signal, which inadvertently included a journalist.

The new measures announced by Hegseth and his team follow ongoing efforts throughout the Trump administration to reduce access to adversarial reporters and promote new media  including outlets more sympathetic to the president and his administration.

Shortly after Hegseth assumed the role of Defense Secretary, several major outlets including NBC and The New York Times were evicted from their workspaces at the Pentagon as part of a so-called media rotation program.

The press association said it was puzzled as to why the department was devoting such attention to restricting Pentagon media instead of engaging with it as senior leaders have long done.

Transparency isnt a threat. Independent reporting on national security isnt a luxury. Its democracy, said National Press Club president Mike Balsamo. The Pentagons new media policy undermines transparency and the publics right to know.
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President Donald Trump posted a late-night rant on Truth Social, demanding that Harvard University provide his administration with the names and countries of all its international students.

There would be nearly 6,793 names on that list, according to the latest data shared by the university.

Why isnt Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their students education, nor do they ever intend to, Trump wrote at 12:51 a.m. on Sunday. Nobody told us that!

We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isnt exactly forthcoming, he continued. We want those names and countries.

open image in gallery President Donald Trump said he wants all the names of the nearly 7,000 international students at Harvard University ( Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

Trump tried to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students on Thursday, in the latest escalation of his war on U.S. colleges. His administration also wants all foreign students to leave the university, or else risk losing their legal status.

The administration had previously warned that the schools federal funding was at risk if leaders didnt comply with Trumps demands, which included ending diversity programs, dissolving pro-Palestine demonstrations and submitting a viewpoint diversity audit.

But U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs called the order a blatant violation of the Constitution on Friday, granting Harvard a temporary restraining order against the administration. Burroughs said Harvards attorneys have shown that the move would do immediate and irreparable injury to the institution.

Earlier this week, a federal judge also blocked the Trump administration from revoking legal status for international students nationwide while a legal challenge is ongoing.

open image in gallery A building seen on Harvard Universitys campus. Trump said his administration would block Harvard from enrolling international students before a judge intervened Friday ( REUTERS )

Harvard professors and staff have shown an outpouring of support for their international students, and the schools administration says its committed to ensuring the students can stay.

We are fully committed to maintaining Harvards ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the university  and this nation  immeasurably, Harvards media relations director Jason Newton said Friday.

We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community, he added. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvards academic and research mission.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security claims Harvard has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students, and otherwise obstruct its once-venerable learning environment.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has similarly accused the university of fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.
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The police search for missing Australian teenager Phoebe Bishop entered its 10th day after she was last seen on her way to the Bundaberg airport to reportedly meet her boyfriend but never boarded the flight.

Police dogs and helicopters joined the search for the 17-year-old on Sunday, which was expanded to bushland and waterways in the Good Night Scrub National Park.

Ms Bishop has not been seen or heard from since 15 May, said Queensland police.

According to a family member, Ms Bishop never checked in for her flight. She didnt check in for her flight to visit her boyfriend who she spoke to on the phone at 8.30am, they said, reported The Sun.

Her phone has been switched off from this point. She hasnt contacted anyone at all, no one has seen her, the family member told the news outlet.

She was last seen on the morning of 15 May when she was being driven to the Bundaberg airport by her housemates.

Footage shared online showed a grey Hyundai ix35 driving along the backstreet of Gin Gin. The car model was allegedly the same as the one Ms Bishop was travelling in on the day of her disappearance, according to the police.

The video was reportedly from two hours after Ms Bishop was dropped to the Bundaberg airport for her flight to Brisbane. She was then scheduled to travel to Perth to meet her boyfriend.

The police have seized the grey Hyundai ix35 with a Queensland registration 414EW3 and declared it an active crime scene.

Earlier, acting inspector Ryan Thompson said police were still trying to determine whether Pheobe was actually dropped off at the airport, and whether she knew the driver of the SUV. He said: Were still working together to piece together her movements on that day.

Forensic police officials have also collected some items in brown evidence bags but it is not immediately clear if they are connected to the case.

Facebook users posted photos of their front door lights on the profile of Ms Bishops mother Kylie Johnson, which they say was to guide Phoebe home.

May our shining lights, light up your path Phoebe, one user said, posting a picture of a lit-up front porch of their house.

Ms Bishops mother prayed for her daughters safe return. Im praying that the lights of Gin Gin and the world guide you back to me, guide you back to us, guide you back to your siblings and our family. Our lives and existence is nothing without you in our lives, she wrote. We just need to know where you are and if your safe.
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Moscow and Kyiv engaged in a significant prisoner exchange on Sunday, marking a rare instance of cooperation amid ongoing hostilities.

The Russian defense ministry confirmed the swap, the third such exchange in a series that began on Friday. This latest exchange saw 303 soldiers returned to each side, following the release of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday.

The combined exchanges represent the largest prisoner swap in over three years of conflict.

The announcement came hours after a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens, officials said early Sunday.

The scale of the onslaught was stunning  Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, making this the largest single aerial attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force.

In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press.

It was "the most massive strike in terms of the number of air attack weapons on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022," Ihnat said.

open image in gallery A residential building is seen damaged after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko) ( Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century,

'Deliberate strikes on ordinary cities'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia.

That has been a long-standing demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that  despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe  have not materialized in ways to deter Russia.

"These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday's targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

"Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help," Zelenskyy said. "Determination matters now  the determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace."

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed its troops have taken control of the village of Romanivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region on Sunday.

A map of Romanivka:

The prisoner swap was the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month that have so far failed to produce a ceasefire and a rare moment of cooperation between the warring sides.

Russia's Defense Ministry said emanwhile that its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The 'most massive Russian air attack'

Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service.

"A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.

Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.

In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building's walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.

The scale of Russia's use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion.

open image in gallery People show photos of their missed relatives to Ukrainian soldiers during a POWs exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears.

"The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it's just terrible," says 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and the grandchildren hadn't joined them for the weekend.

"I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us," Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, "After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it's the ground floor."'

"She said, 'No, mum, I'm not coming.' And thank God she didn't come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the children's rooms were," Fedorenko said.

Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. "They burned to death," he said. "I want to bury them, but I'm not allowed yet."
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Three children were among at least 12 people killed in Ukraine after Russian forces launched the largest aerial bombardment since the war started in February 2022.

Russia launched 367 drones and missiles in Sundays onslaught, striking more than 30 cities and villages, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force.

Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and families in a village near the capital returned to find their homes burned down on Sunday.

In the Zhytomyr region, west of the city, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged eight, 12 and 17.

Following the strikes, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed the silence of America was encouraging Russian president Vladimir Putin as he called for Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Moscow.

open image in gallery Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the silence of America following the strikes ( Getty )

These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities, Mr Zelensky wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that Sundays targets included Kyiv, where university dormitories were hit, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia, he said.

Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day.

Americas silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin, he added.

Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes.

open image in gallery People begin clearing up houses destroyed by a Russian strike in Korostyshiv, Zhytomyr region ( AP )

The aerial attacks came hours before Russia and Ukraine completed the final stage of a major prisoner exchange, with around 1,000 people swapped each way between the two countries.

Russias Defence Ministry said each side brought home 303 more soldiers on Sunday, after each released 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday and 390 on Friday.

President Zelensky confirmed the exchange, saying on X/Twitter on Sunday that 303 Ukrainian defenders are home.

He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.

The swap was agreed in talks held in Istanbul earlier this month  the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since the first months of the war.

Ukraines foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the country faced a sleepless night as they were bombarded in the widespread aerial assault, which saw fires break out after falling drone debris hit homes and businesses.

open image in gallery Homes in Korostyshiv, Zhytomyr region, were destroyed after Russia launched the largest aerial strikes of the war ( AP )

At least four people were killed in the capital itself, according to the security service, while 16 were injured.

The three children were killed in in Zhytomyr region, where another 12 people were injured.

A further four people were killed Khmelnytskyi region, western Ukraine, with another fatality reported in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine.

In the village of Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv, devastated residents returned to find homes burned down with their pets inside.

The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, its just terrible, said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraines most devastated cities.

She said she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren had not joined them for the weekend.

I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us, Ms Fedorenko said.

She said, No, mum, Im not coming. And thank God she didnt come, because the rocket hit [the house] on the side where the childrens rooms were.

Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off.

They burned to death, he said. I want to bury them, but Im not allowed yet.
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At least 20 Palestinians - including a journalist and a senior rescue service official - were killed in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health authorities have said.

Medics said the fatalities resulted from separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north, and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip.

In Jabalia, local journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several family members were killed in an airstrike that hit his house earlier on Sunday, medics said.

Another airstrike in Nuseirat killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior official in the territory's civil emergency service, and his wife in their house, medics added.

open image in gallery Tents put up by displaced Palestinians near to Gaza City ( EPA )

There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said that Abu Warda's death raised the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to 220.

The armed wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said in separate statements on Sunday that fighters carried out several ambushes and attacks using bombs and anti-tank rockets against Israeli forces operating in several areas across Gaza.

On Friday the Israeli military said it had conducted more strikes in Gaza overnight, hitting 75 targets including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.

Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas militants' cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people by Israeli tallies with 251 hostages abducted into Gaza.

The conflict has killed more than 53,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip.

open image in gallery Palestinians gather to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in the Nuseirat camp. Malnutrition is widespread in the area due to issues with aid. ( AFP via Getty Images )

Aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread.

On Friday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least six Palestinians guarding aid trucks against looters, Hamas officials said on Friday, as the head of the United Nations warned that only a "teaspoon" of aid was getting in following Israel's 11-week-long blockade.

The Israeli military said 107 trucks carrying flour and other foodstuffs as well as medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing point on Thursday, for a total of 305 since Monday when the blockade was relaxed.

But getting the supplies to people sheltering in tents and other makeshift accommodation has been fitful and U.N. officials say at least 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed every day.

So far, an umbrella network of Palestinian aid groups said, 119 aid trucks have got past the Kerem Shalom crossing point and into Gaza since Israel eased its blockade on Monday in the face of an international outcry.

Despite the relaxation of the blockade, distribution has been hampered by looting by groups of men, some of them armed, near the city of Khan Younis, an umbrella network representing Palestinian aid groups said.

"They stole food meant for children and families suffering from severe hunger," the network said in a statement, which also condemned Israeli airstrikes on security teams protecting the trucks.

The U.N. World Food Programme said 15 trucks carrying flour to WFP-supported bakeries had been looted, which it said reflected the dire conditions facing Gazans.

"Hunger, desperation and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming is contributing to rising insecurity," it said in a statement.

A Hamas official said six members of a security team tasked with guarding the shipments were killed.
President Donald Trump reignited debate over culture and politics in the military during a fiery commencement address at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, on Saturday, May 24.

Speaking to the graduating class of 2025, Trump took aim at diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, criticizing what he described as politically motivated initiatives within the armed forces.

The job of the U.S. Armed Forces is not to host drag shows to transform foreign cultures, but to spread democracy at the point of a gun, he said, pledging to eliminate what he called woke agendas and refocus the military on discipline, strength, and national defense.
This is the moment Russian forces attacked Kyiv early on Sunday (25 May), killing at least 13 people.

Footage shows the city's skyline lit up as drones fly overhead, followed by multiple explosions.

It was the second consecutive night of large-scale strikes, after Russia launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles on Friday evening, in one of the wars biggest combined aerial assaults.

The attack came just hours after Russia and Ukraine exchanged 307 prisoners of war each, part of an ongoing deal expected to see 1,000 citizens from both sides returned to their respective countries.
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He made his call and then it was up to me to make my call and I did  Joey OBrien on decision to take over from Damien Duff and nervy win over Cork
US President Donald Trumps threat to tear up transatlantic trade with massive tariffs on European goods could halt most commerce between the EU and America, with very damaging consequences for Ireland, experts have warned.

Last Friday, Trump took to his social media site, Truth Social, and fired off a furious post threatening the EU with a straight 50pc tariff on goods imported from the bloc to America. Such a move would devastate the highly lucrative levels of trade between the parties, a relationship once worth 4.4bn every day.
Metal fabricator to grow staff numbers to 350, with 120m revenue in its sights

On the same morning that James Kellys world was turned upside down by the death of his beloved mother, he somehow rustled up the strength to pull off one of the boldest moves of his business career to date.
Opening of Irish Distillers new 250m facility in Midleton, pushed back to 2027 at the earliest

Company said construction had slowed at the new distillery in March but did not reveal by how long

Kevin OGorman Master distiller at Irish Distillers

Sean Pollock Sun 25 May 2025 at 03:30

The opening of Irish Distillers new 250m distillery has been pushed back to at least 2027, despite initially being planned for this year, according to the whiskey giants master distiller.
Procurement rules for local bodies are far too rigid, says Eoin O Broin

Parts of the leisure centre are in use, but the main pool has yet to be opened. Photo: Getty

A community swimming pool that was expected to cost less than 13m has yet to open after six years of construction  with costs now at just under 18m to date.

The pool facility, in Lucan in west Dublin, has been dogged by delays  and the final price of the project is now expected to come in at around 20m.

When it was originally costed in 2017, South Dublin County Council expected the final bill to be around 12.985m.

A project schedule from the time said that once the contract was awarded, it should only take 14 months to construct. Construction got under way in May 2019, but the Covid pandemic, severe weather and a variety of other issues have seen the project go way beyond schedule, with completion dates pushed back at least a dozen times.

A series of updates to queries from councillors, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show how the opening day for the swimming pool and leisure centre kept shifting.

In late 2020, a local representative was told the handover date had been meant to be February 2021, but that this had been moved back to June 2021.

Im satisfied the council has done everything in their power to expedite the project

An update said: The project has been significantly delayed due firstly to poor weather conditions in the early part of 2020 and then the enforced closure of the site for a number of weeks during the Covid national lockdown.

In late 2021, another councillor was given an update, saying the completion date was now likely to be in April or May of 2022. That date then got pushed to August 2022, though even that proved hopelessly optimistic.

Local Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin asked in January 2023 when the pool was likely to be open and was told that June 2023 was now the target, and that this was very disappointing to the council.

Parts of the leisure centre are in use, but the main pool has yet to be opened. Photo: Getty

Today's News in 90 seconds - 25th May 2025

A letter to him said: As you will be aware, the project has been impacted significantly by various construction sector challenges.

By last year, the project still wasnt complete  and in August 2024 councillors were told that the local authority was still working with the contractor to agree a revised programme.

In February of this year, Mr O Broin again sought an update and was told more resources were being provided to expedite project completion.

A letter to him said: The council understands both the importance of this project to the local community and the frustration that the delays have caused.

'The ongoing delays have been enormously frustrating,' said local Sinn Fein TD, Eoin O Broin. Photo: Frank McGrath

An update to councillors in January said: Completion of the project continues to be challenging, primarily; as noted previously, due to contractor resources and sub-contractor availability.

We are continuing to intensively manage the project and main contractor to achieve the earliest possible completion dates.

South Dublin County Council had originally refused to provide details of how much they had so far spent on the project.

However, following an appeal under FoI laws, they disclosed that costs so far were 17.87m, which included 15.7m in payments to the main contractor.

A further 702,000 was paid to an architectural firm while fees of 33,919 were paid to Irish Water and just over 20,000 to ESB Networks.

That is unlikely to be the final bill, however, and local representatives have been warned that an overall cost of around 20m can be expected.

Parts of the facility are in use, but the main swimming pool has yet to be opened to the public.

The ongoing delays have been enormously frustrating, but Im satisfied that the council has done everything in their power to expedite the project, said Mr O Broin.

What I would say is the way in which procurement rules are imposed on local bodies is far too rigid. It means that when something goes wrong, its very difficult to resolve those issues in a timely manner.

The council has done a large number of capital projects, including housing and community facilities, and none of those have had the kind of delays that this centre has.
Tourist fears she will be left scarred after random one-punch attack in Dublin city centre, court hears

The female tourist had only arrived in Dublin when the accused is alleged to have without warning punched her in the face and then calmly walked away

Dame Street in Dublin

Tom Tuite Sun 25 May 2025 at 17:34

A female tourist, who had just arrived in Dublin, was left bruised and bleeding after a man punched her face without warning in a gender-targeted daylight attack on Friday, a court heard.
Specialist search teams wading through slurry tank failed to find dismembered human remains

For eight weeks, gardai assisted by emergency services and members of the public searched hundreds of acres of mountainous land in Kerry for signs of missing farmer Mike Gaine.

All that time, the remains of the murdered farmer were in a slurry tank, just 50 metres from where the 56-year-old had parked his bronze-coloured Toyota Rav 4 in his farmyard, hours before he was killed on March 20.
The passengers passing through the airport mark 2.5 times capacity of the Aviva Stadium

Dublin Airport had its busiest day ever in its 85-year history today with 127,000 passengers passing through the airport and one flight taking off or landing every minute.

Graeme McQueen, spokesperson for operator DAA, said operations were running well with no hiccups, with between 130,000 and 140,000 passengers expected for certain days this summer.

Kenny Jacobs, CEO of DAA, said that today is running like clockwork and highlighted that the number of passengers in the airport today was 2.5 times the capacity of the Aviva Stadium.

Mr McQueen told The Anton Savage Show on Newstalk: Obviously youve got to stagger those numbers of passengers over the course of the day.

We are in for our busiest summer again this year. People want to travel, they want to come to Ireland. Weve seen lots of tourists come in this weekend.

Its not a bank holiday here this weekend, but it is in the UK. It shows the vital role that DAA plays.

"A significant number of people will be coming here to spend money, which is great for the pubs and the hotels all around the country. You will have some as well who are connecting to other places; Dublin is a big hub now.

"We are in for our busiest summer again this year. People want to travel, they want to come to Ireland. Weve seen lots of tourists come in this weekend.

He added that the airport "will end up north of 36 million passengers this year, four million over the current passenger cap for the airport.

The airport is currently in the process of lobbying the government to extend the cap, describing recent statements from Transport Minister Darragh OBrien as positive.

Increasing the cap is opposed by local residents on grounds of noise from aircraft, and by environmentalists on grounds of pollution and carbon emissions.

Mr McQueen said: "We want to see action and we want to see solutions brought in so we can get on with business. We are satisfied with the meeting with the Minister  hes making all the right noises and having all the right conversations. Are we satisfied with the planning system? Absolutely not.

"I think the reality is we are going to have to build a lot of stuff. We are going to need new piers and new stands and everything in between to cope with the demand thats coming. That takes time to build.

When you add the long complicated planning process at the moment, we are going to hit a wall in time.
The businessman has owned many media titles  but Windmill Lane Pictures could be his jewel in the crown

The recent news that businessman Ian Hyland had bought Windmill Lane Pictures felt  to me anyway  like a piece of the early 2000s come back to visit. It reminded me of other similar announcements of Hylands growing stable of magazines, and of a time  much-missed  before the words traditional and legacy attached themselves to print media.

Hyland made his money in publishing, acquiring the previously Smurfit-owned Business & Finance magazine in 2002, and then the Vincent Browne-founded Magill in 2004. He sold Magill back to Browne in 2017.

Over two-plus decades, he developed what was originally a traditional magazine publishing business into something that was very event-focused, including the Dublin Tech Summit. (Established in 2017, DTS attracts 10,000 tech entrepreneurs to Dublin each year  and in fact gets underway on May 8-29.)

In the US, he has Ireland INC, a business networking hub, which hosts a range of events, including Ireland Day at the New York Stock Exchange, an annual event established in 2011.

The Windmill Lane acquisition comes not long after Hyland bought Quartet Books, an independent book publishing company based in London, set up in 1972 and with a back catalogue of some 2,000 books, including titles by Auberon Waugh, Brian Sewell and Isabella Blow.

Were re-publishing The Palestinians by Jonathan Dimbleby

So what exactly is it about these long-established brands that appeals to him?

Most media formats have changed, he says, over coffee in Dublins Westin Hotel. But book publishing hasnt really. Quartet was quite bohemian, something that goes back to the original owner, Naim Atallah.

He passed away during Covid in 2021, and then the business was in some trouble. I was contacted about it, I looked at it. What interested me about it was the scale and breadth of its legacy. With 2,000 titles, theres lots of different areas of potential.

Quartet, he says, will do two titles in the UK this year, two in Ireland, one in the US.

Were looking at 10 titles in 2026, and on from there. Phase one, were focused on non-fiction, because it was far easier to plan commercially. Were re-publishing The Palestinians by Jonathan Dimbleby, first published in 1979. Jonathan is updating that.

Hyland is all about the enhanced potential of what too often now gets called content, plus the potential of the bigger international markets  particularly the US, where he has been active for a long time, including as chair of Ireland INC.

Quartet attracted a lot of attention from international production houses because of its titles. The possibilities there were obvious.

"We werent a producer, but we had an interest in doing this ourselves, in creating documentaries  in fact, we had already started one, around the history of Irish America  and then the opportunity of Windmill Lane Pictures came up.

My recognition of it is as a stunning brand, he says. When I hear Windmill Lane, I think of U2, Brian Eno, Salman Rushdies contribution, the graffiti walls...

Hyland is chairman of Windmill Lane and has appointed business journalist and author John Walsh as head of content.

Walsh recently co-produced The Irish Question, directed by Alan Gilsenan, and Gilsenan will edit Windmill Lanes first documentary  dealing with the future of the US-Ireland relationship.

Hyland will now hire a team of full-time and freelance talent, with a particular focus on content commissioning, commercial/partnership and communications, and ultimately he will seek a CEO to steer Windmill Lane to its next chapter.

Ian Hyland with former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Photo: Steve Humphreys

During the early 1990s, the recording and visual sides of Windmill Lane split and went their separate ways.

Windmill Lane Pictures moved more towards post-production  which meant that first Covid and then the Hollywood writers strike had an impact.

It came up, we contacted the folks, who were in liquidation, and we came to an agreement to buy, says Hyland. The brand has an incredible legacy. When you take Windmill Lane to America, you have near instant name recognition.

While respecting that, we need to take it to the next chapter. Modern-day production and distribution platforms have changed and expanded. Theres the potential with short films, YouTube platforms...

Some of that potential we will create ourselves, some of it will find us. Were not in the business where we rely on the phone ringing. Were creating.

On the back of Donald Trumps announcement of 100pc tariffs in the US on foreign films and the Make America Film Again plan proposed by California governor Gavin Newsom (that a $7.5bn federal incentive be aimed at US domestic film production), Hyland travelled to the US recently to engage with officials and potential partners in Washington, DC, New York and California.

Asked about the impact of such tariffs and incentives, Hyland has a considered response.

While there are many trading challenges faced by global business on the back of tariffs, its vitally important for us to explore any opportunities by engaging with the US, given its importance to the film industry. In so doing we can build an agile and creative film production business.

Hyland also confirmed that, as a statement of its intent, Windmill Lane will incorporate in the United States.

I wasnt good enough. So I went into newspapers

So what did he want to be when he was growing up, I ask.

Art was my first interest, I went to the college of art and design. After that, I was looking for an ad agency job  but it never happened. I was never offered one, I wasnt good enough. So I went into newspapers.

I started at Irish Press, moved to the Sunday Press, and then went to London with them, which was wonderful. We were selling 475,000 copies a week at the time. I was very conscious of being Irish in London. It was a tricky time, even in the mid-1990s, but if you came with a media card in your hand, it made it a bit easier.

He gravitated towards the commercial side, the marketing side  and when he left the Press, planned to move to the States.

I took a job with the Smurfit-owned Business & Finance magazine, planning to stick around for a year while my visa came through. I stayed longer, but ended up leaving and coming back when they divested  and I bought that title in 2002.

Then I bought Magill magazine  which I still wake up in a cold sweat thinking about. I bought it from Mike Hogan, whod bought it from Vincent Browne. I had a vision of a stable of magazines  but were Ireland, were too small. Though we built a great convening business with Business & Finance.

I spent most of the last years since the mid-2000s in the States, promoting Irish business and international businesses there.

What does he make of all the recent drama between the US and the rest of the world?

The book publishing business is unaffected  tariffs arent really relevant. But uncertainty shakes confidence.

Still, he adds, Its a catalyst that has presented itself to Europe to pull together. Ireland is a very good European. We have always been close to the United States. So where do we find our new role? Are we a convener, when it comes to Europe, for America? Are we a convener for Europe when it comes to the US?

And, in fact I think filmmaking, the creative world  in a weird kind of way  can be stimulated by this kind of stuff. There are stories to tell, and there are people who want to hear them.

And what of the voices that say we should have nothing to do with America under its current administration? That we should hold ourselves aloof?

Its the White House  and whoever the office is led by, we have to respect that, if they got there by election.

America is very important to Ireland. And I like to think Ireland is important to America, in a number of ways. Id be hopeful that we can all find a way forward. I think if you based your future on personalities, wed all have problems. I think we need to work with each other.

"Im reminded of something I heard at John Reynolds funeral  he was a good friend of mine. I remember his brother finished his eulogy by saying: We only have each other.

I think that goes for a lot of things. And it goes for what were dealing with today.
Irish in Trumps America: 'Hes just been contacted by ICE agents. He is scared out of his wits. He doesnt know if he will be put in handcuffs and deported'

The mere mention of ICE agents sends a shiver down the spines of the undocumented in US right now

The US's reputation as the land of the free has taken a battering since Donald Trump's re-election. Photo: Getty

Ali Bracken Sun 25 May 2025 at 03:30

All over America, undocumented Irish citizens are having hushed, worried conversations with loved ones.
Irish pension funds could fall by as much as 20pc in trade war doomsday scenario

Four weeks to save Europe from all-out trade war with US as Europe vows not to be pushovers in negotiations

US President Donald Trump has threatened much higher tariffs

Niamh Horan and Senan Molony Sun 25 May 2025 at 03:30

There are four weeks to save Europe from an all-out trade war with the US, after President Donald Trump sent shockwaves across Europe with a new threat of rising tariffs to 50pc, sources close to the negotiations have told the Sunday Independent.
Paul Durcan, the Dublin-born poet, died on May 17 at the age of 80. There was no one quite like him.

Prolific, popular and a performing poet, he had the power to move people with his words. A sensitive soul who took the daring leap to devote his life to poetry, he was a rare breed.

He also had a great gift for making people laugh. One of his poems began with the line: My father was a man with five penises.

His poetry chronicled Irish life and his own life. The two were intertwined. His great friend Niall MacMonagle described his work as the soundtrack to our lives.

Indeed it was.

Durcans finger was relentlessly on the pulse of the nation. He would peruse the newspapers and broadcast media, then spin them into poetic gold. Such was the power of his writing that his verses often had more potency than any news report.

Thats one of the things about people who write poetry, you record things that you would have forgotten about, that I would have forgotten about, he once said.

He wrote about the poor Loreto nuns who burned to death in a tragic accident (Six Nuns Die in Convent Inferno).

When a man drowned trying to cross the River Slane at a Bob Dylan concert, he commemorated it in verse.

He wrote about the divorce referendum and his rage as a priest from the pulpit urged a vote against it, in accordance with the churchs teachings.

When the IRA killed two RUC policemen, his poem The Bloomsday Murders, 16th June 1997 was placed on the front page of The Sunday Independent.

Not even you, Gerry Adams, deserve to be murdered, You whose friends at noon murdered my two young men, David Johnston and John Graham.

He also had a great ability to look at the world from an oblique angle. His poems would go off on surreal tangents, like the one about the old ladies who escaped from a nursing home, giggling in their golden dressing gowns. Another one imagined his elderly mother installing a trapeze in her kitchen. He was a master at making people laugh.

He captured the minutiae of Irish life. He wrote of a priest in the middle of a fast mass, asking his congregation to pray that Clare would beat Galway in the All-Ireland hurling quarter-final.

When he wasnt writing, he spent a lot of time doing poetry readings. Although he has a poem about one lone man being his audience, this was not the norm. They were almost always booked out, and with good reason.

To say that he recited his poetry would be an understatement. He performed. His readings were mesmeric.

He would close his eyes, wait for silence and then freefall into an odyssey of his beautifully bizarre world.

Complete with accents, facial expressions and fantastic timing, he would have the audience in howls of laughter. He would bask in this joy with his gentle smile. Other times when his criticism of IRA atrocities, in verse, was met with stony silence, he would carry on courageously.

Having heard him, it was impossible to read his poems without his voice in your head. But equally, they were strong enough to stand alone.

Paul Durcan was born in Dublin in 1944 to Sheila MacBride and John Durcan. His mothers family name was a huge part of his childhood because her fathers younger brother was John MacBride who was executed in 1916. Her first cousin was Sean MacBride, the son of John MacBride and Maud Gonne.

His father was a Mayo man. John Durcan was a secondary school teacher who went on to become a barrister and later a judge.

He wrote about them both in his poetry. He had precious childhood memories of getting the 11 bus with his mother with her pearl earrings, matching necklace and glistening lipstick, on the way to see Treasure Island in the cinema. He said that she was his first childhood sweetheart.

His relationship with his father was often troubled. It is all in the poetry, especially in the book Daddy, Daddy.

Paul wrote of asking if they could pass out the moon as they drove in his fathers Ford Anglia to Mayo. His father would quiz him on whether his bowels had moved or not and tell him that he would leave him his galoshes.

As a young boy, when he didnt excel academically in the top three in the class, his father beat him. Years later, a doctor persuaded Mr Durcan his son should be institutionalised.

When he was 19, Paul was put into a psychiatric hospital where he had to undergo 27 sessions of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatment.

Alan Gilsenan covered this period in his documentary about Pauls life The Dark School. But ever after, he was reluctant to talk about that time. It was the distant past.

I ended up in St John of Gods in a ridiculous way. There was nothing the matter with me. Im sure you saw the film One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest. Well, I was one of the luckier ones, one of the ones who flew over the cuckoos nest and survived it, he said.

I didnt get a leucotomy which would have finished me off completely but I did get massive amounts of barbiturates, the whole Mandrax and every lethal tablet you could ever name. I think I came out of it with a kind of melancholia.

As the years passed, he became softer about his father.

I wrote what I wrote, he said of his poems about him, but I realise that some people have formed too black an impression of him. He took his job as a judge unbelievably seriously and it definitely made him more melancholic. It took its toll on him.

"But he was a terrific storyteller and he was forever telling me about the French Revolution. It fascinated him and so Robespierre and Danton were real to me.

He got a degree in archaeology and medieval history. Paul married Nessa ONeill in 1968. She changed his life. They lived in London for some time and had two daughters Sarah and Siabhra. They finally settled in Cork.

He wrote of the wondrous joy of their love and family life. When their marriage broke down in 1984, he wrote about it in verse. The heartache was heartbreaking to read. The Difficulty that is Marriage is one of his poems on the Leaving Cert syllabus.

He poured his life into his work. Poetry was his life and his life was in his poetry. In one poem he wrote: Do not buy the biography of Primo Levi. If you want to know Primo Levi, read the poetry of Primo Levi. The poetry is the story; The story is the life.

And so it was with him. It is all there. He wrote of love, loneliness, how he was crazy about women and how his hair was grey with woman hunger. He wrote about two recovering alcoholics spending Christmas Day together.

He wrote about how he was not a natural driver and had spent endless Sunday afternoons driving around, practising so he would pass his test.

He wrote of how appalled he was that his bedroom had a matching squalor to the artist Tracey Emins grubby exhibit, with his sheets the colour of stagnant dishwater.

Last October, the Gate Theatre hosted a night to celebrate the publication of Paul Durcan  80 at 80. It was his final book, a compilation of his poetry edited by Niall MacMonagle. His poems were recited by many including President Michael D Higgins.

But Paul was not there. He was no longer able. His life had changed and he was in a nursing home.

He is survived by his two daughters Sarah and Siabhra and his son Michael.
Action is called for on a deepening problem, with blame pointed at social media platforms

There is no question Ireland will need dedicated clinics to help people deal with phone overuse or addiction, one of the countrys foremost professors of psychiatry has warned.

Im seeing this at the coalface of addiction since 2013. We are all on the spectrum to overuse [diagnosed as internet use disorder] and some people are using it way, way too much which is causing significant problems, Professor Colin OGara, clinical professor of psychiatry at University College Dublin, told the Sunday Independent.
My favourite room: A conventional house takes at least a year. Completing ours took four months  inside a Georgian-style eco build in Galway

Ciaran Walshe and Ellen OToole couldnt have picked a more iconic spot for their accidental meeting five years ago. Now they have delightful toddler twins and a beautiful home in the Galway countryside, built by Ciaran

My Favourite Room: The eco house that Ciaran built

Mary O'Sullivan Sun 25 May 2025 at 03:30

Every city has its iconic landmarks; Dublin has the Poolbeg Chimneys, Cork has the Blarney Stone and Galway boasts the Blackrock Diving Tower. And in ways the Diving Tower is that bit more special than the other two; its not just a place for tourists to visit but is also a great place for Galway people themselves to meet, enjoy a swim and a chat.
It is hard to escape the suspicion that life in the White House is starting to resemble the scenes in the Austin Powers films in which arch-villain Dr Evil whiles away his days devising ever more farcical schemes to hold the world to ransom.

The only difference is that Dr Evil is a fictional creation, and meant to be funny, whereas Donald Trump is for real, and there is nothing to laugh about.

His latest wheeze is a threat to impose 50pc tariffs on the European Union starting on June 1, because our negotiations with them are not going well.

His thinking, if we can use such a grandiose term for what goes on in this presidents head, may be that the prospect of being hit with tariffs that would in effect end all EU exports into the US will, in the words of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, light a fire under negotiations.

Trump simply does not understand why a trade deal cannot be concluded with the EU as quickly as those recently announced with autocratic states such as China, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

It is certainly true that negotiating with 27 inconveniently democratic countries under the aegis of the EU can be cumbersome. The trade agreement with Canada took seven years to finalise; a free trade deal with Australia, five. Both were far less important markets for the EU.

Trump has no such time to waste. Unless he comes up with some cunning plan to bypass the constitutional limit on presidential terms, he would be well into retirement before a similarly protracted deal was reached with Europe.

Could the EU become nimbler in its decision-making process? Arguably so. It has been compared to a supertanker, slow to turn around, when a rapidly changing and unpredictable world sometimes requires a speedboat instead.

That would, however, involve transferring more power from member states, which would be politically undoable in the present climate.

The best hope is that Trump is bluffing, or just blowing off steam. He said on Friday he was open to a bit of a delay on his threat.

Economic reality may also sink in fast if he goes ahead with his threat anyway; stock markets fell sharply in response to his provocations.

It is less than ideal to have the economic policy of democratically elected governments decided by unelected financial powers, but it may be the only way to bring sense to the White House.

If not, then the EU could be left with no option but to impose reciprocal tariffs on US goods and services. While urging talks to be conducted on the basis of mutual respect, Maros Sefcovic, European Commissioner for Trade, insists the bloc stands ready to defend our interests.

A deal may yet prove impossible. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen says the EU has already offered zero for zero tariffs, but Trump seems to regard a level playing field as an affront.

He wants permanent US dominance cemented into any deal. Acceding to his bullying demands would hit Ireland particularly hard.

The inevitability of Mutually Assured Destruction (Mad) was meant to ensure that no great power would dare unleash its nuclear arsenal against an enemy that was armed as heavily.

These dangers clearly hold little fear for Donald Trump when it comes to unleashing economic warfare. There is no guarantee he wont press that button, even if his own people are among the casualties. That really would be Mad.
Rural Cork community welcomes the demolition of a derelict inn that had become a local eyesore

Work is already well underway on the clearance of the Lee Valley Inn site in Dripsey, Co Cork

Lee Valley Inn site

Martin Mongan Corkman Sun 25 May 2025 at 09:00

The Lee Valley Inn in Dripsey was placed on the Cork County Councils Derelict Site Register in October 2021, with works to demolish the building having commenced on May 6.
Not only will the over 35 people strong Silvertones Choir raise money with their annual concert, but they will be dedicating a section of their performance to the members who have passed over the last 15 years.

Taking place on Thursday, May 29, inside St Marys Church Enniscorthy, the choir will be joined by special guest performers Emer Barry and Eve Donohoe.

Emer, a talented soprano who has travelled the world, has frequently joined the RTE Orchestra for a number of performances as well as having spent time in the United States touring in a show put together by Columbia Arts Management.

Despite only being 19 years of age, violinist Eve Donohoe has multiple national awards under her belt and is currently studying Medicine in Trinity College Dublin as she is passionate about the intersection between music and medicine in a clinical setting.

Making sure everything does smoothly is experienced director Eithne Corrigan, a graduate of Trinity College who studied piano and violin at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in her native Dublin.

Member Rosemary Walshe said that they are confident in their performance with Eithne at the helm.

She is just fantastic and so patient  we dont know how she doesnt throttle us most of the time. She insists that we learn the lyrics without the music which is a bit of a struggle, but that means our heads wont be in our books on the night. It is good for the brain as well, she said.

The choir must be doing something right as many of the members are in their seventies and eighties, with their oldest member Liam being 91 years of age.

"We have some amazing people here and it is reflected in the Bealtaine festival saying creativity as we age.

However, over the years since the choir was established, a number of members have sadly passed away and they plan to dedicate a section of their performance in their memory.

"Most of our repertoire will be well-known and fan-favourites, but we will have one section for the members who have left us. There is one song in particular that will be very poignant, she explained.

This year, their concert will also be donating any money raised to the Hope Cancer Support Centre and Relay For Life Wexford, for personal reasons.

"We tend to always choose a cancer charity as there are some members who are battling cancer and the centre is a badly needed service. Someone also wanted to choose Relay For Life so we just decided to split what is raised between the two.

They hope to raise as much money as possible with tickets still available, for a cost of 15. There will be tickets for sale on the door and donation buckets, so members of the audience are encouraged to bring cash as there will be no card reader available.
Californian tourists who experienced Los Angeles wildfire confronted with raging blaze on Wexford trip

The group had been on a tour of the South East when they landed in Gorey to scenes of a major fire on Tara Hill

The group of 16 American tourists stayed at the Ashdown Park Hotel during their stay in north Wexford.

Isabel Colleran Gorey Guardian Sun 25 May 2025 at 13:00

In an ironic twist of fate, a group of American tourists were recently brought right back to the horrors of the California wildfires, when they arrived in north Wexford to a billowing smoke and major blaze on Tara Hill last weekend.
Andrea Lawson from Fethard, Maureen Walsh McGrath and Mike McGrath from Florida at the Quiz Night for Tanzania fundraiser by Jane Sutton in the Rugby Club. Photo: Mary Browne

Eoin Prendergast from The Rower, Ellen Duggan from New Ross, Rachel Boyle from Shanbogh and Laura Prendergast from The Rower at the Quiz Night for Tanzania fundraiser by Jane Sutton in the Rugby Club. Photo: Mary Browne

Maurice Quirke, Michael Bailey, Mike and Debbie Quinn from New Ross at the Quiz Night for Tanzania fundraiser by Jane Sutton in the Rugby Club. Photo: Mary Browne

Sean O'Sullivan from Campile, Eddie and Triona Breen from Cork and Breda Cashin from New Ross at the Quiz Night for Tanzania fundraiser by Jane Sutton in the Rugby Club. Photo: Mary Browne

Jane Sutton, Elle Nugent, Sadhbh Bailey and Leagh Bailey from New Ross at the Quiz Night for Tanzania fundraiser by Jane Sutton in the Rugby Club. Photo: Mary Browne

A local student undergoing primary school teacher training in DCU St. Patricks College held a fundraiser recently at New Ross Rugby Club, and is continuing to accept donations for her return to Tanzania as part of a programme designed to assist teachers working with limited resources.

Jane Sutton is currently a third year student and in addition to her studies, she has decided to specialise in Early Years Education.

Jane explained how the opportunity for this years return journey to Tanzania came about. Last year I was selected to travel to Morogoro Tanzania as part of the DCU Pre- Primary Project along with three other student teachers and two DCU lecturers to volunteer in three Pre-Primary schools imparting our knowledge, methods and resources to assist teachers who already work above and beyond for their students with such limited resources. I was delighted to be asked to return to Tanzania this year to continue the work of the project, along with five other training primary school teachers.

Jane said she was truly overjoyed to be chosen for the project.

"As someone who is studying in education, I have always been passionate about education and giving back to the less fortunate, she continued.

Throughout my studies as a training primary school teacher, I have heard and seen first hand the importance of having access to adequate education. This is something that we can take for granted in Ireland, but for many of the students that I worked with in Tanzania this is a luxury that not every child has access to, Jane explained further that this is a harsh reality as 42 percent of the Tanzanian population is under the age of fifteen putting a huge strain on the already struggling education system.

Eoin Prendergast from The Rower, Ellen Duggan from New Ross, Rachel Boyle from Shanbogh and Laura Prendergast from The Rower at the Quiz Night for Tanzania fundraiser by Jane Sutton in the Rugby Club. Photo: Mary Browne

Giving an account of the reality of how underfunded the education system is in Tanzania, Jane said that the Early Year Education sector between the ages of five to seven years old is yet even more underfunded, despite early years education being a crucial part of growing up and development paving the way for succeeding in education and paving the way to a better life.

Many children do attend school but the reality is that with such large population numbers many of the schools are not equipped to hold the growing number of students with some of the classes having a total of sixty to one hundred children with only one teacher. This, along with a lack of materials and resources and students walking long distances to school with little food or water causes children to fall behind and never learn how to read or write, she said.

Her return to Tanzania, this year, along with five other student teachers and the DCU Pre-Primary Project team, requires fundraising to cover the cost of transport and accommodation, as well as providing the students in the schools with much needed resources.

The project has been running for over six years, with the Pre-Primary Education Project team members involved in various ways such as building schools, classrooms and fundraising. DCU lecturers who are also members of the project team continue to work alongside the teachers and staff, of the now, twelve project schools, providing them with knowledge and resources via zoom that are used in Ireland every week.

Janes fundraising campaign continues and donations can be made through GoFundMe, with a target of 1,500 in reaching distance.

Your support and donations for this worthy cause are greatly appreciated. Ni neart go cur le cheile, concluded Jane
Mir Hasibullah Zias award-winning project explores how Irelands economic reliance on multinational corporations creates inequality and environmental challenges

Young Economist of the Year 2025 Mir Hasibullah Zia pictured with his award at Wexford CBS, alongside Daniel Fiodorov Dillion who helped to edit the winning project.

Since Donald Trumps election to the White House, an age-old question is once again being posed, albeit now with slightly more urgency. Is Irelands economy overly dependent on multinational companies and overseas investment?

It was something pondered by CBS student Mir Hasibullah Zia and what started out as a passing curiosity has resulted in him being crowned Young Economist of the Year 2025.

His project, The Dependency Trap  How Irelands Reliance on Multinationals Deepens Economic Imbalances, focuses on how multinational corporations (MNCs) create inequality in the Irish economy and in society, as well as impacting the environment.

"The main aim was to find out the advantages and disadvantages of MNCs in Ireland and how we can pivot towards a more diverse and less MNC reliant Ireland, Hasib says.

"In my project, I explained how our dependency on MNCs have a lot of hidden costs. Apart from obvious issues such as being dependent on corporation tax, MNCs contribute to regional disparities gender inequality, wage inequality, and even effect the cost-of-living crisis. They also contribute heavily to Irelands total energy consumption, thus, creating the majority of CO2 emissions.

Young Economist of the Year 2025 Mir Hasibullah Zia, alongside Daniel Fiodorov Dillion who helped to edit the winning project.

It was Hasibs innate curiosity that drove the project, which ultimately resulted in him taking the top prize at the award ceremony in Sligo.

"It came about from being bored really, Hasib smiles. I was listening during an Economics class in school and my teacher said that Ireland is heavily dependent on MNCs and that without them we are doomed.

"This prompted me to ask myself: Ireland being one of the best nations in terms of education, and wealth, will it be really doomed? I started watching YouTube videos about MNCs just to have an idea of what they are, but then it eventually led to me researching them and it all culminated in me winning the young economist prize.

It was an incredibly proud moment for Hasib and his family when he was presented with the trophy, as well as the whole CBS school community.
Nobel Prize-winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah has said he did not pick literature as an A-level as it did not feel useful.

The Tanzanian author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 2021, was born in 1948 on the island of Zanzibar, now part of Tanzania, and moved to Britain as a refugee in 1968, fleeing a repressive regime that persecuted the Arab Muslim community to which he belonged.

His A-level subjects, however, consisted of maths, physics and chemistry after being led to take science courses to help contribute to his country.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Desert Island Discs, he said: We grew up during the campaign for decolonisation, and it was kind of drummed into us, and perhaps it didnt need that much drumming, that if you get an opportunity to study, then you must do something thats going to be useful to your country. Whoever thought that reading literature was going to be useful to anybody?

Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah in Canterbury, Kent, after he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature (Steve Parsons/PA)

So, really, we were all kind of being led towards either doing science subjects, if you got the opportunity, or possibly law or something like that. And so when we came here, we chose to do A-levels in those subjects. I worked pretty hard, especially when my cousin was still here with us, and he just made sure we we did all the homework.

He later changed courses to study literature and took evening classes, going on to obtain a Bachelor of Education from Christ Church college Canterbury and then a PhD.

Gurnah added: I thought, this is what I should have done from the beginning. I should not have listened to that hectoring voice that was saying, be something useful. I should have done this because this is something I get pleasure from doing and that I know I can do well.

The award-winning writer was praised by the Swedish Academy for the uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism reflected in his 10 novels including Memory of Departure, Paradise and By The Sea.

Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah won a Nobel Prize in 2021 (Steve Parsons/PA)

Gurnah arrived in Britain in the 1960s after persuading his father to let him and his brother travel out of the country through illegal means, although they did not tell their mother they were leaving.

He said: It was difficult to organise because it was not possible to have travel documents. The security advisers for the government were from the GDR, East Germany, and they were, as you know, obsessed with making sure people dont travel, dont leave, so it meant that we had to leave in rather, well, really rather illegal ways, which Ill leave at that.

Speaking about whether he got his mothers blessing to leave, he said: No, we couldnt tell her.

The first thing I thought when I was on my own after having been picked up from the airport by the cousin and taken to the place where we were staying, and I was lying in bed and thinking, What have I done?'

It was another 17 years before he was able to see his family again, after leaving his parents and four siblings to study in Britain, and paid for the flight using insurance money he received for a roof leak in his house in Balham, stuffing the hole in the ceiling with newspaper.

Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah (Steve Parsons/PA)

In the episode, which asks guests to share the soundtrack to their lives, Gurnah selected a range of music including songs from his Zanzibar heritage, the Beatles and Hit The Road Jack by Ray Charles.

His fifth song for the programme was The Beatles A Day In The Life, which he explained reminds him of his first Christmas in the UK after a family hosted him and his brother.

He said: We were invited to spend Christmas day, our first Christmas in England with this family, if I remember correctly, there was two sons and a daughter. The eldest son was possibly about 18 or 19, something like and one of his presents was Sergeant Pepper. And so he put it on in a record player. And so thats the first time I heard this, but every time I listened to this opening, I remember that family and that Christmas.

In March he published his first book since winning the Nobel Prize, Theft, which follows the lives of three young men in Tanzania at the turn of the twenty-first century.

Abdulrazak Gurnahs episode of Desert Island Discs is available on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 4 from Sunday at 10am.
The only times the Palestinian man wasnt bound or blindfolded, he said, was when he was used by Israeli soldiers as their human shield.

Dressed in army fatigues with a camera fixed to his forehead, Ayman Abu Hamadan was forced into houses in the Gaza Strip to make sure they were clear of bombs and gunmen, he said. When one unit finished with him, he was passed to the next.
Santa Comes Early This Year! Turbine Delivering 'Bumblebee' 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' & 'Sing 2' to 3D Blu-ray on December 19th
Livermore, CA (94550)

Today

Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 81F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 51F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.
Single OTT Release Date: On May 9, Sree Vishnu and Ketika Sharma arrived in theatres with their highly anticipated Telugu film. The romantic comedy has earned Rs 29 crore so far and is going strong. Meanwhile, theres some good news for all the OTT lovers. As per 123Telugu, Single will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video starting June 6, 2025. However, an official confirmation is awaited!

Singles cast and crew

Directed by Caarthick Raju and presented by Allu Aravind, Single is produced by Vidya Koppineedi, Bhanu Pratapa and Riyaz Chowdary under Geeta Arts and Kalya Films. Other than the lead duo, Single also stars Ivana, Vennela Kishore, VTV Ganesh, Kalpa Latha and Prabhas Srinu in key roles. It also features Rajendra Prasad, Satya, Reba Monica John and Maanasa Choudhary in cameo appearances.

Singles plot overview

Vijay (Sree Vishnu) is a cheerful private bank employee determined to end his single status. In his quest for love, he encounters Poorva (Ketika Sharma) and attempts to impress her by staging a fake rescue at a metro station. However, Harini (Ivana), a spirited young woman, witnesses the act and falls for Vijay, proposing to him. Caught between his feelings for Poorva and Harini's affection, Vijay faces a dilemma that leads to a comedic love triangle.

Singles review

The Times of India rated the film 3 out of 5, and a part of their review read, A more robust storyline and a tighter screenplay, especially in the second half, could have taken Single from simply enjoyable to truly memorable. Single is a cheerful, no-fuss comedy that thrives on chemistry, comic timing, and a generous dose of pop culture. It may not offer depth, but if youre in the mood for a breezy, entertaining ride, this one might just do the trick.

This Vishal Chandrashekhar musical is cinematographed by R. Velraj and edited by Praveen K. L. Excited to watch Single on OTT? Drop your thoughts @indiatimes.

For more news and updates from the world of OTT and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
The Great Indian Kapil Show Season 3 OTT Release Date: Comedy lovers, get ready to block your Saturday evenings, because your weekend is about to get a whole lot funnier. The Great Indian Kapil Show is back for Season 3, and its landing on Netflix on June 21, 2025. Yes, the same laughter-packed, celebrity-filled show that has kept families across the globe in stitches is making a grand return.

But this time, theres a twist: its not just the stars wholl be grabbing the spotlight. Some very special guests will be joining the madness: superfans. New episodes will drop every Saturday at 8:00 PM IST on Netflix, giving fans something to look forward to over the weekend.

What is The Great Indian Kapil Show Season 3 all about?

The show, led by none other than Kapil Sharma, has been a staple for audiences who enjoy comedy with a dash of desi drama. In its first two seasons on Netflix, TGIKS has pulled in viewers not just from India but across 192 countries, a pretty big feat for an Indian comedy show. Now, Season 3 promises to be even more dhamakedaar (explosive). And not just because of the jokes or celebrity appearances, but because every day, fans like Hema from Jaipur, Jigna from Surat, Rakesh from Delhi, and Anil from Boston are being brought into the mix.

Kapil Sharma shared in a media statement, As a thank you for the incredible love we've received, were turning the spotlight on our superfans. Their stories, their quirks, their talent, they never fail to amaze us. Toh is baar socha kyu na apne fans ko show ka ek bohot hi mazzeddar hissa bana de. Hume to ab 192 countries ne dekh liya... ab aapko milwate hain humare superfans se (So this time, we thought, why not make our fans a truly fun part of the show? After all, weve now been watched in 192 countries now its time to introduce you to our superfans!)!"

This time around, Sunil Grover, Kiku Sharda, and Krushna Abhishek are also pulling off crazy antics. And of course, Archana Puran Singh will return to her iconic laughing chair, ready to lead the cackles. From what we know, the format of the show will remain largely the same: a mix of skits, celebrity interviews, musical performances, and spontaneous improvisation. Stream The Great Indian Kapil Show Season 3 only on Netflix, starting June 21.

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Titan: The OceanGate Disaster OTT Release Date - In June 2023, five people boarded a deep-sea submersible called Titan, hoping to see the Titanic wreck in person, and they never came back. What was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime - a $250,000 ticket to the ocean's most famous graveyard - ended in a catastrophic implosion, miles below the surface.

In under two hours, the Titan vanished. In four days, it became the most talked-about mystery in the world. Now, Netflix brings the full story to the surface in its chilling new documentary Titan: The OceanGate Disaster, which drops on June 11.

What is Titan: The OceanGate Disaster all about?

Youve heard the headlines. Now hear what they left out. Directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Mark Monroe, this film dives into OceanGates secretive world, a private company led by Stockton Rush, who styled himself as the Elon Musk of the deep. The documentary pulls together internal emails, unseen footage, and interviews with whistleblowers who warned, long before the disaster, that Titan was a ticking time bomb.

Titan wasnt like other deep-sea subs. Traditional ones use titanium. Titan used carbon fibre, a move Rush defended as disruptive innovation. Engineers told him it was reckless, and he ignored them. The film lays bare how OceanGate bent and sometimes broke the rules of deep-sea travel. Safety tests were skipped, and all concerns were silenced. All in pursuit of becoming the first company to commercialise extreme ocean tourism.

Credits: Netflix

Former employees, submarine experts, and even passengers who backed out of earlier trips share stories that feel like warnings from a horror movie. One engineer said riding Titan was like "getting inside a bomb made of Play-Doh." The problem? No one wanted to listen until it was too late.

Who was inside, and what happened eventually?

On board were five men: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, and French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Each believed they were part of something historic. Instead, their journey became a global cautionary tale.

One hour and 45 minutes into the descent, Titan lost contact with its mother ship. Search teams raced against time and oxygen in a four-day media storm. But hope faded fast. Eventually, the U.S. Navy confirmed what experts feared: the sub had imploded almost instantly under pressure, the equivalent of 6,000 elephants stomping on a soda can. Everything that made Titan "innovative" turned out to be exactly what made it deadly.

Credits: Netflix

OceanGate shut down operations shortly after. Lawsuits, investigations, and public outrage followed. The documentary shows how a company that sold cutting-edge adventure collapsed under the weight of its own negligence.

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Bank holidays Monday, May 26: In India, banks stay closed on specific days due to national, state-level, and RBI-mandated holidays. As per the RBI holiday calendar, Monday, May 26, 2025, will be a bank holiday in Tripura to mark the birthday of Kazi Nazrul Islam. Keep reading to know the complete list of bank holidays in May 2025, including details on bank holidays on Monday, the types of RBI-declared holidays, and how customers can still access services online.

Why Are Banks Closed on May 26, 2025?

Banks in Tripura will remain shut on Monday, May 26, 2025, to honour the birth anniversary of Kazi Nazrul Islam. Known as the Rebel Poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam was a legendary Bengali writer, poet, journalist, and musician. His works championed equality, social justice, human values, and resistance against colonial rule. His fearless voice continues to inspire generations.

If you're planning to visit a bank in Tripura around this date, make sure to check the RBI holiday list in advance to avoid any inconvenience.

Bank Holidays in May 2025: Full List

Here is the complete list of bank holidays in May 2025 declared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), including public holidays and region-specific closures:

May 1 (Thursday)  Maharashtra Din / Labour Day

 Maharashtra Din / Labour Day May 9 (Friday)  Birthday of Rabindranath Tagore

 Birthday of Rabindranath Tagore May 12 (Monday)  Buddha Purnima

 Buddha Purnima May 16 (Friday)  State Day

 State Day May 26 (Monday)  Birthday of Kazi Nazrul Islam  Check here

 Birthday of Kazi Nazrul Islam  Check here May 29 (Thursday)  Maharana Pratap Jayanti

Besides these, banks will remain closed on all Sundays and the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, as per the RBI mandate. If a bank holiday falls on a Monday, like in the case of May 26, customers can expect a long weekend.

RBI's Classification of Bank Holidays

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) divides bank holidays 2025 into three main categories:

Holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act

Holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act and Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) holidays

Bank account closing holidays

Each category affects bank operations differently, especially regarding back-end processing and fund settlements.

What Services Will Be Available During Bank Holidays?

Even on days when physical bank branches remain closed, customers can still use several services online:

Internet banking and mobile apps for fund transfers, balance checks, and payments

NEFT/RTGS fund transfers (as per availability)

ATM services and card payments

Requests for chequebooks, DDs, or account updates through digital channels

So, whether it's a bank holiday on Monday or any other day, your banking needs can still be met digitally.

How to Check Bank Holidays in Your City?

To check whether your bank is open on a particular day:

Visit the official RBI website

Look for regional bank holiday notifications

Check notices posted in your local bank branch

Staying updated helps you plan your visits better, especially during months with multiple closures like May.

If you're living in or travelling to Tripura, take note that Monday, May 26, 2025, will be a bank holiday due to Kazi Nazrul Islams birthday  check here for the official RBI holiday list. With several bank holidays in May 2025, including bank holidays on Monday, its wise to complete important banking tasks in advance or rely on online options for uninterrupted service.

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After Operation Sindoor and the public support shown by Turkey and Azerbaijan for Pakistan, Indian sentiment has turned inward. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address on Sunday, said a growing trend among Indian families choosing to holiday within India. This shift comes as many citizens respond to the 'Vocal for Local' campaign by changing their travel and spending habits in favour of domestic options.

Families opt for domestic travel

PM Modi mentioned that several families across the country are now pledging to spend their vacations at Indian destinations. Some families have taken a pledge, We will spend our next vacation in some beautiful place in the country, he said. This move, he noted, reflects the larger impact of Operation Sindoor, which has led many to rethink how their spending decisions can align with national priorities. The idea of supporting India-made products and experiences has extended beyond purchases and is now influencing travel choices as well.

Behavioural shift evident in Visa application trends

The decision to avoid international destinations like Turkey and Azerbaijan has also been reflected in data shared by visa processing platform Atlys. On May 20, the company reported that within 36 hours of the backlash against these countries, 60% of users exited the visa application process midway. Founder and CEO Mohak Nahta told PTI that this shift wasnt random but showed clear, instinct-driven behaviour. People didnt need to be told to avoid certain destinations. They simply moved on, guided by instinct, information, and access to alternatives, he said.

Broader impact beyond travel

This national sentiment has impacted other sectors as well. Modi said that many citizens are now buying only Indian-made toys for their children and choosing wedding venues within the country. He shared that some people have pledged only to gift items made by Indian artisans. The idea of 'Wed in India' is gaining momentum among the youth.

In addition, IIT Bombay and other academic institutions have suspended their agreements with Turkish universities, citing the current geopolitical situation involving Turkey.



Indians are now making mindful decisions that align with national interest, shifting from global options to proudly choosing local ones.

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Hasan Piker, better known online as HasanAbi, is once again at the centre of controversythis time for getting banned from Twitch after making posts about on motive behind the Israeli embassy shooting in Washington, DC. The 33-year-old streamer acknowledged the suspension in a statement and called on the platform to change its policy, but many online werent buying it.

The incident in question involved 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, who fatally shot two Israeli embassy staffers near a Jewish museum earlier this week. As he was arrested, Rodriguez reportedly shouted Free Palestine. Authorities have confirmed the case is being investigated as both a hate crime and an act of terrorism, with a court hearing scheduled for June 18.

Twitch bans HasanAbi from Twitch over 'sharing content related to terrorist'

HasanAbis suspension came shortly after he discussed Rodriguezs manifesto on stream. Twitch later issued a notice stating that his content violated their policy on handling terrorist propaganda. According to the platform, sharing content related to terrorist or violent extremist groups is strictly prohibited, even if the discussion is meant to be critical or journalistic.

In reviewing your activity or content, weve issued a global suspension on your account, Twitch wrote in its official notice to Hasan. Repeated violations may lead to more serious actions, including longer suspensions or permanent bans.

Hasan responds, Bad policy for news and press freedom

Piker didnt shy away from the controversy and posted a response, explaining his intent and frustrations.

I covered the motives of the Israeli embassy staff shooter, he wrote. Twitch TOS dictates a suspension for even critical examination of the manifesto. I believe this is a bad policy for news and press freedom. I'll take the suspension but hope Twitch changes this policy in the future.

i covered the motives of the israeli embassy staff shooter. twitch tos dictates a suspension for even critical examination of the manifesto. i believe this is a bad policy for news and press freedom.



ill take the suspension, but hope twitch changes this policy in the future. pic.twitter.com/52nOS0Lq9H  hasanabi (@hasanthehun) May 25, 2025

He also noted that he had examined the shooters writings critically, not to endorse them, but to analyze them from a journalistic angle. However, the timing didnt sit well with many, especially given that just two days before the shooting, Piker hosted a livestream with George Bad Empanada Ganitis, a content creator known for making repeated anti-Israel remarks.

Internet slams Hasan Piker: This should've happened sooner'

While Piker has a loyal fanbase, the reaction online was mixed, and many users didnt hold back. Promoting hate will get you banned, one user wrote bluntly. Another added, Maybe dont support terrorism? Some responses were more critical of Hasans overall tone and approach. Stop just immediately going on the defensive. Take some time for reflection it is OK to be wrong, one commenter said, urging him to reconsider the impact of his words. This shouldve happened way sooner, said another. Youve been spewing hateful and violent rhetoric for years.

Promoting hate will get you banned...  Breaking News (@TheNewsTrending) May 25, 2025

Maybe don't support terrorism?  Leftism (@LeftismForU) May 25, 2025

This shouldve happened way sooner. You've been spewing hateful and violent rhetoric for years. Dan Clancy loves you too much though you'll be back in a day  GooseIsLoose (@gooseislooser) May 25, 2025

You should be in prison, not just banned from Twitch. You're inspiring people to kill innocent people for no reason other than you said with your own shit filled mouth to do so. But thank God (not Allah) that you say "in Minecraft!" To cover your ass.



Also tell us what really  Wallachian Dragon  (@DidYouSayPlague) May 25, 2025

Its unclear how long the suspension will last, but Hasans absence is already sparking debate around content moderation, journalism, and free speech on livestreaming platforms.
The Enugu State Police Command has successfully rescued 21 kidnapped victims across various local government areas following multiple coordinated operations in collaboration with local security groups.

One suspect was neutralized, another arrested, and several exhibits recovered, including a firearm and a vehicle.

According to the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe on Saturday, the operations were carried out between May 20 and 23, 2025, with the support of Neighbourhood Watch, Forest Guards, and local hunters.

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On May 23, operatives from Okpuje Division stormed a forest along the Enugu-Kogi border, rescuing eight hostages.

READ MORE:https://www.informationng.com/2025/05/saraki-pdp-reconciliation-team-meet-enugu-governor-ahead-of-nec-meeting.html

The operatives engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel, during which one of them was neutralized while others escaped with bullet wounds, Ndukwe said.

A day earlier, on May 22, the Oji-River Police Area Command led another joint operation into Uvuru-Ukpata forest in Uzo-Uwani LGA, rescuing nine victims abducted along the Olo-Umulokpa Road.

That same day, 9th Mile Division police officers also foiled a robbery attempt in Udi LGA, recovering a cut-to-size gun and an expended cartridge.

Further successes were recorded on May 21. Police from Udenu Division, supported by vigilante groups, rescued two abducted men from a forest in Amalla-Egazi.

Additionally, a female victim was rescued in Gariki, Awkunanaw, with her stolen Toyota Sienna recovered.

On May 20, police in Awkunanaw, with local vigilantes, rescued a man from an uncompleted building where he was held after kidnappers extorted 30,000 from his family. One suspect was arrested.

Commending the efforts, Commissioner of Police, CP Kanayo Uzuegbu Giwa, said: The collaborative spirit between police operatives and community-based security outfits made these successes possible. We urge citizens to continue providing credible information.
Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, has told those advocating for election of an African Pope that it not a regular electoral process like that of Nigeria.

The cleric emphasized that electing a pope is not like Emilokan affair where people claim it is their turn to rule.

Kukah led this out while responding to questions on Channels Televisions Program on Saturday.

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The Catholic Bishop also spoke about his experience in Rome and the possible impact of the new pope on Africa and the world in general.

READ MORE: Tinubu Appoints Popular Govts Critic, Bishop Kukah As Kaduna Varsity Pro-Chancellor

Kukah said: Well, lets win the World Cup first. I think we still have a long way to go. I did write an article in the course of all of this and I remember remarking on something that happened when Pope John Paul II died and speculators thought that Cardinal Arinze came very close.

But as you know, electing a pope is not like that; its not an Emilokan affair scenario in which you say, These people have had their turn, now its our turn. No, it doesnt work like that.
Nigerian rapper Ruggedman has dismissed rumours suggesting he was taken into custody at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Panti, Yaba.

Human rights advocate Harrison Gwamnishu claimed on Thursday that Ruggedman was in police custody and being mistreated following a disagreement linked to the Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN).

The rapper took to Instagram on Saturday to dismiss the allegation, calling it untrue and accusing those behind it of trying to damage his reputation.

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He revealed that Pretty Okafor, the national president of PMAN, had submitted a petition targeting him and other union members.

READ MORE: Chioma Akpotha Expresses Gratitude As She Receives Award After Her YouTube Channel Hits 100K Milestone

The rapper clarified that the petition wasnt related to theft but focused on missing funds that were reportedly unaccounted for at the PMAN office.

The information that I was arrested for stealing money is false. It is fake. It was just a smear campaign by disgruntled human beings, he said.

If you know me, you know what Ive been doing is fighting for people, its speaking up for the voiceless, and that has never changed.

There was a petition written against me, Sunny Neji, Zaaki Azzay, and a couple of other people.

It wasnt about us stealing money but about money missing in an office, which has not been proved. Theres no evidence proving that they saw me or Sunny Neji with money.

This petition was written by Pretty Okafor, the former president of PMAN. He was suspended on the grounds of some illegal actions he took against PMAN, which, according to the constitution, allows the NWC to suspend him because of those bad actions.

The same people who suspended him were the same people he wrote a petition against, and that money is missing in the same PMAN office.

Not that we stole money. He still has to prove that he saw us holding money.

In August 2024, the PMAN national executive council announced the indefinite suspension of Ruggedman and other members, including Sunny Neji, Zaaki Azzay, and JFO Baba Ojonorgua.

The council said the 51-year-old rapper and others were suspended after being found guilty of misconduct.
Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, has once again reiterated his commitment to national progress over personal ambition.

Speaking on Saturday during a special anniversary Sabbath service in Umuahia to mark Governor Alex Ottis two years in office, Obi clarified that his primary concern is not clinching power but ensuring Nigeria functions for the good of all.

His statement, I am not desperate to be a President, I am desperate to see Nigeria work, underscores a philosophy that separates him from the traditional power-driven political class.

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READ MORE:https://www.informationng.com/2025/05/nigeria-safe-from-one-party-takeover-senator-moro.html#google_vignette

Obis consistent message has been about responsible leadership, purposeful governance, and national development.

By framing leadership as a trust rather than a prize, he calls attention to the urgent need for integrity and accountability in public office.

Using Abia State under Governor Otti as a reference point, Obi applauded the strides made within just two years, emphasizing that impactful governance doesnt require a decade.

He believes that transformational leadership can begin in a single day if the will and sincerity are present.

His remarks also serve as a subtle critique of those who see public office as a lifetime entitlement rather than a service mandate.

Obis appeal to Nigerians to pray for their leaders, not just criticize them, points to his belief in collective responsibility and divine guidance in leadership.
Operatives of Niger State Police Command have rescued a kidnapped victim, identified as Mubarak Iliya, who was said to be abducted from Gatawa village in Sokoto State.

In a statement by Niger State Police Command, Wasiu Abiodun, in Minna, over the weekend, disclosed that security agents found Mubarak, a 23 years old, wandering in the forest.

He added that after questioning, the victim was taken to the Gwada Division, where he disclosed that he had been kidnapped alongside his father, Iliya Daddi, both of Sabon-Birnin Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

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Senator Ali Ndume has praised President Bola Tinubu for appointing Northerners to key positions in federal agencies, describing the move as proof of the Presidents openness to constructive criticism and his commitment to inclusive governance.

The Borno South lawmaker made the remark in a personally signed statement in Abuja on Saturday, following the announcement of 12 strategic appointments from the North.

Among those appointed are Yazid Shehu Danfulani (Zamfara) as Managing Director of NAIC, Hamza Baba (Kano) as GEEP Programme Manager, and Isa Aremu (Kwara) as DG of the Michael Imoudu Labour Institute.

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Ndume, who had previously criticised the administration for marginalising the North, said, President Tinubu is someone who surrenders to constructive criticism. I have known him to be a fair-minded, cosmopolitan person. No one is infallible.

READ MORE:https://www.informationng.com/2025/05/yahaya-bello-denies-2027-presidential-ambition-backs-tinubus-re-election.html

The senator referenced Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution, which requires fair representation of Nigerias diverse regions, stressing that his past remarks were not to attack the President but to highlight this principle.

When our leaders in the North, including myself, expressed concern over the lopsided nature of previous appointments, it wasnt to attack but to highlight an important constitutional issue. This move by the President shows his ability to listen and adapt, he said.

Ndume also congratulated the appointees and urged them to meet expectations. He pledged loyalty to Tinubu, promising to continue speaking out in the national interest while supporting the administrations vision.
Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, has dismissed fears that Nigeria could become a one-party state, insisting that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is far from collapsing.

Speaking in Jos, Plateau State, on Saturday during the PDP North Central Zonal Elective Congress, Senator Moro expressed optimism about the partys revival efforts, noting that the recent activities across zones are aimed at repositioning the PDP.

It has been a very successful event. You can see the enthusiasm; delegates from across the zone, including the FCT, are excited, he said.

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READ MORE:https://www.informationng.com/2025/05/renewed-hope-agenda-working-nothing-good-comes-easy-tinubu-to-nigerians-amid-economic-struggles.html

This is one in a series of activities the PDP has lined up in response to the seeming crisis within the party. These processes will breathe new life into the PDP.

Moro dismissed concerns of defections weakening the party, saying, I have no fear of Nigeria becoming a one-party state. Not at all. I dont believe thats a likely outcome PDP members will regroup, recommit, and rededicate themselves to the cause.

Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, also addressed delegates, emphasizing the importance of internal democracy and periodic elections.

Your victory is a mark of trust youve shown true loyalty and maturity, he said, urging unity and peace among members.

He further stated, The PDP belongs to the people. The people love the PDP, and we must do everything in our power to ensure that power truly belongs to them.
A yet to be ascertained numbers of villagers have been killed, during an attack by gunmen, suspected to be herders in Munga Lalau and Munga Doso communities in Karim-Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State.

It was gathered that the communities were thrown into mourning after the assailants stormed the villages around 2am on Friday.

INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that the criminal elements invaded the villages on motorcycles and opened fire indiscriminately on sleeping residents.

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Speaking over the unfortunate incident on Saturday, Chairman of Munga Youth Forum, Suleiman Joel, confirmed that many people were killed.

He said: We are still recovering the dead bodies, but I can tell you that the casualty figure is high. These are not isolated killings. It is a calculated extermination.

READ MORE: Taraba Police Arrest Suspected Kidnappers, Recover Firearms

People who returned to their homes based on security assurances have now been killed. What do we tell their families?

We didnt know where to run to, said Soja Emmanuel, a survivor. They came around 2am, shooting sporadically. People jumped out of their homes into the bush. Some didnt make it.
No fewer than 21 suspected terrorists have been killed, during an attack carried by Nigeria Army in Shawu Forest, Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

In a statement by Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Katsina, Dr. Nasiru Muazu on Saturday, disclosed that the troops assaulted the terrorist positions, engaging them in a fierce gun duel.

Muazu noted that the attack forced terrorists to abandon their camps and flee into the dense bushes and rocky terrain, using their livestock as shields for their escape.

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He added that the troops pursued the fleeing criminal elements, engaging them relentlessly, including those attempting to escape by crossing a river.

The statement reads: Recorded Success: In the course of the operation, 21 terrorists were killed, including those swept away by the river while trying to escape. However, there were no casualties among the military team.

READ MORE: Kidnap Attempt Thwarted In Katsina As Police Rescue Five Victims

Also recovered were about 40 motorcycles and a yet-to-be-ascertained number of rustled cattle from the bandits.

Other items recovered were a considerable quantity of ammunition and other critical items. This included 74 rounds of 7.62mm NATO belted ammunition, 448 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, four pump-action cartridges, two RPG-7 chargers, and one RPG-7 bomb.

Five CS 48mm hand grenades, a Baofeng handheld radio (HHR), six mobile phones with three extra batteries, a camouflage jungle hat, and three magazine pouches were also secured.

Further recoveries included a motorcycle manual pump, an empty wallet, three jungle bags containing various charms, and a sum of 15,260.

All the recovered items are kept in custody of the military for further necessary action. Operations are still ongoing, and the morale among the troops remains consistently high.
A 16-year-old boy was killed and four people were injured after multiple gunshots rang out shortly before 11 p.m. Friday at a house party in the city of Chester, police said.

No arrests had been reported as of 7 p.m. Saturday.

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Evidence at the scene suggested an exchange of gunfire, police said, adding that two adjacent apartments also were struck, but no occupants were injured.

The teenager was found unresponsive on the front steps of a house in the 200 block of East 10th Street, suffering from gunshot wounds, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Three additional victims  ages 26, 16, and 25  were discovered inside the home, suffering from gunshot wounds. Medics took them to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del., and Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia for treatment. Their conditions were not available Saturday.

A fifth victim, aged 21, was discovered outside the house with a graze wound to the upper back.

Police said that individual was treated at the scene and reported seeing a dark-colored sedan with tinted windows in the area around the time of the shooting, but little else.

Officers recovered a handgun near the bottom of the steps in the living room of the house and, later, a second firearm in the basement, police said.

This heartbreaking violence is a painful reminder that we must come together as a community to protect our neighborhoods and our youth, Stefan Roots, mayor of the Delaware County city, said in a statement.

He added that the city will not stand idle while senseless acts of gun violence rob families of their loved ones.
State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D. Philadelphia), speaks during a news conference at City Hall last year about legislation she sponsored to fund solar panels for schools. Read more

Pennsylvania officials have green-lit 25 solar-panel grants for schools in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, and Delaware Counties  approving $22.6 million in state money for green energy projects that lawmakers and educational leaders hope will help stretch tight educational budgets.

The awards are the first fruits of the Solar for Schools program, the brainchild of State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D., Philadelphia), who introduced and championed the law that passed in 2024.

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Officials allocated $25 million for the first round of Solar for Schools and ultimately awarded 74 grants to go toward panel purchase and installation aimed at keeping districts utility costs down.

The demand is keen and the application process was competitive, Fiedler said, with asks for 88 separate projects worth about $88 million, more than three times the first-year allocation. The proposed projects were in rural, suburban, and urban districts and range from solar arrays on large open swaths of land to compact panels on city school roofs.

It felt like evidence that this sort of program has broad appeal, even in a super politically polarized world about green energy and energy in general, said Fiedler, chair of the House Energy Committee.

The Commonwealth Financing Authority approved the projects unanimously last week.

A cool and useful idea

Solar for Schools can save districts millions that can be invested back into classrooms, said Fiedler, who spent more than a year researching solar energy, climbing onto school roofs, and educating herself about the economics and technical points of solar panels.

Some districts already have gone the solar route  one, the Steelton-Highspire district in Dauphin County, offsets 100% of its annual energy consumption with solar panels. Its a tiny district with only two schools, but projects savings of up to $1.6 million over 20 years because of its shift to solar.

Solar for Schools had broad bipartisan support and the backing of groups that dont always see eye to eye: the building trades, environmental groups, education advocates.

Awarding the first grants feels like a milestone, Fiedler said. This is a very cool and useful idea for schools  a way for them to save money and generate their own electricity.

The grants, which were open to districts, community colleges, and career and technical schools, can cover up to 50% of the cost of solar panels; some federal money has been available to cover more of the cost.

Solar for Schools does not figure to be a one-time deal, either; Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed an additional $25 million for the program in the fiscal 2026 budget.

Whos getting the funds?

The grants have been awarded to the following schools:

Bucks County

Bristol Township, Armstrong Middle School, $400,000

Chester County

Octorara Area School District, $300,000

Owen J. Roberts School District, East Coventry, $300,000

Owen J. Roberts School District, East Vincent, $300,000

Owen J. Roberts School District, North Coventry, $264,552

Phoenixville Area School District, Manavon Elementary, $300,000

Phoenixville Area School District, Schuylkill Elementary, $300,000

Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, Unionville High School, $299,580

West Chester Area School District, East Bradford Elementary School, $167,514

Delaware County

Haverford Township School District, Chatham Park Elementary, $296,976

Rose Tree Media School District, $229,833

Upper Darby School District, Bywood Elementary, $323,213

Upper Darby School District, Primos Elementary, $334,913

Upper Darby School District, Hillcrest Elementary, $446,713

Upper Darby School District, Stonehurst Hills Elementary, $359,288

Upper Darby School District, Drexel Hill Middle School, $500,000

Upper Darby School District, Westbrook Park Elementary, $431,600

William Penn School District, Park Lane Elementary, $500,000

Philadelphia

Community College of Philadelphia, CCP Main Campus, $329,323

Community College of Philadelphia, CCP Northeast Regional Center, $176,695

Philadelphia School District, W.B. Saul High School, $500,000

Philadelphia School District, Northeast Community Propel Academy, $500,000

Philadelphia School District, Andrew Hamilton Elementary, $52,722

Philadelphia School District, Dobbins High School, $220,412

Universal Audenried Charter High School, $500,000
In 2014, one of the first buildings you saw when you crossed over the Schuylkill into downtown Phoenixville  one of the Philly suburbs most up-and-coming towns  was an abandoned laundromat. The low-slung Bridge Street building had stood empty, paint peeling from the garage doors, for 12 years when Jared Adkins approached officials about opening a distillery in the Chester County borough. They welcomed him with open arms, and the run-down brick box at 100 Bridge St. became home to what would become Bluebird Distilling. There were still racks of clothes on hangers when Adkins moved in.

Adkins and his father renovated the space over the course of a year, installing a German-made copper still, which started cranking out Bluebirds first batches of booze in March 2015. When Bluebird opened its tasting room three months later, it was an instant hit. Rather than serve up small sips of its spirits  as many distilleries did at the time  it stirred and shook them into full-fledged cocktails. Locals loved it: So many people showed up to the 44-seat bar that first night, the buildings old pipes couldnt keep up.

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With that volume of stuff going down the drain, everything backed up, flooded out completely the first night, Adkins remembers. Were serving people in inch-deep water for the entire place, [but] no one would stop coming in.

In the years since, Bluebird has grown in every way. The company opened a pair of coffee shop/cocktail bar concepts, Char & Stave, in Ardmore and Chestnut Hill, adding a coffee roastery to the Phoenixvilles headquarters in the process. The distillerys portfolio is one of the most diverse in the Philadelphia region, with dozens of spirits, from an eight-year-old bourbon and American single-malt whiskey to ghost pepper agave and honeycomb gin. Bluebird distills 12,000 to 15,000 gallons of booze a year, distributing in 42 states through direct shipping as well as throughout Pennsylvania via state-owned liquor stores. Still, the business strongest source of revenue comes directly from sales at Char & Stave and the Phoenixville tasting room.

While Bluebirds original still is big enough to keep up, the same cant be said of the Phoenixville tasting room. Adkins has been playing a perpetual game of catch-up, gradually transforming the 8,000-square-foot space over the past decade so it can accommodate more and more customers. Within a month or two of opening to the public, he cleared room in a barrel storage area to add more seating. Then he built an outdoor deck in the parking lot for warm-weather seating; that space was eventually walled off to make a three-season patio. Picnic tables claimed what was left of the parking lot. Today, the distillery has 160 seats in all.

Adkins isnt content to stop there. In fact, hes ready to redo the entire place: Bluebird is undertaking $2 million makeover that includes building out a new bar area, dining room, and an open kitchen designed for making Neapolitan-style pizza from scratch. Construction is anticipated to start in the next month, though Adkins intends to keep Bluebird open to the public throughout the process. When work is complete  hopefully by the end of 2025  the new bar/restaurant will reopen as Bluebird Social: Cocktails & Kitchen by Bluebird Distilling.

Bluebird is working with Philly-based pizza consultant Gregorio Fierro (whos advised the bread-obsessed owners of Angelos and Del Rossis) to map out the kitchen and develop recipes for the forthcoming house-made pies. Besides pizza, the menu will include appetizers, salads, sandwiches on house-baked bread, and desserts, along with beer and wine.

The cocktails  the list has upward of 60 options now, from straightforward house classics like the Gin N Juice (Juniperus Gin, cucumber juice, lime, sugar) to seasonal specials like the TKO (coconut milk-clarified agave spirit, peaflower, pineapple, fresh citrus)  arent going anywhere. Bluebirds bartenders will take center stage in the reworked patio, which will be converted into the buildings bar. In the first phase of the renovation project, the patio will close in June so it can be fully insulated and bricked in. When thats done, the room will be anchored by a rectangular, granite-topped bar with seating on all sides and a floating metal rack to display Bluebirds booze lineup.

Next, Bluebirds barrel room will be turned into a dining room with a vapor fireplace, barrel staves that run from floor to ceiling, and a wall-to-wall wool banquette. Finally, the current tasting room will be overhauled  expanding the retail area and adding the open kitchen (complete with an Italian-made bread and pizza oven) plus more seating.

The revamp is spearheaded by architect Paul Salvaggio and interior designer Michael Gruber (Vetri restaurants, Phoenixvilles Bistro on Bridge). Fishtown design firm True Hand, which has been working with Bluebird for a few years, will also contribute decorative elements.

The patio will be closed in the summer, but Bluebirds outdoor tables wont be affected, nor will the mobile bar the distillery runs during Phoenixvilles popular Inside Out weekends, when Bridge Street is shut down to cars. Some features of the new bar have already been completed off-site, thanks to Adkins 80-year-old dad, who used to run his own construction company and has never fully taken to retirement.

Before starting Bluebird in 2014, Adkins, a Skippack native, supervised production and packaging lines for Pepsi, Nestle, and Victory Brewing. He had been a home-brewer but saw the crowded field of craft breweries and decided to join the then relatively nascent Pennsylvania distilling scene instead, initially with the intent to make spirits primarily for wholesale. As the renovations of 100 Bridge St. progressed, Adkins thinking evolved.

We have this tasting room. Id like to do cocktails. Didnt know much about them, and then I started going online, Adkins remembers. He hired New York-based cocktail consultant Brian Van Flandern to come up with an early menu and train the staff, including Adkins himself.

I was a bartender for the first two years, Adkins says. He was 28  and single  when Bluebird first opened. I would start distilling at 6 [a.m.], and then I would bartend till [midnight] and then Id sleep my office.

Because Bluebird is committed to grain-to-glass process  meaning it generally eschews buying ready-made spirits, a relatively common practice in the craft distilling community  the only booze it had to work with in the early days was vodka and white whiskey. That meant the bar staff had to get creative, deploying infusions and house-made shrubs, tinctures, and bitters to variegate the cocktail list. Some of the drinks on the initial menu are still on there today, including the Bluebird (vodka, blueberry, mint, lime, club soda).

Whiskey dominates Bluebirds repertoire today, but theres also gin, vodka, agave spirits, rum, and a new line of coffee liqueurs and amaros. Per-bottle prices range from $30 for vodka to $85 for a cask-strength bourbon, but the distillery recently launched Townie, an affordably priced ($35/bottle) whiskey brand that blends Bluebirds house-distilled whiskey with wholesale bourbon.

Some of this stuff is what I want to create, but also its where we see areas in the market that need to be filled, Adkins says of Bluebirds approach to product development. Im creative  and I get bored. Whiskey is my passion, but I have a lot of other interesting ideas that I want to try out.

Market pressures  and just a little boredom  also played a role in the decision to rework the Phoenixville tasting room. Adkins says hes noticed consumers easing up on alcohol and growing more interested in spirit-free alternatives. Our numbers for drink sales have gone down. The towns numbers have gone down  you know, all of our friends establishments," he says. Theres some writing on the wall here, people want other aspects than alcohol.

Adkins decided pizza would be a good fit for Bluebird, given the overlapping use of fermentation. He took a three-day intensive course at Marylands Pizza University to study dough-making and Neapolitan pies, then hired Fierro to take it to the next level, Adkins says. He hopes to hire a pizzaiolo and full-time dough maker for the restaurant as the kitchen comes online.

Im not interested in making anything half-assed, Adkins says. If I do anything, I want it to be the best of the best.
In Pennsylvania, 119 people lost their lives to domestic violence in 2023 alone, including 50 perpetrator deaths, according to the Pennsylvania coalition against domestic violence. Read more

A woman shot and killed her husband in Philadelphias Holmesburg section early Sunday after he forced his way into the house they recently shared, police said.

Right before 12:30 a.m., police responded to a call about a person with a gun on the 4400 block of Cottman Avenue. There, they found the woman and her wounded 38-year-old husband.

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According to police, the woman told officers that her husband had returned home, kicking in both the front and back door and forcibly making his way inside the house, after leaving about a week ago. Threats soon followed, prompting her to grab a handgun and fire, striking him once in the upper right shoulder, police said.

The man, who was not identified, was pronounced dead by emergency medical personnel less than 10 minutes after police arrived. The shooting is currently being investigated as a domestic violence incident, police said.

No charges had been filed as of Sunday afternoon.

In Pennsylvania, 119 people lost their lives to domestic violence in 2023, including 50 perpetrator deaths, according to the Pennsylvania coalition against domestic violence.

If you or anyone you know is going through domestic violence, help is available. Call the Philadelphia Domestic Violence line 24-7 at 866-723-3014.
At midnight on Nov. 20, Sara Carozzolo, the parent of a 12-year-old daughter who would attend Kenmore West High School next year, emailed nine Ken-Ton School District administrators.

Carozzolo included explicit excerpts from three books that, an online catalog showed, were checked out from the schools library.

She quoted a description of anal sex from George M. Johnsons All Boys Arent Blue and an account of a rape from Stephen Chboskys The Perks of Being a Wallflower, among other passages.

Shall I continue? It was difficult to limit myself to just three examples  there are many more that are equally concerning. This is absolutely unacceptable, Carozzolo wrote. Am I living in an alternate universe? How can you justify exposing children to this material?

Carozzolo later challenged 27 books in the Kenmore West or Kenmore East high school libraries, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request.

Ken-Ton officials say this is the first time in recent memory a parent has formally objected to the content of school library books  or asked to have them taken off the shelves.

But book challenges are taking place in Erie County, in New York State and across the country. They are frequently brought by members of the conservative parents rights group Moms for Liberty, as was the case in Hamburg.

Advocates for keeping the books in circulation say teenagers should have access to material that challenges them, or reflects who they are, including titles that address themes of racial and LGBTQ+ identity.

Its best practice in schools to ensure that students have what we call mirror and windows. We want them to be able to access books and material both that reflects their own experience and that gives them a window to the experience of others, said Emma Hulse, an education counsel with the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Parent critics including Carozzolo and her ally Jeremiah Dabolt say some books have content, such as accounts of pedophilia and incest, thats inappropriate for school libraries.

In response to Carozzolos complaint, Ken-Ton officials set up a committee to evaluate and update district policies. Ken-Ton representatives say the district now plans to let parents formally challenge the content of library books. Officials said school-level staff will assess each book and, could, based on that review, remove the title from circulation.

So when a parent does submit a request to reconsider whether a book should be in the library, or not, thats a procedure we didnt really have before, said Patrick Fanelli, a district spokesperson. But were going to have it now.

Book challenges rising

The American Library Associations Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 285 challenges to school library books, involving 4,640 titles nationally in 2024, though this figure is likely an undercount. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison prompted the most objections, according to the ALA.

PEN America counts book bans in school libraries and classrooms together. The organization found 3,362 book bans in public schools nationwide in 2022-23, a figure that nearly tripled to 10,046 the next school year, with titles addressing LGBTQ+ themes often targets.

The majority took place in districts in Florida and Ohio, PEN America reported, but 65 bans happened in 21 districts in New York in 2023-24.

Its a huge issue right now. Years ago, maybe a few hundred books might have been challenged, and now were in the thousands of titles. And were moving beyond a parent challenging a book to these organized groups that want to challenge books, said Africa Hands, assistant professor of information science at the University at Buffalo. So its become more, I guess, coordinated and sophisticated now.

Its an area of emphasis for the Moms for Liberty group, whose members have lodged complaints and spoken out at school board meetings, sometimes reading sexually graphic passages from books.

Critics had come to rely on BookLooks.org to help identify books with problematic content. For each title, BookLooks summarized the concerns, counted up how often certain swear words appeared, offered a 1-5 Not For Minors rating scale and quoted full passages deemed inappropriate by a reviewer.

BookLooks use of copyrighted material, and purported links to Moms for Liberty, brought scrutiny. BookLooks shut down in March, saying its work was done.

The Erie County chapter of Moms for Liberty has since 2022 conducted what it calls a Library 101 investigation into school library books. The groups website lists problematic books carried by 21 public school districts in the county.

The Moms for Liberty chapter said it wants the most-concerning books removed from shelves and parental advisory stickers, similar to those on music albums and video games, placed on books with explicit content.

Instead of just saying, OK, this isnt what I want my child to read,  UBs Hands said, its gone so far as, Take them all off the shelf, so no one will have access to these books. 

Jackie Best, president of the county Moms for Liberty, was among the parents who complained at a Hamburg School Board meeting in 2022 about inappropriate content in school books.

Some members of the Hamburg school community pushed back on the objections, saying the book-banning efforts amounted to censorship, and the group lamented their challenges led to the removal of few, if any, books from area school libraries.

Decisions on what books to make available are best left to well-trained and experienced librarians, school officials say.

Its not haphazardly selected. Its very thoughtfully selected, said Michael Cornell, executive director of the Erie-Niagara School Superintendents Association and recently retired Hamburg superintendent, adding that schools want students to feel valued and to find library books relatable.

Outrageous text cited

Carozzolo, who has four children, said that as her oldest approached high school, which begins in eighth grade in Ken-Ton, she wanted to learn if any books she considered problematic were available at Kenmore Wests library.

Late one evening last November, Carozzolo cross-referenced the library catalog, accessible online, with the BookLooks ratings guide. She started with titles beginning with the letters A and B and said she became disturbed by what she found.

Incest. Rape. Its pedophilia. Its outrageous, Carozzolo said in an interview. I trust you guys to just vet books that my child could be having in their room alone. Like, I cant read every single book they take out at the library. You have to do that.

Carozzolo said she wrote to as many school and district officials whose email addresses she could find.

She said she wasnt happy with the initial response from Kenmore West Principal Dean Johnson, who referred Carozzolo to district policy on books used in classrooms and libraries and wrote that their selection follows careful evaluation.

Johnson offered to meet with her. Days later, she began sending Ken-Ton Superintendent Sabatino Cimato emails formally objecting to content in 27 books at the Kenmore West or Kenmore East libraries.

Each email included the BookLooks report on one book, with an overall rating, profane-word chart and lengthy excerpts from the title in question. For example, the text taken from Jennifer Nivens coming-of-age novel, Breathless, sprawls over 17 pages.

These and other books have candid descriptions of teens sexual exploration, drug and alcohol use.

Other passages address sexual abuse, suicide and racism.

Young people not only are capable of grappling with big ideas, they have an absolute right to, said the NYCLUs Hulse. And a lot of the books on this list of titles that have been challenged deal with really important and essential themes that impact a lot of young people.

Asked whether, given the vast array of graphic content accessible online, hes fighting a losing battle here, Dabolt said it can feel that way.

At the same time, as parents, were aware of it. But its our choice to be ignorant or proactive. We can put in the guardrails. We can put in content filtering, parental controls, while the explicitness of library books isnt well known, Dabolt said.

Ken-Ton agreed to set up a committee to review, and possibly update, district policy, guided by research into how other districts handle objections to classroom and library materials. Until now, the district has had a mechanism for challenges to instructional but not library materials.

Parents currently have the ability to flag specific library books so that, if their children attempt to check one out, the librarian will see an alert and know not to proceed.

Fanelli, the district spokesperson, and Anne Martell, Ken-Tons director of K-12 education, said the committee, which included Dabolt and two high school students, didnt focus on the content of the nearly 30 books Carozzolo challenged but, instead, looked at district policy.

Ken-Ton now plans to make the opt-out option for library books more clear to parents and to allow for challenges to library books, the officials said.

School librarians will lead the review of any challenged book, a process that could conclude with a decision to remove a book from library shelves, Fanelli said.

The school-level teams are going to look at any individual book thats challenged. Theyre going to read the entirety of the book and then make a determination from there based on, does this book meet the selection criteria? he said, a decision that will be final.

Carozzolo said she welcomes the change. She said shes been told a team has begun to review the 27 titles she challenged and she looks forward to hearing this panels decision on the books fate.

And, she said, shes not done yet.

Do I plan to to contest more books? Yes, I do. Absolutely, Carozzolo said. This is just the beginning.
The living room looks out onto a balcony with views of the Manayunk Canal. Read more

For decades, Kevin Smith has alternated between urban and rural lifestyles.

He had lived in South Philadelphia, Center City, and then Glenside until he bought a three-bedroom, three-bathroom corner unit in Manayunk three years ago.

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When I walked in and saw the view, I was sold, said Smith, a hospital staff nurse, and I wanted to move back to the city.

Yet he liked the fact that rural areas were easily accessible.

Now, the Lancaster County native is returning to his roots, Mount Joy.

The 1,685-square-foot Manayunk condo is a fifth-floor corner unit in the Watermill development with views of the canal, the towpath, and Main Street. It has an open living space, with custom epoxy flooring, tin ceilings, and a wood accent wall.

The living room has the kitchen on one side and a balcony with canal views on the other.

The kitchen has brown Shaker-style cabinets, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, multiple windows, and a breakfast bar with glass-front cabinets. The dining area can seat at least six people.

There is a full bathroom in the hallway and a laundry closet with washer and dryer.

The waterside primary bedroom has a shelved walk-in closet and a tiled bathroom with a glass-framed walk-in shower.

There are two adjacent bedrooms, one of which could be used as an office or nursery, and an en suite bathroom with a large closet.

A gated parking area can be reached through the lobby. Guest parking is available.

The building has an outdoor space for residents with access to the towpath and an on-site gym.

The development was built in 2004.

The unit is listed by Evan Frisina of Compass Realty for $409,900.
As summer nears at the Jersey Shore, so does the third anniversary of legal recreational cannabis in New Jersey. But while the industry is starting to outgrow its infancy, Shore towns have yet to become the weed destinations some operators had hoped for.

The majority of municipalities along the Shore still ban dispensaries and other cannabis businesses. Atlantic City is the major exception  it now has more dispensaries than casinos and is preparing to debut some of the states first licensed cannabis lounges, likely later this summer. Public consumption and use in rental properties is still prohibited, which makes it nearly impossible for many vacationers to legally light up during their stay.

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 READ MORE: Can I smoke weed legally at the Shore?

Still, adults 21 and older can legally bring cannabis into Shore towns if its purchased from a licensed New Jersey dispensary. And yes  they can get it delivered.

Can you get weed delivered to Jersey Shore towns?

Yes. Even though nearly 70% of New Jerseys 564 municipalities have opted out of cannabis businesses, delivery services are still allowed to operate in those areas, according to the states Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

Weed delivery services cannot be hampered in any jurisdiction, whether they are opted out or not, said commission spokesperson Toni-Anne Blake.

Dispensaries delivering to Jersey Shore towns

Dispensaries that deliver to South Jersey shore towns include, but are not limited to:

For a full list and map of verified adult-use dispensaries in New Jersey, visit nj.gov/cannabis/dispensaries.

How weed delivery works in New Jersey

Ordering cannabis online isnt much different from ordering takeout. Visit a dispensarys website, browse products, and choose between pickup or delivery.

Unlike pizza delivery, weed orders dont show up in 30 minutes or less  customers typically schedule a window for delivery, from an hour to a few hours later, said Dave Christian, principal and cannabis consultant at Shore House Canna in West Cape May. Most dispensaries dont charge a delivery fee, but youll need to plan ahead.

You schedule a time for it to be delivered, from an hour to a couple of hours, or later in the day, Christian said.

New Jersey dispensaries say that almost all of their customers still choose to buy products in-person, but that delivery is available to those who want it.

Tips for cannabis delivery

Have payment and ID ready: Customers must present ID and can pay via cash or digital app if not prepaid. Only the person who placed the order can accept delivery. Order to a residential property: Cannabis products can only be delivered to a permanent or temporary residence, which includes rental properties, Airbnbs, and hotels. Weed cannot be delivered to businesses, like bars or restaurants, or public places, like the boardwalk, beach, and parks. Buy in bulk: Many dispensaries waive delivery fees for larger orders.

Be wary of weed delivery advertisements and search results

When searching for legal weed delivery services, adults should visit the websites of approved cannabis dispensaries to avoid possible scams.

Advertisements for weed delivery services can appear on social media, Google search results, and other online platforms, but theyre not always legitimate or legal services, said Jon Cohn, owner of Atlantic Citys High Rollers dispensary.

Its hard to tell when you go on a website or just search for cannabis weed delivery or weed delivery because a lot of different results will pop up, Cohn said. I urge people who want to smoke lab-tested, legal cannabis products to order delivery from a licensed delivery company or cannabis dispensary.

There are two state-approved weed delivery services in New Jersey: Weedies and DirectLeaf. However, currently, neither service delivers to South Jersey.

Many, but not all, recreational marijuana dispensaries offer delivery service. For a full list and map of verified adult-use dispensaries in New Jersey, visit nj.gov/cannabis/dispensaries.
Insurers show true grit Speed, service and consistency stand out as the defining broker priorities in 2025, reshaping how the best insurance companies in Australia have climbed to the top of industry rankings. In IBs annual Brokers on Insurers survey, brokers across the country shared their invaluable insights and rated the performance of 10 insurers they had worked with over the past 12 months. Insurers were evaluated across 11 key metrics, including turnaround times on new business and claims, overall service level and premium stability. They were then ranked based on average scores from broker ratings. The top three performers in each category received gold, silver or bronze medals, while Insurer of the Year medals were awarded based on combined average scores across all categories. The insurers setting the benchmark for excellence in Australia have earned a vote of confidence from brokers and a competitive edge by delivering what the third-party channel says matters most:

Underwriters that want to work with us, help us and actually try to get something over the line

Better management of claims, fast response time and granting indemnity quickly





Liberty Specialty Markets Australia  Insurer of the Year



Being rewarded with a silver medal is a vote of confidence as a result of a deliberate long-term strategy.

Liberty Specialty Markets also earned gold in BDM support, turnaround times for new business and claims and silver in brand recognition and reputation and broker communication, training and development.

Liberty Australia president John McCabe explains that the leading insurer continues to focus on stability as markets shift and capacity returns to some of the more complex commercial insurance portfolios.

Many of our portfolios are long tail, so when you choose an insurer, you have to consider their value proposition as a multi-year commitment, he says. Choosing an insurer you know will be around to pay claims and manage that process locally is important.

While price is always a consideration, brokers and clients who have been through a claims experience with Liberty tell us that they value service more than lowest available premiums

John McCabe Liberty Specialty Markets Australia



The top insurer, which earned gold for product innovation, silver for commission structure, bronze in overall service level and sixth place overall, believes keeping ahead of client and broker needs is paramount.

Over the past year, AXA XL has made significant strides in evolving its service model to enhance consistency in client service. Informed by feedback from brokers and clients, it recently launched a new client management framework tailored to their needs.

This initiative has led to the implementation of standardised procedures and a substantial investment in training our teams, ensuring a unified approach to service delivery, says Stephen Nguyen, head of distribution, marketing and communications, for Australia.

Open communication with our brokers and clients is what drives real improvement; we listen, we adjust and we build a strategy around what they need

Stephen Nguyen AXA XL

The key to this evolution was a dedicated client service team comprised of client managers, underwriters, claims specialists and risk engineers. This cross-functional collaboration fosters communication among its commercial teams, enabling them to provide timely responses and a cohesive customer experience.

As a result of these enhancements, we have observed a notable increase in our Net Promoter Score from our broking partners, Nguyen adds. Our commitment to continuous improvement and client-centric service remains a top priority for the team.



How broker priorities have shifted: a four-year trend



An analysis of IBs survey data from 2022 to 2025 shows the most significant shift in broker sentiment is a move towards choosing insurers who deliver quickly, support brokers effectively and perform reliably over time.

Key takeaways:

refocus on speed and execution



shift from training to turnaround



decline in prioritising innovation



increased emphasis on stability

O

In 2025, turnaround time for new business and claims holds the top two spots in broker rankings, rising from second and fifth place in 2024 and from fourth and seventh in 2022, respectively.

This shift signals a change in how brokers prioritise insurer relationships.

The average score for new business turnaround surged from 3.83 in 2022 to 4.53 in 2025, making it the single most important factor this year. Claims turnaround followed closely, rising from 3.86 to 4.50 over the same period.

These jumps indicate growing pressure on brokers to move faster for their clients, coupled with diminishing tolerance for delays, and were echoed in this years broker comments:

Slow response times and difficult risk requirements, particularly with property and the number of surveys every year



Trying to contact underwriters and get responses  service levels are at the worst Ive seen in over 40 years

Meanwhile, overall service level has climbed steadily from 3.92 in 2022 to 4.42 in 2025, confirming that consistent, accessible and competent service remains a mainstay of broker satisfaction, especially when paired with speed.

By contrast, broker communication, training and development, which ranked first in 2024, dropped sharply to ninth in 2025. Its score fell from 4.12 to 3.38. BDM support and commission structure also saw significant declines.

This suggests that while personal relationships remain important, brokers are placing greater emphasis on insurer responsiveness, operational efficiency and consistent execution, factors that directly impact client outcomes.

Even previously high-profile categories such as product innovation and online platforms have lost ground.

Innovation dropped from 4.06 in 2024 to 3.57 in 2025, while platform ratings slipped from 3.84 to 3.58. Brokers have sent a strong message that new features and tech tools are only valued if they enable faster, smoother workflows.

One factor that has bumped back into focus is premium stability, which now sits in fourth place with a rating of 4.14. While it lacks the urgency of turnaround time, brokers place greater weight on predictable pricing in a climate of fluctuating rates and client expectations.

What sets the top-performing insurers apart in 2025 is their ability to deliver speed and service consistently, instilling brokers with confidence to meet client expectations.



What brokers say about frustrations and expectations





IBs data shows the biggest shifts in broker priorities stem from the pressure to work faster, deliver more certainty, and get expert answers quickly. Comments from survey respondents reveal ongoing frustration with service levels, pricing and insurer responsiveness.



Service standards have deteriorated

Many brokers say communication has worsened significantly, citing inconsistent staffing, slow responses and a lack of ownership.

Lack of or incomplete responses



Not being able to deal with the decision-maker

Some brokers tied these issues to post-pandemic operational changes, particularly remote work arrangements.

If staff are going to work from home, there still needs to be consistency with their service delivery, which does not happen now, and it has been getting worse





Underwriting too rigid and reliant on AI

Brokers are pushing back against black-and-white underwriting rules and the growing role of automation in decision-making.

Bring back underwriting and replace AI on more complex risks. One size does not fit all



We need more available markets; at times, it appears like insurers and agencies dont even assess the risk before underwriting





Pricing is unpredictable and poorly explained

While premium stability has improved, many brokers remain frustrated by unclear risk pricing and lack of justification.

Erratic pricing. There is no proper grasp of the risks they are insuring. Poor communication





What brokers want in the year ahead



While frustrations remain high, brokers are clear-eyed about the fixes. They want insurers to:

rebuild service standards through faster, more reliable communication



reinvest in human expertise , especially in underwriting and claims



deliver pricing stability and better risk transparency



improve decision-making at the front line, not defer to external parties or automation



Respondents offered innovative suggestions on how to move past these issues:

Insurers need to understand that not all quotes can be done through a portal; a human needs to manually review a submission, as not everyone fits into a box



Revisit claims structures; staff should have more authority instead of continually deferring to outside contractors





How the top insurers are responding

Fast turnaround times become essential

Turnaround times for new business and claims ranked as brokers No. 1 and No. 2 priorities in 2025.

According to IBs data, 59% of brokers said turnaround time for new business improved in the past 12 months, a 16% increase over 2024. Claims efficiency also improved, with 46% of brokers reporting better performance, up from just 30% the year before.

This reflects real improvement from insurers who have listened to broker concerns and restructured processes to deliver faster.

Faster responses for claims, as this is what the client pays their premiums for



Insurers need to look at getting staff, particularly claims staff, as natural disasters are going to increase

One of the standout performers in this years survey, Liberty attributes its consistency and speed to empowered teams and local decision-making.

We rarely have to refer or seek approval offshore, says McCabe. Our underwriters have clear appetites and capacity and try to make it a quick no where we cant help.

That autonomy extends to its claims specialists, who are spread across four states to ensure most claims are handled locally.

Most product lines see one person manage a claim from start to finish, meaning that we understand the business needs of our brokers and customers, McCabe notes. We know that brokers and clients like dealing with people rather than generic mailboxes, and our teams are highly skilled and technically very strong in their product knowledge.

AXA XLs Nguyen highlights that the insurance sector is in flux due to technological advancements, evolving customer expectations and the emergence of new risks.

The risks are larger, more complex and arriving rapidly, he says. To proactively address the needs of brokers and clients, our team embraces a collaborative and agile approach to product innovation. We prioritise active engagement with brokers and clients, gathering insights and feedback for our product development process. This ensures that our offerings remain aligned with our clients requirements.

For example, the company has made significant investments in cyber insurance, an area in which it is considered a market leader. Its approach includes providing bespoke coverage options and a suite of pre-loss services designed to mitigate risks. This is complemented by dedicated cyber claims support and specialised risk engineering to assist clients effectively during incidents.

Additionally, it has established a dedicated energy transition practice group that brings together its extensive expertise to support clients navigating new and emerging technologies, such as renewable energy solutions and sustainable practices.

By leveraging our knowledge and resources, we aim to empower clients to transition to a more sustainable future, adds Nguyen.





Service and support are better but remain inconsistent



Many brokers still describe support as under pressure, particularly around communication, follow-up, and accessibility. While 38% noted an improvement in BDM support, a majority, or 62%, still reported it had worsened.

More insurers should be focused on service to brokers



We need more BDM meetings; some insurers seem to change our BDMs every few months

Despite not having a traditional BDM model, Liberty excelled in this category by focusing on accessibility and product knowledge.

We dont have BDMs, but we make our underwriters, claims team and risk engineers highly accessible, and they are all very knowledgeable, says McCabe. We also have state managers and key relationship leaders who help us coordinate across our products and effectively meet client needs.

AXA XL acknowledges that feedback from brokers and clients is vital in shaping its operations and market strategy.

We have established regular feedback loops that include broker surveys and forums designed for our customers to share their insights, says Nguyen. These initiatives give our clients direct access to our leadership teams, ensuring their voices are heard and valued in our decision-making processes.

That feedback is shared widely across the company, enabling the team to celebrate their achievements while identifying and addressing areas for improvement.





Claims handling a work in progress



While brokers reported improved turnaround times for claims in 2025, many say the experience still falls short, particularly regarding decision-making authority, staff expertise and reliance on third-party contractors.

According to IBs data, claims efficiency has improved modestly, with 46% of brokers saying it got better this year. Thats a 16% increase in positive sentiment from 2024.

However, 54% still said claims handling had worsened, making it a persistent sore spot in broker-insurer relationships.

While the overall pace of claims has increased, brokers say quality, consistency, and communication still arent where they need to be.

More training for claim handlers

Brokers want claims handled competently and confidently by people who understand the product and have the authority to act.

This years top-performing insurers have responded by investing in claims teams, improving internal workflows, and reducing reliance on external adjusters, particularly for high-volume or time-sensitive claims.



Pricing stability and transparency

Half of brokers said premium stability improved in 2025, up from just 32.84% the year before, but the other half still sees volatility.

Flattening of premiums would be nice, as clients cant take much more



If theyre going to charge $8,000, they should provide third-party data to support

Liberty stayed the course in a challenging year marked by pricing pressures, staffing strain and claims complexity.

Above all, we strive for consistency; we dont dip in and out of market segments, so our broker partners become very familiar with our appetite, McCabe says. Being a mutual helps us do this, as we arent subject to the constant growth pressures that many large public Australian insurers face.



Training and expertise are differentiators

Brokers increasingly point to a gap in technical skills and underwriting knowledge. They want insurers to bring in more training, knowledgeable staff, and less reliance on automated decisions.

More resources, more training and move away from reliance on AI, which is advancing incompetency



Upskill on technical matters as there is a dearth of technical knowledge in the industry

The top-performing insurers stand out by investing in their teams and empowering staff to make better, faster, and more accurate decisions.

Liberty earned second place for broker communication, training, and development, even as many insurers saw their scores slide. McCabe says the key is focusing on practical, broker-led content.

We run many technical workshops and webinars and share thought leadership articles with brokers throughout the year. We know that brokers particularly like hearing about our claims examples and policy coverage enhancements, he notes. Were constantly working to leverage technology in how we approach this communication to make it as easy and engaging as possible.

He points to Libertys new environmental insurance digital experience as an example, which consolidated content from eight PDF documents into one user-friendly, web-based format.


This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.

P&C market summary

Its no secret the property and casualty (P&C) market is full of struggle. After years of premium increases and market withdrawals, the right sizing of risk-to-profit is  a work in progress.

Some areas of the market have seen the necessary improvements to lift underwriting above water. Auto insurance, for instance, has buoyed the profiles of the carriers who write it, thanks to the post-pandemic years of sharp premium increases.

Some markets are notoriously difficult. Florida and California, for instance, are both still on a journey of legislative reform and market changes. And wildfire risk across the country has insurers rethinking their approach to underwriting this risk.

Shareholder expectations are their own force within the industry, and carriers and agencies that hope to spread their risks while exploring new avenues for profitability will necessarily be on the lookout for good partners for merging or acquisition.

That brings us to the following: For P&C carriers that hope to deliver on their bottom line, McKinsey reports four common factors that can make the difference in the coming year:

Clear strategies to capture profitable growth and focused execution

Modernized underwriting

Cost-effectively acquiring businesses that solve for distribution

Operational efficiencies that lower internal administrative costs

Clear strategies to capture profitable growth and focused execution

If you read the McKinsey report and it seemed like the summary was, to win, you need a plan to win, youll be forgiven. But if youll indulge us, theres a little bit of nuance.

Sure, it may seem like it goes without saying that you need a strategy to grow, but heres why all those adjectives matter:

Clear strategies: If it takes some mental gymnastics to tie your current tactics to your business objectives, then your message is muddy and your team cant possibly be aligned and rowing in the same direction.

Profitable growth: Growth that just takes your current reality and makes it bigger isnt growing profit, because it grows your challenges alongside any new business you bring in. Youre looking for growth that puts more money in your business coffers, not the same problems at a different scale.

Focused execution: Yes, everyone looks busy at your business. But if everyones spending their time putting out a million little fires and working on side projects and things that dont move the needle, then your effort is just a lot of noise (which takes us back to those clear strategies).

The McKinsey report champions the idea that most strategies will involve some sort of M&A plans. But again, the principles of clear, profitable, and focused apply. If your acquisitions are scattershot affairs of snapping up partners without evaluating their overlap with your existing pipeline or how they align with your growth strategies, you may find yourself in a morass of a merger with no clear line on profitability. I.e., bigger aint always better.

Modernized underwriting

Telematics. Internet of Things devices. Underwriters have more tools at their disposal than ever before in collecting data about insureds. Yet, this overwhelming mass of data is only helpful if you know what to do with it and have the processes in place to support it.

AI can be instrumental in assessing a risk even as applications and information comes from multiple varied sources. But this is only useful if you can ensure youre falling in line with various states regulations of AI in underwriting and plugging what you can use into a comprehensive and holistic system.

In the end, your business may have a very tailored definition of what modernized underwriting means to you or your business partners. But if you dont have a way to activate it, its still just data collection for the sake of data collection instead of delivering lower business risk for you and right-sized premiums for your customers.

Cost-effectively acquiring businesses that solve for distribution

M&A is the lifeblood for many P&C carriers and agencies alike. But the margins on your new venturesand the long-term ROIvary. A lot.

What makes a new acquisition cost effective? You get the most ROI out of an acquisition that:

Adds opportunities without significantly increasing your business or regulatory risk

Brings on more blood without significant duplications or overlaps in internal operations

Has a clean and understandable balance sheet

Unfortunately, businesses that have low internal operations costs, are streamlined, and are clearly profitable are rarely just sitting on the market with a Buy Me nametag. Instead, you may not really know whether a business can be purchased and cleaned up to be a profitable add until after youre already too deep.

Businesses that solve for distribution are businesses that may have relationships you want to add to your network. Or they may have impressive downstream agents. Or they may have an innovative way of going to market. Whatever it is, focus your time and effort on acquiring businesses that are an add for you, not just businesses that make you bigger.

The cost-effectiveness of an acquisition really comes down to the way you handle your internal administrative costs. Businesses that purchase another company and then let that company continue to operate in a bubble often see the risks of M&A (agent churn, regulatory risks, bloat) with the barest of skinny-margin rewards.

Operational efficiencies that lower internal administrative costs

The real payoff for you and for any M&A activity in your business comes from your internal operational efficiencies. When you streamline your internal administrative costs, you make it easier for a handful of employees to manage lots of complexity.

Onboarding new partners, new agents, and new acquisitions necessarily means a high volume of data. But most of it is the same data, every time. So having every single onboard turn into a special snowflake is a waste of time and money (and since time is money, its a waste of more money).

By streamlining your internal processes, you lower your administrative costs and make your M&A activities far more successful. It adds up to more money in your pocket and the ability to be more reactive and proactive when the P&C market gets turbulent.

AgentSync and your M&A success

AgentSync helps agencies and carriers in P&C stay abreast of regulatory changes and shifting market conditions. By streamlining internal processes, our clients can make their M&A activity more profitable while also improving their reputations with their distribution partners, from agencies to carriers and everyone in between.

Onboarding portals make it easy for agency partners and individual producers to onboard and maintain their own data without staff babysitting the process.

Hierarchies that can handle complexity make it easier to accurately reflect business relationships and maintain accurate commission payments no matter what state or business structure an agent is affiliated with.

Integrated data from the industry source of truth makes it abundantly clear which subordinate businesses are selling policies (and which ones cost more than theyre worth).

Easy, accurate reporting cuts down hours of personnel time to hunt information, and makes regulatory audits a breeze.

If youre ready to level up your M&A activity, see what else AgentSync can do for you; schedule a demo today.

Topics Property Casualty
During a joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed Ukraines goal of restoring its economic ties with Azerbaijan to the level they were before the conflict with Russia, Azernews reports.

Andrii Sybiha mentioned that he had also met with Azerbaijans Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, where they discussed a broad range of bilateral issues, including economic cooperation, investment opportunities, and energy collaboration. He noted that there has been positive progress in their relations over the past two years.

Sybiha emphasized Ukraines intention to at least reach the previous levels of economic engagement with Azerbaijan and highlighted the importance of Azerbaijani companies and investments for Ukraines economy.

Despite the ongoing war, he reassured that Ukraine remains an attractive market and a dependable partner, affirming Ukraines commitment to supporting Azerbaijani investments within its economic landscape.
WASHINGTON  If you believe the cliche, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And thats certainly true for President Trumps One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, which narrowly passed the narrowly Republican House last week and which faces an uncertain fate before a Republican but recalcitrant Senate.

If youre a typical American taxpayer or a hardworking waitress or a fabulously wealthy homeowner, the bill might well look beautiful  but if youre on Medicaid or food stamps, not so much.

Of course and predictably, the two sides in Washingtons never-ending war of words took entirely different views of the measure.

House Republicans voted to prevent the largest tax hike in American history by preserving and expanding the 2017 Trump tax cuts, said Rep. Claudia Tenney, a Republican whose district sprawls from Niagara County to Watertown. This legislation will now bring the most significant tax cut in American history, bringing an average of an extra $5,000 into our wallets.

Not surprisingly, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, saw the bill in a different light.

Trumps One Big, Beautiful Bill is a bad deal for Buffalo, Schumer said. Over 45,000 in Buffalo and Western New York could be kicked off their health insurance, it continues to hammer our Main Streets by raising costs on small businesses, and it is a gut punch to our local hospitals, which would lose tens of millions of dollars by decimating Medicaid.

Ironically, both Tenney and Schumer may well be right. The bill would surely help some Buffalo-area residents while hurting others. Heres a close look as to why, along with a glance at the bills fiscal fallout and political prognosis:

Tax cuts: saved and expanded

Tenney is correct: This bill, if agreed to by the Senate, would prevent a tax hike. Trumps 2017 tax cuts are set to expire as the clock strikes midnight on the first day of 2026. If Congress lets that happen, the conservative National Taxpayers Union Foundation estimates that 80% of American taxpayers will pay more when they file their returns by April 15, 2027.

The standard deduction would shrink by half, as would the child tax credit. The top marginal tax rate would climb back to 39.7% from 37%, but wealthy New Yorkers might benefit anyway because they would be able to deduct all of their state and local taxes on their federal returns.

The Big Beautiful Bill Act  named after a seemingly random Trump comment  would prevent all that from happening, and thats just the start.

Making good on his campaign promises, the measure would end taxes on tips and overtime through the end of 2028. It would expand the child tax credit by $500 through that year, too, and create Trump accounts for newborns that start with a $1,000 federal deposit.

The bill also creates a deduction of up to $10,000 for interest paid on loans for American-made autos. And while it doesnt fully restore the so-called SALT deduction, it expands the size of the deduction Americans could take for state and local taxes from $10,000 to $40,000.

Rep. Nick Langworthy  a Republican who pulled a number of all-nighters as he and his colleagues finalized the measure  said all those moves will unlock a prosperous future and, as Trump insists, make America great again.

It doesnt happen overnight, but having the tax code locked in place will make repatriating jobs, repatriating manufacturing, getting back into making things in America a lot easier, said Langworthy, whose district includes much of suburban Erie County and the Southern Tier. Were going to grow a lot under this tax code. I mean, its just inevitable, just like we saw pre-pandemic.

Holes in the safety net?

Extending and expanding those tax breaks comes at a price, though  and independent experts say the poor would pay it.

Medicaid, which started as a federal-state program for low-income families but was expanded to cover more people under Obamacare, would change dramatically. As of the end of 2026, able-bodied adults without children would have to work to qualify for it, and all Medicaid recipients would face more frequent checks on their eligibility. States like New York that allow undocumented immigrants to enroll in the program would lose funding, and Medicaid would no longer fund gender transitions.

On top of that, the bill ends an Obamacare tax credit that makes it easier for some people to buy private health insurance.

Adding it all up, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that 12.5 million Americans would eventually lose health care coverage because of those changes  and the liberal Center for American Progress estimates that 32,000 of those people live in the Buffalo-based congressional district represented by Rep. Tim Kennedy, a Democrat.

The bill also includes an unspecified $500 billion cut to Medicare, the federal health care program for seniors.

Whats more, 31,000 people in Kennedys district would lose some or all of their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance benefits, the Center for American Progress estimated. Thats because the bill would shift more of the programs funding burden to the states, and because the measure expands the food stamp work requirement to cover adults through the age of 64, up from 54 under the current law.

Not surprisingly, Kennedy is aghast at the bills projected impact.

Its catastrophic for my district, for New York and for all of America, said Kennedy, who predicted the bill would force newly uninsured Americans to resort to emergency rooms rather than physicians for their primary health care needs, thereby foisting huge new costs on hospitals. Its the largest cut to Medicaid in American history ... Theres no doubt in my mind that there will be hospitals and nursing homes closing. That means people will die, and it is due to these horrific cuts to Medicaid.

The cost

The One Big, Beautiful Bill does many things  including drastically boosting border security  but one thing it doesnt do is reduce the federal deficit. In fact, it does just the opposite.

While all the cuts of health care and food stamps will save the government $1 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office said the bills tax cuts and other changes mean that overall, the federal debt will grow by $3.8 trillion over a decade.

Langworthy said the economic growth unleashed by the measure would produce revenue that would help cover that budget gap, but budget hawks outside of government disagree vehemently.

This plan is nothing short of a fiscal failure, said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. It adds massively to the national debt, it relies on timing gimmicks and false claims about growth, it fails to make the structural spending reforms we desperately need, and it uses the important savings it does find to partially offset tax cuts rather than reduce the debt.

Crafters of the bill seem to concede that point, at least partially. After all, the legislation raises the federal debt ceiling  which the federal treasury is on target to hit by July  by $4 trillion.

The politics

If youre already tired of hearing about the One Big, Beautiful Bill, theres bad news. Debate on this thing is in the fairly early stages.

The measure now goes to the U.S. Senate, where major changes are expected.

The Senates fiscal hawks are demanding a bill thats not so budget-busting.

Im hoping now well actually start looking at reality, Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, told reporters last week. I know everybody wants to go to Disney World, but we just cant afford it.

Meanwhile, moderate Republicans are concerned about the bills health care cuts.

I have said and made clear that I do not want to take away Medicaid benefits, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told CNN.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, will now be tasked with cobbling together a bill that will win the support of at least 50 of the 53 Republican senators. And then the Senate and House will start negotiating to try to come up with a bill that the narrow GOP majorities on both sides of Capitol Hill can live with.

Wishing them no luck at all is New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who berated Republican House members from the state for supporting the Trump tax bill.

The Republican delegation tore up SNAP benefits, slashed funding for affordable housing, killed clean energy projects and enacted the largest Medicaid cut in history  and they did it all while still managing to roll over on the SALT cap, she said. Pathetic.
This week, an update from the London food scene. I was over for a wedding lunch at Corrigans in Grosvenor St, and chic, delicious, and wonderfully convivial it was too. I particularly loved the new seasons English asparagus swimming in nori seaweed butter. They used yakisushinori-roasted nori seaweed and added a bunch of watercress as a garnish  delicious!

And guess what? I managed to get a table at the Yellow Bittern in Caledonian Rd. It felt like winning the Lotto! Its owned and run by Hugh Corcoran from Belfast and his lovely daughter Frances. Open just for lunch Monday to Friday and closed at the weekend  two sittings, one at 12pm and the other at 2pm, and for just 20 people.

The food is simple, comforting, and delicious. The super fresh ingredients are laid out on the worktop in the tiny kitchen at the end of the restaurant. Hugh and his assistant work their magic on two stove tops and a tiny oven.

We ordered radishes with butter and flaky sea salt, brown crab with mayonnaise, and freshly-baked soda bread. The flavour of the mixed brown and white crab meat reminded me of the flavours of early Ballymaloe.

Myrtle always served both brown and white crab meat to encourage the fishermen to catch and sell whole crabs rather than just claws. Many other good things included a succulent beef pie and one of the best creme brulees Ive ever tasted.

Always fun to catch up with Ballymaloe Cookery School alumni when Im travelling. George Williams and Beth OBrien have recently opened the Fat Badger over Canteen on Portobello Rd, a super cool bar with live music and a restaurant with an open kitchen on top. It was really rocking, and, once again, I enjoyed a delicious dinner.

I particularly loved the intense nettle soup and a dotey little individual soda bread with good butter and a custard tart extraordinaire. Bravo to all again. A tough place to bag a table but definitely worth a try (tell them you read about it in the Irish Examiner!)

So proud of our babies, next stop Stevie Parles Town on Drury Lane. This is a much larger space designed by North End Design. It was absolutely throbbing with enthusiastic diners on its second night. Stevie offered me many tastes from his super creative menu, I particularly loved the deliciously fresh winter tomatoes with cod crudo and tomato water. Hes been experimenting with lots of heritage citrus from Todoli Farm in Spains Valencia, which provided little bursts of tart flavour.

The wine-cured wild-farmed beef with candied walnuts and cheese whizz was another intriguing combination  all the more interesting because the cheese came from his brother, Mike Parle, who hand makes several artisan cheeses in The Lost Valley Dairy and Creamery in Inchigeelagh in Co Cork. He and his partner sell from his stall at the Skibbereen Farmers Market every Saturday.

Add these to your London list, plus a sweet little place in Hampstead called La Cage Imaginaire, where I had a lovely lunch with my dear friend of many years Claudia Roden, author of A Book of Middle Eastern Food, and many others, and who introduced us all to hummus et al in the 1990s. Devotees will be happy to hear that Claudia, now in her late 80s, is working on yet another book  her 22nd what an icon!

The Cage Imaginaire is the perfect place for a catch up. Cooking is done from scratch and theres no loud, throbbing music so we could hear each other rather than having to lip read.

Claudia Rodens Hummus bi Tahina recipe by:Darina Allen Hummus bi Tahina is brilliant as a starter served as a dip with pitta bread. It is also delicious as part of a mezze. This recipe is from Claudias Middle Eastern Food, first published in 1968 by Thomas Nelson. Servings 4 Preparation Time  15 mins Cooking Time  60 mins Total Time  1 hours 15 mins Course  Side Ingredients 110-175g cooked chickpeas (see below) or use tinned for meals in minutes

freshly squeezed juice of 2-3 lemons, or to taste

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

salt

150ml tahini paste (available from health food shops)

 to 1 tsp ground cumin

To garnish

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

a few cooked chickpeas

pitta bread or any crusty white bread, to serve

For the pitta crisps

3 mini pitta breads (about 9cm in diameter), halved crosswise

4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp freshly ground cumin

 tsp salt Method Cover and soak the dried chickpeas overnight in lots of cold water. Drain the chickpeas, cover with fresh water. Add a good pinch of bicarbonate of soda, bring to the boil and cook until tender, this can take anything from 30 to 60 minutes. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid. Remove any loose skins and keep a few whole ones aside for garnish. Whizz up the remainder in an electric mixer or blender or food processor with the lemon juice and a little cooking water. If necessary, add the crushed garlic, tahini paste, cumin, and salt to taste. Blend to a soft creamy paste, add more cooking water if necessary. Taste and continue to add lemon juice and salt until you are happy with the flavour  the texture should be soft and silky. Pour the creamy mixture into a serving dish, mix the paprika with a little extra virgin olive oil, drizzle over the surface, do the same with the chopped parsley. Sprinkle with a few cooked chickpeas. Serve as a dip with pitta bread or as an accompaniment to kebabs. For the pitta crisps Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Cut the pita into triangles. Brush evenly with olive oil, sprinkle with cumin and salt. Spread pita strips in a single layer on a baking tray and bake in the middle of the oven for three minutes or until crisp and golden. Serve immediately to scoop up the hummus.

Stevie Parles Cod Crudo with Tomato Water and Basil Oil recipe by:Darina Allen Clean, vivid and elegant  this crudo balances the sweetness of tomato, fragrant basil oil, and bright citrus over delicate slices of cured cod. Servings 4 Preparation Time  10 mins Cooking Time  4 hours 0 mins Total Time  4 hours 10 mins Course  Main Ingredients For the cod cure

300g caster sugar

600g coarse sea salt

zest of 1 lemon

zest of 1 orange

For the tomato water (yields 400g)

400g Marinda tomatoes

400g vine tomatoes

20g fresh basil

4g fish sauce (we use colatura di alici)

16g sea salt flakes

16g sherry vinegar

16g white wine vinegar

10g caster sugar

4g black peppercorns

For the basil oil (yields more than needed):

228g fresh basil leaves

900g sunflower oil

To serve

1-2 Marinda tomatoes, sliced as thinly as possible with a sharp knife

180g cured cod (sliced)

100g tomato water

basil oil, to drizzle

a few segments of pomelo or grapefruit (optional) Method To cure the cod, bliitz the sugar, salt, and citrus zests in a food processor. Coat a cod loin evenly in the cure and refrigerate for four hours. Rinse well, pat dry, and chill. Slice thinly just before serving. Make the tomato water by roughly chopping the tomatoes and combine with the remaining ingredients. Marinate for 20 minutes. Blend everything, then strain through muslin cloth overnight without pressing. For the basil oil, blend the basil and sunflower oil in a Thermomix at 90C for nine minutes. Alternatively, heat in a saucepan for a couple of minutes and use a blender to emulsify. Strain through muslin cloth and chill. To serve, lay a few very thin slices of Marinda tomato on the base of each chilled plate. Arrange slices of cured cod on top. Spoon over around 25g of tomato water per portion. Finish with basil oil and citrus segments if using.

Fat Badgers Brown Sugar Custard Tart recipe by:Darina Allen Thank you to Beth OBrien, pastry chef extraordinaire, for sharing this delicious recipe, best custard tart Ive ever tasted. Servings 4 Preparation Time  30 mins Cooking Time  1 hours 30 mins Total Time  2 hours 0 mins Course  Baking Ingredients For the pastry

80g butter

80g icing sugar

1 egg

240g plain flour

35g ground almonds

pinch of salt

1 egg, to egg wash

For the custard

240g milk

900g cream 2

200g dark brown sugar

pinch of salt

12 egg yolks

caster sugar, Maldon sea salt and creme fraiche, to finish Method Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment for two minutes until combined but not aerated. Add the egg and mix well, then add the flour, almonds and salt and mix to combine. Wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator. Roll out to an even disc around 3mm thick. Line a deep tart tin (25cm in size), pushing the pastry into the corners and pushing against the edges of the tin. Chill for at least 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Trim the edges and line the tart with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then remove the baking beans, brush generously with egg wash and bake for a further seven minutes. For the custard, eat the milk and cream to just about a simmer while you combine the sugar, salt and egg yolks in a bowl. Pour half the hot milk and cream over the yolks, whisk to combine, then pour this mixture back into the pot and whisk thoroughly. Reduce the oven temperature to 155C/Gas Mark 3. Pour the custard into the blind baked tin and return to the oven. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until there is only a very slight wobble in the centre when baked. Chill fully before slicing. To serve, sprinkle a generous amount of caster sugar on top of each slice and use a blowtorch to brulee. Put a pinch of flaky salt on top and serve with creme fraiche.

NOTS Inaugural Agri-Homeopathy Conference 2025

Dont miss the Inaugural Agri-Homeopathy Conference run by the National Organic Training Skillnet taking place on Thursday, June 5, at Avalon House Hotel in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny. In person or online event.

nots.ie

Taste of Dublin: The Recipes Cookbook

Taste of Dublin. which is celebrating its 20-year anniversary this year, has just launched its first cookbook Taste of Dublin: The Recipes with 20 recipes, all of which were demonstrated at the festival over the years. The festival has partnered with Dublin Simon Community to donate a portion of each sale directly to the charitys vital housing and healthcare services.

The cookbook is available to pre-order for click and collect at the festival via tasteofdublin.ie or for postage on ninebeanrowsbooks.com
Schull may not have had Cannes-style weather over the weekend, but pound-for-pound the film festival in the West Cork village punched way above its weight in terms of star power. The usual population of about 700 was swollen to capacity for the Fastnet Film Festival, with the great and the good of the film world coming together for screenings, discussions and to just generally hang out in the picturesque setting.

Theres Barry Keoghan giving up his seat for an elderly woman in Amars Cafe; or look, thats Rebecca Miller in the Church of Ireland Hall (temporarily renamed The Plaza) introducing her film about her father Arthur Miller. Robert Sheehan, Domhnall Gleeson, top director Lenny Abrahamson, American star Bill Pullman, etc, etc.

A few of the Fastnet Film Centre in Schull during the festival.

Keoghan was the hottest ticket in town for his Sunday lunchtime chat with Maureen Hughes, the casting director who signed him for his breakthrough role in Love/Hate.

Sitting on a sedately-lit stage, the 32-year-old gradually warmed to the format, opening up with insights and anecdotes from his incredible rise in the industry. Among those singled out for praise was fellow Irish actor Cillian Murphy, whom Keoghan has worked with on Peaky Blinders and Dunkirk. Hes got such a work ethic and a discipline. Theres no slacking with him, said Keoghan.

The Dubliner is currently preparing for his role as Ringo Starr in a series of four Beatles films, and showed the welts on his hands from all the drumming practice in bootcamp.

That momentous project will take up at least the next 15 months of Keoghans life, but he indicated hes happy to immerse himself in the project.

My approach to Beatles movie is entirely different than anything I've ever done, he said. In how Ive stepped forward. And also being sober and has now allowed me artistically to go down further in a constructive way.

He also revealed how a meeting with Starr himself helped set him for the role, even if he was reluctant to reveal with the Beatles legend said to him.

Domhnall Gleeson at the Fastnet Film Festival in Schull. Picture: Dan Linehan

Nicola Coughlan of Derry Girls and Bridgerton also commanded a full house in Schull, and explained how shed been out the night before with her former co-star Siobhan McSweeney. Apparently, the Cork actress had momentarily lapsed into Sister Michael mode, reprimanding Coughlan for requesting a Guiness: Youll have Beamish instead!

As well as listing some of the lucky breaks and hard work that led to her getting such roles as wee Clare Devlin, and Penelope Featherington in Bridgerton, Coughlan also spoke of using her position to do some good for the world, values she said she inherited from both her parents, including her late father, a soldier who had served with the UN in Jerusalem.

Nicola Coughlan, centre, pictured with Cork Airport's Barry Holland and Tara Finn, on her way to Schull for the Fastnet Film Festival. Picture: Cork Airport

The 38-year-old Galway woman is one of a small group of prominent actors to speak out on the plight of the Palestinians, and has used her social media to help raise over 2m for a childrens charity in the region.

"At this point in time, I really wish more people would speak up. If youre advocating for innocent people, you should never be afraid of what you say, she stated.

Hilary McCarthy, the festival's director of communications and programming, described the 2025 event as our best yet.

This years festival was incredible  Schull looked stunning, and the atmosphere was electric. We had huge crowds and fantastic guests who gave so generously of their time. Most events sold out, with Barry Keoghans event setting a new record by selling out online in under a minute.

One notable absence from the Co Cork event this weekend was local resident and regular Fastnet Film Festival participant Paul Mescal. He was busy in Cannes promoting his new film The History Of Sound. You cant help but feel he missed out.

Out and about at Fastnet Film Festival

Ashley Cahalane with George at the Fastnet Film Festival, Schull, West Cork. Pictures: Dan Linehan

Siobhan Jeffery in Schull.

Joni Clarke att the Fastnet Film Festival.

William Morris and Christine O'Keeffe at the Fastnet Film Festival.

Sarann Doyle and Monica Lynott.

Carol Flynn at the Schull Harbour Hotel.

Ellie O'Sullivan and Kevin O'Donovan at the Barry Keoghan event.

Rion O'Mahony and Sarah Dunne at the Schull Harbour Hotel.
It is rare for an industry leader to admit that their business model is fundamentally unsustainable.

While environmentalists have long decried Irelands forestry model as an assault on nature, it was perhaps surprising for the director of Forest Industries Ireland, Mark McCauley, to declare last year that were going nowhere on forestry. The reason he explained, was that there are now too many restrictions on where trees can be planted.
A memorial has been unveiled in West Cork to remember a poignant forgotten chapter of the Irish Famine story  14 orphan girls shipped from famine-ravaged Ireland to Australia under a resettlement scheme almost two centuries ago.

The monument was unveiled in Dunmanway thanks to the generosity of Heather Northwood, a great-great-granddaughter of Ellen Desmond, one of the 14 orphan girls relocated from the towns workhouse in 1849 to start a new life in Australia under the British governments Earl Grey scheme.

They were among an estimated 4,000 young Irish girls, mostly orphans, resettled between 1848 to 1850.

Ms Northwood, who has spent several years researching her Irish ancestry with the assistance of historian Michelle OMahony, travelled from Australia to attend ceremonies in Dunmanway over the weekend honouring the girls.

She is active in the Earl Grey Famine Orphan Group in Melbourne, which commemorates the Irish girls who landed in Australia annually. She heaped praise on Ms OMahony and the Dunmanway Historical Association for their help tracing her Irish roots, and for working to ensure the story of the orphan girls is remembered here.

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Moira Deasy, Australia's ambassador designate Chantelle Taylor, and historian Michelle O'Mahony at the unveiling at Dunmanway Community Hospital, Co Cork, of the memorial to the 14 orphan girls sent to Australia as part of the Earl Grey Scheme during the Famine. Picture: David Creedon

Remembering the girls in Ireland is pivotal to their history and to our wider famine history and diaspora, she said.

Our family knew we had Irish heritage but I remember my mother telling me a few years ago when she was 98, that she didnt really know the detail, so I set out to find that part of the puzzle, she said.

Ive come over here three times in the last three years researching my Irish ancestry and planning this and from the moment I arrived, I felt I belonged, it felt like home.

"Michelle and the people in the historical association showed me where Ellen Desmond walked as a little girl, where she most likely went to church.

And Im delighted to say I was able to tell my mum about Ellen, about her great grandmother, before she passed away in 2024 at the age of 105. She died knowing that piece of the puzzle.

Australian charge daffaires James Hazell, memorial designers, Justin Walter and Kristie Davison, and Heather Northwood at the unveiling of the memorial at Dunmanway Community Hospital, Co Cork. Heather is a great, great grandaughter of Ellen Desmond who was one of the 14 orphan girls sent to Australia as part of the Earl Grey scheme during the Famine. Picture: David Creedon

We commemorate the orphan girls in Australia and now the girls are remembered here. There is a shared story now between the place from where the left, and where they arrived.

It has been such a wonderful journey for me. Dunmanway has embraced me and said this is your town now.

It really has been life-changing. Ive found my identity.

In 1849, Ireland was only just beginning to emerge from the horrors of the Famine, which claimed the lives of millions and forced millions more to emigrate to the US and Britain. Thousands were living in workhouses, and thousands of children orphaned.

The Earl Grey scheme offered assisted passage to orphaned girls aged 14 to 18 to Australia, which had for decades been a penal colony consisting mostly of men.

While it offered the girls a better life on the other side of the world, Ms OMahony believes it was really designed to address the growth of the population of the colony and address the issue of the gender imbalance in Australia.

There were about 800 people living in Dunmanway workhouse in 1849 when the authorities there took up the Earl Grey scheme offer.

Ellen Desmond and 13 other young girls, including her sister, left the workhouse just before Christmas 1849 and travelled by horse and cart to Cork city, from where they took a ferry from Penrose Quay to Plymouth in England.

From there, they set sail on New Year's Eve with about 300 other young girls on board the Eliza Caroline on a three-month voyage to Melbourne , arriving on March 31, 1850.

Then president Mary McAleese laying a wreath in March 2003 at a memorial wall in Sydney, Australia, inscribed with the names of the girls sent from Ireland during the Famine under the Earl Grey scheme. File picture: Maxwell's

They disembarked with just a trunk containing a few outfits and were largely left to fend for themselves in harrowing circumstances, with many entering domestic service while others were sent to work as cooks or cleaners in gold mining areas.

Ellen Desmond later married miner, Henry Ghee, a free settler from Kildare, and they moved from goldfield to goldfield. They had six daughters, the eldest of whom was 21, when Ellen died of TB in 1879, within a month of her husbands death. Their daughters survived. Ms Northwood said:

I am so proud of them all. They were Australian pioneers.

She pledged financial support for the memorial monument which was unveiled in the garden of Dunmanway community hospital during a ceremony of remembrance on Saturday  the hospital campus includes the ruins and grounds of the famine workhouse.

An interpretative lectern-style sign, funded by Cork County Councils Commemorations Office and Heritage Department, and which tells the famine orphan story, was also unveiled.

Australian Ambassador designate to Ireland, Chantelle Taylor, and other diplomats attended.

Mass was also celebrated on Sunday in Dunmanways St Patricks Church to remember the famine orphan girls, and the wider communitys famine victims, and it was followed by a short ecumenical ceremony at the famine pits at Fanlobbus Graveyard on the Dunmanway to Bandon road, which was connected by a gravel path to the rear of the workhouse.

Ms OMahony said the departure of the orphans from Dunmanway was a watershed moment for the town.

It was the commencement proper of the town's diaspora to Australia and wider Australasia, she said.

It embodied a pivotal change during the Irish famine.

It offered the prospect of a better life to famine orphan girls and for the guardians of the workhouse who accepted the scheme it was financially incentivising to free up the workhouses.

These institutions were largely full  in the latter years of the famine with orphans whose families were decimated from starvation and disease.

Not only did the Earl Grey scheme become part of the narrative of Irish famine history, but it also pointed to a new element of the gender history of the Irish famine and wider diaspora studies.
The term was coined to disparage Irelands solidarity with Palestine but has been adopted as a badge of honour that now adorns T-shirts, hoodies, pins and social media bios: welcome to Paddystine, home of the Paddystinians.

Irish activists have embraced the neologism as a galvanising term to campaign against Israels war in Gaza and to pressure the government to do more to end the conflict.

The belief that it was originally intended as an insult by Israel supporters has fuelled its spread on TikTok and other platforms where Irish people proclaim themselves Paddystinians and also, in a repurposing of the old-fashioned female name Biddy, Biddystinians.

It was being used as a negative, Ross McGann, who has nearly 40,000 followers on TikTok, said this week. Once I heard that I thought: Nah, we can flip this around. Its a very Irish thing to do  you take an insult and you flip it back.

The 35-year-old content creator, who lives on a farm in Co Offaly, incorporated Paddystinian into his TikTok bio and into his videos, which have been widely shared.

The word paddy has been used in a derogatory sense towards Irish people but in my family we have lots of Patricks, so to us paddy is a positive word.

Given whats happening in Gaza I thought its only fair that we own it.

The proliferation of the term has added another strand to Irish activism on Gaza amid controversy over outspoken statements by the rap group Kneecap. With one of its members facing a terror charge in the UK, there is a question mark over the groups invitation to perform at Glastonbury next month.

The origin of the term Paddystinian is unclear but many first heard of it in December after Israel closed its embassy in Dublin to protest what it said was government antisemitism and extreme hostility. Pro-Israeli voices online combined Paddy with Palestinian to underscore the accusation that Ireland, by recognising Palestinian statehood and lobbying the EU for a tougher line on Israel, was rewarding terrorism by Hamas.

Ben Cohen, a columnist for the Jewish News Syndicate, wrote that he initially regretted making a quip about Paddystinians because Paddy was an ageing pejorative about drunkenness and other Irish stereotypes.

As it turns out, I neednt have worried, he wrote. I discovered that the hashtag #Paddystinian was being eagerly adopted on social media by Irish supporters of Hamas. The accompanying posts were variously obnoxious or downright stupid, with many of those mocking the assertion that their country is antisemitic.

Zoe Lawlor, the chair of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, welcomed the adoption of the term.

It was being used as an insult. People here thought that was hilarious so we really embraced it and turned it on its head. We started having fun with it at chants. Lots of people changed their Twitter names and social media handles to reflect that.

Garments, badges, pins and other accessories emblazoned with Paddystinian have become popular merchandise. Some producers, such as the progressive campaign group Uplift, donate the proceeds to aid for Gaza.

Izzeddeen Alkarajeh, a Palestinian who serves Palestinian cuisine at Izz Cafe in Cork, sells Paddystinian pins.

It quickly became one of our top-selling items. Its a beautiful example of how a term meant to mock can be reclaimed and redefined by the community, he said via email.

The term amplifies awareness about Palestine among young Irish people, as do the Kneecap trio, who visited the cafe in February, said Mr Alkarajeh. Ireland has consistently shown solidarity with the oppressed, and this is especially evident now in the face of the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid, the Palestinian ambassador to Ireland, lauded Irish solidarity.

Any link between the Irish people and the Palestinian people is a positive one. I hope the Irish people feel the same. We share the same history of colonisation and know too well how important freedom, justice, and human rights are.

Activists say their goal is to leverage online solidarity to pressure the Irish state to match tough statements on Israel with actions, such as an enacting a bill to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements on the West Bank, ending the Central Banks authorisation of Israeli state bond sales in Europe and curbing the use of Irish airspace for flights suspected of carrying war material to Israel.

Our pressure point is the Irish government, said Ms Lawlor. The rhetoric is very strong but they have to back it up with actions. If they do that we can start a snowball effect within the EU.
Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza including a mother and her two children sheltering in a tent, local health officials said.

No data is available for a second straight day on Sunday from now-inaccessible hospitals in the north.

Further details also emerged of a local doctor who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday.

Palestinians struggle to receive cooked food distributed at a community kitchen in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

Gazas Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire and renewed its offensive in March, vowing to destroy Hamas and return the 58 hostages it still holds from the October 7 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Israel also blocked the import of all food, medicine and fuel for two-and-a-half months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israels top allies.

Israel has been pursuing a new plan to tightly control all aid to Gaza, which the United Nations has rejected.

The executive director of the UN World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, told CBS she has not seen evidence to support Israels claims that Hamas is responsible for the looting of aid trucks.

These people are desperate, and they see a World Food Programme truck coming in and they run for it, she said.

Israel also says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of much of its population of over two million Palestinians, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community.

Experts say it would likely violate international law.

The new strike on the tent housing displaced people that killed the mother and children occurred in the central city of Deir al-Balah, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

A strike in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza killed at least five, including two women and a child, according to Gazas Health Ministry.

Only one of pediatrician Alaa al-Najjars 10 children survived the Israeli strike on their home Friday near the southern city of Khan Younis.

Displaced Palestinians walk through a makeshift tent camp at the Gaza City port (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)

Both the 11-year-old and Dr al-Najjars husband, also a doctor, were badly hurt.

The charred remains of the other children were brought to the morgue in a single body bag, said a fellow pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, Alaa al-Zayan.

The home was struck minutes after Hamdi al-Najjar had driven his wife to the hospital.

His brother Ismail al-Najjar, was first to arrive at the scene.

They were innocent children, the brother said, with the youngest seven-months-old.

And my brother has no business with (Palestinian) factions.

Israel on Saturday said the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.

It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.

People take part in a protest demanding the end of the war and immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv (Leo Correa/AP)

There was no immediate comment from the military on the latest strikes.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted 251 people.

Around a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israels 19-month offensive has killed over 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead.

It does not provide figures for the number of civilians or combatants killed.

The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territorys population, often multiple times.

 A missile from the Houthis

Separately, Israels military said it intercepted a missile fired by Yemens Houthi rebels on Sunday.

It triggered air raid sirens in Jerusalem and other areas.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The Iran-backed Houthis have launched repeated missile attacks targeting Israel as well as international shipping in the Red Sea, portraying it as a response to Israels military campaign in Gaza.

Most of the targeted ships had no relation to Israel or the conflict.

The US halted a punishing bombing campaign against the Houthis earlier this month, saying the rebels had pledged to stop attacking ships.

That informal ceasefire did not include attacks on Israel.
Pope Leo declared himself a Roman as he completed the final ceremonial steps cementing his role as the bishop of Rome.

The first American pope formally took possession of the St John Lateran Basilica, which is Romes cathedral and seat of the diocese, with an evening Mass attended by Roman priests and faithful on Sunday.

He then took the popemobile for a visit to St Mary Major, where he prayed before Pope Francis tomb and an icon of the Virgin Mary beloved to many Roman faithful.

Pope Leo is greeted by Romes mayor Roberto Gualtieri at the foot of Capitoline Hill, in Rome (Riccardo De Luca/AP)

In his homily, Leo said he wanted to listen to them in order to learn, understand and decide things together.

One of the many titles that Leo assumed when he was elected on May 8 was bishop of Rome.

Given his responsibilities running the 1.4 billion strong universal Catholic Church, popes delegate the day-to-day governance of running of the diocese of Roman to a vicar.

Pope Leo is greeted by Romes mayor Roberto Gualtieri at the foot of Capitoline Hill, in Rome (Riccardo De Luca/AP)

Sundays ceremonies at the St John Lateran and a stop at St Mary Major basilicas follow Leos visit last week to the St Paul Outside the Walls basilica.

Together with St Peters Basilica in the Vatican, the four papal basilicas are the most important basilicas in the West.

Romes Mayor Roberto Gualtieri welcomed Leo first at the steps to City Hall, noting that his May 8 election fell during a Holy Year, an event occurring every 25 years to invite pilgrims to Rome.

Pope Leo presides over a Mass in the Archbasilica of St John Lateran (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

The city underwent two years of traffic-clogging public works projects to prepare and expects to welcome upward of 30 million people in 2025.

Leo said he felt the serious but passionate responsibility to serve all Romans during the Holy Year and beyond.

Wearing his formal red papal cape and brocaded stole, Leo recalled the words he had uttered from the loggia of St Peters Basilica on the night of his election.

The Augustinian pope quoted St Augustine in saying: With you I am Christian, and for you, bishop.

By special title, today I can say that for you and with you I am Roman! Leo said.

The former Robert Prevost succeeded Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope.

Francis died April 21 and is buried at St Mary Major, near the icon of the Madonna known as the Salus Populi Romani.
A woman from Germany has been accused of a mass stabbing incident at a train station in Hamburg and is set to appear before a judge later today, with police reporting that the number of injured victims has risen to 18.

The suspect, a 39-year-old female, was apprehended at the scene of the attack yesterday at Hamburgs main station, which shocked the city during the busy evening rush hour.

According to Hamburg police spokesman Florian Abbenseth, there is currently no evidence suggesting a political motive, and it appears the woman may have been experiencing a psychological emergency.

She was taken into custody without resistance following the incident, which emergency services indicated resulted in at least four victims suffering from life-threatening injuries.

The scene of the mass stabbing in Hamburg, Germany

The suspect remains in custody and is scheduled to appear before a judge on Saturday, police stated in a press release.

Authorities believe the suspect acted alone, as reported in a post on X.

Busy station

Reports from German media indicate that the attack occurred just after 6 PM (5 PM Irish time) yesterday on one of the platforms adjacent to a stationary train.

The suspect is believed to have targeted passengers at the station, according to a spokeswoman for the Hanover federal police directorate, which oversees Hamburg, in a statement to AFP.

Some victims were treated aboard waiting trains at the station, according to German daily Bild.

Images from the scene revealed that access to the platforms at one end of the station was blocked by police, with individuals being loaded into waiting ambulances.

Forensic officers were also observed inspecting the platforms where the attack took place.

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn announced that four platforms at the station have been closed for ongoing investigations, adding that it was deeply shocked by the incident.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz conveyed his shock in a phone call with the mayor of Hamburg.

My thoughts are with the victims and their families, Mr. Merz stated, according to a summary from his spokesperson, Stefan Kornelius.

Germany has recently faced a wave of violent incidents, often motivated by jihadist or far-right extremist ideologies, raising security concerns as a primary issue.

In the latest incident, on Sunday, four individuals were injured in a stabbing at a bar in Bielefeld.

That attack is now being investigated by federal prosecutors after the Syrian suspect informed arresting officers of his jihadist beliefs.

The topic of security, and the immigrant background of some attackers, was a significant focus during Germanys recent election campaign.

The February elections saw Mr. Merzs conservative CDU/CSU party garner the most votes, alongside a record over 20% for the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party.
Three individuals have been detained in North Korea following an incident during the launch of a new warship this past week, according to state media reports.

Pyongyang stated that a serious accident occurred at the launch ceremony in the eastern port city of Chongjin for a newly constructed 5,000-ton naval destroyer, where sections of the vessels bottom were damaged.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un labeled the incident a criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.

Those apprehended include Kang Jong Chol, the chief engineer at the Chongjin shipyard; Han Kyong Hak, the head of the hull construction workshop; and Kim Yong Hak, the deputy manager for administrative affairs, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency.

On Friday, KCNA noted that shipyard manager Hong Kil Ho was summoned for questioning by law enforcement.

The military of South Korea indicated that US and Seoul intelligence agencies assessed that North Koreas side-launch attempt of the vessel was unsuccessful, leaving the ship listing in the water.

In contrast, KCNA reported that an underwater and internal inspection of the warship confirmed that, contrary to the initial announcement, there were no breaches at the warships bottom, describing the damage as not serious.

Given its size and scale, the South Korean military believes the newly built warship is expected to be similarly equipped to the 5,000-ton destroyer-class vessel Choe Hyon, which was revealed by North Korea last month.

Pyongyang has claimed that the Choe Hyon is armed with the most powerful weapons and is set to enter into operation early next year.

Seouls military has suggested that the Choe Hyon may have been developed with assistance from Russia  potentially in return for Pyongyang providing thousands of troops to support Moscow in its conflict with Ukraine.

Analysts suggest that the warship involved in Wednesdays incident might also have been built with Russian support.
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment)  A genetic history study of Spain by Gonzalo Oteo-Garcia et al. in Genome Biology eloquently confirms the story of the great seventeenth-century ethnic cleansing of the remaining crypto-Muslims of Spain.

As Mar Jonsson writes in his 2007 The expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain in 16091614: the destruction of an Islamic Periphery, (Journal of Global History), The Moriscos were nominally Christian after enforced conversions at the beginning of the sixteenth century, but they mainly clung to their Islamic ancestral faith, and they were expelled from Spain in 160914. This was a huge operation, as 300,000 Moriscos were expelled, most of them in the space of a few months.

The Spanish population in 1600 is estimated by historians at around 8.2 million, so this ethnic cleansing removed some 3.6% of the population. That would be as though over 12 million people were kicked out of the United States today.

In comparison, the combined population of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories is roughly 15.1 million so if the extremist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu really could succeed in ethnically cleansing 2.2 million Palestinians from Gaza, that would be 14.5% of the people between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. So what the current Israeli cabinet has in mind is 400% worse than what Spanish King Philip III and Pope Paul V carried out in the early seventeenth century.

Oteo-Garcia and his colleagues looked at the genetic make-up of Spain based on a small number of surviving remains in each of four eras: 3 persons from late antiquity (200 CE to 700 CE), 5 from the medieval Muslim era of Andalus (Muslim-ruled southern Spain), 2 from the late medieval Christian period, and 2 from the Renaissance Christian era after 1600.

They found, interestingly enough, that in the centuries before the Muslim influx of the early 700s, there was already Arab and Berber immigration into Spain. The pagan woman they examined from the fourth century had a higher degree of North African heritage than is common in Spain today. So the coming of the Arab and Berber Muslims under Tariq ibn Ziyad in 711 was not a new phenomenon  populations had been circulating from North Africa up into Iberia for centuries. She also had East Asian ancestry, likely from bands of Sarmatians or Alans that made their way west. Nationalism likes to imagine pure bloodlines, but of course that is Nazi pseudo-science, and in reality people got all mixed up.

From the 700s until 1492 there were Muslim states in southern Spain. Lots of local Spanish people converted to Islam and intermarried with immigrant Berbers and Arabs. So the genetic record reflects a higher North African heritage in these centuries as far north as Valencia.

This strong North African heritage is visible in the late medieval individuals from the 1400s and 1500s, even though the northern Catholics conquered the last remaining Muslim kingdom, of Granada, in 1492 and began expulsions and forced conversions. Both Muslims and Jews suffered, and many Jews fled to Istanbul, where a small community of Ladinos subsists to this day.

Yes, the Muslims saved a lot of the Spanish Jews persecuted by the Catholics. In fact, one of the charges made by the Catholics against Muslims was that they had tolerated Jews on Spanish soil.

But you cant see the effects of the 1492 Reconquista or Christian conquest of al-Andalus in the genetic record.

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims chose to remain under Catholic rule. Some were mudejars, observant Muslims under Christian rule. The Kingdom of Valencia had a substantial minority of persons of Muslim heritage in the 1500s, and made some of the first legal accommodations for Muslims living under Christian rule in modern history. Most Christian powers of that time simply disallowed Jews and Muslims from living on their soil.

But over time the Muslims were forced to at least pretend to convert to Christianity, becoming Moriscos. Crypto-Muslims were widespread. Muslims can pray the five daily prayers at home where no one can see them, and some other rituals, like fasting Ramadan, could probably be practiced surreptitiously.

Oteo-Garcias team found, The two late medieval samples (GOG56 and GOG57) from the fourteenthfifteenth century CE were recovered from a Christian cemetery belonging to the parish of San Lorenzo in the city of Valencia. However, these two individuals still group within the medieval Berberized PCA cluster (Fig. 2A) two centuries after the Christian conquest of the city. The levels of North African-related ancestry are still comparable to those observed in the Islamic period

So the Arab and Berber heritage remained strongly represented in that era.



The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. Juan Cole,  2017.

But then, beginning in 1609, Philip III had the Moriscos expelled en masse, some 300,000 of them. Most of them went to North Africa.

In the mid-1990s I attended a concert in Tunis where Andalusian music was performed  the tradition is still remembered and cultivated there, where Spanish Muslims ended up settling as refugees.

By the time Oteo-Garcia et al. come to the post-medieval period, they find an individual with almost no Berber or Arab haplotypes (gene sequences). It is just one person, so they cant be sure the sample is representative. But among modern people in Valencia, there is a similar relative lack of Arab and Berber heritage.

So the genetic analysis may be bearing witness to the Great Ethnic Cleansing of people of Muslim heritage in the early 1600s.

Oteo-Garcia and his colleagues conclude, however, that the Arab and Berber heritage is much higher in Latin American than in contemporary Valencia, which shows that a lot of Moriscos must have exited to the New World (even though that was supposedly against the law at the time). They write, One final point, highlighted by the survival of North African-related ancestry in substantial proportions until the seventeenth century, is the widespread presence of such ancestry in present-day South Americans 

Karoline Cook points to the way Moriscos were perceived by Spaniards in the New World as having useful artisanal skills, such that they sought to bring them over. Some were brought as slaves and never sent back.

Ironically, the emigration from Ottoman lands and then the modern Middle East to Latin America meant that some countries there have substantial Muslim populations today. Argentina has between half a million and 900,000, and interacting with them made the late Pope Francis an ambassador of good Catholic-Muslim relations. Similar numbers live in Brazil. There are even larger numbers of Christian Arabs in those lands, of course.

So there you have it. The very preliminary spadework, based on just a few individuals, helps fill out the history of Christian-Muslim relations in Iberian and the Iberian colonies. The Arab and Berber migration to Iberia did not begin with the Muslims. And the North African heritage remained strong after the Reconquista. It was the Great Expulsion of the 1500s that changed everything, at least in Valencia. Ill bet you a study of some more southern provinces would show more continuity even so. I saw one early study that found that 10% of the contemporary Spanish genetic heritage is Arab and Berber, across the board.
By Simon Valle, Bangor University and David Jorge Pereira, University of Birmingham

(The Conversation)  When a major cyclone tears through an island nation, all efforts rightly focus on saving human lives and restoring livelihoods. However, these storms have permanent consequences for other species that are often forgotten.

As the world continues to heat, cyclones are expected to become more frequent, intense and unpredictable. The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on biodiversity, lists storms as one factor threatening species. But just how much of a threat is still poorly understood.

The effects of cyclones on biodiversity are easily neglected because the damage is sudden, scattered and hard to measure. Extinctions can be abrupt and go unnoticed. This largely overlooked extinction crisis is likely to worsen with climate change.

In a new study, we measured the threat posed by tropical cyclones on the diversity of land-based mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles globally. We mapped all severe tropical cyclones that occurred between 1972 and 2022 and checked how many overlapped with areas widely recognised to be exceptionally rich in species, otherwise known as biodiversity hotspots.

We focused on severe cyclones only  those with wind speeds exceeding 130 mph  as historically, it is these that have caused species to severely decline or go extinct.

What we found surprised us: three-quarters of all severe cyclones struck hotspots which are entirely comprised of islands. This seemed alarming. Islands have an inherently high extinction risk anyway because they support many species that are found nowhere else and which evolved in isolation. These species often have very small populations and nowhere to escape when disaster strikes.

Even more worrying, more than 95% of the severe cyclones that struck island biodiversity hotspots hit the same five ones. In descending order of cyclone frequency these are: Japan, Polynesia-Micronesia, the Philippines, Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands, and the Caribbean islands.

We clearly identified high-risk areas, but what does this mean for the animal species that live there? To find out we consulted the red list of threatened species which is compiled and regularly updated by the IUCN to see how many vertebrate species were noted for their vulnerability to storms.

One cyclone away from extinction

The hotspots experiencing the most severe cyclones are not necessarily those that have the most storm-threatened species. For example, Japan has the most storms but the fewest species at risk, whereas the Caribbean has fewer storms but over 128 species are threatened by them. This suggests that the frequency of cyclones alone does not determine the danger to each regions biodiversity.

Other aspects are likely to play a role. In particular, the data indicates that species in island biodiversity hotspots made up of a lot of small islands are more at risk of local or global extinction.

The more we learned about the dangers posed by cyclones, the more concerned we became. Many species are so restricted in range that they could be entirely wiped out by just one cyclone. It has happened before. The Bahama nuthatch (Sitta insularis), a small forest-dwelling songbird, is thought to have gone extinct following the passage of Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

Preparing for the unpredictable

To begin raising awareness and help conservationists prioritise their efforts, we compiled a watchlist of the species that are most at risk from tropical cyclones. This includes 60 storm-threatened species which are present only on a single location on a single island.



Photo by Stephen Scarboro on Unsplash



For each of these 60 species, the next severe tropical cyclone may be their last. A better understanding of the distribution and status of these species is only the beginning. Conservationists need to plan how to help them avoid a sudden demise.

The need to act quickly is clear. Of the 60 species on our list, only 24 are part of any active conservation effort and just six are in captive breeding programmes. Coordinated efforts are our best bet and we propose a task force under the IUCN to allow better preparation, rapid response and international support.

With the right knowledge and foresight, we can ensure human recovery and ecological survival for future generations.

Simon Valle, Conservation Planning Officer at IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group & Honorary Lecturer in Conservation Science, Bangor University and David Jorge Pereira, PhD Candidate, Conservation Science, University of Birmingham

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Entertainment / Shows

by Gideon Madzikatidze

A massive reggae-dancehall bash is set to headline Africa Day celebrations in Cape Town South Africa on Sunday with top Zim spinners taking to the turntables at Club 101 Castle Street in the resort town.The reggae-dancehall bash, dubbed Mad Sunday, is being organised by Bashmouth Sound and turns 15 years since its inception in 2010.Over the years, zimdancehall artists such as the late dancehall icon Soul Jah Love, Tock Vibes, Celsius, Freeman, Nutty O, King Shady, Shinsoman, Shinsoman and Seh Calaz among many others have participated in this prestigious reggae session.Bashmouth Sound frontman, Albert Zanganembo based in Cape Town said all was now set for a musical jamboree as they celebrate the day African nationalist came together to launch the Organisation of African Unity, now African Union, in Addis Abbaba (Ethiopia) in 1963.Zanganembo said the event was I spired by the unity in the continent and the love of promoting Reggae music."It is an event that has been running for so long rotating different venues around Cape Town."Over the years this event played a pivotal role in promoting Reggae and Dancehall in Cape Town not forgetting Zimdancehall as well," he said.Some top international chanters who have graced the music event over the years include Jamaican artists Jah Mason, Lutan Fyah, Kenyatta Hill, Ras Tafari, and Zimbabwean-based Ras Jabulani, born Trevor Halll.Local top spinners from Chillsport, Judgement yard, immortal movement, Fyah Links and individual MCs Dj Smiley and Merciless have jammed at the fiesta before."Also we have promoted quite a number of Zimdancehall artists from their time they rose to stardom"Mad Sunday played a very big role on popularising Zimdancehall genre here in Cape Town," he said.
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CAT ISSUES CONTEMPT NOTICES TO CABINET SECRETARY AND CVC SECRETARY IN CASE OF APPRAISAL REPORT OF IFS OFFICER SANJIV CHATURVEDI



khaskhabar.com : Sun, 25 May 2025 4:42 PM

Nainital. In an unprecedented development, Nainital Bench of CAT, has issued contempt notices to Cabinet Secretary, TV Somanathan, Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra and Secretary of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Mr. P Daniel, in a matter related to downgrading of Appraisal Report of Uttarakhand Cadre IFS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi. It is probably for the first time that contempt notices have been issued to Cabinet Secretary in service matter of any officer.



Earlier in December 2017, Central government had filed an Application in this matter before CAT for deletion of name of Cabinet Secretary in this matter. However, in April 2018, CAT had rejected his Application, saying that since selection of the officer to the deputation post was done with approval of Cabinet Secretary and since prayers in the case are also against him, hence he is a necessary party in the matter.

The notices were issued by Division Bench of CAT on 21st April, against these three officers, to show cause why contempt proceedings shall not be initiated against them for non compliance of orders dated 23.02.2023 and 23.03.2023 passed by Tribunal. Next date of hearing is fixed on 9th July.



On February 23rd, in year 2023, CAT had passed an order, on an application filed by Chaturvedi, to provide certain documents related to final outcome and alleged closure of enquiries done by him as Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in certain high profile corruption cases. He had alleged that it was because of his actions in these cases that his Appraisal Report for Financial Year 2015-16 was downgraded and against which he had filed Petition in CAT in July 2017. Again in March 2023, CAT had ordered Cabinet Secretary, CVC Secretary and other officers in the matter, to supply copy of all these documents to Chaturvedi.



However, AIIMS, Delhi, had moved Nainital High Court against these orders. In May, 2023, High court had stayed both the orders of CAT.

However, in May, 2024, Nainital High Court clarified that Cabinet Secretary, Union Health Secretary and Central Vigilance Commission are not covered by Stay orders passed in case of AIIMS.

Subsequent to modification orders issued by High Court, Chaturvedi had moved Contempt Petition against these three officers before Nainital Circuit Bench of CAT, in December 2024, alleging that despite modification orders passed by High Court, and being intimated about the same, these officers are not providing him copies of documents, as ordered by CAT.



This is the tenth such case in which contempt proceedings have been initiated against senior officer of Central Government, on contempt Petition of Sanjiv Chaturvedi. In October 2024, Nainital High Court had issued contempt notice to Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training. In September 2023 and in March 2024, Delhi High Court had issued contempt notice to three senior CBI officer and in February 2023, CAT had issued contempt notices to Union Forest and Environment Secretary. In February 2019, Nainital High Court had issued contempt notice to CAT Chairman. In July 2019, Nainital High Court had issued contempt notice to then Union Health Secretary.




News / Agriculture

by Paul Ndou

Mashonaland Central province senior agronomist Lazarus Gatawa has urged tobacco farmers to decide on their cropping program and do early deep ploughing on the field and seedbed sites they intend to plant tobacco in the upcoming 2025-26 agricultural season, before their fields dry out in order to conserve moisture and make early planting possible.Gatawa encourages small farmers to deep plough using ox or tractor drawn plough as part of land preparation."Land prepation is now very crucial like never before as a key mitigatory measure against the climate change induced dry weather impacts'. Deep ploughing using ox or tractor-drawn plough done to a minimum of 30cm deep is recommended in order to conserve capillary moisture, Gatawa said."This will enable farmers to plant as early as 1 October for those without irrigation facilities as it will be possible to use 5 litres of water per station during planting and achieve a high success in survival rates that give a uniform crop. The seedbeds will also have to be sown in early July for non-irrigation, he added.The key incentive for farmers who will undertake early tillage and planting, will be high tobacco yields of above 3 000kg per hectare and good quality crops as the tobacco will have a longer growing period, unlike those who will be waiting for the unpredictable rainfall dates that may come as late as November or December periodGatawa also highlighted that the extreme weather events being experienced mean that tobacco farmers have to restrategise and prepare land early in order to conserve capillary soil moisture. With the prevailing attractive tobacco prices it is worth for farmers to spend money on this important tobacco production cycle phase of early land preparation. Discing alone will not achieve the required deep ploughing.Farmers should also uproot tobacco stalks as soon as they are done with reaping to create a dead period of no growing green tobacco that attract pests and diseases.
By David Young, PA

The Tanaiste has warned the US administration of the negative consequences of imposing tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals and microchips.

Simon Harris has written to US Secretary for Commerce Howard Lutnick following the latters instigation of two investigations examining whether the United States reliance on foreign imports in those sectors poses a risk to national security.

The outcome of the investigations could result in significant tariffs being imposed on pharmaceutical and semiconductors sold into the US from abroad.

In his letter to Mr Lutnick earlier this month, Mr Harris said Ireland and the US enjoys a mutually advantageous economic bilateral relationship.

He acknowledged US foreign direct investment in Ireland is concentrated in a number of sectors, including pharma and semiconductors.

The Tanaiste stressed Irelands approach on national security is closely aligned with Washingtons, as he signalled a desire to work closely with the US on economic security issues.

Mr Harris then outlined details of the pharma and semiconductor sectors in Ireland.

On pharma, he highlighted the focus of production is primarily on ingredients, rather than final products.

Irelands pharmaceutical sector is deeply embedded in that of the US. They are mutually reinforcing, the Tanaiste wrote.

On microchips, Mr Harris said Ireland has built an extensive and technology-rich semiconductor industry.

Simon Harris said Ireland and the US enjoy a mutually advantageous economic bilateral relationship (Niall Carson/PA)

The Fine Gael leader told Mr Lutnick that Ireland has a strong reputation as a leading destination for US foreign direct investment and is a highly attractive destination for US firms.

Low tariffs on this sector can only aid in securing these supply chains for this critically important sector, he added.

In conclusion, Mr Harris wrote: I appreciate that you are undertaking these investigations due to national security concerns.

Irelands trade with the US helps support resilient supply chains and diversifications, and providing certainty of supply. Increasing costs on two strategic sectors that face growing competition from other regions will not aid in supporting US interests.
A public meeting entitled The Neutrality Roadshow will take place at Kilcullen Town Hall and Heritage Centre next week ( 29 Thursday) at 7.30 pm, Maynooth academic Niamh Aine Ni Bhriain and Fionn Wallace  son of MEP Mick, and assistant to Clare Daly - will be the main speakers.

The event will be chaired by a local member of The Kildare Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The Neutrality Roadshow will begin a one-month tour of Ireland to host conversations with local communities warning of the dangers to Irish neutrality, and the importance of preserving it in the face of global instability and war, said a spokesperson.

The Roadshow is a grassroots people-led initiative that is not affiliated with any political party.

In March, the government brought legislation to Cabinet to dismantle the Triple Lock, a mechanism that regulates the deployment of Irish Defence Forces overseas.

If the Triple Lock is dismantled, Irish troops may be deployed."
Two childcare facilities in Kildare are to benefit to the collective tune of 1m, in a funding announcement made this week.

Minister Martin Heydon said that the funding will help provide more childcare places.

Im delighted to see that community childcare facilities in Newbridge and Allenwood will benefit from this additional funding of 500,000 each which will provide additional quality, affordable childcare places for children in these areas of South Kildare, he said.

This funding is part of the Building Blocks Extension Scheme, which funds additional places in both community and private early learning facilities.

It will deliver additional capacity by supporting existing private and community early learning and childcare providers to extend, purchase or build new premises.

Minister Heydon said the Allenwood and Newbridge facilities "provide a fantastic service to so many children in the area, and with this funding more places will be available".

He added: It is expected that the projects that received funding will begin in the coming months, with many of the additional places coming on stream to towards the end of the year.

"I also know of the pressures families face in securing adequate childcare for their children, and the sufficient provision of suitable childcare places for everyone who needs them in Kildare is something that I continue to work towards."
Ifac, Irelands farming, food, and agribusiness specialist professional services firm, is delighted to announce the acquisition of Kilkenny-based Coughlan Carroll & Co. Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors.



The Coughlan Carroll & Co. team will be working with ifac and operating from the ifac offices at Danville Business Park, Kilkenny.

This latest ifac acquisition further enhances the groups comprehensive range of services and strengthens its positioning as a top 10 accountancy firm in Ireland.

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With its growing 30-office footprint and a dedicated team of 575 professionals, ifac has been committed to serving its farming, food, agri-business and SME clients across the country for the past 50 years. The wider firm offers a full suite of professional services, including accounting, tax, audit, corporate finance, consultancy, corporate recovery, payroll, financial planning, company secretarial, and business valuations.

We are delighted to add the Coughlan Carroll team to the Ifac Group, John Donoghue, Chief Executive of ifac said.

We are growing fast, and Martin, Larry, Rosaleen and the Coughlan Carroll team are a great addition, strengthening our expertise and proposition for SME business owners in the Southeast region.

At ifac, now one of Irelands largest accounting, tax, and business advisory firms, our talented people understand the many challenges of being an entrepreneur. Our newly extended team is committed to supporting our clients as they achieve their business goals, create jobs, and positively impact communities across Ireland.

Martin Coughlan, Partner, said: Ifac is the right fit for us  an ambitious firm with a focus on service excellence and a consistent growth mindset. Our integration is hugely beneficial for our clients who now have access to a large and diverse team of experts and a wide range of quality professional services.
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People hoping for a social house in Bennettsbridge havent a prayer according to one local councillor.

Although 13% of first preferences for a council house in the Callan Thomastown area are for the town, the third most popular choice in the district, the lack of water infrastructure is preventing any new development.

Callan Thomastown Municipal District chair, Cllr Deirdre Cullen, criticised Uisce Eireann for the lack of services.

There are at least 40 housing applicants with Bennettsbridge as their first preference as a place to live, she said, but theres not a prayer of them getting a house in town unless water infrastructure is developed.

Cllr Michael Doyle said he had been giving out about the issue for a long time. The prospect of development in all small areas is now down to Uisce Eireann (Irish Water).

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He was not targeting Kilkenny County Council, he said, but it was affecting all districts and is down to underfunding by central government.

This is stifling and stopping growth in rural Ireland, he said. Were not even looking for growth, we just want to stay where we are.

Looking down the list of preferred locations indicated by housing applicants, Cllr Doyle said there is no development planned in many of them, including Bennettsbridge, Graignamanagh, Inistioge, The Rower and Ballyhale.

Its unfortunate that investment isnt going to happen for years. Rural Ireland is in a vulnerable position.

Cllr Doyle went on to say that growth has been allowed to happen in areas like Callan, Thomastown and Rosbercon because these towns have water services. Hardly any place else can even build a development of 10 houses, he said, adding that, for example, a development of 10 houses in a community like Hugginstown would keep the place alive.

The councillor said that housing schemes currently planned by Kilkenny County Council are brilliant and he supported the councils efforts to bring vacant properties back into use, that they are trying their best, he is absolutely disgusted there is no action whatsoever on water and waste water infrastructure services across the district.

Kilkenny County Council Senior Executive Architect, Jan McIntyre, who attended the meeting to set out planned housing developments in the area, said council officials share the councillors frustration.

The lack of connections to the water services mean the council is constrained in its work, she said, but they would keep going the best we can.



Director of Services, Fiona Deegan, said they had written to Uisce Eireann with their concerns after the last municipal district meeting.
News / National

by by Gideon Madzikatidze

HARARE - The Zimbabwe Gender Commission will soon proceed with investigations on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of women by Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries leader, Walter Magaya after all courts grant them permission to commence, with other indigenous apostolic churches not spared from the blitz, Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe (ZGC Chairperson) has announced this Friday.This comes at a time when controversial cleric has lost a Supreme Court battle against the Zimbabwe Gender Commission in his bid to block the body from proceeding with inquiry into a plethora of gender-related exploitation and abuse allegations.Responding to questions raised by journalists in Harare at the ZGC's 10th anniversary commemorations and organised media tour for newly acquired headquarters, Sangarwe said that their battle to bring gender justice on issues revolving around sexual exploitation and abuse either at the pulpit or adjacent to clergy with their congregants will be dealt with indiscriminately regardless of one's proximity to political elites or connections with justice delivery architecture."In the Commission's meeting number 38, which resolved to recommence investigations of sexual exploitation and abuse of women by Prophetic Healing and Deliverance leader, Walter Magaya, will begin soonest. All the courts of the land have given us greenlight and necessities to proceed with the investigations, and we assure you that gender justice will be genuinely served to those alleged victims," Sangarwe said."This applies to everyone including those clergymen from some apostolic churches where gender-based violence is reportedly rife. We are going to have the inquiry into Magaya's cases soon and he is not allergic to gender injustices scrutiny and as the alleged perpetrator of such the inquiry will proceed," Sangarwe said."As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we promise you that no-one and no place will be left in ensuring gender justice is served including indigenous apostolic churches where societal patriarchal structures have impacted on equality and equity," Sangarwe added.Meanwhile, Sangarwe bemoaned some fragile and vague legal instruments which makes it impossible for the more punitive convictions."In terms of our gender or related laws, there is need to review or align them so that it sends a clear message against perpetrators," Sangarwe said."Our call to government is to expedite process towards enactment of a Gender Equality Bill and dedicate 10% of the national budget to gender programming," Sangarwe plead.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High near 85F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch..

Tonight

Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.
News / Press Release

by United Freedom Party

Dear fellow Africans and esteemed leaders,Today, as we celebrate Africa Day, we are reminded of the strength and beauty that our great continent holds. Africa is a land blessed with abundant resources, vibrant cultures, and the potential for unmatched prosperity. However, our path to greatness demands that we come together, uniting as one to place Africa first above all else.Unity is not just a dream but a necessity. The prosperity and future of our beloved continent rely heavily on our ability to stand together, to trade freely across our borders, and to move seamlessly from one African nation to another without the hindrance of visas. Our strength lies in our unity, and it is our unity that will propel us into a future defined by prosperity and progress.We must take control of our destiny by ensuring that our resources benefit our people. For far too long, Africa has been a source of raw materials that fuel the economies of others. It is time to refine these materials here at home, turning them into finished products that not only boost our economies but also empower our citizens through job creation and innovation.We are inspired by the leadership of Ibrahim Traore in Burkina Faso, whose dedication to prioritizing the needs of his people has reignited hope. His commitment serves as a shining example for us all. Leadership is pivotal, and with visionary leaders who put the interests of Africa first, we can transform our continent into a bastion of prosperity and influence.Moreover, we acknowledge our friends and allies who support our goals for independence and growth. Strategic alliances with countries like Russia and North Korea can help us fortify our path to true sovereignty and self-determination.For our security and self-preservation, we advocate for the creation of a unified military force capable of protecting our continent. By initiating nuclear programs within a framework of peace, we can ensure that Africa stands strong, a superpower in its own right, no longer reliant on the aid and favor of others.As we look to the future, let us move forward with determination and a shared commitment to making Africa a powerhouse of strength, unity, and development. Together, under the banner of the United Freedom Party, we will rise to become a continent that not only stands on its own but leads the world by example.Happy Africa Day!
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An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent stands near an immigrant detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on May 7.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens during an event with President Donald Trump to sign executive orders regarding nuclear energy in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday, May 23.
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HURRY UP Tomorrow is an experimental exploration of the effects of obsession, despair and unprocessed grief.

While the film aims high in its effort to emulate contemplative artistry, it unfortunately falls short of anything remarkable and ultimately becomes a meandering vanity project.

Abel Tesfaye, more likely recognised by his stage name The Weeknd, stars as himself and shares a screenwriting credit with director Trey Edward Shults. The film follows Abel as he struggles to cope with the demands of his new world tour, in the aftermath of a devastating break-up. Plagued by insomnia, the artist soon loses his grip on reality and begins to slip into nightmarish hallucination. When a mysterious stranger, played by Jenna Ortega, threatens to destroy his career, he is forced to confront his demons and process his unresolved trauma.

The film acts as a companion piece to The Weeknds latest album of the same name, telling a fictional story inspired by Tesfayes experience of grappling with fame.

While this unique concept was initially intriguing, it soon became obvious that the film was intended as nothing more than a showcase for The Weeknds music, acting essentially as a very expensive marketing ploy. The strongest elements are easily the visuals and sound design, crafting a hypnotic and dreamlike experience, immersing the audience in the protagonists world of existential crises. These strengths considered, it should be no surprise that the film often feels like an extended music video.

While Abel Tesfaye is only playing a fictionalised version of himself, his performance is awkward and lacks screen presence. Im sure many viewers will prescribe the same advice in suggesting that he sticks to writing music and leaves the acting to the actors.

Around Tesfaye, the supporting cast is perfectly functional yet entirely unremarkable. Barry Keoghan plays Lee, Tesfayes manager and close friend, who just so happens to be from Dublin. Keoghans performance is just fine, not exactly requiring much of a transformation from the young actor.

Jenna Ortegas character is something of a mystery and is not given much to do until the final act. Once again, her performance is entirely passable but by no means memorable. However, the fact remains, the main and only real character in this film is Abel Tesfaye. Unfortunately, he is just not that interesting a character.

I must admit I really tried to enjoy this movie. I found its unique premise interesting and was hoping to find a hidden gem. However, after an hour with no identifiable plot or any sense of direction as to where it would go, I lost any hope for this celluloid extravaganza. While fans of The Weeknds music may appreciate ***Hurry Up Tomorrow***, I imagine most filmgoers will be left scratching their heads.
THE NIGHTMARE of listening to her child screaming in pain mammy, help me is now haunting a local mother, who received the devasting news this week that her son may have undergone painful hip surgery unnecessarily.

Aine Gladney Knox received a shocking letter from Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) telling her that her six-year-old son Archie is part of an audit of paediatric hip dysplasia surgeries at CHI hospitals, which found that hundreds of children operated on did not meet the threshold for the procedure.

To realise this is a scandal and my child is involved in it hit me like a ton of bricks  I was stunned, admitted Aine, who ran as a Sinn Fein candidate in the Carlow/Kilkenny constituency at the last general election.

We trusted the doctors, we trusted what we were told and went on their advice. To think that what Archie went through might not have been necessary  I cried when I realised, she added.

When Archie was six months old, his health nurse discovered a crease on the back of his leg, which subsequently led to the discovery that his left hip was dislocated and he therefore had hip dysplasia. At just three years old, Archie received surgery on both hips in CHI Crumlin on 19 April 2022.

Initially, there was some talk about doing the right hip or not, but then he ended up having surgery on both hips in Crumlin, explained Aine.

The day after his surgery, Archie was released home, but the following day, 21 April, his pain and condition worsened, resulting in little Archie being admitted to St Lukes Hospital, Kilkenny.

I have to say they were fantastic in St Lukes and he received a blood transfusion there, but he had lost a significant amount of blood and he was showing signs of infection so we were brought by ambulance back to Dublin, where he stayed until 4 May, said Aine.

Those agonising almost two weeks in Crumlin are etched in Aine and her husband Jonathans minds  a nightmare theyve been forced to relive since the CHI letter arrived.

It took so long to get his pain under control, he went through so much. He was absolutely screaming in pain and pleading with me Mammy, help me  it was awful what he went through, said a tearful Aine.

Archie developed post-surgery clots, a soaring temperature, underwent various scans and days of agonising pain, to the heartbreak of his parents, who were at his bedside throughout.

When we got home on 4 May 2022, we were just so relieved Archie was out of pain and we could put it behind us. Then when the letter arrived  to be honest, at first I didnt really think much of it; I thought it was just a regular audit of children who received the surgery. It was only when I heard Pearse Doherty brought it up in the Dail that I realised hold on, thats us I just cried at the kitchen table, she said.

Aine described the letter as extremely vague, leaving the Knox family from Goresbridge in limbo as to whether their precious son received unnecessary surgery or not.

Im waiting at the letterbox every single day for information, said Aine.

We have since learned that 2,260 letters were sent to parents, and this stems back 15 years. We have absolutely no idea at this stage. As a parent, your job is to protect your child at all costs, so there is huge guilt there.

I understand the audit will take time, but what we are asking for as parents is to be kept informed and updated. We cant be left without information. This has turned into a scandal. We need that audit done, and we need it done correctly, she concluded.
Director Les Mayfield pulls off a fairly creditable remake of the classic Miracle on 34th Street, but there is one scene, lasting only a minute or two, in which the holiday themes of faith and charity are especially crystallized.

In the scene, a young deaf girl is brought to sit on the lap of Kriss Kringle at the fictional Coles department store. Kringle (Richard Attenborough), who hasnt been told of the childs disability, asks her what she would like for Christmas. After her mother informs him that her child is deaf and that all she wanted was to sit on Santas lap, Kringle summons his seasonal powers and begins a sign-language conversation.

The stoic girl is transformed on camera with a delighted, surprised smile, signing back her answers, much to the tearful surprise of her mother--and more than a few audience members.

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As it happens, there is something even more touching about the scene: It is acted by 5-year-old Sami Krieger, the second of three deaf children born to Jay and Linda Krieger, both of whom are also deaf.

In the living room of their modest duplex in Hanover Park, a middle-class suburb of Chicago, Sami fidgets in her fathers lap, grappling with a temporary case of acute shyness, while her sisters Amanda, 6, and Wanda, 1, look on.

Jay Krieger, with the help of a sign-language interpreter, says of making the film, The experience was wonderful, really great. The (John) Hughes (production) people treated Sami like royalty, giving her a trailer with a star that had her name on it, which made her feel special, he says.

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My wife had mixed feelings about it, and so did I at first, but if she decides to do something like this again, I think that would be fine with us.

Sami, all warmed up for her interview, signs: It was really fun being in the movie. Being with Santa and seeing all those toys was the best part, though it was hard, she says, to pretend it was Christmas in the middle of a sweltering Chicago summer.

I wish I could have pretended it was Easter, because thats my favorite holiday, she says.

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In the original, it is a Dutch war orphan who pays a magical visit to Santa, who instinctively knows her native language and sings to her in Dutch. Hughes rewrote the script, substituting a hearing-impaired child.

When I read the scene with the deaf girl, says Mayfield in a phone interview, that represented the reason why this movie could be remade in relation to a more modern view of the world. And I think this had to be an honest moment--it would only work with a real deaf girl, who probably never sat on Santas lap.

After a five-state search for such a girl, Mayfields casting department found Sami through a Chicago audition, sponsored in part by a local center for the deaf. With her family and a translator on the set for two days, Sami endured the controlled chaos of the environment with nary a mistake.

The scene tore my heart out, says Mayfield, 34, who was lauded in 1991 for his brutally stark documentary, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse.

And apparently, Mayfields wasnt the only heart captured. Attenborough says he asked Mayfield not to rehearse Sami, who came to the set unaware that he was going to sign a reply to her request for a Christmas present.

So when I signed What is your name? the surprise on her face was genuine,  Attenborough recalls.

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And after the scene, she signed Thank you to me. Well, I was gone, I can tell you. That got me, he thumps his heart, right there.
In the wake of a sudden retirement announcement by Virginias longtime state police superintendent, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that a nationwide search would take place to hire a replacement.

But in the end, Youngkin chose an internal candidate while the recommendations from the nationwide search didnt get a final-round interview, according to two sources familiar with Youngkins recruitment for the state police job. Both asked to remain anonymous given the sensitivity of the deliberations.

Terry Cole, Youngkins departing secretary of public safety, spearheaded the search alongside his chief of staff, Lisa Walbert. The duo communicated to recruiters that the governor was seeking culture change within the Virginia State Police, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

More than 30 candidates from across the country were considered for the position, according to the person. The top applicant in the pile was Fairfax Assistant Chief of Police Bob Blakley, who was vocally recommended by recruiters as a superstar capable of delivering the change they believed the governor had wanted. Recruiters told Cole and Walbert that Blakley, who is also an associate professor at George Mason University, remains beloved by Fairfax police officers and had begun his career as a state police trooper, the person said.

Blakley and two other candidates were advanced to Youngkins desk, but never received a final-round interview. Instead, Youngkin appointed Col. Matthew D. Hanley, the agencys interim superintendent, to the full-time job.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch submitted a public records request for records relating to the hiring. The governors office withheld nearly all records with the exception of a receipt for services purchased by the firm: a D.C.-based group that was paid $50,000 for its work vetting candidates. The governors office cited a working papers exemption, as well as a personnel file exemption, as justification for not releasing the records.

The executive search firm declined to comment on the hiring process.

A spokesman for Youngkins office did not refute a point-by-point description of the recruitment process but called the premise that another candidate was recommended over Hanley absurd.

As the individual named by the Governor as the Superintendent of Virginia State Police, Col. Hanley is by definition the top candidate, said Peter Finocchio.

Walbert, reached by phone, said that the Times-Dispatch description of the hiring process was not true but declined to comment further.

The state police superintendent is tasked with leading Virginias flagship police agency. The force has roughly 1,900 troopers, who police state highways and lead Virginias most advanced counterterrorism and public safety initiatives. State police investigators are also frequently tasked to conduct reviews when local police officers use lethal force.

Since 2018, the agency has been run by Col. Gary Settle. Settle was reappointed by Youngkin in 2022, but two years into that term, his retirement was announced by the governors office. Its unclear why Settle, who was well-liked by both Republicans and Democrats, left the position early. Annual reports and budget requests show the agencys staffing levels have been strained in recent years, with the force increasingly asked to do more, even with a staffing shortage of roughly 300 troopers.

Hanley led the agency as interim superintendent while Youngkins office conducted its promised nationwide search. When given the full-time job, Youngkin said Hanley had unmatched experience and expertise.

He has served the VSP with dedication and distinction and is committed to further accelerating the transformation of the Virginia State Police, Youngkin said in a statement.

Earlier this year, the Times-Dispatch reported that Hanley had been suspended in 1996 after drinking and driving, an incident for which he was never prosecuted. Hanley was reinstated after an internal board review.

In 2023, the Times-Dispatch reported that then-Lt. Col. Hanley and Lt. Col. Kirk Marlowe allegedly retaliated against a trooper who they feared would scuttle a legislative pay raise.

The trooper had written an email to the agencys human resources department with concerns that the raise would give deputy superintendents a $40,000 bump, while troopers would only get a $2,000 bump. Hanley and Marlowe scheduled a one-on-one meeting, with Marlowe concerned that the trooper could tank our entire effort. Marlowe later joked that commanders had to find him and shut him up, according to the internal affairs complaint.

Marlowe was the subject of an internal affairs investigation and was cleared of wrongdoing. At the time, a state representative said the trooper had mischaracterized the conversation.

In April, Hanley elevated Marlowe to the newly created position of chief transformation officer. In the new role, Marlowe will directly support the Superintendents vision of implementing what the agency said will be high-impact projects.

Recruiters did not issue a recommendation for Youngkin to pick Hanley, but also did not advocate against his nomination because of the politics of being critical of an interim candidate, the person familiar with the recruitment discussions said.

Virginias police organizations offered mixed statements on Hanleys appointment. The Virginia State Police Association vocally endorsed Hanley for the position.

Colonel Hanley has demonstrated unwavering dedication, integrity and leadership, making him the ideal candidate to lead the agency into the future, the group said in a statement signed by Timothy Confroy and Bill Carrico, the groups president and executive director, respectively. A single disciplinary incident should not define a career marked by success, service and personal growth.

The Virginia Police Benevolent Association offered a more hesitant comment, saying they remained deeply concerned about ongoing staffing shortages.

The VAPBA has consistently advocated to the Governor and the Secretary of Public Safety for meaningful change and greater accountability within the department. We believe that true progress at VSP requires more than policy adjustments, it demands a cultural shift that prioritizes transparency, support, and respect for the men and women who wear the badge, said Rich Gozka, a spokesman for the association. We look forward to working with Colonel Hanley to help lead that change and better serve both our troopers and the communities they protect.
DEAR ERIC: Several years ago, my mother-in-law passed away due to dementia. During the time of her illness, my husband and I took care of everything, including selling her house, auctioning off her estate, dealing with her boyfriend who could never admit she had dementia, and dealing with the COVID restrictions for visiting her. Of note, my brother-in-law lives in the upper Midwest; we, and his mother, live in Florida. The burden was put on us, not him.

On the day of her viewing, it was only my husband and me. I took pictures of her lying peacefully in her casket and forwarded them on to my brother-in-law. I got a scathing email from my brother-in-law saying that he had specifically asked not to send pictures of her dead. He only wanted to remember her healthy (how convenient).

To be honest with you, I didnt remember that conversation as I was too stressed out from the whole ordeal. I feel guilty for sending the pictures but not really sorry for doing it because they finally had to deal with her passing firsthand. They did not have to live the ordeal like we did. I felt like the pictures were something I needed to share. Should I feel guilty for sending them, because I still do?

 Photo Regret

DEAR PHOTO: Guilt is not a very useful emotion. Its good information, sometimes, but what matters is what we do about the guilt, internally and externally.

I know that the complicated process of settling your mother-in-laws affairs, particularly during COVID lockdown, was hard for you. But youve got to acknowledge that what your brother-in-law is dealing with, including his own denial about his mothers illness, is hard, too. Theres no hierarchy of suffering. You can start to alleviate some of that suffering  yours and theirs  by reaching out, apologizing and trying to make amends.

In the grand scheme, you owe each other apologies. They didnt show up for your mother-in-law in the ways that would have been helpful, and thats not fair. But you dont get to dictate how your brother-in-law remembers his mother or how he processes his grief. Your actions, as youve described them, werent malicious, but its important to acknowledge their impact.

***

DEAR ERIC: Carpooling wants to be reimbursed for gas for a 30-mile round-trip journey to pick up a friends disabled son from the bus stop. The request from the dear friend doesnt happen very often. My two cents are this: Losing or even offending a dear friend isnt worth any price, let alone the price of a few gallons of gas ($10 or less). True friends grant favor requests, when possible, and usually without expecting anything in return. If it becomes a regular request, then definitely broach the subject, but a rare request is truly a favor, and granting favors has a way of coming back to you. Instead, Carpooling could think of this favor as a meal she might take to her friend if she were sick (and would likely spend more than $10 in that case).

 Dear Friends are Priceless

DEAR PRICELESS: Ten dollars is not the same everywhere nor is it the same to every budget. The letter writer isnt just complaining; the letter states that the frequency of the requests, combined with the amount, created a financial hardship. Its important to remember that everyones finances are different and one persons easy favor is another persons stretch. The pricelessness of dear friends goes both ways; if I had a dear friend whose load I could lighten by covering the price of gas, Id leap at the opportunity to do so.

(Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.)

2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Costco will be closed on Memorial Day, which falls on Monday, May 26, 2025. Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media

With Memorial Day arriving soon, its time to get your grocery shopping in before the parties begin.

That means Costco members will head to their local warehouse to pick up meats and veggies for grilling, chips for snacking and everything in between through the holiday weekend.

Theyll also be able to snag deals on grills, outdoor furniture, appliances and kitchenware that have already kicked off in the lead up to the holiday.

But will members be able to shop at Costco this Memorial Day, on the holiday itself?

Heres everything you need to know about the warehouse chains store hours on Monday, May 26.

Is Costco open on Memorial Day 2025?

No, Costco is not open. The warehouse will be closed on Memorial Day, similar to previous years.

However, you can shop at your local warehouse the day before on Sunday, May 25, to get all of your last-minute grocery and party purchases in before the holiday.

Also, the warehouses will reopen on Tuesday, May 27, during regular shopping hours. However, store hours vary by location, so its best to confirm operating hours with your local Costco.

If you need to do some grocery shopping on Memorial Day, you can stop at Walmart, Sams Club, Target, ShopRite, or Trader Joes instead.

Costco often closes on several federal holidays, including:

New Years Day

Easter

Fourth of July

Labor Day

Thanksgiving

Christmas Day

If youre planning to visit Costco before Memorial Day, you can find your local warehouse here.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Victoria Rosenthal can be reached at vrosenthal@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.
Tikka Shack plans to open sometime in mid to late summer 2025 at the Madison Farms shopping center in Bethlehem Township. It's moving into the 2,435-square-foot space that formerly occupied Wiz Kidz at the shopping center off Route 33 and Freemansburg Avenue. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann | For lehighvalleylive.com

A national chain known for its fast-casual Indian cuisine is set to open at the Madison Farms shopping center in Bethlehem Township.

Tikka Shack is moving into the 2,435-square-foot space that formerly occupied Wiz Kidz at the shopping center off Route 33 and Freemansburg Avenue. Wiz Kidz closed its township location last month after opening in July 2021. Prior to that, the space was Steak n Shake.

Wiz Kidz co-owners Mo Taylor, of Bethlehem; Cristian Duarte, of Bethlehem; Jerry Straub, of Coopersburg; and Matt Weaver, of Hellertown, now are in the process of relocating the Bethlehem Township site to 751 Union Blvd. in Allentown. The foursome also continue to operate their original Wiz Kidz location on the first floor of the Pinnacle@65 building at 65 E. Elizabeth Ave. in Bethlehem; and a Wiz Kidz food truck.

Blake Gross of Bennett Williams Commercial, Madison Farms leasing agent, told lehighvalleylive.com last week that Tikka Shack plans to open by mid- to late summer. The building stood vacant this past week with signs still up for Wiz Kidz.

Itll become the regions first Tikka Shack location with the next closest sites to the Lehigh Valley in Lancaster and Hershey. Nationally, there are roughly 20 locations.

Tikka Shack is known for its variety of traditional Indian dishes, as well as simplified pairings. It serves up options for both the newbie foodie and the curry connoisseur, the chains website states.

Menu items include such street-style starters as Samosas, which include two crispy pastries stuffed with potatoes, peas, and secret spices; and Samosa Chaat, which includes Samosa-seasoned chickpeas, yogurt sauce, tamarind and mint chutney, red onion, tomatoes and cilantro.

There are Naan-style tacos, which include various protein bases, topped with such selections as red cabbage, mango de gallo, onions, and cilantro.

Bowls start with Basmati rice and are topped with veggies and such protein choices as chicken, lamb and shrimp. Guests can then choose a heat level and add-ons, such as garlic Naan, somosa or mango Lassi.

Theres also custom kabob bowls, which include two skewers served on basmati rice with side of mango salad and tikka sauce; and and tikka wraps, which come wrapped in handmade Naan with mozzarella cheese, onions, tomatoes and cilantro with side of tikka sauce. The wrap is served with choice of mango salad, basmati rice or seasoned fries.

Other highlights include an assortment of Naan pizzas and spice-infused wings. Think biryani (dry rub), tikka habanero and coconut curry.

Madison Farms was built in 2015 and is anchored by a 67,408-square-foot ShopRite. The shopping centers other retailers and dining establishments include Starbucks, Heartland Dental, Chipotle, SuperCuts, Subway, Pearle Vision, Verizon, MOD Pizza, Chocolate Works and Pure Barre.

Additionally, the Lehigh Valley Health Network launched a Womens Health Center in the shopping centers West Village area, along with a Pennsylvania Wine and Spirits Premium store, and Provident Bank. Tikka Shack will open in the space next to Wine and Spirits.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
Brody Muthard, of Nazareth, built a play space at the Colonial IU 20 school in Bethlehem for his Eagle Scout project. (Photo courtesy of Muthard family) Photo courtesy of Muthard family

In what could only be called a playground miracle, the sun broke through a severe thunderstorm less than an hour before Brody Muthard was set to unveil the play space he built.

On Friday, May 16, the Nazareth teen told friends, family and community that the play area is open for business. With that, Muthard cut the ribbon at the Colonial IU 20 school in Bethlehem.

Muthard didnt want a basic Eagle Scout project  a requirement for scouts to obtain the highest level of scouting  so he opted to fundraise for and construct an accessible playground at the school that gave him so much as a young child with autism.

The Colonial IU 20, he said, molded me into the man I am now.

For the better part of a year, Muthard worked with contractors, engineers and sponsors to design and build the play space, which features a sensory experience walkway, wooden train and a playground structure with swings, a climbing wall and, of course, a tunnel slide.

The project cost totaled $12,500. Thanks to Muthards fundraising efforts local sponsorships and grants, he raised more than $16,000.

Muthard excitedly told a room full of supporters that the extra funds $3,592.12  would go to the school.

The donors that helped Muthard get to that number included groups like Goldfish Swim School, Action Karate (where Muthard has practiced since he was 5 years old), United Way Teenworks and Lehigh Valley Labor Council.

The play area sits on a previously unusable piece of land thanks to a playground relic that was nearly impossible to remove. But Muthard got it removed; he wouldnt take no for an answer, said Christopher Wolfel, the executive director of the school.

And now, the four classrooms designed for students with autism in kindergarten through second grades have direct access to the new play space.

This is huge for them, Wolfel said. If theyre experiencing stress or anxiety, we can catch that early, and they can request breaks.

Muthard repeatedly thanked his supporters, only a fraction of whom were at the ceremony. They included his great grandmother, the superintendent of Nazareth Area School District, state Rep. Steve Samuelson, friends and fellow scouts.

Youre going to be on the news, Brody! Youre going to be famous! one friend called out.

Brody Muthard, of Nazareth, built a play space at the Colonial IU 20 school in Bethlehem for his Eagle Scout project. (Photo courtesy of Colonial IU 20) Photo courtesy of Colonial IU 20

I was told I was going to have to go through a lot of red tape, Muthard told lehighvalleylive.com. But he worked closely with the Colonial IU 20 and the Bethlehem Area School District, which owns the building, for a nearly seamless execution.

The best part is that kids can use this for years now.

As for Muthard, once the project is reviewed and approved by Boy Scout officials, Muthard is expected to officially earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
Stephen Craffen received a letter saying he could be entitled to a $10 million inheritance. He knew it was a scam right away, he said. Courtesy Greg Giardino

Scammers use trickery to steal your personal information and often, your money.

They try lots of methods to get a particular victims attention. If you look closely, a scammers communications often have red flags. But sometimes, the scammers are sharp. They go far to set up their game so even people who do some research can get fooled.
Editors Note: Lehighvalleylive.com is offering a benefit to subscribers: Click the photo gallery to see if we photographed your favorite prom-goer, and get free, print-quality downloads - as well as the option to purchase keepsakes at half the price.

Northampton Area High School students celebrated their prom at the SteelStacks complex on Saturday.

Check out the gallery above to see a few of the students as they arrived dressed up for a night to celebrate at the prom.

Lehighvalleylive.com will be sending photographers to proms throughout the Lehigh Valley and Warren County this season. Our full coverage of proms across the region can be found at lehighvalleylive.com/prom.

SHARE YOUR PROM PHOTOS

Dont forget to tag @lehighvalleylive in your Instagram photos and @lehighvalley on X (formerly Twitter) - we just might highlight the best pics!

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.
A parenting programme in Dublin has delivered major education and health benefits for children, a study has suggested.

The research assessed the impact of Preparing For Life  a flagship plan produced by Northside Partnership, a development company working in Darndale in north-east Dublin.

The study indicates that a decade after childrens involvement in the home-visiting programme ended, they were 29% more likely to want to pursue third-level education compared to peers who did not receive the visits.

The evaluation found that many of the children were shown to have better problem-solving skills, were less likely to experience attention problems and enjoy improved family relationships and physical health.

The children, now aged 14, were included in Preparing For Life from their mothers pregnancy until school age.

The evaluation of the scheme by academics at UCD has been described as one of the longest-running randomised control trials in Europe.

The early intervention Preparing For Life plan includes bi-weekly home visits, parenting guidance on issues such as antenatal education and breastfeeding, as well as preparing children for school. It was first rolled out in Darndale in 2007.

Professor Orla Doyle from UCDs Geary Institute, which carried out the evaluation, outlined the findings.

The fact that cognitive gains seen at school entry have persisted into adolescence, nearly 10 years after programme participation ended, suggests it may have caused a fundamental shift in childrens developmental trajectories, she said.

The study found improvements were consistent across verbal, non-verbal and spatial domains, with Preparing For Life credited with having a significant positive impact on working memory, with fewer attention-related difficulties, supporting classroom engagement.

The programmes manager, Niall Sexton of Northside Partnership, said: This evaluation confirms what families have told us for years, that the impact is long-lasting and meaningful.

It is about giving families a fairer start, recognising the strengths they already have, and working alongside them to unlock childrens potential.

Backed by the child and family agency Tusla, Preparing For Life is now available in 10 other communities around Ireland: Bagenalstown in Co Carlow; Ballaghaderreen in Co Roscommon; Ballinasloe in Co Galway; Bray in Co Wicklow; Castlebar in Co Mayo; Kilrush in Co Clare; Newbridge in Co Kildare; and Tallaght, Balbriggan and Finglas in Dublin.
The potential for Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) to be fully subsumed into the HSE will be one option considered amid concerns around clinical care and governance, HSE chief Bernard Gloster has said.

Mr Gloster was commenting on the steps open to Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill as she considers how to respond to several controversies involving CHI.

The CHI hospital group is a distinct entity from the HSE, although it is funded by the HSE and accountable to it.

In the latest controversy involving CHI, last week an audit identified that many children underwent unnecessary hip surgeries in two Dublin hospitals.

The clinical audit of dysplasia of the hips surgery in children found that a lower threshold for operations was used at CHI Temple Street hospital and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh (NOHC) than the threshold used at CHI Crumlin.

The review discovered that in the period 2021 to 2023 almost 80% of children operated on at the NOHC, and 60% of those at Temple Street, did not meet the threshold for surgery.

Mr Gloster said 2,259 children who underwent hip surgeries in the three hospitals (NOHC, CHI Temple Street and CHI Crumlin) from as far back as 2010 will now be subject to clinical reviews.

In an interview on RTE Radio Ones This Week programme, the HSE boss was asked if the issues highlighted by the report were down to bad decisions by doctors or a bad system.

It can be a combination of any of those and rarely in a deficiency in a healthcare system will it come down to one single part of that, he said.

Asked if there would be accountability for individual surgeons, Mr Gloster highlighted that CHI and NOHC were the employers, not the HSE.

But he said the question of accountability was fair and appropriate.

He said there were also questions about the governance of the institutions involved.

In the midst of all of this most concerning situation there is no doubt that there are weaknesses in systems, he said.

There are weaknesses in governance, and thats why the minister (Ms Carrol MacNeill) who has raised with me a number of times since her tenure commenced, she has raised with me concerns about aspects of CHI, not because there are individual incidents or instances  they occur in any healthcare system  but its about the collective of those.

Its about the governance response to them and the disposition towards them and the apparent inability to get on top of them.

In April, the chairman of the board of CHI Dr Jim Browne resigned following the publication of a critical report into the use of springs in child spinal surgery.

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.

On Sunday, Mr Gloster was asked if the option of subsuming CHI into the HSE was being considered, he replied: The minister wants to consider all of the options. And, of course, when she sets out all of the options, that has to be one that gets considered, but it is not the only one.

Mr Gloster added: The job of the executive, the job of CHI, the job of the doctors and everybody else today is leave the minister to do her job. She will do that very well and give us policy direction.

We need to get on with looking after these children and with supporting their families.
A man crashed his vehicle into a farmers wall and left the scene, including the car, behind.

Giorgu Nozadze, 36, whose address was given as 20 Croftwood Crescent, Ballyfermot, Dublin, was prosecuted for driving without insurance at the N7 at Quinsborough, Kill, on February 8 last.

READ NEXT Concern over Kildare road safety after child knocked down near school

He was prosecuted at Naas District Court for driving without insurance and leaving the scene.

Sgt Mary Meade said the defendant was subsequently located by the gardai and the vehicle was extensively damaged.

The court was also told that the defendant had no previous convictions and the farmer did not wish to make a statement.

Sgt Meade added that the insurance disc on the vehicle was for another car.

Judge Desmond Zaidan said the only explanation for the defendants behaviour was that there was alcohol or a drug in his system.

He imposed a 1,000 fine and a six year disqualification for driving without insurance and an additional 750 for hit and run.

He was further fined 1,000 and disqualified for six years for using the insurance disc and the disqualifications are to run concurrently.
Trading for over 36 years, Butt Mullins has built a sterling reputation for its warm hospitality, distinctive charm, and loyal customer base.

Founded by Mary Mulligan in the early 1990s, the restaurant became a cornerstone of the town's cultural and social life, hosting renowned literary dinners and musical evenings featuring artists like Vladimir Jablokov.

SEE MORE PHOTOS HERE.

It has catered to christenings, weddings, funerals, and many annual family celebrations, embedding itself in the personal histories of countless locals.

The 3,461 sq.ft. premises includes an open-plan dining area, conservatory, bar, full kitchen, and patio seating for over 20 guests.

There is also a private first floor with planning for office use. The layout is designed to balance openness with privacy, offering various seating options including window seats, raised areas, and a feature stone wall with an open fire.

Butt Mullins comes with a 7-day restaurant license and a consistent record of high turnover. The business has received several accolades including multiple TripAdvisor Certificates of Excellence and the Irish Restaurant Awards' Best Casual Dining in Leinster in 2022.

The property is zoned 'Town Centre' under the Naas Town Development Plan 20212027, leaving future use open to various possibilities.

ALSO READ: Driver crashed into farmer's wall and fled car.

Naas, with its population of around 26,000, is a thriving commuter town with strong infrastructure links and a vibrant hospitality sector.

Its proximity to the M7 motorway and regular rail service to Dublin make it a desirable commercial location. Local events such as racing at Punchestown, Naas, and The Curragh bring regular boosts in demand.

The Mulligan-English family, who have operated the restaurant for nearly four decades, are now stepping back to pursue other business interests.

The sale presents a rare chance to acquire a well-established, award-winning business in excellent condition at the heart of a growing town.

Viewing is by appointment only through Jordan Auctioneers, and successful bidders must sign contracts and pay a 10% non-refundable deposit on the day of the auction.

Interested parties should contact Clive Kavanagh at Jordan Auctioneers for further details.
Young farmers are being pushed out of the sector due to land accessibility and insufficient support, Cllr Justin Warnock told a meeting of Leitrim County Council.

Speaking at Mays meeting, Cllr Warnock stressed the need for a robust new Farm Retirement Scheme to be introduced as part of the 2026 Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) applications, in order to help retain young people on farms in the county.

We need something concrete this year coming forward in the budget. If its in the budget, its set in stone, he said.

He highlighted that limited land accessibility is forcing young farmers out, as they struggle to compete financially with others who have greater resources.

READ NEXT: Will GAEC 2 affect planning in Leitrim? Council responds

Succession remains one of the most pressing issues in Irish agriculture, with many older farmers having sons or daughters willing to take over the family farm, but facing numerous barriers in doing so, raising concerns about the future viability of farming.

Cllr Warnock also called for the introduction of a low interest loan scheme to support young people entering the sector.

Theyre taking on a business and theres huge costs against you setting up, he said.

Theres an ageing population in agriculture and we have to make it affordable for them.

READ NEXT: Spot a barn owl? Leitrim survey needs your help

His motion received unanimous support from councillors.

Cllr James Gilmartin echoed the concerns, stating, Land accessibility is the number one problem. If you cant access the land then you havent a leg to stand on.
Two pedestrians and a cyclist have died in three separate road crashes in Ireland.

The three women died in collisions in counties Meath, Wexford and Clare.

The fatal incidents happened across seven hours on Saturday.

One of the pedestrians, who was aged in her 60s, was involved in a collision on the Dublin Road (R135) in Ashbourne, Co Meath, at around 7.10pm.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her body was taken to the mortuary at Our Ladys Hospital Navan, where a post-mortem examination will be conducted.

The male driver and passenger of the car, both in their 20s, were taken to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown for treatment to injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

In Co Wexford, a woman aged in her 20s died after being struck by a car.

The pedestrian sustained fatal injuries in the collision on the R702 at Curraghgraigue, Enniscorthy, at around 3pm.

The woman was brought to Wexford General Hospital where she later died.

The driver of the car, a man in his 20s, received medical treatment at the scene.

In Co Clare, a cyclist in her 70s died in a crash with a tractor.

The collision at Toonagh outside the town of Tulla happened at about 12.45pm.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident on the L3180.

No-one else was injured in the crash.

Gardai have appealed for witnesses to all three collisions.

Any road users who may have camera footage, including dashcam, and who were travelling in the areas at the relevant times have been asked to make it available to the Garda.
The head of the HSE has expressed concern at claims a consultant misused the states waiting list system, resulting in delayed operations for sick children.

Bernard Gloster was responding to a report in the Sunday Times that a consultant breached HSE guidelines by referring patients he was seeing in his public practice to his weekend private clinics, rather than securing earlier treatment for them by referring them to HSE colleagues.

The newspaper said the consultant was paid thousands of euros through the states National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), which pays private practices to treat patients on public waiting lists.

According to the report, the details were uncovered by an internal investigation by Childrens Health Ireland (CHI).

Mr Gloster said if there was any evidence of misuse of public funds he would refer the matter to the gardai.

The HSE chief executive said he had been unaware of the CHI internal investigation.

The content of it is absolutely shocking, he told RTEs This Week programme on Sunday.

Secondly, Im even more shocked because nobody has told me about it, and in the light of everything we were doing in the last number of months with CHI, Im just quite shocked.

And, in fairness to the new CEO (CHI chief executive Lucy Nugent), thats not her fault  Im not sure how much she has been told. I did speak to her briefly today.

I believe a number of the issues around culture and other stuff that went on there were addressed, because the report was about more than that.

But I want to be very clear, Ive asked for a copy of the report myself, I have said to the CEO of CHI that I expect her and her board  other than or save for highly personal information  that that report should be published in the public interest.

And I have made it clear that I reserve my position based on what I see in that report as to whether or not further questions arise and if any question arises, can I assure you, of anything connected with, or near connected with, alleged people ingratiating themselves financially in the public health system, the first step Ill be taking is to refer that matter to the gardai.
ELEKTROS INC. SURGES AHEAD: Lightning Strike Lithium Discovery Supercharges the EV Revolution





Elektros Inc. (OTC PINK:ELEK), a distinguished pioneer in the rare-earth sector, proudly announces groundbreaking progress in its Sierra Leone lithium expedition, positioning the company at the forefront of the global energy transition.

A Strategic Leap in Lithium Exploration

In a move that underscores its commitment to sustainable energy solutions, Elektros Inc. has achieved significant milestones in its Sierra Leone operations. The company's latest geological surveys reveal lithium concentrations surpassing initial projections, indicating the potential for one of the most substantial lithium deposits in West Africa.

Elon Musk, the visionary behind Tesla, has long emphasized the critical role of lithium in the future of transportation. High-grade lithium, particularly from secure and ethical sources, is not just a preference for Musk-it is a necessity. As the backbone of electric vehicle batteries, lithium determines the efficiency, range, and sustainability of EVs. Musk has repeatedly highlighted the importance of lithium supply chains in public statements, stating that lithium refining and sourcing are among the biggest constraints to Tesla's growth. The discovery of high-grade lithium in Sierra Leone by Elektros Inc. could align with Musk's strategic vision for securing dependable lithium resources, further accelerating the global adoption of clean energy vehicles.

"Our findings in Sierra Leone are not just promising-they're transformative," stated Shlomo Bleier, CEO of Elektros Inc. "This expedition propels us into a new era of energy innovation, aligning with global demands for clean and efficient power sources."

Capitalizing on Global Energy Trends

The urgency for lithium, a critical component in electric vehicle (EV) batteries and renewable energy storage, has never been more pronounced. With major automakers like Tesla and BMW intensifying their search for reliable lithium sources, Elektros Inc.'s advancements come at a pivotal moment.

Industry analysts highlight the strategic importance of West African lithium reserves in diversifying the global supply chain, reducing dependency on traditional markets, and fostering economic growth in emerging regions.

Investor-Centric Growth and Market Potential

Elektros Inc.'s streamlined share structure and proactive exploration strategies have caught the attention of investors seeking opportunities in the booming EV and renewable energy sectors. The company's recent developments are anticipated to catalyze increased trading activity and shareholder value.

"Elektros Inc. is not just exploring lithium; we're unlocking the future of energy," remarked CEO Shlomo Bleier. "Our Sierra Leone project exemplifies our dedication to innovation and shareholder prosperity."

Lithium, often called the "white gold" of the energy sector, is one of the most coveted and strategically essential commodities in the global economy today. It is the critical element powering every electric vehicle (EV) on the market-from Tesla and Mercedes-Benz to BMW and Lexus. Its high energy density, lightweight nature, and rechargeable capabilities make it indispensable for lithium-ion batteries, which are the heartbeat of the EV industry.



According to Benzinga, "Thanks to global green initiatives and the increasing demand for electric vehicles (EVs), lithium stocks could be a good place to invest if you're looking for growth and capital appreciation." Benzinga further notes that lithium demand is projected to rise with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% through 2026, fueled by the shift to electric transportation and renewable energy.



The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts lithium demand could surge up to 42 times by 2040, driven by unprecedented demand for clean technologies. But with supply bottlenecks and limited global extraction sites, companies with early-stage discoveries like Elektros Inc. are positioned for long-term impact and success.



Benzinga highlights several lithium-related stocks as high-growth investments, and Elektros Inc.'s recent breakthrough in Sierra Leone places it firmly on the radar of institutional and retail investors alike. The company's ability to deliver high-grade, ethically sourced lithium aligns with both market needs and environmental priorities.



With the world at a tipping point between fossil fuel dependency and clean energy dominance, lithium remains not just a commodity, but a global catalyst for innovation and transformation.

Lithium: The 'White Gold' Powering the EV Revolution

About Elektros Inc.

Elektros Inc. (OTC PINK:ELEK) is a forward-thinking company specializing in the exploration and development of rare-earth elements essential for modern energy solutions. With a focus on sustainability and technological advancement, Elektros Inc. is committed to driving the global shift towards renewable energy.

Cautionary Language

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Elektros Inc.'s future operations and potential developments. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Elektros Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Lithium, often referred to as the 'white gold' of the energy sector, is a rare-earth mineral that plays an indispensable role in the advancement of clean technology. Its critical use in electric vehicle (EV) batteries positions lithium as a cornerstone of the global transition to renewable energy. Every major automaker - from Tesla and Mercedes-Benz to BMW and Lexus - relies on lithium to power the next generation of vehicles. As the world pivots away from fossil fuels, the demand for lithium is skyrocketing, making it one of the most strategically valuable resources of our time. Elektros Inc.'s discovery in Sierra Leone could prove to be a game-changer in securing a sustainable and powerful energy future.

SOURCE: Elektros, Inc.

25 may 2025 at 07:30

View the original press release on ACCESS NewswireNews published onand distributed by:
AML executives, led by its chairman Lakshmi Mittal (left) are reportedly seeking to meet with President Boakai (right) in a last ditch effort to secure exclusive access to Liberias Yekepa-Buchanan railroad, while commissioning a new iron ore concentrator in Nimba county.
OVER 3,700 people in Limerick are stuck in a months-long queue for a driving testbut a comprehensive action plan launched by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) promises to cut the wait by over half within months. The Government has tasked the RSA with reducing this to the target of 10 weeks.

The new plan sets out clear actions to bring the average waiting time down from 27 weeks to 10 weeks by early September 2025.

This urgent response comes amid unprecedented demand for driving tests, with 100,000 waiting to be tested. In Limerick, 3,706 applicants are awaiting a test.

READ MORE: Driving test delays for over 30,000 in Limerick branded as a 'scandal'

Key measures now underway to boost testing capacity include:

Accelerated training of new testers through the use of additional training facilities and a revised approach to training enabling early deployment of new testers to centres.

Expanded testing hours, including overtime for weekday evenings, Saturdays, and bank holidays  with tests running from 07.25am to 7pm.

Targeted manual intervention in the booking system to ensure invitations are issued to areas of greatest demand to ensure more efficient slot allocation.

Test centres around the country will see an increase in the number of testers assigned to them over the coming months  subject to demand levels. In January, Limerick had eight testers servicing the region, which will increase to nine testers by September.

To further alleviate pressure, new driving test centres will open in key areas bringing the national total to 60 centres.

As directed by Minister of State at the Department of Transport Sean Canney, the RSA is also currently examining and appraising contingency measures, both internally and externally as further options to deal with any potential future surges in demand for driving tests.

The number of driving tests conducted has steadily increased year-on-year, reflecting growing demand: 157,183 in 2021, rising to 180,696 in 2022, 212,525 in 2023, and reaching 253,850 last year, representing a 61% increase in the number of conducted tests since 2021.

Sam Waide, Chief Executive Officer at the RSA, said:

We know how frustrating and disruptive these delays are  especially for people who need a licence for work, college, or caring responsibilities. I want to offer a sincere apology to everyone who has been affected.

"Our team has developed a focused, projection-based plan to improve availability and reduce wait times. Every part of the system is being mobilised to deliver for the public. The RSA will publish progress updates every fortnight via its website to ensure full transparency and public awareness as the plan advances.

Were asking customers to support the effort by cancelling early if they cannot attend, so that appointments can be offered to others. Every cancelled slot thats re-used helps us reduce the backlog faster. Also, were urging customers to ensure they prepared for their test as over 4,000 tests so far this year couldnt be conducted for reasons such as vehicles without a valid NCT, Tax, Insurance or not deemed roadworthy.

Updates on the progress of the action plan will be published on a fortnightly basis.
A pensioner arrested at a pro-Palestine protest outside a Barclays bank in Belfast will not be silenced, her solicitor has said.

Sue Pentel, 72, was one of two women detained by officers on suspicion of criminal damage.

Jewish grandmother Ms Pentel is a high-profile campaigner against Israels military offensive on Gaza.

Videos circulated online of the arrest of Ms Pentel indicate the alleged offence related to the placing of stickers on the banks ATM machine.

The pensioner and the other woman who was arrested, aged in her 50s, were released later on Saturday pending a report to Northern Irelands Public Prosecution Service (PPS).

Ms Pentels solicitor Padraig O Muirigh, who confirmed her arrest, said: Our client has refused to remain silent whilst thousands of innocent children have been killed, and many more thousands are starving as food and medicine is refused entry into Palestine.

She has committed no offence and should not be criminalised for exercising her right to peaceful protesting these ongoing atrocities.

Our client will robustly contest any attempt to criminalise her if a decision is made to prosecute.

Mr O Muirigh said he would also be advising Ms Pentel in relation to the lawfulness of her arrest.

Sinn Fein Assembly member Pat Sheehan described the police actions as disgraceful.

We will be raising our concerns directly with the PSNI, he said.

In a statement, the PSNI said police received a report relating to a protest in the Castle Place area of Belfast city centre on Saturday morning.

A spokesman confirmed two people were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

He said the women were later released pending a report to the PPS.

Barclays has been a target for pro-Palestine protesters who claim the bank is linked to companies supplying weapons to Israel.

Barclays has previously addressed the criticism, saying it provides financial services to nine defence companies supplying Israel but does not directly invest in such firms.

The bank has said it has become the target of a disinformation campaign over its ties to defence companies.
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Google co-founder Sergey Brins gift of Alphabet Inc. shares worth nearly $700 million was given to a trio of philanthropic organisations, according to a report by Bloomberg News citing a spokesperson for his family office.

A major portion of the gift went to Catalyst4, a nonprofit organisation established by Brin in 2021 with the aim of supporting research into central nervous system diseases and climate-change solutions.

The 3.2 million shares were split equally between Alphabet Class A and Class C stock. These shares were estimated to be worth more than $500 million on Wednesday when the Brin declared in a regulatory filing that he gifted roughly 4.1 million Alphabet shares. The recipients of these shares were not disclosed in the exchange filing.

Over 580,000 Alphabet shares were allocated to Brins family foundation, and an additional 282,000 shares were gifted to the Michael J. Fox Foundation that deals with research into Parkinsons disease, the report said, citing the spokesperson for Bayshore Global, his family office.

About Sergey Brin Brin co-founded Alphabet, the holding company that owns Google, along with Larry Page in 1998. In 2019, both Brin and Page stepped down from top management roles. However, they continue to be board members and controlling shareholders.

10th richest in the world The 51-year-old co-founder of Alphabet is the worlds 10th richest person with a net worth of nearly $143 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is close behind Page, the worlds ninth-richest, with a net worth of nearly $153 billion.

The net worth of Brin is mostly made up of a combination of Class B and Class C shares of the company. According to Bloomberg data, since Google's initial public offering in 2004, Brin has sold more than $11 billion worth of shares.
India should set up a centralised oversight mechanism to improve the functioning of quasi-judicial tribunals and unlock huge funds tied up in unresolved disputes, the Confederation of Indian Industry said.

CII said in a statement on Sunday that the efficiency of tribunals adjudicating on important areas such as labour, environment, and taxation is critical for improving the overall ease of doing business.

As of the end of December 2024, 6.7 trillion was pending resolution at the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) alone, accounting for nearly 57% of all the disputed direct tax amount in the country, the industry body said, pitching for a centralised oversight mechanism for tribunals.

Such a mechanism would ensure uniformity, policy coherence, and improvement in tribunals' overall performance, the industry body said.

Read More: Tribunal reforms hold the key to efficient dispute resolution in India

CII suggested that to put this in place, suitable amendments may be introduced in the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, defining its mandate, structure, scope, and responsibilities. This central body could undertake functions like performance monitoring, data tracking, coordination with the search-cum-selection committees, capacity building, and independent grievance redressal.

The industry body also said administrative control of tribunals is fragmented across various ministries and departments, leading to a lack of standardisation and functional inconsistencies.

Key concern A key concern for tribunals is the absence of real-time performance statistics, which limits the scope for undertaking evidence-based reforms. In contrast, such information is readily available for the entire court system of the country on the National Judicial Data Grid, maintained by the e-committee of the Supreme Court, CII said.

Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies designed to adjudicate disputes in specific disciplines, such as taxation, company law, environmental regulation, and public service matters. Today, over 16 central tribunals operate under different ministries across key sectors.

While the government has sought to address challenges through the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021, constraints such as persistent vacancies, delayed appointments, inadequate infrastructure, lack of performance monitoring, and ineffective grievance redressal mechanisms continue to undermine tribunals effectiveness and efficiency, CII said.

Way forward Setting up a centralised oversight institution for tribunals would be a transformative step towards making Indias justice delivery system more responsive, efficient, and future-ready, directly contributing to boosting regulatory credibility, improving ease of doing business and enhancing investors confidence, CII stated.
The Chinese regulator has published draft guidelines for fees online platforms charge third-party merchants, an important source of revenue for companies including JD.com, Meituan and PDD Holdings Inc.

Companies that operate online platforms should charge reasonable fees and take into account factors like the operational status of merchants with which they do businesses, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the countrys anti-monopoly regulator, said in a statement on Sunday.

The regulator said the deadline for feedback on the draft guidance is June 3.

This is the latest in a series of steps by Beijing to support local merchants that are under pressure from a sluggish local economy and a trade war with the US, and also have to deal with online platforms longtime customer-first approach.

The platforms should set flexible pricing strategies for charges including commission, membership and service fees to reduce merchants burdens, and they should offer better support to smaller businesses, according to the statement.

The guidance was issued after complaints from merchants about issues including complicated and non-transparent charges on the platforms, the regulator said. It is intended to help platform companies improve fee-related compliance frameworks and encourage the healthy development of the industry, according to the statement.

China Asks Online Platform Cos. to Support Individual Businesses

Beijing has been increasing efforts to rein in online platforms consumer-first practices, which merchants say affect margins.

Late last year, the regulator and the Ministry of Commerce told PDD Holdings executives that its policy which allows shoppers to claim refunds without returning purchased goods placed an unfair burden on small merchants, people familiar with the matter said.

Chinese merchants are also facing further pressure from the US cancellation of a loophole that exempted smaller packages shipped to America from tariffs. De Minimis  which loosely translates as too small to matter  merchandise was allowed to be shipped directly to US consumers from abroad, usually bypassing warehouses and distribution hubs.

The US introduced tariffs on these shipments from May 2.

With assistance from Debby Wu.

2025 Bloomberg L.P.
BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) -Nvidia will launch a new artificial intelligence chipset for China at a significantly lower price than its recently restricted H20 model and plans to start mass production as early as June, sources familiar with the matter said.

The GPU or graphics processing unit will be part of Nvidia's latest generation Blackwell-architecture AI processors and is expected to be priced between $6,500 and $8,000, well below the $10,000-$12,000 the H20 sold for, according to two of the sources.

The lower price reflects its weaker specifications and simpler manufacturing requirements.

It will be based on Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D, a server-class graphics processor and will use conventional GDDR7 memory instead of more advanced high bandwidth memory, the two sources said.

They added it would not use Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's advanced Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology.

Also Read | Nvidia says controls on AI chips exports to China were failure, praises Trump

The new chip's price, specifications and production timing have not previously been reported.

The three sources Reuters spoke to for this article declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to media.

An Nvidia spokesperson said the company was still evaluating its "limited" options. "Until we settle on a new product design and receive approval from the U.S. government, we are effectively foreclosed from China's $50 billion data center market."

TSMC declined to comment.

Market share plunge China remains a huge market for Nvidia, accounting for 13% of its sales in the past financial year. It's the third time that Nvidia has had to tailor a GPU for the world's second-largest economy after restrictions from U.S. authorities who are keen to stymie Chinese technological development.

After the U.S. effectively banned the H20 in April, Nvidia initially considered developing a downgraded version of the H20 for China, sources have said, but that plan didn't work out.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said last week the company's older Hopper architecture - which the H20 uses - can no longer accommodate further modifications under current U.S. export restrictions.

Reuters was unable to determine the product's final name.

Chinese brokerage GF Securities said in a note published on Tuesday that the new GPU would likely be called the 6000D or the B40, though it did not disclose pricing or cite sources for the information.

According to two of the sources, Nvidia is also developing another Blackwell-architecture chip for China that is set to begin production as early as September. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm specifications of that variant.

Nvidia's market share in China has plummeted from 95% before 2022, when U.S. export curbs that impacted its products began, to 50% currently, Huang told reporters in Taipei this week. Its main competitor is Huawei which produces the Ascend 910B chip.

Huang also warned that if U.S. export curbs continue, more Chinese customers will buy Huawei's chips.

The H20 ban forced Nvidia to write off $5.5 billion in inventory and Huang told the Stratechery podcast on Monday that the company also had to walk away from $15 billion in sales.

The latest export restrictions introduced new limits on GPU memory bandwidth - a crucial metric measuring data transmission speeds between the main processor and memory chips. This capability is particularly important for AI workloads that require extensive data processing.

Investment bank Jefferies estimates that the new regulations cap memory bandwidth at 1.7-1.8 terabytes per second. That compares with the 4 terabytes per second that the H20 is capable of.
Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Mittal's son has moved from Britain to the United Arab Emirates amid rising taxes on wealthy individuals in the United Kingdom.

Shravin Bharti Mittal, the top shareholder in UK telecommunications giant BT Group Plc, currently lists the United Arab Emirates as his residence after previously listing the UK, according to a report by Bloomberg News citing registry filings. BT Group holds 24.5% of one of Britains telecommunications networks.

Last month, he established the Abu Dhabi branch for an investment firm, Unbound, founded in London, the report said citing other filings.

Also Read | Supreme Court dismisses Vodafone Idea, Airtel plea for AGR interest waiver

Who else has relocated from UK? Apart from Mittal, Egypts richest person, Nassef Sawiris, has moved to Abu Dhabi as well as Italy. Members of the billionaire Lazari dynasty, including Leonidas and Nicholas, who own several properties in London, are now living in Cyprus.

Tax regime in UK The latest development shows how some of the worlds richest individuals are leaving the UK after the introduction of tax reforms for wealthy non-domiciled residents. It also affects the British governments goal to attract top global talent, which is a part of Keir Starmer Labour government's measures to improve the UKs immigration system.

The Conservative government in March 2024 suspended the preferential tax policy for non-domiciled wealthy individuals that permitted them to avoid taxes in the UK on overseas earnings for almost 15 years. This was replaced with a shorter timeframe. However, after winning the UK election in July, Labour Party's Chancellor Rachel Reeves eliminated inheritance tax breaks on non-domiciled individuals' overseas assets, prompting many of them to leave Britain.

These tax reforms may significantly impact the revenue of the UK government if a quarter of its nearly 74,000 non-domiciled individuals relocate, the report said citing a study from the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

About Shravin Mittal Shravin Mittal began his career in London over ten years ago. He studied accounting and finance at the University of Bath and worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. as an investment banking analyst, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Mittal subsequently worked at a private equity firm in London and later assumed the role of managing director at the investment division of New Delhi-based Bharti Enterprises, established by his father. The company specialises in sectors such as finance, real estate, and hospitality.
The government announced income tax concessions amounting to a total of 1 trillion to stimulate demand in the economy. The savings on tax outgo will take time to cumulate into a meaningful chunk of additional purchasing power in the hands of taxpayers. If the amount of tax given away for the entire year could be put into the hands of taxpayers upfront, they might be more inclined to spend it. That, however, would call for an additional government initiative.

A taxpayer in the new regime with an income of 12 lakh will get a benefit of 80,000 in tax (which is 100% of tax payable as per existing rates). A person having income of 18 lakh will get a benefit of 70,000 in tax (30% of tax payable as per existing rates). A person with an income of 25 lakh gets a benefit of 1,10,000 (25% of his tax payable as per existing rates)", finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said after outlining her tax concession proposals.

Read this | Will Indias 2025-26 tax cut spur consumption and GDP growth?

Some of the additional disposable income people gain from tax giveaways would go into savings - either to bring down past dissaving, that is, repayment of debt, or to give in to the enticing charm of the pervasive slogan, mutual funds sahi hai.

Since the private sector remains reticent when it comes to investment, such savings are unlikely to stimulate fresh economic activity. For the tax breaks to boost growth, consumption must be maximized out of the additional disposable income people have.

Read this | Vivek Kaul: The fallacy of composition has left equity fund investors reeling

Take a salaried employee who stands to get a tax relief of 1.08 lakh over the year. Her post-tax salary per month will rise by 9,000. She might splurge a little on some personal indulgence or even join an instalment scheme to buy some gold. But she is unlikely to buy a consumer durable or two with that additional monthly income.

But if she could get her hands on that entire saving on tax over the year as a lump sum, she might make a down payment on a car, or buy that big television set her children have been campaigning for, with subtle encouragement from her couch potato of a spouse, along with a washing machine upgrade from semi-automatic to fully automatic, and a front-loading model, at that  after all, a front-loading machine takes less water and less detergent. As clothes rotate inside the machine around a horizontal axis, the tub needs to be only half full: the clothes move in and out of the water, instead of being submerged all the time, as in a top-loading machine.

But how to put that tax saving for the year into her hands in the first quarter of the new financial year? The simplest way is for the government to give taxpayers a tax credit upfront, and ask them to keep paying tax at last years rates.

But this has two drawbacks. One, it assumes those who paid tax last year would continue to earn at least as much this year, a risky assumption if people are laid off or have fewer hours of gig work. Two, the government would have to advance the amount and recover it as tax payments over the year, incurring interest costs on the money borrowed to make those tax credit payments.

Read this | Can an early summer thaw Indias consumption slowdown?

Another way is to encourage banks to extend personal loans at ultra-cheap rates to taxpayers with incomes below, say, 30 lakh a year, each loan being roughly equal to the potential saving on tax at the new, revised rates for the taxpayer in question. The bank could ascertain that by checking with the would-be borrowers income tax return for the previous year.

The government could offer to refinance these personal loans to the banks at an attractive rate. This would entail some additional outlay on the governments part, but it would be well worth the effort.

Commentary immediately after the presentation of the Budget had projected giddily optimistic effects of the tax breaks. Some economists had assumed that growth resulting from additional consumption would be five times as much as the additional consumption -- in economic jargon, the growth multiplier for consumption is assumed to be 5. Empirical estimates of the consumption multiplier have come in much lower, some as low as 1.1.

Also read | This time for Africa: With USAID slashed, India and Japan must step in to support development

The government will have to put in effort to ensure that the tax savings are actually spent on fresh consumption, whether by giving tax credits upfront or refinancing bank loans to taxpayers who wish to buy consumer goods with their anticipated tax savings.
India has overtaken Japan to become the world's fourth-largest economy, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO) BVR Subrahmanyam said, citing data by the International Monetary Fund at a press conference of the 10th NITI Aayog Governing Council Meeting on Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat 2047.

We are the fourth largest economy as I speak. We are a USD 4 trillion economy as I speak, and this is not my data. This is IMF data. India today is larger than Japan," said BVR Subrahmanyam.

He further stated that India may soon surpass Germany and become the third-largest economy in the world.

"It's only the United States, China, and Germany which are larger, and if we stick to, you know, what is being planned, what is being thought through, it's a matter of another 2, 2.5 to 3 years; we would become the third largest economy, Subrahmanyam added.

India's growth estimates The April edition of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report by the IMF mentioned that the nominal GDP for fiscal year 2026 is estimated to touch nearly $4,187.017 billion, slightly more than the GDP of Japan, projected at $4,186.431 billion, ANI reported, citing WEO.

Till 2024, India was the fifth-largest economy across the globe.

The IMF also expects that India will be the fastest-growing major economy in the next two years. The Indian economy is expected to grow by 6.2 per cent in 2025 and 6.3 per cent in 2026, higher than global and regional counterparts, according to the World Economic Outlook report.

Meanwhile, the IMF predicts global economic growth at 2.8 per cent in 2025 and 3.0 per cent in 2026, much lower than India's estimates.

NITI Aayog CEO on India's growth According to the CEO of NITI Aayog, the Indian economy is growing rapidly, and the country's demographic dividend will aid this growth.

India is at a takeoff stage where it can grow very rapidly, as has been done by many countries in the past... Given this, as well as the demographic dividend that India is actually blessed with for the next 20 to 25 years, that we can grow rapidly, the Prime Minister gave a call to all states to prepare vision documents at their level. This is already visible in the growth of India, Subrahmanyam said.
The 78th Cannes Film Festival closed on Saturday with a massive 5-hour power outage before the event even started. US President Donald Trump also found a place for himself at the prestigious film festival, the references to him, although, may not have been kind.
Washington [US], May 25 (ANI): Domhnall Gleeson seems to have revealed the "big advice" he got from John Krasinski before joining The Office spinoff, The Paper.

The 42-year-old Irish actor, while speaking to People, said Krasinski -- who played Jim Halpert in the original hit comedy -- encouraged him to take the role without hesitation.

"He was wonderful. I mean, his big advice that he gave me was to do it," Gleeson told People.

Gleeson went on to share that Steve Carell, another star from The Office, supported his decision too.

"And the same with Steve Carell, another just wonderful actor who I'd worked with before. And their advice was, if it's Greg Daniels, you should do it because getting to work with him is a treat that not many people get to have," he added.

"And I'm so happy I did it because I think we have something really lovely. So I'm thrilled with it," he further added.

Gleeson also shared that hearing such positive things from both actors made a big difference. "I mean, I like to think I would've got there on my own anyway, but certainly if [John] and Steve had been like, 'Don't do it, it's a nightmare,' I would've hightailed it, but they could not have been more positive about it, and I'm delighted I listened to them," said the actor.
The Western Azerbaijan Community condemns the statement made by the Armenian Apostolic Church on May 23, 2025, regarding the decision of the Caucasus Muslims Board to restore the Irevan Qadiate, Azernews reports.

The Armenian Apostolic Church, which incites racial hatred and demonstrates a negative attitude toward Azerbaijanis in its statement, once again proves that it is a politicized organization, far removed from the values of humanism, and that its true goal is to deepen discord between peoples.

This is stated in a declaration by the Western Azerbaijan Community. It reads: "The fact that the Armenian Apostolic Church, instead of promoting harmony, interfaith dialogue, and peace among peoples, sows hatred and opposes the return of Western Azerbaijanis, their freedom of religion, and the restoration of their religious and cultural heritage, is a matter of serious concern.

The Western Azerbaijan Community calls on the international community to condemn the politicized actions of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which are based on racial discrimination."
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Telanganas Special Chief Secretary Jayesh Ranjan has strongly refuted allegations made by Miss England 2024, Milla Magee, who abruptly withdrew from the international beauty pageant, Miss World 2025 event, in Hyderabad on May 16.

Magee, in an interview with The Sun, claimed she was encouraged to socialise with middle-aged men as a form of appreciation for their financial backing of the event. The comments sparked widespread media attention and criticism.

Ranjan responded with a categorical denial, after conducting an internal enquiry into the matter, according to The Hindu.

Ranjan dismissed allegations made by Miss England 2024 Milla Magee as completely baseless and lacking even one percent of truth. He further called the claims, as per the news report: fabricated and highly exaggerated.

Ranjan, referring to the senior IAS officer Magee was reportedly seated beside during the cultural evening, said, To suggest he made any inappropriate advances, especially in the presence of his family members, is absurd and unbelievable.

CCTV footage contradicts claims Ranjan, who conducted an internal enquiry, said CCTV footage from the May 13 cultural programme at Chowmahalla Palace  the evening Magee referred to in her interview with The Sun  showed no inappropriate interaction. It clearly shows that Milla Magee was seated with one man and four women. The gentleman was a senior IAS officer, accompanied by his wife, daughter-in-law, and guests, he said.

Pre-scheduled social events As per the official Miss World 2025 itinerary, there were three formal social events for contestants: the May 13 cultural night, a visit to Ramoji Film City on May 17, and a high tea at the Telangana Secretariat on May 18. Ranjan noted that Magee attended only the first event.

All three events had tightly curated guest lists, he stated.

Other contestants disagree with allegations To ensure a balanced response, Ranjan as per the report said he spoke with over a dozen contestants from different countries, including Scotland and Northern Ireland. Ranjan said their experience was completely contrary to Magees version of events.

Poverty remarks called exaggerated In her interview, Magee also said she was disturbed by the poverty she saw in Hyderabad. While not denying the existence of poverty, Ranjan criticised the tone of her comments. Her description was highly exaggerated and appears to be driven by a vested agenda, he reportedly said.
Russia stepped up missile-and-drone assaults on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and other regions, killing at least 12 people overnight into Sunday after President Trump last week declined to impose further sanctions on Moscow over its refusal to halt its invasion.

Russia attacked with a total of 367 drones and missilesone of the largest single-night raids of the war, according to the Ukrainian Air Forcein a second consecutive day of pounding strikes that sent civilians running for shelters in the middle of the night. Officials said that children were among those killed by the strikes and that a further 60 were injured and more than 80 residential buildings damaged across the country, even as more than 300 of the missiles and drones were shot down.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more economic sanctions against Russia to force it to stop its invasion, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to do despite Trumps entreaties.

Russia is dragging out this war and is continuing to kill on a daily basis," he said on social media. It cant be ignored. The silence of America, the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin."

The Russian Defense Ministry said its strikes had targeted Ukrainian military-production facilities. The ministry said it had downed 110 Ukrainian attack drones in regions across the west of Russia, including Moscow. Ukrainian officials said that their large-scale drone attacks on Russian targets in recent days have damaged several Russian military-industrial facilities, including a factory that makes parts for ballistic missiles.

The increased ferocity of Russias assaults comes days after Trump demurred on threats to sanction Russia further if it didnt sign an immediate, 30-day cease-fire. In a two-hour call with Trump last week, Putin refused a truce that Kyiv consented to in March. Trump has publicly insisted that Putin wants peace, but in a call with European leaders this week, conceded that Putin isnt ready for peace, The Wall Street Journal reported, because he believes he is winning.

Zelensky said only pressure on the Kremlin would yield results.

Resolve is important right nowthe resolve of the United States, the resolve of European countries, of all those in the world that want peace," Zelensky said Sunday. The world knows all the weak points of the Russian economy. It is possible to stop the war, but only thanks to the necessary pressure on Russia."

Ukraine countered the aerial assault with a combination of missile defense, Western-provided F-16 jet fighters and small drones used to intercept Russian strike drones, an Air Force spokesman said.

Trump last week said that Ukraine and Russia should continue negotiations over a peace deal among themselvestalks that have so far yielded only one tangible result: a three-day exchange of around 1,000 prisoners from each side that concluded Sunday.

Russia has confounded Trumps efforts to end the war, which it launched in February 2022, insisting that its original war goals of a neutered Ukraine under firm Russian influence be met even as its army struggles to advance in its neighbors east.

Write to James Marson at james.marson@wsj.com
Adam Leeb is rushing to ship $700,000 of electronic typewriters from China while the trade truce holds.

After forking out $23,000 for tariffs in March when President Trump hit Chinese goods with a new 20% levy, Leeb, a Detroit-based business owner, decided to pause shipments altogether when the administration then pushed tariffs to an eye-watering 145%.

Now that a 90-day truce agreed between Washington and Beijing this month has brought that down to 30%, Leebs company, Astrohaus, which makes typewriters, keyboards and other tools for writers, is taking the opportunity to restock.

Im assuming this is probably the best-case scenario for a while, Leeb said.

Sky-high tariffs pummeled U.S.-China trade and now the cease-fire is causing a snapback. Firms across the U.S. are racing to rebook canceled orders and find space on containerships to get products out of China and bring them stateside before the 90-day window closes in August.

In the week beginning May 12, when the trade truce was announced, bookings for containers to the U.S. from China more than doubled compared with the week before as the tariff rollback unleashed a wave of pent-up demand. Bookings surged to the equivalent of around 2.2 million 20-foot boxes, a level not seen in more than a year, according to data from Vizion, a container-tracking software company, and data provider Dun & Bradstreet.

Executives, logistics specialists and analysts are cautious about how big the rebound will get. They say there is still too much uncertainty over tariff policy and the health of the U.S.s consumer-driven economy to fuel a splurge in new orders. Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said earlier this month that he doesnt anticipate a big surge in imports after the rollback. Vizions data show container bookings last week fell back to the equivalent of around 1.4 million 20-foot containers.

Nonetheless, many Chinese manufacturers are welcoming any bump in activity after the high tariffs froze orders and halted production. Lisa Wang, a salesperson at a textile manufacturer in Chinas Zhejiang province, said the 90-day tariff pause has been a huge help to her company. The company has been able to ship out about a dozen containers of previously delayed orders, mostly mattress protectors and pillows. Clients are also placing some new orders.

Because we dont know what the policy will be like after 90 days, we are rushing to ship what we can now, she said.

Shipping executives in Asia say one headache for importers is there arent enough ships available to move goods to the U.S. right away. Carriers diverted some of the vessels that would usually ship goods to the U.S. West Coast from China to other busy routes when tariffs slammed U.S.-China trade. Some carriers replaced their biggest containerships with smaller vessels, while others canceled some scheduled sailings altogether, shipping executives say.

Now, freight rates are picking up as importers compete for scarce space as carriers rush to bring ships back. The Shanghai Shipping Exchanges index of container prices to ship goods from Shanghai jumped 10% in the week beginning May 12, compared with the week before.

The next 90 days will be quite chaotic, said a senior logistics executive in Asia, who said it would take weeks to return rerouted vessels.

But for many industries, 90 days just isnt long enough to get products ordered, manufactured and shipped across the Pacific.

Vincent Ambrose, chief commercial officer of FranklinWH Energy Storage, which makes home energy-storage systems in California and Shenzhen, China, said the 90-day reprieve on tariffs isnt long enough to rush in extra stock, as manufacturing and delivery typically takes about 12 weeks. Even if he could, he said he cant compete with the likes of Amazon, Apple and Walmart for scarce space on U.S.-bound containerships.

Theres really no opportunity to rush a bunch of products here, he said.

Industry executives also say that a 30% tariff is still high enough to pinch trade, albeit not as severely as a 145% levy. Some products from China are subject to tariffs higher than the baseline 30% because of prior duties, making other countries more attractive for manufacturing still.

Yes, there is a reprieve. Does that suddenly result in masses of volume? I honestly doubt it, said Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO, an international shipping association.

Godfrey Chan, who started his business as a paper-goods manufacturer in China more than 30 years ago before opening a factory in northern Vietnam in 2023, said the trade truce hasnt sparked a rush back to China.

Tariffs on the products he makeswhich include paper bags with flowers, hearts and colorful designs for Christmas and birthdayswould total 55% if they were produced in China, compared with 10% currently on Vietnamese goods. His Vietnamese factory, Max Fortune VN Paper Products, has been slammed with orders from customers hoping to get products as soon as possible, while tariffs on Vietnamese goods are much lower than those on Chinese imports.

You can easily see the difference, Chan said.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration placed tariffs of 46% on Vietnamese imports, but suspended them for 90 days, pending trade talks.

Leeb, the typewriter maker, is keeping another order with his Chinese manufacturers on hold that was previously scheduled for production in August. He is worried about buying too much inventory and running short on cash if tariffs return to higher levels after the pause ends.

He tried to negotiate lower prices with his Chinese manufacturers to reduce the burden of tariffs, but didnt manage to get price cuts because the factories are operating on low profit margins. Astrohaus has already raised prices up to 10% on certain products to deal with the tariff increase and is giving priority to presale orders.

Leeb recently toured factories in Vietnam and Indonesia to explore moving some production outside of China for the first time. I have to take it seriously now, he said.
John Rogers was visiting Shanghai in May 2013, attending a business forum as a Federal Reserve economist, when he first received an email from an alleged Chinese intelligence agent.

The man described himself as a Chinese graduate student who was interested in learning about the Fed. Rogers says he refused the mans offer to pay him. But they stayed in touch, and later, the man invited Rogers to visit China again, all expenses paid.

This time, Rogers made the trip, setting off a chain of events that led to espionage charges against him in the U.S.and exposed new details about Chinas alleged efforts to recruit informants inside U.S. government institutions.

Prosecutors allege Rogers handed over sensitive information to Chinese operatives, who posed as students and who offered to cover travel expenses to China. Rogers met his Chinese handlers in hotel rooms and in some cases shared internal Fed reports, including information prepared for discussions by the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, according to an indictment unsealed in January that accused Rogers of conspiring to commit economic espionage.

Federal Bureau of Investigation officers arrested Rogers in January and found $50,000 in cash at his Washington-area apartmentmoney that his wife said belonged to her.

Rogers has denied all charges against him, including that he knowingly assisted Beijing. People who know him, and his role at the Fed, say his value to China would have been limited because he wasnt privy to high-level decision-making.

An attorney for Rogers said the governments indictment lacks context and relevant facts that would undercut its implication of impropriety. For example, Rogers doesnt speak Chinese, the attorney said.

The indictment presents an overly-simplistic, one-sided, and skewed version of events," said the lawyer, who added that Rogerss legal team would provide a detailed rebuttal in court where we will prove Dr. Rogerss innocence."

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has pointed to the central banks security protocols in response to past concerns about alleged Chinese spying.

Prosecutors say Rogers was a logical target for Chinese espionage, with an important-sounding title at the Fed and a growing affection for China. In 2018, he married a Shanghainese woman whom he met through a Chinese matchmaking service. FBI agents would later find a note on his iPad, dated December 2018 and addressed to Dear Chinese People," in which he expressed admiration for China.

I love your kindness, your generosity, and your humbly hard working, high-achieving society," the note said. I love you unconditionally, Shanghai."

Asked about Rogerss case, Chinas Foreign Ministry said it wasnt aware of the matter. Chinas main civilian intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security, didnt respond to queries.

Western officials say China has ramped up espionage activities to unprecedented levels under leader Xi Jinping, including targeting institutions such as the Fed, a linchpin of U.S. financial stability. While Chinese cyberattacks have gained more prominence recently, Beijing continues to groom traditional human sources such as informants to get information, even when they appear to offer limited insight.

A 2022 report by Republican staff on a Senate committee accused China of trying to gain access to sensitive internal information and influence the Federal Reserve" since at least 2013, offering money and other benefits.

In one case in 2019, Chinese authorities allegedly held a Fed economist in a hotel room during a trip to Shanghai and threatened to imprison him unless he agreed to provide nonpublic economic data, according to the Senate committee report. Chinese officials allegedly told him they had been monitoring his phones, including conversations about his divorce, and would publicly humiliate him if he didnt cooperate. The economist reported the incident to Fed officials after being released, the report said.

Chinas Foreign Ministry denounced the report, calling it political disinformation."

In response to the report at the time, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank maintained robust information-security protocols. Those policies included reviews of foreign travel and personal contacts for staff with access to sensitive economic information, he said then.

The Fed updated its policies in 2021 to prohibit gifts and compensation from entities in countries, including China, that are subject to defense export controls by the State Department.

This account is based on interviews with Rogerss associates and a review of documents related to the case.

Hotpot and currency policy

With a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia, Rogers joined the Federal Reserve Board as an economist in 1994. He later worked as a senior adviser researching exchange rates and interest-rate policy.

On social media, Rogers aired his fondness for bands such as R.E.M. and the Cure. A lanky figure standing more than 6 feet tall, he sometimes led yoga classes for Fed colleagues.

People familiar with Rogerss work said his position as senior adviser could oversell to outsiders his involvement in the Feds sensitive policymaking discussions. While some officials with the senior adviser" title help Fed leaders prepare for their highly secret monetary-policy meetings, others have simply been at the Fed a long time or have specialized research backgrounds.

Rogers fell into this latter category. He didnt attend Federal Open Market Committee meetings or have access to sensitive FOMC materials.

Even so, alleged Chinese intelligence homed in on Rogers when he traveled to China in 2013. He went there to speak at an annual conference hosted by Shanghais prestigious Fudan University, Rogers recalled in a podcast interview in 2024.

In 2017, Rogers accepted an invitation from the Chinese man who described himself as a graduate student to visit his university, Shandong University of Economics and Finance, in the eastern city of Jinan, according to the indictment. Rogers asked the student to pay for flights and hotels, and the man agreed.

Around that time, Rogers became acquainted with a 31-year-old Shanghainese makeup artist through a Chinese matchmaking service called Sky Love, which caters to Chinese women seeking romantic partners from abroad.

After months of online conversations, Rogers wanted to meet the woman, Liu Yu, in person. He added a stop in Shanghai, where they spent about two days together, sightseeing, enjoying a hotpot meal and exchanging gifts, according to Sky Love, which detailed the romance in online posts publicizing its successes in matchmaking.

Rogers then traveled to Jinan, where he delivered a lecture, Uncertainty, Currency Excess Returns and Risk Reversals," at Shandong University.

The couple wedded in Hong Kong in March 2018, and Liu gave birth to their daughter in Shanghai later that year, the company said.

A lot of trouble"

About two months after his wedding, Rogers reached out to the Chinese man who said he was a student and asked about an essay the man was writing, according to the indictment. The man sent Rogers questions about Fed policy, purportedly to get help for the essay.

Rogers emailed two Fed colleagues asking for information he could share during a trip to China, including on the Feds views on Chinas currency. One colleague emailed him two PDF documents, one of which Rogers emailed to his Chinese contact.

After arriving in China, under the guise of teaching classes, Rogers met in hotel rooms with the man and another personwho U.S. prosecutors say was also an intelligence agentand shared internal Fed information, according to the indictment.

In text exchanges made public by U.S. prosecutors, Rogers said the Fed wouldnt allow him to discuss policy matters with Chinese contacts unless there was a sound academic reason for doing so.

There has to be a lot more done to make this legitimate in the eyes of the Fed. Remember, it has to be teaching and not consulting. I am only allowed to teach," he said in one text message in 2018.

If anyone questioned the relationship, that would cause me a lot of trouble!" he wrote. Under U.S. law, economic espionage can be punished with up to 15 years in prison.

In a February court filing, Rogerss lawyers said the text message demonstrates the defendants commitment to do the teaching which he was hired to donot to conspire with anyone."

In the second half of 2018, Rogers took a sabbatical from the Fed, spending time in Shanghai as a visiting professor at Fudan, according to his podcast interview. He continued supplying information to the Chinese persons who described themselves as students, including notes on a briefing to someone awaiting Senate confirmation as a Fed governor around two weeks before a Fed policy meeting.

Attorneys for Rogers would later tell a Washington, D.C., court that the economists communications with his Chinese contacts reflected the teacher-student relationship between them. Rogers could answer his students questions without revealing trade secrets, the attorneys said.

Hundred-dollar bills

By 2019, Rogers had brought his new wife and daughter to live with him in Washington, according to a Sky Love post. His wife has another daughter in China and continued to spend significant time" there, prosecutors said.

In 2020, Fed officials raised questions about Rogerss Chinese ties in an interview with the Feds watchdog agency, the Office of Inspector General.

The Chinese, theyre watching everything that the U.S. does. I dont mean that in an espionage way, Im sure they are doing espionage but I dont confront that," Rogers said, according to a court submission from prosecutors. They just want to know whats the Fed thinking."

Rogers added, I was offered money, theyd come out with packets of hundred-dollar bills." But he denied sharing restricted Fed information. Prosecutors would later charge Rogers with making a false statement during this interview.

Attorneys for Rogers said he lost access to most Fed documents in May 2020, around three months after the interview. He was forced out of the Fed in May 2021, according to a government filing. A Fed spokesperson, citing privacy rules, declined to comment on the case.

About two months before leaving the Fed, Rogers signed a contract to teach at Fudan, according to government prosecutors. His contract offers a salary of around $150,000 for one semester of teaching per year, according to his lawyers. They said he also received a $300,000 research grant, to be disbursed over three years, from a state-run research institution. Fudan didnt respond to a request for comment.

The Chinese persons describing themselves as students continued to contact Rogers. In February 2022, one messaged Rogers asking if he and his wife would be interested in traveling to the eastern city of Qingdao, and arranging a class there.

All related expenses will be covered by us, and we can pay for the class," the agent said. It couldnt be learned if Rogers made the trip.

Write to Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@wsj.com and Nick Timiraos at Nick.Timiraos@wsj.com
The truce did not last long. On May 23rd President Donald Trump threatened to impose a tariff of 50% on imports from the European Union, more than double the size of his earlier threat of 20%. Our discussions with them are going nowhere," he said. The bloc is very difficult to deal with". Without progress, the levy will come into effect on June 1st.

Markets swooned once again in response. But Mr Trumps announcement was a particular blow to European officials, who had been feeling cautiously optimistic. According to an internal memo from May 14th, seen by The Economist, they had believed that there was a chance of de-escalation, since America had begun to see the consequences of the presidents initial tariff rampage.

Maybe it was their counter-measure consultation that pushed him over the edge. The EU has studied options that could cover $100bn-worth of imports and exports a year, which it intends to impose should negotiations fail. These include 20th-century classics such as levies on American transport equipment, agricultural products and, fittingly, rollercoasters. The bloc also plans to restrict sales of chemicals and scrap metals that American smelters like. Considering the scale of Mr Trumps proposed tariffs, especially his latest ones, these would represent only a modest counter-punch.

Now that Mr Trump has threatened to go big, how might Europe respond? Although it runs a surplus in goods with America, it buys more services than it sells. More quietly, therefore, the EU has been considering 21st-century forms of retaliation. Mr Trump complains about the EUs penalties for the countrys tech giantsbut the bloc could go much further. Americas digital services are a point of vulnerability.

Under a World Trade Organisation moratorium, electronic transmissions" are exempt from tariffs; trying to impose levies on them directly would be a bureaucratic and legal nightmare. That leaves three options: technical restrictions, new taxes and ramped-up legal investigations.

Start with the restrictions. Stephane Sejourne, the European Commissions vice-president for the internal market, wants to introduce Buy European" clauses for sensitive sectors. Indeed, some countries are already rethinking their exposure to American digital-cloud providers. Since it is soon to publish a rulebook for the cloud, the EU could get tough. Microsoft has tried to soothe European concerns by announcing five digital commitments", which include helping to build infrastructure and protecting privacy.

The storage of data is another consideration. Data-transfer policy is the product of a tortuous back-and-forth between courts and policymakers; the current agreement depends on America maintaining strong protection standards. The Trump administrations decision to remove Democratic members from a privacy-oversight board, and to demand that federal agencies submit significant decisions for presidential approval, might provide grounds for a reassessment. Max Schrems, an activist and lawyer who has brought down two previous agreements, argues that Americas actions are enough for the EU to pause the agreement even before the courts force its hand. Any move would come at a considerable cost, however. Repatriating masses of data and the associated services would be very disruptive," notes Zach Meyers of the Centre on Regulation in Europe, a think-tank.

A second option would be to tax digital services. Such taxes typically target advertising revenue when it rises above a threshold. They represent an attempt to get around the fact that tech firms book profits in low-tax jurisdictions, and not where value is created or sales are made. The problem is that, much like tariffs, such taxes hurt consumers. Dominika Langenmayr of the Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt and Rohit Reddy Muddasani of Vienna University of Economics and Business have studied Amazons fees and found a large pass-through to other sellers, who in turn charge shoppers more.

That leaves the legal-nuisance approach. On April 23rd the commission hit Meta and Apple with fines of 200m and 500m, respectively, for breaching the blocs Digital Markets Act, newish legislation that targets anti-competitive behaviour. A decision on Alphabet is imminent. The EU could dial up fines in the future, once the DMA is more established. The DMAs sister bill, the Digital Services Act, which is intended to prevent harmful content and disinformation, is another possible weapon. It has already been used to go after X, Elon Musks social-media site.

European policymakers would be reluctant to politicise what they see as purely legal remedies. In truth, none of their options is very attractive. But they will be aware that China pushed Mr Trump to back down by promising painful retaliation. European officials will now be considering what they could threaten, in the hope that they do not have to follow through. Mr Trump has initiated an awkward, and really quite stupid, dance.

 2025, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
New Delhi: The private sector has overtaken the public sector in Indias seed production, driven by its dominance in high-value crops such as cotton and horticulture.

In 202324, private firms accounted for 71% of the countrys seed production, up from 40% in 2009-10, according to data from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). In contrast, the share of state-run seed producers fell from 60% to just 29% over the same period.

Read this | India to revamp rice cultivation technique to save water, cut labour costs, reduce methane emissions

This shift has implications for Indian agriculture, which relies on both public institutions like ICAR and market-driven innovation to improve yields, ensure food security, and support smallholder farmers. The divergence also reflects the differing priorities of public and private players: while public firms focus on low-value, high-volume crops such as cereals, pulses, and oilseeds, private companies have cornered the market in high-margin segments with greater commercial potential.

Public sector seed companies in India are losing market share because they are outpaced by private firms, especially in producing high-value seeds for horticulture crops and cotton where seed replacement is high," said a senior executive at a state-run seed company. In staples like cereals and pulses, seed replacement is low, around 30-40%, as farmers often preserve their own seeds. Also, the value (of such seeds) is low."

Public institutions like ICAR have historically focused on staple crops such as cereals, pulses, and oilseeds--vital for food security--while private firms have targeted high-margin, hybrid-based systems for crops like cotton and horticulture. As private companies expand their footprint, they are also playing a growing role in innovation, often tailoring products to market demands through field-level insights, according to industry experts.

Private sector firms understand the farmers needs and work in coordination with them, ensuring timely availability of seeds," said Vaibhav Ravi Kashikar, executive director at Ankur Seeds Pvt. Ltd. They also have robust quality control systems to ensure better seed quality."

Read this | Can soil-less farming revive a revered Kashmiri rice variety on the verge of extinction?

According to the Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII), around 800 private seed companies operate in India, including multinationals. Nearly 100 of them run in-house R&D programmes. Many have also licensed seed varieties developed by ICAR for key crops such as wheat, rice, maize, and mustard, highlighting a degree of public-private collaboration.

Even so, farmer groups and civil society organizations have voiced concerns about private-sector dominance, particularly around affordability, access, and farmer dependence.

Ram Kaundinya, advisor to FSII, dismisses such concerns. Successful economies around the world are driven by private-sector seed markets. Theres a misconception that private firms exploit farmers, but no company can afford to exploit its own customers and expect to survive," he said. As per Ministry of Agriculture data, seeds account for only 5% of a farmers total production cost, including for crops like cotton. Concerns about seed pricing are largely misplaced."

Kaundinya also pointed out that Indias seed market is segmented by price and crop, with companies targeting different farmer profiles. Seeds cant be priced beyond reach, otherwise, theres no market," he said.

Farmer sentiment reflects this diversity.

Ramneek Singh, a grower from Abohar in Punjab, said, For food grains like paddy and wheat, I usually go with government seeds. But for Bt cotton or horticulture, I choose private companies. It depends on the crop and whats available in my area."

The Indian seed industry is valued at $6.3 billion ( 54,158 crore) and expected to grow to $12.7 billion by 2028 and $20 billion by 2040, according to FSII. With rising demand for food and growing focus on climate resilience, both public and private players are expected to play a role, but with very different strategies.

Also read | Soon, farmers will be able to assess soil health in seconds with a handheld device

The private sector is working closely with farmers, constantly upgrading R&D and developing varieties tailored to changing weather patterns," said Sameer Mulay, managing director at Ajeet Seeds Pvt. Ltd. Gene-edited crops could be the next big shift."

Industry bodies, meanwhile, have been pushing for policy support to help the sector expand beyond domestic borders. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in a recent proposal, urged the government to introduce a Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the seed industry, along with a Research-Linked Incentive scheme.

India currently accounts for just 1% of the global seed export market. With the right policies, CII estimates the country could capture up to 10% of the $14-billion global seed trade, worth around 10,000 crore, by 2028.
Bank holidays next week, May 26-June 1: Banks will be closed for two days this week in some parts of India, due to the birth anniversary of Kazi Nazrul Islam and Maharana Pratap Jayanti, according to the bank holiday calendar by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Banks will also be closed on Sunday, June 1, 2025 across the country.

Bank holidays in India vary from state to state and are determined by national, regional, and religious observances.

Bank holiday on May 26 Banks in Agartala will be closed on Monday, May 26, 2025 to commemorate the Birthday of Kazi Nazrul Islam, the legendary Bengali poet. He was popularly known as Bidrohi Kobi or Rebel Poet due to his participation in the Indian Independence Movement.

Also Read | Bank holidays in May 2025: Banks to remain closed on THESE days across India

Bank holiday on May 29 On Thursday, May 29, 2025 banks in Shimla will be closed for Maharana Pratap Jayanti to mark the birth anniversary of the Rajput king Maharana Pratap.

Are banks open or closed on Saturday, May 31? Banks across the country will remain open on Saturday, May 31, 2025since it is the fifth Saturday of the month. As per RBI calendar, banks are typically closed on second and fourth Saturdays of the month. Notably, banks are closed on all Sundays of the month. Hence, banks will be closed on Sunday, June 1, 2025. This means that banks in Agartala and Shimla will be closed for two days next week.

Also Read | ICICI Bank personal loans for weddings: What you need to know

Bank holidays in May 2025 For the month of May, the RBI designated six bank holidays for regional and religious observances apart from weekends.

May 1 (Thursday) - Maharashtra Din and May Day (Labour Day)

May 9 (Friday) - Birthday of Rabindranath Tagore

May 12 (Monday) - Buddha Purnima

May 16 (Friday) - State Day

May 26 (Monday) - Birthday of Kazi Nazrul Islam

May 29 (Thursday) - Maharana Pratap Jayanti

Can I access online banking services on a bank holiday? Online banking services will be available across the country during bank holidays. Customers can use these services for convenient financial transactions.
UBRIQUE, SpainEuropes luxury brands have long sold pricey handbags based on the mystique of where theyre made. Now the trade war is probing the value of producing in places like this sun-kissed town.

Ubriques workshops have pumped out leather goods for Chanel, Louis Vuitton and other brands for years, employing about a quarter of the towns population of 16,000. A giant statue of the patacabra, a wooden tool used to shape and smooth the leather, rises by the road leading into town.

Were all basically living off leather here," said Jose Antonio Bautista, the towns deputy mayor.

President Trumps tariffs are now shaking the foundations of Ubriques business modeland that of the broader luxury industry. On Friday, Trump threatened a 50% tariff on goods imported from the European Union.

European brands have long cultivated the image that Old World heritage uniquely positions the continent to create goods for the worlds most discerning customersjustifying their eye-watering price tags.

While high margins offer brands some protection from tariffs, Trumps push to shift production to the U.S. has sparked fresh scrutiny of the Made in Europe" value proposition. The worry for some brands: Luxury goods produced in America wont carry the same cachet with consumers.

It wouldnt make sense to me to have Italian Gucci bags made in Texas," Francois-Henri Pinault, chief executive of the group that owns Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, told French lawmakers earlier this month. It doesnt make sense to my clients. I cant explain that."

The allure of European provenance is already being questioned in the industrys second-biggest market: China. After Trump announced his tariffs, a wave of videos flooded TikTok, purporting to reveal the true cost of luxury by showing how a range of high-end handbagsincluding the Hermes Birkin, which sell for more than $10,000can be cheaply counterfeited in a Chinese factory.

The scrutiny has shone a spotlight on places like Ubrique, where first-year trainees start on the equivalent of around $30 a day, and the most experienced workers earn a daily wage of roughly $57, according to a local labor agreement.

Shifting production to the U.S., however, is easier said than done. Louis Vuitton opened a leather-goods workshop in Alvarado, Texas, in 2019 as part of a push to diversify manufacturing and meet growing demand in its largest market. But scaling up has proven difficult.

The site has faced growing pains as Louis Vuitton struggled to recruit and train local artisans. LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault said he planned to hire a thousand staff at the plant when it initially opened, but years later the facility only employs around 300 peoplea slower-than-expected expansion that the company partly attributes to the pandemic.

Still, Arnault recently said the group would inevitably be forced to increase its American production" if the EU fails to reach a deal to avert Trumps tariffs.

A town built on leather

Spain quietly plays a central role in the global luxury supply chainespecially in leather goods.

Nowhere is that more evident than in Ubrique, where leather craftsmanship took off in the 19th centuryhelped by the towns abundant water supply, crucial for softening hides and dyeing leather.

The areas isolation and poverty played a role too. Families raised livestock while women began sewing and finishing leather goods at home. By the 1970s, Ubrique had become a byword for craftsmanship, drawing brands like Dior and Loewe.

Today, handbag makers rely on Ubriques extensive network of suppliers, specialized machinery makers, tanneries and logistics hubs that have developed together over decades.

Their close proximity enables speed and flexibility, which are crucial in an industry that is constantly working on new designs. Workshops often work hand-in-hand with brands to develop prototypes and refine products. Longstanding relationships have fostered trust and discretion, helping protect sourcing strategies and unreleased designs.

Chanel purses are made in a discreet workshop with no signage, while Louis Vuitton relies on a longstanding supplier with several sites across town to produce pieces including a $3,000 hobo-style bag.

Ubriques rich industrial ecosystem would be difficult, and take years, to replicate elsewhere. Similar tightknit luxury clusters can be found in Tuscany for leather goods, La Chaux-de-Fonds for Swiss watches and the French town of Grasse for perfume.

Economic forces have threatened Ubrique before. During the 2008 financial crisis, many luxury brands moved production to lower-cost countries like China. The result: factory closures, job losses and economic pain.

Youd see people who had nothing to eat coming here asking for help," said Bautista, the deputy mayor.

But just a few years later the brands were back. Factories in China proved susceptible to counterfeiters. When design specifications or materials were leaked, copycat producers could flood the market with knockoffs.

Inside the workshops

Throughout Ubrique, the tap tap of the patacabra rings out from behind workshop walls.

At many of the towns factories, workers arrive before dawn, stow their phones in lockers and wait for a 6.55 a.m. alarm. When it sounds, they head to their benches and workmostly on their feetuntil 3 p.m., broken only by a 20-minute break.

Luxury brands often promote the image of a single in-house artisan meticulously crafting a handbag from start to finish. In reality, production is more industrial, broken down into a series of repetitive, specialized tasks that require less trainingin theory making it easier to shift manufacturing elsewhere.

Yet making luxury leather goods still involves a sequence of precise, hands-on steps that require a high level of skill. Leather must be inspected and cut, then thinned, reinforced, stitched and assembledoften using techniques that machines cant easily replicate. Edges are finished by hand and hardware is carefully fitted.

More experienced workers are assigned to the most technically demanding tasks. At one factory, employees said mens backpacks were the hardest to makenot just because of the number of components, but also the precision needed to fit the panels, handles and zips.

Finding qualified people is tough," said Manuel Fernandez, owner of the Don Puro workshop, which supplies several luxury brands. Out of every three new hires, you might only keep one. The others just dont work out."

While businesspeople in Ubrique say theyre yet to feel the impact of Trumps tariffs, the uncertainty is leading to heightened concerns in the town.

A broad luxury slowdown has already hit Ubriques producers. While much of the slack has been taken up by Polene, a fast-growing French brand that makes all of its handbags in the town, some workshops are feeling the pain as clients cut back on orders.

Marcos Obando, who works for a local employers association, is hopeful big luxury brands will keep investing in Ubrique, even if tariffs do add to costs. He argues the town should double down on quality, since it cant compete on pricenot even with lower-cost neighbors like Portugal or countries in Eastern Europe.

There is a reason why all the brands have been working here for decadeswhy this town has been focused on this for many, many years," he said.

Write to Nick Kostov at nick.kostov@dowjones.com
Reliance ADAG group stocks in focus: Shares of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), which include Reliance Home Finance, Reliance Infrastructure, and Reliance Power, saw a significant increase during trading on Friday (May 23). The stocks of Anil Ambani's Reliance ADAG group experienced a surge, fueled by a number of positive announcements, enhanced financial stability, and important new business initiatives.

Reliance Home Finance shares saw a rise of 10% to 3.64 each, Reliance Power stock increased by 19% to 53, and Reliance Infrastructure's share price rose by 10.5% to 313 per share.

Gaurav Goel, the Founder & Director at Fynocrat Technologies, notes that the current stock surge is primarily driven by two major companies from the Anil Ambani-led Reliance ADAG group: Reliance Power, a notable private-sector electricity producer that is also making strides in solar and renewable energy with various large-scale projects.

The second company, Reliance Infrastructure, focuses on power distribution and EPC contracts while becoming increasingly involved in defense manufacturing through its subsidiary, Reliance Defence.

Although both firms faced challenges in the past due to significant debt and poor performance, a number of crucial agreements and improved financial outcomes are altering investor sentiment towards these companies.

Gaurav Goel explains five crucial factors that are fueling investor confidence 1. Big Moves in Renewable Energy Reliance Power is repositioning itself as a major renewable energy player. Recent project wins include:

- SECI PPA : Subsidiary Reliance NU Suntech signed a 25-year agreement with SECI to supply 930 MW of solar power with 1,860 MWh of battery storage. This 10,000 crore project is set to become Asias largest integrated solar plus storage plant.

- SJVN Win : Reliance NU Energies won a national tender for a 350 MW solar + 700 MWh BESS project floated by SJVN, further strengthening the groups clean energy footprint.

- Bhutan Project : Reliance Power also signed a commercial term sheet with Bhutans government to develop a 500 MW solar plant in a 2,000 crore joint venture which is the largest private-sector foreign investment in Bhutans renewable space to date.

2. Stronger Financial position Reliance Power recently reported a turnaround , posting a net profit of 126 crore for the March quarter, compared to a loss of 397 crore in the same period last year. The cost controls and lower finance expenses are being seen as a sign of operational discipline.

3. Fresh Capital Inflow In May, Reliance Power raised 392 crore through the conversion of preferential warrants by Reliance Infrastructure and Basera Home Finance. This capital boost helps strengthen the balance sheet and improve financial flexibility.

4. Strategic Defence Partnership Reliance Infrastructures defence arm, Reliance Defence Ltd, announced a strategic collaboration with Rheinmetall AG, a major German defence company. After two successful joint ventures with global majors, Dassault Aviation and Thales Group of France, this is the third significant international partnership for Reliance Defence.A non-binding agreement has been signed to jointly manufacture ammunition and propellants in India.

A large-scale Greenfield manufacturing facility will be built in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, under the Dhirubhai Ambani Defence City. The goal is to position Reliance Defence among the top three defence exporters in India. The manufacturing facility, one of the largest in South Asia, will have an annual capacity to produce up to 200,000 artillery shells, 10,000 tons of explosives and 2,000 tons of propellants.

5. Debt Resolution Reliance Infrastructure also announced a settlement of a 1,673 crore corporate guarantee with Cosmea Business Acquisitions Pvt Ltd. The agreement gives the company 10 years of flexibility, with no immediate cash obligations.

On a less positive note, HK Toll Road, a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, is involved in a legal matter where Canara Bank has filed a case for a claim of 282.60 crore under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The company has assured that it will take the necessary legal steps to protect its interests.

Technical View According to Anshul Jain, Head of Research at Lakshmishree Investments, the ADAG pack, Reliance Power stands out as the strongest, having broken out of a 33-week-long cup and handle pattern on the weekly chart. The breakout was backed by volumes 8x higher than the 50-day average, indicating strong, broad-based participation.

The stock is currently holding above the breakout level, and any dip towards 48 or consolidation around this zone presents a fresh buying opportunity. The pattern projects an immediate upside target of 65, said Jain.
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Nvidia results due on Wednesday, last of Magnificent 7 earnings

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30-year US Treasury yield tops 5% during week

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After rebound, S&P 500 down over 5% from Feb record high

By Lewis Krauskopf

NEW YORK, - An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence bellwether Nvidia takes center stage for Wall Street in the coming week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over federal deficits driving up Treasury yields.

U.S. equities pulled back this week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the U.S. government's $36 trillion in debt. Long-dated U.S. Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5% and hitting its highest level since late 2023.

Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when U.S. President Donald Trump targeted the European Union and Apple in threats to ratchet up his trade war.

Focus will shift to Wednesday's quarterly results from Nvidia, one of the world's largest companies by market value whose stock is a major influence on benchmark equity indexes.

"All eyes are going to be on Nvidia's report," said Chuck Carlson, CEO of Horizon Investment Services. "The whole AI theme has been a major driver of the market and Nvidia is at the epicenter of that theme."

Nvidia will be the last of the "Magnificent Seven" megacap tech and growth companies to report results for this period. Their stocks have been mixed in 2025 after leading the market higher as a group in the last two years.

Nvidia shares are down 2% this year after soaring over 1,000% from late 2022 through the end of 2024 as its AI chip business spurred massive increases in revenue and profits.

Nvidia's first-quarter earnings likely jumped about 45% on revenue of $43.2 billion, analysts estimated in an LSEG poll.

After big tech companies earlier in the quarter signaled robust AI-related spending, Nvidia can deliver a strong message about AI and how companies' spending plans are faring, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.

"Nvidia can reinvigorate the enthusiasm for that theme."

Nvidia, popular among smaller retail shareholders, is an investor sentiment indicator, said Wasif Latif, chief investment officer at Sarmaya Partners.

"Given its sheer size and attention that it is commanding, there are going to be a lot of people looking for what happens with the stock," Latif said.

U.S.-China relations could also be in focus with Nvidia's report. The company said last month it would take $5.5 billion in charges after the U.S. government limited exports of its H20 artificial intelligence chip to China.

Trade developments have whipsawed the stock market this year, especially after Trump's April 2 announcement of sweeping tariffs on imports globally set off extreme asset price volatility.

Since then, Trump's easing of tariffs, especially a U.S.-China truce, has helped equities rebound. The benchmark S&P 500 index ended on Friday down 1.3% for 2025, and down 5.6% from its February record high.

Stocks slipped on Friday after

Trump

pushed for a 50% tariff on European Union goods starting June 1 and threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Apple for any iPhones sold, but not made, in the United States.

Trump's fiscal plans consumed investor attention for much of the week, especially after Moody's downgraded the U.S. sovereign credit rating due to concerns about the nation's growing debt pile.

The U.S. House of Representatives, controlled by Trump's Republican party, on Thursday narrowly passed a tax and spending bill that would enact much of his agenda while adding an estimated $3.8 trillion to the debt over the next decade. The bill is heading to the U.S. Senate for its review.

Long-dated government bond yields have been rising globally amid a selloff, although they pulled back toward the end of the week. In the U.S., benchmark 10-year Treasury yields this week hit their highest since February. Bond prices move opposite to yields.

Higher yields can diminish the appeal of stocks as they represent higher borrowing costs for companies and consumers, while making fixed income assets relatively more attractive.

"The biggest concern from an investment standpoint is that higher rates represent more competition for equities," said Horizon's Carlson. "If rates continue to move higher, that is going to put increasing amounts of pressure on where investors are putting their money."
Trust is more critical for business success than ever before. It forms the foundation of every thriving service-based enterprise, especially in sectors like law, where clients rely heavily on integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct.

Without trust, even the most skilled services can struggle to build lasting relationships, impacting sustainable growth.

According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, Australias overall Trust Index has fallen to just 49, signalling broad public distrust across business, government, media, and NGOs. Alarmingly, two-thirds of Australians now worry that business leaders are deliberately misleading them.

This weakening of trust points to a critical area for improvement, especially for service-based industries like law, where trust is not just important, but fundamental. For small and medium-sized law firms, this represents a unique opportunity to build trust amongst new clientele. With their agility, close client relationships, and growing tech fluency, these businesses can scale trust in ways that perhaps larger institutions often cant.

While reputation and experience remain vital, theyre no longer enough on their own. In todays tough economic climate, credibility is built through genuine, human-centred connections, supported by transparent processes and thoughtful use of technology that enhances communication, clarity, and client confidence. Small law firms are uniquely positioned to rebuild trust by using technology in innovative ways that actually enhance authenticity, such as using tools such as VXT to record client calls, enabling more detailed, timely follow-ups and truly personalised service.

The legal trust crisis

The legal profession is grappling with a significant trust deficit, with only about 40% of Australians saying they trust lawyers and judges. This reflects broader public scepticism towards the legal sector and is driven by rising expectations for transparency, fairness, and ethical conduct. In the legal context, trust is especially vital because clients often seek help during some of lifes most stressful and complex moments, such as resolving disputes, navigating a divorce, or buying a home, when clarity, empathy, and a genuine partnership are as important as legal expertise.



Crucially, trust is not synonymous with ethics. While lawyers must meet specific ethical obligations under professional conduct rules, that is only the baseline. Trust is something that is earned through consistent, transparent communication, dependable follow-through, and a visible commitment to clients best interests. In other words, trust is built not just through compliance but through care.



Small law firms and legalpreneurs  entrepreneurial, client-focused practitioners are uniquely positioned to build this trust. Free from legacy systems and rigid structures, smaller firms adapt quickly, build stronger client relationships, and deliver personalised, client-centric experiences.

How can small firms build trust that scales?

Small law firms face growing client expectations around clarity and fairness, making trust more important than ever. They build trust by embracing transparency, proactive communication, technology, and clear billing practices. And they scale trust by baking it into systems, pricing, communication and culture as they grow. Transparency can be achieved through:

Offering fixed or flat-fee pricing models that give clients certainty about costs from the outset, removing the stress of unexpected bills.

Client portals scale transparency these secure, cloud-based platforms give every client consistent access to progress and paperwork, helping them feel informed and in control.

Communication is equally vital. Firms that provide regular, jargon-free updates  whether via email, messaging apps, or video calls- all create a welcoming environment where clients feel respected and valued throughout their legal journey.

Technology automates routine workflows like appointment reminders, document sharing, and billing notifications, ensuring timely and consistent client engagement.

Billing should be structured to charge only for completed work, with invoices itemised and easy to understand, helping to alleviate concerns over hidden fees or unnecessary charges.

These steps allow small firms to build trust that scales, handling more clients without sacrificing the personal touch that clients value most.

Marketing for scaling trust

Marketing is often a challenge for small law firms. Many operate in niche areas, struggle to communicate their value clearly, or rely too heavily on word-of-mouth. But in todays digital landscape, strong, strategic marketing is essential for building trust at scale.

Social media, especially LinkedIn, offers a powerful way to reach and engage the right audiences  it enables firms to showcase their expertise, humanise their brand, and share insights that make legal services feel more accessible. More than half of Australians use social media for brand research. For law firms, this is an opportunity to build credibility by consistently showing up, sharing knowledge, and highlighting their unique strengths.

Done well, marketing becomes more than a growth tool, it becomes a way to earn trust at scale.

Closing the trust gap: an SME advantage

Scaling trust in law and business isnt something that happens through clever marketing or one-off initiatives. It requires deep, consistent commitment to being more open, more human, and more client-focused. This is the moment for small firms to lead. With their agility, authenticity, and connection to community, they can not only meet rising client expectations but set a new standard. By prioritising transparency, embracing modern tools, and building relationships that go beyond transactions, small firms can shift perceptions and elevate the entire profession.

Businesses that rise to this challenge will do more than grow their practice. Theyll build stronger reputations, deeper client loyalty, and a lasting legacy of trustat a time when its needed most.

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Hyderabad's dining culture has largely been associated with biryanithink Grand Hotel in Abids, Paradise, Hotel Shadab and Shah Ghouse. While biryani is still the go-to food in the city, the culinary landscape over the past decade has opened up to international cuisines, breweries, nightclubs, curated dining experiences and restaurants that elevate different cuisines from the states varied regions and communities.

While legacy places continue to thrive in the Old City, around the Charminar, premium restaurants and hotels can be found in the upmarket Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills. Thanks to the IT boom, the influx of people from across the country and an increase in high-rise residential spaces in HITEC City, Financial District, Gachibowli, Narsingi and Kokapet, the culinary scene has secured the space and audience it needs to expand.

One city, many concepts

Restaurants like Terrai, Istham Kitchen and Telugu Medium present micro-cuisines from Telangana, Rayalseema, Rajamundhry, Kakinada in innovative ways. Like Anteras Raju Gari Kodi Pulao (a mushy chicken and rice dish pressure cooked in milk) or Terrais Golchina Mamsam, a Telangana mutton stir-fry.

Asian restaurants are on the rise. For a Vietnamese fix, Nirmala Vanamalis Banh Mi Babe in Jubilee Hills has created quite a buzz. In November 2024, Mumbai-brand KOKO opened doors. We saw that diners here were travelling outside the city for premium culinary experiences, and we felt the time was right to introduce KOKOs distinctive blend of Cantonese and Japanese cuisine in one seamless format," says Ryan Tham, chairman and co-founder of Pebble Street Hospitality, which owns KOKO.

Another Mumbai-brand, Akina, opened in March. Their menu has warmer, spicier notes, keeping in mind the local palate: for instance, Chevella Baby Corn with Spicy Chickpea Miso and Kyoto Karam Podi, or the Firecracker Chilli Chicken, with Crispy Chillies. Hyderabad retains its uniquely Telangana roots. We consciously embraced this dichotomy and adapted our modern Asian fare to have a uniquely Hyderabadi flare," says Rahul Punjabi, corporate executive chef of Aspect Hospitality, which runs Akina.

The menu at One8 Commune, which opened in May 2024 in HITEC City, features inventive dishes like Soya Haleem and Bamboo Biryani that pay homage to the citys culinary heritage. And also modern Indian, Asian, and Continental cuisines. We reinterpret regional influenceslike the comforting richness of mutton dalchawith slow-cooked depth, while dishes like Chelo Kebab Chicken or Lebanese Mujadara Rice reflect the citys growing appetite for global, ingredient-forward plates," says Agnibh Mudi, corporate chef.

Besides the signature offerings of charcoal-grilled kebap and house-made breads, the menu at Kebapci Hills, which opened in April, also features regionally exclusive dishes like the Biber (Pepper) Mandi, infused with Urfa pepper from Turkiye. Hyderabad has strong influences of the Mughal, Persian and Turkish cultures. The historical alignment of Nizams with the Ottoman Empire also made it interesting for us to position ourselves here," says Aasim Shah, founder and MD, Kofteci Foodkrafts Pvt Ltd, which owns the restaurant.

Also read: Disfrutar versus Noma: A tale of two Michelin meals

Pop-up experiences in Hyderabad have gotten exciting too. Guwahati-based Farha Naaz is the consultant chef and founder of Mamazaki, a concept kitchen showcasing food from the North-East through pop-ups and private dining across the country. Her tables have had dishes like Datshi Dumplings in creamy Himalayan-style cheese sauce; Pitha Crepes or Assamese crepes reimagined with smoked duck, bhut jolokiya and baby potatoes. Diners are curious, open, and willing to engage with stories and flavours theyve never tried before. It is that curiosity keeps me coming back," says Naaz, who has been coming to Hyderabad since July 2024.

Hyderabad also enjoys the supper club experience through Pragati Mitta, chef and founder, The Long Table by Legally Delicious. Diners want chef-led concepts, hyper-seasonal menus, conscious sourcing, and formats that feel personal and elevated. More than market demand, I was responding to a creative impulse: to bring a restaurant-level culinary experience into a home setting for cuisine and conversation to be savoured, not rushed. The enthusiastic response is an affirmation," says Mitta, who began her initiative in June 2024.

Classics and more at bars

Bars and mixologists have been keeping pace too. Cocktails are taking the savoury route, catering to the spice-loving palate of the city. At Firewater Neo Bar and Kitchen, which opened in January in the Financial District, the Pola Adiripola is a margarita with tamarind puree and the Aakasam Erragaa Undi is a Bloody Mary with a touch of garam masala. At MOAI, mixologists Claudio Caprio and Saurav Samanta go technique-forward with drinks like the Strawberry Curry Colada, which blends clarified strawberry and coconut with ginger and curry leaf milk.

Bar Kin-Ru features on the 30 Best Bars India list 2024 and is known for mixology collaboration bringing to the city global names like Bar BenFiddich along with top Indian talent from Jaipurs Paro to Mumbais Bandra Born.

Hyderabads culinary scene is catching up with the rest of the country at an incredible speed. While tributes to the local cuisine and ingredients are a smart way to resonate with the audience and make inroads, the message is clear: Hyderabad is open to it all.

Also read: A tea lover's reflection on tradition and change
If Im being honest, I dont look to Bollywoods male action leads for nuanced takes on feminism or womens health. Especially not the villain-thrashing, damsel-rescuing heroes of the 90s, whose idea of strength was all about throwing punches and muscle flexing. So, Suniel Shetty praising his daughter Athiya for choosing a natural" birth over the comfort" of a C-section wasnt exactly shocking. It was disappointing. The actor has since gone on to apologize for the comment, but one can't help but point out that it's 2025 and were still applauding childbirth choices like theyre Olympic feats, while dismissing women who choose (or need) otherwise.

Shettys words arent just outdated; theyre dangerous! When public figures frame vaginal birth as a badge of strength" and C-sections as comfort," they reinforce stereotypes that harm women, affecting their mental health, self-worth and even medical decisions.

THE MENTAL HEALTH TOLL OF BIRTH SHAMING

Ive worked with many clients whove experienced guilt or shame after a C-section," says Madhumita Bhattacharya, a counselling psychologist and the founder of MindBodyAlly, from Bengaluru. These feelings are often intensified by comments from family or society that question a mothers strength or commitment if they didnt deliver vaginally. Statements like you couldnt bear the pain for your child? can be deeply hurtful," explains Bhattacharya.

As a perinatal mental health expert, she has often seen this internal conflict overshadowing the joy of childbirth. The guilt keeps mothers emotionally stuck in the birthing moment and acts as a deterrent to their recovery and bonding with the baby. When a woman feels she didnt meet a socially praised standard, it can increase her risk for perinatal mental health issues. It can create grief or even aversion toward future pregnancies, with questions like Am I a good mother?" or Did I take the easy way out?", Bhattacharya adds.

ARE C-SECTIONS THE EASY WAY OUT?

I am often asked this question and there is never a clear black or white answer," says Dr Sandhya Rani, a senior consultant (OB-GYN) and managing partner and consultant at Focus Polyclinic, Kundalahalli, Bengaluru. While caesareans can be more comfortable till the baby arrives, post-delivery recovery for vaginal births is often a longer process. Hence, the decision to opt for a particular modality, is not based on societal or moral pressure, but on medical indications and the woman's preferences.

Rani dismantles some common C-section stereotypes:

Myth 1: C-sections mean youre weak".

Reality: Theyre performed for emergencies like foetal distress, haemorrhaging or conditions like preeclampsia.

Myth 2: Recovery takes months.

Reality: Most women resume activity within 6 weeks, comparable to vaginal birth.

Myth 3: Spinal anaesthesia causes chronic pain.

Reality: Postpartum backache stems from pregnancy, not delivery method, and is similar for both vaginal and C-section births.

WHY CELEBRITY OPINIONS ARE HARMFUL

When public figures equate birthing methods with strength, they ignore medical realities such as foetal distress, maternal diabetes/hypertension, placenta complications, bleeding or IVF pregnancies after years of infertility. Judging birth choices harms mental and physical health," stresses Rani. A woman needing a C-section isn't weak; she's making the safest choice for herself and the baby. Its her body, her choice, and we support her all the way."

Even well-meaning praise from public figures, like calling someones vaginal birth brave" or strong", can unintentionally create pressure for other women. This kind of comparison can lead to feelings of inadequacy or failure and, in some cases, compel women to push themselves into an unprepared and potentially traumatic birth experience.

DISCUSS BIRTH OPTIONS WITHOUT BIAS

Rather than ranking childbirth methods, experts urge families and society to acknowledge women's concerns, help them understand their options and seek evidence-based guidance from trusted professionals. Bhattacharya adds a crucial reminder: Personal preferences should never be presented as universal truths. What works for one may not be right, or even safe, for another. True support means empowering the woman, not imposing pressure."

The decision between vaginal delivery and caesarean section is rarely made in isolation. Its typically the result of ongoing clinical assessment and consultations between the obstetrician, specialists and the pregnant woman along with her partner. While shared decision-making matters, involving too many external opinions can cloud judgment," notes Rani. This is a medical and personal choice, not a public debate, she adds.

At the end of the day, childbirth is about whats safest and best for both mother and baby. Whether its a vaginal delivery or C-section, what matters is that the decision is made with proper medical advice and respect for the womans choice. As doctors, our job is to provide all the information and support needed during pregnancy. When delivery day comes, the mother can make confident decisions, whether that means using pain relief options or opting for a caesarean," Rani says.

Its time to shift the narrative. From unsolicited opinions to unwavering support, from comparison to empowerment. In the end, what truly matters is a healthy mother and child. Bhattacharya sums it up rightly: Every birth is valid."

Debarati Chakraborty is an independent journalist, who writes on wellness, relationships and sexuality.
As India reached a historic milestone of becoming the fourth largest economy in the world, RPG Enterprises chairman Harsh Goenka and Mahindra Group chairperson hailed the huge feat, expressing their happiness at the country's achievement.

In a post on X, Goenka expressed how India went from being zero to the fourth largest economy in the world.

From the land of zero to the 4th largest economy in the world! India surpasses Japan with a GDP of $4.187 trillion, Harsh Goenka said.

A billion dreams, one unstoppable journey. Jai Hind, he added.

Harsh Goenka further shared a picture, which showed the top 10 economies in the world.

Check out Harsh Goenka's X post:

Anand Mahindra hails India In a post on X , Anand Mahindra recalled how surpassing Japan was a dream during his college days.

When I was in business school, the idea of India overtaking Japan in GDP felt like a distant, almost audacious dream. Today, that milestone is no longer theoretical  weve become the worlds fourth largest economy, he said.

Its no small achievement. Japan has long been an economic colossus, with legendary productivity and resilience. That weve caught up is a testament to the ambition and ingenuity of millions of Indians  across sectors, generations, and geographies., Mahindra added.

However, the Mahindra group chairman noted we must stay dissatisfied and strive to increase India's per capita GDP.

But as we celebrate, we must stay dissatisfied. Because Indias next leap must be in per capita GDP, not just overtaking Germany. For us to keep Rising, India needs sustained economic reforms  in governance, infrastructure, manufacturing, education, and capital access, he said.

India becomes 4th largest economy in the world NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam on Sunday said India has become the fourth largest economy in the world, surpassing Japan. The NITI Aayog CEO cited IMF data as he made the announcement.

He said India is now a $4 trillion economy.

Also Read | List of top 10 economies in the world as India becomes 4th largest economy

We are the fourth largest economy as I speak. We are a $4 trillion economy as I speak, and this is not my data. This is IMF data. India today is larger than Japan, he said.

Addressing a press conference of the 10th NITI Aayog Governing Council Meeting on 'Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat 2047', NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said the overall geopolitical and economic environment is favourable to India.

It is only the US, China and Germany which are larger than India, and if we stick to what is being planned and what is being thought through, in 2.5-3 years, we will be the third largest economy, he added.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its World Economic Outlook (WEO) report released in April had said that India is expected to be the fourth largest economy in the world with a GDP of $4.19 trillion in 2025, ahead of Japan.

India's nominal GDP for 2025 (FY26) is expected to be USD 4.187 billion marginally more than the likely GDP of Japan which is estimated at USD 4.187 billion, the IMF had said.

Also Read | India surpasses Japan to become 4th largest economy: NITI Aayog CEO

According to IMF data, India's per capita income has doubled from $1,438 in 2013-14 to $2,880 in 2025.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin urged for a 50 per cent share of central tax revenue for states at the 10th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Stalin claimed that the southern state received nearly 33 per cent of tax revenue, while 41 per cent was promised.

In a post on X, the Tamil Nadu CM wrote, At the #NITIAayog meeting, I demanded a rightful 50 per cent share for States in central taxes. We currently receive only 33.16 per cent against the promised 41.

Release of education funds Stalin asked the central government to disburse 2,200 crore under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for Tamil Nadu. Stalin claimed that this amount was denied to the state for not signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Education Ministry over the "PM Shri" scheme, which aimed to improve education and school infrastructure.

Particularly, nearly 2,200 crore of Union funds have been denied to Tamil Nadu in the year 2024-2025. This affects the education of children studying in government schools and children studying under Right to Education Act ( RTE). Therefore, I urge you to release this fund without delay and without insisting on unilateral conditions, Stalin said while addressing the NITI Aayog meet.

"It is not ideal for the cooperative federal structure that states should be given funds after a legal battle. This will affect the development of the state and nation, as well," he added.

Previously, the Tamil Nadu CM accused the Centre of halting education funds to the state due to petty politics and claimed that his government will move the Supreme Court, PTI reported.

Urban transformation needed He also mentioned the need for a dedicated urban transformation mission in Tamil Nadu under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0), which aims to provide universal coverage of water supply in all households.

River clean-up project Stalin requested the creation of a river clean-up project for the Cauvery, Vaigai, and Thamirabarani.

"I also urged a Clean Ganga-style project for Cauvery, Vaigai, and Thamirabarani, with names in English for national coherence and regional pride," the Tamil Nadu CM wrote.

List of other key demands Stalin submitted a memorandum to PM Narendra Modi highlighting key demands for development of Tamil Nadu. Some of his demands included approval for Coimbatore & Madurai metro, upgrade NH32 from Chengalpattu to Tindivanam, expansion of Coimbatore & Madurai Airports, establishment of AIIMS in Coimbatore, change in nomenclature of certain communities in SC/ST List (N/A to R) and more.
Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava conducted a review on Saturday of the recent COVID-19 cases reported from several states, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, PTI reported citing official sources.

The majority of these cases are mild and being managed through home isolation. However, the Union Health Ministry continues to stay alert and is actively monitoring the situation through its various agencies, the sources told PTI.

Cases have recently been reported from states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. Authorities emphasised that a robust, nationwide surveillance system is in place to monitor respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and ICMRs sentinel surveillance network.

Most COVID-19 cases are mild in India: Report Most of the COVID-19 cases reported in various states are mild in nature and the patients are under home care, official sources said amid a rise in cases in some countries, PTI reported citing official sources.

"It may also be mentioned that there have been some media reports regarding increase in COVID-19 cases in Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries in the recent past. It has been ascertained from the respective National IHR focal points that there is no indication that the circulating variants are more transmissible or cause more severe disease compared to the previously circulating variants," the source told PTI.

Active COVID-19 cases in India? According to the Union Health Ministry, as of May 19, India has 257 active COVID-19 cases, most of which are mild and require no hospitalisation. The country continues to monitor respiratory illnesses through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and the ICMR.

Types of variant detected in India One case of the newly emerging COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1 and four instances of the LF.7 type have been detected in India, according to INSACOG data.

As of May 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies LF.7 and NB.1.8 subvariants as Variants Under Monitoring, not as Variants of Concern or Variants of Interest. But these are the variants that are reportedly driving the rise in Covid cases in China and parts of Asia.

According to data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), one case of NB.1.8.1 was identified in April in Tamil Nadu and four cases of LF.7 were detected in Gujarat in May.

Take a look at the COVID-19 cases in other states: Karnataka A 24-year-old pregnant woman in Karnataka's Belagavi district has tested positive for COVID-19, making it the first confirmed case in the region, according to district health officials on Saturday.

There is no alarming situation. There has been a slight increase in COVID-19 cases. In our state, this year we have had 35 cases of COVID. We have seen a slight increase in the last 15 days, and we have a technical advisory committee which met yesterday and issued an advisory to our people that those who have got severe acute respiratory illnesses should get themselves tested, the health minister told reporters in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru: An 84-year-old man with serious underlying health conditions passed away in Bengaluru, and his COVID-19 test came back positive on Saturday, according to health officials. The state has reported 38 COVID-19 cases so far, with 32 of them occurring in Bengaluru, the health department said.

Uttarakhand Two COVID-19 cases have been detected in Rishikesh, according to an official statement. State Health Secretary Dr. R Rajesh Kumar emphasised that there is no cause for concern at this time, noting that both individuals contracted the virus outside the state.

He added, The situation is under close observation and that genome sequencing has been ordered to identify any potential new variants of the virus.

Delhi All 23 recent COVID-19 patients in Delhi experienced only mild symptoms and were under home quarantine, said the health officials in the Delhi government, PTI reported.

Maharashtra

The majority of these cases are mild and being managed through home isolation.

In Thane city, a COVID-19 patient with severe diabetes died due to comorbidities, while eight new COVID-19 cases were reported on Saturday, according to the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC). The city currently has 18 active cases, with only one patient hospitalised and the remaining individuals in home isolation.
New Delhi: The Rising North East Summit, held on 2324 May by the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (MDoNER), has attracted investment proposals worth 4.3 trillion, following a series of roadshows across nine Indian cities and engagements with major corporates, public sector undertakings, and foreign governments.

In a statement released on 25 May, MDoNER said it has been holding extensive discussions with various stakeholders, including ambassadors, diplomats, and investors to promote investment opportunities in the Northeast.

These included Ambassadors Meets involving representatives from over 95 countries, six state-focused roundtables, six sector-specific industry interactions, and multiple consultations with PSUs, business chambers, and corporate houses.

These discussions have borne real fruit in the form of 4.3 lakh crore worth of investment proposals, said Jyotiraditya Scindia, minister for communications and development of the north eastern region.

On the summits opening day, business leaders including Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, Adani Group chairperson Gautam Adani, and Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal announced plans to invest more than 1.55 trillion in the region.

Mint had reported on 14 May that the government was targeting cumulative proposals of 2.53 trillion, figures now surpassed by the summits final tally.

To ensure effective implementation, MDoNER has set up eight sectoral task forces focusing on agriculture, sports, investment promotion, tourism, economic corridors, infrastructure, textiles and handicrafts, and animal husbandry. Each northeastern state will also develop its own sectoral roadmap, Scindia said.

We will continue B2G and B2B dialogues, with MDoNER acting as a bridge between investors and state governments to ensure rapid conversion of proposals into on-ground projects, he added.

Read this | https://www.livemint.com/economy/msmes-fema-regulations-exports-and-imports-11747196708611.html

Sukanta Majumdar, minister of state for DoNER, highlighted the regions infrastructure gains over the past decade.

National highways in the region have grown from 10,905 km in 2014 to 16,207 km in 2024. Power capacity has risen by 694.5 megawatts, and over 10,000 circuit kilometers of transmission and distribution lines have been added. The number of operational airports has nearly doubledfrom nine in 2014 to 17 in 2024, he said.

Scindia also underlined the Northeasts historical economic importance. For six decades after Independence, successive governments failed to recognize the vast potential of this landwhich once contributed nearly 20% to India's GDP, he said. The 4.3 lakh crore (trillion) investment pipeline can help transform it into an economic powerhouse.

The proposed investments will be spread across all eight Northeastern statesArunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. Scindia added that the region also holds strategic potential as a gateway to Southeast Asia.
Uttar Pradesh: Panic gripped the Government Medical College in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh on Sunday evening after rumours of a fire and gas leak triggered a stampede-like situation. Alarmed attendants scrambled to evacuate patients, creating chaos across the facility, officials said.

While eyewitnesses claimed several patients sustained injuries in the rush, authorities have denied any such reports, reported PTI.

District Magistrate Dharmendra Pratap Singh confirmed that an inquiry has been initiated to investigate the death of a patient suffering from a lung ailment, though preliminary findings suggest it may not be connected to the incident.

What happened at the Government Medical College Around 5 pm, some people in the hospital complained of a gas leak, adding to the panic. District Magistrate Dharmendra Pratap Singh told PTI that the scare may have been triggered by the smell of formalin gas  a chemical commonly used in medical facilities  possibly leaking from the operation theatre.

Our fire brigade and police teams reached the spot immediately. No loss of life or injury has been reported, Dharmendra Pratap Singh told PTI.

A few people also claimed that there was a fire, prompting attendants to rush the patients out of the hospital, resulting in a stampede-like situation, the officials said.

Smell of formalin detected Principal of the Government Medical College Rajesh Kumar told PTI that the smell of formalin - a chemical used for anaesthesia and preservation - was detected near the trauma centre's operation theatre.

"We opened the windows and doors to ventilate the area, and the odour dissipated. Meanwhile, a rumour about oxygen leak spread, which caused the panic," he said.

District Fire Officer Dr. B.N. Patel said two fire brigade teams reached the college.

"There was no leakage anywhere in the medical college. A fire in a heap of garbage in the college premises was seen and was doused," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting with the Chief Ministers (CM) and Deputy Chief Ministers from BJP-led NDA-ruled states on Sunday, May 25. The meeting will take place at the Ashoka Hotel in Delhi on Sunday, sources told news agency ANI. They said the meeting is likely to be held between 9 am and 3 pm.

Sources said all the Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers have been invited for the meeting. Nearly 20 chief ministers and 18 Deputy CMs from the states ruled by the BJP and its allies will attend the meeting besides PM Modi, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and JP Nadda, who is also BJP president.

Also Read | PM Modi urges states to unlock growth, leverage FTAs to drive development

Several ministers, including Rajasthan Deputy CM Prem Chand Bairwa, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami and Goa CM Pramod Sawant, reached Delhi to participate in the meeting.

Here's what to expect from the NDA ministers' meeting: As per the report, the meeting has been organised to brief the leaders about the military operation and India's broader security strategy. Two resolutions are also likely to be passed in the meeting.

"A meeting has been convened to brief the leaders about India's strike on terror camps in Pakistan, Operation Sindoor and understanding on cessation of hostilities," a source familiar with the matter told ANI. "This will give a strong message in terms of national security," sources added.

Caste enumeration may also figure in a day-long conclave of NDA chief ministers and deputy CMs in Delhi on Sunday. The leaders will also deliberate on forthcoming events like the first anniversary of the Modi government in its third term, a decade of International Yoga Day and the 50th anniversary of Emergency.

Two resolutions to be passed Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, the in-charge of the BJP's good governance department, said in a statement that the meeting will pass a resolution to congratulate the armed forces and PM Modi for the success of Operation Sindoor.

The resolution on Operation Sindoor will reaffrim the ruling alliance's hard stand on national security.

Another resolution will likely laud the central government for its decision to conduct caste enumeration in the next census. It is expected to credit the Modi government for being the first to do so since independence and hail its commitment to social justice in contrast to "betrayals" of the backward classes by the Congress and its allies, news agency PTI reported.

Also Read | At NITI Aayog meet, PM Modi calls for faster pace of development
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged state chief ministers to work together to transform India into a developed country by removing growth bottlenecks and capitalising on emerging trade opportunities, according to NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam.

Addressing the 10th governing council meeting of NITI Aayogattended by chief ministers and lieutenant governors of union territoriesModi emphasised the importance of collective effort in accelerating the countrys development trajectory.

If all states work together to make India developed, stupendous progress can be made, he said.

Modi urged states to improve the ease of doing business by eliminating outdated laws and other hurdles that deter investment. He also called on them to focus on boosting exports.

The world is open for us, Subrahmanyam said. The government has signed several Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). More are in the pipeline. We need to leverage the FTAs. To leverage that, the prime minister wanted states to start thinking on those lines.

Modis push for states to tap global markets comes as India negotiates major trade deals with the European Union and the US, following the announcement of an FTA with the UK earlier this month.

India is the fourth-largest economy today and, if the nation sticks to its current trajectory, it will become the third-largestafter the US, China and Germanyin another two and a half to three years, Subrahmanyam said, citing an International Monetary Fund (IMF) projection about India overtaking Japan this year.

The IMF, in its World Economic Outlook 2025, projected that Indias economy will reach $4.187 trillion in 2025, overtaking Japans $4.186 trillion. For India, the year 2025 refers to the fiscal year ending March 2026.

Asked about the impact of Trump-era tariffs, Subrahmanyam said the issue did not come up during the meeting but noted that the current geopolitical and geo-economic environment is favourable for India.

India hasnt been hit as badly by these tariffs as other countries, he added.

India, he said, remains one of the few countries with a large, cost-competitive labour force capable of supporting large-scale manufacturing operations. However, states must address gaps in infrastructure, skilling, and access to utilities like electricity, water, and logistics.

Some industrialised states have already made good progress, he said, while others need to get their act together.

A meeting of state chief secretaries last year had laid out detailed suggestions to address these challenges, Subrahmanyam added.

At Saturdays meeting, states also shared inputs for the vision of Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat @ 2047, according to an official NITI Aayog statement. Suggestions and best practices spanned areas such as agriculture, education, skill development, entrepreneurship, drinking water, governance, digitalisation, womens empowerment, and cybersecurity.

Several states also spoke about developing state-level vision documents for 2047. Subrahmanyam said 17 states have either released or are close to releasing their long-term development blueprints.

Given that India has already solved many basic problems and extreme poverty, the country can grow much faster, as others have done in the past, Subrahmanyam said, citing Modi.

NITI Aayog has issued guidelines for drafting state vision documents, which Subrahmanyam stressed must be practical and implementable, with measurable outcomes.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and his team members of the all-party delegation on Operation Sindoor arrived in the US on Saturday (US local time). The MPs of the delegation landed at the John F Kennedy Airport in New York City. They paid their respects at the 9/11 memorial.

During an interaction at the Consulate in New York, Tharoor briefed his audience about the Pahalgam terrorist attack and India's Operation Sindoor, and also highlighted Pakistan's involvement.

He said even though there is calm at the India-Pakistan borders now, the fundamental underlying problem remains.

As his delegation reached the US, Tharoor said, Our idea is very much to speak to a cross section of public and political opinion in each of the countries we're going to about recent events [Pahalgam terror attack] which trouble a number of people around the world...

Also Read | Vikram Misri to brief Tharoor-led parliamentary panel on Op Sindoor

Here's all the latest you need to know about Shashi Tharoor's visit to US: 10: 40 am: "...When we go outside India, we are all Indians. When we are inside the country, we are separate political parties. We will talk about zero tolerance against terrorism and will show the real face of Pakistan to everyone, said Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Khatana, who is part of the all-party delegation of Group 2 led by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad.

10:30 am: Congress MP Dr Amar Singh, who is part of the all-party delegation led by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, said, We are going to the international community to tell that our neighboring country Pakistan not only carried out the Pahalgam incident, but they keep doing such incidents again and again.

When we talk at the international level, they say that we have nothing to do with it. We are going to the whole world with full evidence and will tell that this [Pakistan] country should be isolated, there should be no international funding for them, it has become a factory of terrorism and it should be closed, he said.

10 am: The all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will be interacting with the Guyanese leadership and key interlocutors from media, Indian community and diaspora, and friends of India in Guyana.

According to a statement, the team will underline India's strong message of unity and brotherhood as well as the country's collective resolve to fight against the scourge of terrorism.

The Delegation will also join the 59th Independence Day celebrations hosted by Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana in Berbice on 25 May, the statement added.

9 am: Meanwhile, another group of all-party delegation, led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha, held a meeting Amit Kumar, Ambassador of India to the Republic of Korea at the Indian Embassy in Seoul.

The delegation includes JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, CPI(M) MP John Brittas, BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, BJP MP Brij Lal, BJP MP Pradan Baruah, Ambassador Mohan Kumar and BJP MP Dr Hemang Joshi.

8 am: Speaking about how India has been subjected to terror acts time and again, Tharoor underlined that "perpetrators of terror should indeed be brought to justice, and we are not going to stop our hunt for those who did this latest atrocity".

7 am: Tharoor said the delgation went to the 9/11 Memorial to give out a message that New York has also suffered terror attack 20 years back and we have the same experience.

"We want them to understand that there is a need for solidarity. We need to show a resolve to the world like America that we are against such terror attacks and we will take action...," he told news agency ANI.

6:45 am: "We came both as a reminder that this is a shared problem, but also out of a spirit of solidarity with the victims, who included Indians...it is a global problem...we must fight it unitedly," Tharoor said.

6:30 am: Tharoor said there is reasonable amount of calm that's raining on the border of India-Pakistan today but the fundamental underlying problem remains.

"So it's for us an opportunity, we will be in every country, meeting members of the executive, meeting members of the legislature, meeting big tankers and influential foreign policy experts, and at the same time interacting with the media and public opinion in every one of these places," he added.

Also Read | Tharoor's name in global outreach delegation sparks BJP vs Congress slugfest

6:17 am: Tharoor said that within one hour of the atrocity (Pahalgam terror attack), a group called the Resistance Front had claimed credit.

The Resistance Front was known for some years to be a frontal organisation of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is on the US-designated terror list as well as UN sanctions committees, he said.

Tharoor added, India had gone to the UN sanctions committee with information about the Resistance Front in 2023 and 2024, and now sadly, it acted in 2025...Pakistan chose to follow its usual path of denial...

6:15 am: Informing about India's Operation Sindoor, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, " I don't work for the government, as you know. I work for an opposition party...I myself authored an op-ed...saying the time has come to hit hard but hit smart. I'm pleased to say that's exactly what India did...very precise and calibrated strikes took place on 9 specific known terrorist bases, headquarters and launchpads..."

6:05 am: Shashi Tharoor said, We are determined now that there's got to be a new bottom line to this. We have tried everything, international dossier, complaints...everything has been tried.

"Pakistan has remained in denial, there has been absolutely no conviction, no serious criminal prosecution, no attempt to dismantle the terror infrastructure in that country, and the persistence of safe havens...you (Pakistan) do this, you are going to get this back and we have demonstrated with this Operation (Operation Sindoor) that we can do it with a degree of precision...," Tharoor said.

5:40 am: Speaking about the Pahalgam terror attack, Tharoor said, ...Some people decided that they would want to attack that process of normalisation (in J&K), second to undermine the narrative, as well as the prosperity of the people of Kashmir.

It was a bunch of people going around identifying the religions of the people before them and killing them on that basis, which was clearly intended to provoke a backlash in the rest of India, since the victims were overwhelmingly Hindu..., Tharoor said.

He added, "The message was very clear that there was a malign intent... India, sadly, had no reason to doubt where it came from..."
Vietnam accounts for 97% of Chinas mango imports in Q1, 2025. Illustration photo by Shutterstock/Roman Babakin

Vietnam accounted for 97% of Chinas mango imports in the first quarter, far exceeding competitors such as Thailand and Australia.

Chinas US$29 million mango imports jumped 21 times year-on-year, according to China customs.

Among six countries it imported from, Vietnam was the only one with growth. The remaining markets were Cambodia, Peru, Australia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Around US$28 million worth of Vietnamese mango was bought by China, a surge of 145 times year-on-year, with average prices rising nearly 73%.

Thailand used to be a large exporter of mango to China but saw its ranking dropped to the fifth position, with shipment falling 70% to US$65,000.

Low logistics costs and proximity to China make Vietnamese mangoes highly accessible.

The Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association notes that Vietnamese mangoes stand out due to their high quality, affordable prices, favorable harvest seasons, high productivity, and low labor costs.

"Local varieties such as Hoa Loc and Cat Chu offer a rich, delicious flavor that suits Chinese consumer tastes," an association spokesperson said.

Experts attribute Vietnams dominance to its competitive pricing, with mangoes averaging $700 per ton, comparable to Cambodia and far below the $6,000 to $11,000 per ton charged by Thailand, Peru, Australia, and the Philippines.

Chinas demand for mangoes has soared in recent years, fueled by a growing preference for tropical fruits for both fresh consumption and processing. A domestic supply shortage during off-season months makes imported mangoes critical for market stability.

Vietnam produces approximately one million tons of mangoes annually. Beyond China, it also exports to the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and the Netherlands.

Nearly 2,000 hectares of mango orchards in the Mekong Delta are certified under global standards, meeting Chinas rigorous requirements.

Vietnams ability to produce mangoes off-season, particularly from September to March, aligns with Chinas supply shortages. During this period, top-grade mangoes can command prices up to VND100,000 VND per kilogram.

However, starting this month, when Chinas domestic mango season begins, demand for Vietnamese mangoes has dropped sharply, causing some domestic prices to fall to just a few thousand Vietnamese dong (a few U.S. cents) per kilogram.
Congress Member of Parliament, Shashi Tharoor, who is also the chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, has sparked a row by criticising the CPI(M)-led Kerala governments 10-crore aid to Turkey two years ago.

Tharoor called the aid for the earthquake a misplaced generosity by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan government in the backdrop of reports that Pakistan used Turkey-made drones during the conflict with India and the subsequent boycott Turkey calls.

I hope the government of Kerala reflects on its misplaced generosity, after seeing Turkeys behaviour two years later! Not to mention that the people of Wayanad (just to take one Kerala example) could have used those 10 crores far better, Tharoor wrote in a post on X.

CPI(M)s Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas hit back and called Tharoors comments selective amnesia.

Have great regards for Shashi Tharoor. But these comments are symptoms of selective amnesia. It is as amusing n puzzling why he had to belittle Kerala when he knows very well the Narendra Modi government itself had launched Operation Dost to help Turkey. Kerala bashing is unwarranted, Brittas said in a post on X.

Brittas also shared a link to the WikiPedia page of Operation Dost on one of X posts in the thread.

Both Tharoor and Brittas are members of the delegations on Operation Sindoor sent to various countries to rally global support for Indias war against terror emanating from Pakistan.

What is Operation Dost? Tharoor, the MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, is leading a delegation visiting the US, Panama, Guyana, Brazil and Colombia. Brittas. Brittas, the CPI(M)s Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Party leader, is a member of another multi-party team led by JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha, which left India for Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

I hope the government of Kerala reflects on its misplaced generosity.

Operation Dost was initiated by the Modi government in 2023 to send aid to Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of earthquake that hit the two countries. India had sent relief material, rescue personnel and other supplies, while the Kerala government had received a sanction from the Centre to send 10 crore aid to Turkey.
New Delhi: Government wheat procurement for the 2025-26 rabi marketing season (AprilJune) has crossed 29.7 million tonnes (MT) as of 22 May, the highest since the 2021-22 season, according to official data. Brisk purchases amid a bumper harvest is expected to ensure sufficient stocks for distribution through the public distribution system (PDS) and enable market intervention to curb price spikes.

Procurement stood at 26.6 MT in 202425, 26.2 MT in 202324, and just 18.8 MT in 202223.

Data from the Food Corp. of India (FCI) show that wheat procurement this year is up 13.5% from the same period last year, with purchases nearing completion in most major producing states.

Read this | Centre holds off wheat export ban rollback to rein in prices ahead of polls, festivals

Wheat production is projected at a record 115.43 MT for the 2024-25 rabi season, up 2% from 113.29 MT last year, according to the agriculture ministry. The increase is largely due to favourable weather and the absence of major crop damage from natural calamities.

Punjab leads with 11.9 MT procured by government agencies, according to a senior official in the states Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department. Private traders in Punjab bought another 1.0 MT, of the total arrivals in the state of around 13 MT.

Madhya Pradesh and Haryana follow with 7.77 MT and 7.14 MT, respectively. Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have recorded procurement of 1.83 MT and 1.0 MT.

Procurement from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan has seen a significant jump this year, driven by state-level incentives. Madhya Pradesh offered a bonus of 175 per quintal over the minimum support price (MSP) of 2,425, while Rajasthan announced a 150 bonus. Last year, Madhya Pradesh procured 4.8 MT and Rajasthan 1.2 MT.

Anticipating a strong harvest, the central government had set a procurement target of 31.2 MT for this season, including targets of 12.4 MT from Punjab, 7.5 MT from Haryana, 6 MT from Madhya Pradesh, 3 MT from Uttar Pradesh, and 2 MT from Rajasthan. However, Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi recently indicated that actual procurement could touch 3232.5 MT.

Also read | Natural farming is boomingnow it may finally get a certification
Monsoons arrived in India on May 24, marking their earliest entry into the subcontinent since 2009, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

According to the IMD, the southwest monsoon hit Kerala on Saturday and has moved into the remaining parts of the south Arabian Sea, some parts of west-central and east-central Arabian Sea, and Lakshadweep, ANI reported.

For this monsoon season, the Met department has predicted good rainfall, with advance over Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, GoaMaharashtra, West Bengal and some northeastern states forecasted by May 26.

Also Read | India surpasses Japan to become 4th largest economy: NITI Aayog CEO

Monsoon advance update over next 2-3 days, rainfall prediction The weather department said that as of May 24, the southwest monsoon has advanced into Maharashtra, the remaining parts of Maldives and Comorin, and Bay of Bengal; many parts of Tamil Nadu, and some parts of Karnataka and Mizoram.

Further, conditions are favourable for further advance of the southwest monsoon into central Arabian Sea and Goa; some parts of Andhra Pradesh, Bay of Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Sikkim, northeartern states, and sub-Himalayan West Bengal; and remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, over the next two-three days, it added.

The IMD has predicted above-average monsoon rains this year, it also expects above normal rainfall of around 105 per cent of the long-run average (in 2024, it was 108 per cent).

This has raised hopes among analysts, policymakers, and businesses. Favourable monsoon have substantial economic benefits for farmers, businesess, government, policymakers and citizens alike.

Notably, India gets nearly 70 per cent of the rain needed to irrigate crops and recharge reservoirs and aquifers from the June-September precipitation.

Also Read | Why a bountiful monsoon matters more this year, in five charts

Monsoon comes 8 days early this year! The usual date for the onset of the southwest monsoon is June 1, according to the Met department. It added that this year, it has set in eight days early over Kerala, on May 24.

Speaking to ANI, IMD Scientist Neetha K Gopal said, Monsoon onset took place today, 24th May, and it is much ahead of its schedule. Normally, the standard monsoon arrival date in Kerala is 1st June, but IMD has already forecasted that the monsoon will reach early this year. The official forecast was 27th May with a model of 4 days. That means the monsoon could reach 4 days before 27th May or 4 days after 27th May. So, our forecast has also come true today.

In a post on social media platform X, IMD said that the depression over south Konkan coast has moved nearly eastwards with a speed of 18 kmph during past 6 hours, crossed the south Konkan coast near Ratnagiri in Maharashtra and is very likely to continue to move nearly eastwards across south madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and north interior Karnataka and weaken gradually into a well-marked low pressure area during next 12 hours.

IMD issues red and orange alerts in Kerala, red alert for Ooty in Tamil Nadu The Met has also issued red and orange alerts for heavy rainfall in multiple districts of Kerala over the next three days.

On May 25, red alert has been declared for Kannur, Kasaragod, Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Wayanad districts; while orange alert has been issued for Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kollam, Kottayam, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvananthapuram, and Thrissur districts.

On May 26, the red alert is for Ernakulam, Idukki, Kannur, Kasargod, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Pathanamthitta, and Thrissur; while orange alert will be in effect for the districts of Alappuzha, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Meanwhile, a 30-member team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived in Tamil Nadu's Ooty as red alert for the rain has been issued for the Nilgiris district. According to District Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru, people are requested to follow precautions and not venture out unless in an emergency.

For the next 2 days, we have a red alert in the Nilgiris district. The southwest monsoon primarily affects taluks like Ooty, Kunda...the people here are requested to follow precautions and not venture out unless in an emergency...All the boating activities have been stopped for today, and it may remain like this for the next 2 days Tanneru said.

Maharashtra gets red, orange and yellow alerts: Check Mumbai here The districts of Ratnagiri and Sidhudurg have been issued a red alert by the IMD as a depression system crossed near Ratnagiri and Dapoli, bringing heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and strong winds.

According to IMD scientist Shubhangi A Bhute, the depression brought heavy to very heavy rainfall to several regions in Maharashtra. The weather office also alerted coastal districts and warned fishermen against venturing into the sea due to rough conditions.

We have given a Fisherman's Warning Alert for South Konkan along with the entire Maharashtra and Gujarat region, looking at the active monsoon season, Bhute added.

Raigad was also placed under an orange alert, while Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar were issued a yellow warning, forecasting moderate to heavy showers in these areas.

A fisherman's warning was also issued along the Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts, as the sea conditions remained unsafe due to the active monsoon system in the Arabian Sea.

The IMD estimated that within two to three days, the monsoon could officially arrive in the state, with rainfall already advancing up to Karwar.

Besides the coastal Konkan belt, Satara and Kolhapur districts in western Maharashtra were also put on red alert, with forecasts warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in some parts. The rest of the districts in the state were issued yellow alerts, advising caution.
A strange metallic sphere discovered in Buga, Colombia, has reignited public interest in Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs). The object, retrieved on March 2, has prompted both excitement and caution among researchers and skeptics alike.

The object, first reported by social media page @Truthpolex, was seen flying before it landed in the Colombian town. Witnesses described it as a smooth, metallic orb with no visible welds or joints. Observers noted that it consists of three concentric layers, and inside are 18 micro-spheres arranged around a dense central core.

The sphere has no welds or joints.

Weighing approximately 4.5 pounds and unusually cold to the touch, the object also bears markings that resemble ancient writing systems, including runes, Ogham, and Mesopotamian scripts, further deepening the mystery.

Scientist urges caution While the objects design and discovery have led to UFO speculation, scientists like Julia Mossbridge, founder of The Institute for Love and Time (TILT) and a physicist at the University of San Diego, are urging restraint.

It looks to me like a really cool art project, Mossbridge told Fox News Digital. We are entering a time when we dont have the control that we thought we had.

She said that jumping to conclusions about alien origins reflects humanitys difficulty in accepting uncertainty. Something shows up that doesnt fit our model of the world, and we immediately want to label it, she added.

A broader global phenomenon Mossbridge places the Colombian sphere in a broader global context, highlighting the ongoing interest and investigation into UAPs.

Frankly, weve been looking at UAPs for decades, she said. The federal government has admitted there are things that we dont understand, but we are investigating them.

Groups like the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies, the UAP Disclosure Fund, and the Galileo Project are spearheading independent scientific inquiries.

They are all trying to get rigorous information themselves, not necessarily waiting on the federal government, Mossbridge said. And theyre looking for international cooperation. Because, for instance, the sphere in Colombia is in a different country. So, what are the rules about how we deal with something thats interesting thats found there?

Call for scientific analysis Before assuming extraterrestrial origins, Mossbridge strongly recommends that such objects undergo scientific vetting.

Bring the object to a group like the Galileo Project, she said. Experts can determine if the material is clearly non-human-made.

While skeptical of this particular find, Mossbridge emphasised that it doesnt invalidate the broader phenomenon.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is leading the all-party delegation that's reaching out to the US over Operation Sindoor, said on Sunday that India's military response to the Pahalgam terror attack is going to be the new normal in India's approach to combating terrorism.

Tharoor said no one sitting in Pakistan is going to be allowed to believe that they can just walk across the border and kill Indian citizens with impunity, as he asserted that there will be a price to pay.

The Congress MP emphasised on India's new normal in its approach against terror, saying There is now got to be a new norm. No one sitting in Pakistan is going to be allowed to believe that they can just walk across the border and kill our citizens with impunity. There will be a price to pay and that price has been going up systematically.

Shashi Tharoor condemns Pakistan's denial India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives on May 22 in Kashmir. Tharoor is leading a delegation of Indian MPs to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, and the US, to convey India's stance against terrorism and emphasising Pakistan's links to terror.

Tharoor condemned Pakistan's denial of responsibility of the Pahalgam terror attack, reminding the world about the Resistance Front that had initially claimed credit for the atrocity but later deleted it.

Within one hour of the atrocity, a group called Resistance Front had claimed credit, they were known as frontal organisation of banned LeT, which is on the US designated terror list as well. India had gone to the UN sanctions committee with information about Resistance Front in 2023, 2024, and 2025. After global condemnation, they deleted the claim, Tharoor said.

Therefore, the culpability lay not just with 4-5 evil killers who came to Pahalgam, but also with those who send them, finance them, train them, equip them, guide them, he added.

Speaking against Pakistan, Tharoor said that it chose the usual path of denial.

We know where the responsibility lay. Sadly Pakistan chose the usual path of denial, they succeeded with the help of China, succeeded in removing a reference to Resistance Front from the press statement of the UN two days later. Though the name was not mentioned, we knew what was happening. India replied that this will not go unanswered, he said.

He also called out Pakistan on the absence of any conviction, serious criminal prosecution or attempt to break its terror infrastructure.

Pakistan has remained in denial, there has been absolutely no conviction, no serious criminal prosecution, no attempt to dismantle the terror infrastructure, he said.
New Delhi: The Centre is likely to refocus on advancing trade negotiations with Japan, Australia, Asean, South Korea, Peru and Sri Lanka after the conclusion of talks with the US and EU, likely in the coming months, two people aware of the matter told Mint.

The focus at the moment is largely on finalizing trade deals with Washington and Brusselstwo strategic and commercially significant partners," the first person mentioned above said, requesting anonymity.

However, Indian negotiators are fully prepared to advance trade deals with other partner countries, and steady progress has been maintained, the person said.

Also read: Trumps fresh iPhone tariff threat puts India-US trade talks in a bind

It is a two-way process, and alignment on timelines is essential from both sides. Discussions remain positive, and the next dates for negotiations will be announced shortly," the person added.

Several rounds of negotiations have taken place with Australia and Asean member-countries (10 nations from South-east Asia), but progress has been gradual, with some key issues still unresolved.

Trade talks with Sri Lanka and Peru have seen sporadic movement, and a push towards sealing them is yet to fructify.

The India-Asean free trade agreement review is ongoing, with the latest round held in February in Jakarta.

The last India-South Korea trade talks took place in July 2024 in Seoul, with further talks expected in 2025-26.

Meanwhile, India and Japan have expressed intent to review their agreement, though no dates have been set for the next round of negotiations.

Striking trade agreements with key partners remains a top priority, with several significant deals expected in the near future. The important thing for India is to be able to extend its supply chain," the second person mentioned above said.

Also read: US meat, seafood to garnish India-US bilateral trade agreement

Trade deals with developed economies are a priority and will strengthen Indias supply chains with key markets. However, there is a need to have different strategies for trade negotiations for the others," the person added, requesting anonymity.

The India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a landmark deal finalized in May, is set to significantly boost bilateral trade and deepen economic integration.

The agreement eliminates tariffs on 99% of tariff lines, covering nearly the entire trade value, and aims to double bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030.

Meanwhile, a proposed FTA is currently under negotiation between India and the EU.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal visited Brussels on 23 May to join Indias chief negotiator L. Satya Srinivas and his team, who were already at the EU headquarters for FTA negotiations.

In 202324, the goods trade with the EU reached $137.41 billion, with India exporting $75.92 billion and importing $61.48 billionmaking the EU India's largest trading partner for goods. The EU accounts for around 17% of Indias total exports, while India represents 9% of the EUs global exports.

Additionally, bilateral trade in services stood at $51.45 billion in 2023.

A high-level Indian delegation, led by Goyal and Indias chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, was recently in Washington for negotiations with their US counterparts.

Also read: With India-UK FTA talks concluded, India to introduce global tendering for public procurement

On 16 May, Mint reported that India and the US are likely to sign their long-awaited bilateral trade agreement before 8 July when the 90-day pause on the USs reciprocal tariff action expires.

A deal before the 8 July deadline would help India avoid punitive tariffs after the reciprocal tariff framework announced by the US earlier this year, under which a 90-day pause was granted to key trade partners, including India.

It will also stabilize the bilateral trade relationship, and offer much-needed clarity to industry and markets.

A spokesperson for the ministry of commerce and industry didn't respond to emailed queries.
A man who was mistakenly identified as an Indian-origin CEO in a womans LinkedIn post has spoken out against her claims. The woman said she had confused him for Piyush Gupta while in Bali and was later corrected by the former CEO himself. In an interview, the man  named Kumar H Subramaniam  shared his side of the story to clarify the situation. As reported by Mothership, Subramaniam insisted that he never deliberately led the woman to believe he was Gupta.

Kumar H Subramaniam told the outlet that he immediately clarified the womans confusion when she mistook him for Gupta and claimed she acknowledged the mix-up at the time.

How did it all begin? In a LinkedIn post, Janney Hujic described an encounter she believed was with Piyush Gupta, the former CEO of DBS Bank. She said she glanced across the room and thought, That looks an awful lot like Piyush. Curious, she approached him and was certain, sure enough, it was him. Piyush Gupta, the former CEO of DBS Bank. Casual. Composed. Entirely unassuming.

However, the former CEO personally fact-checked her post, stating, Sorry to disillusion you. That isnt me! In reply, Hujic said, Oh gosh, I've seen you when I was at DBS. I couldn't tell the 2 apart. Kudos to him. In his defense, he had your charms right on, and he said all the right things.

Subramaniam refutes Hujics version of events: He explained that while having lunch with a colleague at a cafe in Bali, Hujic and her companion came up to him and asked if he was Gupta. Subramaniam says he made it clear that he was not the former CEO.

Kumar added, She and her guy mentioned that they had worked at DBS before and we joked about her pranking her friends that she had bumped into Mr Gupta by chance in public while on their holiday here, he said, adding, I never, at any point, said that I was indeed Gupta. I never agreed for my picture to be used to promote any business or social ventures on anyone."

I do not condone any such actions of using any resemblance intentional or otherwise to mislead anyone, most importantly Gupta, he further clarified.

He continued that the colleague with him during the incident could vouch that he never said he was the CEO. It seems to many that I led her on, but I have no reason nor desire to be exposed to her project in this manner as a third person with a public reputation is involved, he expressed.

He further stated, Some have said I may have taken advantage and tried to bed her. I was not and she was with her partner or husband.
Eid al-Adha, the second holiest festival of Islam followers, is expected to be observed across Islamic nations on June 6 (Friday), according to reports. This festival, also known as Bakrid, is celebrated across the Muslim wolrd, including in India

However, the sighting of the crescent moon will determine the exact date of Eid al-Adha and the beginning of this year's Hajj rituals. Usually Eid-al Adha in India falls a day after it is commemorated in Muslim countries in the Gulf.

Eid al-Adha is celebrated to commemorate Prophet Ibrahim's unwavering faith and devotion to the Allah.

When will Eid al-Adha begin? The International Astronomical Centre (IAC) has predicted that the crescent moon, marking the beginning of Zil-Hajj 1446 AH, is expected to be observed on May 27 (Tuesday) across the Islamic world. Zil-Hajj is the 12th month in Islamic calender. Eid-al Adha falls on 10th of Zil-Hajj, as per the Islamic rituals.

As per IAC's prediction, Wednesday, May 28 will be the first day of the new Hijri month in Muslim countries and thus Eid-al Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, will begin on Friday, June 6 in most of these nations.

When will Eid al-Adha will be celebrated in India? Islamic months in India begin a day after Guld nations. This means the crescent moon for Eid-al Adha, marking the beginning of Zil-Hajj 1446 will likely be seen on May 28, Wednesday and Thursday, May 29 will be the first day Zil-Hajj 1446 in India.

So, Eid-al Adha in India will likely be on June 7 (10th of Zil-Hajj), Saturday in India, unless there are any changes in crescent sighting prediction.
Kush Maini scripted a watershed moment in Indian motorsport on Saturday, becoming the first Indian driver to win a Formula 2 race at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix. The 24-year-old clinched victory in the Sprint Race with a commanding lights-to-flag performance for Dams Lucas Oil, sending a strong message to the paddock and delighting fans back home.

Among the first to congratulate Maini was business magnate Anand Mahindra, who took to social media to laud the achievement. "You are standing tall, @kmainiofficial, and the country stands tall with you," Mahindra wrote.

"Kush Maini making history as the 1st Indian winner of an F2 race in Monte Carlo We are proud to have you on our team at @MahindraRacing."

Sprint Win from Reverse-Grid Pole Maini started the Sprint Race from pole position courtesy of Formula 2s reverse-grid rule, which flipped the top ten qualifiers for Saturdays event. Having originally qualified 10th for the Feature Race, the Bengaluru-born racer seized the opportunity with a faultless drive on the notoriously unforgiving streets of Monte Carlo.

From the moment the lights went out, Maini remained composed under pressure, defending his lead with clinical precision across 30 gruelling laps. The narrow confines of the circuit, where overtaking is a rarity, left no room for errora challenge Maini met head-on to claim a milestone victory.

Emotional Triumph Speaking after the race, a visibly emotional Maini described the win as a dream come true and thanked his team and supporters.

We kept believing, and it paid off, he said on the podium, as the Indian national anthem rang out across Monaco.

Now in his second full season in Formula 2, Maini has been striving for a breakthrough in what has been a challenging 2025 campaign. Saturdays result marks a turning point and comes at a critical juncture as he aims to build consistency and gather points in the races ahead.

Support from Indian Motorsport Backers Among those celebrating the win was Gautam Singhania, who was present at the circuit and met Maini in the pit lane following the race. Singhanias JK Racing and TVS Racing have long supported the young driver, playing a key role in his development through the junior categories of international racing.

Currently serving as a reserve driver for the BWT Alpine F1 Team, Mainis progress is being closely followed by stakeholders in Indian motorsport. His Monaco victory not only elevates his stock but also raises hopes of a full-time Formula 1 seat in the future.

Focus Shifts to Barcelona Maini will now turn his attention to Sundays Feature Race, where he will start from 10th on the grid. With momentum on his side, he will be aiming to deliver another strong performance before the paddock moves to Barcelona next weekend.
Joseph Neumeyer, a 28-year-old dual US and German citizen, was arrested after allegedly attempting to firebomb the US Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv, officials announced Sunday. According to federal prosecutors in New York, Neumeyer approached the embassy on May 19 carrying a backpack filled with Molotov cocktails. A confrontation with a security guard ensued, during which Neumeyer dropped his backpack and fled the scene.

Law enforcement officers later apprehended Neumeyer at a nearby hotel just a few blocks from the embassy, as outlined in a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York.

Background and travel history Neumeyer, originally from Colorado, traveled from the US to Canada in early February before arriving in Israel in late April. Prosecutors noted that he had made several threatening social media posts prior to the attempted attack.

The investigation revealed that Neumeyer carried out this dangerous act amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, a spokesperson for the US Attorneys office said. The Israel-Gaza war has been ongoing for 19 months, intensifying tensions in the region.

Legal proceedings and deportation Israeli authorities deported Neumeyer to New York on Saturday. He appeared before a federal judge in Brooklyn on Sunday, coinciding with the public release of his criminal complaint.

Neumeyers court-appointed attorney, Jeff Dahlberg, declined to comment on the matter. The US State Department also did not immediately respond to requests for statements.

Political context This incident comes years after a major US policy shift when, during his first term, Donald Trump officially recognised Jerusalem as Israels capital, a move that sparked widespread Palestinian objections. Trump also relocated the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, underscoring the citys contested status.
A durian in Can Tho City, Mekong Delta. Photo by VnExpress/Manh Khuong

Traders and exporters have called for establishing quarantine checkpoints at durian orchards, and stop the use of illegal fertilizers so that Vietnam could again export freely to China.

After a period of rapid growth, Vietnams durian exporters are grappling with delays caused by Chinas stringent quality checks and intense competition from Thailand the Philippines and Chinas domestic production.

Maintaining market share and ensuring sustainable growth have become urgent priorities.

In the first four months of 2025 Vietnams durian exports plummeted to $130 million, a 74% drop from the same period last year, as China, the largest durian market in the world, scaled back imports.

Nguyen Van Thanh, a durian trader in the Mekong Delta, which accounts for a large proportion of Vietnams durian output, said most fruits so far this year have failed to meet Chinas inspection criteria.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said, to prove to China that Vietnamese durians are safe, many new testing labs need to be set up to keep out fruits containing banned substances, a model that Thailand has developed successfully.

These labs would allow farmers to conduct tests and obtain certification, he said, pointing out that certified orchards would be prioritized by traders and businesses, with products retested at China-approved labs.

Fraudulent practices should be severely penalized to improve the reputation of Vietnamese produce, he said.

"Effective control at source will facilitate smoother negotiations with and customs clearance in China."

Henry Bui, general director of the China-approved Hoan Vu Inspection Center, explained that cadmium found in durians is primarily from fertilizer.

But sample testing alone would not help prevent contamination, which also requires stricter control over illegal fertilizers, he warned.

If soil is severely contaminated, farmers must undertake remediation, he added.

An official from the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection said authorities have carried out research and assessments and entered into collaborations with local governments to come up with solutions.

Short-term measures including soil remediation to reduce cadmium absorption, raising soil pH with lime or other substances, using precipitants or absorbents for heavy metals, and planting cadmium-absorbing crops as a temporary biological solution.

Farmers are also encouraged to grow high-biomass, short-cycle crops to restore soil and limit cultivation during sensitive periods.

Long-term solutions focus on ensuring proper fertilizer use, enhancing training to ensure farmers use correct types and doses and minimizing accumulation of harmful substances.

Nguyen Dang Nghia, former director of the Soils and Fertilizers Institute, is testing remedial treatments for cadmium-contaminated soil in several localities in the Mekong Delta.

His team uses cadmium-absorbing materials, controls farming processes and optimizes fertilizer use. Their test results will demonstrate soil remediation and compliance with Chinese standards.

Henry Bui also warned of risks from auramine O, an industrial dye used to enhance fruit appearance.

While it does not affect the fruits flesh, it can spread through the air and contaminate entire warehouses.

If it is detected, packing facilities must fully disinfect or, in severe cases, even rebuild.

"If businesses and testing centers collaborate with farmers, durians can overcome critical bottlenecks in todays competitive landscape," Bui said.

Ha Phuc Mich, chairman of the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association, said Thailand has a systematic approach to planting zones, soil testing and legal frameworks.

"This is a lesson Vietnam must adopt immediately, not only for durians but also for other key crops, to address root causes rather than resorting to short-term fixes."
US President Donald Trump took to the social media platform TRUTH on Sunday to defend his administration's move to block the prestigious university from enrolling international students.

Trump asked, Why isnt Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their students education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that!

Trump said his administration's request to demand specific details about violent activities by non-immigrant students from Harvard is "reasonable".

He said, "We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isnt exactly forthcoming."

"We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!," Trump said.

Also Read | Harvard sues Trump govt over revocation of right to enroll foreign students

US bans Harvard University from enrolling foreign students US' Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had on Thursday revoked Harvard's ability to enroll foreign nationals, throwing the future of thousands of students and the lucrative income stream they provide into doubt.

A federal judge has placed a temporary hold on the Harvard ban.

Earlier, Noem had demanded Harvard submit records of any violent or illegal activity by foreign students by April 30 or immediately lose [the Student and Exchange Visitor Program] certification under the federal governments student visa program.

Also Read | Harvard sues Trump govt over revocation of right to enroll foreign students

"Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law," Noem added.

The White House is cracking down on US universities on several fronts, justified as a reaction to what the administration says is uncontrolled anti-Semitism and a need to reverse diversity programs aimed at addressing historical oppression of minorities.

It has also moved to revoke visas and deport foreign students involved in protests against the war in Gaza, accusing them of supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas, news agency AFP reported.

Also Read | Reason and impact of Trump's banning Harvard from enrolling foreign students

At Harvard, the government has threatened to put $9 billion of funding under review, then went on to freeze a first tranche of $2.2 billion of grants and $60 million of official contracts.

It has also targeted a Harvard Medical School researcher for deportation.

The loss of foreign nationals  more than a quarter of its student body  could prove costly to Harvard, which charges tens of thousands of dollars a year in tuition.
In a case as macabre as it is surreal, a former manager at the Harvard Medical School morgue has pleaded guilty to trafficking stolen human remains including dissected heads, brains, faces, and skin, and selling them on the black market.

Alongside the man, Cedric Lodge, his wife Denise Lodge, was also involved, who received $37,355.16 (nearly 32 lakh) over three years. Payments were made via PayPal and had memos such as "head number 7" and braiiiiiiins," as per the federal indictment obtained by People Magazine.

How did the incident come to light? Cedric Lodge, 57, admitted on May 21 in a federal court in Pennsylvania to interstate transport of stolen human remains taken from cadavers donated to Harvard for medical research and education.

Also Read | Trafficking survivor reunites with family after 15 years, faces heartbreak

Between 2018 and March 2020, Lodge used his privileged access to the schools morgue to harvest body parts from corpses that had already been dissected, and used for academic purposes, but had yet to be disposed of.

The ex-Harvard worker took them to his home and, along with his wife, sold them to people in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, prosecutors said. The transactions totalled to tens of thousands of dollars, ABC News reported, citing the indictment.

How Lodge and his wife worked together Prosecutors say Cedric Lodge ferried the stolen remains from Harvards morgue in Boston to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire. He and his wife, Denise Lodge, then sold the body parts to buyers across state lines, sometimes shipping them directly and at other times allowing the buyers to pick them up in person. Their network stretched across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

On one occasion, Denise Lodge supplied a Massachusetts woman with human skin, knowing she intended to tan it. He even met her at the morgue to hand over two dissected faces, revealed the indictment, state multiple reports.

What's next for Cedric Lodge and his wife Lodge now faces up to 10 years in federal prison, plus fines and a supervised release. His sentencing will be determined by Chief US District Judge Matthew W Brann.

Lodge's wife, Denise Lodge, pleaded guilty last year and is waiting for her sentence.
A peaceful evening at Kate Campbell Park in Jackson, Tennessee, turned violent on Saturday night when gunfire erupted, injuring seven people, including juveniles, according to the Jackson Police Department.

The incident occurred around 8:41 p.m. northeast of downtown Jackson. Of the seven victims, one is in critical condition, two are stable, and four have already been treated and released.

Authorities say officers responded after receiving multiple reports of a shooting incident involving minors. As of Sunday morning, investigators continued combing the scene and interviewing witnesses.

Police is yet to identify any suspects or release a motive, urging the public to come forward with any information or video footage.

Six injured in Colorado Springs neighborhood shooting Just hours later, another shooting unfolded in Colorado Springs, Colorado, injuring at least six people in what authorities described as a dispute that escalated into gunfire.

The Colorado Springs Police Department said the shooting occurred shortly after 11 p.m. in a neighborhood northeast of downtown.

When officers arrived, they found several individuals suffering from gunshot wounds. Four victims were transported to hospitals by ambulance, while two others arrived in personal vehicles. At least one person was hospitalised in critical condition.

At this time, this appears to have started as an argument between multiple people that led to shots being fired, the police department said in an official statement.

Police are continuing to investigate and have not yet confirmed whether all involved parties have been identified.

Ongoing investigations
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth firmly denied Chinas assertions that the Golden Dome missile defense project would militarize space. Speaking to Fox News Digital while leaving Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Hegseth said, All we care about is protecting the homeland.

Hegseth emphasised that the Golden Dome project is aimed at safeguarding the US against emerging missile threats rather than escalating conflict.

China warns of militarisation and arms race Chinese Foreign Minister Mao Ning criticised the project this week, accusing it of having a strong offensive nature that violates the Outer Space Treatys principles of peaceful use. Mao warned, The project will heighten the risk of turning space into a war zone and creating a space arms race and shake the international security and arms control system. China urged Washington to abandon the initiative to prevent destabilising global security.

Russia expresses concern but calls for talks Russias response was more measured. Sergei Ryabkov, Russias deputy foreign minister, acknowledged serious concern but dismissed the need for panic. A Kremlin spokesperson noted that Golden Dome could force talks between Moscow and Washington about nuclear arms control in the foreseeable future, hinting at diplomatic engagement over the new system.

Project details and strategic aims President Donald Trump, along with Hegseth, unveiled the ambitious Golden Dome plan, estimating it will cost $175 billion and take three years to complete. The system intends to counter advanced missile threats from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and non-state actors.

Trump described Golden Dome as a generational investment critical to his America First defense policy. The multilayered shield will include ground- and space-based interceptors capable of destroying missiles during all four stages of an attack  from launch detection to terminal interception.

This is about protecting American lives, Trump stated, noting the systems expected completion by the end of his term in 2029.

Private sector involvement and funding challenges Key contractors likely to contribute include SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, and RTX Corp. SpaceXs involvement is notable given CEO Elon Musks close ties to Trump.

However, funding remains uncertain. Republican lawmakers have proposed an initial $25 billion investment within a broader $150 billion defense package. Yet, this is tied to a reconciliation bill facing significant opposition in Congress.

Historical context and strategic implications Golden Dome revives elements of Ronald Reagans Cold War-era Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), famously dubbed Star Wars. While SDI never materialised due to technological and treaty challenges, Golden Dome seeks to address new missile threats with advanced technology.

Canada considers participation Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed discussions with the US about joining Golden Dome, highlighting Canadas interest in missile defense. Is it a good idea for Canada? Yes, it is good to have protections in place for Canadians, Carney said.
An explosion occurred on a boat carrying raw sewage that was docked on the Hudson River in New York City, resulting in the death of a city employee.

According to the Associated Press, the blast happened around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday near the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant. The city-owned vessel, named Hunts Point, was the site of the incident.

One worker was injured and transported to the hospital, while a third declined medical attention, according to Deputy Assistant Chief David Simms of the citys Fire Department.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation, but New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in statement that criminal intent was not suspected. The men on the boat, which takes raw sewage from the city to be treated, were doing work involving a flame or sparks when the explosion occurred, the US Coast Guard said on social media.

First responders discovered a 59-year-old man unconscious in the river, according to New York police. He was pronounced dead at the scene., AP reported.

The man had been a longtime employee of the city's Department of Environmental Protection. His name has not been released, but the mayor said he was a devoted public servant who gave 33 years of service to the New York City, and our hearts go out to his family, friends, and colleagues during this painful time."

The blast spread raw sewage over the deck of the boat, and firefighters and other first responders had to be decontaminated, Simms said. DEP said there did not appear to be any environmental impacts following the explosion.

He was a devoted public servant who gave 33 years of service to New York City.

(With inputs from AP)
Crypto king, 37-year-old John Woeltz, accused of the kidnap and torture of an Italian man for his crypto wallet password, has been held without bail and instructed to stay away from the victim, according to a report by the New York Post.

He has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon, among others. If found guilty, he faces 15-25 years in prison on the charges.

His assitant, identified as 24-year-old Beatrice Folchi, was also arrested and then released, the NY Post said, but she has denied being arrested. She is charged with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree unlawful imprisonment, but prosecution is awaiting further investigation, a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorneys Office told the publication.

What Happened? The victim, identified as a 28-year-old man from Turin, Italy, was kidnapped and tortured for his Bitcoin password at an eight-bedroom flat on Prince Steet, a posh SoHo neighbourhood in New York city, since May 6, as per the report. He had told family he was traveling to the US for a trip of tourism and language learning, according to Italian publication la Repubblica.

Prosecutors said the victim is also a crypto trader, and is worth around $30 million. They added that he made a daring escape on May 23 after nearly three weeks of physical abuse, which included being hung off a ledge, urinated on, and being forced to consume drugs. The publication further cited sources to say that the victim was tied up to a chair with electrical wire, feet placed in water, and had chainsaw marks on his arm and legs.

After escaping, the victim managed to flag a traffic policeman, and was taken to Bellevue Hospital, it added.

Who is John Woeltz? The arrested crypto trader is worth $100 million, according to the NT Post, citing law enforcement sources. It cited authorities saying that he owns private jet and a helicopter; and added that public records show Woeltz has 150-acres of land in Kentucky worth more than $860,000.

The report noted that they were unable to confirm how Woeltz accumulated his wealth.

Also Read | PC Jeweller, Sundaram Brake Linings among companies to declare Q4 results today

Who is Beatrice Folchi? According to another NY Post report, Folchi is a native of Latina in Italy, with family in Connecticut. She is a is a small-time actor, claiming to have worked as a marketing manager for luxury car brands such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

Speaking to the NYP outside her Chelsea apartment building, Folchi claimed she was never arrested, and would only talk with a lawyer present.

On IMDB, her profile shows she has had small roles since 2020. As per her LinkedIn, she studied communication and philosophy at the University of Connecticut from 2017-2020, and has since held marketing jobs in the sports and automotive industries, including Puma, Manchester City, Rolls-Royce, and Bentley.
A private plane with six people onboard crashed while approaching an airport in the San Diego neighbourhood resulting in the deaths of six individuals, including music executive Dave Shapiro.

According to a report by AP, Shapiro was a cofounder of Sound Talent Group, an influential music agency representing bands such as Pierce The Veil, Parkway Drive, and Sum 41, along with pop artists like Vanessa Carlton.

San Diego plane crash: How did the accident happen? Headed from New Jersey to San Diego with a fueling stop in Kansas, the plane went down about 2 miles (3 kilometres) from San Diegos Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport. Eight people on the ground were hurt, none seriously.

The Cessna 550 Citation crashed after hitting power lines, Baker said, as reported by AP.

The pilot acknowledged to an air traffic controller that the weather was not ideal and debated diverting to a different airport, according an audio recording posted online by LiveATC.net.

Reason behind San Diego plane crash Investigators say it may take up to a year to determine the exact cause of the plane crash, though early findings point to several contributing factors  including dense fog, malfunctioning runway lights, and a broken weather alert system, according to Dan Baker of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

All six people on board, including the pilot, were killed, but fortunately, no one on the ground was seriously injured.

Heres what to know about the victims and the crash: Dave Shapiro: Shapiro, 42, got into music playing in a band he founded with friends while in high school, called Count with Stars. Shapiro helped bring the underground $10-a-show alternative scene of the 2010s to the mainstream. He also was huge in creating a community, said Mike Shea, founder of Alternative Press Magazine, the Associated Press reported.

Kendall Fortner and Emma Huke Fortner, 24, and Huke, 25, joined Shapiro's agency as booking associates after graduating from college, according to bios released by Sound Talent Group, which confirmed both women were on the plane, AP reported.

Huke, too, knew from a young age that she wanted to work in the industry, and she worked hard to save money to attend concerts and festivals.

Daniel Williams Williams was a former drummer for The Devil Wears Prada, a well-known metalcore band from Ohio recognized for blending melodic punk rock with heavy metal influences.

When Williams was in the band, thats when they really broke out, said Shea.

Celina Marie Rose Kenyon Kenyon, 36, was another passenger, according to the coroner's office in San Diego. A spokesperson for Sound Talent Group said she was not an employee.

Bryan Charles Feldman, Kenyon's father, said in a statement to AP that she was respected in her career as a professional photographer.

Dominic Christopher Damian Also among the victims was 41-year-old Damian, as confirmed by the coroner's office on Saturday.

When Williams was in the band, thats when they really broke out.

The Training Center, a martial arts school in San Diego where Damian trained, paid tribute to him on Instagram. The gym announced it will hold an open-mat session in his memory on Monday.

(With inputs from Associated Press)
Towards the end of the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, Krishnas Yadava clan self-destructs. Many dark omens presage their downfall: nature behaves erratically and pests multiply. Sin, deception and violence proliferate, eroding trust and solidarity. Clan members humiliate and insult elders. When Krishnas extended family goes on a picnic, the men get drunk, argue and attack each other, until eventually all of them are dead.

This cautionary tale has gained new resonance as geopolitical tensionsincluding in South Asiaescalate and many countries embrace protectionist policies. US President Donald Trumps second administration has contributed significantly to the current fragmentation and disorder. But other wealthy countries have exacerbated the situation by failing to show any real solidarity in response to Trumps hostile policies.

Also Read: This time for Africa: With USAID slashed, India and Japan must step in to support development

The lack of development cooperation is a prime example of this growing appetite for mutually assured destruction. To be sure, aid from donor countries was already declining. The covid pandemic exposed the systems injustices and highlighted Western governments greed, undermining trust in their global leadership. Moreover, these governments have directed most of their dwindling foreign-aid budgets to Ukraine since Russias 2022 invasion, diverting funds away from other war-torn and desperately poor countries, underscoring the largely self-serving approach to such charity flows.

Still, it is surprising and dispiriting that other donor countries have not stepped up after Trump terminated almost all US foreign-aid funding and programming. This would have been the obvious thing to do, not necessarily out of solidarity, but simply because of geopolitical self-interest.

Also Read: USAID squeeze: Trumps cut-back of aid is a wake-up call for India

For starters, Trumps indiscriminate attacks on allies and rivals alike have demonstrated the necessity of coordinated actionbuilding alliances, supporting multilateralism and cultivating soft power. One easy and relatively cheap way to do that is continuing to support multilateral institutions. Such funding may also defuse some of the anger that many in the Global South feel about Western complicity in the ongoing mass killings in Gaza.

Moreover, the massive reduction in US direct aid and financing for international organizations will hinder the provision of global public goods, including healthcare and climate stability. The concept of global public investment suggests that all countries have a stake in solving these challenges and should thus contribute resources to address them, according to their means, and distribute the collected funds based on need and impact.

But the response of most rich countries has been appalling so far. Instead of scaling up foreign assistance, several European governments have slashed it, citing the need to channel funds to defence investment. As a result, some of the most immediate needs that fall under a global public investment framework are going unmet.

Also Read: Elusive peace: India shouldnt wade into the Ukraine quagmire

This is especially baffling because the amounts required to plug the development-financing hole left by the US are so small as to be trivial.

For example, Trumps withdrawal of the US from the World Health Organizationwhich remains absolutely critical for managing global health threatsmeans that the WHO faces a $1.9 billion budget shortfall in 2026-27a gap that rich countries and even most large middle-income countries could easily afford to fill.

Its a similar story at other international organizations. The United Nations World Food Programme now faces an estimated 40% reduction in fundingequal to roughly $4 billion. The WFP, which served more than 100 million people in 2024 and won the Nobel Peace Prize five years ago, must now downsize its staff by nearly one-third (around 6,000 positions worldwide) and reduce the amount of life- saving food that it provides, because no other countries have offered to offset the shortfall.

Also Read: When Yusuf Hamied defied Big Pharma in the battle against HIV/AIDS

Similarly, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which relied on the US for more than 40% of its financing, will need to cut more than half of its workforce and reduce or eliminate some of its essential programmes.

Switzerland and the United Kingdom, two other major UNAIDS funders, have likewise reduced their contributions. That could lead to six times more HIV infections and a 400% increase in AIDS deaths by 2029, as well as the emergence of new strains, which would have negative repercussions for all countries. But the organizations budget gap is a modest $58 millionthe same shortfall facing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which has to lay off a fifth of its staff.

Given these minuscule sums, filling the gap left by the US would have a negligible fiscal impact on traditional donors and large middle-income countries. But only a handful of countries, like South Korea, have responded to the funding crisis, preventing essential organizations collapse and enabling them to function properlyfor now.

If wealthier countries refuse to provide for the global common good, the multilateral system as we know it will not survive. 2025/Project Syndicate

The author is professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and co-chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation.
The Congress on Sunday strongly condemned BJP MP Ram Chander Jangras remarks suggesting that tourists attacked by terrorists in Pahalgam should have fought back, and demanded his expulsion from the party.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused BJP leaders of trying to outdo one another in disrespecting the victims of the Pahalgam attack and undermining the sacrifices of the armed forces, PTI reported.

The Congress has viewed Jangra's remarks as the latest addition to a string of controversial statements recently made by BJP leaders, including Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah and Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda.

What was Vijay Shah's remark? At an event near Mhow on May 12, Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah stirred controversy by stating that India had taught a lesson to those behind the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack using their own sistera comment widely interpreted as a reference to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.

Col Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh had briefed the media alongside Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and on Operation Sindoor.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court took suo motu cognisance of Shahs remarks within 24 hours, ordering an FIR against him. The issue later reached the Supreme Court, which strongly reprimanded Shah and directed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the matter.

Insulted our brave Army: Kharge Chiding the BJP in a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra's shameful statement has once again exposed the petty mentality of RSS-BJP.

MP Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda insulted our brave army. MP Minister Vijay Shah made lewd comments on our brave colonel, but has not been sacked to date, he said.

Echoing the party chief's sentiments, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that BJP leaders were constantly insulting the Indian Army and the martyrs, which exposes their petty and lowly mindset.

This shameful statement of Jangra shows that the BJP, intoxicated with power, has become so insensitive that instead of blaming the security lapse... in Pahalgam... BJP MPs are questioning the martyrs and their wives, Ramesh said in a post on X.

Claiming the BJP has taken no action against Shah and Devda, he said the new statement is highly objectionable and said that MP Ram Chander Jangra should be expelled from the party.

What was Jangra's remark? Jangra sparked controversy by suggesting that the tourists attacked by terrorists in the scenic Baisaran meadows of Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, should have resisted the assault. He further stated that the women who lost their husbands should have shown the courage of 'veerangna' (warrior women).

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra's shameful statement has once again exposed the petty mentality of RSS-BJP.

Jangra claimed that the number of casualties could have been lower if the tourists had received Agniveer training, and said the women lacked the spirit typically associated with warrior women.

(With inputs from PTI)
BERLIN -Russia's latest wave of attacks on Ukraine should be answered with additional Western sanctions, Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told public broadcaster ARD on Sunday.

" Putin is not interested in peace, he wants to continue this war, and we must not allow this, which is why the European Union will agree additional sanctions," he said in a live interview on ARD's Bericht aus Berlin.

Russian forces launched a barrage of 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight, including at the capital Kyiv, in the largest aerial attack of the war so far, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more, officials said.

Wadephul added that the United States was also able to launch new sanctions packages, and he hoped that the weight of the measures would get Putin to the negotiating table, to avoid what he called potentially severe consequences for Russia's economy and energy sectors.

Moving on to Israel's military offensive in Gaza, Wadephul said Germany was deeply concerned about the "unbearable" human suffering, where he said he was in touch with Israeli, Middle Eastern and European peers, to seek to broker solutions.

"Germany has a clear position: no expulsions from the Gaza Strip, an end to hunger. And the Strip as well as the West Bank belong to the Palestinians, on the way to a two-state solution," he said.

Israeli military strikes killed at least 23 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including a local journalist and a senior rescue service official, local health authorities said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit poll-bound West Bengal on May 29, a senior BJP leader said on Sunday. PM Modi will be attending a meeting in Alipurduar district, for which he will visit the state.

The leader, as per a report by PTI, further said that PM Modi is expected to address a public meeting on May 29. West Bengal is set to go into polls around May 2026.

Till now it has been scheduled that Modi ji will arrive at Alipurduar from Sikkim on May 29. He is expected to hold a public meeting and also an administrative meeting on that day ..., he was quoted as saying.

Amit Shah to follow PM Modi's visit Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also expected to visit West Bengal on May 31 for a two-day tour, the senior BJP leader said.

Amit Shah ji is likely to arrive in the city on May 31 evening and hold a series of meetings with state and district level leaders on June 1 to discuss organisational matters to discuss the party's strategy as assembly polls are just one year away, he said.

Also Read | PM Modi urges states to unlock growth, leverage FTAs to drive development

PM Modi to visit Gujarat PM Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from May 26, where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for a series of development projects worth over 82,950 crore across Dahod, Bhuj, and Gandhinagar.

According to an official release from the Gujarat government, on May 26, in Bhuj, the Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for 33 development projects amounting to 53,414 crore. Later that day, he will attend a programme at Kharod in Dahod, where he will launch projects worth over 24,000 crore, including key railway initiatives and works by various state government departments through inauguration and foundation stone laying.

Also Read | Pakistan scared after Op Sindoor, says Amit Shah

On May 27, the Prime Minister will participate in a special event at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar to inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for development projects worth 5,536 crore under multiple departments.
President Donald Trump said he was absolutely considering new sanctions against Russia, after Moscow launched a second night of deadly missile and drone strikes across much of Ukraine.

Trumps comments, made to reporters in New Jersey on Sunday before he boarded Air Force One, came as he grows visibly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the state of talks meant to deliver a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Im not happy with what Putin is doing, Trump said. Hes killing a lot of people, and I dont know what the hell happened to Putin. Ive known him a long time  always gotten along with him  but hes sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I dont like it at all.

Ukrainian authorities said at least 12 people were killed in Russian airstrikes overnight, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to renew his call for more sanctions. The attacks coincided with a third day of prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump repeatedly questioned whats wrong with Putin. Were in the middle of talking, and hes shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities, he said. I dont like it at all.

Trumps comments mark a shift in his approach to the two countries, where previously Zelenskiy bore the brunt of US pressure for an end to the war that began in February 2022 with Russias invasion.

Trump had been cool to the idea of ratcheting up pressure on Putin with sanctions earlier this month. Possibilities could include new sanctions targeting Russias oil trade or oil company Rosneft.

With assistance from Maria Paula Mijares Torres.

2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Buried in the DNA of the long extinct woolly mammoth is a compound that scientists hope will one day yield a lifesaving antibiotic.

In experiments, mammuthusin, as the compound is called, has eradicated superbugsbacteria that are resistant to todays antibiotics and cause infections that are hard to treatsays Cesar de la Fuente, the bioengineer who helped discover the molecule.

De la Fuente, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is among a group of scientists probing ancient and unlikely placesfrom genetic remnants of Neanderthals and extinct animals to unassuming backyard dirtto find new antibiotics. He says the search is desperate: Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest challenges we face as a society."

Infections caused by superbugs contribute to the deaths of more than five million people globally each year, and that toll is growing. Antibiotics are increasingly losing potency against even common infections. Without new drugs, antibiotic resistance could kill some 39 million people by 2050, a study last year predicted.

Now, fresh approaches to research are coming to an industry that has been slow to make new drugs and has been stymied by bacterias ability to rapidly evolve defenses against those that exist. Most of the antibiotics we use today, and that have saved hundreds of millions of lives, were found in naturemany of them decades ago and several by accident. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928 after returning from vacation and finding that mold on a petri dish had prevented harmful bacteria from growing.

To help combat superbugs, doctors say we need new antibiotics with novel chemical structures or mechanisms of action. But only a handful of such drugs has entered the market over the past several decades.

De la Fuente is banking on artificial intelligence to help end this dry spell. He and his collaborators have built deep-learning algorithms to comb through enormous genetic databases to find peptides, or protein fragments, that have antibacterial properties. They have used this method to analyze animal venoms, the human microbiome and archaea, an underexplored group of microorganisms. They have also mined the genetic codes from fossils of long-extinct animals and humans, including Neanderthals and Denisovans. This deep-learning model has opened a window into the past," de la Fuente says.

Most antibiotics used today are small-molecule drugs, mostly derived from bacteria and fungi. Small molecules can usually penetrate cell membranes with ease and are commonly administered as pills. Peptides, made up of short chains of amino acids, are larger and more complex. They tend to be more unstable in the body and cant easily be made into pills.

But advances have been made in recent years to improve the ability of peptide drugswhich include some IV antibiotics, GLP-1s and insulinto be absorbed and used by the body. Antibacterial peptides are also plentiful in nature, as they are a part of the immune system in most organisms.

Peptides are the next big thing in medicine," says de la Fuente, who launched a startup in January to further explore the antibiotic potential of mammuthusin and other peptides.

When the algorithms identify a new peptide with antibiotic potential, de la Fuente and his team use robots to manufacture the compound in their lab and then test it in mice infected with bacteria. So far, a few hundred peptides made in de la Fuentes lab have safely and effectively cured sick mice.

One of them was mammuthusin, identified in the genetic code of Mammuthus primigenius, a species of mammoth that last roamed the Earth about 4,000 years ago. The researchers discovered the peptide after mining a National Center for Biotechnology Information database of DNA sequencing data obtained from the fossils of extinct animals. In experiments, mammuthusin was as potent as polymyxin B, an antibiotic often used as a last resort for serious infections, according to a paper published in the journal Nature in June. The mammoth peptide effectively eradicated a type of bacterium that the World Health Organization has designated a critical pathogen because of its resistance to many common antibiotics.

The work with extinct species is expanding the chemical space that we could explore," says James Collins, a bioengineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These are molecules that evolved in a different time and a different setting."

Collinss lab has built its own algorithms to trawl chemical databases, such as those of existing pharmaceutical drugs, for potential antibacterial compounds. His lab is also experimenting with using generative AI to design completely new molecules that could kill bacteria. Collins and colleagues said in a 2024 paper that they had identified structurally unique antibiotics after analyzing more than 12 million chemical compounds.

Modern scientific techniques could uncover new opportunities in old hunting grounds, says Gerry Wright, a biochemist at McMaster University in Canada. The way people found antibiotics in the past was they would go out and get something in the dirt," he says, referring to the fungi and bacteria that most antibiotics are derived from. Microbes have been waging war against one another for eons and have developed excellent defenses against one another. There havent been any compounds better than those made in nature," Wright says.

By the 1990s, however, scientists who were probing natural environments for antibiotics hit a wall: They kept finding the same antibiotic compounds again and again. People got frustrated," Wright says. It led to the misunderstanding that there was nothing more to find in these organisms."

But by using genetic sequencing and chromatography, a technique to separate mixtures, researchers in Wrights lab have been able to analyze known microbes and find less-obvious antibacterial molecules that were previously missed.

Patience has also proved fruitful. A researcher in Wrights lab took soil from a backyard in Ontario and extracted liquid from it that she kept in a petri dish under her bench for an entire year. Instead of adding nutrients to the dish and checking for organisms that grew quicklylong typical for antibiotic-huntingshe starved them and waited for rarer organisms to appear.

One of these slow-growing species was found to pump out a common antibioticbut more detailed analysis showed that it also produced a previously unknown antibacterial peptide. That peptide, which would be considered a structurally novel antibiotic, eradicated drug-resistant bacteria in mice, according to a March paper published in Nature.

We are going back with different eyes and different techniques and discovering that theres still a lot of wealth to be found," Wright says.

Write to Dominique Mosbergen at dominique.mosbergen@wsj.com
On May 5th, Arias-Cristobal was pulled over by Dalton Police, who believed she made an improper right turn. But the situation quickly escalated when she was arrested and booked into the Whitfield County Jail.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The home of two Gazan doctors was bombed on Friday, killing nine of their ten children, while leaving one seriously wounded. Dr Alaa Al-Najjar, a pediatric specialist at Al-Tahrir Hospital, was at work when the missile struck. Her husband, Dr Hamdi Al-Najjar, remains in intensive care.
A teenager who assaulted another man with his uncle in what was described as a 'retaliation' attack has been directed to make a charity contribution if he wants to avoid a conviction.



Bradley O'Leary of Canal Bank, Longford pleaded guilty at the local district court to assaulting John Robertson causing him harm contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

Sergeant Mark Mahon, court presenter, said the defendant was at his home in Canal Bank in Longford when his uncle and co-accused in the matter James O'Leary came to his residence on December 9, 2022 at 3.55pm.

READ NEXT: Longford man completes Ironman in tribute to his late mother



Sgt Mahon said James O'Leary informed his nephew that a man they had a history with, John Robertson was walking nearby.



"Bradley O'Leary ran outside to Park Road along with his uncle James and they approached Mr Robertson who had his daughter with him at the time and they asked him for a fight.

"There was previous hostilities between both parties," he added.



Sgt Mahon said the co-accused James O'Leary appeared in Longford District Court on October 8, 2024 in relation to his role in in the incident and he was convicted.

READ NEXT: Two sisters from Longford avoid custodial sentences following 2022 incident in Longford store



The court heard during a previous altercation between the males in June 2022 Bradley O'Leary received a broken tooth after an assault by Mr Robertson and this incident was described as a 'retaliation for same'.



Sgt Mahon said Mr Robertson made a statement to Garda Conor Foley about the assault.



"He was unsure who did what but it appears that Bradley O'Leary punched John Robertson a number of times causing him to receive an injury to his lip."



Sgt Mahon stated the defendant was interviewed by Gardai and he made admissions.



Judge Bernadette Owens asked Sgt Mahon if Mr Robertson had provided a victim impact statement and the prosecuting officer said they would contact him.



Solicitor Diarmuid Quinn said his client, who was 16 years old at the time of the incident and is now just 18, cooperated with Gardai and he entered a plea at the earliest opportunity.



"There was a bit of history here where Master O'Leary was injured and he did lose a tooth and that is not in dispute," he added.



Mr Quinn stated his client did throw a couple of punches and he certainly accepts his role in the incident.



The court heard Mr O'Leary is currently seeking employment and he is expecting a child with his partner in eight weeks.



Judge Owens said based on the defendant's young age and the fact 'other adults were involved' she was willing to give him a chance.



She adjourned the case for a review on November 4 and she indicated if Mr O'Leary is willing to make a 300 donation to Lus na Greine she may be persuaded to leave him without a conviction.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: May 25 2025

Program Aims To Support Pro-Housing Communities To Address the Statewide Housing Crisis.

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that applications are being accepted for the new $100 million Pro-housing Supply Fund, another tool in her focused efforts to support communities statewide in tackling the housing crisis. The fund will support certified Pro-Housing Communities with financing essential infrastructure projects, such as sewer, electrical and water system upgrades, that are needed to facilitate new housing developments. Investing in infrastructure is critical to expanding housing supply across New York State. Many communities face barriers to higher-density development due to outdated or insufficient infrastructure. By modernizing these essential services, Pro-Housing Communities can unlock new and more affordable housing opportunities, attract private investment, and create more vibrant and sustainable neighborhoods.

New York has a housing affordability crisis  and the only way to solve it is to build more housing and offer support for our communities, Governor Hochul said. The Pro-Housing Supply Fund will aid communities by providing the funding needed to tackle this critical issue. By working with our local economic development partners at the local level, we will ensure that every region of the state is able to find real solutions to address the shortage, helping neighborhoods to thrive.

Eligible Applicants

Pro-Housing certified cities, towns and villages can apply as well as county and municipally designated non-profit economic development organizations whose project is located within a Pro-Housing certified community. Eligible applicants can apply for grants between $2.5 million and $10 million for eligible projects. Applicants must complete and submit a Consolidated Funding Application for review by NYS and the Regional Economic Development Council for the region in which the proposed project is located. Applications must be submitted by Thursday, July 31 at 4 p.m.

Eligible Projects & Selection Criteria

Funding must be used for infrastructure projects that directly support the creation of new housing units. Eligible uses include the installation, extension or reconstruction of road, water, sewer, electrical or other utilities; design, permitting or engineering costs directly related to the infrastructure project (limited to 20 percent of total project cost); acquisition of machinery and equipment required for the ongoing operational use of the infrastructure project; site preparation or demolition directly related to the infrastructure project; and other eligible capital uses as determined by Empire State Development.

Projects will be evaluated based on the criteria outlined in the program guidelines which include, but are not limited to, a demonstrated commitment to directly support a housing project based on infrastructure improvements, number of housing units to be supported, the degree to which the project supports the creation of new housing in areas with a demonstrated workforce and/or affordable housing need, project readiness, the amount of leveraged funding, demonstrated local government support and alignment with regional priorities and Smart Growth principles.

Making Housing Affordable and Accessible

The $100 million Pro-Housing Supply Fund Initiative is among the more than $1.5 billion in new state funding for housing in the FY26 Enacted Budget and part of Governor Hochul's comprehensive strategy to tackle the housing crisis. Without resources, some communities may not have the ability to design and adopt pro-housing policies such as master plans, zoning text updates, and streamlined permitting procedures. To help ensure more localities that want to promote housing growth have the ability to do so, Governor Hochul also secured $5.25 million in new grant funding to provide technical assistance to communities seeking to foster housing growth and associated municipal development.

In July of 2023, Governor Hochul signed Executive Order 30 creating the Pro-Housing Communities Program, which recognizes, and rewards municipalities actively working to unlock their housing potential and encourages others to follow suit. In the FY25 Enacted Budget, Governor Hochul made the Pro-Housing Community designation a requirement for municipalities to access up to $650 million in State discretionary programs. To date, over 300 localities have been certified, with more than 470 submitting letters of intent from all corners of New York State.

Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner Hope Knight said, The Pro-Housing Supply Fund will be instrumental in encouraging and supporting municipalities that are ready to actively address New Yorks housing crisis and accelerate the construction of much-needed residential units. This fund is an example of the innovative opportunities and dynamic solutions that, under Governor Hochuls leadership, will make a real difference in every region of the state.

New York Secretary of State and REDC Chair Walter T. Mosley said, Governor Hochul has made it abundantly clear that housing stands at the epicenter of successful and equitable economic development, community revitalization and affordability. With this $100 million commitment, communities will be equipped with the necessary infrastructure to meet her housing goals and facilitate the construction of much-needed homes for New Yorkers to live, raise families and create vibrant and diverse communities.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, This $100 million Pro-Housing Supply Fund is key to helping us reach our ambitious goals to provide more housing opportunity for all New Yorkers. Governor Hochul promised that the 2026 Budget would be a gamer-changer, and for housing policy, it certainly is another history-maker. We have more than 300 Pro-Housing Communities certified to date and it's clear that the program is shaping New York's future, town by town and city by city. Smart, purposeful housing growth aligned with local economic development goals will help us all flourish.

About the Regional Economic Development Councils

The Regional Economic Development Council initiative is a key component of the State's approach to State investment and economic development. In 2011, 10 Regional Councils were established to develop long-term strategic plans for economic growth for their regions. The Councils are public-private partnerships made up of local experts and stakeholders from business, academia, local government, and non-governmental organizations. The Regional Councils have redefined the way New York invests in jobs and economic growth by putting in place a community-based, bottom-up approach and establishing a competitive process for State resources. Learn more at regionalcouncils.ny.gov.

About Empire State Development

Empire State Development is New York's chief economic development agency, and promotes business growth, job creation, and greater economic opportunity throughout the state. With offices in each of the state's 10 regions, ESD oversees the Regional Economic Development Councils, supports broadband equity through the ConnectALL office, and is growing the workforce of tomorrow through the Office of Strategic Workforce Development. The agency engages with emerging and next generation industries like clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing looking to grow in New York State, operates a network of assistance centers to help small businesses grow and succeed, and promotes the states world class tourism destinations through I LOVE NY. For more information, please visit esd.ny.gov, and connect with ESD on LinkedIn, Facebook and X.
Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. President Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to the King of Jordan Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, Trend reports.

"On behalf of myself and the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my sincerest congratulations and best wishes to you, and through you, to all your people on the occasion of the National Day of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - Independence Day.

On this significant day, I wish you robust health, happiness, success in your endeavors, and the friendly people of Jordan everlasting peace and prosperity," the letter said.
In a life loaded with successes such as seven Super Bowl rings, the biggest trophy, he has it at home and there are three of them.

Tom Brady has three children, John Edward Thomas Moynahan -the fruit of his relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan- Benjamin Bundchen Brady and Vivian Lake Brady with his ex-wife and renowned Brazilian model, Gisele Bundchen.

Tom Brady and Dana White join forces at the Celtics game to give fans the best experience

In August 2022, rumors of their separation began to take on greater prominence because Gisele did not like the idea of Tom returning to play. In October 2022, they announced that they had mutually agreed to divorce.

However, the New England Patriots legend has repeatedly made it clear how important his children are in his life. And this time he has launched a strong message that proves it.

Texans Poised for Division Win

Using his official Instagram account, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers shared in his stories a lock screen capture where you can see a picture of his children. In addition, he dedicated some tender words to them: "My favorite time of the day".

To the text she added three red hearts, one for each of her children.

The truth is that this photo had been shared by the minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders in his 2025 welcome post. There he dedicated some extensive words about what "his three beautiful angels" meant, his balance of 2024, and his good wishes for this year.

In February, the Brazilian supermodel and her partner and jiu-jitsu instructor, Joaquim Valente, welcomed their first child and were reportedly considering marriage in Brazil, Life & Style reported.

In addition, it has been reported that her children with Brady will be involved in the ceremony, playing a key role and participating actively.

However, despite their long history and their two children together, it is still unknown if Tom Brady is on the guest list and if he will attend his ex-wife's wedding.
The outdoor field camp at New England Air Museum's "Winged Victory" event Saturday. (Matt Litman / Special to The Republican) Matt Litman

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn.  Under billowing skies and the occasional roar of a plane from Bradley International Airport, hundreds of visitors sat in World War II-era planes and honored local veterans as part of the New England Air Museums Winged Victory event on Saturday.

The event, named for Connecticuts own 43rd Infantry Division 169th Regiment, was staffed with re-enactors of the 169th Regiment who wore military-green uniforms, brandished WWII-era weapons, and set up an outdoor field camp packed with period water tanks and food rations. Some members of the group are descended from soldiers who fought in the unit, including Doug Crawford, 58, whose father, Charles B. Crawford, was a technician in F Company. The 169th regiment fought in multiple campaigns during World War II, including Guadalcanal.

Sisters Emma Loefflad, 23, and Amanda Loefflad, 19, wore vintage clothing and custom dresses to portray citizens during the war. (Matt Litman / Special to The Republican) Matt Litman

Sisters Emma and Amanda Loefflad of Tolland, Connecticut, wore vintage clothing and custom dresses to portray citizens during the war. Its a very different world now and people dress so differently, Emma said. You put a lot of effort into wearing this every day.

At noon, the museum held a short memorial to honor all fallen soldiers.

We gather here not to glorify war but to honor the sacrifice of those who gave their last full measure of devotion in the cause of freedom, Crawford said in his opening remarks.

Crawford has been participating in military reenactments for over twenty years, he said, and his son, Mason, 23, of Tolland, Connecticut, has taken after him as a way to honor his grandfather, Charles, who passed away in 2014.

Its kind of a way to connect with him now that hes not here and to show people what he went through, Mason said. These were kids going into war.

Affixed to his uniform was a poppy pin, a symbol of remembrance taken from John McCraes poem, In Flanders Fields, which was recited during the museums memorial ceremony.

Robert Garabedian, 100, of Tolland, Connecticut, who served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, sat at a table in front of a 1945 Republican P-47 D Thunderbolt and told visitors his story at Saturday's "Winged Victory" event at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Conn. (Matt Litman /Special to The Republican) Matt Litman

The museum also hosted Robert Garabedian, 100, of Tolland, Connecticut, who served in the Army Air Corps during WWII and flew P-40 and P-47 fighter jets. He sat at a table in front of a 1945 Republican P-47 D Thunderbolt and told visitors his story. Garabedian trained in New Mexico and overseas, and had been scheduled to participate in the invasion of Japan as a fighter pilot. Those plans were scrapped after the United States dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and effectively ended the war.

Garabedian called it an honor to attend the ceremony and pay tribute to fellow soldiers and those who built the planes he flew. But he also considered the futility of war in general.

The P-47D Thunderbolt fighter jet at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Conn. (Matt Litman /Special to The Republican) Matt Litman

War is a terrible way to settle disputes, he said. Garabedian has 12 children and a total of 71 grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren, and wants them to live in a peaceful world.

We have to share with others, Garabedian said. We have to give them a chance. We have to listen with respect to what their problems are and, instead of adding to them, try to help solve them.
A winning Keno ticket worth $120,000 was sold at a liquor store in Nantucket on Saturday.

The ticket was purchased at Old South Liquors.

In Keno, players select up to 12 numbers spots to play, and then choose numbers between 1 and 80 to fill each spot. Each number spot offers unique prizes and odds of winning.

Players then choose how much they want to wager on each drawing  between $1 and $20  and how many drawings they want to use the same numbers for. The same numbers can be played in up to 30 consecutive drawings, and drawings take place every day every three minutes from 5:04 a.m. to 1:01 a.m.

Players can also multiply their prizes up to 10 times by marking the Keno Bonus. Keno Bonus is not available on the 10 spot, 11 spot or 12 spot.

Overall, at least 321 prizes worth $600 or more were won or claimed in Massachusetts on Saturday, including four in Springfield, six in Worcester and 19 in Boston.

The Massachusetts State Lottery releases a full list of winning tickets every day. The list only includes winning tickets worth more than $600.

The two largest lottery prizes won so far in 2025 were each worth $15 million. One of the prizes was from a winning Diamond Deluxe scratch ticket sold in Holyoke, and the other was from a 300X scratch ticket sold on Cape Cod.
Elizabeth Kapp, curator of history at the Springfield Museums, stands next to outlines of Mary and Hugh Parsons on display at the museums;. The couple was arrested in 1651 and were tried as witches in Springfield and Boston. (Staasi Heropoulos photo) staasi heropoulos

SPRINGFIELD  Years before people accused of being witches were tortured, tried and hanged in Salem, witch hysteria swept through Springfield when a prominent couple began acting strangely in the eyes of suspicious citizens.

A new exhibit at the Springfield Museums called Witch Panic! Massachusetts before Salem explores the case against Hugh and Mary Parsons.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. A bilateral meeting between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has begun, Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on its page on X, Trend reports.

The parties will discuss bilateral cooperation, regional security issues and international topics of mutual interest.
SOUTH HADLEY  Massachusetts, like the graduates of Mount Holyoke College over the past 188 years, will stand for science, democracy and inclusion, Gov. Maura T. Healey said in a commencement address Sunday.

This is a moment that clarifies our values, she said to the more than 600 graduates gathered on the lawn on the South Hadley campus. It may feel as though you are graduating in the worst timeline. But the crisis of this moment, the challenge of this moment, also offers a huge opportunity.  In a time like this, how you live makes a statement. Who you are makes a difference.
Editors note: This story is part of Hard Times, a special report by The Republican on the challenge of healing from civic trauma.

For many felons, prison ends, but the damage doesnt. They struggle with post-incarceration syndrome  a PTSD-like condition that makes rebuilding their lives an uphill battle.

Without the right support, many battle anxiety, depression and the weight of their past. That struggle often leads to joblessness, addiction and ending up back in prison.
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On Saturday, June 14th, the internationally acclaimed Rhythm of the Dance returns to Ireland with a brand-new electrifying show. In the heart of Mayo, the TF Royal Theatre Castlebar will host a two-hour spectacle of heart thumping Irish music.

This marks the first time the show will be performed in Connacht and for two talented performers, its a long awaited homecoming. Shane Moran, musical director of the show is a native of Castlebar while Stephen Gallagher from Foxford will be a lead dancer in the show as they attempt to bring their world touring magic to Connacht audiences for the first time.

What makes Rhythm of the Dance different from other shows is the fact that it's performed with all live musicians on stage. This is the shows premiere with a brand-new set, new music, new costumes, and a captivating storyline of an Irish hurler turned Irish dancer.

READ MORE: Mayo County Council official apologises for holiday home boycott furore

As the shows Musical Director, Shane couldnt be more excited about the upcoming performance in his hometown: I live two minutes up the road from TF, laughs Shane. Ive been in this business 14 years  my family and friends have heard the stories, but now they get to see it live! Stephen Gallagher, who started dancing at just seven years old with the Moffatt School of Irish Dancing, has performed in over 15 countries this year alone.

But nothing beats home turf: Theres something magic about dancing for your own, Stephen adds. Ive been in Attymass, Foxford my whole life  you dont forget your roots. Performing for people who know your journey, it just hits different.

Rhythm of the Dance fuses tradition with innovation, blending tap, contemporary, tango and even hip-hop into its high-energy performances. The new production features 15 elite dancers, each with their own solo spotlight, with every instrument on stage being played live, including a very special line-up of local musicians joining for the Castlebar show.

Every instrument is played live on stage, banjo, fiddle, you name it, says Shane.

We want the musicians to have the floor, to show off, to feed off the crowd. This isnt about playing quietly in the corner of a pub, its about letting rip. I encourage the craic!

And its not just the sound thats evolved; theres the new set, new costumes, and a powerful storyline woven throughout. As Shane describes it: Its about a hurler with the heart of a dancer. It starts off soft and builds into a crescendo, often the crowd is on its feet after the very first number.

I love being able to give young Irish musicians their break, Shane adds. Theres so much talent here in the West  sometimes all they need is a phone call. And if two lads from Castlebar and Foxford can do it, why not you?

READ MORE: Mayo votes for change to skorts rule at historic Camogie Congress

Castlebar native Shane Moran joined Rhythm of the Dance in 2013 and was promoted to Musical Director just three years later. A multi-instrumentalist with 14 years in the industry, Shane has toured internationally and worked with music legends including Dolly Parton. Known for his on-stage energy and passion for giving Irish musicians their big break, Shane is proud to bring the show home to Mayo and showcase a stellar lineup of local talent.

Hailing from Foxford, Co. Mayo, Stephen Gallagher has been dancing since age seven. A proud graduate of the Moffatt School of Irish Dancing, Stephen has travelled to over 15 countries in the past year alone with Rhythm of the Dance. He brings a modern edge to traditional Irish dance, combining different dance styles in his dynamic solo performances. This Castlebar show marks a special moment in his career, performing at home, for his home crowd.

The show will start at 8pm in the TF Royal Theatre Castlebar with doors opening from 7pm. Tickets can be found here at www.tfroyal.ie while the link to the show can be found here at
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Trend reports.

"We discussed economic cooperation between our countries, the organization of business missions, and the improvement of platforms that contribute to strengthening business ties. We also exchanged views on the role of transport corridors in strengthening trade ties," Mikayil Jabbarov wrote on his page on X.
by Danielle Oster , May 25, 2025

Luxury hospitality brand Fairmont Hotels & Resorts launched a global Make Special Happen campaign, leaning into the brands associations with historic celebrations.

Make Special Happen is running across print, digital, and social media globally. The first phase of the campaign kicked off this month and runs through July, followed by a second phase running during September and October. Key regions for the global campaign include North America, Canada, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, with the brand focusing particularly on national, travel and lifestyle publications in these markets.

In a release, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts CEO Omer Acar called the Make Special Happen messaging part of our brand DNA, adding, Fairmont hotels are social epicenters that blend genuine encounters with the heart of the action, creating vibrant spaces where communities gather. Occasions are celebrated, milestones are marked, and history is made every day at our 92 properties in 30 countries globally.

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The campaign was developed by agency King & Partners, and centers around an ad shot by director Jean Claude Thibaut taking place at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. The cinematic spot follows a series of characters designed to represent different types of Fairmont guests, and inspired by the brand's rich heritage of hosting some of history's most momentous occasions, from the signing of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco, to Truman Capote's Black and White Ball in New York City, to John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 'bed in for peace' in Montreal, according to the brand.

In a nod to the Truman Capote ball, the commercial includes black and white scenes.

The brand also launched Special Happens, a series of experiences designed to appeal to visitors with specific interests.

For example, Special Happens... After Dark includes private spa access after hours for a wellness ritual under the stars at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa or Fairmont Austin. Special Happens... In the Wild focuses on experiences designed to appeal to nature lovers, like Fairmont Empress' afternoon tea on the beach, in a rain forest, or at the foot of a waterfall. Special Happens... Around the Table highlights dining and mixology, including an experience allowing guests to create a chocolate bar with Fairmont Orchid. Special Happens... In the Spotlight focuses on the arts, including a visit to the private home of Montreals Jazz Festival founder Claude Nobs, through Fairmont Le Montreux Palace.

The Special Happens series will expand, with additional experiences added to the collection throughout 2025.
Stay safe: Wear masks, maintain distance, wash hands regularly, and get vaccinated against COVID-19.



Bengaluru reports its first #COVID-19 fatality in recent months as cases rise in Malleshwaram & Rajajinagar. An 84-year-old man from Whitefield succumbs to the virus. #coronavirus #lockdown

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Karnataka has reported its first COVID-19 fatality in recent months, as a slow but steady rise in infections signals a potential resurgence of the virus. An 84-year-old man from Whitefield, Bengaluru, succumbed to COVID-19 complications on May 17 after being hospitalized for four days. This comes amid heightened vigilance due to a spike in cases in neighbouring Kerala.According to the Karnataka Health Department, the state recorded five new COVID-19 cases along with the fatality, bringing the active caseload to 38. Bengaluru remains the epicenter of the outbreak, accounting for 32 of the total active cases. The citys Malleshwaram and Rajajinagar neighborhoods reported one case each, triggering renewed concern over the virus's spread in densely populated urban zones.Health officials revealed that 92 tests were conducted in Bengaluru, out of which two returned positive. The deceased patient, who had underlying health conditions, was admitted on May 13 and died four days later. This marks the first confirmed COVID-19 death in the city this quarter.Districts outside the capital are also witnessing a mild uptick in cases. Mysuru reported two new cases, while Ballari, Vijayanagara, Bengaluru Rural, and Dakshina Kannada districts each logged one new infection.In response to the emerging threat, the state has intensified health infrastructure preparedness. ICU wards and oxygen beds are being reactivated, especially in government hospitals. Health workers have resumed city-wide surveillance, particularly in areas with confirmed cases."While the rise in cases is not alarming, we are closely monitoring the trend," said Health Minister Dinesh Rao at a press briefing on Saturday. There is no reason to panic. The situation is under control, and we are taking all necessary precautions.Rao confirmed that Karnataka's Technical Advisory Committee recently convened to assess the current COVID situation and advised increased testing, particularly for patients with acute respiratory illnesses.The health department has urged the public, especially high-risk groups such as senior citizens, pregnant women, and those with compromised immunity, to exercise caution in public areas. Though mask-wearing is not currently mandated, officials recommend it in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces to minimize risk."There is no change in travel or movement guidelines across Bengaluru or other districts," Rao clarified, dismissing rumors about upcoming restrictions. However, he emphasized the need for individual responsibility in observing health protocols.The resurgence of COVID-19 in Keralawhere daily infections have surgedhas prompted Karnataka authorities to enforce stringent containment strategies in border districts like Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. Screening checkpoints and local surveillance efforts have been revived to prevent cross-border transmission.Amid the latest developments, experts are urging citizens to ensure their COVID-19 vaccinations are up to date. Booster doses, they stress, remain effective in reducing the severity and spread of infections.Health professionals continue to emphasize standard precautionsmask usage, hand hygiene, and social distancingparticularly for vulnerable populations and in high-risk settings such as hospitals, markets, and public transport.As Karnataka faces a cautious few weeks ahead, authorities maintain a wait and watch approach. Public cooperation and adherence to health advisories remain vital to preventing a larger outbreak.For now, the focus remains on vigilance, early detection, and containmentwith the hope that swift action will stave off a broader resurgence of the virus in the state.Source-Medindia
RSV is a common virus causing respiratory infections, especially severe in infants and young children.

The Impact of RSV Immunization in Children



New #RSV immunizations for infants are now available, providing vital defense. Several new RSV vaccines are in development for toddlers and older children, promising a broader shield against the virus. #ChildHealth

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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in children that required primary care were linked to considerable societal economic burdens across Europe, due to outpatient care expenses and parents missing work, according to a newly published study inThe study sought to provide insights for public health policy and support costs and benefits analyses for RSV immunisation strategies. RSV infections are a leading cause of acute respiratory infections in children, with nearly all children experiencing at least one RSV infection by the age of 2. While some children develop a severe form of RSV disease that might require hospitalisation, most infections are managed in primary care.The study enrolled 3,414 children under the age of 5 with acute respiratory infection in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom (UK), of which 33% tested positive for RSV. Children were recruited through primary care physicians for RSV seasons 2020/21 (UK only), 2021/22 and 2022/23. Among children diagnosed with RSV, the cost of primary care treatment and parental work absences were assessed over 30 days through questionnaires filled in by parents. The calculation of overall economic burden comprised outpatient healthcare costs and missed work days by parents, with results stratified by country and by age the group of children diagnosed with RSV.Researchers found that the RSV infections resulted in a significant economic burden, with costs varying substantially between the five countries taking part in this study: average outpatient healthcare costs per RSV episode ranged from 97 EUR in the Netherlands to 300 EUR in Spain, and were mostly driven by primary care visits. The costs for parental absence from work ranged from 454 EUR in the UK to 994 EUR in Belgium.The main sources of costs were repeated visits to primary care physicians and parents missing work to care for their sick children. Costs related to healthcare were higher for infants under the age of 1, while work absences among parents represented a higher proportion of costs among children between 1 to 5 years of age. Medication costs to treat RSV infections contributed the least to the overall economic burden across all countries and age groups.The mean number of primary care visits per child varied from 1.4 in the Netherlands to 3.0 in Spain. There were wide disparities in hospitalisation rates, which ranged from 4% of infections leading to hospitalisation in the Netherlands and Italy to 44% in Belgium. However, this may have been due to the fact that Belgium included data on children in out-of-hours care. The proportion of children being prescribed medication ranged from 26% in the UK to 77% in Italy. Parental work absences varied considerably between countries, and ranged from 13% of parents reporting absences and a mean of 1.3 missed working days in Spain to 71% of parents missing work days with a mean of 4.1 days off in Belgium.The study has some limitations. There may have been some selection bias by physicians in selecting children and the study only included costs within 30 days of the first doctor visit. The COVID-19 pandemic could also have affected data. While evidence suggests that self-reported work absence serves as a valid alternative to documented work absence, some assumptions were made in the data analysis due to incomplete information. Finally, based on existing research, all costs were assumed to be related to RSV regardless of possible infections with other viruses.The disparities revealed in the data highlight the importance of considering country-specific cost estimates when defining RSV immunisation strategies. These can vary widely due to differences in healthcare systems, care-seeking behaviour and parental leave policies.This study also addresses a critical gap in understanding the overall economic impact of childhood RSV infections, as most studies on the economic burden of RSV so far have focused on the costs associated with RSV-related hospitalisation and not included costs from primary care. While infections treated in primary care have lower healthcare costs, they still contribute significantly to the overall economic burden of RSV.Source-Eurekalert
The White Sox have released outfielder Oscar Colas, according to an announcement from the clubs Triple-A affiliate Charlotte Knights. Colas was previously outrighted off the clubs 40-man roster back in March, so the move has no impact on Chicagos major league roster.

Its an unfortunate end to Colass time in the organization. The 26-year-old was a fairly high-profile player in Cuba and Japan before he came over to affiliated ball by signing with Chicago for a $2.7MM bonus in early 2022. He crushed minor league pitching that year and put himself on the map as a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport headed into the 2023 season. He broke camp with the team after a strong spring training, but ultimately struggled badly across 75 games with the White Sox that year. He hit just .216/.257/.314 in 263 trips to the plate, with an elevated 27.0% strikeout rate against a lackluster 4.6% walk rate.

Those numbers werent enough for the White Sox to continue riding with Colas even amid a disastrous 101-loss season, and he was shipped back to the minors. Once back in Triple-A, Colas regained his hitting prowess somewhat and slashed .272/.345/.465 with the Knights in 54 games down the stretch. As the White Sox dove headfirst into a rebuilding phase in 2024, many expected that Colas would receive another opportunity to come up and try to establish himself in the majors with the club. That never came to pass, however, as reps in right field were instead primarily split between Dominic Fletcher, Gavin Sheets, and Tommy Pham.

Relegated to Triple-A for almost the entirety of 2024, Colas hit .273/.368/.273 with a 26.3% strikeout rate and a 10.5% walk rate in the 13 games he did play in the majors last year but recorded no extra-base hits in the majors and saw his performance in the minors take a noticeable step back as he slashed just .246/.332/.400 across 400 trips to the plate. Colas did not factor into the clubs plans for the outfield this year either, as team brass added players like Mike Tauchman and Austin Slater to the mix rather than give Colas another opportunity. This year, he posted a brutal .163/.245/.255 slash line across the Double- and Triple-A levels in 29 games (110 plate appearances) before the White Sox decided it was time to pull the plug.

Now that the White Sox and Colas have parted ways, the outfielder is free to sign with any of the leagues 29 other teams. The outfielder wont turn 27 until September and is not terribly far removed from sensational numbers in the upper minors, so it wouldnt be a shock if an outfield needy club gave him a call to serve as a depth option or injury replacement. Another possible option would be to explore the possibility of playing overseas, building on his stint with NPBs Fukuoka Softbank Hawks during the 2019 season. If Colas is unable to find an attractive stateside opportunity, hes certainly young enough to find success overseas before attempting to make an MLB comeback as a handful of other players have done over the years.
DETROIT  Fans inside Ford Field were treated to a powerful performance from a pop culture icon at the peak of his powers Saturday night as The Weeknd dazzled the Detroit crowd. Kicking off the first of back-to-back shows in the city as part of the After Hours Til Dawn tour, The Weeknds mix of R&B and pop kept the crowd moving and singing all night, proving why hes one of the biggest draws in music.

The Weeknd took the stage just before 9:15 p.m. and hardly slowed down the entire night, keeping the crowd fired up even during slower portions of the setlist. Playing more than three dozen songs, The Weeknd was on stage for over two hours with little downtime throughout the set. A blend of some newer songs and older radio hits like Starboy, I Cant Feel My Face, and The Hills, carried the first half of the show.

The back half featured several tracks from his latest album Hurry Up Tomorrow. While the majority of those songs hit with the crowd, the highlight of the newer songs was a stellar performance of Sao Paulo.

A mini set of songs featuring Playboi Carti  who himself had an energetic performance as one of the openers  sent the crowd into a frenzy. The duo performed Timeless and the recently released Rather Lie together before The Weeknd took over to finish the night.

Multiple visual elements added to the spectacle as The Weeknd accentuated the performance with a mix of strobe lighting, lasers, fire, druids doing choreographed numbers and a massive video screen that displayed various visual effects. A massive cross-shape stage stretched across the majority of Ford Field, allowing The Weeknd to perform for all sides of the venue at times.

However, the expansive stage created an issue for those who were on the floor. Depending on where fans are sitting and where The Weeknd is performing during the set, fans may not be able to see him for multiple songs. Despite the sprawling video screen, fans werent always able to follow the performance there when the visual effects are playing. A pair of smaller screens did display a live feed that followed The Weeknd as he moved around the stage.

While it would have been easy to allow the impressive stage production and fan involvement to carry the show, The Weeknd displayed his vocal prowess throughout the night as well. A commanding version of Wicked Games particularly stood out.

The Weeknd saved his biggest hit Blinding Lights for the later portion of the show, using it to kick off a furious final segment of songs. The evening ended with performance of Moth to a Flame.

The concert marked the first time The Weeknd has performed in Detroit since 2022. The Weeknd returns to Ford Field Sunday night for the final Detroit show on the After Hours Til Dawn tour.
There are 225 six-figure earners on Ann Arbors growing city hall payroll, records show. Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

ANN ARBOR, MI  Ann Arbors payroll at city hall continues to grow and so does the number of six-figure earners.

There were 225 employees in city government with total pay topping $100,000 in 2024, up from 170 five years ago, records obtained by MLive/The Ann Arbor News under the Freedom of Information Act show.

Thats counting all forms of pay, including overtime and other cash perks and bonuses.

In total, the city paid out about $74 million to over 2,300 full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees last year  $10 million more than in 2020  and more than one in four full-time employees made six figures.

See 2024 total pay for all employees:

Five employees made over $200,000 with City Administrator Milton Dohoney topping the list at over $280,000, followed by the city attorney, a police lieutenant, the chief deputy city attorney and the citys chief financial officer.

City Council gave Dohoney a $30,000 raise last year and did the same this April for City Attorney Atleen Kaur, boosting her base salary to $246,000. Both also collected cash bonuses  $8,400 for Dohoney and $7,389 for Kaur.

From left, City Clerk Jackie Beaudry, Mayor Christopher Taylor and City Administrator Milton Dohoney at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting on Sept. 16, 2024. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com) Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Providing equitable and competitive compensation is critical to retaining employees who are essential to the citys ability to perform at levels expected by taxpayers, council members said.

See 2025 base salaries for all employees:

Mayor Christopher Taylor and his 10 council colleagues also have seen their pay increase, as determined by a Local Officers Compensation Commission.

Taylor saw his mayoral salary rise from just under $50,000 to about $52,000 last year and its going up to over $54,000 this July.

Other council members had their pay increase from about $27,400 to just under $30,000 last year and its going up to over $32,500 starting in July.

The new 2025-26 city budget council adopted May 19 shows the citys workforce continuing to grow, going from 849 to 863 full-time equivalent employees. That includes new positions in planning, building, sustainability, police, public services and the Housing Commission.

A history of Ann Arbor's full-time equivalent employee count in city government, showing efforts to downsize the city's workforce in the early 2000s and the steady climb back since 2012-13. City of Ann Arbor

The citys full-time equivalent employee count has grown by 178 since it bottomed out at 685 in 2012-13 after years of cuts. It was over 1,000 in 2000-01.

There are now 131 city employees with six-figure base salaries before counting extra pay like overtime, dozens more than there were just a handful of years ago.

Thats in part due to new additions to the citys leadership like Joe Giant, who recently filled a new economic development director position and is tasked with helping grow the citys tax base. He has a starting base salary of $175,000.

Mariah Walton, the new deputy city administrator, started at $185,000 and Jordan Roberts, the new public services administrator, started at $160,000. Both replaced predecessors who left the city for other jobs.

Ann Arbor's Larcom City Hall and Justice Center on May 17, 2025. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com) Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

The city remains an essentially flat organization from the point in time the government attritted down from 1,000 employees to our current range of 850, Dohoney said. Being strategically thin for the long term only reinforces that serving the residents of Ann Arbor is done through people.

The city has managed to ensure salary increases fit within budget limitations, he said.

Pay equity has been a topic of discussion at city hall in the last several years as city leaders have looked at how much employees make compared to their peers and approved raises to ensure fairer compensation.

City leaders also have talked about the need to offer competitive wages to compete with other organizations for talented workers, with Dohoney saying he wants the city to be an employer of choice, rather than a last resort.

Human Resources and Labor Relations Director Monica Boote raised the issue in a presentation to council in February, citing employee compensation and benefits as challenges and noting a compensation study was in the works.

Human Resources and Labor Relations Director Monica Boote gives a presentation at an Ann Arbor City Council work session on Feb. 10, 2025. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com) Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Beyond 2025, I think then we really need to start to look at compensation and benefits, particularly as we talk about fiscal responsibilities, and making sure that those are aligned as closely as we can with organizations that were competing for talent with, Boote said.

The larger picture shows the citys compensation is not competitive across the board, Dohoney said, saying thats why council supported the study now in the final stages.

We have lost some good people, but we are trying to be an employer that does a competitive job of retaining people, he said, saying employee turnover has not been dramatic across the entire organization.

Viewing the organization through an equity lens also is important, Dohoney said.

City Administrator Milton Dohoney. MLive file photo. Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Fortunately, the citys revenue projections have been on point, and even better than projected in some instances, he said.

That, coupled with the conservative way the city budgets, Dohoney said, has allowed the city to extend appropriate fiscal oversight while compensating employees and delivering on projects the public is interested in seeing.

New and bigger plan proposed for affordable housing in downtown Ann Arbor

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A new restaurant in the Village of Clarkston is quietly heating up the local dining scene. Fireside Kitchen, located at 4555 Pelton Road, officially opened its doors in late April. | Photo provided by Kelly Summers Kelly Summers

CLARKSTON, MI - A new restaurant with special features in the Village of Clarkston is now open.

Owned by Jake Habermas and brothers Jim and Joe OHearn -- familiar names in the areas business community -- Fireside Kitchen, located at 4555 Pelton Road, officially opened its doors on April 28.

The new spot offers guests a unique food experience upstairs and a hidden cocktail bar in the basement.

Its been good, said Habermas. We opened quietly so we can get the staff ready and ease in so we can serve the product we want.

A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on May 21 to mark the official launch of the restaurant.

Fireside Kitchen focuses on steak, seafood, and flatbreads, with Habermas predicting the seabass will quickly become a fan favorite.

A new restaurant in the Village of Clarkston is quietly heating up the local dining scene. Fireside Kitchen, located at 4555 Pelton Road, officially opened its doors in late April. | Photo provided by Kelly Summers Kelly Summers

But there is more than just food drawing guests in.

Downstairs, patrons can discover the Northside Pub -- a basement speakeasy with craft cocktails and a completely different vibe from the restaurant above.

Its more of an experience than a cocktail lounge, Habermas said. Were very focused on the food and the experience. The two different feels between the upstairs and the speakeasy is cool. I dont think there is much around here that offers what we do.

Habermas and Jim OHearn are longtime friends who went to high school together and grew up in the area.

Their partnership, along with the business savvy of Joe OHearn, brings local roots to quality and community.

Were excited to serve the community, Habermas said.

Visit Fireside Kitchens website here.
FLINT, MI  There is a working cigarette machine at Soggy Bottom Bar, but whats inside isnt what youd expect.

Its contents are open to interpretation and meant to inspire be enjoyed.

No, it does not dispense cigarettes. It dispenses art.

And not just any art, but works by local Flint artists  a mini Flint art market now known and branded as the MarTket.

Jewel Brown, 26 of Flint, said she first had the idea while working at Factory Two when a larger vending machine came through that needed repairs.

Brown, a 2017 Flint Kearsley graduate who grew up on the citys east side, knew she wanted to make something unique and to give a voice to artists from the start.

But now, she needed to buy an old cigarette vending machine. The one that came in was too expensive for her pocketbook.

So, she did what anyone would  she turned to Facebook Marketplace in hopes of finding a cheaper one. And in August 2024, she found one for sale in Metcalf, Illinois.

It was a teeny, tiny town in southern Illinois, Brown said. The lady who sold it to me was so sweet. She had been running the bar she just bought two years ago. She had still been selling cigarettes out of it, and just decided she didnt want to deal with the hassle anymore.

Brown borrowed a truck from friends Jeff and Mary Mintline, even having help from Will Mintline, who drove with her to provide some extra muscle to retrieve the new dispensary device.

Brown said she was fortunate the machine was in good condition with fully working slots. Though, she admitted, it needed a deep clean, calling it pretty, pretty grody.

I knew the idea right from the get  I knew it was going to be local artists. That was my intention the whole time, Brown said. My goal is to make Flint artists art more accessible for people. Not only in Flint, but people who are visiting Flint.

The MarTket  which sells local artists work for $5 each  is an old cigarette vending machine that was cleaned and repurposed to fuel Flints art scene, making art more accessible and affordable. It is located inside of Soggy Bottom Bar. (Photo provided by MarTket)

Thats why Brown said it was crucial to have a home for the MarTket machine in Soggy Bottom Bar in downtown Flint  one of the citys most popular bars.

Brown and Soggy Bottoms regulars even threw a party for its grand reveal in March.

The place was packed, Brown said, noting she invited all the participating artists. And a few artists sold out completely, which was awesome.

The art vending machine holds up to 22 artists work at a time, and, Brown said happily, she has not had to turn a single artist away.

Inside the vending machine, youll find art in the style of poetry, zines, photographs, stained glass, leather, prints, collages and paintings.

I really wanted to make sure there was a lot of options  something that everyone would enjoy, Brown said. I think Flint has a really rich art scene, but accessibility to it is not always there. So, a lot of times when we think about Flint art, the first things that are going to come to mind are the FIA and Buckham Gallery. And for a lot of these artists and a lot of people, these things are not super easily accessible.

I think Flint does a great job of combating that with things like Art Walks where its a much more casual way to get involved in the arts community, giving an opportunity to see what the Flint arts community has to offer. But really the goal with it is to keep it affordable for people.

Scenes from the grand opening party for The MarTket  which sells local artists work for $5 each. It is an old cigarette vending machine that was cleaned and repurposed to fuel Flints art scene, making art more accessible and affordable. It is located inside of Soggy Bottom Bar. (Photo provided by Hayley Murray)

Everything in the MarTket vending machine is $5, and artists get 60% of each purchase. Brown said it was important to her to ensure artists are compensated fairly as well.

The remainder of the money goes into packing materials and repairs to sustain the machine.

But Browns ambitions for the project dont stop there. She aims to have two more by the end of the year, but in a different style and at other locations.

She plans to do the same with a full-size snack vending machine and a sticker vending machine as well.

The MarTket is stationed in the secondary room to the right after you enter Soggy Bottom Bar, located at 613 Martin Luther King Ave. in Flint.

You can follow the MarTket on Facebook and Instagram.

Read more on MLive.com:

Flints biggest backyard BBQ is happening Memorial Day weekend. Here are the details.

From jail to diploma: IGNITE program marks 100th graduate

This nightmare has ended. After 52 years in prison, Horace Peterson is home

40 incredible outfits from the Westwood Heights Hamady A Night in Paris prom

This Michigan cookie is selling by the thousands, shipping all over U.S.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha held a meeting in an expanded format, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said, Trend reports.

According to the information, the talks covered issues of political and economic cooperation, trade, energy, transport links, as well as ongoing humanitarian cooperation.

The ministers also discussed the international and regional security situation.
Kent County's increased tax rate, now at 8%, will help fund debt payments on $127 million borrowed to help pay for Amway Stadium and Acrisure Amphitheater in Grand Rapids.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI Kent Countys new 8% hotel tax has generated an additional $999,469 in the first two months of this year, according to the latest available data.

Kent County voters approved a ballot request in August to raise the countys hotel tax from 5% to 8% to help fund large-scale, tourism-oriented projects such as Acrisure Amphitheater, Amway Stadium and, potentially, a John Ball Zoo aquarium.

RELATED: Michigan zoo envisions 2031 opening for massive waterfront aquarium

Its all gone smoothly, said Kent County Administrator Al Vanderberg. The treasurer and I sent letters to all the hotels telling them about the new tax and the implementation, and so obviously thats a change. But since it got implemented by everyone, collections are where we thought they would be.

The hotel tax is paid by visitors who purchase a hotel room in Kent County.

When combined with the states 6% sales tax and a 4% marketing assessment provided to Experience Grand Rapids, the countys convention and visitors bureau, the total tax paid by hotel customers in Kent County now totals 18%.

Not everybody realizes that hotel taxes are that large, but I dont think its any different than when it was 15%, said Ed Wilson, general manager of Country Inn & Suites by Radisson Grand Rapids East. There is a little bit of a grumbling thing, but I dont know that that changed that much.

In total, Kent Countys 8% hotel tax generated about $5.8 million in January and February. That includes $4.8 million from the countys longstanding 5% hotel tax, and an additional $999,469 from the recently added 3% increase.

RELATE: What to know about the Kent County hotel tax hike

Vanderberg said revenue from the additional 3% tax will be used to cover debt payments on $127 million the city of Grand Rapids borrowed to help finance Amway Stadium and Acrisure Amphitheater.

The first payment on the $127 million bond, for $2.2 million, is due in October.

Things are on track, Vanderberg said of the tax implementation. From everything weve heard, its gone as expected, and so thats a good thing.

Currently, the county uses the 5% hotel tax to cover debt service payments on DeVos Place, which are expected to total $8.6 million in the current fiscal year.

The $84.6 million bond Kent County sold in 2001 to help finance the convention center is scheduled to be paid off in 2031.

This year, Kent County also plans to use hotel tax funds for its annual contribution to Experience Grand Rapids. That payment is expected to total $770,279, according to the countys budget.

In addition, another $200,000 of the hotel tax funds will be provided to ArtPrize and the amphitheater, the county budget shows.

Doug Small, president and CEO of Experience Grand Rapids, which works with local hotel operators to market Kent County as a visitor destination, said he hasnt heard any negative feedback from hotels about the additional 3% tax.

No negative, no positive  we just havent heard anything, he said. I guess people just did what the law says and moved along. Theres been no real pushback.

Convention and meeting planners Experience Grand Rapids works with to bring events to DeVos Place and other local venues havent complained either, he said.

Small said that was something that we sort of held our breath on. He and his colleagues wondered, are we going to remain competitive by them having to pay another 3%? He said the fact that clients havent complained reflects the price of hotel rooms in Kent County, which he said are still a great value.

When you look at hotel rates, an additional 3% on top of the hotel rate, its still better than most of the destinations we compete with, Small said. Even if they have a lower tax rate there, their hotel rates are higher.

RELATED: Increased hotel tax in Grand Rapids would be higher than Nashville, Chicago

For Kent Countys 2025 fiscal year, it has budgeted for the additional 3% hotel tax to generate $6.1 million, and the 5% tax to generate $13.6 million. Together, thats about $19.7 million.

Wilson, the general manager of Country Inn & Suites by Radisson Grand Rapids East, which is located just off East Beltline Avenue NE near Gravity Taphouse Grille, said leisure travelers are the group most likely to notice the higher tax.

Such travelers are used to sales tax, he said, but they arent always aware of additional taxes tacked onto their bill. While he or colleagues occasionally hear comments about those taxes, the additional 3% tax hasnt hurt business, he said.

I dont think its hurt business at this point at all, Wilson said. I think theres some big plusses with the additional attractions, things that were bringing to Grand Rapids because of it. So theres some definite return on our investment, I hope. We want to continue to use that money really wisely.
Pictured is Grand Rapids resident and influencer Yumna Jawad. She is celebrating the first anniversary of her best-selling cookbook,"The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook." (Photo provided by Penguin Random House) Penguin Random House

ADA, MI - Grand Rapids influencer Yumna Jawad is celebrating the first anniversary of her bestselling cookbook with select samples from her recipe collection.

The free event kicks off from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, at Ada Hotels Rix Terrace, 7415 River St., Forest Hills.

Featuring more than 125 healthy recipes, The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook is about marrying the Middle East to the Midwest.

Attendees are encouraged to buy the book ahead of time so they can bring it to get it signed, or books will be available on site for purchase. There will also be curated goodie bags available.

A graduate from the University of Michigan Business School, Jawad has created a massive social media following with 10 million followers on multiple platforms, where she shares food hacks, tips and tricks.

She was born in Africa to Lebanese parents, before moving to the U.S. at age 11, and beginning her cooking journey by learning time-saving shortcuts from her mother to prepare traditional dishes.

As an adult, she started a YouTube channel to make healthy cooking easy and helped fuel the baked feta pasta trend that took over TikTok and Instagram and caused feta cheese shortages.

She is now the CEO and founder of the popular Feel Good Foodie brand dedicated to healthy-ish recipes with feel-good ingredients, while residing with her husband and two kids in Grand Rapids.

Jawads viral food trends have been featured on Live with Kelly & Ryan, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and in PEOPLE, Vogue, and The New York Times.

In her debut cookbook, she shares many more unfussy, healthy meals enhanced by Middle Eastern flavors.

She loves simple ingredients, fresh flavors, and finding the balance between tradition and a little innovation. But, more than anything, she loves food that makes you exclaim her signature phrase after one bite: So good!

Click here to reserve a spot for the free event on the waitlist.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.
JACKSON COUNTY, MI  Peggy Kempf has always been a shy and private person. It made her the perfect hair stylist, because customers felt comfortable confiding in her, knowing their secrets were safe.

After 59 years of cutting hair and hearing stories at Roccis Hair Design, 1513 W. Morrell St. in Jackson, Kempf decided it was time for her to hang up the clippers and enjoy retirement. Her last day was Thursday, May 22.

The 79-year-old began her hair journey after she graduated from Western High School and worked in the office of what was then Foote Hospital in Jackson. She always enjoyed doing her friends hair for prom, graduations or other special events, so she decided to make a living out of it.

It was just the art of it, Kempf said. I love pleasing people and making people feel good.

She enrolled in Jackson Beauty College. Shortly after in 1966, Rocci DiVietri, owner of Roccis Hair Designs, had broken his leg and needed another stylist to help out at the salon. His mother called the beauty school about graduating students, and they were connected with Kempf.

There, she worked under Rocci and his wife Carolyn. Through the years, Kempf cut and styled the hair of probably every woman in Jackson, she said.

Shes seen the styles transition over the years, moving from big hair in the 1980s to a more natural and freer look that women are going for today.

I used to do what they call mall bangs, she said. Now, its more casual.

Current owners of the salon, Chantel Marston and Raquel Cross, who are daughters of Rocci and Carolyn, said they grew up with Kempf in the salon, and always called her their aunt. Cross said one of Kempfs gifts was her ability to work fast yet attentively.

She learned while my grandmother was managing the salon, Cross said. My grandma would just book them with clients on top of the other, so Peggy and my dad, they learned to do hair fast.

Kempfs specialty, besides styling beautiful hair, was her silence. She was always a good listener to her clients, no matter what they were going through, said her daughter Stacie Messner, who also works at Roccis.

Messner said anything that was spilled while in the chair did not leave Kempfs mouth.

It shows that I care, and they know that Im there for them if they need anything, Kempf said. They know that they can ask me to pray for them, and I will.

Kempf also took care of her clients in other ways, including by offering them rides to the salon if they needed, Marston said. Additionally, she never missed a day of work and has been a reliable stylist to her clients.

If somebody says, Peggy, I got a doctors appointment, could you come in on your day off? Messner said. You better believe it.

While most hair stylists will hop around salons, Kempf has been loyal to Roccis since she graduated beauty school. The salon has always felt like a family, she said, adding everyone got along well and would do outside activities together, including having pool parties at her house every Monday.

She was good friends with Rocci and Carolyn, who were in her wedding, and they would travel to Florida together as well.

They were my bosses, and we were best friends, Kempf said.

Josie Blissick, who is a cousin of the owners and worked with Kempf for 10 years, was at the salon getting her hair cut by Kempf on her last day. She made sure to schedule it for Thursday, she said.

Blissick said she was sad to see Kempf leave but understood why she was leaving. Despite this, she will make sure that even in her retirement, Kempf stays close.

Were going to make sure that she goes out to lunches or dinners with us, Blissick said. Were not going to just walk away, and neither is she.

Messner worked at the salon with her mom and even went to the same beauty school as Kempf after high school. She will miss working with her mom and just having her presence around the salon, she said.

Kempf said she decided to retire because it was just time. She hopes to travel and see some of the beautiful parts of the United States.

She is thankful for all her clients and fellow stylists that she worked with over the years. She credits their support for her long and fulfilling career.

I wouldnt change one person I worked with, Kempf said. I love them all.

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Comstock officials approved a $20,000 raise at the end of April. How does his salary compare to other Kalamazoo County superintendents? Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com

KALAMAZOO, MI  Comstock Township Superintendent Scott Hess earned a $20,000 raise in a 4-2 vote last month, bringing his annual salary to $134,974.

The townships Board of Trustees deliberated in closed session for nearly two hours before passing the raise on April 28.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- For years, the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency has offered career classes to students across Kalamazoo County.

But those classes were scattered in various buildings across the county. Some students would have to travel up to an hour.

Next year, those challenges will be a thing of the past.

Construction has finished on KRESAs new Career Connect facility at 3500 Vanrick Drive, just off I-94 near Sprinkle Road. The 162,000-square-foot facility provides a centralized location where Kalamazoo County students can take classes in 22 career fields.

Scenes as KRESA unveils $100 million Career Connect Campus, at 3500 Vanrick Dr., on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com)

KRESA wanted to focus on the career fields where students only need an associates degree to enter the field, said Eric Stewart, KRESA assistant superintendent.

People need jobs that pay well, that bring a wage that can help them exit generational poverty and thats the opportunity for our kids, said Jeff Thoenes, superintendent of Comstock Public Schools.

For every 10 jobs on the labor market, one requires a masters degree, two require a bachelors degree and seven require an associates degree or less, Stewart said.

This project has given me, and dare I say many of us, a new deep appreciation for the spaces were in and the people who make them possible, Stewart said at the buildings ribbon cutting. This place will produce the next generation of builders, after all.

Each classroom in the building has a label indicating what career the space is designed for.

Scenes as KRESA unveils $100 million Career Connect Campus, at 3500 Vanrick Dr., on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com)

Inside one room, there are functioning hospital beds and computers to monitor vitals. In another, theres workout equipment to train students in physical therapy.

Its way more than than we envisioned, said Dave Campbell, former KRESA superintendent.

On the opposite side of the building is a fully functioning car repair area, complete with lifts and stocked rolling toolboxes.

Scenes as KRESA unveils $100 million Career Connect Campus, at 3500 Vanrick Dr., on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com)

Theres also a space with a large cow model that students in the veterinary class can take apart to explore the anatomy.

When supplies run out, new materials will be ordered from the facilitys supply chain management class, Stewart said.

When culinary needs more food for their culinary program, the kids are going to order it, theyre going to warehouse it, theyre going to inventory it, Stewart said.

Planning for the new facility started seven years ago. Campbell and other education leaders realized students were missing out on career opportunities.

The conversation was, our system is broken, Thoenes said.

Theres a lot of kids that dont want to go to another high school, Campbell said. Having a facility in the center of the county just makes it much more accessible.

Scenes as KRESA unveils $100 million Career Connect Campus, at 3500 Vanrick Dr., on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com)

County residents -- and a generous anonymous donor -- were on board with a new investment in career education.

Voters approved a millage in a 2019 election to fund operations at the facility. The land was donated to KRESA to start building, Stewart said.

An anonymous $100 million donation funded the construction. Some work still needs to be done, so theres not yet a total construction cost, Stewart said.

Scenes as KRESA unveils $100 million Career Connect Campus, at 3500 Vanrick Dr., on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com)

The new campus is already helping enrollment. So far, 1,300 students have enrolled for classes set to start next August, Stewart said.

At Comstock, enrollment in career connect courses is at a record high.

The new facility is going to transform generations to come, Thoenes said.

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Midland police responded to a 4:17 p.m. report of a holdup alarm Saturday, May 24, at Check Into Cash, 305 S. Saginaw Road. Yfat Yossifor | MLive.com file

MIDLAND, MI  Police are searching for two men accused of robbing a financial services company at gunpoint.

Midland police initially responded to a 4:17 p.m. report of a holdup alarm Saturday, May 24, at Check Into Cash, 305 S. Saginaw Road.

Police later learned an armed robbery had occurred at the business.

An employee told officers two masked men walked into the store, produced firearms and demanded money.

The employee complied and gave the men an undisclosed amount of money. After, police believe the suspects ran from the business and fled in a nearby vehicle. The employee was not injured during the incident.

Responding units checked the area but were unable to locate the men. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to call the Midland Police Department at 989-839-4713.

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SAGINAW, MI - About 230 Saginaw United High School students celebrated at A Frozen Fantasy themed prom at the Horizons Conference Center on Thursday, May 22.

Related: Saginaw United students stun at their 2025 prom

The pre-prom was held at the high school around 5:30 p.m.

Prom king Pate Hollis and prom queen Zharia Braddock pose for photographs during the Saginaw United High School prom at Horizons Conference Center in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Prom king and queen were announced at about 9 p.m. and Pate Hollis and Zharia Braddock won the crowns.

Check out 12 of our favorite photos below.

Scenes during Saginaw United High School pre-prom in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Iyanna Davis poses for a photograph during Saginaw United High School pre-prom in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

MiAngel Mattox and Deontae Anderson pose for a photograph during Saginaw United High School pre-prom in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Scenes during the Saginaw United High School prom at Horizons Conference Center in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Scenes during Saginaw United High School pre-prom in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Scenes during Saginaw United High School pre-prom in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Scenes during Saginaw United High School pre-prom in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Scenes during Saginaw United High School pre-prom in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Zharia Braddock reacts to winning prom queen Scenes during the Saginaw United High School prom at Horizons Conference Center in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Chelaine Smith poses for a photograph during Saginaw United High School pre-prom in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

MiAngel Mattox looks up to pose for a photograph during Saginaw United High School pre-prom in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Scenes during Saginaw United High School pre-prom in Saginaw, Mich. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

See 113 images from the event in the gallery here.

You must be a subscriber to view the photo gallery. Subscribers click the Get photo link to download high-resolution images right to their device for free as part of their subscription.

To subscribe, click this link. To see all of MLives prom coverage, click this link.
A lawsuit accusing a West Michigan farm labor contractor of wage theft, labor trafficking and forced work is heading to trial on Thursday, May 29, 2025. This MLive file photos shows farmworkers picking asparagus in a field in Oceana County, Michigan. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com) Joel Bissell | MLive.com

A West Michigan farm labor contractor accused of trafficking migrant workers is set to go on trial in federal court at the end of May.

Five Guatemalan workers claim Purpose Point Harvesting LLC coerced them into working long hours in Michigan fields by confiscating their passports, underpaying them and threatening them with retaliation from 2017 to 2019. They also allege the Oceana County contractor charged them illegal recruitment fees and controlled their bank accounts.

The trial  a rare case of alleged labor trafficking to go before a jury  is scheduled to begin May 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2022 by Guatemalan men who were working in the United States with H-2A visas, a program that allows farms to hire foreign workers. Theyre being represented by Migrant Legal Aid and Boies Schiller Flexner, BSF, a New York City-based law firm thats been involved in high profile trafficking cases like recent litigation involving the victims of financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Attorneys say the case provides a glimpse into pervasive abuse in the H-2A program.

We know that this is the tip of the iceberg that were dealing with right here, said BSF attorney Kenya Davis, formerly a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorneys Office and co-chair of the Washington D.C. Human Trafficking Task Force.

Related: West Michigan blueberry farm accused of trafficking workers

The defendants are Purpose Point Harvesting, a contractor that staffs farms with H-2A workers, and its operators Emilto Moreno Gomez and Lucille Jean Moreno. They have denied the allegations and brought a series of counterclaims against the workers.

Theyre being represented by Avanti Law Group PLLC, a Grand Rapids-area law firm that recently sued state Rep. Bryan Posthumus for allegedly violating labor laws and not paying workers enough at his hops farm. The firm also made headlines for suing Elon Musk over his $1 million voter giveaway last fall.

We look forward to the trial, said attorney Robert Alvarez, a founding member of Avanti Law Group who has previously represented migrant workers. We dont believe that the evidence that the plaintiffs are intending on presenting will support any of their allegations.

Purpose Point Harvesting, located in Mears about five miles inland from Lake Michigan, hires workers to plant crops like asparagus, apples, peaches, tomatoes, cherries, squash and Christmas trees at farms throughout Michigan. Its H-2A workforce has grown from 14 to 166 in the past six years.

Gomez first recruited the farmworkers in 2017. He regularly found workers in San Marcos, Guatemala, according to the lawsuit, an impoverished community near the Mexican border where there are few jobs and low wages.

Two of the plaintiffs are related to Gomez.

In Guatemala, the plaintiffs earned about $13 a day, according to Migrant Legal Aid executive director Teresa Hendricks, compared to at least $12.75 an hour working on Michigan farms.

The lure of the job in the United States is tremendous, Hendricks said. And the workers will often put up with huge wage theft just because they would rather have half of the wages that theyre promised, rather than have no wages.

The workers say Gomez charged them a $2,500 recruitment fee for the opportunity to work in the United States, which is illegal. When they arrived, the lawsuit alleges Gomez then confiscated passports and social security cards to restrict the workers labor and force them to work.

Some days, the plaintiffs say they worked 20 hours a day, from 2 a.m. to 10 p.m., harvesting fruits and vegetables. They had to buy headlamps so that they could work in the dark, the lawsuit claims.

Even with 100-hour work weeks, the workers were allegedly only paid for 60 hours at most.

This meant workers earned $8.10 an hour  much lower than the legal wage rate for the H-2A program. In 2017, the federal government set H-2A wages at $12.75, going up to $13.54 by 2019.

The suit claims this ensured plaintiffs couldnt afford to quit.

Gomez is also accused of threatening workers against complaining about him. He allegedly told workers he would put a stain on their passports and get them permanently barred from the H-2A program.

Related: A migrant worker died after picking Michigan asparagus. His death fell through the cracks.

When some of the workers tried to leave, Gomez allegedly filed a missing persons report with Michigan State Police and posted on Facebook saying they would soon appear on the pages of missing people in Walmarts and immigration and secret agents will begin to track them down, according to court documents.

Because of these actions, Hendricks says the workers were scared to speak up.

They felt that if they spoke up, that could have terrible consequences for themselves and their families, she said. Especially if theyve made an investment and paid fees to get here.

Defendants are accused of violating federal and state trafficking, labor and wage laws.

Purpose Point Harvesting has said in court filings the allegations are untrue. Several countersuits were also brought against the workers, but only one is still pending over a contract breach.

My clients did attempt to find an equitable resolution, Alvarez said. And unfortunately, the only possible solution now is for a jury to make its decision and render its verdict.

This lawsuit follows other recent litigation in Michigan involving farms and H-2A workers.

A blueberry farm was accused of trafficking migrant workers two years ago, forcing them to work long hours and live in substandard housing. And a West Michigan farm labor contractor has faced three lawsuits in recent years over allegations of exploiting workers. Two of those cases ended in settlements, while a third is still pending.

These cases are unfolding as the H-2A program has rapidly expanded. The number of workers quadrupled within the last decade as farms increasingly lean on foreign labor. In Michigan, federal data shows that the number of workers jumped from 8,800 to 13,418 in the past five years.

Hendricks says it takes a special kind of bravery for H-2A farmworkers to speak out because their income, transportation, immigration status and housing are all tied to their employer.

Its very rare that you get people who are willing to come forward and stick their neck out, she said. And its even more rare to actually go to trial.

After jury selection, the trial is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 29 in at the U.S. District Courthouse in Grand Rapids.
M Snehanjali

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Photo: Official website of the President of Ukraine

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sent a congratulatory letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Trend reports.

"Your Excellency,

On behalf of the people of Ukraine and on my own behalf, I congratulate you on the occasion of the national holiday of the Republic of Azerbaijan - Independence Day.

Free Ukraine and Azerbaijan have always sought to develop their relationship in the spirit of strategic partnership based on shared values, mutual support, respect and comprehensive cooperation.

I am confident that the dynamics of strategic partnership will not only be maintained but also enhanced even more in line with the interests of the peoples of Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Today, Ukraine highly values international support in its struggle against Russia. We are grateful to Azerbaijan for supporting our countrys sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with the fundamental principles of international law, as well as for providing humanitarian assistance.

Availing myself of this opportunity, I wish you, esteemed Mr. President, robust health and success in your high state activities, and the friendly people of Azerbaijan peace, prosperity and tranquility," the letter said.
Palak Vij

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Sanjay Dutt pens emotional tribute to father Sunil Dutt on 20th death anniversary: you showed me how to stand tall...

Palak Vij

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Wagner Moura wins Best Actor at Cannes 2025: Here is what you need to know about his life and career

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ASEAN must deepen integration, stay united to tackle US tariffs, Malaysia says

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Sunil Matkar

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A delegation led by Yalchin Rafiyev, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and COP29 Lead Negotiator, has visited the United Mexican States, Azernews reports.

During the visit, meetings were held with Enrique Ochoa Martinez, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at Mexicos Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Camila Zepeda, Mexicos Chief Climate Negotiator; and representatives of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI), a prominent think tank in the country.

In discussions with Undersecretary Martinez, both sides acknowledged the productive cooperation between Azerbaijan and Mexico within international organizations and multilateral forums. Rafiyev provided an overview of Azerbaijans foreign policy priorities, efforts toward normalizing relations with Armenia, and upcoming events under Azerbaijans initiative and leadership in various multilateral settings.

The conversation also covered collaboration on climate change issues and exchanged perspectives on Azerbaijans role as COP29 President.

In meetings with Mexicos Chief Climate Negotiator Zepeda, Azerbaijans notable accomplishments as COP29 President were recognized, and its effective leadership in the climate negotiations was appreciated.

At the COMEXI meeting, discussions focused on Azerbaijans expanding regional influence following the 2020 44-day Patriotic War, the new geopolitical landscape in the South Caucasus, the countrys diverse foreign policy, and its initiatives and activities within international organizations.

The progress and substance of Azerbaijans COP29 Presidency, as well as the negotiations conducted and achievements made to date, received high praise.

The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP29, was the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference. Held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024. Mukhtar Babayev presided, while Samir Nuriyev headed the Organising Committee.

COP29 aimed to implement further measures to limit global warming to 1.5C, emphasizing the urgent need for investment in climate action.

The COP29 Presidency stressed the importance of operationalizing the Loss and Damage Fund to support vulnerable communities, particularly in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), while calling for enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in line with 1.5C targets and urging the submission of national NDCs by 2025, with a focus on fossil fuel phase-out, increasing renewable energy, and addressing non-carbon-dioxide emissions, such as methane.

On adaptation, the Presidency called for all countries to prepare and submit their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) by 2025 and emphasized the need for scaling up adaptation finance. In addition, COP29 encouraged global financial institutions and the private sector to increase climate finance and foster investment in green innovation. The summit aimed to provide platforms to mobilize business participation and enhance transparency in investment decisions to support climate action.

The conference concluded with an agreement on plans for finance to mitigate the effects of climate change and help developing nations transition to more sustainable energy sources. Rules and a UN registry were agreed to facilitate and record international trading of carbon credits.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. Azerbaijan and Ukraine have explored cooperation between the regions, said Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov at a joint press conference with Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in Baku, Trend reports.

"During the meeting, the ministers of foreign affairs and economy discussed promising areas of cooperation. We see opportunities to intensify the work of the Ukrainian-Azerbaijani business forum, as well as the work of the intergovernmental commission, which can give a new impetus to our economic cooperation," he said.

Bayramov noted that one of the striking examples of cooperation between Ukraine and Azerbaijan was the signing of a twinning agreement between Baku and the Ukrainian city of Irpen. "This is of great symbolic significance," he stressed.

"We also touched upon the topic of restoring the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation in 2020. Over the past 5 years, large-scale work has been carried out to restore infrastructure and return the population. Particular attention is paid to security and demining, since thousands of people have already fallen victim to mines," Bayramov noted.

The head of the Foreign Ministry emphasized that the parties also discussed the situation in the South Caucasus, in particular the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
Chhabi Kala

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Siddharth Chakravorty

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Consequences would be more severe than Op Sindoor if anyone promotes terrorism on our soil: Om Birla

101Reporters

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Deblina Halder

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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

Arindam Roy

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Indias next man in Space: Shubhanshu Shukla enters quarantine ahead of Ax-4 launch on June 8

Manjiri Patil

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. Ukraine wants to return to the level of economic cooperation with Azerbaijan that existed before the war with Russia, said Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha at a joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, Trend reports.

"I also had a meeting with Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, where we discussed a wide range of bilateral issues - economy, investment, energy. I am pleased to note the positive dynamics of our relations over the past two years," he said.

According to the minister, Ukraine is striving to return at least to the level of economic relations that it had before the war with Russia. Sybiha also noted that Azerbaijani companies and investments are important for Ukraine.

"Despite the war, Ukraine remains an attractive market and a reliable partner, and we will support Azerbaijani investments in our economy," he stressed.
ISIS in Syria, terrorists in ...: Owaisi blasts Pakistan in Bahrain, calls it a failed state

Deblina Halder

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Mann ki Baat: PM Modi lauds armed forces for 'precision strikes', hails Made in India defence power for success of Operation Sindoor

Siddharth Chakravorty

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Modernising nuclear arsenal, views India as 'existential threat' and China support: What US intel report revealed about Pakistan

Siddharth Chakravorty

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''No smoke without fire,'' says Palaniswami on ED probe into TASMAC

101Reporters

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PM Modi to launch projects worth over Rs 77,000 crore in Gujarat next week

101Reporters

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Rainfall Update: Southwest Monsoon likely to reach Mumbai and Bengaluru in next three days

Tamal Nandi

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. The development of strategic partnership between Ukraine and Azerbaijan is a key interest for both our countries, said Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha at a joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, Trend reports.

"I am here to intensify the development of strategic partnership between Ukraine and Azerbaijan. This is a key interest of our countries, and I have once again become convinced of this based on the results of all today's meetings," he said.

Sibiga noted that at this dramatic moment in Ukrainian history, it is very important that Azerbaijan consistently supports Ukraine and its territorial integrity.

"We have just completed a rich and positive meeting with my colleague, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. I also had a meeting with Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, where we discussed a wide range of bilateral issues - economy, investment, energy," he said.
Arishaa Izaj

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'We have no option but to be powerful, for national security, we must not...': RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

Siddharth Chakravorty

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US man quits corporate job of 11 years, buys boat to sail around the world with his cat

Ankita Sengupta

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MC Tech Desk Read the latest and trending tech newsstay updated on AI, gadgets, cybersecurity, software updates, smartphones, blockchain, space tech, and the future of innovation.

Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day

Shaurya Shubham

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Elon Musk retreats from politics, refocuses on Tesla and Mars as backlash mounts

Pragya Trivedi

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. Azerbaijani demining technologies are greatly needed by Ukraine, said Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha at a joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, Trend reports.

The minister noted that during talks with Azerbaijani colleagues, the parties also discussed cooperation in the field of demining.

Azerbaijan has its own technologies that are very much needed by Ukraine, he said.
Pragya Trivedi

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He sold the nation to the US': Sheikh Hasina slams Muhammad Yunus, calls Awami League ban unconstitutional

Aishwarya Dabhade

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Russia and Ukraine swap 307 prisoners each in major step toward peace talks

101Reporters

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Arindam Roy

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. Kyiv is interested in resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine within this year, said Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha today in Baku at a joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Trend reports.

The Ukrainian side advocates for settling the conflict exclusively through diplomatic means, he noted.

We accepted the United States proposal for a ceasefire. We are ready to resolve the issue only through diplomacy. The meeting in Istanbul, where the decision was made to exchange a larger number of prisoners, is proof of our intentions, Sybiha said.

The minister also noted that the possibility of arranging a personal meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine is currently being discussed.
Suspected arson causes a second major power outage in south of France

Chhabi Kala

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Ukraine offers cash, perks and purpose to lure Gen Z into military as war drags on

Pragya Trivedi

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Director Ethan Coen, screenwriter Tricia Cooke, and cast members Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, and Talia Ryder pose on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the film "Honey Don't!" presented as part of midnight screenings at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025.

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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.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. Azerbaijan places great importance on strengthening its partnership and friendly relations with African countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Yalcin Rafiyev said in an address dedicated to Africa Day, Trend reports.

Africa is the cradle of humanity, a continent united in its diversity and possessing a rich heritage that has made a significant contribution to the development of human civilization, the Azerbaijani diplomat stated in his message shared on social media.

Rafiyev congratulated the peoples of Africa on the occasion and extended wishes for a sustainable and stable future rooted in peace and development.

Azerbaijan highly values its partnership and friendly ties with African countries, he emphasized.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate voted on Thursday to block Californias first-in-the nation rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, moving to kill the countrys most aggressive effort to transition toward electric vehicles as President Donald Trumps administration has doubled down on fossil fuels.

The measure overturning the rule now goes to the White House, where Trump is expected to sign it, along with two other resolutions that would block California rules curbing tailpipe emissions in certain vehicles and smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks. All three measures were approved by the Senate on Thursday and by the House earlier this month.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, and state air regulators say that what Congress is doing is illegal and they will sue to keep the rules in place.

This is not about electric vehicles, Newsom said at a news conference while the Senate was still voting on the measures. This is about polluters being able to pollute more.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state plans to sue over the way that Republicans passed the measures blocking the emissions rules. Senate Republicans established a narrow exception to the filibuster Wednesday to clear the way for the votes.

The GOP effort could have a profound impact on Californias longtime efforts to curb air pollution. California makes up roughly 11% of the U.S. car market, giving it significant power to shape purchasing trends  especially because about a dozen states have already followed Californias lead. Vehicles are one of the largest sources of planet-warming emissions.

Senate Democrats charged that Republicans are acting at the behest of the oil and gas industry and they say California should be able to set its own standards after obtaining waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the votes should send a chill down the spine of legislators in every state.

What we have at stake is a states ability, its right to make its own laws and to protect its own citizens, without having this body overturn that right, Schiff said.

Republicans say the phaseout of gas-powered cars, along with other waivers that California has obtained from the EPA, is costly for consumers and manufacturers, puts pressure on the nations energy grid and has become a de facto nationwide electric vehicle mandate.

America cannot meet these impossible standards - not next year, and not in 10 years, said Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the second-ranking Republican.

Newsom announced plans in 2020 to ban the sale of all new gas-powered vehicles within 15 years as part of an aggressive effort to lower emissions from the transportation sector. Plug-in hybrids and used gas cars could still be sold.

The Biden administration approved the states waiver to implement the standards in December, a month before Trump returned to office. The California rules are stricter than a Biden-era rule that tightens emissions standards but does not require sales of electric vehicles.

Bidens EPA said in announcing the decision that opponents of the California waivers did not meet their legal burden to show how either the EV rule or a separate measure on heavy-duty vehicles was inconsistent with the Clean Air Act.

Republicans have long criticized Californias waivers and have worked to find a way to overturn them. The Government Accountability Office said earlier this year that Californias policies are not subject to the Congressional Review Act, a law that allows Congress to reject federal regulations under certain circumstances with a simple majority vote not subject to the filibuster. The Senate parliamentarian agreed with that ruling, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., cleared the way for the votes anyway with a workaround that established a new Senate precedent.

Democrats fought those changes, which were the latest attempt to chip away at the Senate filibuster after both parties have used their majorities in the past two decades to lower the threshold for nominations. Democrats tried in 2022 to roll back the filibuster for legislation, as well, but were thwarted by members of their own caucus who disagreed with the effort.

Republicans have insisted that they would not try a similar move after regaining the majority this year. But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the move to block Californias laws were a point of no return and called the Republicans fair weather institutionalists.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan was the only Democrat to support the measure to block the phaseout of gas-powered vehicles. She said in a statement after the vote that she has a special responsibility to stand up for the more than one million Michiganders whose livelihoods depend on the U.S. auto industry.

John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an auto industry association and lobby group, said there is a gap between the vehicles that car buyers are purchasing and the rules that would force a transition to electric vehicles.

The fact is these EV sales mandates were never achievable, Bozzella said.

___

Austin reported from Sacramento. Associated Press writers Alexa St. John in Detroit and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

___

Austin 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. Follow Austin on X: @sophieadanna

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and SOPHIE AUSTIN

Associated Press
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 24. In front of the palace of the khan's daughter Natavan, which is one of the architectural symbols of the city of Shusha, within the framework of the VIII "Kharibulbul" International Music Festival, organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, the "This is what Uzeyirbek would say: "Sarvar is to blame for everything" play was shown. The production was performed by students of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts, Trend reports.

The play is based on the feuilletons of Uzeyir Hajibeyli. It offers an original and creative interpretation of the social themes touched upon by the author using satire and humor.

The director of the play is Gumrah Omar, musical arrangement is by Azer Gajiaskerli.

The participants of the event emphasized that such projects add special colors to the cultural life of Shusha, play an important role in preserving and popularizing the national heritage. The performance was recognized as a successful initiative that helps support young talents and expand their stage experience.
Conor here: Polychroniou claims that the radical left critique of globalization [lost] its appeal for the working class and huge chunks of youth. Did it though? He later admits that the the shift to global neoliberalism was not countered by the parties of the reformist left that came to power. And so voters naturally went looking for someone else to do the job.

Having failed to deliver before, the left is now supposed accept globalization and embark on an even more ambitious project to build a better version of it. How would they find success there where they failed before? A new globalization that is democratic and free from the destructive tendencies of capitalist accumulation might sound great, but theres not much of a reckoning with past failures or a roadmap here, and the clock is ticking  although Polychroniou also doesnt mention how this new globalization would approach climate change.

By C.J. Polychroniou is a political economist/political scientist who has taught and worked in numerous universities and research centers in Europe and the United States. His latest books are The Precipice: Neoliberalism, the Pandemic and the Urgent Need for Social Change (A collection of interviews with Noam Chomsky; Haymarket Books, 2021), and Economics and the Left: Interviews with Progressive Economists (Verso, 2021). Cross posted from Common Dreams.

The left is in shambles everywhere while hard-right and far-right parties are riding high in polls across the world. I contend that globalization is at the heart of these developments, and thus it is critical that the left comes to terms with what has gone wrong with its approach to neoliberal globalization and develops in turn an alternative vision of world order.

Globalization came to be a dominant force in our lives sometime around the 1980s. It coincided with the rise of neoliberalism, although globalization is not a 20th-century phenomenon. The 19th century contained a huge burst of globalization. In fact, between 1850 and 1913, the world economy was probably as open as it became in the late 20th century. Tariffs fell, free trade agreements proliferated, trade flows skyrocketed, information flows accelerated, and migrants flowed to all corners of the globe. Neither Europe nor the U.S. had any restrictions on migration. In the U.S., no visas or passports were even needed to enter the country.

That wave of globalization was interrupted because of World War I, and the next wave of globalization did not occur until the early 1980s. In many ways, the new wave of capitalist globalization was more intense than the one that had preceded it as it was characterized by massive financial deregulation and the acceleration of capital flows while trade integration became more rapid than ever. By the 1990s, the new wave of globalization had reached such heights that the world was increasingly becoming a global village. Lets call it the neoliberal hyper-globalization wave.

However, there was one huge qualitative difference between the 19th-century and the late 20th-century waves of globalization. While capital movements exploded during the late 20th-century wave of globalization and multinationals moved across the world in search of cheaper labor, labor migration was severely restricted. In contrast, migration became truly globalized in the late 19th century. And the late 20th-century wave of globalization, which was supposed to produce unrivaled benefits for all, also had another dark side: While it was not openly imperialistic as the 19th-century wave of globalization, it was based nonetheless on highly exploitative structures that were not much different from those of colonialism. After all, capitalism has always nurtured dependence, inequality, and exploitation.

Under the neoliberal hyper-globalization wave, the Global North took advantage of the weakness of the Global South by trapping millions of its workers in a relentless cycle of exploitation while offshoring had dramatic impacts on the standard of living of average citizens back in the Global North as well-paid industrial jobs became few and far in between, wages stagnated, and the social safety net was torn apart, partly because of less government revenues due to neoliberal tax cuts for corporations and the rich and partly on account of simple ideological reasoning. Austerity for the masses but subsidies, tax breaks, and bailouts for industry and the financial sector is a central aspect of the ideological agenda of neoliberalism. And while some developing nations did benefit from the great connectivity in the global economy that has been unleashed since the early 1980s, it is primarily the elites in the Global South, as much as it is in the Global North, that gained the most from the neoliberal hyper-globalization wave.

Enter politics.

By the late 1990s, grievances over the direction of the capitalist world economy united people to demand change and an anti-globalization movement surfaced across the globe, protesting specifically against the neoliberal hyper-globalization wave. Protests and demonstrations against the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund became a common feature of the anti-globalization movement across a large number of countries from 1995 to 2018. The anti-globalization movement was inspired by left-wing ideologies and was impressively transnational. Latin Americas anti-globalization movement was especially successful, resulting in support and eventually electoral victory for left-wing parties in scores of countries in the region. Indeed, a database on political institutions reveals that in the early 1990s, 64% of Latin American presidents came from a right-wing party. But a decade later, that number had shrunk to half.

The anti-globalization and anti-capitalist movement was no less prominent in Europe. In the summer of 2001, more than 300,000 people from all over Europe gathered in Genoa, Italy to voice their opposition to the G8 Group, while the Italian police unleashed violence of a dimension unknown up to that point in postwar Western Europe. In the spring of 2002, more than half a million people in Barcelona mobilized against the European Union Heads of State and Government under the banner against Capital and War.

The anti-globalization movement had come of age. The prospects for radical change had never looked more promising than they did during the first decade of the new millennium. The winds of change were still in the air in the second decade of the new millennium as the rise to power of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) party in Greece brought hope to leftist movements worldwide, although it was abundantly clear to anyone willing to pay close attention to Greek politics at the time that the leadership of the party had made a decision to switch its ideological profile from radicalism to pragmatism in anticipation of its coming to power.

There is indeed one impressive thing about the rapid and sweeping changes brought about by the neoliberal hyper-globalization wave, and that is none other than the fact that the world now spins faster. Extraordinary social, political, and ideological changes can happen from one decade to the next. And, lo and behold, by the end of the second decade of the new millennium, not only did the radical left critique of globalization lose its appeal for the working class and huge chunks of youth, but anti-globalism emerged as a major ideological tenet of the extreme right.

However, the backlash against globalism by hard-right and far-right parties was not based on a scathing critique of neoliberal capitalism but was seen instead as a political project advanced by Marxism and the radical left with the double aim of destroying national culture and replacing the nation-state with institutions of global governance. This is of course an evasion of what capitalist globalization is all about, but it would be naive to think that the backlash against globalism by the far-right does not have socioeconomic roots. The anti-globalist sentiment that brought President Donald Trump to power in the United States and scores of other authoritarian political figures across the world is driven by both cultural and socioeconomic factors and is nurtured by the us versus them mentality. The far-right of course is not anti-systemic and in fact enjoys the support of digital moguls like Elon Musk. As such, it is fooling voters on the economy with promises of a new order. The far-rights anti-globalism stance begins and ends with the imposition of draconian measures against immigration and the creation of a culture of cruelty.

The anti-globalism of the far-right is perverse and irrational, and thus it may speak volumes of the need of a widely and publicly educated citizenry to sustain democracy, but it also calls attention to the gross political failures of the reformist left parties that came to power during the height of the anti-globalization period. Indeed, while the contradictions of neoliberal globalization led to electoral victories of left parties in scores of countries across the world during the last couple of decades, the shift to global neoliberalism was not countered by the parties of the reformist left that came to power. They may have criticized neoliberal hyper-globalization while they were in opposition, but they did very little once they came to power to combat its destructive effects. At the very best, they increased spending on social programs but did not try to diminish the spread of globalization on their economies and societies. Subsequently, by failing to tame, let alone shrink, capitalist globalization, they quickly saw their political fortunes decline and found citizens changing sides. This is the principal factor that has activated a turn to the far-right across the globe, including the United States, although Trumpism also needs to be considered in light of the peculiar social, cultural, and ideological features of the country.

The problem with the reformist left vis-a-vis neoliberal globalization remains. That is, it advances a critique of the consequences of capitalist globalization but seems to accept the phenomenon as inevitable and unalterable. In doing so, it leaves the field open for far-right populists to make inroads with disgruntled voters by appealing to their worst instincts as in the case of immigration.

We also know that pressure from below to tame or even reverse neoliberal globalization, a view that was held by the main body of the anti-globalization movement of the 1990s and 2000s, is a flawed strategy. The way out of neoliberal globalization is by developing a new globalization that is free from the destructive tendencies of capitalist accumulation and operates through political processes in which democracy and globalization are in a symbiotic relationship and thus support and reinforce each other.

The left is historically obligated to advance an alternative vision of a world order beyond capitalism. A world order where the rights of labor are at the pinnacle of human society and thus the means of production are collectively owned by workers while the exploitation of nature is seen as injustice.

In sum, systemic change for ending neoliberal hyper-globalization is a prerequisite but such a project mandates anti-systemic consciousness and a comprehensive political program for a new world order. If the left fails to develop the courage to engage itself economically, politically, ideologically, and culturally in the making of an alternative world order, capitalist globalization will continue to reign supreme, and the far-right will be its main political beneficiary.
FDA orders stricter cardiac inflammation warnings for Pfizer and Modernas COVID-19 vaccines

The FDA ordered Pfizer and Moderna to add warnings to their COVID-19 vaccines due to new evidence of persistent heart muscle damage (myocarditis) in young males months after vaccination.

The highest incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis now applies to males aged 16-25, broadening previous age brackets (12-17 for Pfizer, 18-24 for Moderna).

A Lancet study found abnormal cardiac MRI findings in young vaccine recipients, with 60% of a 333-person cohort still showing myocardial injury markers five months post-diagnosis, though most cases improved over time.

The FDA took 13 months to act on the Lancet findings, raising concerns about incomplete safety surveillance (VAERS/V-Safe) and deferred reporting deadlines for subclinical myocarditis.

The FDA's delayed action and unresolved questions about long-term risks intensify skepticism, forcing a reevaluation of vaccine benefits vs. risks  especially for young males (38 myocarditis cases per million doses in high-risk groups).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has mandated updated warning labels for Pfizer and Moderna's mRNA vaccines for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), citing new evidence of persistent heart muscle damage in young males months after vaccination.

The regulator outlined this instruction in two letters dated April 17 and addressed to Pfizer representative Heather Hufnagel and Moderna representative Brady Nesbitt. The letters, which were only made public on Wednesday, May 21  were signed by Richard Forshee, acting director of the FDA's Office of Biostatistics and Pharmacovigilance under the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

The correspondence followed a landmark study published in The Lancet revealing abnormal cardiac MRI findings in adolescents and young adults diagnosed with post-vaccine myocarditis, a potentially fatal inflammation of the heart muscle. The move raises urgent questions about long-term risks, transparency and why federal agencies delayed public disclosure of these findings for over a year after initial detection.

The FDA's letters to both manufacturers, obtained by the Epoch Times, revealed a critical shift. The highest incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis now applies to males aged 16 to 25, up from previous age brackets of 12 to 17 for Pfizer and 18 to 24 for Moderna.

Forshee cited data showing that nearly 60 percent of patients in a 333-person cohort still exhibited myocardial injury markers five months post-diagnosis. "The clinical and prognostic significance of these findings is not known," he wrote, albeit emphasizing that most cases showed improvement over time.

FDA's 13-month delay on heart risk study sparks outrage

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains a "causal association" between mRNA vaccines and heart inflammation. However, it reported no spike in myocarditis for COVID-19 vaccine formulations released between 2023 and this year.

Yet critics highlight gaps. They pointed to the FDA's 13-month silence on the Lancet study, incomplete VAERS and V-Safe surveillance systems and Pfizer's deferred deadlines for subclinical myocarditis reporting. (Related: Emails reveal FDA refused to monitor select COVID-19 vaccine injuries from select vaccine manufacturers.)

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services defended the process in an email to the Epoch Times. "Americans deserve radical transparency around the safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines, and the FDA is delivering on their promise to do just that," they wrote.

Historical parallels abound. The 1976 swine flu vaccine debacle, halted after 450 Guillain-Barre syndrome cases, underscores the stakes of rapid vaccine rollouts without robust post-market scrutiny.

Moderna and Pfizer now face a 30-day deadline to update labels or risk penalties, but the FDA's delayed action has fueled skepticism. With 38 myocarditis cases per million doses in high-risk males and unresolved questions about cardiac outcomes, the updated warnings mark a pivotal moment in the pandemic's legacy  one where trust in public health institutions hinges on candor about known risks.

As the FDA pledges stronger monitoring, the burden falls on providers and patients to weigh vaccination benefits against emerging evidence. For young males, the calculus just grew more complex.

Watch Dr. Peter McCullough warning that vaccine-induced myocarditis is much more serious than myocarditis as a result of COVID-19 infection.

This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Study shows mRNA COVID vaccine damages heart muscle cells, leading to DEATH.

Thai study reveals nearly 30% of young adults suffer heart injuries after getting COVID shots.

Pfizer trial data reveal that vaccinated people are 400% more likely to die from fatal cardiac arrest.

Adolescents suffer HEART SCARS from Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines, per cardiac MRI study.

Sources include:

YourNews.com

FDA.gov 1

FDA.gov 2

Brighteon.com
Trump admin redirects $365M meant for solar power projects in Puerto Rico to more reliable fossil fuels

The DOE redirected $365 million from Puerto Rico's planned rooftop solar projects to fossil fuel-based power generation, citing urgent grid stabilization needs.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright justified the move by emphasizing Puerto Rico's chronic blackouts and aging infrastructure, prioritizing immediate relief over long-term renewable investments.

Supporters, including Puerto Rico's governor, called it necessary for addressing the island's "energy emergency." Meanwhile, critics (e.g., New York Rep. Velazquez) accused the Trump administration of abandoning climate goals and vulnerable communities.

The DOE argued fossil fuels provide reliable baseload power, whereas solar requires costly storage. Opponents, like solar advocates, countered that renewables offer faster, cleaner solutions.

Puerto Rico's grid remains fragile due to decades of neglect, Hurricane Maria's damage and unspent federal recovery funds, raising concerns about long-term resilience amid an active hurricane season.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has redirected $365 million from Puerto Rico's planned rooftop solar projects to fossil fuel-based power generation  bolstering its electric grid.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the move through an emergency order issued Wednesday, May 21. He noted that it prioritizes immediate grid stabilization over long-term renewable energy investment.

The secretary cited the island's chronic blackouts and aging infrastructure as a key reason for redirecting the funds. Critics argued the decision abandons vulnerable communities, while supporters insist it delivers faster relief to millions.

Originally awarded under the Biden administration in late 2024, the funds were intended for solar and battery storage projects set to begin construction in 2026. But following Wright's emergency order, the DOE will now allocate the money to dispatch oil-fired power plants, clear vegetation threatening transmission lines and upgrade aging infrastructure.

Contrary to criticisms by climate alarmists, oil-fired power plants that rely on fossil fuels are able to provide consistent baseload power. In contrast, solar installations stop generating power when the sun is out. They cannot offer consistent electricity generation without extensive and costly storage systems.

The DOE defended the funding shift from renewables to fossil fuel in a statement. It asserted that the move would "expand access to reliable power for millions of people rather than thousands" and yield a "higher return on investment for taxpayers."

Solar vs. fossil fuels: The debate over Puerto Rico's fragile grid

Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer Gonzalez praised the move, calling it a necessary step to address an "energy emergency" affecting all 3.2 million residents. Opponents, however, see it as a politically motivated reversal of climate-conscious policies.

"This is shameful," said Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) on social media. The longtime congresswoman for the Empire State accused Republicans of abandoning the island's most vulnerable just before hurricane season.

Javier Rua Jovet of Puerto Rico's Solar and Energy Storage Association noted that solar batteries could provide faster, cleaner solutions. Meanwhile, Frankie Miranda of the Hispanic Federation dismissed the redirection as a distraction given the grid's $18 billion in unspent federal recovery funds.

The controversy underscores Puerto Rico's dire energy reality. The island's power grid rippled by decades of neglect, the 2017 bankruptcy of its public utility and Hurricane Maria's devastation remains prone to collapse. Recent blackouts in December and April left hundreds of thousands without power, and experts warn this year's above-average hurricane season could trigger further outages. (Related: 90% of Puerto Rico plunged into darkness on New Year's Eve.)

While the second Trump administration emphasizes immediate fixes, critics argue the pivot to fossil fuels ignores long-term resilience and the island's solar potential. As Puerto Rico braces for another storm season, the funding shift highlights a broader tension  the urgent need for reliable electricity versus the climate alarmists' push for "renewable" yet unstable power.

Watch this video explaining why banning fossil fuels to shift to renewables is foolish.

This video is from THE LIGHT BULB INITIATIVE channel on Brighteon.com.

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Massive stockpile of food and medical supplies donated to Puerto Rico hurricane victims found ROTTING in a parking lot government at work.

Puerto Rico DIRECT HIT by Hurricane Maria interview with Dane Wigington reveals "weather weaponization" may be the culprit.

Prepping saves lives: Life is hell in Puerto Rico as food, water remains "scarce" and power is nearly nonexistent.

Sources include:

WattsUpWithThat.com

MSN.com

APNews.com

Brighteon.com
Trump administration slapped undocumented migrants with massive fines

The Trump administration imposed extreme financial penalties (up to $1.8 million) on thousands of undocumented migrants under a 1996 law, charging $998 per day for remaining in the U.S. after a deportation order.

ICE issued fines to around 4,500 migrants in early 2021, just before Biden took office. Cases like Wendy Ortiz (a Salvadoran mother earning $13/hour) and Maria (a Honduran mother in the U.S. for 20 years) highlight the severe financial burden placed on low-income families.

If migrants fail to pay, CBP may seize their assets, despite many having U.S.-born children and long-standing ties to the country.

The Trump administration had previously launched a DHS ad campaign warning undocumented immigrants to leave or face permanent deportation bans, yet many stayed and now face penalties.

Immigration advocates argue the fines are excessively punitive, especially for individuals who may not have received proper legal notices or have humanitarian claims.

The Trump administration has imposed staggering financial penalties on thousands of undocumented migrants, with some fines reaching as high as $1.8 million to pressure individuals into "self-deporting."

In the past few weeks, about 4,500 migrants received a notice from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demanding fines of up to $1.8 million. The fines, exceeding $500 million, stem from a 1996 immigration law that allows the government to charge migrants $998 per day for remaining in the U.S. after receiving a final deportation order. Though the provision existed for decades, it was rarely enforced until 2018 under the first Trump administration. (Related: ICE raids underway as Trump administration launches historic DEPORTATION operation.)

For instance, Wendy Ortiz, a 32-year-old Salvadoran immigrant working at a Pennsylvania meatpacking plant, received a notice from ICE demanding $1.8 million. Ortiz, who earns $13 an hour and supports her six-year-old autistic son, a U.S. citizen, had been pursuing an asylum claim since crossing the border in 2015.

Her legal team claimed she never received a court notice and was ordered deported in absentia in 2018. On Jan. 8, 2021, just 12 days before the inauguration of President Joe Biden, her attorney filed a request for humanitarian relief, citing threats in El Salvador and her son's need for specialized care. Shortly after, Trump officials launched the fines campaign.

Meanwhile, Maria, a Honduran woman living in Florida, is also charged with about $1.82 million for remaining in the U.S. nearly 20 years after being ordered to leave. In 2005, Maria missed an immigration hearing, which led to a removal order. Despite this, she stayed and raised her three children. Now, ICE is charging her 500 per day since 2005 for her continued presence.

If these migrants fail to pay for 30 days, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will potentially seize their assets.

Illegals remain in the U.S. despite prior "leave now or face permanent ban" warnings

Legal attorneys of those illegal immigrants fined argued that the fines are inhumane, despite earlier notice that the Trump administration is set to penalize those living in the U.S. illegally under that immigration act.

In February, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced a multimillion-dollar nationwide and international advertising campaign warning undocumented immigrants to leave the United States immediately or face deportation with a permanent ban on reentry.

The campaign, authorized by President Donald Trump, will deploy targeted ads across radio, television, digital platforms and social media, reaching both illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and those abroad considering crossing the border unlawfully. The ads will be broadcast in multiple languages and dialects to ensure maximum reach.

"Thank you, President Donald J. Trump, for securing our border and putting America first. President Trump has a clear message: if you are here illegally, we will find you and deport you. You will never return. But if you leave now, you may have an opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American Dream," Noem said. "If you are a criminal alien considering entering America illegally: Don't even think about it. If you come here and break our laws, we will hunt you down. Criminals are not welcome in the United States."

Head over to InvasionUSA.news to read related stories.

Watch this clip from the "X22 Report" featuring Sheriff Richard Mack of the CSPOA explaining how people can help with the mass deportation plans.

This video is from the Sanivan channel on Brighteon.com.

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Democrats under fire for helping illegal immigrants evade deportation.

Sheriffs gear up to join Trump's MASS DEPORTATION crusade.

Honduras threatens to expel U.S. military over Trump's deportation plans.

Sources include:

TheNationalPulse.com

English.Almayadeen.net

San.com

DHS.gov

Brighteon.com
U.S. companies rush to reshore manufacturing as Trump tariffs reshape global trade

A record 90 percent of U.S. firms plan to relocate manufacturing domestically or switch to American suppliers due to Trump's aggressive tariffs (1030 percent on imports from China, Mexico and Canada), signaling a major shift in supply chains.

Tariff revenues hit $16.3 billion in April 2024, contributing to a $258 billion federal surplus, while forcing companies to adapt  54 percent plan price hikes, and only 15 percent will absorb costs internally.

The tariffs are achieving their goal of reviving U.S. manufacturing, with firms in critical sectors (e.g., electronics, pharmaceuticals) expanding domestic operations. However, labor shortages and supply chain bottlenecks remain hurdles.

The administration frames tariffs as a national security measure to reduce reliance on adversarial nations like China, revitalize skilled jobs and strengthen the middle class  countering critics who initially dismissed them as consumer taxes.

The policy's success has put tariff opponents in an awkward position, as data proves businesses are "voting with their factories" by reshoring, contradicting claims that tariffs were outdated or harmful.

A new trade survey has revealed that the majority of U.S. companies are planning to bring manufacturing and sourcing back to American soil in response to the aggressive tariff policies of President Donald Trump.

On April 2, Trump imposed a baseline 10 percent tariff on nearly all imports from China, Mexico and Canada, with rates as high as 30 percent (down from an initial 145 percent proposal) on goods from China. As a result, tariff revenues hit a record $16.3 billion that same month, contributing to a $258 billion federal budget surplus.

In line with this, the Allianz Trade Global Survey, released May 20 and reported by the Epoch Times, found that nine out of 10 U.S. firms now plan to either relocate operations domestically or switch to American suppliers. (Related: Trump's 125% tariff triggers panic among Chinese Amazon sellers.)

However, the transition won't be seamless.

The survey highlights labor shortages and supply chain bottlenecks as major hurdles, with over 75 percent of firms citing overseas production vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, 54 percent of U.S. companies plan to raise prices to offset tariff costs  up from 46 percent before April, while only 15 percent intend to absorb the expenses internally, far below the global average of 22 percent.

With Trump vowing to escalate trade pressures, including potential hikes on Mexico and Canada, the reshoring wave is expected to intensify. For U.S. manufacturers, the message is clear: adapt or face rising costs.

Trump's tariff policy fulfills its promise to revive American manufacturing

Trump's aggressive tariff policy is delivering on its promise to revive American manufacturing, with new data showing a dramatic shift in corporate supply chains as firms abandon overseas production in favor of U.S. facilities.

The tariffs, designed to penalize imports while incentivizing domestic production, have forced companies in electronics, pharmaceuticals and industrial equipment to reconsider their global footprints. By offering tariff-free access to the U.S. market for goods made domestically, the policy has accelerated a wave of factory openings and expansions across the country.

"The fact that 90 percent of American firms are now planning to reshore or source domestically is not a side effect  it's the goal. America's overreliance on offshore production, including from geopolitical adversaries like China, puts national security and economic stability at risk. No country can afford to outsource the production of essentials. Bringing manufacturing back home will revitalize the American middle class," Steve Straub wrote for TFPPWIRE.

Critics once dismissed Trump's tariffs as a tax on consumers, but the administration argued that the long-term payoff  a resurgence in skilled manufacturing jobs  justifies the short-term costs. The administration's strategy is proving to be a calculated move to end reliance on foreign manufacturing, particularly from geopolitical rivals like China, while reinvigorating high-wage jobs at home.

Follow Trump.news for more stories like this.

Trump should put the tariffs on immediately, expert says. Watch this video.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

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TARIFF WAR LOOMS: Trump warns Trudeau of more tariffs following Canada's retaliation.

INSANE TARIFFS over TWO HUNDRED PERCENT are actually coming from Canadas exports to USA imposed on milk, whey, cheese and butter.

Canada-U.S. trade war escalates: Maxime Bernier warns against tariffs, calls for free trade revival.

Trump's new tariff threats force Ontario to back down on U.S. electricity tax.

Canada refuses to lift tariffs despite Trump's postponement.

Sources include:

YourNews.com

TFPPWire.com

Brighteon.com
Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project resumes amid political turmoil and economic pressure

The Trump administration lifted a month-old stop-work order on the $5 billion Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project, allowing it to resume after intense negotiations and legal challenges.

The decision aims to save 1,500 union jobs and aligns with New York's aggressive clean energy goals. The project, which is about one-third complete, faced delays costing up to $50 million per week.

The stop-work order was initially issued due to concerns about a rushed federal environmental review process. Environmental groups have raised concerns about the project's impact on marine life and coastal ecosystems, while Trump has criticized the turbines for harming wildlife.

New York, along with other northeastern states, filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging its authority to halt federal wind-energy approvals. The lawsuit argued that the executive order was an overreach and conflicted with state-level clean energy goals.

The resumption of the Empire Wind 1 project is part of a broader trend toward expanding offshore wind capacity in the U.S., intending to develop 35 gigawatts by 2030. This initiative is part of a larger strategy to transition to cleaner energy sources and reduce carbon emissions.

In a significant development for New York's clean energy ambitions, the Trump administration has lifted a month-old stop-work order on the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project.

The decision, announced late Monday, May 19, by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, follows intense negotiations and legal challenges, ultimately paving the way for the $5 billion project to resume. The move aims to save 1,500 union jobs and aligns with the state's aggressive clean energy goals. However, the decision comes amid lingering political and environmental debates, reflecting broader tensions over the federal government's role in regulating renewable energy projects.

Last month, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a stop-work order on the Empire Wind 1 project, citing concerns that the previous administration under Joe Biden had "rushed" the federal environmental review process. This pause sparked immediate concerns among stakeholders, including project developer Equinor, which warned that it might abandon the project if the order was not lifted. The company was losing up to $50 million per week due to construction delays, having already invested over $2.5 billion in the project, which is about one-third complete.

The decision to lift the stop-work order came after Hochul engaged in discussions with the White House. In a statement, Hochul expressed gratitude to President Donald Trump, saying, "I want to thank President Trump for his willingness to work with me to save the 1,500 good-paying union jobs that were on the line and helping get this essential project back on track." The move is seen as a political maneuver to address economic concerns while navigating the complex landscape of federal and state energy policies.

New York, along with other northeastern states, had filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging its authority to enforce the executive order that halted federal wind-energy approvals. The lawsuit argued that the order was an overreach and conflicted with state-level clean energy goals.

Economic and environmental considerations

The Empire Wind 1 project is projected to deliver 810 megawatts of electricity, enough to power approximately 500,000 homes. Equinor, the Norway-based energy company developing the project, has emphasized the economic benefits, stating, "We appreciate the fact that construction can now resume on Empire Wind, a project which underscores our commitment to deliver energy while supporting local economies and creating jobs," said Anders Opedal, President and CEO of Equinor ASA.

However, the project has not been without controversy. Environmental groups have raised concerns about the potential impact on marine life and coastal ecosystems. Trump, who has been a vocal critic of offshore wind projects, has argued that the turbines would harm whales, birds and other wildlife. He has advocated for increased reliance on natural gas and coal, rolling back regulations to support these industries.

The resumption of the Empire Wind 1 project is part of a broader trend in the U.S. toward expanding offshore wind capacity. During his tenure, former President Joe Biden set a goal to develop 35 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, starting with projects like Vineyard Wind off Massachusetts. This initiative was part of a larger strategy to transition the U.S. to cleaner energy sources and reduce carbon emissions.

The decision to resume the project is a positive sign for the future of offshore wind in the United States. Despite the challenges and controversies, the project represents a significant investment in renewable energy and a commitment to reducing the nation's carbon footprint.

The lifting of the stop-work order on the Empire Wind 1 project marks a critical moment in New York's energy transition and the broader push for renewable energy in America. While challenges remain, the decision to resume construction reflects a growing recognition of the importance of offshore wind in meeting the nation's clean energy goals. (Related: Hidden toll: Federal secrecy shields wind industry's eagle deaths to protect land-hungry turbines that yield minimal power.)

Watch the video below that talks about Mississippi's new energy plan.

This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Green energy failure: UK spends over 1 billion this year to turn off wind farms and start up gas plants.

Offshore wind turbine in Massachusetts suffers BLADE FAILURE, debris washes up on beaches,

History proves wind and solar energy aren't viable for powering the future.

Sources include:

WattsUpWithThat.com

JustTheNews.com

Brighteon.com
Israel proposes plan to screen Gaza aid recipients using facial recognition technology

The U.S. and Israel agreed to allow limited humanitarian aid into Gaza, but only if recipients undergo biometric facial recognition screening to prevent Hamas from accessing supplies.

Aid (food, medicine, hygiene kits) will be restricted to 60 percent of Gaza's population, distributed via four Israeli-controlled "safe zone" centers, bypassing existing UN networks.

Major aid groups, including the UN, reject the plan, calling it a violation of neutrality and a tool for Israeli military control, citing no evidence of large-scale Hamas aid diversion.

Experts compare the biometric screening and private security involvement to historical abuses (e.g., Holocaust, Iraq War), warning of forced displacement and erosion of aid impartiality.

The plan was endorsed by Israel under U.S. pressure, with Trump's administration pushing for aid while maintaining pressure on Hamas, despite widespread criticism.

The United States and Israel have announced a new plan to allow limited humanitarian aid into Gaza, contingent on the use of biometric facial recognition technology to screen recipients, following weeks of a near-total blockade that has pushed the enclave toward famine.

During President Donald Trump's recent visit to Arab allies in the Gulf, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar publicly endorsed the 14-page proposal brokered under U.S. pressure. The move follows intense diplomatic efforts by the Trump administration, which has urged Israel to ease restrictions while maintaining pressure on Hamas. (Related: Aid groups: Israel blocks 83% of food aid to Gaza, triggering severe humanitarian crisis.)

"President Trump has made very clear that one of the most urgent things that needs to happen is humanitarian aid into Gaza, and he has tasked all of his team to do everything possible to accelerate that and to as expeditiously as possible get humanitarian aid in, to the people," said U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

The proposal would initially provide pre-packaged food, hygiene kits and medical supplies to only 60 percent of Gaza's 2.1 million residents, with distribution managed by a newly formed Swiss charity, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Instead of using the existing network of around 400 United Nations (UN) distribution points, only four aid centers would be established in a southern "safe zone" controlled by Israeli forces, where displaced Palestinians must relocate to receive assistance.

However, this plan hinges on facial recognition technology to screen civilians and verify identities, a measure Israel claims will prevent Hamas members from accessing aid.

"It will enable aid to go directly to the people. Hamas must not be allowed to get their hands on it," Saar said in a separate announcement on May 11. Israeli soldiers "will not allocate aid. They will secure the perimeter."

Humanitarian groups and experts refuse to endorse Israel's U.S.-backed proposal

In line with the proposal, Saar has called on countries and aid groups to cooperate.

However, major aid groups, including the UN and its partners, have refused to participate, calling the proposal a violation of humanitarian principles. "It contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles and appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic  as part of a military strategy," the United Nations and its aid partners in Gaza said in a joint statement. "We will not participate in any scheme that does not adhere to the global humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality."

UN officials also disputed the Israeli claims that Hamas exploits aid deliveries by confiscating supplies, profiting from black market sales and using aid distribution to reinforce its control over Gaza. Instead, UN officials claimed there is no evidence of large-scale aid diversion in the region.

"The aid we coordinate goes to the people for whom it's intended," said Olga Cherevko of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "We have mechanisms in place that help mitigate this, including monitoring during and after distribution, hotlines to report incidents and our accountability to donors."

Moreover, humanitarian experts argued that the initiative aligns with Israel's military strategy of pushing Palestinians from northern to southern Gaza, with long-term goals of displacing them out of the territory entirely. Experts warn of ethical risks, drawing parallels to the Iraq War, where private security groups operated under military oversight, complicating impartial aid delivery.

"The idea of getting aid is very important, but how aid is delivered is equally important. And there are massive red flags all over the place for this plan," said Paul Spiegel, director of the Center for Humanitarian Health at Johns Hopkins University.

Visit Starvation.news for more stories related to Israel's "hunger campaign" in Gaza.

Watch the video below that talks about Israel's plan to fully conquer Gaza.

This video is from Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Israel kills SEVEN Gaza food aid workers in "accidental" airstrikes where Israeli drones hunted, targeted and destroyed three clearly marked food aid vehicles.

VIDEO: Israelis attack Jordanian aid trucks delivering food supplies to starving Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel "systematically targeted" Gaza food aid workers, new evidence shows  it wasn't an "accident!"

Israel's U.S.-backed Gaza aid plan sparks global backlash.

War on Gaza: Israeli commander behind aid worker killings had demanded 'siege' of Gaza.

Sources include:

ReclaimtheNet.org

NPR.org

Brighteon.com
POLL: Majority of French women support military deployment to combat drug trafficking in troubled neighborhoods

A CSA poll shows 76 percent of French citizens, including 70 percent of under-35s, support using the military to combat drug trafficking in disadvantaged neighborhoods, reflecting widespread frustration over rising crime and insecurity.

Support crosses political lines, with 90 percent of National Rally voters, 81 percent of President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance supporters and even 52 percent of far-left LFI voters backing military intervention.

Eighty percent of French women favor military action, higher than men (72 percent), likely linked to rising fears over safety amid an 86 percent surge in sexual violence against women in the past decade.

Miprof reports 3,374 sexual violence cases on public transport in 2024 (up 86 percent since 2016), with 91 percent of victims being women, 36 percent minors and 99 percent of perpetrators male.

Seventy percent of women in Paris's Ile-de-France region report experiencing sexual violence on public transport, with 80 percent constantly on high alert and many altering routines to avoid attacks, highlighting systemic insecurity.

A new CSA poll has revealed that 80 percent of French women support military deployment to combat drug trafficking in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The poll, conducted for CNews, Europe 1 and Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD), highlights growing frustration over rising crime, insecurity and the perceived failure of law enforcement to maintain order in areas heavily affected by drug-related violence. (Related: BREAKING: France to criminally prosecute drug company for false marketing of diabetes drug that killed 2,000 people.)

In line with this, the results reveal a staggering 76 percent of French citizens now support deploying the military to combat drug trafficking in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Younger French citizens also overwhelmingly back the measure, with 70 percent of those under 35 in favor, including 73 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 68 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds. This contrasts with trends in other Western European nations, where youth typically oppose hardline security measures.

Older generations show even stronger support, with 80 percent of those aged 35 to 49 and 50 to 64 endorsing military deployment, along with 78 percent of those over 50.

Support for military intervention cuts across party lines, though right-wing voters are the most enthusiastic. A striking 90 percent of National Rally (RN) voters back the idea, while 81 percent of President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party supporters also agree. Even on the left, 54 percent overall support military action, including 67 percent of Socialist voters and perhaps, most surprisingly, 52 percent of far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) supporters.

But alarmingly, the survey reveals that 80 percent of French women support military intervention  a higher percentage than men (72 percent).

Miprof: Sexual violence against women in France up 86 percent in last 10 years

The result of CSA poll primarily aligns with the 86 percent increase in sexual violence against women in France in the last 10 years.

According to data from the French Observatory on Violence Against Women (Miprof), at least 3,374 people were subjected to sexual violence on public transport in 2024  an 86 percent increase compared to 2016. The Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris, accounted for 44 percent of all reported cases.

The overwhelming majority of victims, 91 percent are women, with 75 percent under the age of 30 and 36 percent being minors. Meanwhile, 99 percent of alleged perpetrators were men.

Similarly, another survey conducted by RATP, the public transport operator in Paris and Ile-de-France, found that seven out of ten women in the region have experienced sexual violence. More than half of those surveyed said they do not feel safe while using public transport.

"Although most violence against women is committed by members of their close circle, the fact remains that public spaces, and particularly public transport networks, remain places where women are exposed to sexist and sexual violence as soon as they enter them," said Miprof Secretary General Roxana Maracineanu.

Miprof also reported that 80 percent of women remain on high alert when traveling, with many altering their routines to avoid potential attacks.

"The fact that a woman or girl changes her schedule or her journey for fear of being attacked should make us question the freedom of access of all citizens to the public transport service," Maracineanu added.

Go to Addiction.news for more information about efforts to combat drug trafficking.

Watch the video below as Alex Jones talks about the new casualties of fentanyl crisis in the United States.

This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Trudeau meets Trump at Mar-a-Lago, agrees to crack down on illegal border crossings and drug trafficking.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken: Drug trafficking, immigration are crisis MUTUAL RESPONSIBILITIES of the U.S. and Mexico.

Newsom deploys 50% more California National Guardsmen along U.S.-Mexico border to combat drug trafficking, but won't halt illegal immigration.

China now dominating global drug trafficking with money laundering and chemical production.

Opioid drug trafficking: Another excellent reason why Congress should fund Trumps border wall NOW.

Sources include:

Modernity.news

DailyMail.co.uk

Brighteon.com
We had lunch in Israel once: New questions swirl over Epsteins intelligence links

Jeffrey Epsteins 2007 plea deal, negotiated by Alan Dershowitz, allegedly hinged on unproven claims of Epsteins intelligence ties.

Dershowitz admitted during a 2025 interview that the deal was influenced by Epsteins supposed affiliation with intelligence but later hedged his statements.

Former Mossad handler Ari Ben-Menashe and others allege Epstein orchestrated honey-pot operations for Mossad, targeting political figures.

Epsteins ties include connections to Mossad agent Robert Maxwell, financier Leslie Wexner and Israeli-aligned hypersurveillance networks.

Shifting narratives from Dershowitz and FBI official Dan Bongino amplify scrutiny over U.S. accountability and intelligence secrecy.

A recent interview with Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer who brokered a controversial 2007 plea deal for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, has reignited debates about Epsteins alleged ties to intelligence agencies and the extent of government overreach in shielding him from prosecution. During the conversation, Dershowitz ambiguously admitted that he knew Epstein was told to have belonged to intelligence but hedged on whether he believed it, contradicting his previous denials of Epsteins Mossad links. Meanwhile, newly surfaced testimonies and historical context reveal a pattern of cooperation between Epsteins associates and Israeli intelligence, casting doubt on official narratives and judicial transparency.

The unchecked deal: Acosta, Dershowitz and above their paygrade claims

In 2007, then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta faced mounting pressure to prosecute Epstein amid voluminous evidence of child sexual abuse. Instead, he accepted a plea deal negotiated by Dershowitz, which limited Epstein to short prison terms and avoided federal indictment. Acosta later disclosed he was advised by a higher authority that Epstein stood above his paygrade, a phrase interpreted to mean Epstein was working for intelligence.

New revelations underscore Dershowitzs pivotal role. During a May 2025 interview with conservative influencer Benny Johnson, Dershowitz confirmed he oversaw the deal after being told Epstein was an intelligence asset but added, Hmm. I dont know. Its possible. We had lunch in Israel once, I think. He sidestepped direct questions on whether he believed Epstein was an asset, muttering, Epstein killed himself or was killed. This contrasted sharply with his earlier insistence in 2023 that Epstein was not a Mossad agent.

Mossad allegations: Honey-pot operations and double lives

Epsteins alleged espionage role is bolstered by testimony from multiple sources, including former Mossad agent Ari Ben-Menashe, who claims Epstein ran a honey-pot operation to lure politicians into compromising situations for intelligence-gathering. Ben-Menashe, a controversial figure with proven Mossad ties, detailed in a 2019 book how Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell targeted global elites, including Prince Andrew, photographing encounters to blackmail adversaries.

Two further testimonies corroborate the narrative:

Steven Hoffenberg, Epsteins former Wall Street partner, testified Epstein told me Ghislaine Maxwell would be his passport to the Israeli agency.

An anonymous former girlfriend of Epstein claimed he bragged about his Mossad connections and described Maxwell nudging their victims toward strategic interactions.

Ben-Menashes claims align with documented links between Epsteins network and Israeli interests: Robert Maxwell, Ghislaines father, was a proven Mossad collator; financier Leslie Wexner, who bankrolled Epstein, was a founder of the pro-Israel Mega Group; and Epstein himself frequented technology hubs in Herzliya, Israel, a center for Mossad undercover operations.

Shifting tones and retreating narratives

Dershowitzs noncommittal remarks mirror broader patterns of evasion. Dan Bongino, FBI official and conservative commentator, abandoned his 2019 calls for a full Epstein investigation, now declaring the case closed with Epsteins death. Similarly, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt deflected questions about Epsteins ties to intelligence at a May 19 press briefing, citing the DOJs vague commitment to releasing classified files.

The abrupt silences and retracted claims have fueled public skepticism. When officials who once demanded accountability suddenly remember nothing, credibility erodes, noted investigative journalist Kim Iverson. The scrutiny extends beyond Epstein, questioning how U.S. authorities balance national security interests with the rule of lawparticularly when transparency is sacrificed to protect assets with lawless agendas.

Why this matters in 2025: Trust deficits and shadows over governance

Epsteins story is a cautionary tale for contemporary national security debates. At its core, it asks whether U.S. intelligence agencies and their allies abroad wield unchecked power, immunizing predators like Epstein while deniability is preserved through secrecy. The case intersects with ongoing controversies over U.S. funding for proxy warsincluding those projected onto Israels military actionsand the ethical boundaries of assets in espionage.

As more evidence surfacesencrypted files like those held by now-exiled Florida deputy sheriff John Dougan, or Epsteins alleged coordination with MI6public trust in institutions hinges on whether officials will act decisively. The question isnt just about Epstein, said Iverson. Its about whether we want a nation where justice is a side deal served on a CIA honor system.

Sources for this article include:

ZeroHedge.com

ZeroHedge.com

TheSun.co.uk
The fearmongering doesnt work: U.S. reports no new cases of BIRD FLU in humans for 3 months

The U.S. has reported no new human bird flu infections since February, puzzling experts. While the CDC attributes this to declining animal cases, some suspect undetected infections, especially among farmworkers avoiding testing.

California, previously the outbreak epicenter, has seen a dramatic decline in human testing, only four tests recorded in March and April combined, with none in May.

The CDC suggests the lull may reflect seasonal patterns, but critics argue severe cases should still be detected. Others warn that surveillance has weakened due to staffing shortages and reduced federal efforts.

Immigrant workers  disproportionately affected  may avoid testing due to fear of deportation, potentially masking ongoing infections.

Despite the decline, researchers stress H5N1 remains a threat. Ongoing studies aim to track exposure, but funding and political challenges hinder preparedness efforts. The CDC maintains a "moderate" pandemic risk assessment.

For the past three months, not a single new human case of H5N1 bird flu has been officially reported in the U.S.  leaving scientists and health officials scratching their heads. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the decline in cases aligns with reduced infections in animals.

While others would celebrate this development, so-called "public health experts" saw an opportunity to sow fear among the population.

According to these experts, the absence of reported human cases may not mean the virus has retreated. Instead, they fear infections are slipping under the radar, particularly among farm workers who may be avoiding testing due to fear or lack of access.

Over the past 14 months, H5N1 bird flu has infected at least 70 Americans, most of them dairy and poultry workers. Only one fatality was reported, in Louisiana, with the majority experiencing mild symptoms. Yet since early February  when the CDC confirmed cases in Nevada, Ohio and Wyoming  the agency has recorded no new human infections. (Related: BIRD FLU SCAM: Neither CANADA nor MEXICO have killed a single chicken due to Bird Flu because mysteriously Bird Flu DOES NOT CROSS BORDERS.)

California, once the epicenter of the outbreak, has seen testing plummet. During the height of H5N1's spread this year, the Golden State accounted for three-quarters of the nation's dairy cattle infections. State records show just three people were tested in March, one in April and none so far in May  with the last confirmed human case in the state recorded on Jan. 14.

Seasonality or surveillance failure? More like sick and tired

One possible explanation is natural seasonality. CDC officials note that bird flu cases historically peak in the fall and early winter, coinciding with wild bird migrations. If this pattern holds, the current lull may be temporary.

But skeptics argue that even with seasonal declines, some cases should still be detected  especially severe ones requiring hospitalization. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, acknowledged that mild cases could go unnoticed but doubts that serious infections would escape detection.

Another theory brought up by fearmongering skeptics is that surveillance efforts have weakened. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have faced staffing shortages due to resignations and budget cuts.

Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, suggests that "targeted surveillance has really dropped off precipitously" under recent federal policies. She also raises concerns that immigrant farm workers  who make up a significant portion of those infected  may be avoiding testing out of fear of deportation.

The CDC maintains that the decline in human cases mirrors falling infection rates in animals. "Given the fact that the number of animal detections has fallen according to USDA data, its not surprising that human cases have declined as well," the agency stated.

Despite the uncertainty, research continues. Texas A&M University scientists are conducting a CDC-funded study testing dairy workers for past H5N1 exposure. Meanwhile, University of Maryland researcher Kristen Coleman is investigating infections in domestic cats  oddly mirroring an episode of "The Simpsons" from 2010 about "house cat flu."

Watch this clip from "The HighWire with Del Bigtree" about the mainstream media stoking fears of bird flu.

This video is from the Sanivan channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

US government diagnosing chickens with bird flu using fraudulent PCR tests, then slaughtering them.

Deborah Birxs bird flu fearmongering campaign.

Poultry producers worry about proposed bird flu vaccine; jab could SPREAD more bird flu across America!

Communist-funded vaccine incentives plan used in Walzs Minnesota plandemic may be NATIONWIDE SCAM to vax to death children for Bird Flu in 2025.

Bird flu hysteria: Another government-backed fear campaign?

Sources include:

SHTFPlan.com

APNews.com

EconomicTimes.IndiaTimes.com

Brighteon.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. The 8th Kharibulbul International Music Festival, organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, continued with interesting presentations in Shusha on May 25, Trend reports.

A musical program of works by Azerbaijani and foreign composers performed by students of the Arts Department of Karabakh University was presented at Jidir Duzu.

Rector of Karabakh University Shahin Bayramov said in an interview with journalists that thanks to the leadership of the victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev, the dedication of our heroic officers and soldiers, the blood of our martyrs, the 8th Kharibulbul International Music Festival was once again held in Shusha. He noted that this day is extremely significant and causes pride.

"The participation of Karabakh University, the first higher education institution established by the Decree of President Ilham Aliyev in the lands liberated from occupation, in this festival for the first time is of particular importance to us. Today, our mugham, our national music sounds completely different on the stage of each festival, the rector noted.

The head of the design and decorative and applied arts department of Karabakh University Gulshan Gasimzade noted that one of the main goals of the university is to instill national and spiritual values in the youth and actively participate in the cultural revival of Karabakh.

Having returned to our native Karabakh after thirty years, we are carrying out reconstruction work in the fields of education, culture, architecture and other areas. In the future, the university plans new projects to expand its participation in this area, she emphasized.

The head of the instrumental performance department of the Arts Department of Karabakh University, tar player Arslan Novrasli said that the educational institution performed at the Kharibulbul International Music Festival with a magnificent final concert in just one year and added: Inclusion in the official program of the festival means a significant part of our history. With the wonderful administrative and teaching staff, as well as the student body, we have taken our first steps as a family and are moving towards the next big goals."

Holding such festivals further strengthens the commitment of the younger generation to national and spiritual values, creates conditions for a deeper assimilation of our history and cultural heritage, and an understanding of the responsibility for passing on these values to future generations. At the same time, it serves as an important platform for creative youth, where they can demonstrate their skills and ideas, as well as present national creative traditions from a new perspective.
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Global demand for lithium, copper, rare earths set to surge - IEA

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Global demand for critical minerals like lithium, copper, and rare earth elements is set to rise sharply through 2040, driven by the accelerating shift to clean energy technologies, according to the International Energy Agency. Despite a slight downward revision in electric vehicle projections, the long-term outlook for battery metals and electrification-related materials remains strong.

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Pisces Horoscope Today, May 25th, 2025

Written By :

GaneshaGrace

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 07:05 IST

Pisces Daily Horoscope, May 25th, 2025: Dont let setbacks shake your goals. Teamwork will help your business rise. Trust the process, stay focused, and move smartly.

Pisces Horoscope Today: Astrological predictions by Chirag Daruwalla for meena rashi on May 25th 2025.

Pisces Daily Horoscope Today, 25th May 2025: Ganesha says failures in business cannot be ruled out; Your challenge is to rise above them. However, it will be in your best interest not to let these setbacks hinder your long-term business interests. Focus your attention on specific goals and if possible join hands with some self-motivated and enthusiastic people so that you can take your business to new heights.

You will get success in partnership. Leadership efforts will be better. You will be effective in discussions. Will be dedicated to your goals. Will be ready to take risks. Maintain coordination with everyone. Management will improve. Maintain continuity and discipline. Strengthen industry and commerce. Check out your daily horoscope for May 25, 2025 here.

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Pisces Horoscope Today, May 25th, 2025

Positive: Ganesha says there is a plan to buy property or change the place, which can also be implemented today. With the resolution of family disputes, there will be a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere at home. You will also be able to focus on your activities. Negative: Pisces, there will be a lot of running around for any planning related to the future of children. But your efforts will also yield meaningful results. Be careful because you can be harmed by an unknown person. Do not waste time in useless activities. Business: There will be proper cooperation among staff and employees. A profitable situation is being created in partnership-related work. There is a possibility of some changes related to their department for employed people. You will feel a very relaxed environment. Love: The family environment will be pleasant and happy. Mutual closeness will also increase in love relationships. Health: To get relief from conditions like cervical and shoulder pain, make exercise and yoga a part of your daily routine.

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Lucky Colour: Purple

Lucky Number: 8

(The author Chirag Daruwalla is the son of Astrologer Bejan Daruwalla).

About the Author Chirag Daruwalla Chirag Daruwalla, a renowned Indian astrologer with 18+ years of experience, provides expert guidance in career, health, finance, business, and more. He combines Vedic and Western astrology, I-Ching, Tarot, Num... Read More Chirag Daruwalla, a renowned Indian astrologer with 18+ years of experience, provides expert guidance in career, health, finance, business, and more. He combines Vedic and Western astrology, I-Ching, Tarot, Num... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 07:05 IST
India Is Now World's Fourth Largest Economy, Surpassing Japan: NITI Aayog CEO

Curated By :

News18 India

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 13:05 IST

India has become the fourth largest economy, surpassing Japan, with a USD 4 trillion economy, said NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam.

India GDP overtakes Japan's: NITI Aayog CEO

India GDP: India has become the worlds fourth largest economy, surpassing Japan, as announced by NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam on Saturday.

Following the 10th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, Mr. Subrahmanyam informed reporters that the current geopolitical and economic climate is favorable for India."As of now, we are the fourth largest economy and a USD 4 trillion economy," he stated.

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Citing IMF data, Subrahmanyam said India today is larger than Japan.

Only the US, China, and Germany are currently larger than India. If we adhere to our plans and strategies, within 2.5 to 3 years, we will become the third-largest economy, said Mr. Subrahmanyam.

According to the IMF, Indias GDP is currently 4.19 trillion dollars. It ranks behind the USA, China, and Germany, whose GDPs are 30.51 trillion dollars, 19.23 trillion dollars, and 4.74 trillion dollars, respectively.

IMF Projects Indias GDP Growth At 6.2% In 2025

According to the April 2025 edition of the IMFs World Economic Outlook, Indias economy is expected to grow by 6.2 per cent in 2025 and 6.3 per cent in 2026, maintaining a solid lead over global and regional peers.

The April 2025 edition of the WEO shows a downward revision in the 2025 forecast compared to the January 2025 update, reflecting the impact of heightened global trade tensions and growing uncertainty.

IMF Cuts Japan Growth Projection For 2025 Amid Tariff War

The International Monetary Fund revised its outlook for Japan, cutting its 2025 growth forecast to 0.6%, down from 1.1% projected in January. This downgrade reflects the expected negative impact of U.S. tariffs on Japans economic performance.

ICRA Projects Indias GDP At 6.9%

Ratings agency ICRA on Monday projected Indias GDP growth at 6.9 per cent in the quarter ended March 31, and at 6.3 per cent for the full financial year 2024-25, undershooting the National Statistics Office (NSO) estimates made in February. The NSO is scheduled to release the provisional estimates of FY25 GDP and quarterly estimates for Q4 on May 30. In February, the NSO had projected the Indian economy to grow at 6.5 per cent in 2024-25. To achieve the NSOs projected 6.5 per cent growth in FY25, the GDP growth in Q4 or March quarter should be 7.6 per cent. In FY25, the Indian economy in June, September and December quarters grew at 6.5 per cent, 5.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively.

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(With PTI Inputs)

About the Author Business Desk A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al... Read More A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 09:37 IST
Leela Hotels IPO: Rs 3500 Cr Issue Set To Open Tomorrow; Check Price Band, GMP & More

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 10:08 IST

Leela Hotels IPO: The IPO aims to raise Rs 3,500 crore, with Rs 2,500 crore from a fresh issue and Rs 1,000 crore from an OFS. Check price band, allotment and listing dates.

The Leela Hotels IPO is priced in the range of Rs 413-435 per share.

Leela Hotels IPO GMP: Leela Hotels parent Schloss Bangalore, known for its luxury hotels and resorts, is set to launch its Rs 3,500 crore initial public offering (IPO) on May 26, 2025 which will be open for subscription until May 28, 2025. The IPO consists of a fresh issue and an offer-for-sale (OFS).

Founded in 1986, Schloss Bangalore is the parent company of the luxury hotel chain The Leela" in India, one of the largest luxury hospitality chains in the country in terms of the number of keys.

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The IPO aims to raise Rs 3,500 crore, with Rs 2,500 crore from a fresh issue and Rs 1,000 crore from an OFS. The raising amount is down from earlier planned of Rs 5000 crore.

Leela Hotels IPO Price Band

The price band for the issue is set at Rs 413 to Rs 435 per share, with a minimum bid quantity of 34 shares, which translates to a minimum investment of Rs 14,790 at the upper end of the price band for retail investors. The IPO will be open for bidding from May 26 to May 28, with the share allotment expected to be finalized on May 30.

Leela Hotels IPO GMP

According to various market observers, the current GMP of Leela Hotels IPO stands at a premium of 5 per cent (Rs 22) on the upper cap of the price band of Rs 435.

Leela Hotels IPO Allotment And Listing Dates

Successful bidders should see shares credited to their demat accounts by May 30, with refunds issued on the same day. The shares are scheduled to list on the BSE and NSE on June 02, 2025.

Leela Hotels IPO Objectives

Leela Hotels plans to utilize Rs 2,500 crore from the fresh issue for the following purposes:

 Repayment of outstanding borrowings: Approximately Rs 2,300 crore will be used to repay/pre-pay certain borrowings of the company and its subsidiaries.

 General corporate purposes: A portion of the IPO proceeds will be allocated for general corporate purposes, not exceeding 25% of the gross proceeds.

Leela Hotels Financials

Schloss Bangalore Limiteds financial performance shows a 15% increase in revenue and a significant 2341% rise in profit after tax (PAT) between the financial years ending March 31, 2024, and March 31, 2025.

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As of March 31, 2025, the companys assets stood at Rs 8,266.16 crore, with revenue at Rs 1,406.56 crore and PAT at Rs 47.66 crore. The companys net worth improved to Rs 3,604.99 crore, and its total borrowings were Rs 3,908.75 crore. Leela Hotels operates 3,553 keys across 13 hotels under The Leela Palaces, Hotels, and Resorts, with a strategic presence in 10 key destinations in India, covering a significant portion of international and domestic air traffic in FY 25.

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 Business Desk A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al... Read More A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 10:05 IST
Has Mumbai Ever Seen Monsoon Arrival In May Instead Of June? Yes, Thrice

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Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 17:34 IST

The RMC, Mumbai, stated on X at 2.40 pm: Conditions are favourable for further advance of Southwest Monsoon into more parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai.

The monsoon usually arrives in Mumbai mid-June. (PTI File)

While the monsoon has arrived in Kerala and some parts of Maharashtra, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted an onset in Mumbai soon.

The Regional Meteorological Center, Mumbai, stated on X at 2.40 pm: The Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of westcentral & eastcentral Arabian Sea, some more parts of Karnataka, entire Goa, some parts of MaharashtraConditions are favourable for further advance of Southwest Monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, some more parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai."

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The Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of westcentral & eastcentral Arabian Sea, some more parts of Karnataka, entire Goa, some parts of Maharashtra. Regional Meteorological Center,Mumbai (@RMC_Mumbai) May 25, 2025

MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA MONSOON ARRIVALS

While usually the monsoon arrives in mid-June, there have been instances of earlier arrivals in Mumbai:

1952, 1956, 1872: The monsoon set in as early as May 29.

2011: The monsoon reached Mumbai on June 5, slightly earlier than usual.

2013: The monsoon arrived on June 7, marking an early onset

A look at the onset dates since 2005:

Year Onset Date 2005 June 10 2006 June 10 2007 June 10 2008 June 10 2009 June 10 2010 June 14 2011 June 5 2012 June 17 2013 June 7 2014 June 15 2015 June 12 2016 June 20 2017 June 12 2018 June 09 2019 June 25 2020 June 14 2021 June 9 2022 June 11 2023 June 25 2024 June 6

The IMDs 2025 seasonal outlook has forecast above-normal rainfall, estimating it at 105% of the long-period average (LPA), with a 5% margin. This is positive news for water reserves and agriculture, although it also means the city must brace for the challenges that come with heavier rain.

Update on southwest Monsoon Advance today, the 24th May 2025 over IndiaThe Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of south Arabian Sea, some parts of westcentral & eastcentral Arabian Sea, entire Lakshadweep area, Kerala, Mahe, some parts of Karnataka, pic.twitter.com/4VsTjrSRw9  India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) May 24, 2025

MONSOON ARRIVAL IN KERALA

The monsoon arrived in Kerala on Saturday, making it the earliest onset in the state in 16 years, according to the IMD. The monsoon usually arrives in Kerala on June 1, but the last time it arrived this earlyon May 23was in 2009 and 2001. The earliest recorded onset was on May 11, 1918.

- ()                     . Regional Meteorological Center,Mumbai (@RMC_Mumbai) May 25, 2025

MAHARASHTRA WEATHER FORECAST

The IMD has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in Konkan-Goa (South) districts and heavy rainfall at isolated places in the Ghat areas of South Central Maharashtra.

Thunderstorms, lightning, gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph and heavy to very heavy rainfall are likely at isolated places over North Konkan and North Central Maharashtra. Thunderstorms, lightning, gusts of wind reaching 40-50 kmph and heavy rain are likely at isolated places in Marathwada," it said.

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The IMD, in a press release, said, The depression over Madhya Maharashtra moved nearly eastwards and weakened into a well marked low pressure area and lay over south Madhya Maharashtra and adjoining areas of Marathwada & North Interior Karnataka at 0830 hours IST of today, May 25, 2025. It is likely to move slowly eastwards during next 24 hours and weaken gradually."

The upper air trough runs from east central Arabian sea to north Odisha, across central Maharashtra, north Telangana, South Chhattisgarh, between 1.5 & 4.6 km above mean sea level titling southward with height. Under its influence, rainfall activity over Maharashtra is likely to continue during the next 5-6 days. Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall activity with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places is very likely to continue over Konkan and adjoining ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra during the above period. Scattered light/moderate rainfall accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning & gusty wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph is expected over Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada, during 25-27 May 2025."

About the Author Manjiri Joshi At the news desk for 17 years, the story of her life has revolved around finding pun, facts while reporting, on radio, heading a daily newspaper desk, teaching mass media students to now editing special copies ... Read More At the news desk for 17 years, the story of her life has revolved around finding pun, facts while reporting, on radio, heading a daily newspaper desk, teaching mass media students to now editing special copies ... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 15:13 IST
Heavy Rain Hits Mumbai Amid Early Monsoon Forecast; Yellow Alert Issued

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 08:29 IST

Mumbai woke up to heavy rain and thunderstorms on Sunday, with weather experts predicting an early arrival of the monsoon in Maharashtra this year.

Heavy rain swept across Mumbai on Sunday | File Image/ANI

Mumbai woke up to heavy rain and thunderstorms on Sunday, with weather experts predicting an early arrival of the monsoon in Maharashtra this year.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for Mumbai and a red alert for the South Konkan districts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg on Saturday as a depression system crossed near Ratnagiri and Dapoli, bringing heavy rainfall.

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According to the IMD, the rainfall is linked to a low-pressure system that formed over the east-central Arabian Sea, off the coast of south Konkan and Goa, which intensified into a depression on May 24.

The IMD has estimated that the monsoon could officially reach the state within two to three days, nearly 10 days ahead of the usual June 7 onset, with rainfall already progressing as far as Karwar.

The department declared the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala on May 24  eight days ahead of its normal date of June 1.

Shubhangi A Bhute, a Scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, Yes, the monsoon has been active till now in South India, and conditions are favourable for the first onset of monsoon in Maharashtra."

According to the weather department, a depression over the east-central Arabian Sea near the south Konkan coast began crossing between Ratnagiri and Dapoli on Friday.

This system, along with moisture inflow from both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, is expected to trigger widespread rainfall across Maharashtra over the next two days.

According to the IMD forecast, conditions are favorable for the southwest monsoon to advance further over the central Arabian Sea, Goa, parts of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, additional areas of Karnataka, and the remaining parts of Tamil Nadu within the next 23 days.

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A fishermans warning was also issued for the Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts, as sea conditions remained hazardous due to the active monsoon system over the Arabian Sea.

First Published: May 25, 2025, 08:18 IST
Delhi Govt To Introduce Skill-based Subjects In 257 Schools

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News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 12:20 IST

According to the circular, students in classes 9 and 11 can now enroll in various skill subjects, with each school expected to accommodate up to 50 students per subject.

Students in Classes 9 and 11 can now enroll in various skill subjects, as per the circular (Representative image/File)

The Directorate of Education has approved the introduction of Skill/NSQF subjects in 257 more government schools in Delhi starting this academic session, officials announced. This initiative aims to boost vocational education throughout schools, as reported by PTI.

These subjects, part of the Samagra Shiksha scheme, are intended to provide students with practical knowledge and job-ready skills alongside their regular studies, according to a circular issued on May 23, the report added.

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According to the circular, students in classes 9 and 11 can now enroll in various skill subjects, with each school expected to accommodate up to 50 students per subject. Schools have also been advised to conduct counseling sessions to help students understand the career opportunities available through these vocational subjects. Newly enrolled Class 11 students can opt for these subjects even if they havent studied them in Classes 9 or 10.

This initiative is part of a flexible, multi-entry and multi-exit policy to make skill education more accessible," the circular stated. It also noted that taking skill subjects is optional, not mandatory.

Schools may offer the option, but it is not required for every student to enroll in a skill subject," it added.

According to CBSE guidelines, schools do not need separate approval to introduce additional skill subjects. They just need to update the relevant details on the CBSE portal, as mentioned in the circular.

The National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) subjects include practical courses such as Information Technology, Retail, Healthcare, and Beauty and Wellness, aimed at enhancing students employability and career readiness.

ALSO READ | Top 5 Essential Skills Students Should Learn In 2025

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Meanwhile, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced a policy that allows students who fail in one main subject in Class 10 to still pass the board exams, without taking a compartment exam, by replacing the failed subject with a passed skill-based subject.

The new curriculum framework from CBSE formally acknowledges the sixth subject, often a skill subject, as a possible replacement for a failed core subject, given that the student has passed the skill subject. This implies that a student who fails in Mathematics, Science, or Social Science but passes, for example, Computer Applications or Artificial Intelligence, will be considered to have passed the Class 10 board exams.

About the Author Education and Careers Desk A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, latest in ... Read More A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, latest in ... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 11:17 IST
JEE Advanced 2025 Provisional Answer Key Released, Steps To Raise Objection

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 12:40 IST

JEE Advanced 2025 Answer Key: Based on the challenges, the IIT will issue the final answer key and results on June 2 at 10 am.

JEE Advanced 2025 Answer Key at jeeadv.ac.in.

JEE Advanced 2025 Answer Key: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, which conducted the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2025 on May 22 has released the provisional answer keys today, May 25 at 10 am. The answer keys for both paper 1 and 2 have been issued by the IIT. Candidates who have appeared for this exam can view and download the answer key by visiting the official website of JEE Advanced at jeeadv.ac.in. It was earlier scheduled to be released on May 26.

Candidates can raise objection to the answer key till May 27 as per the official schedule. Based on the challenges, the IIT will issue the final answer key and results on June 2 at 10 am. The Joint Seat Allocation Process (JoSAA) 2025 is likely to start from 5 pm on June 3.

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JEE Advanced 2025 Answer Key: How To Raise Objection?

Step 1: Go to JEE Advanceds official website at jeeadv.ac.in.

Step 2: Click on the JEE Advanced provisional answer key link.

Step 3: Select Paper 1 / Paper 2.

Step 4: A screen will show the JEE Advanced 2025 answer key.

Step 5: Download and save the answer key and print a copy to keep on hand for future use.

Step 6: To raise objection, select the question and upload supporting documents.

Step 7: Pay the fees and submit.

IIT Kanpur conducted the JEE Advanced 2025 exam on May 18 in two shifts. Paper 1 was conducted from 9 am to 12 noon and Paper 2 was conducted from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

A total of 1,87,223 candidates had registered for JEE Advanced this year. The number of candidates registered in various IIT zones is as follows:

IIT Bombay Zone: 37,002

IIT Delhi Zone: 34,069

IIT Guwahati Zone: 12,802

IIT Hyderabad Zone: 45,622

IIT Kanpur Zone: 21,019

IIT Kharagpur Zone: 19,302

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IIT Roorkee Zone: 17,407

The top 2.5 lakh students of JEE Main 2024 get a chance to appear in JEE Advanced. Only those who get at least below 10,000 rank will be able to get a place in IIT. To get admission to the top 10 IITs in the country, students have to score within 1000 to 3000 ranks.

About the Author Education and Careers Desk A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, latest in ... Read More A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, latest in ... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 12:10 IST
RBSE 5th, 8th Result 2025: When Will Rajasthan Board Release Scorecards? Check Latest Updates

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Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 16:07 IST

Students who have appeared for this exam can check their result by visiting the official website of Rajasthan Board at rajshaladarpan.rajasthan.gov.in.

Rajasthan board to announce class 5 and 8 results for 2025 soon at rajeduboard.nic.in (Representative image/File)

RBSE 5th, 8th Result 2025 Date: Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) class 5th and 8th board exam results are likely to be released by next week. Looking at the trends of previous years, it is being estimated that the results of RBSE class 5th and 8th can be released by May 30. Students who have appeared for this exam can check their result by visiting the official website of Rajasthan Board at rajshaladarpan.rajasthan.gov.in. Students should keep their admit cards with roll numbers handy to avoid any inconvenience while checking the results.

Last year, the Rajasthan Board class 5th and 8th results were released on May 30, 2024. According to the result of the year 2024, a total of 14,35,696 students appeared in the class 5th examination, out of which 13,93,423 students were successful in passing the examination. This means that the pass percentage of class 5th was 97.06%. Girls performed better than boys. While the pass percentage of girls was 97.23%, the pass percentage of boys was 96.89%.

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How To Check RBSE 5th, 8th Result 2025?

Step 1  Visit the official website of RBSE  rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in and rajeduboard.nic.in.

Step 2  Click on the link where it is written.

Step 3  Enter the required details.

Step 4  Your result will appear on the screen.

Step 5  Check RBSE 5th, 8th Result 2025 and save it.

ALSO READ | Rajasthan Board 10th Result 2025 Likely By This Month? Lastest Updates On RBSE Scorecards

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This year RBSE conducted the class 5th examination from April 7 to 17, 2025 while the class 8th examinations were held from March 20 to April 2, 2025.

Students in RBSE class 5 and class 8 need to score at least 33 per cent marks to pass their exams. Those who do not achieve the required minimum marks will have to repeat their class, according to the rules. Some schools may offer grace marks, but this is only applicable to students who miss the passing marks by a small margin.

About the Author Sukanya Nandy Sukanya Nandy is a sub-editor at News18.com. She has been writing and reporting for the education and careers section of the website since 2021. She completed her graduation in English followed PG in Journalism... Read More Sukanya Nandy is a sub-editor at News18.com. She has been writing and reporting for the education and careers section of the website since 2021. She completed her graduation in English followed PG in Journalism... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 15:47 IST
Amid Row With Trump, A Look At The History Of Prestigious Harvard University

Curated By :

News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 11:46 IST

Harvard University has had disputes with federal governments. In 1970s, it adapted to race and gender equity mandates. During the Cold War, it was accused of having Communist ties

More than 200 university presidents, including those from Princeton, Brown and Columbia signed a joint statement to condemn Trumps 'government overreach'. (Reuters file photo)

The row between US President Donald Trump and Harvard University has brought attention to the historical significance of the Ivy League institution, its contribution towards American education and the political challenges it has faced over centuries.

The Harvard University has been in Trumps hair since January, when he took office, over issues related to academic freedom, campus protests, federal oversight and immigration.

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The recent order, which was revoked by a federal judge, to bar the Harvard University from enrolling international students, has been the latest aggressive stance against the institution by the Trump administration.

Foreign students constitute more than a quarter of the universitys strength for the past three years.

Let us look at the history of the university, which is often described as older than the United States".

When Was Harvard Founded?

The university was established in 1636, and was founded by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was named after John Harvard, a Puritan minister whose bequeathed his library and half his estate to lay the foundation for the college.

Initially focused on training clergy, the college evolved into a broader liberal arts institution by the 18th century, educating early American leaders like John Adams (Class of 1755), the second US President.

How The Institution Faced Political Pressures

By 19th century, Harvard expanded to establishing academic schools like the Harvard Law (1817) and Harvard Medical School (1782). It became a melting pot for intellectual and cultural elites, with figures like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau among its alumni. The universitys endowment grew, laying the foundation for its financial strength, though it remained tied to traditional hierarchies.

Under President like Charles W. Eliot (18691909), Harvard transformed into a modern research university, stressing on the value of meritocracy, sciences, and elective curricula. It navigated tensions during national crises, such as World War II, when federal partnerships for research funding began, a practice now central to the Trump dispute.

The 20th century also saw Harvards global influence grow, with alumni including eight US presidents (John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Rutherford B. Hayes)

Post-World War II, the institution faced federal pressure to comply with civil rights and gender equity mandates in the 1970s, agreeing to race and gender targets and oversight, as noted in a 2025 post by @harvardrepclub. It provided financial aid, launched initiatives like the Radcliffe Institute under President Drew Faust (2007-2018), and co-founded edX with MIT for online learning. However, it also faced criticism for elitism and disconnect from broader American sentiment.

Whats The Recent Dispute With Trump?

Over the past few months, the Ivy League institution has been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration over pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas-Israel conflict and alleged ideological biases.

In March 2025, the Trump administration demanded Harvard eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes, audit faculty and student viewpoints, and cooperate with federal oversight, citing alleged civil rights violations and anti-semitism during campus protests. When Harvard did not comply, the administration froze $2.3 billion in federal funding (mostly research grants) and later cut an additional $450 million.

On May 22, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvards ability to enroll international students via the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), affecting 6,800 international students (27% of its student body). A federal judge temporarily blocked this action following a lawsuit filed by Harvard.

In response, Harvards President Alan Garber called Trumps action an attack on academic freedom, arguing they violate Harvards First Amendment rights and exceed federal authority. On April 14, Harvard sued the administration in federal court, calling the funding freeze arbitrary and capricious." A temporary injunction on May 23, 2025, blocked the SEVP revocation, providing relief to international students. Garber allocated $250 million from Harvards endowment to support affected research, signalling defiance.

More than 200 university presidents, including those from Princeton, Brown and Columbia signed a joint statement to condemn Trumps government overreach".

Historical Parallels With Federal Powers

The Harvard University has had periodic tensions with federal governments.

In the 1970s, Harvard adapted to federal mandates on race and gender equity, suggesting a precedent for negotiation.

During the Cold War Era, during McCarthyism, universities faced scrutiny for alleged communist ties. But Harvard resisted loyalty oaths and maintained academic autonomy, a stance mirrored in Garbers defiance.

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Harvard navigated student activism in the 1960s-70s, balancing free speech with institutional stability, similar to todays protest-related tensions.

Harvards defiance could galvanise other universities to resist Trumps governments aggressive policies. The outcome may shape the balance between federal oversight and academic independence, and the American higher education system.

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: May 25, 2025, 11:33 IST
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 25. The World Bank has given the green light to a $200 million concessional credit to help Uzbekistan get its ducks in a row by modernizing its irrigation and drainage infrastructure and enhancing the quality of irrigation service delivery, Trend reports, citing the World Bank.

The project aims to reduce water losses and increase the energy efficiency of irrigation systems across five regions of Uzbekistan. An additional $23.2 million in co-financing will be provided by the government of Uzbekistan.

And the good news is that this initiative is just the tip of the iceberg in a larger World Bank-backed regional program designed to turn the tide on water efficiency and conservation throughout Central Asia.

Given Uzbekistans arid climate, irrigation is vital to the countrys agricultural sector, which accounts for roughly 25 percent of GDP and total employment. Agriculture consumes about 90 percent of the nations water, primarily sourced from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. However, much of the country's irrigation infrastructure is outdated, leading to water losses, inefficient distribution, and inadequate service for farmers.

Climate change is expected to further strain water resources in Uzbekistan. Experts project that water availability could decline by 3040 percent, while irrigation demand may rise by 25 percent, due to reduced glacier-fed flows, erratic rainfall, and more frequent droughts.

Around 2.4 million hectares of irrigated farmland  over half of the total  rely on pumping stations for water delivery. These 1,700 stations consume about 7.2 billion kWh of electricity annually, representing 16 percent of Uzbekistans total electricity usage.

The Ministry of Water Resources will lead the project in the Republic of Karakalpakstan and the Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Namangan, and Surkhandarya regions. Completion is expected by 2031.

Key components of the project include:

Concrete lining of 259 kilometers of primary canals connected to the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, using advanced materials like geomembrane.

Re-sectioning and elevation of canal beds to enable gravity-fed water supply, reducing dependence on pumps.

Construction of approximately 470 hydraulic structures to enhance water flow control.

Installation of gated canal outlets with flowmeters and a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system.

Expected outcomes:

Improved irrigation service delivery across 232,000 hectares of farmland.

Direct benefits to about 180,000 water users, including 80,000 women.

Annual water savings of approximately 540 million cubic meters.

Annual electricity savings of more than 165 million kWh, enhancing energy efficiency and lowering costs.

This capital infusion aligns with Uzbekistans overarching strategy for sustainable hydrological governance and climate adaptability, bolstering enduring agronomic output and rural advancement.
Why Is Muhammad Yunus Threatening To Resign? What Does This Mean For Bangladesh?

Curated By :

News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 14:15 IST

Muhammad Yunus has reportedly told advisers what was the point of being the chief advisor if he cannot function properly amidst friction with army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman

A proposed humanitarian corridor into Myanmars Rakhine State has also become a bone of contention between Muhammad Yunus and army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman. (AFP Photo)

A closed-door meeting between Bangladeshs interim leader and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus and the chiefs of the countrys armed forces has been described as an intensifying power struggle in Dhaka.

Bangladeshi media reports suggest that a cold war" between Yunus and the armed forces have begun, which threaten the future of the chief advisor. Yunus took charge after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted after a mass uprising in August 2024.

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In fact, there are reports that Yunus is considering stepping down. However, following another cabinet meeting on May 24, acting head of the planning ministry, Wahiduddin Mahmud, told media, that Yunus is staying with us".

Let us understand the current political crisis in Bangladesh and what it would mean for the countrys so-called democracy.

Why Is Yunus Threatening To Resign?

A Bangladeshi newspaper, Prothom Alo, reported that Yunus told advisers in the meeting what is the point of being the chief advisor if he cannot function properly?"

Following this, National Citizens Party (NCP) convener Nahid Islam, who until recently was a part of Yunus Cabinet, met with him at his official residence. We have been hearing news of Sirs (Yunus) resignation He (Yunus) said he is thinking about it. He feels that the situation is such that he cannot work," Islam told the BBC Bangla after the meeting.

Since the ouster of Hasina, the Bangladesh Army has remained in control of the country. Their continued presence was necessitated by the collapse of law and order during the mass protests, including a nationwide police strike that left many stations abandoned and public order in disarray.

Though the police resumed operations in mid-August, the army remained active as part of civil-miltiary consensus.

Last week, Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman urged that the elections be held in December this year, warning that prolonged deployment of the army for civil duties could hamper countrys defence.

The Daily Star reported that General Zaman told a high-level gathering at Dhaka Cantonment that Bangladesh needs political stability", which would be only possible through an elected government, not by unelected decision-makers." Officers from across the country and at Bangladeshi UN missions reportedly joined the event  a show of unity and resolve.

But Yunus has promised that polls will be held by June 2026.

Meanwhile, a proposed humanitarian corridor into Myanmars Rakhine State has also become a bone of contention between Yunus and the military. Zaman has reportedly opposed to key initiative, and said: There will be no corridor. The sovereignty of Bangladesh is not negotiable." He warned that any such move could drag Bangladesh into a dangerous proxy conflict. Only a political government elected by the people can make such decisions," he said, as quoted by The Daily Star.

The army chief has also raised concern regarding the potential foreign management of Bangladeshs main seaport, Chittagong Port, and the launch of Starlink, Elon Musks satellite internet service, which he said could compromise national security.

Another sticking point between Yunus and Zaman is the appointment of former diplomat Khalilur Rahman, as Bangladeshs National Security Adviser, a position created by Yunus to offset the militarys control of security matters.

Tension With Political Parties?

The supporters of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition party, has demanded that Yunus fixes an election date, preferably in December.

If the government fails to meet public expectations, it will be difficult for the BNP to continue extending its support," senior BNP leader Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain said.

The National Citizen Party (NCP)  a student-led party formed earlier this year  and several other political groups argue that sweeping reforms and the prosecution of former Awami League (AL) leaders must precede any election.

Meanwhile, the BNP has launched protests and other demands including declaring its candidate Ishraque Hossain as the rightful winner of the disputed 2020 mayoral polls. It was alleged that the polls on February 1, 2020 were rigged by Sheikh Hasinas Awami League.

BNP leader Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, however, told Al Jazeera that his party never wanted Yunus to resign. Nobody asked for his resignation, and we do not want him to do so," he stated.

What Next For Bangladesh?

Many commentators fear that Yunus resignation threat is actually a ploy to launch a full-blown agitation against the army chief. There are social media posts that show some activists preparing and planning massive agitations.

Political analyst Rezaul Karim Rony told Al Jazeera that Yunus resignation reflect the weakening of unity that was formed around the post-uprising.

NCPs Nahid Islam, however, believes there is a conspiracy to sabotage the democratic transition and stage another 1/11-style arrangement."

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On January 11, 2007, the military-backed caretaker government took control of Bangladesh amid political chaos and ruled for two years, suspending democratic processes.

Its time to see whether Muhammad Yunus can stand firm and forge a new consensus to lead Bangladesh through its second transition or he will quit.

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: May 25, 2025, 14:15 IST
Akali Dal Councillor Harjinder Singh Shot Dead By Bike-Borne Assailants In Amritsar

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 22:26 IST

The deceased, identified as Harjinder Singh, a councillor from Jandiala Guru in the district, was shot dead near Chheharta Sahib Gurudwara.

As per the police, the councilor was receiving death threats for a few days. (X)

In a shocking incident, a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader was shot dead by unknown assailants in Punjabs Amritsar on Sunday.

The deceased, identified as Harjinder Singh, a councillor from Jandiala Guru in the district, was shot dead near Chheharta Sahib Gurudwara.

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The victims brother and brother-in-law alleged that the attackers were the same individuals who had previously fired shots at Harjinders residence and had issued threats to him.

The councillor came to Chheharta in Amritsar to attend a function. ADCP Harpal Singh Randhawa said three to four persons tried to intercept the councillor, who was on a bike, before firing three to four bullets at him.

Singh was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, the officer said.

While Harjinder Singh was on his way, a motorcycle carrying three to four individuals approached him and opened fire. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital," Randhawa told news agency PTI.

VIDEO | Akali Councillor Harjinder Singh Bahman shot dead in Amritsar. Punjab Police ADCP Harpal Singh Randhawa says, While Harjinder Singh was on his way, a motorcycle carrying three to four individuals approached him and opened fire. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to pic.twitter.com/R2Q5H8457s Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 25, 2025

According to his brother and brother-in-law, the attackers were the same individuals who had previously opened fire at his residence and issued threats to him," he added.

Police said they have identified three persons, who were allegedly involved in the murder of the councillor. They have been identified as Gopi, Amit and Karan Kira, all residents of Jandiala Guru, police said, adding that they will be arrested soon. The accused were associated with the Krishna gang, which was responsible for the shooting, police said.

The vehicle used in the crime has also been identified, they added.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal strongly condemned the incident and lambasted the AAP government for the collapse" of law and order in Punjab.

The death of Harjinder Singh, SAD councillor from Jandiala Guru in Amritsar district, has completely exposed the law and order situation in Punjab," Badal alleged.

Badal also questioned Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the Punjab Police chief over the alleged police inaction.

Senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia condemned the murder and slammed the deteriorating law and order situation under Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led state government.

Majithia claimed that shots were fired at the house of councillor a few days ago. He had also shared a CCTV footage from the attack.

The law and order situation in Punjab has deteriorated from bad to worse. Harjinder Singh, a current councilor of the Shiromani Akali Dal from Jandiala Guru in Sri Amritsar Sahib district, was shot dead today. A few days ago, shots were fired at the house of Councilor Harjinder Singh," he said in a post on X.

                                                    pic.twitter.com/vmI6oAHpaM Bikram Singh Majithia (@bsmajithia) May 25, 2025

He further questioned the government saying that why was no action taken even after receiving the complaint from DGP.

Holding the CM Bahgwant Mann responsible for the murder, Majithia said, Bhagwant Mann ji, wake up from your sleep and restore the law and order situation. You are all responsible for the death of the councilor today."

Condemning the incident, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said in a post on X, Brutal broad daylight murder of Akali Dal councillor Harjinder Singh Bahman is highly condemnable. My sympathies and condolences to the bereaved family."

This again reflects poorly on the deteriorating law and order situation prevailing in Punjab. Criminals have either no fear of law or are being patronised by the powers that be. AAP is pushing Punjab towards complete lawlessness and anarchy," Warring claimed.

Punjab Cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal described Singhs murder as tragic and unacceptable.

The Punjab government and I deeply condemn this heinous crime. While such incidents are heart-rending, let me assure the people of Punjab that the culprits will not escape justice," Dhaliwal said.

The killers have been identified within hours, and arrests will follow soon. Our government is committed to restoring peace and eliminating gang culture from Punjab," Dhaliwal added.

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The minister also criticised political parties attempting to politicise" the incident.

(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

Location : Amritsar, India, India

First Published: May 25, 2025, 18:59 IST
From US To Gulf, India Ramps Up Diplomatic Offensive On Pakistan Over Terror Sponsorship

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 08:50 IST

The all-party delegations, sent to multiple countries by India, called for global unity against terrorism and put forth India' stance on such attacks.

Leaders from the all-party delegation (Photo: News18)

As multiple delegations from India are on a diplomatic mission as part of the countrys global outreach over Operation Sindoor, leaders have called on the world to stand united against terrorism.

The delegations aim to brief international partners on Indias response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism while engaging with leaders in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, Japan, South Korea, and more countries.

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The multi-party delegation, consisting of seven groups led by one MP each, has been initiated to counter global misinformation and highlight Indias zero-tolerance policy on terrorism.

Recalling how India suffered in the Pahalgam terror attack, and how it gave a befitting response to Pakistan, the groups of the all-party delegation put forth Indias stance on terrorism and made it clear that India would not bow down before evil forces.

Heres a look at the messages conveyed by delegations touring countries.

DELEGATION LED BY CONGRESS SHASHI THAROOR

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday highlighted how India responded in a measured and calibrated manner towards terror bases and headquarters in Pakistan. He gave a call for the world to come together to fight unitedly against terrorism.

Our idea is very much to speak to a cross-section of public and political opinion in each of the countries were going to about recent events, which obviously trouble a number of people around the world. The fundamental underlying problem remains, and its important that we try and enlarge your understanding of our thinking and our concern about whats going on," Tharoor said on the delegations aim.

Describing the Pahalgam terror attack, Tharoor said, It was a bunch of people going around identifying the religions of the people before them and killing them on that basis, which was clearly intended to provoke a backlash in the rest of India, since the victims were overwhelmingly Hindu. India, sadly, had no reason to doubt where it came from."

Speaking on Indias Operation Sindoor, Tharoor said, India sent a clear message that it was not going to take terror lying down, it would answer, but equally that by delivering very precisely, calculated, calibrated strikes on very specific targets, it also sent a message that this was not meant to be the opening salvo in a protracted war but just an act of retribution, that we were prepared to stop with that act".

The all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor includes Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), GM Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar K Lata (all from BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena) and Former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

DELEGATION LED BY BJPs BAIJAYANT PANDA

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi, part of the all-party delegation led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, said that terrorist groups wrongly use religion to justify killing innocent people. He said that Islam condemns terrorism and the Quran clearly says that killing one innocent person is like killing all of humanity.

During an interaction with the prominent personalities in Bahrain, Owaisi said, These terrorist organisations have justified killings of innocent people in India and they have out of context quoted Quranic verses, we have to put an end to it. They have used religion to justify the killing of people. Islam condemns terrorism and the Quran has categorically stated that the killing of one innocent person is like the killing of whole humankind."

Leading the delegation, BJP MP Baijayant Panda in Bahrain said, Our stand is very clear, this is a bilateral issue, and we will only deal with Pakistan. While there were advice and suggestions from many nations, the reality is that we said it has to be Pakistan only. Only when Pakistans Director General of Military Operations called India and said that they want a ceasefire, we said You stop shooting, we stop shooting."

DELEGATION LED BY JDUs SANJAY JHA

The all-party delegation, led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha, on May 24 arrived in Seoul, South Korea, after completing its visit to Japan.

In Japan, Sanjay Kumar Jha, while speaking to reporters, said, I think we have been able to put forward the objective for which our all-party delegation came here. Our delegation was quite able to put forward its point. Information was also given about Operation Sindoor that our army targeted only the terrorist hideouts with precision, Indias future stance was made clear that if Pakistan does terrorist activity in future, we will not tolerate it, and the Indus Water Treaty, which has been suspended, was also discussed."

During his interaction with the Indian community, Jha said, Everybody knows how the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force put up a remarkable defence when they responded by attacking Poonch and other areas. The Indian Air Force completely destroyed their air bases. When such incidents happen, leaders of different countries talk to each other and try to find another way."

When their (Pakistans) DGMO called and asked the Indian DGMO for a ceasefire, India agreed. We are tolerating it, but perhaps people in other places are not aware of the whole situation. So, the Indian government decided it was important to send delegations (around the world) to tell people that the Pakistani government itself is involved in this," Jha said.

The Indian government has given the message that if we are attacked, hum ghar me ghus kar maarenge, this is a new normal. India is unpredictable now. India now says, enough is enough. We are giving 80 per cent of the Indus River waters to Pakistan, and this needs to be renegotiated because of the changing climatic conditions and needs of the people. The Prime Minister has said, blood and water cannot flow together, the whole country is united on this issue. All our meetings in Japan were very successful," he added.

The delegation will now travel to Singapore, Malaysia and other countries.

DELEGATION LED BY DMKs KANIMOZHI KARUNANIDHI

Speaking in Moscow on Indias Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, DMK MP Kanimozhi said, India had no choice but to respond, but when India responded, we responded responsibly. We ensured no civilian was affected, military bases were unharmed. We only targeted the installations where terrorists were sheltered and trained. They (Pakistan) continued to retaliate, targeting gurdwaras, temples, residential areas where Indian civilians lived, and even our military bases."

The DMK MP also spoke on US President Donald Trump claiming credit for the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, and said, When something like this happens, different heads of state speak to each other. But, I think independent countries decide what to do independently."

From Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru to Atal Bihari Vajpayee to PM Narendra Modi, everyone made attempts to bring permanent peace between India and Pakistan. We have always taken the lead, but unfortunately, while peace talks are going on, we have also been hurt because of terrorist attacks in different parts of India, and the link always traces back to Pakistan, every time."

Finally, its time that we will not accept any excuse and call a spade a spade. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that terrorism and sponsoring terrorism are not two different things," she said.

DELEGATION LED BY SHIV SENAs SHRIKANT SHINDE

Speaking in Dubai, as the delegation led by Shrikant Shinde was in the UAE, the Shiv Sena MP said, Our message is very clear that we wont tolerate terrorism and if times demand, we will take even stricter steps against terrorism."

Terror and trade cannot go together, water and blood cannot flow together  this is an apt message. If you (Pakistan) stop terrorism, then only we can talk. We are the country that retaliates with restraint," he said.

Referring to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, Shinde said, I think it is now very important for the whole country to know the real face of Pakistan. It is sheltering terrorists, whether it is Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) or Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), their modus operandi is the same."

There is no country that has not suffered the brunt of terrorism. This is the message we are taking and telling the whole world to fight against terrorism unitedly. We may be from different parties, but we are united, and are giving a message that in this situation, we are united to fight against terrorism," he added.

In the days to come, if some acts are committed by Pakistan, our country and the armed forces will give a firm response, the way we did in Operation Sindoor," Shinde gave out Indias message loud and clear.

The delegation led by Shinde includes BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, IUML MP ET Mohammed Basheer, BJP MP Atul Garg, BJD MP Sasmit Patra, BJPs Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra, BJP leader SS Ahluwalia and Ambassador Sujan Chinoy.

DELEGATION LED BY NCP-SCP MP SUPRIYA SULE

The delegation led by Sule arrived in Doha, Qatar, Sunday morning. The are visiting Qatar, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa to showcase OperationSindoor and Indias continued fight against terrorism.

Before leaving for the tour, Sule, while speaking to reporters in Delhi, said, We will present our views against terrorism to the world. The way people were killed in Pahalgam, their family members will never forget that. Those wounds will never be healed."

The entire Opposition is together. Sharad Pawar said in the all-party meeting that we are with the government if its about national interest. Big leaders of Congress are going with me in this delegation, which is on behalf of the government of India, and we will maintain that integrity," she added.

A part of Sule-led delegation, Congress MP Manish Tewari, said, For the last 45 years, Pakistan has been promoting terrorism against India. We will all expose the conspiracy of Pakistan of training terrorists, giving them weapons and sending them across the border to spread terrorism."

DELEGATION LED BY BJPs RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who is a part of the delegation led by RS Prasad, while talking to reporters, said, Pakistan is no more Pakistan, but Aatankistan. We are going to European countries today, which have also faced many terror attacks, and all those attacks have their roots in Pakistan, right from indoctrination training, to ask them to do jihad, give them arms and also protect them."

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We have been seeing terror attacks for the last three to four decades, and we are also giving them a proper response. Operation Sindoor was a complete and final response that if you will induce terror activities here, we are capable enough to destroy you," she said.

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: May 25, 2025, 08:07 IST
Avoid Unnecessary Remarks: PM Modi Asks NDA Leaders To Steer Clear Of Controversies

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 18:34 IST

PM Modi's advisory comes as a number of BJP leaders have stoked controversies with their remarks since the Pahalgam terror attack.

PM Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders with CMs and Deputy CMs during the NDA Chief Ministers' Conclave, in New Delhi on May 25. (Image: PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday advised the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders to keep restraints in their public speeches and avoid making unnecessary remarks, sources said.

While addressing a high-level meeting of Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers from BJP-led NDA-ruled states in the national capital today, the Prime Minister expressed concern over unnecessary statements recently made by some of the leaders, and urged them to be more careful regarding passing statements.

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Keep a restraint on speeches and avoid unnecessary statements. Leaders should refrain from saying anything anywhere," sources quoted PM Modi as telling the attendees of the meeting.

PM Modis advisory came in the wake of controversial remarks made by BJP leaders since the last months Pahalgam terror attack, including Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda and state minister Vijay Shah.

Devda sparked a political row with his statement on Indian Army. In a viral video, Devda was talking about Operation Sindoor, launched by the Indian Army in response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack that claimed 26 lives on April 22.

While speaking at a civil defense volunteers training program in Jabalpur, Devda had claimed that the entire nation, including the Indian Army and soldiers, is bowing at the feet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

Another political row broke out after Madhya Pradesh Tribal Affairs Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah made a derogatory remark about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.

Jinhone humari betiyon ke sindoor ujade the humne unhiki behen bhej kar ke unki aisi ki taisi karwayi (Those who wiped the vermilion off our daughters forehead we sent their sister to teach them a lesson)," he had said.

His statement drew a huge flak, with the matter reaching the Supreme Court. The Minister was asked to apologise to the army officer. The top court also ordered a Special Investigation Team to investigate the case. Earlier on May 14, the police registered an FIR against Shah after the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered to do so. The court had taken a suo motu cognisance of the ministers crass remarks".

On Saturday, Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra also courted the controversy by saying that the tourists who lost their lives in Pahalgam terror attack should have fought the terrorists.

He also said that women who lost their husbands to the attack lacked" the spirit, and should have acted like veerangna (warrior women).

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Jangra said the number of casualties in the Pahalgam terror attack would have been less had the tourists undergone the Agniveer training.

Jangras remark came while he was addressing a gathering in Haryanas Bhiwani, an event organised to mark the 300th birth anniversary of Ahilyabai Holkar.

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: May 25, 2025, 18:34 IST
Bullet Train May Have First Run In Gujarat By 2028, Reach Mumbai By 2030 | Exclusive

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 08:00 IST

As per a document accessed by News18, a 30-year-long assessment of ridership on the high-speed train service has been sought

As per the document, the ridership assessment has been sought for 2028 for the Sabarmati-Vapi section in Gujarat and for the base year 2030, 'the first year of operation' for the entire section between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Representational image/PTI

The bullet train could run in Gujarat by 2028 between Sabarmati and Vapi and then in the full 508-km section from Ahmedabad to Mumbai by 2030, indicates a document accessed exclusively by CNN-News18. The National High Speed Rail Authority (NHSRCL) is earmarking a ridership survey to determine the fare and traffic projections for this bullet train.

As per the document, the ridership assessment has been sought for 2028 for the Sabarmati-Vapi section in Gujarat and for the base year 2030, the first year of operation" for the entire section between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. A 30-year-long assessment of ridership on the bullet train has been sought. The under-construction Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail corridor would be passing through Mumbai-Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Thane, Virar, and Boisar in Maharashtra and Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, and Sabarmati in Gujarata total of about 508 km.

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The Gujarat section of the high-speed train route between Vapi and Sabarmati is about 348 km, while the train route in Maharashtra is 156 km.

CNN-News18 earlier reported that the train could run first in the Gujarat section since that is on the fast track to completion, while the progress in Maharashtra has been slow due to the earlier Maha Vikas Aghadi regime putting off the project for almost three years. The central government has so far not announced any official date for the commencement of operations for this high-speed train.

The train would be ushering India into the category of select countries of the world (about 15) using a high-speed railway system. The project, apart from being a technological marvel, would afford many other quantifiable benefits.

Progress so far

Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said earlier this week that the 300 km viaduct has been completed on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail section. Approximately 76 per cent of the excavation work has been completed on the Mumbai bullet train station located at Bandra Kurla Complex, the only underground station on the corridor. Nearly 383 km of pier work, 401 km of foundation, and 326 km of girder casting had also been completed on the project, as per the government. Land acquisition in Maharashtra was a stumbling block under the previous state government.

Officials say the project would contribute to savings in travel time, vehicle operation cost, reduction in pollution, job creation, reduction in accidents/enhanced safety, imported fuel substitution, and reduction in pollutants. The project would also boost the infrastructure and further add to the growth of the economy, they maintain.

How will ridership survey help?

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The ridership survey to be conducted by NHSCRL would assess the existing traffic characteristics of the study area and estimate the travel demand along the under-construction corridor. The travel demand assessment would include optimal fare where the overall revenue is maximised, ridership assessment for the above fare level, projected annual revenue, station loads with peak hour footfalls, and customer segmentation based on passenger profile (age, income, occupation, purpose of trip, etc).

The survey will be carried out along the major arterial network in the study area, mainly comprising national highways and expressways. It will estimate the expected shift from the existing modes (car, taxi, rail, bus, trainAC classand airlines) to high-speed rail and the key factors responsible for the shift. Population of the areas in the influence of the high-speed train route and traffic data from the toll plazas operating on the national highways and expressways running along the new train corridor route will also be sought.

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: May 25, 2025, 08:00 IST
IMD Alert For Maharashtra: Brace For Rain, Thunderstorms For 5-6 Days As Monsoon Advances

Curated By :

News18.com Edited By: Manjiri Joshi



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 19:18 IST

Conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, during the next three days, the IMD said

A biker wades through a waterlogged road in in Solapur on May 21. (PTI)

As the southwest monsoon continues to advance, Maharashtra is likely to see rainfall activity for the next five-six days, according to an India Meteorological Department (IMD) press release on Sunday.

Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall activity with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places is very likely to continue over Konkan and adjoining ghat areas of central Maharashtra," it stated.

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ALSO READ | Has Mumbai Ever Seen Monsoon Arrival In May Instead Of June? Yes, Thrice

The IMD has predicted scattered light/moderate rainfall accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning and gusty wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph over central Maharashtra and Marathwada, from May 25-27.

The IMD stated: The depression over central Maharashtra moved nearly eastwards and weakened into a well-marked low pressure area and lay over south central Maharashtra and adjoining areas of Marathwada and North Interior Karnataka at 0830 hours IST of today, May 25, 2025. It is likely to move slowly eastwards during next 24 hours and weaken gradually."

The upper air trough runs from east central Arabian sea to north Odisha, across central Maharashtra, north Telangana, South Chhattisgarh, between 1.5 & 4.6 km above mean sea level titling southward with height."

Update on Further advance of Southwest Monsoon today, the 25th May, 2025The Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of westcentral & eastcentral Arabian Sea, some more parts of Karnataka, entire Goa, some parts of Maharashtra, some more parts of pic.twitter.com/CgniIU1QIE  India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) May 25, 2025

MONSOON ADVANCES

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The southwest monsoon, meanwhile, has further advanced into some more parts of west central and east central Arabian Sea, some more parts of Karnataka, entire Goa, some parts of Maharashtra, some more parts of west central and north Bay of Bengal, and some more parts of Mizoram, some parts of Manipur and Nagaland on Sunday.

Conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, some more parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Karnataka including Bengaluru, some parts of Andhra Pradesh, remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, some more parts of west central and; North Bay of Bengal and some more parts of Northeastern states during the next three days, the IMD 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: May 25, 2025, 17:51 IST
In First Conversation After Major Diplomatic Meltdown, Jaishankar Speaks To Canadian Counterpart

Curated By :

News18.com Edited By: Oindrila Mukherjee



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 23:45 IST

Canadas new Prime Minister Mark Carney is pushing for deepening economic cooperation with India

Canadian foreign minister Anita Anand (L) made the announcement on her social media handle on X, thanking her Indian counterpart S Jaishankar for the "productive discussion" on Indo-Canadian ties. (Image: AFP/File)

In the first official conversation since a major diplomatic dispute between India and Canada, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his counterpart Anita Anand.

Canadas new Prime Minister Mark Carney is pushing for deepening economic cooperation with India. The country will be hosting the G7 Summit from June 15 to 17.

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Anand made the announcement on her social media handle on X, thanking Jaishankar for the productive discussion" on Indo-Canadian ties.

Thank you Minister @DrSJaishankar for the productive discussion today on strengthening Canada-India ties, deepening our economic cooperation, and advancing shared priorities. I look forward to continuing our work together," she wrote on X.

Thank you Minister @DrSJaishankar for the productive discussion today on strengthening CanadaIndia ties, deepening our economic cooperation, and advancing shared priorities. I look forward to continuing our work together. pic.twitter.com/GZqgANEIVi Anita Anand (@AnitaAnandMP) May 25, 2025

Soon after, Jaishankar confirmed the conversation with Anand on his X, saying he discussed prospects of the relations between the two countries.

Appreciate the telecon with FM @AnitaAnandMP of Canada. Discussed the prospects of India-Canada ties. Wished her a very successful tenure," he wrote on X.

Appreciate the telecon with FM @AnitaAnandMP of Canada. Discussed the prospects of India-Canada ties. Wished her a very successful tenure.    Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 25, 2025

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had congratulated Carney on being elected as the Prime Minister after his predecessor Justin Trudeau stepped down from the role. In his message, he had stressed strong people-to-people ties between the two countries while saying he was looking forward to unlocking greater opportunities".

With Carney, it looks like India wants to turn a new leaf in bilateral ties that had nosedived under Trudeau amid unsubstantiated allegations against New Delhi related to the killing of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023.

Even during his campaign, the Canadian Prime Minister said rebuilding ties with India was a priority for his government, describing it as an incredibly important relationship". He had said Canadians have deep personal, economic and strategic ties with India.

WHAT IS THE DISPUTE BETWEEN INDIA AND CANADA?

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Relations between India and Canada took a big hit in 2023 after Trudeau publicly accused India of being involved in the killing of Nijjar on Canadian soil, allegations that India described as absurd" and politically motivated".

Tensions escalated as Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, followed by a tit-for-tat move by India last year. Both countries expelled top envoys, froze trade talks and suspended official visits. India has accused Canada of tolerating extremism on its soil and failing to take action to curb attacks against its diplomats.

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: May 25, 2025, 23:42 IST
Indian Air Force Day Celebrations Return To Hindon Airbase This Year After Op Sindoor's Success

Reported By :

News18.com Edited By: Ronit Singh



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 09:11 IST

The return of the event to Hindon Airbase this year highlights its continued significance in the IAFs history and legacy.

Indian Air Force Day Celebrations at the Hindon Airbase in 2018 | File Image

The Indian Air Force (IAF) Day celebrations are likely to return to Hindon Airbase in Delhi-NCR, which served as the primary venue for the event until 2022.

Sources told CNN-News18 that this years Air Force Day celebrations at the Hindon Airbase are expected to be grand, set against the backdrop of Operation Sindoors success.

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India launched successful precision strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7, in response to the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pahalgam.

Observed annually on October 8th, the Air Force Day celebrations honour the bravery and dedication of the IAF personnel.

In recent years, the traditional Delhi-NCR-centric celebrations have been relocated to various cities across India to foster greater inclusivity and nationwide participation.

Since 2022, the event has been hosted in different locations including Chandigarh, Prayagraj in 2023, and Chennai in 2024, with the Indian Army and Navy also organising their respective events across the country.

Prior to this shift, Hindon Airbase in the Delhi region was the primary venue for these celebrations. The return of the event to Hindon this year highlights its continued significance in the IAFs history and legacy.

Hindon Airbases Role In Op Sindoor

Hindon Airbase played a pivotal role in the execution of Operation Sindoor, a military operation targeting Pakistan. It served as a critical hub for deploying aircraft, sources said.

Commercial flight operations from the Hindon civil terminal were also suspended on May 7 when India launched Operation Sindoor.

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As the terminal operates within a military airbase, the move was taken as a precautionary measure, said officials aware of the development.

Currently, 16 flights operate from the terminal on various routes, with Air India Express serving as the primary airline, offering connections to major metros and several other cities.

Location : Ghaziabad, India, India

First Published: May 25, 2025, 08:49 IST
Indian Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla Heads To Quarantine With Crew As Ax-4 Launch Nears

Reported By :

News18.com Edited By: Manjiri Joshi



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 19:39 IST

The four-member crew completed months of rigorous training across Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX facilities to prepare for the 14-day mission to the International Space Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Ax-4 crew aboard a Dragon spacecraft to the ISS from the Launch Complex at NASAs Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 8.

Indian Air Force pilot and astronaut-designate Shubhanshu Shukla and three other crewmates are headed into quarantine as launch preparations begin for the Axiom Mission-4 (Ax-4).

The private collaborative mission with Axiom Space, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will mark the first time an Indian astronaut will visit the International Space Station (ISS).

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Ax-4 crew aboard a Dragon spacecraft to the ISS from the Launch Complex at NASAs Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 8, 6:41 pm IST, subject to final review. During the 14-day mission docked to the orbiting laboratory, the astronauts will conduct global outreach activities, microgravity research, and technology demonstrations.

The US-based private space agency Axiom Space organised a ceremonial send-off for the crew ahead of their launch. The crew is on their way to quarantine. Before they went, Axiom Space employees came together to celebrate. The crew send-off is a tradition that pays tribute to the dedication and tireless efforts of the staff prior to the crew embarking on their mission," said the agency on Sunday.

Shukla  one of the four astronaut-designates for Gaganyaan, will serve as a pilot on Ax-4 with former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, Peggy Whitson, as commander of the commercial mission.

There will be two mission specialists  ESA Project astronaut Sawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary  also on their maiden visit to the ISS. I am sure this mission will be a success," said Shukla at the event.

The crew has spent the past several months undergoing intensive training at Axiom Space, NASAs Johnson Space Center, and SpaceX facilities. This will also be the first government-sponsored flight for India, Poland and Hungary in more than 40 years. So far, cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma holds the record for being the only Indian to travel to space  in 1984 aboard a Russian Soyuz.

Around Rs 550 crore has been spent on this mission, including the training costs. But the benefit we will get from this mission is phenomenal in terms of the training, exposure to the facilities and the experience of jointly conducting experiments in space," ISRO chairman Dr V Narayanan had said earlier.

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The upcoming commercial mission is part of ISROs roadmap to develop a sustainable, sustained human presence in space  beginning with Gaganyaan in the next two years, and setting up of Bhartiya Antriksh Station (BAS) by 2035. It has also shortlisted seven experiments for the 14-day mission, selected from proposals invited from various R&D laboratories across India, and then reviewed by inter-disciplinary experts.

The next key milestone is the Launch Readiness Review, set for June 7. During this review, officials from Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX will assess the readiness of the Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft and the systems aboard the ISS.

About the Author Srishti Choudhary Srishti Choudhary, Senior Assistant Editor at CNN-News18 specializes in science, environment, and climate change reporting. With over a decade of extensive field experience, she has brought incisive ground repo... Read More Srishti Choudhary, Senior Assistant Editor at CNN-News18 specializes in science, environment, and climate change reporting. With over a decade of extensive field experience, she has brought incisive ground repo... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 19:33 IST
Mohan Bhagwat Calls National Security A Civilisational Duty, Says 'We Have No Option But...'

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 10:19 IST

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat stressed India's need for strength, linking national security to unity, family values, and ecology. He urged Hindu society to stand strong globally.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. (File image/PTI)

In a pointed assessment of Indias national security posture, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that India has no option but to be powerful", framing strength not as a matter of policy but as a civilisational imperative. His remarks, delivered in the run-up to the Sanghs centenary, come just weeks after Operation Sindoor.

We are not doing this to dominate world trade, but to ensure that everyone should be able to lead a peaceful, healthy and empowered life. We have no option but to be powerful as we have been witnessing the wickedness of the evil forces on all our borders," Bhagwat said explaining the need to have enough strength to secure the nation.

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In an exclusive interview with Organiser, the RSS-linked publication, Bhagwat made it clear  security begins with society, not just the state," he said.

Bhagwats tone was devoid of rhetorical flourish  it was deliberate, clinical. The RSS chief appeared to be issuing a wake-up call not only to the politicians, and policymakers but to Hindu society at large. You must defend yourselves. Dont wait for someone else to do it for you," he said adding, People say Hindus are targeted abroad. But when Hindus stand strong, the world takes note,"

The message resonates strongly with the military doctrine behind Operation Sindoor, which emphasized jointness, readiness, and forward mobility. Bhagwats social counterpart to this doctrine is what he calls Swa  rootedness in civilisational identity as the foundation of strategic clarity. Even though Bhagwat was not asked any direct questions about Operation Sindoor, his comments on the national security front are indeed significant.

Interestingly, Bhagwat framed national security in non-conventional terms: caste harmony, family values, and ecological responsibility. How can a fractured society defend itself?" he further asked, linking Panch Parivartan (five-fold transformation) to Indias long-term security architecture.

But the most striking remark was about deterrence. Grant us such a strength that globally we are invincible. True strength is internal. For national security, we must not be dependent on others. We should be able to defend ourselves. No one should be able to conquer us  not even if multiple powers come together. There are evil forces in the world who are aggressive by nature. We dont pray for war, but we prepare so that war is not needed," he said

Explaining that security, in the Sanghs vision, is not limited to borderlines or barracks. Its psychological, civilisational  and pre-emptive. Bhagwat also referred to Hindu minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh as choosing to resist rather than flee."

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This time the way anguish against the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh has been expressed, this is unprecedented. Even local Hindus now say  We wont flee. Well stay and fight for our rights. Now, the internal strength of the Hindu society is increasing. As the organisation grows, its impact will translate naturally. Until then, we must keep fighting. Wherever Hindus are there in the world, we will do everything possible for them following the international norms, Sangh exists for the same," he further added.

About the Author Madhuparna Das Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for nearly 14 years. She has extensively been covering politics, policy, crime and internal security issues. She has covered Naxa... Read More Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for nearly 14 years. She has extensively been covering politics, policy, crime and internal security issues. She has covered Naxa... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 10:19 IST
India, Nepal Love-Hate Relationship

Narendra Modi government in India offered an opportunity for an emerging China to make inroads in Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and other South Asian countries through economic assistance and investments

Sunday May 25, 2025 10:16 AM , Saleem Samad

[Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' (File image)]

The tourist season for Indians begins in the month of June. To beat the summer heat, they visit Nepal, despite the monsoon season, they prefer religious tourism. For tens of thousands of Indians pouring into Nepal for pilgrimage pleasure and extreme sports, the nights are very cool, which they enjoy the most.

Day after day, the Indians go from one mountain to another mountain, from one Hindu temple to another Buddhist pagoda, offering flowers and incense for spiritual gain and well-being of their families and businesses.

While in the capital Kathmandu, picturesque Pokhara, Nagarkot and elsewhere, most of the hotels, restaurants, rental vehicles, taxis and tour operators often refuse to accept Indian currency Rupee (INR). They explain that Indian Rupee is no more an official exchangeable currency, which is not well understood.

Well, tourist can pay bills to hotels, taxis, and restaurant in US Dollars, Euro, Japanese Yen, British Pound and Chinese Yuan. However, the money changer or money exchange kiosks accept INR at the rate of 1.5 per cent exchange rate in Nepali Rupees (NRs).

India and Nepal has century old love and hate relationship. Nepal a landlocked country in the Himalayan range is interdependent on India for imports. Recently, despite the scornful eye of India, Nepal dared to open up and neighboring China made inroads into once a Hindu Kingdom.

In recent times, Nepal has gradually moved from Indias influence towards its arch rival China. The new all weather friend has made significant investments in infrastructure in terms of aid and loans. Chinas involvement in Nepals infrastructure projects through its controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) poses a threat to Nepals role as a buffer state between India and China.

Indias engagement with Nepal is limited to defense cooperation, disaster management, infrastructure development, water resources cooperation, education and cultural exchange, which a Kathmandu based trekking operator Prabesh Banjara said.

However, the challenge with India is with the Peace and Friendship Treaty signed in 1950, which guaranteed Nepali citizens free movement across the border and employment opportunities in India. Many perceive this treaty as unequal and imposed by India.

The porous and poorly guarded border between India and Nepal is a security threat. It is known that the border allows the underworld mafia to exploit it for smuggling weapons, ammunition, trained members and fake currency, which poses a significant security risk to India.

Nepal also has territorial disputes with India. Kalapani at the India-Nepal boundary remains a disputed territory and unresolved. Nepal claims these territories as part of its own, while India argues that it has inherited them from British colonialists.

The trust between India and Nepal has weakened over time due to Indias slow implementation of projects. Some Nepalese ethnic groups feel that India interferes too much in Nepals politics and undermines their political independence, leading to a dislike for India.

The Nepalis love to hate India. It seems that the Nepalese, which cuts across all sections of the people, has not forgotten the nightmarish economic blockade by India in March 1989. After enduring more than a year of extreme hardship, Nepal has learnt a bitter lesson: the rest of the world wouldnt come to their aid when they were bullied by India.

The blockade inadvertently hastened the restoration of democracy, but it did not nuke India-Nepal relations any less rocky. India did not extend landlocked Nepali trade and transit treaties, wrote CK Lal in a prestigious newspaper, the Nepal Times.

Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy a Delhi based think-tank, writes in Observer Research Foundation (ORF), that the neighborhood has undergone shifts since the beginning of the millennium. By the end of the decade, the democratic transition in Bhutan, political instability in Nepal, the Maldives, and Bangladesh, and civil war in Sri Lanka had posed dilemmas and new challenges to India.

Narendra Modi government in India offered an opportunity for an emerging China to make inroads in these countries through economic assistance and investments. Most of these projects were later institutionalized and categorized under Beijings flagship BRI.

ORF writes that the policy balances coercion and inducement, although the former (India) have become more subtle in the years since the policy was initiated.

While earlier coercion measures included alleged blockades in Nepal and military posturing against the Maldives , the focus has now shifted mainly towards granting and denying access to Indian markets and assistance.

There is a growing understanding that the use of coercive measures and becoming involved in neighbors domestic politics would only drive the South Asian neighbors away from India and further come closer to China.

India believes that interdependencies will counter Chinese influence in the region, strengthen its security, and further its interests.

The ORF study also highlights crucial challenges and missed opportunities in Indias policy. First, India has not been able to counter its negative perceptions, as it is still viewed as an interventionist power.

Second, Indias security-oriented outlook for the region, including offering alternatives to China and pushing back against China through diplomatic means, has continued to foster suspicion towards Indias intentions.

It is clear from this Divyopdesh (Divine Sayings) that Nepals great unifier, a Gurka King Prithvi Narayan Shah, didnt quite trust the big neighbor to the south. At the level of the nation-state, Nepal has a litany of injustices it has suffered from high-handed Indians, wrote CK Lal.

There is a strong impression in Nepali minds that they have got the short end of the stick in almost every border river project-from Kosi and Gandaki in the past to Pancheshwar in recent times.

All Himalayan rivers originating in Nepal drain into the Ganges. When Indians try to tame some of these rivers, the trouble is transferred upstream, and submergence takes place in Nepali territory, the Laxmanpur Barrage being the most recent example.

A hotelier in Pokhara said, the Chinese invested multimillion dollars in building a new Pokhara International Airport, which has yet to begin operation. India has threatens that any international airlines which has plans flights to picturesque Pokhara would not be given authorization for over-flights to the airport.

It is pity that India envys that the airport was built by her arch enemy China, said the hotelier.

A private airline in Bangladesh requested Nepal to introduce flights to Kathmandu and Pokhara. Kathmandus Triubhuvan International Airport is crowded by scores of international flights and unable to provide a slot for the Bangladeshi airlines.

Pokhara, the second destination, has been blocked by Indians arrogant policy. The flights will have to fly Indian air space to reach Pokhara. And, hence the Beleaguered Pokhara International Airport is only serving to domestic flights to Nepali private airlines. What a waste of a mega infrastructure investment!

Politicians like to repeat that the love-hate relationship between Nepal and India is age-old and has stood the test of time, says CK Lal.

In a piece of advice, he said the Indian government should engage constructively with the new leadership in Nepal and work towards enhancing cooperation in various areas. This will benefit Indias long-term interests.

The Eye of Buddha or Wisdom Eye in the heart of Kathmandu represents the enlightened perception of reality and the nature of existence. The eyes are traditionally watching towards the south  India. The eyes protect Nepal from the evil.

[The writer, Saleem Samad, is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad. The above article is first published in the Stratheia Policy Journal, Islamabad, Pakistan, on 24 May 2025. Views are personal.]

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 23. The management of JSC Uzbekneftegaz held a meeting with representatives of Halliburton and discussed the development of the companys fields using integrated solutions and advanced technologies offered by Halliburton, Trend reports.

The discussions focused on opportunities for comprehensive asset management, digital reservoir modeling, and increasing oil production volumes, as well as prospects for implementing international best practices at the companys production sites.

This event marked a logical continuation of the strategic dialogue aimed at deepening mutual partnership, localizing technologies, and jointly executing projects in Uzbekistan.

Following the meeting, both parties agreed to proceed following the approved "Roadmap," concentrating efforts on expanding cooperation in innovation, safety assurance, and improving hydrocarbon production efficiency.

Halliburton is a leading global oilfield services company founded in 1919. It provides a wide range of technologies and services for exploration, drilling, production, and reservoir management. Operating in over 70 countries, Halliburton is known for its innovative solutions that enhance efficiency and safety in the oil and gas industry.
NDA Meet Adopts Resolution Lauding Success Of Operation Sindoor, PM Modi's Leadership

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 19:59 IST

The resolution was proposed by Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and seconded by Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.

PM Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders with CMs and Deputy CMs during the NDA Chief Ministers' Conclave, in New Delhi on May 25. (Image: PTI)

A resolution hailing the valour of the armed forces during Operation Sindoor, the recent military strikes carried out on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK); and Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership was passed at a meeting of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Chief Ministers and deputy Chief Ministers in New Delhi on Sunday.

The resolution was proposed by Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and seconded by Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, news agency PTI reported.

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The resolution commended the valiant actions of the countrys defence forces and the decisive, courageous and nation-first leadership of the Prime Minister. The resolution received unanimous support from leaders of all NDA constituent parties present at the meeting.

Praising PM Modis leadership, it said he has always supported the armed forces and that Operation Sindoor has given a befitting reply to terrorists and their sponsors.

While presenting the resolution, Shinde said, Operation Sindoor is not just a military operation, it is a symbol of Indias national resolve. Under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi ji, India is facing every challenge with fearless determination."

Additionally, another resolution lauding the caste census that was announced by the Union government earlier this month was also passed. The initiative is seen as a crucial step towards inclusive development and data-driven policymaking.

Prime Minister Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Health Minister and BJP President JP Nadda attended the one-day conclave in which nearly 19 chief ministers and as many deputy CMs of NDA ruled states were present.

Caste enumeration, the first anniversary of the Modi government in its third term and good governance issues were on the agenda of the meeting. A significant part of deliberations at this conclave was devoted to best practices by different NDA state governments.

Operation Sindoor

India launched precision strikes" under Operation Sindoor on nine terror targets in Pakistan and PoK following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. The strikes killed at least 10 family members of JeM chief Masood Azhar and four close aides.

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The sites targeted were the Pakistani bases at Rafiqui (Shorkot, Jhang), Murid (Chakwal), Nur Khan (Chaklala, Rawalpindi) Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian (Kasur). In the strikes, the air bases in Skardu, Bholari, Jacobabad and Sargodha suffered extensive damage.

(With inputs from PTI)

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: May 25, 2025, 19:59 IST
'Our Neighbouring Country Is...': Himanta Sarma Raises Bangladesh Chicken Neck Corridors Again

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 19:55 IST

Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Bangladesh has two chicken neck corridors and those are "far more vulnerable" than India's Siliguri Corridor.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (PTI File)

Raising the issue of Chicken Neck Corridor for the second time in a week, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday reminded Bangladesh of two of its chicken necks, stating that they are far more vulnerable".

Putting out the details of two of the corridors in Bangladesh, Sarma said that he was only presenting geographical facts that some may tend to forget".

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His remarks have come at a time when Bangladeshs interim government chief, Muhammad Yunus, raked up politics over Indias Chicken Neck corridor that connects the nation to the North East. During his visit to China, Yunus had also spoken about Indias landlocked" north-east region.

Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam  one of the Northeastern states  addressed his X post to those who habitually threaten India" on the corridor, apparently for Bangladesh.

To those who habitually threaten India on the Chicken Neck Corridor", should note these facts as well:1 Bangladesh has two of its own chicken necks". Both are far more vulnerable 2 First is the 80 Km North Bangladesh Corridor- from Dakhin Dinajpur to South West Garo pic.twitter.com/DzV3lUAOhR  Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 25, 2025

1 Bangladesh has two of its own chicken necks". Both are far more vulnerable. 2 First is the 80 Km North Bangladesh Corridor- from Dakhin Dinajpur to South West Garo Hills. Any disruption here, can completely isolate the entire Rangpur division from rest of Bangladesh. 3Second is the 28 km Chittagong Corridor, from South Tripura till the Bay of Bengal. This corridor, smaller than Indias chicken neck, is the only link between Bangladeshs economic capital and political capital," he tweeted.

I am only presenting geographical facts that some may tend to forget. Just like Indias Siliguri Corridor, our neighbouring country is also embedded with two narrow corridors of theirs," Sarma added.

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Addressing reporters on Wednesday, he had issued a warning to Bangladesh over its growing interest in Indias sensitive Siliguri Corridor, also known as the Chickens Neck

We have one Chickens Neck. But Bangladesh has two Chicken Necks. If Bangladesh attacks our Chickens Neck, we will attack both the Chicken Necks of Bangladesh. The one in Meghalaya connecting Chittagong port in Bangladesh is even thinner than Indias Chickens Neck and is located just a stones throw away," Sarma had said.

About the Author Ashesh Mallick Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More

Location : Assam, India, India

First Published: May 25, 2025, 19:54 IST
Op Sindoor Succeeded With Made-In-India Weapons: PM Modi Renews Call To Go Vocal For Local

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 11:32 IST

PM Modi praised the success of Operation Sindoor against Pakistan. He highlighted testament to Indias growing self-reliance, using entirely indigenous weapons and technology.

A file photo of PM Narendra Modi (PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed the nation in the 122nd episode of Mann Ki Baat and hailed Indias Operation Sindoor against Pakistan. The Prime Minister stressed that the operation was successful with the use of made-in-India weapons, techniques, and technology.

The precision and accuracy with which our forces destroyed the terrorist hideouts across the border is extraordinary. Operation Sindoor is not just a military mission, but a picture of our resolve, courage and a transforming India and this picture has infused the whole country with a sense of patriotism and has painted it in the hues of the tricolour," PM Modi said.

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Made in India equipment and weapons were used in Operation Sindoor, thus making us all proud. The entire country is united against terrorism, everybody wants to finish it. Our forces destroyed the terror camps across the border with precision. Operation Sindoor showcases a changing India," he said.

People are filled with patriotic feelings after Operation Sindoor, the Prime Minister said, further urging all to choose indigenous products.

I request you all to take a commitment to choose indigenous products, it will exhibit your will to participate in the countrys progress," he said.

ALSO READ | Some Families Pledged To Spend Next Vacation In India: PM Modi Amid Turkey Boycott Calls

Our soldiers destroyed terror bases, it was their indomitable courage. After this campaign, a renewed energy is visible in the whole country regarding Vocal for Local," PM Modi said.

Operation Sindoor has lent a new confidence and enthusiasm to the fight against terrorism across the world. It has influenced the people of the country so much that many families have made it a part of their lives," he added.

As the Prime Minister paused his address, a parent remarked, We will now buy toys only made in India, for our children. Patriotism will start from childhood."

India launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan on the intervening night of May 7 and 8, in response to Pakistan-backed terror attack in Kashmirs iconic Pahalgam on April 22.

The attack claimed the lives of 26 innocent tourists.

Survivors later said the terrorists had asked them about their faith, and shot dead those who said they were non-Muslims.

The terrorists also asked the tourists to recite a Kalma (an Islamic phrase) to confirm if they were non-Muslims, before shooting them point-blank.

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Through Operation Sindoor, India destroyed multiple terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK). More than 100 terrorists, taking shelter in Pakistan, were also killed in the operation.

ALSO READ | India Committed To Eliminate Terrorism: PM Modi Hails Op Sindoor In Mann Ki Baat

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: May 25, 2025, 11:13 IST
'Some Families Pledged To Spend Next Vacation In...': PM Modi Amid Turkey Boycott Calls

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 13:06 IST

Calls to boycott Turkey picked pace in India since the Pahalgam terror attack. Ankara backed Pakistan during India's Operation Sindoor.

PM Narendra Modi (PTI Image)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the 122nd episode of his monthly radio show Mann Ki Baat, said that after Operation Sindoor, in which several Made-in-India weapons were used to defeat Pakistan, numerous families in the country have pledged to spend their vacation in India in recognition of vocal for local calls.

His remarks were in apparent reference to boycott calls that grew in the country for Turkey, which backed Pakistan against India after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.

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Turkey had condemned Indias Operation Sindoor and provided Pakistan with drones, which were later used against India to target civilian areas and military installations during Operation Sindoor. Ankaras support for Pakistan triggered anger across India, raising boycott calls, including tourism to the country.

PM Modis Vocal For Local Call

After this campaign, a fresh wave of enthusiasm towards vocal for local is being witnessed across the country. Certain instances truly touched the heart. Some families pledged we will spend our next vacation at a beautiful place in the country itself. Many young people made a resolution to Wed in India. They will marry in the country itself," PM Modi said.

ALSO READ | India Committed To Eliminate Terrorism: PM Modi Hails Op Sindoor In Mann Ki Baat

The Prime Minister further detailed Operation Sindoor, launched by the Indian armed forces on May 7 to avenge the Pahalgam massacre, and said that the forces hit their targets with precision and accuracy across the border.

Today, the entire nation is united against terrorism, filled with anger, but determined. Today, every Indians resolution is to eliminate terrorism," he said.

The precision and accuracy with which our forces destroyed the terrorist hideouts across the border is extraordinary. Operation Sindoor is not just a military mission; it is a picture of our resolve, courage and a transforming India, and this picture has infused the whole country with a sense of patriotism and has painted it in the hues of the tricolour," PM Modi added.

Operation Sindoor

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India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack. The precision airstrikes on nine terror camps killed at least 170 terrorists. Pakistan escalated the situation and attempted to strike Indian civilian areas and military installations. It also launched ballistic missiles, which were intercepted and destroyed by Indias air defence systems, including S-400 and Akash.

Indian forces also destroyed 11 Pakistani air bases, inflicting major damage to Pakistans misadventure plans. On May 10, Pakistani DGMO reached out to his Indian counterpart, seeking a ceasefire. India reached an understanding" with Pakistan to halt the military operations, however, also issued a stern warning that any future terrorist attack will be viewed as an Act of War".

About the Author Ashesh Mallick Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 11:18 IST
No Third-Party Involved in India-Pakistan Ceasefire: PM Modi Told NDA Leaders, Say Sources

Reported By :

CNN-News18 Edited By: Ashesh Mallick



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 17:33 IST

PM Modi's remarks were in apparent reference to Donald Trump's repeated claims that the US between India and Pakistan, resulting in the ceasefire on May 10.

PM Modi at NDA leaders meeting (PTI Image)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made it clear to the NDA leaders in a key meeting that the India-Pakistan ceasefire was agreed to bilaterally without the involvement of any third party, sources said.

His remarks were in apparent reference to US President Donald Trumps repeated claims that it was his administration that brokered the end of military confrontation between the two neighbours.

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Specifically mentioning Operation Sindoor in a high-level meeting of chief ministers and deputy chief ministers from BJP-led NDA-ruled states in New Delhi, the Prime Minister told the leaders that it was Pakistan that reached out to India, seeking a ceasefire, and there was no third-party involvement.

On Operation Sindoor, PM Modi said it was Pakistan who wanted a ceasefire and contacted us, and there was no other third party involved in this," sources said.

What Had Trump Claimed On India-Pakistan Ceasefire?

Trump has claimed credit on a number of occasions for playing a key role in brokering a ceasefire using trade" as a tool.

If you take a look at what we just did with Pakistan and India. We settled that whole issue, and I think I settled it through trade," Trump said.

And I said, What are you guys doing? Somebody had to be the last one to shoot. But the shooting was getting worse and worse, bigger and bigger, deeper and deeper into the countries. And we spoke to them, and I think we, you know, I hate to say we got it settled, and then two days later, something happens, and they say its Trumps fault," Trump added.

As India inflicted a major blow to Pakistan by striking back at its airbases on May 10, prompting the Pakistani DGMO to reach out to his Indian counterpart, seeking a ceasefire. India reached an understanding" with Pakistan to halt the military operations; however, it issued a stern warning that any future terror attacks will be seen as an Act of War".

PM Modis Stern Advisory For NDA Leaders

At the Delhi meeting, the Prime Minister also advised the NDA leaders to keep restraints in their speeches and avoid making unnecessary remarks. He also asked them to be more careful regarding passing statements.

Keep a restraint on speeches and avoid unnecessary statements. Leaders should refrain from saying anything anywhere," sources quoted PM Modi as telling the attendees of the meeting.

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His advisory comes as a number of BJP leaders have stoked controversies with their remarks since the Pahalgam terror attack, including Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah, whose statement on Col Sofiya Qureshi drew flak, with the matter reaching the Supreme Court. The Minister was asked to apologise to the army officer. The top court also ordered a Special Investigation Team to investigate the case.

Earlier on May 14, the police registered an FIR against Shah after the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered to do so. The court had taken a suo motu cognisance of the ministers crass remarks".

First Published: May 25, 2025, 16:49 IST
Monsoon Chaos In Baramati: Torrential Rains Break 40-Year Record, Fadnavis Orders Alert

Reported By :

CNN-News18 Edited By: Aanchal Sinha



Last Updated: May 26, 2025, 00:05 IST

Relentless rain floods Baramati, crumbling buildings and halting life. Supriya Sule urges exam delays; Fadnavis puts rescue teams on alert.

Pre-Monsoon Flooding in Baramati. (CNN News18)

Baramati and the surrounding areas of Pune district have been battered by relentless rainfall over the past few days, causing widespread chaos and panic. What started as pre-monsoon showers has escalated into a torrential downpour, breaking a 40-year-old record in Baramati.

Overflowing streams, swelling ponds, and gushing nullahs have turned into raging rivers, flooding roads and low-lying areas, and leaving hundreds of residents in distress.

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One of the worst-affected areas is Baramatis MIDC region, where three residential buildings  Sairang, Rishikesh, and Shri Samarth  have partially collapsed due to excessive water seepage and weakened foundations. Alarmed residents rushed to the nearest police station for help late last night.

Fortunately, no casualties have been reported, and the buildings have been evacuated as a precaution. Many families are now displaced and seeking temporary shelter on roads and nearby safe locations. Local authorities are reportedly working to relocate the affected residents to safer spaces.

The impact isnt limited to infrastructure alone. With continuous downpours swelling water bodies and flooding roads, daily life has ground to a halt in many parts of Baramati, Daund, and Indapur talukas. Public movement has slowed, and the administration has asked citizens to step out only if absolutely necessary.

Lok Sabha MP from Baramati, Supriya Sule, took to social media to express her concern and appealed to both citizens and the administration.

         .       .                .       Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) May 25, 2025

There has been continuous rain in the Pune district for the last three to four days. Streams and nullahs are overflowing, and in many areas, roads are waterlogged. I appeal to citizens to remain cautious and avoid stepping out unless necessary," she posted on X (formerly Twitter).

She further urged the district administration, PMRDA, and Pune Municipal Corporation to activate disaster response mechanisms and ensure timely assistance in affected areas.

Highlighting the plight of students amid the crisis, Sule also made a heartfelt request to Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil to postpone the engineering and other university exams scheduled for the coming days.

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It will be extremely difficult for students to reach exam centres under such conditions. The government must consider their safety," she said.

Taking note of the situation, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reviewed the flood-like conditions in Baramati and Indapur and directed all administrative machinery to remain on high alert. Emergency response teams have been instructed to stay prepared for rescue and relief operations if the situation worsens.

Location : Maharashtra, India, India

First Published: May 25, 2025, 23:42 IST
Protesters Scuffle With Security Forces Near Manipur Raj Bhavan, Several Injured

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 21:29 IST

Security forces fired several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the protesters in front of Kangla Gate, some 150 metres from Raj Bhavan gate.

Security forces fired several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the protesters. (X)

Several people were injured after a scuffle broke out between protesters and security forces who were on their way to gherao the Raj Bhavan against the removal of the states name from a government bus.

The security forces fired tear gas shells and used mock bombs to disperse protesters in front of Kangla Gate, some 150 metres from Raj Bhavan gate, news agency PTI reported.

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The protesters responding to a call by COCOMI (Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity) to stage mass agitation against the alleged removal of Manipur" from Manipur State Transport bus with journalists on board on May 20 en route to the Shirui Festival in Ukhrul district.

The protestors marched for some 500 metres before they were stopped by security forces. They were demanding an apology from Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla over an alleged insult to Manipurs identity.

Five protesters have been admitted to hospital with injuries, a hospital official said.

The governor continues to disregard the sentiments of the people by his silence. He and his administration has completely humiliated the states historical and cultural legacy all the while administering the state. The inquiry commission set up by the government to probe the incident is not enough and does not mention anything about penalising those who were involved," a protestor told the news agency.

A row erupted after a media team, en route to cover the opening ceremony of the five-day-long Shirui Lily Festival in Ukhrul district on May 20, was forced to return to Imphal, allegedly after some security personnel blocked their bus at Gwaltabi in Imphal East district.

It was alleged that security forces had stopped the state-run bus, on which journalists were being taken by the government to cover the tourism festival in the district on Tuesday, and forced the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) staffers to cover the states name written on the windshield with a white paper.

COCOMI had announced the statewide agitation and demanded the resignation of the Chief Secretary, DGP, and Security Advisor over the incident. The group had also announced a civil disobedience movement across the state in protest against the Governors alleged refusal to apologise for the removal of the states name from the government bus.

Meanwhile, the Manipur government earlier this week ordered a probe into the allegations.

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The government has also formed a two-member inquiry committee, and said that it will examine facts and circumstances involving security personnel and Manipur State Road Transport Bus carrying media persons to cover the Manipur Shirui festival on May 20 near Gwaltabi checkpost", according to an order issued by the Home Department.

(With inputs from PTI)

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

Location : Imphal, India, India

First Published: May 25, 2025, 21:29 IST
'Tourists Should Have Fought, Women Lacked Spirit': BJP MP's Pahalgam Attack Remark Stirs Row

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 09:14 IST

Ram Chander Jangra sparked controversy by saying the Pahalgam terror attack victims should have fought back and accused the widows of lacking courage.

A file photo of Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra (Social Media)

Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra on Saturday courted a controversy by saying that the tourists who lost their lives in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack should have fought the terrorists.

He also said that women who lost their husbands to the attack lacked" the spirit, and should have acted like veerangna (warrior women).

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Jangra said the number of casualties in the Pahalgam terror attack would have been less had the tourists undergone the Agniveer training.

Jangras remark came while he was addressing a gathering in Haryanas Bhiwani, an event organised to mark the 300th birth anniversary of Ahilyabai Holkar.

Wahan par jo hamari veerangnay behane thee, jinki maang ka sindoor chheen liya gaya, Veerangna ka bhaav nahin tha, josh nahin tha, jazba nahin tha, dil nahin tha, isliye haath jod ke goli ka shikaar ho gaye. (Women, who lost their husbands, did not have the spirit and vigour. Therefore, they became victims of the attack)," Jangra said.

Lekin haath jodne se koi chhodta nahin. Hamare aadmi vahan par haath jodkar maare gaye. (Terrorists do not leave one with requests. Our people died with folded hands)," he added.

ALSO READ | From US To Gulf, India Ramps Up Diplomatic Offensive On Pakistan Over Terror Sponsorship

The BJP MP said had the women, who lost their husbands in the attack, had they read Holkars history, then nobody would have killed their husbands in this way in front of them.

Agar yaatri training pass kiye hote, to teen ugarvaadi 26 logon ko nahin mar sakte the. (Had our tourists passed the training, then three terrorists could not have killed 26 people)," he said.

Jangra said that the tourists should have put up a fight against the terrorists.

Bilkul ladna chahihye tha. Aur agar ladte, to kam shahadat hoti aur kam log maare jaate. Haath jodne se kaun chhodta hai? Wo to maarne ke liye aaye the Vo to aatankvaadi the. Unke dil mein daya thodi thee. (Had they (tourists) fought, the casualties would have been fewer."

They  terrorists  had come to kill people. They did not have mercy," Jangra said while responding to a question later.

A video of Jangras remark was widely shared on social media.

JANGRAs REMARK TRIGGERS ROW

Reacting sharply to the Rajya Sabha MPs remark, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said even the word condemnable" would object to writing this disgusting statement.

He also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said this was the real face of the party.

Even the word condemnable would object to writing this disgusting statement of the BJP MP about the victimised women of Pahalgam," Yadav wrote in an X post in Hindi.

Instead of worshipping women, insulting them, condemning them and exploiting and harassing them in every possible way is the real face of the BJP, which is both disgusting and extremely shameful. BJP is not a party but a swamp of anti-women mentality," he added.

Congress MP from Rohtak, Deepender Singh Hooda, also took to X and wrote, Those whose husbands were ruined by terrorists in the Pahalgam attack, now this BJP MP from Haryana, Ramchandra ji is working to ruin their dignity."

This is a very disgusting comment. The BJP is constantly insulting the families of martyrs. This should be stopped," he wrote.

Congresss social media head, Supriya Shrinate, also condemned Jangras remarks.

BJP MP Ramchandra Jangra is talking about the women who lost their husbands in the Pahalgam attack. She did not have the spirit of a warrior. She did not have passion, she did not have zeal, she did not have heart. Thats why they folded their hands and became a victim of the bullet," Shrinate quoted Jangra in her post.

And party talks about vermilion? Theres a limit to shamelessness," she added.

PAHALGAM ATTACK AND OPERATION SINDOOR

As many as 26 tourists were killed by armed terrorists in Kashmirs iconic Pahalgam on April 22.

Survivors later said the terrorists had asked them their faith, and shot dead those who said they were non-Muslims.

The terrorists also asked the tourists to recite a Kalma (an Islamic phrase) to confirm if they were non-Muslims, before shooting them point-blank.

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In response, India, on the intervening night of May 7 and 8, launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan and destroyed multiple terror targets there. More than 100 terrorists, taking shelter in Pakistan, were also killed in the operation.

ALSO READ | Rafale Carried Out Precision Strikes, Agniveers Manned Air Defence: BJP Slams Rahul Gandhi

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: May 25, 2025, 09:13 IST
'India Won't Be Quiet Against Evil Forces': Shashi Tharoor Calls For Global Fight Against Terrorism

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 07:05 IST

Shashi Tharoor stressed global solidarity against terrorism during a visit to New York. He asserted that India, like the US, will not remain silent in the face of such attacks.

A file photo of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor (PTI)

Shashi Tharoor, who arrived in the United States as the leader of the all-party delegation, on Sunday said India will not be sitting quietly against the forces of evil.

Delivering his remarks while speaking to the media outside the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, the Congress MP also called on the global community to stand together with mutual solidarity and strength against the menace of terrorism.

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Referring to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre in the US, Tharoor said that the visit to the memorial is a solemn reminder of how, just like the US, India has been subjected to terrorism.

We in India have been subject to the same wounds that you are seeing the scars of today in this very moving memorial. We have come in a spirit of solidarity, we have come at the same time on a mission," Tharoor said.

The delegation, which is presently in the United States, will also visit Guyana, Panama, Brazil, and Colombia.

In these countries, we are hoping to be able to explain to the world how important it is for all of us to stand together against the scourge of terrorism. Just as the US showed such resolution and determination in the wake of 9/11, so too our country has stood up against the forces of evil who attacked us on April 22," he said.

We hope that a lesson has been learned by those who perpetrated this attack and by those who finance, train, equip, and direct them, but we want to communicate to the world that we will not be sitting quietly if this is repeated."

We want the world to understand that this is not a time for indifference, but for mutual strength and mutual solidarity, so that we can all unitedly stand up for the values that the United States has always cherished  the values of democracy, of human freedom, of diversity, of coexistence of people of different communities, none of which sadly is on the agenda of those who conducted such attacks," he added.

WHAT SHASHI THAROOR TOLD THE CONSULATE

After paying tribute at the 9/11 memorial, Tharoor, during an interaction at the Consulate, Congress in New York, said, We came both as a reminder that this is a shared problem, but also out of a spirit of solidarity with the victims, who included Indians. It is a global problem, we must fight it unitedly."

Speaking about how India has been subjected to terror acts time and again, Tharoor underlined that Perpetrators of terror should indeed be brought to justice, and we are not going to stop our hunt for those who did this latest atrocity".

He said, We need to think about where these people are based, where they have safe havens, where they are trained, equipped, financed, guided, armed, and often directly directed. To perpetrate these horrors, and they too should be accountable for what they have been doing."

We are determined now that theres got to be a new bottom line to this. We have tried everything, an international dossier, complaints everything has been tried. Pakistan has remained in denial, there has been absolutely no conviction, no serious criminal prosecution, no attempt to dismantle the terror infrastructure in that country, and the persistence of safe havens," Tharoor said.

You (Pakistan) do this, you are going to get this back, and we have demonstrated with this Operation (Operation Sindoor) that we can do it with a degree of precision," Tharoor mentioned.

Speaking further, the Congress MP said, Some people decided that they would want to attack that process of normalisation (in Jammu and Kashmir), second to undermine the narrative, as well as the prosperity of the people of Kashmir. Third, by doing so in an atrocious manner, that is, it was not just a terrorist attack of somebody incriminating going on people with a bomb. It was a bunch of people going around identifying the religions of the people before them and killing them on that basis, which was clearly intended to provoke a backlash in the rest of India, since the victims were overwhelmingly Hindu."

The message was very clear that there was a malign intent, India, sadly, had no reason to doubt where it came from," he said.

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Within an hour of the atrocity, a group called the Resistance Front had claimed credit. The Resistance Front was known for some years to be a frontal organisation of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is on the US-designated terror list as well as UN sanctions committees."

India had gone to the UN sanctions committee with information about the Resistance Front in 2023 and 2024, and now sadly, it acted in 2025. Pakistan chose to follow its usual path of denial," he said.

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: May 25, 2025, 06:51 IST
Shashi Tharoor Slams Pakistan Over Pathankot Attack, Says 2015 Was Its Last Chance To Act On Terror

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 14:16 IST

Shashi Tharoor, leading an all-party delegation to the US, noted that India's move to extend a hand of peace to Pakistan was met with a terror attack in Pathankot 10 years back.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor | PTI Image

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday recalled the 2015 Pathankot Airbase attack that came just weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his surprise visit to Lahore, saying that it was Pakistans last chance to prove that its serious about ending terror.

Tharoor, leading an all-party delegation to the United States as part of Operation Sindoors global outreach, noted that Indias move to extend a hand of peace to Pakistan was met with a terror attack in Pathankot 10 years back.

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In January 2015, there was an attack on Indian Air Base, and our Prime Minister had just visited Pakistan the previous month. So when this happened, he was so astonished that he called the Pakistani PM and said, Why dont you join the investigation?" Tharoor said.

Lets solve whos doing thisimagine the horror of the Indian military establishment with this idea that Pakistani investigators would come to Indian airways, but, but they came and they went back to Pakistan and said, all the Indians did it to themselvesI am afraid for us."

He added that 2015 was the last chance for Pakistan to show that they really wanted to end terror, as they claim of doing so.

2015 was the last opportunity for them to behave, to cooperate, to really show they were serious about ending terror, as they claimed every time that they were," Tharoor said.

#WATCH | New York, US: During an interaction at the Consulate, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, " In January, 2015, there was an attack on Indian Air Base, and our Prime Minister had just made a visit to Pakistan the previous monthSo when this happened, he was so astonished pic.twitter.com/EhV6Di1Bdc ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

In a surprise diplomatic gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore on December 25, 2015, to meet then-Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, marking a significant moment in India-Pakistan relations.

The unannounced visit, intended to reset bilateral ties and promote goodwill, came after months of behind-the-scenes diplomacy. However, hopes of a thaw were short-lived.

Just a week later, on January 2, 2016, heavily armed terrorists attacked the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot. The assault, claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, was seen by India as a betrayal of PM Modis peace outreach.

Tharoor On 26/11 And 9/11 Attacks

Tharoor also brought up the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack in Mumbai, which claimed the lives of over 150 people. He noted that the attackers were guided in real-time by handlers based in Pakistan.

Additionally, he referenced the United States response to the 9/11 attacks, highlighting the mission to eliminate Osama Bin Laden, known as Operation Neptune Spear.

And as you know, thereafter, Pakistans claim not to know where Osama Bin Laden was  until he was found in a safe house right next to an army cantonment, in a city dominated by the army. This is Pakistan," he said.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is leading one of Indias seven all-party delegations as part of Operation Sindoor, a global diplomatic initiative launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

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Tharoors delegation is visiting five countries, including the United States, to brief international partners on Indias measured yet resolute response to the attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism.

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: May 25, 2025, 12:56 IST
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. Iran is not wasting any time in the ongoing indirect negotiations with the United States regarding its nuclear program, aiming for the lifting of sanctions as a result, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said, Trend reports.

He noted that Iran is making every effort in this direction, but emphasized that this will not come at the expense of the country's rights.

Araghchi stated that Iran is approaching the negotiations with patience and composure and will not give up any of its rights, including uranium enrichment.

The Iranian official added that the date for the next round of indirect talks with the United States has not yet been determined.
Aishwarya Rai To Alia Bhatt: A Look At How Celebs Celebrated The Saree At Cannes 2025

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 17:33 IST

From elegant drapes to contemporary takes, the saree was celebrated in all its glory at the Cannes Film Festival 2025.

(L-R) Aishwarya Rai in Manish Malhotra, Alia Bhatt in Gucci

The 78th annual Cannes Film Festival concluded last night, on May 24. This year saw a strong Indian representation at the prestigious film festival. While celebrities gathered together at the festival to celebrate global cinema, they also used this platform to highlight Indias beloved fashion treasure  the saree. From elegant drapes to contemporary takes, the saree was celebrated in all its glory at the Cannes Film Festival 2025.

Celebrities and social media personalities made some powerful sartorial statements by embracing the saree on this global platform. Blending heritage with haute couture, the saree was used as a canvas for bold expression, elegance, and reinvention. Lets take a look at some of the best saree moments from Cannes 2025.

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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

The Queen of Cannes, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, graced the red carpet in a breathtaking ivory Banarasi saree. Designed by Manish Malhotra, the handwoven Kadwa saree was a striking blend of heritage and high fashion, showcasing intricate brocade motifs and hand-embroidered zari work in real silver. She paired the saree with a full-sleeved blouse that echoed the ornate embroidery of the saree. She added a sheer white tissue dupatta with delicate gold and silver zardozi edging added an ethereal layer to the look. Complementing this regal attire, Aishwarya wore heirloom Manish Malhotra jewellery: over 500 carats of Mozambique rubies and uncut diamonds set in 18k gold.

Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt brought a contemporary twist to traditional elegance in a custom Gucci gown that resembled a saree. As the brands first Indian Global Ambassador, Alias ensemble included a bralette-style blouse, a fitted skirt, and a flowing drape. The ensemble was adorned with Guccis iconic GG monogram, intricately embedded in a criss-cross crystal embroidery pattern that shimmered under the red carpet lights.

Aditi Rao Hydari

For one of her looks at Cannes 2025, Aditi Rao Hydari opted for a crimson red saree by Raw Mango. The luxurious silk saree, accentuated by a striking cobalt blue border, was a perfect harmony of understated elegance and regal charm. The vivid colour palette paid homage to classic Indian design while seamlessly fitting the glamour of an international red carpet. Aditi complemented the ensemble with a beautifully crafted heritage-inspired choker and matching earrings.

Janhvi Kapoor

Draped in an ethereal white chiffon saree by London-based label DI PETSA, Janhvi honoured the memory of her late mother, Sridevi. The brand is known for its wet-look" creations. Styled by Rhea Kapoor, Janhvi paired the wet saree with a striking emerald-and-sapphire Chopard necklace and edgy statement ear cuffs.

Sharmila Tagore

For her appearance at the screening of Aranyer Din Ratri, Sharmila exuded grace in a rich emerald green silk saree by Raw Mango. The saree was adorned with a subtle gold zari border. The ensemble struck the perfect balance between simplicity and grandeur, allowing her innate elegance to shine through. She accessorised with a gold clutch and dainty green earrings.

Parul Gulati

Parul gave the timeless sari a futuristic edge. In a striking vision crafted by designer Riddhi Bansal and styled by Mohit Rai, she wore a custom Banarasi tissue sari that was encased in resin. It was sculpted to fit her body and to mimic the fluid shimmer of liquid metal. The avant-garde drape clung to her silhouette like a second skin, blurring the lines between tradition and innovation.

Nitanshi Goel

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For her debut look, Nitanshi brought a heartfelt homage to Bollywood legends through a custom pre-draped saree by Jade by Monica & Karishma. She paired the saree with a backless blouse edged in pearls and a sheer, cloud-like dupatta. The look was rich with intricate details  bow embroidery, floral motifs, and paisley patterns created using a traditional resist-dyeing technique. But it was her hair accessory that truly stole the spotlight: a bespoke pearl parandi that was adorned with black-and-white portraits of Bollywoods greatest stars.

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: May 25, 2025, 17:33 IST
World Thyroid Awareness Day 2025: Symptoms, Diagnosis And Treatment Options

Published By :

Trending Desk

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 07:20 IST

World Thyroid Awareness Day is dedicated to educating the public on how thyroid diseases affect the body and the significance of early diagnosis and treatment.

World Thyroid Awareness Day 2025: The day was officially established in September 2007 during the Annual General Meeting held prior to the European Thyroid Association (ETA) congress. (File Pic)

World Thyroid Awareness Day 2025: Every year on may 25, World Thyroid Awareness Day is observed globally to highlight the importance of thyroid health and raise awareness about the symptoms and prevention of thyroid disorders. This day is dedicated to educating the public on how thyroid diseases affect the body and the significance of early diagnosis and proper treatment.

World Thyroid Awareness Day 2025: History

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World Thyroid Awareness Day, observed annually on May 25, was officially established in September 2007 during the Annual General Meeting held prior to the European Thyroid Association (ETA) congress. The date wasnt chosen at random, May 25 commemorates the founding of the ETA in 1965, giving the day historical significance.

The decision to mark this day was driven by the desire to improve global understanding of thyroid conditions and their effects on health. The ETA intended to use the occasion to inform and educate the public, medical professionals, and organisations about the prevention, symptoms and treatment of thyroid-related illnesses, while also promoting early detection and patient support.

World Thyroid Awareness Day 2025: Key Facts

Objective: To spread awareness about thyroid diseases, promote education, and encourage early diagnosis and management.

To spread awareness about thyroid diseases, promote education, and encourage early diagnosis and management. Date: Observed annually on May 25.

Observed annually on May 25. Global Reach: Millions worldwide suffer from thyroid disorders, with women at higher risk than men.

Millions worldwide suffer from thyroid disorders, with women at higher risk than men. Common Types: The two most frequent disorders are hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid).

The two most frequent disorders are hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid). Significance: The day fosters public education, medical engagement, and advocacy for improved thyroid care.

World Thyroid Awareness Day 2025: Symptoms Of Thyroid

Thyroid-related conditions can be challenging to detect, as their symptoms often mimic other health issues. The symptoms fall mainly into two categories based on hormone levels:

Hypothyroidism (Underactive Thyroid) Fatigue and low energy Unexplained weight gain Cold intolerance Dry skin and brittle hair Depressed mood Slowed heart rate Heavy or irregular periods Hyperthyroidism (Overactive Thyroid) Rapid or irregular heartbeat Difficulty sleeping Weight loss despite normal eating Sensitivity to heat Sweaty or clammy skin Anxiety or irritability Missed or light menstrual periods

Both conditions may cause goiter, or swelling of the thyroid gland, which is more commonly seen in hyperthyroidism.

World Thyroid Awareness Day 2025: Diagnosis Of Thyroid

A healthcare provider will assess symptoms, review medical history, and conduct a physical examinationtypically checking the thyroid gland for swelling or nodules. Diagnostic methods include:

Blood Tests: Measures levels of TSH, T3, T4, and thyroid antibodies to evaluate thyroid function.

Measures levels of TSH, T3, T4, and thyroid antibodies to evaluate thyroid function. Imaging Tests: Ultrasound helps detect nodules or gland enlargement; radioactive iodine scans identify overactive areas.

World Thyroid Awareness Day 2025: Treatment Options

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Treatment strategies depend on the severity of the condition, patient health, age and personal preferences. Options include:

Anti-thyroid Medications: Few drugs help to reduce thyroid hormone production. Treatment typically lasts 1218 months, with some patients achieving long-term remission. However, rare side effects include liver damage or allergic reactions. Beta Blockers: These help manage symptoms such as tremors and rapid heart rate but do not affect hormone levels. They are not ideal for asthma patients and may cause fatigue or sexual dysfunction. Radioiodine Therapy: Taken orally, radioactive iodine shrinks the thyroid gland, often leading to hypothyroidism, which then requires lifelong hormone replacement. Thyroidectomy (Surgery): Partial or total removal of the thyroid, used when other treatments are unsuitable.

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First Published: May 25, 2025, 07:20 IST
Pooja Bhatt Mourns Mukul Dev's Death: 'He Spoke Of Very Simple Things'

Curated By :

IANS

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 14:01 IST

Pooja Bhatt paid tribute to Mukul Dev, recalling his independent spirit and philosophical depth.

Pooja Bhatt is mourning Mukul Dev's death.

Pooja Bhatt has paid a heartfelt tribute to the late actor Mukul Dev, remembering him as someone who lived life on his terms.

Reflecting on his deeply independent spirit, Bhatt recalled how Mukul believed in breaking free from all forms of limitationswhether societal, personal, or imposedchoosing freedom and authenticity above all else. As the film industry mourned the untimely passing of Dev Bhatt on Sunday, it offered a glimpse into the philosophical depth that defined the late actor. In a heartfelt note, she reflected on his unique worldview, describing him as someone who didnt just exist within societal norms but sought meaning beyond them.

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Sharing Mukul Devs photo on her Instagram handle, Pooja Bhatt remembered him as a man who spoke of lifes simplest yet most profound truths  that freedom is the very nature of being, and that anything standing in its way must be courageously set aside. She wrote, He spoke of very simple things-that it is right for a gull to fly, that freedom is the very nature of his being, that whatever stands against that freedom must be set aside, be it ritual or superstition or limitation in any form."

Set aside," came a voice from the multitude, even if it be the law of the flock?" The only true law is that which leads to freedom," He said. There is no other." For most gulls, it was not flying that mattered, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. Mukul Dev 17 September 1970- 23 May 2025 Excerpt: Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull."

Mukul Dev, widely recognised for his performances in films like Son of Sardaar," R Rajkumar," and Jai Ho," has passed away at the age of 54.

His untimely demise has left the film fraternity in shock and sorrow. Several celebrities, including Ajay Devgn, Salman Khan, Hansal Mehta, Sunny Deol, Mrunal Thakur, and many others, expressed their grief and paid heartfelt tributes to the late actor on social media.

First Published: May 25, 2025, 14:01 IST
Preity Zinta Donates Rs 1.10 Crore For Army Widows And Children After Operation Sindoor

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 14:04 IST

Bollywood actress and IPL team co-owner Preity Zinta has donated 1.10 crore to the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) under her CSR initiative for Punjab Kings.

Bollywood star Preity Zinta donates 1.10 crore to Army Wives Welfare Association for widows and children of martyrs. The actress, who is also a 'fauji kid', expressed pride in supporting Indias brave families.

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta has once again proven her golden heart by donating over 1 crore towards the welfare of Army widows and their children. This generous gesture came shortly after Indias valiant Operation Sindoor, a mission that followed the tragic Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

According to an official statement, Preity donated a total of 1.10 crore to the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) of the South Western Command. The donation was made as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of her Indian Premier League (IPL) team, Punjab Kings.

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At a heartfelt event organised in Jaipur on Saturday, which was attended by the Army Commander of South Western Command, the Regional President of Shapta Shakti AWWA, and several Army families, Preity expressed her deep respect and admiration for the Armed Forces. It is both an honour and a responsibility to provide assistance to the brave families of our armed forces. The sacrifices made by our soldiers can never truly be repaid. However, we can stand by their families and support them in moving forward," she said. We are immensely proud of the Indian Armed Forces, and we stand in unwavering support of our nation and its brave defenders."

Preity, who has often spoken proudly of her army upbringing, also addressed a fan on social media recently, sharing an emotional note. I have seen the grit, the sweat, the blood, the tears up close. Sometimes I feel Fauji families are a little stronger than the Faujis themselves! Have you seen those mothers that give their sons up for our country, those wives that will never see their husbands smile again and those kids that will never have their fathers or mothers guide them through life! This is their reality," she wrote.

On the professional front, the actress is gearing up for her big-screen comeback with the much-anticipated film Lahore 1947, opposite Sunny Deol. Produced by Aamir Khan and set against the partition of India, the film marks an important return for the beloved actress after a long hiatus.

About the Author Yatamanyu Narain Yatamanyu Narain is a Sub-Editor at News18.com with a passion for all things entertainment. Whether he's breaking the latest Bollywood news or chatting with rising stars in the OTT world, hes always on the hun... Read More Yatamanyu Narain is a Sub-Editor at News18.com with a passion for all things entertainment. Whether he's breaking the latest Bollywood news or chatting with rising stars in the OTT world, hes always on the hun... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 14:04 IST
Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 20:05 IST

The Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025 was held in Tokyo, Japan, celebrating the outstanding talent that drives animes growing global impact. This glamorous live event honoured the artists, musicians, and visionaries shaping the anime world. Leading the night was Solo Leveling, which dominated with a sweep of awards, including Anime of the Year, Best New Series, Best Action, Best Score, and Best Main Character. The popular adaptation of a Korean webtoon also won Best Ending Sequence and Best English Voice Performance for Aleks Le, among other accolades.

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Other major winners included Look Back, which was awarded Film of the Year, and Ninja Kamui, which secured the title of Best Original Anime. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba  Hashira Training Arc continued its success, earning both Best Continuing Series and Best Animation, showcasing its enduring popularity and artistic excellence.
Opinion | Defeating Seamless Integration Of Terror & Drugs In Democracies

Written By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 19:26 IST

India needs a model for counter-terrorism adjudication, taking into account the terror problem in all its facets, including narco-terrorism and money laundering

Indian security forces have stepped up their anti-terror operations in Valley following the Pahalgam attack | File Image/PTI

Terrorism is senseless violence in which civilians are often the target, like the recent Pahalgam incident in Kashmir. Militant groups that engage in transnational terrorism employ disparate terrorist tactics for several disruptive motives. Their transnational terrorist operations are underpinned by a strategic need to influence intended audiences abroad in achieving their process and outcome goals. Depending on the militant groups short- and long-term objectives, the type of attack indicates the type of terrorist strategy they will employ.

At its core, terrorism is a senseless, violent discourse, aimed at influencing the policies and support of an intended audience beyond the immediate victims. These targeted third-party audiences can include governments (domestic or foreign), opposition political parties, the passive public, and the supporting global religious constituency of the militant group.

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There is a plethora of international agreements, covering all facets of terrorism, including the intractable problem of narco-terrorism.

The major international agreements are:

 1988 UN Drug Convention  United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)

 UN Single Drug Convention  United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol)

 UN Psychotropic Substances Convention  United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)

 UNCAC  UN Convention against Corruption (2003)

 UNTOC  UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (2000) and its supplementing protocols:

 Trafficking in Persons Protocol  Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime

 Migrant Smuggling Protocol  Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime

 Firearms Protocol  Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime.

Significantly, both India and Pakistan are signatories to all these international agreements.

In addition, a significant recent initiative is the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, an international partnership which the United States launched in mid-2023. In September 2024, the United States hosted a Leaders Summit at the UN General Assembly to mark the first year of the Global Coalition, which now has 164 participating member states and 15 international organisation partners working to disrupt the supply chain for synthetic drugs and detect emerging drug threats.

The United States also spurred new global action against the synthetic drug crisis at the High-Level Segment of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in March 2024, which marked the first time a US Secretary of State attended a meeting of the UNs drug policymaking body.

Also, the US Department of State, Bureau of Counterterrorism identifies State Sponsors of Terrorism. Countries determined by the Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism are designated pursuant to three laws: section 1754(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Taken together, the four main categories of sanctions resulting from designation under these authorities include restrictions on US foreign assistance; a ban on defence exports and sales; certain controls over exports of dual-use items; and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions. Currently, there are four countries designated under these authorities: Cuba, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea), Iran, and Syria. Is it not surprising that the name of Pakistan, which is a global hub of narcotics, is significantly missing?

The value and utility of all the above agreements, dialogues and pronouncements, are all highly debatable. Western strategic interests are only articulated and protected in these deliberations, but Asian and African countries always get a raw deal.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on February 5 said that the narcotics network is providing support to infiltrators and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that there was a need to initiate prompt action with alacrity and rigour against terror funding from the proceeds of the narcotics trade.

As J&K continues to grapple with the menace of drug abuse, authorities have revealed that an alarming 1,978 drug-related cases have been registered in 2024-25 alone and over 2,800 persons have been held in connection with them. This is part of a larger crackdown on drug traffickers and suppliers aimed at dismantling the nexus. Notably, drug abuse has picked up in J&K over the last few years. About 14.09 lakh persons in J&K are affected by substance abuse, including addiction to alcohol, cannabis, opioids and inhalants. Around 1,514 cases were registered in 2024, and 2,260 arrests and 274 detentions were made under the NDPS Act.

But the ground reality in narcotics enforcement in J&K is disturbing. In February 2025, the Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh High Court upheld the trial courts acquittal in a case involving the possession of contraband in commercial quantity. The court emphasised that non-compliance with mandatory provisionssuch as proper sampling, immediate reporting, and informing the accused of the grounds for arrestmakes the prosecutions case defective. It criticised the lack of diligence in investigations under the NDPS Act, noting:

Every day, we hear reports of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances being seized, particularly from the youth. However, it is alarming that many genuine cases under the NDPS Act result in acquittals due to casual, unfair, and flawed investigations."

The bench further stressed that cases under the NDPS Act are frequently handled by incompetent officers, leading to breaches that weaken prosecution arguments, undermine justice, and erode public confidence in the legal system".

This is just one of the many cases in which charges against drug dealers have fallen in court. In the last six years, more than 13,186 persons have been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Yet, the official data shows only four convictions have been secured, an abysmally low rate of just 0.03 per cent.

Yet, the situation has barely changed, with legal experts and officials arguing the problems run deeper. They point out the law is stringent against drug trafficking, but the burden of proof is higher, requiring highly professional investigations. This law is laced with technicalities, and a single contradiction in the statement of witnesses erodes the credibility in the eyes of the law."

The above problem, pointed out by the court, stems from inadequate training of investigators. Also, the government needs to bring in different legislation to handle cross-border narco-terror cases. The situations in Punjab and Kashmir are very alarming.

In May 2025, the Punjab Police, in Tarn Taran, made a major recovery of 85 kg of heroin near the border village of Gharinda. This is the biggest heroin seizure of 2025 so far, smuggled from Pakistan.

Similarly, in May 2025, the Border Security Force (BSF) officials seized heroin valued at Rs 5 crore after intercepting a drone from Pakistan near the international border in Rajasthans Sri Ganganagar. The consignment, believed to have been sent from Pakistan, was found near the barbed-wire fencing along the international border.

On April 2, a crashed drone was found in a field near Chak 11F, Sheikhsarpal Border Post, Karanpur. It contained 500 gm of heroin.

On March 20, three kilograms of heroin were recovered near the Rawala area (village 12 KND) by BSF personnel after a drone drop.

On May 18, 2025, the BSF successfully crossed a significant landmark of recovering the 100th Pakistani drone, including 111 kg of heroin, 60 weapons, 14 hand grenades and more than 10 kg of high explosives from entering Indian territory. In 2024, the BSF recovered 294 such drones along the Indo-Pak border.

Investigations conducted over the past four years have indicated that Pakistan-based terror groups were involved in sending drugs and weapons using drones at different locations along the border in Punjab.

No other country in the world is facing such a grave narco-terror problem as India. An array of terror organisations, sporting Arabic names, operates near the India-Pakistan border, with global ambitions and a willingness to export terror and war from their base of operations. Though the recent Operation Sindoor delivered a strong punch, terror forces have not been completely obliterated. They will regroup quickly with continued support from Pakistan, to keep alive the spectre of narco-terrorism, in Kashmir and Punjab. So, it is not sufficient to be on the front lines of combating drug smuggling and making waves with seizures. Combating narco-terrorism in the border states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir needs a new law and a different set of yardsticks.

The role of the judiciary in the challenge of fighting terrorism needs complete reconsideration and revision. Can and should the courts decide the proper way to fight terrorism? Will constant judicial interference burden the fight against terrorism? Which law is applicable to counter-terrorist activities and narco-terrorism? Is it the law of war or is it the routine criminal law that needs application? What is the plausible balance between human rights and public safety in this era of terrorism?

What India sorely needs is a model for counter-terrorism adjudication, taking into account the terror problem in all its facets, including narco-terrorism and money laundering within the legal context. A possible model is the jurisprudence of the Israeli Supreme Court, developed in recent years. The Supreme Court of Israel has dealt many times with questions regarding the role of the Court in the era of terrorism. Counter-terrorism has become a part of daily reality in Israel, very much like in Kashmir. The approach of the Israeli judiciary is unique in comparison with the judges and courts in other democracies.

The different forms of counter-terrorism measures reviewed by the Israeli Supreme Court cover preventive measures such as detention and arrest, assigned residence of inhabitants, house demolitions, and the separation fence"; interrogation methods; the course of actual combatant activity; provisions for civil liability of the armed forces; and electoral laws banning candidates who support terror activities.

For example, in many cases, following a terrorist attack, the IDF demolishes the house of the terrorist. It does this mainly to deter terrorists. This measure is administrative rather than part of any criminal procedure, and is considered severe because it often results in the loss of housing for an entire family, even though the family may not be involved in the terrorist activity. As a matter of practice, the IDF has also used this tactic in cases where the terrorist died or escaped from the country. In numerous cases, petitioners requested the Israeli Court to cancel these demolition orders. Upon review, the Court ruled that this counter-terrorism method can be used to deter terrorists, but not to punish them, and that no international or domestic law renders the practice illegal. The fact that other people, namely the families of the terrorists, were affected by this action was not found to make the action itself illegal under international law.

A few states in India have adopted a similar procedure, which goes by the name of bulldozer justice". But the Supreme Court promptly intervened and termed it a lawless, ruthless state of affairs", and issued pan-India guidelines. The common man who is facing the brunt of terrorism and narco-terrorism is facing a conundrum, are laws and their interpretations tilted in favour of the terrorists?

It is because of the soft approach of the US judiciary that the American government was compelled to establish the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 to house individuals designated as enemy combatants" and suspected terrorists following the September 11 attacks. This facility, located within the US Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was intended to hold those captured in the war on terror," particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq. The primary reason for its creation was to detain individuals outside the legal framework of the US. India, which is facing aggravated terrorism, needs to think of setting up a similar Guantanamo facility, to circumvent judicial barriers.

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Ciceros aphorism that laws are silent during war should be made valid for all terror cases.

The writer is Former Director General, Multi-Disciplinary School of Economic Intelligence, and National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.

First Published: May 25, 2025, 19:13 IST
Opinion: To Be Reborn To Carry On Indias Fight For Freedom  Tribute to Rash Behari Bose

Written By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 17:29 IST

As we remember him on his birth anniversary, we see Rash Behari Bose and his legacy making a comeback in our national discourse

Rash Beharis appeal remains perennial and dynamic, writes the author. (News18 Hindi)

I mean no disrespect to Shri Rasa Bihari Basu [Rash Behari Bose]. But he went to Japan and became a citizen and national of Japan. He married there, had children there and cut himself off practically from India. His family lives in Japan as Japanese citizensThere are very eminent persons who sacrificed their lives in Indias struggle for freedom, who died abroad and whose memory we cherish. We have not thought at any time of searching for their ashes or whatever remains of them and to bring them here. It is not that we have any objection to his ashes coming here. But they honour it in Japan, because in Japan we know that one of the old worships of Japan is Shinto worship or worship of ancestors. I understand that the ashes of Shri Rasa Bihari Basu are honoured in his family and worshipped in his family."

This is how, in a few perfunctory and disjointed sentences, Indias first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru summed up revolutionary leader Rash Behari Boses life of epic proportions on November 24, 1961 in the Lok Sabha. Nehru himself was cut-off from the revolutionary dimension of the freedom struggle and never cared to honour revolutionary nationalists and their legacies in independent India. The reason was not far to seek. He must have thought that honouring the legacies of the revolutionaries would overshadow or minimise his role or that of his own group in the freedom movement.

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Contrast Nehrus attitude towards Rash Behari Bose with that of Narendra Modi, who as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, had undertaken a historic and unprecedented initiative to repatriate the ashes of iconic revolutionary Shyamji Krishna Varma in 2003. Varma, who had died in Geneva in 1930, had willed that his ashes be immersed in a free India. Since then and for 56 years after independence, Varmas ashes lay in a vault in Geneva, till Modi brought them back to India. Recalling that historic moment, Modi observed that bringing back the ashes of Shyamji Krishna Varma was one of the most special moments" of his life and the fervour and pride it generated across the nation was unimaginable, particularly among the youth". Not only did he bring Varmas ashes back, Modi also undertook a 2000 km Veeranjali Yatra" with it, starting from Mumbai and covering 17 districts of Gujarat. A sea of people turned out to pay tribute to the legacy of Varma across every district.

Historian Joseph McQuade candidly argues in his biography of Rash Behari Bose, Fugitive of Empire, that during the historic INA trial held at the Red Fort in Delhi, with Nehru himself serving as the defence attorney for the accused [the INA soldiers and officers], the Congress rode the coat-tails of a political project that they had in fact vehemently opposed". It is well-known that public sentiment in India at that time was very strong in support of the INA soldiers. Congress leaders, especially Nehru, were reluctantly forced to don the attorneys coat and come out in their support.

Thinker, political philosopher and one of the founding pillars of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, political predecessor of the BJP, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, pointed fingers at this Congress habit of grabbing all credit for the freedom movement. Congressmen today make loud claims that it was they who got independence for India," wrote Upadhyaya, They must answer whether individuals like Yogi Aurobindo Ghose and the armed freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives in prison in the Andaman Islands were Congressmen? Vasudev Balwant Phadke, an armed freedom fighter who fought for Indias freedom, did so outside the Congress world. Were Rash Behari Bose, Bhagat Singh and Veer Savarkar Congressmen? The great deeds of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose were accomplished after he had quit the Congress. Yet, the Congress is out to grab all credit for Indias independence, whereas the truth is that it is the millions of Indians who really fought and won Indias freedom."

The INA was founded by Rash Behari Bose. He eventually handed it and its entire ecosystem to Subhas Chandra Bose, who then led it. McQuade writes, The INA and the armed struggle for independence that it represented was the culmination of Rash Behari Boses thirty-year long quest to turn the Indian Army against its British leaders." A direct line can be traced from Rash Behari Boses unsuccessful attempt to instigate" a revolt in the Indian Army in 1915 to his seminal role in creating a rebel Indian National Army during the Second World War." A.M Nair, a close associate of Rash Behari Bose in Japan, writes of the INA in his memoir, An Indian Freedom Fighter in Japan, that Rash Behari saw the INA also act as a symbol of unity to inspire freedom fighters within the subcontinent to seize their opportunity to overthrow the British".

One of the earliest chroniclers of Rash Behari Boses revolutionary exploits, historian Uma Mukherjee, writes of him as one of the greatest leaders and architects of Indias revolutionary movement", who played a dynamic role" in the achievement of independence. If Aurobindo Ghose is regarded as the Mazzini of Young India, Rash Behari Bose may be fitly called the Cavour of Indias Freedom Movement," writes Mukherjee.

In his over three decades of exile in Japan, as one of the most wanted Indian fugitives of the British Empire, Rash Behari was relentless in his cause of championing Indias freedom. The towering stature he achieved in Japan as an Indian intellectual, philosopher and political activist remains unparalleled to this day. Leading Japanese thinkers and statesmen rallied to Boses cause, which was Indias cause, making him the most iconic Indian in the south and far east of that era.

What explains Nehrus apathy or that of the Congress system towards Rash Behari? Was it because Bose was also particularly close to Savarkar? Was it because Savarkars seminal book, Indian War of Independence on the 1857 revolt, had shaped young Rash Beharis thinking and perception of British occupation of India and of the need to revolt against it?

In Japan, Rash Behari had established, among his other many faceted activities, a branch of the Hindu Mahasabha, and throughout the summer and spring of 1938", McQuade tells us, Bose corresponded heavily with V.D. Savarkar." Rash Behari spoke of a pan-Asia rekindling of the civilisational essence of Hindus. He spoke of the need to take immediate steps for establishing branches of the [Hindu] Mahasabha in Japan, China, Siam and other countries of the Pacific and sending their representatives for creating solidarity among the Eastern races"

Being the perennial pragmatic nationalist, Rash Behari always felt the need for unity and a united stance in the struggle for freedom. The Indian Independence League (IIL) thus, which he founded and which became an effective and dynamic body for mobilising public opinion and support in southeast and east Asia for Indias independence struggle, made it clear that it would act in support of the leaders of the Indian National Congress in India and not do anything to oppose or denigrate them". Nehru, of course, wouldnt have known of this, driven as he was, by his fundamental opposition to the INAs philosophy and to its ecosystem.

As we remember him on his birth anniversary, we see Rash Behari Bose and his legacy making a comeback in our national discourse. That in itself is a sign that the discourse has at last space to diversify and to breathe. It also shows that Rash Beharis appeal, when rediscovered, remains perennial and dynamic.

His last look, records A.M Nair, who attended to him in his last days in Tokyo, was at the framed tablet which he always had on the wall in front of him with the words: Vande Mataram". When he knew that the end was near, Rash Behari is said to have told Nair, That he would be born again to carry on the fight for Indias freedom"

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Rash Behari Bose had assimilated himself and embodied Indias aspiration for freedom. He had not cut himself off from India", as Nehru once argued, he had instead integrated and merged himself in Indias civilisational essence and soul.

The author is Chairman, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, and a member of the National Executive Committee, BJP. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.

First Published: May 25, 2025, 17:29 IST
'Can't Tolerate...': Tejashwi Yadav's Response To Brother Tej Pratap's Expulsion From RJD

Curated By :

News18.com Edited By: Oindrila Mukherjee



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 18:45 IST

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav gave a guarded response about his brother Tej Pratap's expulsion but minced no words in stating "things have not been to my liking"

The development came with barely a few months left for the Bihar assembly polls, which the RJD will fight under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav. (Image: PTI/File)

Moments after RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav expelled his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav from the party for six years and snapped family ties with him, his younger son Tejashwi Yadav said he came to know about the move from the media.

Tejashwi, however, gave a guarded response but minced no words in stating things have not been to my liking". My elder brother is an adult. He is free to make any choice in his personal life. But there are certain things we cannot tolerate. And this is what our national president has asserted in his post," he said.

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He, however, said when it comes to his elder brother, the political and personal are different". But, he stressed that the party, which was dedicated to the people of Bihar, cannot tolerate such things".

#WATCH | Patna | RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav expels his elder son, Tej Pratap Yadav from the party for 6 years, he also removed him from the family.RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav says, "We cannot tolerate such things, we are working and are dedicated to the people of Bihar. If it's pic.twitter.com/gSJ5ubyIyz  ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

We cannot tolerate such things, we are working and are dedicated to the people of Bihar. If its about my big brother, political life and personal life are different," he said.

Tejashwi, the leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly, further said this was his fathers decision based on his feelings and the party had not questioned it. And, he said, it is not the norm in their family that an individual depends on directions from others in their personal lives.

Our partys chief has made it clear, and ever since he has said so, it is his feelings. We didnt question such things What he is doing in his personal life, nobody asks before doing anything. I have come to know about it via the media only," he said.

While expelling his son from the party, Lalu Prasad declared he shall have nothing to do with the family". On May 24, Tej Pratap announced on social media that he was in a relationship for 12 years" with a woman, despite being married and his divorce petition still pending before a family court. He, however, deleted the post a few hours later, claiming on X that his Facebook page was hacked".

Prasad, who announced his drastic move on social media, made no mention of the previous days happenings but criticised his elder sons actions, public conduct and irresponsible behaviour", saying disregard for moral values in personal life weakens our collective struggle to achieve social justice".

He admonished him for behaving in a manner not in consonance with the values of my family" and declared that he shall have no role, henceforth, in the party and the family. He is expelled from the party for six years".

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The development came with barely a few months left for the Bihar assembly polls, which the RJD will fight under the leadership of Prasads younger son, Tejashwi Yadav.

(With PTI inputs)

About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 18:45 IST
'I Don't Work For The Govt': Tharoor Says He's 'Pleased' With India's Response To Pahalgam Attack

Curated By :

News18.com Edited By: Oindrila Mukherjee



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 16:32 IST

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor underscored that in its response to the Pahalgam terror attack, India had sent a clear message that it was not going to take terror lying down

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor pays tribute at the National September 11 Memorial, during their visit as part of a multi-party delegation, in New York. (Image: PTI)

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said while he does not work for the government at the Centre but an opposition party, he is pleased about Indias measured and calibrated response to the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.

Tharoor said a couple of days after the attack, he had written an op-ed on how India must hit hard and hit smart" and he is pleased to say it is what transpired.

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I dont work for the government, as you know. I work for an opposition party, but I myself authored an op-ed in one of Indias leading papers, within a couple of days saying that the time had come to hit hard and hit smart and Im pleased to say thats exactly what India did," Tharoor said, delivering the remarks at the Indian Consulate.

The all-party delegation led by him comprises Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), GM Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar K Lata (all from BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena) and former Indian ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

Tharoor further outlined how precise and calibrated strikes took place on 9 specific known terrorist bases, headquarters and launchpads. Those included those of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Muridke, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Bahawalpur, responsible among other things for the murder of Daniel Pearl"

He underscored that India sent a clear message that it was not going to take terror lying down. by delivering very precisely, calculated, calibrated strikes on very specific targets, it was also sending a message that this was not meant to be the opening salvo in a protracted war but just an act of retribution, that we were prepared to stop with that act," he said.

The Congress MP gave a call for the world to come together to fight unitedly against terrorism and noted his teams visit to the 9/11 Memorial as their first stop.

It was obviously a very moving moment for us, but it was also meant to send a very strong message that we are here in a city which is bearing still the scars of that savage terrorist attack in the wake of yet another terrorist attack in our own country," he said. We came both as a reminder that this is a shared problem, but also out of a spirit of solidarity with the victims Its a global problem, its a scourge and we must all fight it unitedly."

PAHALGAM INTENDED TO PROVOKE BACKLASH IN REST OF INDIA

Describing the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack, Tharoor said it was intended to provoke backlash in the rest of India".

It was a bunch of people going around identifying the religions of the people before them and killing them on that basis, which was clearly intended to provoke a backlash in the rest of India" he said.

He gave examples of how in Jammu and Kashmir, from politicians to civilians, people came together in solidarity against the attack.

There was an extraordinary amount of togetherness cutting across religious and other divides that people have tried to provoke. The message is very clear that there was a malign intent India, sadly, had no reason to doubt where it came from," he added.

He also mentioned how a group called The Resistance Front (TRF) had claimed credit for the attack within hours. He said the organisation was known for some years to be a front for the proscribed LeT, designated as terrorist by the UN.

Tharoor said India had gone to the UN sanctions committee with information about TRF in 2023 and in 2024.

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Sadly Pakistan chose to follow its usual path of denial, in fact, Pakistan with the help of China succeeded in removing the reference to TRF from the press statement drafted in the Security Council of the UN two days later," he said.

(With agency inputs)

About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 16:23 IST
Bombay HC Hears Ajaz Khans Pre-Arrest Bail Plea In Rape Case, Seeks States Stand

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 08:26 IST

The Bombay High Court has asked the State to respond to actor Ajaz Khan's pre-arrest bail plea by June 2.

Ajaz Khan is known for shows like Bigg Boss 7 and Khatron Ke Khiladi 5. (Photo: X)

The Bombay High Court has directed the State government to respond to the pre-arrest bail application submitted by actor Ajaz Khan. This relates to a case registered by the Charkop police station earlier this month involving allegations of rape under the pretense of marriage and work in the film industry, as reported by a struggling actress.

Justice Shyam Chandak, serving as the vacation judge, instructed the state on May 22 to submit its reply by June 2, while denying interim urgent relief to the actor.

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Khan sought pre-arrest bail from the High Court after the sessions court in Dindoshi rejected his application the previous week. The sessions court dismissed Khans claim that his relationship with the actress was consensual, observing, The material on record shows that the applicant is married and an actress by profession. Though the victim is major, considering allegations it appears that consent is not free and unequivocally within the meaning of law."

Furthermore, the sessions judge noted the necessity of Khans custodial interrogation for medical examination, evidence collection, recovery of his mobile phone, and verification of WhatsApp chats and call recordings, as well as the acquisition of other digital evidence including voice samples.

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The complainant, an aspiring actress, accused Khan of leveraging his celebrity status and position as a reality show host to gain her trust. The FIR indicates that, under false promises of marriage and professional support, Khan engaged in physical relations with the victim multiple times without her unequivocal consent. The woman claimed that Khan sexually exploited her on April 4 and again on April 24, under the assurance of marrying her.

Khan, however, denied the allegations, asserting that the complainant was fully aware of his marital status and insisting that their relationship was consensual. He referenced their chats and audio messages, alleging that the complainant demanded money in exchange for dropping the case.

First Published: May 25, 2025, 08:26 IST
Iran's non-oil exports to Kazakhstan recede

In the first month of this Iranian year (March 21  April 20, 2025), Irans non-oil exports to Kazakhstan dropped significantly. Export volume fell by 37.4 percent, while the value declined by 44.4 percent compared to the same period last year. Overall trade turnover between the two countries also saw a notable decrease.

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Everywhere You Look: Made-In-India Manhole Cover In Seattle Takes Internet By Storm

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Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 13:05 IST

The image on X sparked an online debate. While some said cast iron all over the world is supplied by India, some also mentioned it was economical.

Image shared on X

A picture of a made-in-India manhole cover in Seattle is taking the internet by storm, with social media users wondering the reason behind this. Sharing the image, a social media user with the name Stephen wrote on X, Why does the city of Seattle get their manhole covers from India?"

Netizens were quick to respond. While some said cast iron all over the world is supplied by India, some also mentioned it was economical.

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Why does the city of Seattle get their manhole covers from India? pic.twitter.com/E75TEP7ZNj Stephen The Yellow Dart" Schutt (@schuttsm) May 23, 2025

India produces 6 times more iron ore at half the price than the US. So India has a comparative advantage in providing manhole covers to the US. This way Americans can worry about bigger problems like building sophisticated engines, weaponry etc and leave the boring things like manhole covers to India," said one social media user.

Cast iron all over the world comes from India. It has for decades," a second user explained.

Cast iron all over the world comes from India. It has for decades. FarmerAa (@AaFarmerAa) May 23, 2025

My bet is a lack of environmental standards, as a lot of iron ore requires tons of coal to melt it. Though the US can still do it, it likely does a lot less of it," another wrote.

A netizen said, Everywhere you look, weve been hollowed out by foreigners and our own government. It will take time, but it must be undone."

US Manhole Covers Made In India

Many cities in the United States, including New York, Sacramento, and Seattle, have manhole covers stamped with Made in India." This practice began over years ago as municipalities sought cost-effective solutions for infrastructure needs.

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Indian foundries, particularly those in Howrah and Dasnagar near Kolkata, have become major exporters of cast-iron municipal components like manhole covers, sewer grates, and valve boxes.

These foundries offer competitive pricing-often 20 per cent to 60 per cent lower than US manufacturers-due to lower labour costs and government subsidies in India, according to several reports.

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 : Seattle, Washington State, USA

First Published: May 25, 2025, 13:05 IST
'Felt Like A Dream...': Anand Mahindra, Harsh Goenka On Indias Rise To 4th Largest Economy

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Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 22:11 IST

NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam on Saturday announced that India has become the fourth largest economy in the world, surpassing Japan.

Business tycoons Anand Mahindra and Harsh Goenka hailed the huge feat. (File)

Business tycoons Anand Mahindra and Harsh Goenka hailed the huge feat of India becoming the worlds fourth largest economy surpassing Japan.

Expressing his happiness at the countrys achievement, Mahindra and Mahindra chairperson Anand Mahindra recalled how surpassing Japan felt like a distant, almost audacious dream during his college days.

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When I was in business school, the idea of India overtaking Japan in GDP felt like a distant, almost audacious dream. Today, that milestone is no longer theoretical  weve become the worlds fourth largest economy," he said in a post on X.

When I was in business school, the idea of India overtaking Japan in GDP felt like a distant, almost audacious dream. Today, that milestone is no longer theoretical  weve become the worlds fourth largest economy.Its no small achievement. Japan has long been an economic pic.twitter.com/28LgnC4Osx  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) May 25, 2025

Its no small achievement. Japan has long been an economic colossus, with legendary productivity and resilience. That weve caught up is a testament to the ambition and ingenuity of millions of Indians  across sectors, generations, and geographies," he added.

However, the Mahindra group chairperson said that everyone should stay dissatisfied and strive to increase Indias per capita GDP.

But as we celebrate, we must stay dissatisfied. Because Indias next leap must be in per capita GDP, not just overtaking Germany. For us to keep Rising, India needs sustained economic reforms  in governance, infrastructure, manufacturing, education, and capital access," he added.

RPG Enterprises chairperson Harsh Goenka also hailed the achievement and said that India went from being zero to the fourth largest economy in the world.

From the land of zero to the 4th largest economy in the world! India surpasses Japan with a GDP of $4.187 trillion," Goenka said.

From the land of zero to the 4th largest economy in the world!India surpasses Japan with a GDP of $4.187 trillion.A billion dreams, one unstoppable journey. Jai Hind. pic.twitter.com/ISpHb9QyQ6 Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) May 25, 2025

A billion dreams, one unstoppable journey. Jai Hind," he added.

The businessman also shared a picture, which showed the top 10 economies in the world.

India Becomes 4th Largest Economy

NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam on Saturday announced that India has become the fourth largest economy in the world, surpassing Japan.

Following the 10th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, Subrahmanyam informed reporters that the current geopolitical and economic climate is favorable for India. As of now, we are the fourth largest economy and a USD 4 trillion economy," he stated.

Citing IMF data, Subrahmanyam said India today is larger than Japan.

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Only the US, China, and Germany are currently larger than India. If we adhere to our plans and strategies, within 2.5 to 3 years, we will become the third-largest economy, said Mr. Subrahmanyam.

According to the IMF, Indias GDP is currently 4.19 trillion dollars. It ranks behind the USA, China, and Germany, whose GDPs are 30.51 trillion dollars, 19.23 trillion dollars, and 4.74 trillion dollars, respectively.

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

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: May 25, 2025, 22:11 IST
From Rs 1.25 Lakh Salary To Food Delivery: Zomato Rider's Inspiring Story Of Resilience, Integrity

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 16:13 IST

A Zomato delivery rider in Pune, once a construction supervisor, corrected a Subway order mistake. Despite his disabilities, he declined compensation.

Zomato Rider's Inspiring Story Of Resilience, Integrity. (Image: Shripal Gandhi/Facebook)

A routine food delivery in Pune has become an inspiring story of kindness, resilience, and humanity, earning widespread praise and admiration on social media.

Shripal Gandhi shared a heartwarming story on Facebook about how a simple Subway lunch order turned into a profound life lesson, leaving a lasting impact on him.

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When the order arrived, I could tell just by looking at the packet  only the sandwich had made it," Gandhi wrote. He informed the delivery partner that the chips and cookies were missing. The rider, who appeared hesitant and unsure, replied humbly, Sir, please call the restaurant or Zomato."

Gandhi contacted Subway, which apologised for the mistake and offered to send the delivery rider back for Rs 20.

However, there was a catch: delivery partners arent obligated to return to the restaurant unless Zomato instructs them, as the platform pays them, not the restaurant, making extra trips voluntary.

Yet, this particular delivery agent didnt hesitate. Sir, its my responsibility. I want the customer to be happy," he told Gandhi.

The delivery rider went out of his way to return with the missing items, handed them over with a smile, and declined the Rs 20 compensation, saying, God has given me so much, why take money for someone elses mistake?"

The rider opened up about his past. Once a construction supervisor, climbing the corporate ladder at Shapoorji Pallonji, he earned Rs 1.25 lakh per month. But a car accident changed the course of his life. His left hand and leg were paralysed. He lost his job, his stability, and for a time, his hope.

Zomato changed that," he told Gandhi. They gave me a job. A chance. A purpose." He added, Sir, Zomato kept my family alive. I may be handicapped, but Ive been given an opportunity. I will never let Zomatos name be affected."

The delivery rider, whose name Gandhi didnt mention, revealed that his daughter is currently pursuing dentistry. He rides not just for income, but to keep her dream alive. He didnt blame life. He didnt complain. He didnt give excuses. He smiled, believed in Swami Samarth (his faith), and said: God is with me. Why should I worry?"

As Gandhi concluded his post, Today I received a sandwich. But what stayed with me was gratitude, resilience, and hope."

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He thanked Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal and the team, saying, You might not realise it, but your decision to hire persons with disabilities is changing lives in the most profound way."

The post has since gone viral, drawing admiration and applause from readers. One commenter wrote, Salute to such humans" Another added, Wow, awesome and truly inspiring." Others chimed in with remarks like Very inspiring story" and Thank you, Shripal Gandhi, for sharing this life lesson."

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: May 25, 2025, 16:13 IST
King Maha Vajiralongkorn, The Worlds Richest Monarch, Owns 300 Cars And 38 Jets

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Trending Desk

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 14:30 IST

Unlike most billionaires, King Vajiralongkorns fortune is built on a long-standing royal legacy, combined with strategic modern investments.

The King leads an exceptionally lavish lifestyle. (Photo Credit: X)

Thailands King Maha Vajiralongkorn, or King Rama X, is reportedly the richest king worldwide.

According to Business Standard, his vast wealth has brought him international recognition, surpassing many billionaires.

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King Maha Vajiralongkorns wealth is truly staggering, estimated at around Rs 3.7 lakh crore (approximately USD 43 billion). This fortune stems from both a vast inheritance and extensive investments.

He reportedly owns an incredible 17,000 properties in Bangkok, along with over 300 luxury cars from every top brand imaginable. His collection goes beyond land vehicleshe is said to possess 38 private jets, showcasing his love for extravagant travel.

And if that wasnt enough, the King also reportedly owns 52 gold-decorated boats, highlighting his passion for luxury rides on water as well. King Vajiralongkorns assets span land, air, and sea, making him one of the wealthiest and most lavish monarchs in the world.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn comes from a distinguished royal lineage, with his father, Bhumibol Adulyadej, being one of the worlds longest-serving monarchs.

Following the death of his father in 2016, Vajiralongkorn officially took the throne in 2019. King Bhumibol died on October 13, 2016, at the age of 88. Vajiralongkorn took the throne and inherited much more than just the crown.

Born to King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit, he had a diverse education spanning several countries.

According to Reuters, he completed his schooling in Thailand, the United Kingdom, and Australia before enrolling at Canberras prestigious Royal Military College. There, he earned a bachelors degree in military studies.

Beyond academics, King Vajiralongkorn is also highly trained as a pilot, reportedly certified to fly both fighter jets and helicopters, highlighting his strong military background and diverse skill set. In the 1970s, he was involved in military efforts to combat communist insurgents in Thailand.

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Throughout his life, King Vajiralongkorn has been married four times, with each marriage drawing significant public and media interest. His personal life often makes headlines, much like his lavish spending habits.

Despite facing criticism and controversy, the King continues to be one of the richest and most influential monarchs globally.

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: May 25, 2025, 14:30 IST
Passengers Argue With Air India Crew Over Delayed Flight To Dubai, Deplaned | Watch

Curated By :

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Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 22:49 IST

A Dubai-bound Air India flight from Delhi faced drama due to a technical delay, leaving passengers without electricity for over 90 minutes. Further delays led to deplaning.

Screengrab of the viral video.

A Dubai-bound Air India flight from Delhi became a scene of intense drama on Sunday as travellers clashed with the crew over a technical delay. Flight 2205, scheduled to depart at 5 pm, was delayed by several hours due to technical issues.

Passengers on the flight were without electricity for over 90 minutes due to a power failure, which was attributed to a technical issue. As the delay dragged on, passengers grew restless, with some even choosing to deboard. After the issue was resolved, the crew had to re-conduct a hand baggage check before proceeding.

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The cabin crew worked to keep passengers calm despite the technical issues, offering water and snacks. However, the pilot later announced another delay due to a failure in the external electrical source, dashing hopes of an imminent departure.

After some passengers complained of feeling claustrophobic and some said they dont feel safe anymore, all passengers were deplaned, probably for reboarding later.

Earlier, passengers on an Air India flight from Delhi to Patna were allegedly made to sit inside the aircraft for hours despite a non-functional air conditioning system.

A video of passengers creatively using in-flight magazines as hand fans to cope with the heat is going viral on social media.

One of the passengers, Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Rishi Mishra, made a self-recorded video from the flight. In the video, passengers were seen complaining about the non-functional air conditioning.

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This is an Air India flight to Patna, it is May 18 today, and the flight is scheduled for 4 pm," he says in the video.

We have been there on the flight since an hour without AC, as you can see, children and other passengers are all troubled, but theres no one to look at," he said, as one of the flight attendants passed by him.

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: May 25, 2025, 22:49 IST
Air Raid Sirens In Jerusalem After Yemen Missile Intercepted

Published By :



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 14:28 IST

Israel's rescue service, the Magen David Alom, said there were no reports of injuries related to the launch

The Israeli military reported shooting down two missiles launched from Yemen on Thursday, with the MDA reporting at least one person injured while seeking shelter from the first. (Photo file: AFP)

The Israeli army said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Sunday, shortly after air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem, according to AFP journalists.

Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted," the army said in a statement.

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Israels rescue service, the Magen David Alom, said there were no reports of injuries related to the launch.

The Israeli military reported shooting down two missiles launched from Yemen on Thursday, with the MDA reporting at least one person injured while seeking shelter from the first.

Yemens Iran-backed Huthi rebels have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel since the Gaza war broke out in October 2023 following Hamass attack on Israel.

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The rebels, who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians, paused their attacks during a two-month Gaza ceasefire that ended in March, but resumed them after Israel restarted its campaign in coastal territory.

The Huthis recently warned they would impose a naval blockade" on the Israeli port of Haifa after the countrys military intensified its offensive in Gaza.

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

Location : Jerusalem, Israel

First Published: May 25, 2025, 14:28 IST
'No Difference Between Pakistani Terrorists, ISIS In Syria': Owaisi In Bahrain

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 09:16 IST

Owaisi, part of the all-party delegation led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda that arrived in Bahrain yesterday, referred to Pakistan as a "failed state"

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi | File Image.PTI

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday condemned Pakistan over terrorism, stating that terrorists in Jammu and Kashmirs Pahalgam justified the killing of innocent people by asking their religion.

Owaisi, part of the all-party delegation led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda that arrived in Manama, Bahrain yesterday, referred to Pakistan as a failed state" during an interaction with prominent figures.

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These terrorist organisations have justified killings of innocent people in India and they have out of context quoted Quranic verseswe have to put an end to it. They have used religion to justify the killing of people. Islam condemns terrorism and the Quran has categorically stated that the killing of one innocent person is like killing whole of humankind," said Owaisi.

Owaisi further said there is no difference between the Pakistani terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam killings and ISIS in Syria.

There is no diffrence between these Pakistani terrorists (responsible for killings in Pahalgam) and the ISIS in Syria. They have killed after asking people their religion and quoted the holy Quaran. It is very clear in Qaran that killing one innocent is as good as killing the pic.twitter.com/uEayOAHrZV  Payal M/ /  /   (@payalmehta100) May 24, 2025

Our government has sent us over hereso that the world knows the threat India has been facing since last so many years. Unfortunately, we have lost so many innocent lives. This problem emanates from Pakistan only. Unless and until Pakistan stops promoting, aiding and sponsoring these terrorist groups, this problem wont go away," Owaisi remarked.

He further added, Our government has taken all the steps to protect the lives of every Indian. This govt has made very clear next time you (Pakistan) take up this misadventure, it will be beyond what they are expecting."

Owaisi noted that India has consistently shown maximum restraint in the face of serious provocations. Referring to the Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 tourists, he highlighted the devastating human toll of terrorism.

Please reflect on the human tragedy of this massacre. A woman who married six days ago became a widow on the seventh day. Another woman, married just two months ago, also lost her husband in this attack," he said.

There is unanimity in our country, irrespective of whatever political affiliations we belong to. We have our political differences, but when it comes to the integrity of our country, it is high time our neighbouring country understandsI request and hope that the Bahrain government will help us in bringing Pakistan back to the grey list of FATF because this money has been used to support those terrorists," Owaisi added.

The delegation, led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, also includes BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP Phangnon Konyak, NJP MP Rekha Sharma, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, MP Satnam Singh Sandhu, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ambassador Harsh Shringla.

The delegation aims to brief international partners on Indias response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism while engaging with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Algeria.

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The multi-party delegation, consisting of seven groups, has been sent to key countries to counter global misinformation and highlight Indias zero-tolerance policy on terrorism.

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 : Bahrain

First Published: May 25, 2025, 07:03 IST
Bangladeshs Yunus Will Stay: Was Resignation Buzz A Strategy Amid Political Uncertainty?

Reported By :

News18.com Edited By: Manjiri Joshi



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 13:11 IST

Adviser Mahmud briefed the reporters: Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus will remain with us. He has not indicated any intention to resign..."

Muhammad Yunus held a series of meetings on Saturday. (AFP)

Even as political uncertainty grows in Bangladesh, Mohammad Yunus, chief adviser of the countrys interim government, has no plans to step down for now.

Amid growing speculation over his potential resignation, Yunus on Saturday held a series of meetings with members of his advisory council as well as representatives of various political parties.

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Following the unscheduled meeting of the advisory council, Adviser Mahmud briefed reporters, stating, The Chief Adviser will remain with us. He has not indicated any intention to resign. The other advisers are also staying. We have been entrusted with responsibilities, and we are here to fulfil them."

His remarks put to rest days of rumours surrounding Yunuss future.

THE STATEMENT

The advisory council also issued a statement highlighting the challenges faced by the interim government.

It said: The council extensively discussed how the performance of responsibilities entrusted by the people has been hindered by unreasonable demands, unauthorised statements, and activities that have disrupted normal governance and created confusion and doubt in the public mind. The Advisory Council emphasised the need for greater unity to maintain national stability, promote the election process, uphold justice, and pursue reform  while ensuring that autocracy does not return. In this context, the interim government will listen to the views of political parties and clearly articulate its own position."

The statement further warned that any disruption to the governments independence, reform initiatives, judicial process, or the goal of holding free and fair elections would prompt the government to consult with the people and take necessary steps.

WHAT SOURCES SAY

Sources in Dhaka suggest that Yunuss earlier expression about resigning stemmed from frustration, not a final decision.

Analysts familiar with the political dynamics in Bangladesh believe Yunuss apparent reversal may have been a calculated move. Two days ago, speculation about his resignation gained momentum, especially after NCP leader Nahid publicly claimed he had tried to persuade Yunus not to step down.

On Saturday, Yunus reportedly held meetings with representatives from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and the Nationalist Citizen Party (NCP). According to sources in Dhaka, the BNP demanded that national elections be held by December and insisted that controversial advisers be removed from the interim setup. The party rejected the notion that reforms must precede elections, arguing that both can happen concurrently.

Conversely, sources say Jamaat and NCP emphasised the need for reforms before elections.

Adviser Shafikul Alam later told reporters: Everyone wants the elections to be held under the Chief Adviser. Dr. Yunus has said the elections will take place between December and June."

Experts say these developments point to a widening rift between the military establishment and Yunus. Major political forces, especially the BNP, have expressed dissatisfaction with the Chief Adviser and the performance of his advisers.

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Some believe Yunuss recent threat to resign was a strategic move intended to generate public sympathy and consolidate support for the interim government. Criticism has also emerged over the interim governments engagement in international matters, with some questioning how an unelected body can take decisions with long-term geopolitical implications.

Experts monitoring the situation closely argue that Yunuss actions over the past two days were part of a well-orchestrated political manoeuvre. The political situation in Bangladesh remains tense, and observers warn that any delay in holding elections could trigger further instability.

About the Author Kamalika Sengupta Kamalika Sengupta, Editor, Digital East of News18, is a multilingual journalist with 16 years of experience in covering the northeast, with specialisation in politics and defence. She has won UNICEF Laadli Awar... Read More Kamalika Sengupta, Editor, Digital East of News18, is a multilingual journalist with 16 years of experience in covering the northeast, with specialisation in politics and defence. She has won UNICEF Laadli Awar... Read More

First Published: May 25, 2025, 13:01 IST
'Stop Asking To Grant Money': Trump Slams Harvard Again, Demands Names Of Foreign Students

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 14:54 IST

Donald Trump slammed Harvard for enrolling 31% foreign students, demanding names and alleging lack of contribution from their home countries.

A file photo of US President Donald Trump (AP)

Days after revoking Harvard Universitys ability to enrol foreign students, US President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that nearly 31 per cent of students at Harvard are from foreign countries, some of whom do not pay anything toward their students education.

In a post on his social media handle, Truth Social, Trump demanded the names of foreign students from such countries.

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Why isnt Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their students education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that!", he wrote.

We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isnt exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!," he added.

While Harvard called the Trump administrations decision a blatant violation" of the US Constitution and other federal laws, a US judge temporarily blocked the administrations order.

The temporary restraining order stops the government from pulling Harvards certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows the school to host international students with visas to study in the US.

The Trump administrations revocation of Harvards ability to enrol international students came as a sharp punishment to the elite institution for refusing to bow to White House policy demands.

Rooted in political ideology, the requirements, such as handing over student disciplinary records and killing equity initiatives  also have been placed on other US colleges.

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Harvard can no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status," the US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

Harvards new lawsuit was filed against the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice and State, as well as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

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: May 25, 2025, 14:54 IST
Pakistani Field Marshal Munir Meets Erdogan With PM Shehbaz Sharif

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 22:38 IST

Turkey was the only West Asian nation to openly criticise the operation Sindoor and back Pakistan, deepening the fault lines between Ankara and New Delhi.

Pakistani Field Marshal Munir Meets Erdogan With PM Shehbaz Sharif. (News 18)

Pakistani Field Marshal Munir meets Turkish President Erdogan, along with Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, on Sunday.

According to a statement by Erdogans communications chief, Fahrettin Altun, the leaders will discuss bilateral relations, regional security, and the fight against terrorism.

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During the meeting, bilateral relations, regional and international issues, including the fight against terrorism, will be discussed," Altun had said on X.

The meeting takes place amid strained diplomatic relations between India and Turkey, triggered by Indias boycott of Turkish goods and services following Operation Sindoor, a counter-terrorism mission. Turkey was the only West Asian nation to openly criticise the operation and back Pakistan, deepening the fault lines between Ankara and New Delhi.

Turkey-Pakistan defence ties have drawn attention. A Turkish Ada-class anti-submarine corvette docked at Karachi port on May 2, while a Turkish C-130 Hercules military aircraft landed in Karachi on April 27, reportedly carrying military supplies. Although Turkey claims these were routine visits, reports suggest Pakistan used Turkish-made drones in its conflict with India.

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Turkey and Pakistan share deep-rooted historical and ideological connections. Their partnership, grounded in a shared Islamic identity, dates back to the Cold War era.

Since Erdogan took power in 2003, Turkey and Pakistans relationship has strengthened, driven by shared views on political Islam and a mutual distrust of secular Arab regimes. Erdogan has visited Pakistan over 10 times, most recently co-chairing the 7th High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council in February 2025.

Location : Turkey

First Published: May 25, 2025, 20:15 IST
Iran's import from Kazakhstan significantly climbs

In the first month of the current Iranian year (March 21  April 20, 2025), Irans imports from Kazakhstan increased sharply. Import volume doubled, while the value rose by 32.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Despite this, total trade turnover between the two countries declined in both value and weight.

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First Whistle Then: Freed Hostage Reveals Her Biggest Fear In Hamas Captivity

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 17:16 IST

Namma Levy, an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldier, who was abducted by the militants on October 7, 2023 was addressing the gathering in one of the protests.

Former hostage Naama Levy speaks during a rally calling for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas. (X)

During protests against the Benjamin Netanyahu-led Israeli government on Saturday night in Tel Avivs Hostages Square, a former captive, held by Hamas militants, told the crowd that her greatest fear in Hamas captivity wasnt cruelty by Palestinian militants, but Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

Namma Levy, an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldier, who was abducted by the militants on October 7, 2023, and was later freed earlier this year during a ceasefire-hostage deal, was addressing the gathering in one of the protests after negotiations with Hamas over a hostage deal were stalled. The relatives of captives have been urging the government to agree to a deal that would see the Hamas releasing the remaining captives as part of a ceasefire in Gaza.

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While addressing the crowd Levy said that she feared for the lives of the remaining hostages held in Gaza and urged the government to work for a hostage deal with Hamas.

First you hear a whistle, pray it doesnt fall on you, and then  the booms, a noise loud enough to paralyze you. The earth shakes," she told the crowd as quoted by The Times of Israel.

She further recalled that Israeli strikes in Gaza came by surprise" and she was convinced every single time that I was finished."

I was convinced every single time that I was finished, and its also what put me in the greatest danger: one of the bombardments collapsed part of the house I was in," she added.

She further urged the government saying, That was my reality, and now its their reality. At this very moment, there are hostages who hear those same whistles and booms, shaking with fear. They have nowhere to run, they can only pray and cling to the wall while feeling a horrible powerlessness."

In the first days following the attack, Levy said that at first she was held alone  with only her captors saying, we were constantly on the run."

There were entire days without food and little water. One day, I had nothing left, not even water. Fortunately, it started raining. My captors put a pot outside the house where I was held, and the rain filled it," she said, adding I drank that rain water, which was enough for a pot of rice. Thats what kept me going."

Levy reflected on her time in captivity, expressing disbelief that anyone in Israel could truly understand the hostages suffering and still allow them to remain in Gaza. But then the first hostages came back, and they said what was happening there," she said.

She further said that her captors told the hostages they were forgotten by the people back home, but she said she did not believe them, as she would see news of protests in Israel whenever she was allowed to watch television.

I knew people were fighting for me, because on Saturday nights, when I was allowed to watch television  I saw you, in this square," she added.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 58 hostages, including 57 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023.

Why People Are Protesting?

Israel has withdrawn its delegation from Qatar, citing an ongoing stalemate in ceasefire and hostage negotiations with Hamas.

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According to unnamed Israeli officials quoted by Israeli news outlets, Hamas has not accepted the American proposal that Israel agreed to and remains unwilling to reach a deal.

After the decision, thousands of Israelis took to the streets across the country on Saturday night for anti-government rallies, demanding an end to the war and new elections in Israel.

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

Location : Jerusalem, Israel

First Published: May 25, 2025, 17:16 IST
Multiple Injured In Knife Attack At Melbourne Shopping Centre

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 12:31 IST

A man sustained serious stab wounds in the upper part of his body, after which he was rushed to the hospital, the police said.

Melbourne shopping centre fight injures man (Photo: X)

An armed fight between 10 people in a shopping centre in the Australian city of Melbourne left multiple people with serious knife injuries, prompting the authorities to throw the campus into lockdown, local media reported on Sunday.

One of the injured men, who was in his 20s, was rushed to the hospital with grave stab wounds in his upper body after the fight between opposing groups at about 2.30 pm (local time). The victim is reportedly in a stable condition. The incident occurred at Northland Shopping Centre in Preston.

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Some of those involved in the fight were seen armed with knives. Two men were arrested and were being interrogated, according to reports.

Several unverified videos claiming to be from the spot were doing the rounds on social media.

1/Northland Shopping Centre in Preston, Melbourne, is in lockdown due to reports of a knife attack. Police and emergency services are on scene. Details on injuries unclear.#Victoria #Australia #knife_stabbing pic.twitter.com/m00EaT4f0p GeoTechWar (@geotechwar) May 25, 2025

The shopping centre remains in lockdown as the police investigate the targeted" attack. The investigators suspect that the groups involved are known to each other, the local media reported.

As the incident unfolded, shoppers shared their scary experiences on social media.

Were all currently locked in, and the police are looking for them. Scary," a shopper wrote, while another one described the incident as horrific".

Another shopper, Alicia Bryne, was approaching the shopping complex when she heard the sound of the helicopters and saw people rushing and being evacuated.

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It was a bit chaotic  a lot of cars coming out of the shopping centre," Bryne said.

The police have urged people who witnessed the altercation to contact them and divulge more details about the incident.

About the Author Ashesh Mallick Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More

Location : Australia

First Published: May 25, 2025, 12:13 IST
'Militant Leader, Selling Bangladesh To US': Sheikh Hasina's Big Charge Against Muhammad Yunus

Curated By :

News18.com Edited By: Oindrila Mukherjee



Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 23:49 IST

Sheikh Hasina's statement comes as unease intensified in Bangladesh amid protests over the policies of the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government

In the last two days, the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus (R) has faced several challenges. (Image: AFP/File)

Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus is a militant leader", who is selling off Bangladesh to the United States, said former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Sheikh Hasinas statement comes as a sense of unease intensified in Bangladesh overnight amid protests in the civil administration and the business sector over policies of the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.

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In the last two days, Yunus government has faced several other challenges. There have been reports of discord between the military and the interim government over the possible timeline for holding the parliamentary elections and other policy issues related to security affairs, particularly involving a proposed humanitarian corridor of aid channel to Myanmars rebel-held Rakhine state.

Watch the video here:

On Sunday, meanwhile, Bangladeshs International Crimes Tribunal framed charges against a former police commissioner and seven other officers for their alleged atrocities during last years anti-government protests, which had led to Hasinas ouster. She had fled to India and an interim government led by Yunus was formed.

In an audio message posted on the Facebook account of the Bangladesh Awami League, she claimed Yunus had gained international recognition under her regime and had now handed over the countrys reins to terrorists". She said he had grabbed power with the help of extremist groups.

what a misfortune. A person like him, not everyone, but people from all over the country, people who like him a lot, people who like him a lot, and what happened to him when he came to power? And I was the one who gave him all his wealth, all his propertyI was the one who had to give him all that," she said.

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My father did not agree to Americas demands for St. Martins Island. He had to give his life for that. And that was my destiny as I never thought of selling the country to stay in power," she said.

Yunuss administration recently disbanded Hasinas Awami League, sending many of its senior leaders, including former ministers, to jail to face trial for charges like crimes against humanity. Condemning the move to ban her party, she called it unconstitutional.

About the Author News Desk The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d... Read More

Location : Dhaka, Bangladesh

First Published: May 25, 2025, 22:12 IST
Pakistan Modernising Nuclear Arsenal, Sees India As An Existential Threat: US Report

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 15:45 IST

A global threat assessment report in the United States said that Pakistan views India as its "existential threat" and is prioritising the modernisation of its nuclear arsenal.

US global threat assessment report says Pakistan views India as an "existential threat" (IMAGE: REUTERS)

In the wake of a recent military confrontation between the two rival neighbours, a US global threat assessment report has said that Pakistan is prioritising nuclear arsenal modernisation in the near future, as Islamabad regards New Delhi as its existential threat".

Pakistan regards India as an existential threat and will continue to pursue its military modernization effort, including the development of battlefield nuclear weapons, to offset Indias conventional military advantage," the report said.

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US Report Exposes Pakistans Nuclear Obsession

Pakistan, which recently got an IMF bailout of $1 billion under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme despite Indias strong objections on May 9, is maintaining the security of its nuclear materials. As per an ICAN report, Pakistan spent $1.0 billion to maintain its nuclear weapons in 2023.

Pakistan is modernising its nuclear arsenal and maintaining the security of its nuclear materials and nuclear command and control. Pakistan almost certainly procures WMD-applicable goods from foreign suppliers and intermediaries," the US report said.

It noted Pakistans close military and economic ties with China and said that the programmes of weapons of mass destruction are largely supported by Beijing, which likely provides materials and technology to Islamabad.

Foreign materials and technology supporting Pakistans WMD programs are very likely acquired primarily from suppliers in China, and sometimes are transshipped through Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates," the report said.

The report, however, also mentioned that the killings of Chinese workers engaged in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects have resulted in a point of friction" between the two countries. As many as seven Chinese nationals were killed in Pakistan in 2024.

Mentioning Pakistans hostilities with the Taliban along its western borders, the report said that they have clashed near border posts, resulting in the killing of eight Taliban fighters in September 2024.

In March 2025, Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged air and artillery strikes on each others territory, each citing alleged militant infrastructure as the targets," it said.

What Does US Report Say About India?

The report said that Prime Minister Narendra Modis defence priorities will likely focus on demonstrating global leadership, countering China and enhancing the countrys military power.

India views China as its primary adversary and Pakistan more as an ancillary security problem to be managed, despite cross-border attacks in mid-May by both Indias and Pakistans militaries," the report said.

The report acknowledged Indias counterstrike deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir during Operation Sindoor and said that missile strikes were conducted on terrorism-related infrastructure facilities.

The report also said that India is looking to counter Chinese influence by prioritising advancing its bilateral defense partnerships in the Indian Ocean region through exercises, training, arms sales, and information sharing.

India will continue pushing its Make in India initiative to boost its domestic defence industry, mitigate supply chain concerns, and modernize its military, the report said.

India continued to modernize its military in 2024, conducting a test of the nuclear-capable developmental Agni-I Prime MRBM and the Agni-V multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle while also commissioning its second nuclear-powered submarine to strengthen its nuclear triad and bolster its ability to deter adversaries," it added.

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The report further said that India will maintain its relationship with Russia" through 2025 as it views Moscow as important for achieving its economic and defense objectives".

Under Modi, India has reduced its procurement of Russian-origin military equipment but still relies on Russian spare parts to maintain and sustain its large inventory of Russian-origin tanks and fighter aircraft that form the backbone of its militarys ability to counter perceived threats from China and Pakistan," the report said.

About the Author Ashesh Mallick Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes... Read More

Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

First Published: May 25, 2025, 14:58 IST
Russia, Ukraine Trade Drone Fire At Capitals Amid Prisoner Swap

Published By :

AFP

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 07:43 IST

The latest fire comes as the two sides pursue a major prisoner swap more than three years since Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022

Dozens of drones targeting Moscow have been shot down over the past week.(AFP file)

Russia and Ukraine fired drones towards each others capitals Sunday, even as Kyiv and Moscow carry out the biggest prisoner swap since the start of Moscows invasion.

AFP journalists heard explosions in the Ukrainian capital, with the head of the citys military administration warning the night will not be easy".

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Russian authorities meanwhile reported that a dozen drones flying towards Moscow had been downed.

The latest fire comes as the two sides pursue a major prisoner swap more than three years since Moscows full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russias overnight attack on Kyiv wounded at least 10 people, the citys mayor said while warning residents to stay in shelters.

The capital was under attack" but air defences are operating", said Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Tymur Tkachenko, Kyiv citys military administration chief, reported more than a dozen enemy drones" were in airspace around the capital.

Some of the drones over Kyiv and the surrounding area have already been dealt with. But the new ones are still entering the capital," he wrote on Telegram.

Debris fell on a five-storey residential building, he added.

Overnight attacks were also reported in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.

In Moscow, restrictions were imposed on at least four airports, including the main hub Sheremetyevo, the Russian civilian aviation authority said.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 12 drones flying towards the Russian capital had been intercepted.

Crazy Feelings

The renewed attacks follow Ukraines air force on Saturday morning saying Russia had launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones overnight.

Officials said 15 people were wounded in those strikes.

The Russian military said Saturday that Ukraine had targeted it with 788 drones and missiles since Tuesday.

Dozens of drones targeting Moscow have been shot down over the past week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russias attacks indicated Moscow was prolonging the war" and repeated his call for ramped-up sanctions.

But he also said he expected officials to press on with a prisoner swap agreed during talks last week in Istanbul.

On Saturday, 307 Russian prisoners of war were exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers, according to announcements in Kyiv and Moscow.

Both sides received 390 people in the first stage on Friday and are expected to exchange 1,000 each in total.

Russia has signalled it will send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement after the exchange, without saying what those terms would be.

The two enemies have held regular prisoner swaps, but none has been on this scale.

An AFP reporter saw some of the formerly captive Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a hospital in the northern Chernigiv region, emaciated but smiling and waving to crowds waiting outside.

After they stepped off the bus, tearful relatives rushed to embrace the soldiers while others held pictures of their loved ones, hoping to find out if they had been seen in captivity.

Many of the soldiers were draped in bright yellow and blue Ukrainian flags.

Its simply crazy. Crazy feelings," 31-year-old Konstantin Steblev, a soldier, told AFP after he was released following three years in captivity.

Diplomatic Push

US President Donald Trump earlier congratulated the two countries for the swap.

This could lead to something big???" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trumps efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europes biggest conflict since World War II have so far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.

One of the soldiers formerly held captive, 58-year-old Viktor Syvak, told AFP it was hard to put words to his emotional homecoming.

Captured in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, he had been held for 37 months and 12 days.

I didnt expect such a welcome. Its impossible to describe. I cant put it into words. Its very joyful," he said.

After more than three years of fighting, thousands of POWs are held in both countries.

Russia is believed to have the larger share, with the number of Ukrainian captives held by Moscow estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000.

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Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have stepped up in recent weeks, but the Kremlin has shown no sign it has walked back its maximalist demands for ending the fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has defied European pressure for a full and unconditional truce in Ukraine, pressing on with its offensive, which has left tens of thousands dead.

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

Location : Kyiv, Ukraine

First Published: May 25, 2025, 07:43 IST
UK Probes Potential Putin Link To Arson Attacks On PM Keir Starmer's Properties: Report

Curated By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 11:00 IST

UK spy agencies are investigating possible Russian involvement in arson attacks on Keir Starmer's properties. Three men have been charged, with MI5 probing potential Kremlin links.

File photos Vladimir Putin (L)/Keir Starmer (R) (Source: AP)

Days after a series of arson attacks on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmers property, spy agencies in the United Kingdom are probing whether Russia was behind the attacks.

According to a report with The Mail, a conspiracy was setup between two Ukrainians and a Romanian, who had earlier been charged over the incident. The other persons likely involved in the conspiracy were unknown", the report claimed.

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The report also quoted sources with senior officials and stated that MI5 was examining potential links between the three men and Russian President Vladimir Putins regime.

The report also quoted multiple Whitehall sources and stated the police and MI5 were probing the possibility that the Kremlin may have ordered the attacks in response to Britains support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Intelligence experts say Russia recruits foreigners to launch attacks as Kremlin spies have been expelled from Europe, it claimed.

Security sources cautioned that investigators have not connected the dots that conclusively link these attacks back to the Kremlin, according to the report.

The sources added that officials were also probing whether other elements in Russia, from militia organisations to criminal gangs, may have recruited the trio.

The three men, Petro Pochynok (34), Stanislav Carpiuc (26), and Roman Lavrynovych (21), were charged with conspiring to damage a house currently rented out by Starmer in Kentish Town, north London, another in nearby Islington where he previously lived, and a car he sold to a neighbour last year.

Lavrynovych and Carpiuc appeared in court earlier. All three suspects have been ordered detained until a joint hearing at Londons Central Criminal Court on June 6.

No injuries were reported from the fires in north London, which occurred on three nights between May 8 and May 12.

Reuters quoted the police and stated that the first fire involved a Toyota Rav4 car that Starmer used to own.

Days later, there was a blaze at a property where Starmer once resided, and the following day, there was an attack on a house in north London that he still owns.

Starmer, who has lived at his official 10 Downing Street residence in central London since becoming the Prime Minister last July, has called the incidents an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for".

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The Kremlin has ramped up attacks in Britain and across Europe in the past 18 months as Putins war in Ukraine rages on.

Earlier this month, six Bulgarians were found guilty of spying for Russia in trying to obtain information on UK-based journalists, and last year, MI6 chief Richard Moore warned that Russias intelligence services have gone a bit feral across Europe.

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: May 25, 2025, 10:36 IST
Yunuss Meetings With BNP, Jamaat A Power Move? Exclusive On What Next For Bangladesh

Reported By :

News18.com

Last Updated: May 25, 2025, 13:54 IST

Mohammad Yunus has confirmed he would remain in office, even as the Army has been seeking polls. Here's what local, Bangladesh Army, Indian intel sources say

A proposed humanitarian corridor into Myanmars Rakhine State has also become a bone of contention between Muhammad Yunus and army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman. (AFP Photo)

Bangladesh chief adviser Mohammad Yunuss meetings on Saturday with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami were nothing but a show of strength, according to local sources.

In the meeting, the BNP demanded that the elections should be held by December 2025. They requested Yunus to announce a clear roadmap. They also demanded the removal of student representatives from the cabinet, accusing them of partisan bias," said sources.

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While the BNP leaders cautiously stated that they did not seek Yunuss resignation, they added that they expected him to oversee a timely transition to an elected government

The Jamaat, meanwhile, wanted to do a return favour to Yunus. They wanted that Yunus should continue with structural reforms and elections. They didnt leave any chance to support Yunus advocated for governance overhauls to restore public trust," said sources.

Despite earlier resignation threats, Yunus confirmed he would remain in office after his cabinet forced him to stay.

WHAT SOURCES CLOSE TO BANGLADESH ARMY SAY

Bangladesh Army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman and Yunus have been at loggerheads for a while, with the former seeking elections.

By not announcing anything, Yunus is taking the country to bigger problems. Zaman maintains that strategic priorities are important and not the day-to-day need. The Army and Wakar want an election timeline as soon as possible," said sources close to the Bangladesh Army.

Zaman sees Yunuss June 2026 timeline as destabilising and not good for the force, they added. Zaman feels that prolonged interim governance risks compromising national security. The Army is sceptical about Yunuss engagement with Islamist groups like Jamaat. The Army feels they have aligned with anti-secular forces," they added.

WHAT TOP INDIAN INTELLIGENCE SOURCES SAY

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Yunus has multiple options and he should act for the safety of the region and Bangladesh, say top Indian intelligence sources.

Yunuss first option is to set a timeline for the elections. The meeting was nothing, but a move to show that he can mobilise Jamat on road for him. In case he feels pressure from the Army, he may step down, allowing a caretaker government to take charge. In his arrogance, he will continue in the name of reforms and risk confrontation with the Army," they said.

About the Author Manoj Gupta Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18 Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

First Published: May 25, 2025, 13:54 IST
Slavoj Zizek hates parties. He hates small talk, hates moving from one group to another, hates long dinners, and even hates teaching. In my old age, Im becoming very misanthropic. I hate people. He also hates wisdom and the idea of a slow death. The list of things he hates grows considerably throughout this interview; he is not a man of half-measures and doesnt mince words.

He is a conscience agitator, a controversial philosopher, a man who navigates comfortably in the waters of political incorrectness. He likes to provoke  provoke with what he says, provoke with his ideas. Often, when about to drop one of his gems, he issues a warning with an I know this is going to be controversial, and then dives in. Sometimes, he even curses and then backtracks. As Spanish philosopher Marina Garces says, he is a man who understands philosophy as an act of uncomfortable radicalism that doesnt have to please anyone.

The Slovenian thinker, 76, one of the most influential and popular philosophers of recent times  who resonated strongly with certain segments of the alternative left (in Spains case, the heirs of the 15-M anti-austerity movement), and also finds echoes among communists and red-browns  declares himself a Marxist, an heir to the German idealism of Hegel and the ideas of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Always critical and biting in his views on the course of the capitalist system  see, for example, Trouble in Paradise (2016)  as much loved as he is criticized, his latest book is Against Progress. Its a collection of 13 essays published here and there  some on the Substack platform  in which he tries to sound the alarm about what hides beneath what is repeatedly presented to us as progress: a sacred totem under which ideas (sold to us with that supposedly indisputable label) roam freely.

Prolific and, as some would say, verbose, he says hes lost track of how many books hes written  but its certainly over 50, including The Sublime Object of Ideology (1992), The Ticklish Subject (2001), and Too Late to Awaken (2024). Today, he is concerned about the direction the world is heading, warns us to prepare for major emergencies, and observes  with historical irony  how the new populist right is adopting pseudo-revolutionary language, while the left seems to have become the guardian of law and order. As [Greek economist Yanis] Varoufakis points out  and its already happening, he says, what Trump and the populists are doing is, in practice, a revolution; its not a socialist revolution, but they are radically changing capitalism as we know it. The new populist right is the one carrying out a revolution.

The interview takes place via videoconference at Zizeks explicit request  EL PAIS always prefers in-person interviews, except when theres no other choice: this is one of those cases. Zizek is full of energy and humor, a passionate man who leans into the computer screen to make his points even more emphatically  he exclaims, shouts, underlines his ideas.

Question. The renowned German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk said in Berlin, in a July 2024 interview with EL PAIS, that you were one of the thinkers who most interested him at the present time. What do you think about that?

Answer. Paradoxically, Peter Sloterdijk is one of the few contemporary philosophers with whom I feel truly connected. Hes not a neoconservative, as some people think; he sees the dangers of what we consider progress. I think hes very aware that the era of the European democratic and social welfare state is over.

Q. Sloterdijk also said that you had truly introduced a dimension of dark humor into philosophy  the only tone it had been really missing. He added that it was quite an achievement, given the cost of letting go of the pretense of seriousness.

A. I absolutely accept this characterization, but I think that with my dark humor Im only faithfully reproducing our objective reality. Look at whats been happening recently in Israel. The mobilization of tens of thousands of soldiers for the total ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Theyre throwing out all the Palestinians, and you know how they justify it  first, in religious terms. Israel is becoming more fundamentalist than the surrounding Arab countries. Today, formally, it acts the same way as ISIS; it justifies its political decisions by referring to its sacred texts. And then its government goes and says its doing all this to protect the Palestinians because they cant live in Gaza. If that isnt dark humor, I dont know what is.

Q. In your latest book, you define yourself as a moderately conservative communist. What does this mean?

A. It means that Im simply a communist, not in a theoretical or complex way. Look at our world today. We have at least three megaproblems: nuclear war, the ecological crisis, and artificial intelligence. Speaking of intelligence: studies have been done that periodically measure intelligence quotient. They make it clear, unambiguously, that since 2010, most of humanity has become increasingly stupid  literally. We rely so heavily on digital technology that we simply think and reason less and less. Until 2010, we were a little smarter every year. Now the trend is downward. What can we do? We need global cooperation to confront this, as well as the ecological disaster, and the danger of a new nuclear war. Communism, for me, is not the old Stalinist Politburo. We need more compulsory forms of cooperation. The blackout in Spain showed that precisely because we are so developed and interconnected, we are much more vulnerable. Now, a small accident, a relatively minor natural disaster, paralyzes everything. To confront these problems, we need communism, understood as coordination mechanisms that cannot be left to markets, which limit the sovereignty of states.

Q. Yes, but how is this implemented?

A. Im pessimistic. We live in an age of ignorance. We talk about disasters, but we dont take them seriously. We want to spend a little more on environmental protection, blah blah blah, but we want to continue living our relatively comfortable lives. We havent yet faced a big enough threat.

Q. Could we have these comfortable lives, as you say, with some formula of supranational communism?

A. We shouldnt think of communism in totalitarian terms. Im going to say something even crazier. You know what I like, ironically, about Donald Trump? He declared a national emergency. He did it for the wrong reasons  over the border issue  but I believe we have to accept that were approaching a global emergency given the problems were facing.

Slavoj Zizek in London, in October 2024. Jeff Gilbert (Alamy/CORDON PRESS)

Q. Is Trump doing the right thing for the wrong reasons? What is he doing right?

A. Governing by decree in an emergency situation. We are in a state of emergency. Democracy  and on this point, I am very pessimistic  is losing its effectiveness. What I am saying is very problematic, but times are coming when we need faster and more effective decisions. It was done during the pandemic, and Spain did it well. Centralized decisions but connected with civil society and social organizations. The pandemic was a good example of what awaits us: a state of emergency.

Q. So democracy is not efficient in emergency situations?

A. I support democracy. Im not crazy. We need genuine freedom of the press. Those in power must receive genuine feedback on what people think, and I know this doesnt happen in China. But in an emergency, people prefer efficiency; they accept it. We must find, within the nation-state, forms of cooperation that go beyond the structure of the governing party, the opposition, and so on. With that kind of regime, attention is limited by the next election. What I admire about China is that while of course it doesnt have democracy, its leaders dont think about how theyre going to survive the next four years, but rather about what will become of China in the long term. I think its a question of survival. In the next two or three years, nothing serious may happen. But my axiom is that were approaching states of emergency.

Q. And do we need autocracies to deal with them?

A. Im moving on to an even more problematic aspect. Im not against charismatic leaders. A good leader is one who gives you hope. Apartheid wouldnt have ended without a figure like Mandela.

Q. Churchill is credited with saying, Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all others. Its a simliar situation with capitalism; you adressed this in your book Trouble in Paradise. Its unfair and destructive, yes, but whats the alternative? Whats the alternative to democracy and capitalism?

A. Here Ill give you an answer that, again, is very problematic for many. Although I disagree with Yanis Varoufakis, I agree with him that the left was dreaming of the decline of neoliberalism  and then Trump came along and went even further. Trump is the one who more or less abolished neoliberalism. The era that Nixon ushered in in 1971 is over. What the left needs to do is forget this old, naive idea that Trump is a mistake, that we should return to the pre-Trumpian, pre-populist welfare state. The way it worked led us to neoliberalism. And Trump stopped the crisis of liberal capitalism better than much of the left. Accepting this, the left must invent something new, or it will be finished.

Q. And so, in your opinion, what should the left do?

A. I know its problematic, but the left must think  I wont say about abolishing the market or capitalism, but about subjecting it to stronger collective control. Even if that means a stronger state  but Im not talking about the nation state. I believe in more global control, first pan-European, and then global. In the face of ecological threats, natural disasters, and artificial intelligence, there must be stronger global cooperation.

Q. With all the threats we are facing, is it possible to think of a better world?

A. Im pessimistic about this. I dont want to imagine a better world. We have to be clear that the good old days of liberal social democracy are over. The rules have changed. We cant talk about a better world, but rather about collective survival, about continuing some kind of normal life, with freedoms, in a state of emergency.

Q. Lets change the subject. Criticism of woke culture is mounting from both the right and the left. Are you against wokism?

A. Im against cancel culture. For people who practice cancel culture, the official goal is supposedly to promote diversity and inclusion. But what theyre actually doing is excluding those who dont accept their definition of inclusion, and so on. If you look at woke culture in detail, its upper-middle-class people targeting lower-class people.

Q. In Sex and the Failed Absolute, you discussed the topic of relations between men and women at a time when the concept of consent has taken center stage. Where do you stand on the debate around consent?

A. I dont like the idea that everything revolves around consent. In prostitution, there can also be consent. True violence and exploitation in sexual relationships can take the form of something consensual.

Q. And you are against prostitution, of course.

A. Unfortunately, yes. Although the liberal thing to do these days is to say why not? Im perhaps very naive about this. I think sex is something intimate.

Q. How would you describe where you are in your life?

A. Im sad, Im panicking because Im getting old. Im a workaholic; I dont work to live, I live to work. Im 76 years old, I need a lot of sleep, and Im losing my ability to work. I dont like it. I dont think age brings any wisdom.

Q. It doesnt bring wisdom?

A. No! Wisdom is what I hate the most! Theres a very vulgar saying in Slovenia: you cant piss against the wind [laughs]. Wisdom is absolute conformist stupidity.

Q. Let me ask you one last question, and feel free not to answer it. Do you think about death?

A. No. I want to die like my friend Fredric Jameson, of a heart attack. I hate the idea of dying slowly, thinking about what my legacy will be, blah blah blah. I want to work until I die. To fall asleep thinking tomorrow is another day and not wake up. I cant imagine myself sitting around like an old idiot, not working. Id even take my own life.

Q. You would take your own life?

A. I dont want pain. Im not afraid of death, Im afraid of dying slowly and painfully. If I found out that my wife or one of my children had died, my first question would be: how did it happen? If it was an accident, instantaneous, Id say: oh, okay. And Id continue working on my computer. If it were a slow and painful death, I couldnt bear it, Id probably take my own life too.

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Some suspected land barons are allegedly impersonating Zanu PF officials to try and seize properties belonging to the estate of Cecil John Rhodes grandson.

Elizabeth Anne Rhodes, the widow of Rhodes grandson, Brian James Rhodes, appealed to President Emmerson Mnangagwa to intervene and save the family from losing the properties to the alleged Zanu PF officials.

Elizabeth claimed that she was evicted from one of the properties after it was alleged that her late husband had resigned from the estates management in 2012.

This is despite the fact that he passed away in 2006, according to the death certificate.

The family is appealing to President Mnangagwa to intervene before the family loses its multimillion dollar property to some well-known fraudsters, who are abusing the name of the party Zanu PF, she said.

According to court papers, Elizabeth appointed Elizabeth Parirenyatwa to be the executor of the estate in 2002.

This was done so that the family can console each other and reconcile after the death of Brian J Rhodes and move forward making sure that the last will of the late Brian J Rhodes is put in motion, the court papers read.

To ensure there are no illegal sales of land...suing and reporting all the matters to all responsible authorities so that quick action is attained, so that order is restored, status quo is achieved in time to remove the illegal occupants at all the properties belonging to John Rhodes in favour of the beneficiaries being me, the widow and four children mentioned in the will.

To abide by the rules stated by the law to ensure the beneficiaries are not disadvantaged... ensuring that the widow Elizabeth Anne Rhodes fully benefits and receives the monthly, yearly and forever benefits in time.

During a previous court session, an assistant from the master of the High Court testified that their office had received multiple complaints from the children of the late Brian James Rhodes.

The complaints concerned the appointment of Parirenyatwa as executor of their father's estate, with the children seeking her removal.

Under cross-examination, the assistant confirmed that the children were strongly opposed to Parirenyatwa serving as executor.

One of the defence lawyers asserted that Parirenyatwa was mentally unstable and a criminal, which was the reason the children wanted her removed.

It was noted in court that Brian passed away on July 29, 2006, and that his surviving spouse, Elizabeth, later registered the estate with the master of the High Court under DRI 426/1.

Parirenyatwa was reportedly appointed executor dative of the Rhodes estate after receiving power of attorney from Elizabeth.

Cecil John Rhodes was the founder of the British South Africa Company which was responsible for the colonisation of Zimbabwe in the 1890s.

He was born on July 5, 1853 in England and died on March 16, 1902 in the Cape Colony of South Africa and was later buried in what is today the Matobo National Park. Standard
President Trump delivered the commencement address at West Point on Saturday, attacking political opponents, diversity efforts, and the nation's most recent commander in chief while welcoming the graduating cadets to a military he said he's rebuilt "better than ever before." Wearing a red "Make America Great Again" cap, Trump told the 1,002 members of the Military Academy's class of 2025, "You are the first West Point graduates of the golden age of America." He added, "We've turned it around." Trump's topics included:
Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday for his revenge thriller It Was Just an Accident, handing the festival's top prize to a director who had been barred from leaving Iran for more than 15 years. Cate Blanchett presented the award to Panahi, who three years ago was imprisoned in Iran before going on a hunger strike, the AP reports. For a decade and a half, he has made films clandestinely in his native country, including one film (This Is Not a Film) in his living room, and another (Taxi) set in a car.

The crowd rose in a thunderous standing ovation for the filmmaker, who immediately threw up his arms and leaned back in his seat in disbelief before applauding his collaborators and the audience around him. Onstage, Panahi was cheered by Cannes jury President Juliette Binoche, who in 2010 in Cannes held up Panahi's name to honor the director when he was under house arrest. Panahi told the gathering that what matters most is freedom in his country. "Let us join forces," he said. "No one should dare tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do or what we should not do."

It Was Just an Accident was inspired by Panahi's experience in prison. In the film, a group of former prisoners encounter the man who terrorized them in jail and weigh whether to kill him. Panahi was held in Tehran's Evin Prison after going there to inquire about the then-jailed filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulo. Panahi was released in 2023 after going on a hunger strike. "The film springs from a feeling of resistance, survival, which is absolutely necessary today," Binoche told reporters after the ceremony. "Art will always win. What is human will always win." (A power outage disrupted the festival earlier in the day.)
Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in more than three years of war. Just hours earlier, Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, reports the AP . Russia's Defense Ministry said each side brought home 303 more soldiers, after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Fridaythe biggest swap of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that "303 Ukrainian defenders are home." In talks held in Istanbul earlier this monththe first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks sinceKyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The scale of onslaught was stunningRussia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force. In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he said. For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century.

"These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities," Zelensky wrote on X, adding that Sunday's targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, and Cherkasy regions. "Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help," Zelensky said. "Determination matters nowthe determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace." The prisoner swap was the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month that have so far failed to produce a ceasefire and a rare moment of cooperation between the warring sides.
Joe Biden has made his first public appearances since revealing his prostate cancer diagnosis , attending his grandson's high school graduation in Connecticut. The former president assured a TV crew at the Hartford airport on Friday that he was "feeling great," WTNH reports. Accompanied by former first lady Jill Biden, he also spoke with other travelers, some of whom greeted him with cheers and applause.

The family had gathered for Robert Hunter Biden II's graduation in Salisbury, per NBC News, later posting photos of the celebration. The night before, Biden had dinner at a restaurant in Lakeville and spoke with employees and other patrons. "We got to talk for a quick minute or two just about the area, what he had to eat and how he enjoyed the restaurant," Spencer Barry, who was seated near the former president, told WTNH. "He seemed alright."
Thousands of people across the country marked the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's killing on Sunday, with many assessing efforts to bring change to police departments and lamenting Trump administration actions that they said have set them back years. Floyd's family gathered near Floyd's gravesite in Houston, the BBC reports, where poetry sessions, musical performances, and speeches were scheduled. And a church service, candlelight vigil, and gospel concert were planned in Minneapolis, where Floyd died when a white police officer, Derek Chauvin , pinned his knee against the Black man's neck for 9 minutes.

Tom Johnson, 74, went to the flower-covered memorial at the spot in Minneapolis where Floyd died, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I don't know what to do. ... It's something," he said, adding that the Trump administration's dismantling of diversity initiatives has deepened the shadow over the day. "People come here to pay respects, take pictures and leave," said Marquise Bowie, 49, who lives two blocks away. Those who live in the area "need more than just a celebration of a person," he said. "We need resources." Last week, the Trump administration announced it's moving to drop settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville that called for an overhaul of their police departments after the police killings of Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville.

The Rev. Al Sharpton criticized the announcement and its timing but told the graveside gathering that the efforts will continue. "We made things happen" after Floyd's death, he said, "and we're going to make them happen again." Detrius Smith of Dallas went to the memorial site with her three daughters and five grandchildren. She told one granddaughter that people around the world came together against racial injustice after Floyd's murder, per the AP. "It just really feels good, just really to see everybody out here celebrating the life, and the memories of George Floyd and just really remembering what happened," Smith said. "We want to do everything we can to work together so everybody can have the same equal rights."
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The fundamental thing is what the artist wants to do, and then, finding the technology to make it possible. For example, Bob [Robert] Whitman couldnt care less which technology he used, but in some way he understood that through it, he could achieve what he wanted, and that he could work with an engineer to make it happen, said Julia Martin at a 2013 conference. She was talking about one of the keys to the revolutionary movement that in the mid-1960s saw artists and engineers work together at Bell Telephone Laboratories with the simple, but terribly audacious, goal of seeing what they could come up with. It was called Experiments in Art and Technology. Probably its best-known results were the works presented in October 1967 by 10 artists (including Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage and Lucinda Childs) after months of working with some 30 engineers. Over the course of nine presentations, more than 10,000 people came to the temporary theater erected at New Yorks 69th Regiment Armory to see performance art made with appliances, dancers gliding atop robots, and even sound itself, pulsing around them.

Martin was there, working alongside Whitman and another one of the great driving forces behind it all, from the engineering side: Billy Kluver, a Swedish-born physicist who had already shown promise back when he presented his final thesis in 1952 in the form of an animated film. As Martin would explain many years later, for Kluver, it was not about the artist becoming a bit of an engineer or the engineer becoming a bit of an artist, but rather, that the key lay in the collaboration itself.

Would such an initiative make sense today  a partnership between artists and engineers specializing in artificial intelligence, for example? Perhaps. Or perhaps not. What does seem like a good idea, in this era of colossal technological disruption that is generating fear throughout the world of art, is taking a look back at the work of the pioneers who rode the waves of science, technology, and innovation to create. That is precisely the task taken on by the exhibition Electric Dreams, Art and Technology Before the Internet, which can be seen through June 1 at Londons Tate Modern. The show brings together revolutionary works from around the world, from 1950s and 1960s psychedelic experiments, engines, neon and transistors, in addition to early approaches towards the digital world, with pieces made by machines and informational systems in the 1970s and 1980s.

At this exact moment of history (and art history), it seems fundamental that we take a long retrospective look at how the relationship between humanity, creativity, and automatization has evolved, says Valentina Ravaglia, the exhibitions curator. She mentions the fascinating debate that has emerged regarding the impact of AI on the concept of authorship: To begin with, anyone who looks to have a sound opinion about these issues must understand that the application of algorithmic rules to art hardly began with digital art, that artists have been automatizing and delegating the creation of their works since the first hominoid learned to make a handprint using a stencil.

Ravaglia, the museums curator of displays and international art, mentions a few names  some of which she believes have been unjustly forgotten or underappreciated  that are worth knowing in the formation of an informed opinion on the issues roiling todays world. She cites the New Tendencies movement, an eclectic group based in Zagreb that sought to generate novel yet accessible and democratic visual effects by applying scientific methodologies to art; the Italian artists who participated in the Arte Programmata movement, Frances Groupe de Recherche dArt Visuel (Julio Le Parc and Francois Morellet, among others); and the artists who paved the way for computer-assisted art, such as Japans Hiroshi Kawano, Croatias Vladimir Bonacic, and the Arte y Cibernetica group in Argentina. And of course, the pioneers of digital art: Wen-Ying Tsai, Fujiko Nakaya, Analivia Cordeiro, Sonia Landy Sheridan, Rebecca Allen, Eduardo Kac, Samia Halaby, Suzanne Treister, and so many more.

Such a landscape, which may be glimpsed in the London exhibition, foreshadowed much of the debate currently tearing the art world apart. If we look back, we cannot help but notice that the concerns we have today about the impact of automatization on creativity and work in general echo those of the past, says Ravaglia. The curator is well aware of the all-too-real dangers of the times, that people are already losing their livelihoods to AI  a problem that is far from limited to artists  but thats due, in her view, to companies and individuals who dont respect creativity and work in general. Theres no doubt that the magnitude of this phenomenon is worrisome, but blaming technology is a distraction. She continues to have serious doubts about many of todays hot-button issues  including those of copyrights and intellectual property  but thinks its only a matter of time before we can truly understand what this paradigm shift is bringing, what it is already doing to art as a way of doing and knowing.

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TOKYO, May 25 (News On Japan) - The redevelopment plan for the former Nakano Sunplaza site has been formally scrapped, raising concerns among local residents about the area potentially becoming a neglected eyesore.

The iconic venue, long beloved for hosting weddings and concerts, closed its doors in July 2023. A large-scale mixed-use development had been planned for the site and surrounding area. However, with construction costs rising sharply, the project stalled. On May 22nd, it was revealed that an agreement had been reached with real estate companies involved to cancel the redevelopment plan entirely.

In Nakano, some residents expressed disappointment. The manager of a local restaurant said, "There was a sense of expectation, but clearly, having a building versus not having one makes a big difference in customer turnout." A former resident added, "Theres concern it could become a hangout spothopefully that doesnt happen."

While some residents hope the building can be revitalized without a complete rebuild, signs of deterioration are visible throughout the structure, which is over 50 years old. In March 2025, Nakano Ward Mayor stated, "Even if we were to reuse the facility, it would require substantial work. Renovations alone could cost around 10 billion yen. Its hard to see how that investment could be recovered. Its not a realistic figure."

A comparable case occurred in Tokyos Gotanda district. The TOC Building, also over 50 years old, was temporarily closed for redevelopment, but plans were delayed due to rising costs. Instead, the facility was renovated and later reopened.

Real estate consultant Osamu Nagashima commented on the future of the Nakano Sunplaza site, saying, "I dont think it will become a ruin. Its in a prime location, right in front of the station. As long as the main structure is sound, the aging exterior can be restored. A careful approach using renovation or refurbishment while keeping costs down may be the most realistic solution."

Source: FNN
May 25 (Financial Times) - Japan has been struggling to cope with a combination of anaemic economic growth and a shrinking population for over 30 years. 2025 marks the tipping point when the rising costs outstrip the country's capacity to pay for them.

Japan's fertility rate has hovered around 1.2 for decades, well below the replacement level of 2.1. Although South Koreas birthrate has recently fallen even lower, Japans demographic decline has been in motion for much longer, offering the world a window into what aging societies may soon confront. While the Japanese government has tried various policiesfrom encouraging births within marriage to introducing dating apps and flexible work schemesthe societal and economic headwinds remain formidable. Marriage rates continue to fall, and fewer couples means fewer babies, a situation further strained by wage stagnation that makes many young men economically unattractive partners. Though desire for marriage and family may remain strong, socioeconomic barriers have made these dreams increasingly out of reach.

Despite its looming crisis, Japan continues to function with remarkable social cohesion and economic resilience. Communities like the Fuwaku Rugby Club for men in their 70s and 80s illustrate how older Japanese remain physically and socially active, even as their generation begins to dominate the countrys demographic structure. Yet this aging society demands more infrastructuremore care homes, medical services, and welfare spending, which has now risen to around 10 percent of GDP. The burden on the national budget is compounded by a decline in innovation, with fewer patents filed as the working-age population shrinks. To adapt, businesses like Unicharm and Ito En have shifted their product lines from babies to elderly care, recognizing aging as both a social challenge and a commercial opportunity. Funeral services, too, are adapting to the reality of more solitary deaths, offering proxy scattering of ashes at sea. Meanwhile, local efforts to integrate immigrant communities, like the Kiricafe project in Kirigaoka, reflect Japans quiet but significant pivot toward increased immigration. Although the official stance remains cautious, foreign nationals may make up 10 percent of the population within two decades, signaling a major cultural transformation for a country long known for its homogeneity.

Globally, Japans demographic trajectory is becoming less of an outlier. China, once worried about overpopulation, now faces similar headwinds after decades of the one-child policy. Its fertility rate is plunging and its population is starting to decline, bringing economic growth to a slowdown. Other developed nations, including France, Germany, the UK, and the US, are also grappling with plateauing or shrinking working-age populations. But while many countries are only just beginning to feel these effects, Japan has been wrestling with them for over 30 years. In that time, it has managed to preserve social order, public health, and a vibrant business landscape. Even though none of Japans interventions have reversed the demographic slide, the country has avoided collapse and continued to thrive in many respects. That paradoxthat failure to solve the problem still led to a kind of quiet successmay be Japans most important lesson for the world: that it is possible for a nation to age and shrink gracefully without surrendering its stability or sense of purpose.

Source: Financial Times
May 26 (More Best Ever Food Review Show) - In this video, the host sets out to compare American casual dining staples as prepared in Japan, visiting both Denny's and Red Lobster in Tokyo.

The central question is whether Japan can replicate or even improve upon American comfort food, or whether the attempt will fall flat. With a focus on casual dining, the journey begins at Denny's, a chain well-known in the U.S. for its pancakes, waffles, and Grand Slam breakfast. The host wonders if these familiar items will appear on the Japanese menuor if something entirely new awaits.

Upon arriving at Denny's in Tokyo, the host notes how surprisingly crowded it is, indicating the chain's popularity among locals. After being seated, the menu is presented via iPad, and a series of menusmorning, lunch, grand, dessert, and kidsare provided, with an overwhelming amount of printed material for a typical diner. The breakfast section includes standard American-style egg options, but initially, little seems to reflect Japanese cuisine.

That changes when the host discovers a meal set featuring rice, miso soup, and nattofermented soybeans that are an acquired taste even among Japanese people. The host highlights how unlikely it would be to find natto at a Denny's in the United States, suggesting this is a distinctly Japanese twist on the traditional breakfast. Curious and intrigued, the host decides to try the natto, noting how it exemplifies the cultural differences and the unique adaptation of American dining in Japan.
The new policy of the United States is to expedite and promote to the fullest possible extent the production and operation of nuclear energy to provide affordable, reliable, safe, and secure energy to the American people, to power advanced nuclear reactor technologies.

Two of the overall goals are to quadruple US nuclear energy (add 300 GW to about 100GW) within 25 years. There is also the goal of reducing new nuclear reactor approval times to 18 months.

Within 240 days of the date of the executive order, the Secretary of Energy and other relevant agencies will have to present a plan to speed up and increase nuclear energy buildout.

Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Director of OMB, shall develop a plan to expand domestic uranium conversion capacity and expand enrichment capabilities sufficient to meet projected civilian and defense reactor needs for low enriched uranium (LEU), high enriched uranium (HEU) and high assay, low enriched uranium (HALEU), subject to retention of such stockpiles as are necessary for tritium production, naval propulsion, and nuclear weapons.

Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense as appropriate, shall update the Department of Energys excess uranium management policy to align with the policy objectives of this order and the Nuclear Fuel Security Act, factoring in the national security need to modernize the United States nuclear weapon stockpile. The Secretary of Energy shall prioritize contracting for the development of fuel fabrication facilities that demonstrate the technical and financial feasibility to supply fuel to qualified test reactors or pilot program reactors within 3 years from the date of such applications.

Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with the Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, shall utilize the authority provided to the President in section 708(c)(1) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) (50 U.S.C. 4558(c)(1)), which has been delegated to the Secretary of Energy pursuant to Executive Order 13603 of March 16, 2012 (National Defense Resources Preparedness), to seek voluntary agreements pursuant to section 708 of the DPA with domestic nuclear energy companies. The Secretary of Energy should prioritize agreements with those companies that have achieved objective milestones (e.g., Department of Energy-approved conceptual safety design reports, the ability to privately finance their fuel, or the demonstrated technology capability) for the cooperative procurement of LEU and HALEU, including as needed by the Federal Government for tritium production, naval propulsion, and nuclear weapons.

Funding for Restart, Completion, Uprate, or Construction of Nuclear Plants. (a) To maximize the speed and scale of new nuclear capacity, the Department of Energy shall prioritize work with the nuclear energy industry to facilitate 5 gigawatt of power uprates to existing nuclear reactors and have 10 new large reactors with complete designs under construction by 2030.

Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, prioritize funding for qualified advanced nuclear technologies through grants, loans, investment capital, funding opportunities, and other Federal support. Priority shall be given to those companies demonstrating the largest degrees of design and technological maturity, financial backing, and potential for near-term deployment of their technologies.
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Catherine Russell, 64, took over as UNICEFs executive director in February of 2022, just as the world was beginning to see the light after the Covid-19 pandemic. But days later, Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, triggering a European refugee crisis of great magnitude.

In the three years since then, other wars have erupted or reignited, in Gaza, Sudan, Myanmar and other places. The planet is now experiencing the highest number of active conflicts since the mid-20th century. Its literally one problem after another, the New Jersey-born Russel laments. Adults are [doing the fighting] and children are suffering. And, in the midst of this humanitarian storm, various high-income countries are cutting off international development aid.

Spain is one of a handful of countries that, instead of cutting back, plans to increase its financial support for UNICEF. In early May, Russell met with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid, to thank him in person. We love Spain. The government here is a consistent supporter of the work that we do and were really grateful for that, because its one of the few governments thats actually trying to increase [its] contribution to UNICEF, she summarized, after meeting with Sanchez.

Russell spoke with EL PAIS at a hotel in Madrid.

Question. In this context of global upheaval, its a bad time to be a child.

Answer. Its a very difficult time to be a child. The biggest challenge is conflict, which we see in so many places. We estimate that hundreds of millions of children are either living in conflict zones, or fleeing from conflict zones. The worst thing is that children are at physical risk in a conflict setting but the other [troubling factor] is that children really depend on government services. They depend on education and healthcare from the government. And those are almost always disrupted by conflict. Several years [of schooling] are lost, they dont have access to clean water. Its a big proportion of their life.

Q. With more conflicts than ever since World War II, is there reason for hope?

A. You know, were in the business of children, right? So, we always have hope. But its a particularly worrying situation for children. As I said, they are very vulnerable. Now, you see conflict [in which] communities and civilians are at such incredible risk. So, I cant say that Im optimistic about the situation.

Q. One of the biggest crises is in Gaza, where aid is blocked by Israel. What solution does UNICEF propose?

A. Its a terrible situation. Thousands of children killed and thousands of children suffering. Were worried about the nutrition situation there. We have UNICEF staff on the ground who have been just incredibly courageous.

[Gaining] access to deliver aid has been very difficult. For a period, we were able to provide a lot of medical supplies, food, and water. But when the fighting started again, it was impossible. Its one of the worst contexts in terms of the international communitys ability to reach those in need.

Russell, pictured during a visit to the Al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, in November of 2023. Eyad El Baba (Unicef)

Q. After more than two months without aid reaching the people in Gaza, are there any negotiations with Israel and Hamas to let the aid in?

A. There are many talks underway, [as well as] many requests from the humanitarian sector for more access. So far, were not making any progress. But were continuing to push as much as we can.

Q. Sudan is another horrific situation. Whats happening there?

A. Sudan, in terms of numbers, is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. And its shockingly bad: weve already seen famine in some parts of the country. The violence is horrific. UNICEF put out a report two months ago about sexual violence against children there, including [against] children under the age of one. In terms of scale, 17 million of the 19 million children [have been] out of school for two years. [And yet], you cant find a mention of [the situation] in the newspaper or on the TV.

Q. You were there a year ago. What did you see?

A. I was in Port Sudan, where we had a really impressive facility. It was a camp and UNICEF was providing a whole range of services there. I walked into a tent and there were maybe, I dont know, 20 kids [of] different ages sitting with headphones on, all looking at tablets. The women there told me that [there are online] programs that can adapt to where the child is in terms of their education [and depending on what language they speak].

I met a group of girls there. I asked them: What do you think about your future? These are girls who had already been uprooted several times by the violence, [yet] they were still optimistic. They were telling me they were going to be doctors or engineers. That gives me so much hope and encourages me to keep going. But I also know that the likelihood of their dreams coming true is really low.

Adults [are doing the] fighting and these children are the ones who suffer. And I find that just really heartbreaking.

In early May, Russell was visiting Spain, to strengthen the country's support for UNICEF. Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih ( UNICEF/UNI599903/Ahmed Mohamd)

Q. Do you think the international community is forgetting the suffering of children in these contexts?

A. There are conversations at the UN, but I think the world struggles to pay attention to too many things at once. Theres too much going on right now. [For many], these conflicts seem so far away; theyre not on [the general publics] mind. Part of the challenge is trying to get some attention. When people hear whats happening, they respond.

Q. And what do you think of global leaders, those who must make the decisions?

A. They need to do better.

Q. At the beginning of your term, you were very concerned about girls in Afghanistan. Three years later, how can you tell them that humanity hasnt forgotten them?

A. Its a very horrible situation for girls there. And every step along the way, the authorities have further constrained the opportunities for girls and the ability of girls and women to participate in society: to go to school, be outside, work

We continue to try to provide education for girls [in Afghanistan], but its a challenge. [Afghan women and girls] have so much to contribute, so much to offer well never give up on those girls.

Weve been trying to work [on training] women in the healthcare sector. At least for now, [the Taliban] is letting women work in that space, because they provide healthcare to other women. So, there are some places where we can work and well continue to try.

Russell during her visit to Spain. Pablo Monge

Q. International aid funds are declining, especially with the cuts at USAID. How are they affecting your operations?

A. Last year, we began to see cuts in development assistance. That decline accelerated this year. Its worrying. Many [high-income] countries  with three or four exceptions  have been cutting aid. Spain is one of [the countries] that has increased its contributions and Im grateful for that.

At UNICEF, we have diverse sources of funding, but [the cuts are] affecting us. We estimate [that theres been] a 20% decrease in the funds we receive. So, we have to adjust. Weve always tried to be good stewards of the resources we receive, but now, were looking for any way to save [money], without affecting our programs. Were restructuring the organization a bit. [However], in the end, its going to have an impact on children. Theres no way around it. It will result in more children who are not fed, who are not educated.

Q. At the moment, more and more countries are questioning the usefulness of multilateralism, including the effectiveness of the UN.

A. Were at an inflection point in the world, where there are questions being raised about the multilateral system overall. And I think the question countries and voters and human beings have to think about is: what kind of world do they want to live in? Do they want to live in a world where its sort of breaking down into different groups? Or do we want to support and reinvigorate the multilateral system that has served us quite well since the end of World War II?

We want to have [a system] in place so that countries can resolve their conflicts, [so that] they can work together. And I think [this] multilateral system is being challenged.

Q. We see that rich, developed countries dont respect childrens rights, especially along their borders. How do we address these violations?

A. If you have a child  if you know a child  [or] if you have a niece or nephew, you want everything for that child, right? You want them to be healthy. You want them to be educated. You want them to grow up in a safe environment [and] have opportunities. The children [who are being abused] are no different. They have every right to have the same life and world that every child has in richer countries or safer countries, or places where its more stable. Theyre our collective future. If we dont take care of them, the world is not going to be a pretty place growing up.

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A woman prepares coffee in the shared kitchen of the 'pagadiario' where she lives in downtown Bogota, on May 7, 2025.

Deiro Gonzalez has seen four men die in his pagadiario  or pay-by-day  room over the past 20 years. Their deaths were often sudden, without goodbyes or mourners by their bedside.

The last one was Mr. Salgar. It was a natural death, recalls the 74-year-old.

He is not clear about the exact dates of the deaths, but he is clear about how depressing they felt. The bodies are picked up by the police and nothing else happens, he says.

These men who have died in the bed opposite his own are among the dozens of strangers Gonzalez has roomed with over two decades.

Deiro Gonzalez in his room in downtown Bogota. Mariano Vimos

Gonzalez has nowhere else to go. Without a pension, a job or a family, survival is a daily battle. For 20 years, he has chosen to live in a pagadiario and shares to bring down the cost.

When I started, it was 1,200 pesos [$0.03] and now the room is worth 20,000 [almost $5], says the old man as he stands surrounded by unpainted blue walls that open onto a bathroom without a door or pipes.

According to the District Department of Social Integration, there are 4,500 people living in such rentals in the center of Bogota, representing some of the poorest, most marginalized souls in the city. Many have been homeless in the past and are one step away from being so again. The rooms are often to be found in the old buildings of the Santa Fe neighborhood, the same ones that used to house the wealthiest of Bogota, which was known as the South American Athens in the first half of the 20th century.

In a bid to highlight the plight of those occupying the pagadiarios, the department started to register them at the end of last year.

It is an important exercise because the gateway to inclusion is to recognize the other as a citizen, says Roberto Angulo, current secretary of Social Integration of Bogota. According to the count, there are 4,500 people living in pagadiarios in San Cristobal, Martires and Santa Fe.

According to a 2021 estimate, this figure jumps to around 14,219 when taking into account the entire capital. The new census will determine whether the number has increased in the last four years.

Objects that decorate Deiro Gonzalez's room. Mariano Vimos

The damp building in which Gonzalez lives has woodwork that suggests a prestigious past. Jose Ramirez manages the 27 rooms distributed over five floors. He has been in charge of collecting the rents for 23 years and maintaining order. Its not easy to work, he says. You see a lot of things.

Everything goes down here: quarrels, romances, drug-induced erratic behavior and death. Nothing surprises me anymore, except for the deaths, he adds. Ramirezs wages help to support his wife and daughters. On a good day, he can pull in more than $100 for the owners.

Carolina Rojas in the room where she lives with her four children. Mariano Vimos

The District has confirmed that this type of housing is present almost everywhere in the capital, and that prices range from $2 to $14 a day. More than 43% of the inhabitants are migrants who have unstable incomes.

About five blocks from Gonzalezs building, there is another pagadiario housing mostly Venezuelans. Nayluz Millan occupies two rooms in which she sleeps with her partner, her three daughters and her mother who suffers from heart disease.

Its not easy, but I get a lot of help here and I can pay. I am grateful to have a roof over my head, says the 36-year-old woman who worked as a nurse back in Venezuela.

Nayluz Millan's family room. Mariano Vimos

Unlike Gonzalez, Millans pagadiario has a small shared kitchen. I can make breakfast for the girls here, says Millan whose actual room has no natural light. In the building, almost every family occupies one room.

A few floors up, Carolina Rojas lives with her four children. Since arriving in Colombia, Rojas has had to try to make ends meet alone because her husband left her to cross the Darien Gap, and she has heard nothing from him since. Unlike the other migrants, she does not receive any financial support from the District because her situation is still irregular.

It is estimated that there are more than 430 daily payers in the city center, and 6,500 throughout the capital, according to a 2021 estimate. Each building has its particular demographic. There are pagadiarios housing the elderly, others focused on migrants, others inhabited by sex workers and trans individuals, and others where a room is filled with dozens of bunk beds for which drug addicts pay $2 or less.

Omar Moreno in his daily pay room. Mariano Vimos

Drug use is common among the residents of pagadiarios. Omar Moreno, who lives in a room opposite Gonzalezs, calls it a scourge. Look, we all suffer from the scourge here, he says, referring to the consumption of basuco or coca paste, the most popular drug among street dwellers in Bogota.

Despite his addiction, Moreno has managed to pay for a single room for the past 12 years. I have made and decorated everything that is here, he says.

He holds his head high as he shows several colorfully painted clocks and a collection of hats hanging on the wall. His crafts have made it feel like home, though it is a home he could lose at any moment, given he is living hand to mouth.

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The City of Hoboken announced two updates to the Citi Bike program on Tuesday, which will increase docking capacity in downtown Hoboken to improve bike share availability near Hoboken Terminal and lower Washington Street, increase access to City Hall, and improve overnight parking availability for residents. Hoboken

Hoboken is expanding its Citi Bike program with two updates aimed at improving bike share availability in the downtown area, particularly near Hoboken Terminal and lower Washington Street.

The relocation of the existing Citi Bike station from in front of City Hall around the corner to Newark Street took effect Friday.

In addition, a new eight-dock station will be installed on the sidewalk in front of City Hall, expanding the bike-sharing infrastructure in a high-demand area.

The curb space previously occupied by the Citi Bike station in front of City Hall will be converted into a 15-minute time-limited loading zone from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The new City Hall docking station will be the first in New Jersey to feature Lyfts new Pillar system, which offers a modular design for flexible and smaller installations in areas with high curbside demand.

The new stations can also be expanded and retrofitted to support charging for e-bikes, which now represent more than half of all user trips.

By relocating the existing docking station and adding this new, smaller profile station in front of City Hall, we are maintaining bike share access to City services while providing our residents and visitors with more options to patronize downtown businesses, or commute into New York City, Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla said in a statement

Citi Bike ridership has grown 10% in the city over the past year with higher demand for docking stations within a five-minute walk of Hoboken Terminal.

The new stations will support a growing user base of 4,400 active members in the region, which has already seen over 1 million rides taken in 2024 across Hoboken and Jersey City, including more than 600,000 e-bike rides.

Hoboken and Jersey City partnered with Lyft to launch a unified bike share system with New York City in 2021.

* * *

Submit Hudson County community news to hudson@njadvancemedia.com. Questions about this post may be directed to Linda OBrien at lobrien@njadvancemedia.com or Stephanie Loder sloder@njadvancemedia.com.



Generative AI was used to produce an initial draft of this story, which was reviewed and edited by NJ Advance Media staff.

The City of Hoboken today announced two updates to the Citi Bike program, which will increase docking capacity in downtown Hoboken to improve bike share availability near Hoboken Terminal and lower Washington Street, increase access to City Hall, and improve overnight parking availability for residents.

On Friday, May 23, Citi Bike will relocate the bike share station in front of City Hall to Newark Street, between Hudson Street and Washington Street, activating the plaza in front of CVS. At the same time, a new eight-dock Citi Bike station will then be installed on the sidewalk in front of City Hall, expanding the Citys bike-sharing infrastructure in the high-demand downtown Hoboken area. The curb space in front of City Hall will be repurposed as a 15-minute time-limited loading zone from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., for short stays and loading during the day and overnight parking along Washington Street between First and Newark Streets.

The new City Hall docking station will be the first in New Jersey to use Lyfts new Pillar system, which has a modular design that allows for flexible and smaller installations, making it easier to deploy in areas with high curbside demand. The new docking stations can also expand and be retrofitted to support charging for e-bikes, which now account for more than 50 percent of user trips, reducing battery swapping trips and improving reliability.

We are proud to expand Citi Bike in Hoboken, while showcasing this innovative design to support the growing Citi Bike bike-share program, said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. This new system not only enhances the bike-share experience but also contributes to a more accessible city. By relocating the existing docking station and adding this new, smaller profile station in front of City Hall, we are maintaining bike share access to City services while providing our residents and visitors with more options to patronize downtown businesses, or commute into New York City.

The two stations will add essential Citi Bike access just two blocks away from Hoboken Terminal, which is one of the regions busiest transportation hubs. This increase in docking availability will help address the high demand for Citi Bike stations in the area, making biking more convenient for both commuters and residents. While Citi Bike ridership has grown 10 percent over the past year citywide, it has grown 14 percent at the docking stations within a 5-minute walk of Hoboken Terminal.

Launching Pillar in Hoboken marks a significant step forward in Citi Bikes mission to connect riders with their city. We leveraged more than a decade of bikeshare experience to design an innovative, sustainable station that improves the riders start and end of ride, and supports cities efforts to plan creatively and effectively, said Patrick Knoth, Citi Bike General Manager at Lyft Urban Solutions.

With over 1 million rides taken in 2024 across Hoboken and Jersey City, including more than 600,000 e-bike rides, the new stations will support a growing base of 4,400 active members in the region.

Hoboken and Jersey City partnered with Lyft to launch a unified bike share system with New York City in 2021
A third teenager has died from injuries after a vehicle crashed into a tree early Friday in Jackson Township, Police Chief Matthew Kunz said Sunday.

The crash occurred around 4:39 a.m. near North Hope Chapel Road and New Central Avenue when the driver lost control and hit a tree, authorities said.

A passing motorist called 911.

The driver and one passenger were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

Three other teens were taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune Township, where the third victim was later pronounced dead, police said.

All five people in the vehicle were teenagers. Authorities have not released their names or ages.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

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Nyah Marshall may be reached at nmarshall@njadvancemedia.com
An Ocean County girl is hospitalized after she was shot during a gun-cleaning mishap, authorities said.

Edgar Baerga, 47, of Stafford Township, was cleaning a gun at his residence on Saturday afternoon when the weapon fired and a round struck a 13-year-old girl on the right side of her torso, according to the Ocean County Prosecutors Office.

Baerga drove the child to a local hospital before contacting police, the prosecutors office said.

Stafford Township Police responded to Southern Ocean Medical Center in Stafford following a 911 call about the wounded child.

The girl was then taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where she was listed in stable condition, officials said.

Baerga was charged on a summons with second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and fourth-degree aggravated assault.

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
A Morris County 18-year-old has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash that killed a woman and left a man critically injured on Saturday in Toms River, authorities said.

Abel Mathukutty, of Lake Hiawatha, is charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash causing death and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash causing serious bodily injury, according to a statement issued by the Ocean County Prosecutors Office.

Authorities said that Toms River police responded at 7:25 p.m. Saturday to the area of Route 37 east for a report of a crash.

Police found that a Mercedes sedan occupied by a woman who was the driver and a man who was a passenger had crashed into a utility pole.

Both suffered serious injuries and were transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River.

The woman died at the hospital, the prosecutors office said.

The man was later transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he is listed in critical condition.

The names of the woman and her passenger were not released.

An investigation revealed that an Infiniti sedan struck the Mercedes on the drivers side, causing the Mercedes to crash into the utility pole, the prosecutors office said.

The Infiniti fled the scene and continued east, traveling over the Thomas A. Mathis Bridge, officials said. A description of the vehicle was broadcast to surrounding towns

At approximately 8 p.m., officers from the Seaside Park Police Department stopped a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle.

Officers reported that the vehicle had sustained heavy passenger side damage and that its airbags were deployed.

Investigators said the vehicle was the same one involved in the earlier crash, and that Mathukutty was driving it at the time of the crash.

Mathukutty was taken into custody at the scene and transported to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River where he was placed pending a detention hearing.

The Ocean County Prosecutors Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Toms River Township Police Department, Seaside Park Police Department and Ocean County Sheriffs Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit investigated the crash.

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Stephanie Loder may be reached at SLoder@njadvancemedia.com.
Tom Kean addresses supporters, family, and the press at Election Night Headquarters in the Big N.J. House race at The Olde Mill Inn in Basking Ridge on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Jeff Rhode | For NJ Advance Media
Rick and Morty is back for the first time in almost two years. Season 8 of the endlessly controversial, endlessly beloved sci-fi comedy series will air on Adult Swim/Cartoon Network on Sunday, May 25 at 11 p.m. You can watch it live on either Sling TV (half off first month) or DIRECTV (free trial). Heres a look at everything you need to know to watch the new episode, and the rest of season 8.

You can watch the Rick and Morty season 8 premiere here as soon as it airs.

While information about the new episode is a little scarce, we know that it will be called Summer of All Fears, a play on the 2002 film adaptation of Tom Clancys The Sum of All Fears and the name of Mortys sister, Summer.

Sling TV Sling TV offers tons of channels at the best price in the industry. Buy Now

Rick and Morty follows the exploits of Rick Sanchez and his grandson, Morty, as they adventure across galaxies and dimensions. The show ruthlessly riffs on science fiction tropes and pop culture. It stars Chris Parnell, Sarah Chalke, and Spencer Grammer, along with Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden as the titular characters. Cardoni and Belden replaced Justin Roiland after Roiland faced various allegations of misconduct and abuse in 2023.

How to watch Rick and Morty for free

The cheaper way to watch Rick and Morty is to sign up for Sling TV, which will give you half off your first month.

However, DIRECTV is also worth considering if youre looking for a solution to cutting the cord in the long term, with more channels and variety in addition to Adult Swim content. It also offers a free trial.

Streaming Service Cost Free Trial? DIRECTV $74.99 Yes Sling TV $45-$60 No

RELATED STORIES ABOUT TV STREAMING PLATFORMS

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Joseph Rejent covers TV, writing about live television, streaming services and cord-cutting. He can be reached at jrejent@njadvancemedia.com.
Since the European Court of Human Rights ruling prohibiting Poland from extraditing a Taiwanese man to China became final in January 2023, Spain is the only major European country that has continued to hand over  albeit in spurts  citizens wanted by Beijing.

In 2023 and 2024, the Spanish government authorized nine extraditions to continue through judicial channels, and at least one person has already been handed over to Chinese authorities. On October 29, 2024, after almost two years in prison, this 41-year-old man, wanted for fraud, was released from Madrids Soto del Real prison to be extradited to the Peoples Republic of China. I have no information about his situation or treatment in China, except that he is awaiting trial, confirms the lawyer who defended him during the process, Carlos Aguirre de Carcer.

The lack of guarantees that extradited individuals would receive humane and fair treatment in China was the reason why the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) prohibited Poland from extraditing Taiwanese Hung Tao Liu in a landmark judgment, Liu v. Poland. Reports by the United Nations and non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International found, in the eyes of the seven judges, the use of torture and ill-treatment in Chinese prisons and detention centers to such an extent that it may amount to a situation of generalized violence.

Consequently, the ECHR exempted Liu from having to prove a specific personal risk, given that the extradition request indicated that, once in China, he would be placed in a detention center, which was sufficient to deny the extradition. An individual requesting protection must be guaranteed the benefit of the doubt, reads the judgment of October 6, 2022.

Since the ruling became final in January 2023, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands and Norway have not handed over any person wanted by the Chinese authorities, as confirmed to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) by various authorities in these countries within the framework of China Targets, an investigation coordinated by the ICIJ, in which EL PAIS participate.

However, both the Spanish High Court, the judicial body with authority over extraditions, and the Spanish government, which has the final say in this area, maintain that the decision to extradite someone or not must be made based on the specific circumstances of each case, as this newspaper has confirmed through government sources and a dozen court rulings. Spain has had an extradition treaty with China since 2005 that contains guarantees such as the non-application of the death penalty, argues a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Parliamentary Relations. We are one of the few EU countries that has an extradition treaty with China, which means there is a legal basis and guarantees, the same sources state.

Laura Harth, China director of Safeguard Defenders, a human rights group whose reports some judges at the High Court have cited in their rulings, finds it astonishing that a court under the jurisdiction of the Council of Europe  which includes Spanish courts  should, in her interpretation, so easily ignore the conclusions of the ECHR and approve extraditions to China. At the time of speaking to EL PAIS, Safeguard Defenders, which monitors and opposes extraditions, had not recorded any extraditions from Europe to China in the past two years.

A verbal guarantee

Liu had arrived in Poland fleeing Spain, where he lived. In December 2016, the Chinese government issued a warrant through Interpol for him and more than 200 other Taiwanese citizens, accusing them of a massive telephone scam. After the Constitutional Court denied them protection, 220 Taiwanese detained in Spain were handed over to China, according to ministry data. Having fled Spain, Liu was arrested in August 2017 and lost every court case in Poland. But he ended up protected by Strasbourg, the city where the European Court is based.

Following the current doctrine of the Spanish Constitutional Court, the High Courts interpretation softens the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights: it does not interpret Strasbourg as having prohibited extraditions to China while the situation of generalized violence against its detainees persists, but rather that the Beijing regime must be required in each case to guarantee that the fundamental rights of those surrendered will be respected. And the surrender must be made conditional on such a guarantee.

And what does this guarantee consist of? In a statement that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requests in a verbal note to the Chinese embassy in Madrid, according to a document to which this newspaper has had access. The ministry requests that the Chinese authorities provide this guarantee: that is, in the event the person is handed over, the document states, the fundamental human rights of the person sought will not be violated, nor will they be subjected to ill-treatment, in the sense established in the judgment of October 6, 2022, of the European Court of Human Rights. In this case, the person sought was an English teacher; China did not submit the guarantee on time, and the court rejected the extradition.

At least four other extraditions have been rejected by the court because they violated the treaty requirements in one way or another. Luis Chabaneix, founder and director of a Madrid-based firm specializing in extraditions that has managed to stop two extraditions to China in extremis in recent months, believes that, despite the extradition treaty and the alignment of interests that may exist between governments  Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has traveled to China three times on official visits  deep down, judges are almost ashamed to send someone there and agree to suspend them for a variety of reasons.

Sometimes, however, the reasons run much deeper. Chabaneixs legal firm defended a Chinese businessman detained in Marbella and wanted by Beijing for an alleged corporate crime. The case met all the formal requirements, but Chabaneix claimed that the accusation had been fabricated using a partners statement obtained under torture.

The partner, who currently lives in the United States, testified in writing before the Spanish High Court that he spent 14 months imprisoned in the Beijing Municipal Security Bureau sleeping on the floor, with the lights permanently on, frequently subjected to physical punishment, coercion, and insinuation to fabricate false evidence against himself and the defendant, according to the ruling by the Third Section of the Criminal Chamber of the High Court.

All of this occurred during the same time that the Spanish government was demanding China guarantee in writing that it would respect the human rights of the English teacher it was seeking to extradite.

Origin and destination

The plenary of the High Court maintains a majority position in favor of extraditions subject to these guarantees, although not without controversy. At least three judges have issued dissenting opinions against the softened interpretation in Liu v. Poland.

Judge Ana Revuelta interprets the Strasbourg judgment as holding that Chinas declarations are merely formal, without any guarantee that the courts [can] obtain the conviction that [they are] sufficient to safeguard the right [not to] be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, she states in the dissenting opinion to which Judge Francisco Javier Viera adhered. In another dissenting opinion, Judge Jose Ricardo de Prado also denounced that the assessment of the sufficiency of the guarantee was left in the hands of the Spanish government: An inadmissible surrender of jurisdictional matters in favor of politics, he stated.

For Carlos Bautista, who served as an extradition prosecutor at the High Court for many years and now works at the Chabenaix law firm, the fundamental thing is that the ECHR has not issued any further pronouncements since Liu v. Poland. And above all, it has not issued any further pronouncements to clarify whether its doctrine is being misunderstood [...] Liu has been interpreted in Spain to mean that guarantees must be demanded regarding detention centers. But what Liu says is that no one can be handed over. So well have to see if there is another pronouncement on extraditions to China in which the ECHR reiterates that its not that guarantees must be requested from China, but that the person cannot be handed over. In the meantime...

Meanwhile, a new appeal originating in Spain and headed to Strasbourg is underway. In addition to the man extradited from the Soto del Real prison in October, the High Court had authorized at least a second extradition, but an appeal has managed to suspend it, for the time being. The extraditable man, another Chinese businessman being pursued by Beijing, is an asylum seeker with a son who holds Spanish nationality and the court ruled that the petition must wait for his request to be resolved, according to his lawyer, Inmaculada Cruz Guillen.

The case will reach Strasbourg via Rome, says Cruz Guillen. An Italian law firm has appealed the case to the ECHR from the Italian capital, where the European Convention on Human Rights, ratified by Spain in 1979, was signed in 1950.

China Targets is a project coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Tobias Andersson Akerblom, Kristof Clerix, Hanneke Chin-A-Fo, Maeve McClenaghan, Gloria Riva, Sophia Stahl, Geraldine Hallot and Stefan Melichar contributed to this report.

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Hey Blake,

The coverage of Pope Leo XIVs New Orleans ancestry mentioned his mother was a Martinez. That got us talking about the Martinez School in the 7th Ward, which my grandfather attended. He was always proud to tell us it was the first preschool in the city for Black students. What can you tell me about it?

Dear reader,

Mildred Bernard Martinez founded the preschool bearing her name in 1934. She opened the school to serve young Black children during segregation. It was originally located at 5315 LaSalle St.

According to a 2000 Times-Picayune article, Martinez founded the school after her marriage, which required that she step down from her job as a New Orleans public school teacher, as was the practice at that time.

According to the Amistad Research Center, she founded her school in part to help her own four-year-old son, Numa, whom she could not enroll at the all-white Isidore Newman School where his playmates attended. Martinez Kindergarten School became the first and only pre-K school for Black children in New Orleans at that time.

Newman donated some used furnishings, chalkboards and chairs, her son said in 2019. It had no books, however, so Martinez wrote her own and fixed the pages into booklets.

In the 1940s, the school moved to 1767 N. Roman St. in the 7th Ward, where it remained until closing in 2014. In addition to reading and writing, Martinez and her staff taught her students foreign languages, ballet and tap dancing.

According to the Amistad Research Center, by 1951 the schools enrollment had reached 100.

Notable alumni include Grammy Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musician Wynton Marsalis, TV anchor Arthel Neville, former New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy and Liberty Bank CEO Alden McDonald Jr.

Martinez died in 1991. Her son ran the school for 23 more years until it closed. He died in 2019.
As the nation marks Memorial Day on Monday, May 26, we highlight some of the permanent memorials to our fallen servicemen and women in the New Orleans area.

A 100-foot-high obelisk at the Chalmette Battlefield honors the troops who fought in the 1815 Battle of New Orleans. In the nearby Chalmette National Cemetery, veterans of the War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars are interred.

In 1920, the Victory Arch honoring 1,261 9th Ward residents who were killed in action, served in the armed forces or contributed on the home front during World War I was dedicated on Burgundy Street.

At Poydras Street and Loyola Avenue is a statue commemorating the American soldiers who fought in the Spanish-American War. Nearby, at Elk Place and Canal Street, the Molly Marine statue by noted sculptor Enrique Alferez is a tribute to female members of the U.S. Marine Corps.

On the Poydras Street side of the Caesars Superdome stands a life-sized bronze sculpture honoring those who served in the Vietnam War.

In Gretna, the Jefferson Memorial Arch is dedicated to all Jefferson Parish veterans. In Metairie, at Causeway and Veterans Memorial Boulevard are a Korean War Memorial, a Purple Heart memorial and a POW/MIA memorial.

And ,of course, many significant memorials to those who served in World War II can be found at the National World War II Museum, which marks its 25th anniversary next week.
State Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, right, sponsored Senate Bill 218, which would allow prisoners convicted by nonunanimous juries to have new trials. He is pictured speaking with Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, during the legislative session on Monday, May 12, 2025, at the Louisiana State Capitol in downtown Baton Rouge, La.
As soon as she hears the Immigration bus arrive, Ruth hides her young children as best she can and lies down on the bed. She already knows what theyre going to do to her.

Rape  she cant remember how many times it has happened to her  is the irreplaceable bargaining chip that keeps immigration agents from deporting her back to Haiti. She left her home country due to violence and extreme poverty five years ago.

Sometimes, she urinates just upon hearing the engine. Other times, she lets it happen quickly. Anything is better than returning to her country.

Ruth  not her real name  anonymously shares her testimony with EL PAIS in a tiny room made of wood and sheet metal. She lives in the humble neighborhood of Kosovo, 15 minutes from the luxury hotels and subdevelopments of Punta Cana that, each year, open their doors to millions of tourists in search of all-inclusive resorts near the sea. This paradise in the Dominican Republic is partly sustained by those who are currently being persecuted and violated.

Ruths irregular status means that she cant report the immigration agents who raped her to the police, nor does she dare go to a hospital to rule out sexually transmitted diseases. Im fed up with them coming, she laments, her eyes exhausted, while scrubbing her childrens clothes in a bucket of soap and water.

Since the administration of President Luis Abinader announced a tightening of the Dominican Republics immigration policy in early-April, a large portion of the undocumented population has opted to hide at home and go out as little as possible. Currently, public hospitals and construction sites have become routine stops for the massive raids that  in the first 12 days of April alone  deported 14,874 people. In 2024, the total number of people deported from the Dominican Republic was 276,215.

For Guadalupe Valdez  a member of the Migration and Human Rights Collective  the main issue is that, in the Dominican Republic, immigration is seen as a problem, instead of a reality. The government is unsure about how to resolve the migration issue and has instead adopted populist measures to please conservative sectors, she explains.

Although its difficult for testimonies like Ruths to reach the authorities due to fear, her organization has reported 12 similar complaints to the Public Prosecutors Office. The agents must be prosecuted and removed from the Immigration Service, she affirms. Valdez fears that hundreds of human rights violations  a number that continues to rise since April 6  will go unpunished.

Overview of Villa Esperanza, a working-class neighborhood in the Friusa area, home to hundreds of Haitian migrants. Simon Duarte

On April 6, Abinader announced a package of 15 immigration measures with Trumpian overtones. These include the accelerated construction of a border wall (which barely reaches 34 miles, out of a 250-mile-long border); the increase in military and immigration patrol personnel (the eyes of the homeland, according to the president); new protocols in hospitals, which will require the deportation of convalescents with irregular status; and what the president has called a Dominicanization of employment, with higher wages being mandated in the agricultural and tourism sectors to encourage the hiring of Dominican citizens.

Without Haitian labor, construction comes to a standstill

Its no secret to any Dominican that both the precarious sectors are largely staffed by undocumented workers. In the country, nearly 80% of those working in construction are of Haitian origin, while practically 60% of them work informally. Thats why the president of the Dominican Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Construction Enterprises (COPYMECON)  Eliseo Cristopher  has called for regularization of their status.

If we dont have Haitian labor, the construction sector will definitely come to a standstill, he warns. The minister of Agriculture, meanwhile, acknowledged that deportations were seriously affecting the banana, coffee and livestock sectors.

Despite criticism, the president fervently defends his firm approach. Our identity will not be diluted. Our generosity will not be taken advantage of. Solidarity has limits here, he said, after appointing Milton Ray Guevara to head a commission responsible for the new immigration regulations. The former judge was president of the Constitutional Court when a ruling was passed that left more than 130,000 people in the country stateless.

With these measures, the government is consolidating the apartheid regime against Haitians and Black and vulnerable populations that has long existed, affirms Roudy Joseph, spokesperson for the Dominican Haitian Collective. This is a policy of terror thats not far removed from the Haitian gangs that the Dominican government is supposedly defending itself against.

In mid-May, Abinader held the first of his promised regular meetings with three former Dominican presidents to promote a unified and joint foreign policy on border security. After the first meeting, the former presidents gave a positive assessment of the measures being implemented by the state.

For Elena Lorac  from the Common Organized Network of Dominican Citizens (Reconoci.Do)  this is yet another example of the lack of dissident voices on the political scene: Everyone has normalized attacks on migration.

Maria, director of a community school in Villa Esperanza, in one of the classrooms. Simon Duarte

The so-called limits of solidarity that the president mentioned were strongly felt in Marias classrooms. Since 2009, this community leader has been seeking resources to upkeep a small school in the neighborhood. Here, they treat migrant children as what they are: children.

I dont care if theyre foreigners or not: theyre my students, she exclaims, from one of the chipped desks. Behind her, a Dominican flag  drawn with red and blue crayons  is peeling from the wall. Ninety-eight percent of the students are Haitian.

Since the measures were approved, many have stopped coming, Maria laments. In the first grade class, there were 32 students, but today, only 21 showed up. In the second grade, there are 42, and now, only 24 children are coming. In this other grade, 37 are missing

In her wallet, she keeps a shell casing. It was sent to her as a warning, just one of the many threats that she receives for the work she does. Parents  those who still dare to bring their children to school  arrive in a hurry, wearing their uniforms. Theyre all hardworking Haitians. The mothers sometimes carry mops and brooms, while the fathers  who work as taxi drivers or on construction sites  are often wearing fluorescent vests.

Many children have begun to go home alone, not fully understanding why theyre being persecuted. So far this year, nearly 7,000 Haitians have voluntarily returned to their country.

Dozens of children attend classes at a school in Villa Esperanza, in the Friusa area, where more than half of the Haitian students have stopped attending classes in recent weeks. Simon Duarte

Ethnic cleansing in Punta Cana

Tourism is one of the current governments main objectives. In 2024, the Caribbean island of 11 million inhabitants will receive the same number of tourists. About 60% of them will land at Punta Cana International Airport. This industry represents 15% of the countrys GDP and generates more than $10 billion in foreign currency annually. Thats why Tourism Minister David Collado has repeatedly stated: Its an extremely important market, for which we are determined to continue fighting.

Part of that fight  according to activists  involves deporting people at all costs. Horrible stories are repeated in the violent and clumsy process. Babies have been deported alone. Pregnant women  or those who recently had C-sections  have been forced to return to Haiti. Even young Dominicans with papers have been picked up by the authorities. And then, there are cases like Ruths.

Abigail, 33, was forced to perform oral sex on one of the Dominican immigration agents. Just like 26-year-old Esther, who was forced to do so one month after giving birth, in front of her children. Martinas 14-year-old cousin also heard the same words: If you dont want us to send you back, youll have to help me.

Overview of the hotel zone in Punta Cana, in the eastern part of the Dominican Republic. Simon Duarte

The neighborhoods social leaders point out that there are many more victims. They note that the modus operandi over the last month has been similar: the agents arrive, steal the migrants few savings hidden under their mattresses and, sometimes  when the victims are young women  demand sexual favors.

This is a cemetery for the living, one of them concludes. She prefers not to give her name, for fear of reprisals.

Elena Lorac insists: Whats being committed here is ethnic cleansing. Its classic persecution, in an attempt to whiten the society, which has been going on since the [Trujillo] dictatorship. This is a replica of whats happening in the United States.

The neighborhood of Kosovo is far removed from the luxurious hotels of Punta Cana, where an all-inclusive night costs no less than $200. However, the labor force is drawn from these impoverished neighborhoods. At a corner of Kosovo known as The Pool, dozens of young Haitians arrive early in the morning  with their tools in tow  to be selected by the construction foremen.

They say: I need two bricklayers and a carpenter. And they take them from here, another community leader explains. Since April 6, however, few dare to offer their services. And almost all the street food stalls have been shuttered. Everyone is afraid, even if they have papers. Theyre suffocating them, she adds.

A construction project that was halted in Punta Cana. More than 100 workers  mostly undocumented Haitian migrants  were employed when it was active. Simon Duarte

Wady Lorenzo is a construction engineer. At the moment, though, his job site is silent. Of the 30 workers who usually labor on the 42-unit apartment complex, only six have arrived.

At this rate, well never finish the work. Theyre very afraid to come, so I have to pay them more to get them to show up, the indignant manager huffs. He runs the Hormizimj Construction Company. When asked about the presidents measures aimed at incorporating Dominicans into the sector, he laughs. You have to beg Dominicans to want to work here. They cant stand it.

Lorenzo explains that he has already helped regularize a dozen of his Haitian employees. But the procedures are very slow and expensive... we have to make it easier for those who come to work, because Im telling you, without the morenos [referring to dark-skinned people, as Haitians are known in the Dominican Republic], the country wont develop.

Meanwhile, at Marias school, several children are playing a new version of tag, in which the immigration officer catches you. She separates them and asks that they play something else.

The immigration authorities arent going to come in here, because if they do, were going to have problems. If they want to take away the kids, theyll have to kill me, she vows heatedly. But the activist doesnt rule out immigration agents in schools being the next horror story in her country.

Translated by Avik Jain Chatlani.

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Social media is going through perhaps its worst period, in terms of its public image  and this is a phrase weve been able to say on any given day since at least 2016.

Until a decade ago, these platforms presented themselves as being spaces for the exchange of ideas, offering users the ability to participate in political and cultural debates. However, theyve consolidated themselves as quasi-monopolies, with a business model that consists of violating our privacy in search of data to sell ads. These platforms have also abandoned content moderation when it comes to online harassment and hate speech, and ended fact-checking.

Among the proposals and alternatives to these platforms, the idea of public social media networks has often been mentioned. Imagine, for example, a Twitter for the European Union, or a Facebook managed by media outlets like the BBC.

In February, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for the development of our own browsers, European public and private social networks and messaging services that use transparent protocols. Former Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero  who governed from 2004 until 2011  and the left-wing Sumar bloc in the Spanish Parliament have also proposed this. And, back in 2021, former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn made a similar suggestion.

At first glance, this may seem like a good idea: a public platform wouldnt require algorithms  which are designed to stimulate addiction and confrontation  nor would it have to collect private information to sell ads.

Such a platform could even facilitate public conversations, as pointed out by James Muldoon, a professor at Essex Business School and author of Platform Socialism: How to Reclaim our Digital Future from Big Tech (2022). In a video call with EL PAIS, he argues that governments must provide their citizens with a space that is as neutral as possible, but moderated  to avoid insults and harassment  in which they can discuss political and social issues.

This could be an alternative that would contribute to platform pluralism and ensure were not dependent on a handful of billionaires. This is especially important at a time when were increasingly aware that technology isnt neutral and that private platforms respond to both economic and political interests.

No one has to participate in these public networks and nobody has to like them, Muldoon notes, but they would be an option that many people could use. Yes, they would be the classic readers of The Guardian but it would still be a valuable initiative at a time when tech companies are becoming politicized and leaning to the right.

He adds that he doesnt even think that this is a left-wing idea. Its very centrist, very liberal. Its John Stuart Mill telling us that we need freedom of expression and association to have a functioning representative democracy.

Still, there are a few caveats, as Muldoon himself acknowledges. For starters, this issue has been highly politicized for at least a decade. If a social media network were to be considered  one that depended on the state, or the European Union  accusations would quickly arise that a prime minister or president is going to read our private messages.

This isnt a far-fetched suspicion. Imagine, for instance, a gag law that would allow our social media accounts to be examined under vague excuses like national security. And theres always the risk that a democratic government could mutate into an authoritarian regime, similar to those in Hungary and Turkey.

As activist and writer Cory Doctorow quips over a video call, There are many reasons why its preferable for social media to be independent of the state, but one of them is [Spanish dictator] Francisco Franco.

Malls and libraries

We dont have to choose only between a Chinese government-style Big Brother or a megacorporation run by a pseudo-James Bond villain. There are other ways to approach public participation on social media.

Journalist and activist Marta G. Franco argues that it makes perfect sense to think about public internet spaces: I often use the analogy that our digital life is taking place primarily in shopping malls  which can be a very good thing  but we also need [digital] spaces that have a different kind of ownership and a different way of being managed, like public spaces.

In addition to shopping malls, its good for a society to have parks, libraries, roads, etc. that operate with different values than those of companies, Franco notes. But she agrees that a state-controlled network is also a danger.

Hence, it makes much more sense for the state to invest in, or collaborate with, decentralized social media networks based on free and interoperable software. That is, the users freedom is respected, while different software systems can communicate with each other and allow for the portability of information and content, similar to email: we can send messages to each other, regardless of whether we use Gmail, Outlook, or a company server.

Doctorow proposes that the state cooperate with the software systems, developers, or servers for existing open-source platforms, such as the U.S. network Bluesky or the German firm Mastodon. To this, Muldoon and Franco mention collaboration with  and funding for projects led by  independent associations and organizations.

We can also mention legislative initiatives  such as antitrust laws, or even stricter regulations than those imposed in Europe  that limit or prevent surveillance capitalism.

It should be noted that the U.S. tech giants are the second-most important lobby group in Brussels (after banks), according to data from Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and LobbyControl, two nonprofit associations. In fact, the company that spends the most money spreading its message among EU representatives is Meta.

Still, Franco adds that  in the case of the EU  legislation isnt going in the wrong direction, even if its being passed at a slow pace. The problem is that it has focused on the regulation of existing platforms, while neglecting to support the development of alternative platforms.

But lets suppose that EU officials  alarmed by the interference and threats of Donald Trump and Elon Musk  go beyond statements to drum up votes and decide, instead, to fund and support the development of independent and decentralized social media projects. Could the result be a series of small social networks that  like Mastodon  are perhaps more complicated to use?

Franco explains that not all social platforms need to be the monsters that were accustomed to, with hundreds of millions of users. They can be smaller, similar to the forums that have been around since the internets heyday, but consolidated as spaces where we can maintain slightly more meaningful relationships.

These projects dont have to aspire to be the great public square where everyone gathers, because, sometimes, we just want to talk to our neighbors; we dont want to insult the president of the United States. Perhaps we need more options, not just a rebranding of the same old one.

Reclaiming our digital independence isnt an easy task, as Doctorow reminds us. Its incredibly important, its incredibly difficult, and its incredibly urgent.

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HIGHLAND  Patty Stovall has been breaking the silence and shattering the stigma that surrounds substance use for years now. Her effort took another meaningful step forward Saturday afternoon.

Sounds of Sarah organized its third rendition of the "We Fight Together" drug poisoning and overdose 3K walk and run in Highland's Wicker Park, drawing scores of people, many of whom have lost family members killed by drugs.

About a dozen other organizations, including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Drug Induced Homicide Inc. and Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization, came out to support Sounds of Sarah. Their goal? To spread awareness and destigmatize the drug epidemic that has impacted so many Northwest Indiana families, Hoosiers and Americans.

Patty Stovall founded Sounds of Sarah in 2022 after her daughter, Sarah Stovall, died of an overdose at the age of 33 the year prior.

"This event isn't just a walk or run," Patty Stovall told the crowd of well over 100 people. "It's a movement for Lake County, a way to raise awareness, to educate, to connect and to take action. At Sounds of Sarah, our mission is to create real change, to expand access to life-saving resources, to support those affected by substance use and to support families who have lost loved ones to drug poisoning and overdose."

In Lake County, 156 people died of a drug overdose in 2024, fewer deaths than the previous year for the third consecutive year.

John Roberts's son, Billy, died of an overdose on Sept. 20, 2009. Roberts said he gathered his wife and three surviving children the following day for an important proposal.

"I said (to them), 'Billy didn't have much time on this planet. If we want to make him and his life relevant at all, I'm suggesting we go out and help other families.'"

Roberts co-founded the HERO foundation, which provides grief support to families impacted by heroin and opioid overdoses and offers drug education and Narcan training to high school students and adults alike.

Area officials and local stakeholders have credited the increased availability of Narcan, the opioid poisoning reversal drug, for gradually bringing the number of Lake County drug overdoses down. But Patty Stovall said events like Saturday's also go a long way in showing that families affected have a community of people who have lived through what can initially be an isolating feeling.

"People need to know they're not alone," said Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, after he spent the afternoon speaking to impacted families and interacting with several nonprofit organizations. "As a member of Congress, I have to make sure that there's laws... to make sure that we protect our border and our ports from fentanyl coming in. I believe that the other side of that is making sure that there's funding for people who are addicted, that there's addictive care dollars available for all the different agencies that are here trying to make a difference in people's lives."

The 3rd-term member of Congress said it was important for him and others to show up Saturday to "help lift the stigma" surrounding opioids.

"This happens to everyone," Mrvan said. "My role is to constantly talk about and inventory these agencies so that people know where to go when they're facing a crisis within their own family."

State Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster, co-sponsored Senate Bill 324, legislation passed into law May 6 that increased penalties for crimes related to fentanyl. Andrade has tried to create stricter laws surrounding the dangerous synthetic drug since 2023, he said.

Under the new law, a person caught with under 1 gram of fentanyl would be charged with a Level 4 felony instead of a Level 5 felony, increasing the defendant's sentence if convicted by an average of two years. Up to 5 grams of fentanyl now equates to a Level 3 felony charge and any amount over 5 grams constitutes Level 2 felony charges.

Previously, a defendant would have needed to possess at least 7 grams of fentanyl to face Level 2 charges, at least 3 grams to face Level 3 and at least 1 gram to be indicted with a Level 4 felony.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to ensure that we're putting strong legislation to go after these criminals, because for far too long, people in our communities are hurting," Andrade said.

He cited Northwest Indiana's geographic positioning to the immediate east of Chicago and along the Borman Expressway and Interstate 65 corridors as a reason for extra concern. On Wednesday, the Lake County Sheriff's Department seized up to 10,000 likely fentanyl pills during a traffic stop near the Lake County and Jasper County border on I-65, and there are numerous other instances of similar drug busts on the Region's interstates.

"A lot of the bad actors use this corridor to move the drugs," Andrade said. "Unfortunately, it has spilled over and affected our communities. So, this particular piece of legislation not only helps strengthen our area, but the whole state."

Kelly Anthony, Northwest Indiana Regional Director for U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., read a letter to the crowd on the Republican Senator's behalf. Young was unable to attend Saturday's event in person.

"Your presence today serves as a powerful reminder that there is hope through your advocacy, education and strength," Anthony said. "I am confident that our state and nation are better equipped to address this crisis."

More than 20 members of the Platipodis family came to walk Saturday. In 2022, 40-year-old Valparaiso native Jason Platipodis died of a drug overdose.

Jason's sister, Jill Platipodis, said this is the second year they've walked in his memory.

"It's comforting to know you're not alone," she said.

Just before kicking off the walk, Patty Stovall addressed the families who live with loss daily.

"I see you, I stand with you and I will carry this work forward for you and all those who are still suffering," she said. "We will fight to save you. We walk, we speak, we show up to save lives, to break the silence, the stigma and to make sure that the names we've lost are never forgotten."

Then, she spoke to her daughter.

"To my Sarah, this is for you," Patty Stovall said. "Your life continues to make a difference."
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Quintessential American.

This term perfectly describes the deeply complex, but refreshingly common, family history of Pope Leo XIV, whose grandfather had a teaching stint in Hammond as a teacher of Romance languages, as well as an illicit affair with a woman whose mother's maiden name forever changed his identity and the intertwining lineage of our current pope.

His roots in Chicago were exciting enough, but knowing there was a small connection to Northwest Indiana made the discovery even closer to home for us, said Sean Meyer, a Schererville native who helped discover this surprising twist in the popes family history.

Meyer is a member of a dedicated team of genealogists from around the world who uncovered this extraordinary chapter that took place in the Chicago metro area, including our Region, more than a century ago.

My family has been in the Region, from Chicago to LaPorte, for generations, and the story we discovered felt like a little piece of our own stories all aligned together, said Ana Beckwith, another genealogist in the group from Northwest Indiana.

Through the genealogy server on Discord, they helped reveal the recent discovery that Pope Leos paternal grandfather, Salvatore Giovanni Riggitano, led a life in the U.S. under a different identity, John Prevost, the same name as one of the popes brothers.

John's story, from immigration as Giovanni Riggitano to rebranding as John Prevost, felt so uniquely American and was something that our team, at every turn and discovery, related to, Beckwith said.

Here is how it came to be.

The popes father, Louis Lanti Marius Prevost, was the son of Italian-born Giovanni Salvatore Riggitano, alias John Lanti Prevost, and his partner, Suzanne Fontaine. Riggitano was born in Milazzo, Messina, Italy, and came to America around 1905. Within a few years, Riggitano established himself as a reputable traveling teacher of Romance languages in our country, including Chicago and Quincy, Illinois.

In 1914, Riggitano married Daisy Hughes in Chicago, a year before he met Louis mother, Suzanne Fontaine, the popes grandmother. Fontaine, whose alias was Suzanne Fabre, came to America from France. Also a teacher of languages, she met Riggitano in Chicago upon emigration.

I dont think any of us were expecting the dramatics of his family history, Meyer said. What began as our innate interest in researching turned into a desire to build and understand the fascinating events that played out in Pope Leo XIVs family tree.

In 1917, Riggitanos wife, Hughes, sought charges against both him and Fontaine for "being mixed up improperly, with both of them later arrested for unbecoming conduct. Imagine the raised eyebrows, private whispers and public gossip at the time.

Newspapers ran with the salacious news, with a Quincy tabloid running the headline, Riggitano in Triangle on March 19, 1917. He made his way to that city from New York, where he arrived from Italy, according to his Declaration of Intention at age 44.

He also had a teaching stint in Northwest Indiana with a Times headline stating, Interesting teacher coming to Hammond. The story stated, Signor Riggitano has been very successful in his Chicago teaching. And he was for decades.

After Fontaine was released from her arrest, she went to Canada then Detroit and finally to Lackawanna, New York, where she gave birth to her first child, Jean Centi Prevost. On his birth certificate, she gave an assumed name for the child's father: John Lanti Prevost. Fontaine used her mother's maiden name, Prevost, for her "husband," a common practice at the time for unmarried women.

My particular interest lay in Suzanne Fontaine's life and piecing together her part of the story, Beckwith said. A single woman, alone in the United States, living in a home for French women, the Jeanne D'Arc Home for Friendless French Girls."

Her journey from New York to Toronto to Detroit to Lackawanna and then to Chicago in just a few short months, while heavily pregnant, showed the mobility and resilience of our ancestors, and the beauty of starting a new life and rebranding to take it into your own hands, she added.

Jean was born at a home for unwed Catholic mothers. This becomes an identity that later in life he fully assumes. Fontaine returned to Chicago by 1920, bearing another child of Riggitanos and utilizing the same aforementioned aliases. This next child is Pope Leos father, Louis Lanti Marius Prevost.

Read more details about the genealogists research and background information about Pope Leo in the online version of this column at NWI.com. (Read the proof documents at www.discordgenealogy.com/research-findings)

This latest twist in Pope Leos lineage comes on the heels of similarly compelling news that his maternal great-grandparents were labeled as free people of color in Louisiana, according to a genealogists research of Census records. It reflects the complex racial history of our country and the rich tapestry of its people.

Finding all of the information we could on Giovanni Riggitano, and seeing how (and) where his life began to evaporate into thin air, John R. Prevost's life began to develop, we knew we were onto something, Beckwith said.

Researching their lives, the hardships they faced and the hardships those around them endured, humanized them and helped with understanding my own ancestors that didn't have as much of a paper trail behind them."

Meyer added, While the lives and histories of some may look different than Pope Leo XIV's, there is a resonance that highlights the varied uniqueness of American genealogy. Pope Leos ancestry isn't necessarily unique, it's quintessentially American.

How genealogists uncovered this fascinating tale

The Genealogy Discord is an international group of more than 5,000 genealogists with a range of expertise, backgrounds and stories. Its server allows space to meet like-minded hobbyists and professionals, share histories and interests, work collaboratively, and enjoy lectures and events.

Thanks to the internet and all the indexed and digitized resources, genealogy is more accessible now than ever before, Meyer said. It's no longer a 100% in-person hobby. It can be done right at home, opening the doors for students, professionals, and others to unearth exciting documentation on their own family tree.

Or the family tree of the new American-born pope.

It was such a privilege to work with our research team on solving the mystery of John R. Prevost's origins, Beckwith said. What began as a fun deep-dive into tackling a brick wall where everyone in the world's research trail ran dry, quickly turned into a more serious situation when we realized just how serious this was becoming.

It was a true collaborative effort, Meyer said.

The team utilized the principles of FAN Club research  family, associates, and neighbors  to dive deeper into the suspected identity of Pope Leos grandfather.

We had to explore every avenue possible, from Suzanne Fontaines roommates to the school Giovanni led. All of these findings, established in a report, have led us to conclude that Giovanni Riggatano and John Prevost are the same man, Meyer said.

When interest in Pope Leos ancestry began to spread, several of the genealogists on the server set out to find answers regarding the Prevost family.

Our search led us down a path we didn't expect, that John Prevost was really Salvatore Giovanni Riggitano, Meyer said.

Beckwith added, Our research encompassed not only Giovanni and Suzanne and Daisy's stories, but all of the people that we have documented surrounding their lives, from Giovanni's siblings also in America, to Suzanne's contacts that provided support to a single unwed mother. What began as a mystery, highlighted and shined as a story of kindness and support from those we bring into our lives when we need them most.

For Meyer, the genealogy uncovered was reminiscent of his own family tree.

The index I used to find Salvatore's declaration of intent  a record that helped establish his birthplace  was from the Cook County Circuit Court archive. Years ago, this same index helped uncover the origin of my own Polish ancestry, he said.

While the majority of my immigrant ancestors stayed in Chicago, some made a similar trek as Signor Riggitano, traveling from the city to Northwest Indiana. My great-great-grandparents, Polish immigrants, moved from Chicago to Indiana Harbor and lived out their final days there in the 1910s and 1920s.

The genealogists research journey began just as every other genealogy mystery they collaborated on, with information that was already known.

We had information on John R. Prevost from his death records, a 1950 census record, and a few baptism records of the children, John C. and Louis, the Pope's father, Beckwith said.

Finding similarities in Pope Leos family tree spoke to the diversity in Chicagoland during this era, Meyer noted.

Tying his ancestry together was an exciting and educational project, but the most thrilling story was sharing a great portion of America's great history and highlighting the increased accessibility of genealogical research, he said.

Finding all of the information we could on Giovanni Riggitano, and seeing how where his life began to evaporate into thin air, John R. Prevost's life began to develop. We knew we were onto something, Beckwith said.

From the death record, they knew a birth date and very little details about his early life.

What I think we do best, as researchers, is branching out from what we know and try to fill in the gaps in unconventional ways; finding any associates tied to a person and digging into their lives for clues, she said.

When one of our researchers found mention of the Riggitano-Prevost school, and another researcher delved into learning more about Riggitano for clues, and discovered that John R. Prevost and Giovanni Riggitano had the same birth date.

It raised a few red flags that something wasn't right.

Perhaps this could explain why there was a gap in information from John's birth to John's later life? Beckwith wondered.

When she and Meyer learned about the discovery that Riggitano had moved to Hammond for a brief time, it felt close to home for them.

In a way, Giovanni and Suzanne remind me of my great-great grandfather, who went from Canada to Chicago and then to Lake County, Indiana, migrating where work could take him, and starting a family anew, Beckwith said.

While I am the first descendant in my line to have grown up in Indiana, knowing I have always had a piece of the Region in my ancestry was special to uncover, Meyer said. For us from the Region, it was an exciting find, connecting Pope Leos family to our part of the United States.
The Democrats problems run deep, nearly everywhere. This is where voters shifted toward President Trump in each of the last three elections. And this is where voters shifted toward Democrats.

How Donald Trump Has Remade Americas Political Landscape

Donald J. Trumps victory in 2024 was not an outlier.

It was the culmination of continuous gains by Republicans in much of the country each time he has run for president, a sea of red that amounts to a flashing warning sign for a Democratic Party out of power and hoping for a comeback.

The steady march to the right at the county level reveals not just the extent of the nations transformation in the Trump era but also the degree to which the United States now resembles two countries charging in opposite directions.

Circle size is proportionate to county population Counties that shifted in one direction in each of the last three presidential elections Mr. Trump has reordered Americas political divide both geographically and demographically. Mr. Trump has reordered Americas political divide both geographically and demographically. Republicans are overwhelmingly making gains in working-class counties. Republicans are overwhelmingly making gains in working-class counties. Democrats are improving almost exclusively in wealthier areas. Democrats are improving almost exclusively in wealthier areas. It is the same story by education: Republicans are running up the score in counties where fewer people have attended college. It is the same story by education: Republicans are running up the score in counties where fewer people have attended college. Democrats are gaining ground in a small sliver of the best-educated enclaves. Democrats are gaining ground in a small sliver of the best-educated enclaves.

All told, Mr. Trump has increased the Republican Partys share of the presidential vote in each election hes been on the ballot in close to half the counties in America  1,433 in all  according to an analysis by The New York Times.

It is a staggering political achievement, especially considering that Mr. Trump was defeated in the second of those three races, in 2020.

By contrast, Democrats have steadily expanded their vote share in those three elections in only 57 of the nations 3,100-plus counties.

These counties, which we are calling triple-trending, offer a unique and invaluable window into how America has realigned  and still is realigning  in the Trump era. They vividly show, in red and blue, the stark changes in the political coalitions of the two parties.

The scale of Mr. Trumps expanding support is striking. While roughly 8.1 million Americans of voting age live in triple-trending Democratic counties, about 42.7 million live in Republican ones.

Even more ominous for the Democrats are the demographic and economic characteristics of these counties: The partys sparse areas of growth are concentrated almost exclusively in Americas wealthiest and most educated pockets.

Yet Mr. Trump has steadily gained steam across a broad swath of the nation, with swelling support not just in white working-class communities but also in counties with sizable Black and Hispanic populations.

Counties that have become steadily more Republican exist in some of the countrys bluest strongholds, including New York City, Philadelphia and Honolulu. Mr. Trumps party is still losing in those places, but by significantly less. At the same time, Mr. Trump has driven Republican margins to dizzying new heights in the nations reddest bastions.

Taken together, the findings represent a blaring alarm for a Democratic Party that long saw itself as championing the working class and that staked its future on the belief that the nation would become steadily more diverse and better educated.

To conduct this analysis, The New York Times reviewed the results in every county from the four most recent presidential elections  2012, to provide a base line, and then the 2016, 2020 and 2024 campaigns, in which Mr. Trump was the Republican nominee  and zoomed in on only those counties where the results grew steadily more Republican or steadily more Democratic.

This distillation reveals the most profound voting and demographic shifts, which can otherwise be obscured by fluctuations in many other counties from one election to the next.

But the sheer scale of Republican gains in the Trump era is significant on its own.

All told, 435 counties voted more Democratic in 2024 than did so in 2012, by an average improved margin of 8.8 percentage points.

And 2,678 counties became more Republican, by an average of 13.3 percentage points. Thats six times as many counties moving toward the G.O.P. than toward the Democratic Party  and by a substantially wider margin.

The erosion of working-class support  among Black, white and Latino voters alike  has unnerved every ideological wing of the Democratic Party.

Ben Tulchin, a pollster who worked on Senator Bernie Sanderss presidential campaigns, said the old political calculations for how Democrats can win elections were now obsolete.

The math doesnt work, he said. For years, the belief was Democrats have had demographic destiny on our side. Now, the inverse is true.

Some Democrats hope that this is only a phenomenon of the Trump era, and that G.O.P. gains will evaporate once the president is no longer on the ballot, as was the case when Democrats fared surprisingly well in the 2022 midterms and in many recent special elections.

But Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist who served as chief of staff to former Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who left the party last year, warned that such optimism was misplaced.

Trump is the symptom, not the disease, he said. The disease is the fact that you have lost touch with a whole swath of voters that used to consistently vote Democratic.

Incomes and education levels explain widening political divides.

The political split by income is among the starkest findings.

Of the 1,433 counties that steadily moved toward Mr. Trump, only three, or just one-fifth of 1 percent, had a median household income above $100,000.

It was the opposite for Democrats: 18 of the 57 counties moving steadily to the left, or nearly a third, had a median household income above $100,000.

Median income, by county Shifted right three times Shifted left three times $140 thousand 130 Only three counties have a median income above $100,000. 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 Shifted left three times Shifted right three times $140 thousand 130 Only three counties have a median income above $100,000. 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 Note: Circle size indicates county population.

The map of the nations less prosperous areas tells the same story in reverse.

The median American household income is around $80,000. Places with median incomes lower than that account for 95 percent of counties voting steadily more Republican, but only 25 percent of counties turning steadily more Democratic.

The results were unsurprising to Representative Jared Golden of Maine, whose district is perhaps the most reliably pro-Trump place that has still elected a Democrat to Congress.

There is a political realignment afoot, Mr. Golden said in an interview. We see working-class voters, regardless of where they come from, what their identity is  other than their working-class status  shifting to the Republican Party.

He blamed a party leadership out of touch with the daily concerns of voters.

A lot of Democrats talked about the opportunity of broadening the tent, he said. But I have not seen that play out in any kind of coherent strategy or actions.

Equally stark is what could be called a diploma divide.

In not one of the counties where Mr. Trump steadily increased his share of the vote did a majority of adults have a college degree. And in not one of the counties voting more and more Democratic was the college-educated share of the adult population smaller than 20 percent.

People with college or advanced degrees, by county Shifted left three times Shifted right three times 65% 60 Not a single college-majority county shifted to the right. 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 Shifted left three times Shifted right three times 65% 60 Not a single college-majority county shifted to the right. 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 Note: Circle size indicates county population.

Put another way, only one of the 1,500 counties with the smallest proportion of college graduates voted steadily more Democratic over the last three elections. Republicans steadily grew their vote share in more than two-thirds of those less-educated counties.

The erosion of the Democratic base is accelerating.

Black voters have been  and still are  the most reliable Democratic voters. But in his three presidential campaigns, Mr. Trump made serious inroads in heavily Black counties, across the Deep South and beyond.

Those incursions predated 2024: More counties with a majority of Black voters shifted toward the Republicans in each of the last three elections (58) than the total number of counties nationwide that trended toward Democrats (57).

Democrats increased their share of the vote in all three elections in only two majority-Black counties in the entire country, Rockdale and Douglas, both outside Atlanta in Georgia, a hotly contested battleground state.

Percentage of Black population, by county Shifted left three times Shifted right three times 80% 70 60 Rockdale County 50 Counties in Georgia 40 30 20 10 Shifted left three times Shifted right three times 80% 70 60 Rockdale County 50 Counties in Georgia 40 30 20 10 Note: Circle size indicates county population.

Measuring electoral performance by race using countywide results is imprecise; voters of any race could play a role in a partisan shift. But all signs point toward the same conclusion, including the fact that Mr. Trumps support continued to grow in each of the six most predominantly Black counties in the country.

In last years election, Republicans gained ground in 193 of the countrys 200 most predominantly Black counties  even as former Vice President Kamala Harris stood to become the first Black female president.

The slippage is even more pronounced and profound in Latino communities.

Percentage of Hispanic population, by county Shifted left three times Shifted right three times 90% Counties in Texas 80 70 60 50 No counties with a Hispanic population of more than 30 percent shifted to the left. 40 30 20 10 Shifted left three times Shifted right 90% Counties in Texas 80 70 60 50 No counties with a Hispanic population of more than 30 percent shifted to the left. 40 30 20 10 Note: Circle size indicates county population.

Of the 67 counties in America with a majority Hispanic population, 66 voted more Republican in 2024 than in 2012.

Even more arresting is that the average swing toward the G.O.P. in those 66 Hispanic-majority counties was 23 percentage points  a political earthquake with which both parties are still coming to terms.

Mr. Trump improved his results in each of his three presidential runs in about two-thirds of majority-Hispanic counties.

Democrats, by contrast, steadily improved their share of the vote in not a single county in America where Latinos account for a third or more of the population.

Democratic strongholds are increasingly islands.

If a broad and increasingly diverse swath of the country has realigned toward the Republican Party, only a few isolated areas have moved sharply in the Democrats direction.

Triple-trending counties that shifted furthest to the left from 2012 to 2024 County 2012 result 2024 result Shift size Henry, Ga. R+3 D+30 D+33 Rockdale, Ga. D+17 D+48 D+31 Forsyth, Ga. R+63 R+33 D+30 Hamilton, Ind. R+34 R+6 D+28 Fayette, Ga. R+31 R+3 D+28 Douglas, Ga. D+4 D+31 D+28 Cobb, Ga. R+12 D+15 D+27 Los Alamos, N.M. D+4 D+30 D+27 Johnson, Kan. R+17 D+8 D+26 Broomfield, Colo. D+6 D+29 D+23

Just nine counties voted more Democratic in each of the presidential elections since 2012 and shifted by a total of more than 25 percentage points.

Six of those nine counties surround Atlanta.

The other three are upscale suburbs of Indianapolis and Kansas City, and the postage-stamp-size county in New Mexico that houses the Los Alamos National Laboratory, an outpost of highly educated and highly paid workers.

On the other hand, 535 counties shifted toward the Republicans in all three presidential elections and by a total of at least 25 percentage points. They were spread across 36 states, from diverse Democratic strongholds like the Bronx in New York City, where the Black and Latino population tops 80 percent, to overwhelmingly white and rural counties.

Triple-trending counties that shifted furthest to the right from 2012 to 2024 County 2012 result 2024 result Shift size Starr, Texas D+73 R+16 R+89 Maverick, Texas D+58 R+18 R+77 Zapata, Texas D+43 R+22 R+66 Elliott, Ky. D+3 R+62 R+64 Duval, Texas D+54 R+10 R+64 Webb, Texas D+54 R+2 R+56 Pike, Ohio R+0 R+54 R+54 Reeves, Texas D+16 R+37 R+53 Zavala, Texas D+68 D+14 R+53 Howard, Iowa D+21 R+32 R+53

Some Democrats have taken comfort from how narrowly Mr. Trump won the popular vote in 2024, or from how closely the battleground states were contested, or from the expectation that the voters who will turn out in the 2026 midterms  who tend to be wealthier and more educated  will lean Democratic.

But many others worry about the future of a party that is hemorrhaging vital support from what were once among its most rock-solid constituencies.

The majority of Americans now believe that the Republican Party best represents the interests of the working class and the poor, the Democratic Party is the party of the wealthy and the elites, lamented Ken Martin, who took over as chairman of the Democratic National Committee this year.

Reversing that view, he said in an interview, was one of his top priorities.

Texas and New York tell the tale.

The story of the countrys political trajectory can be told through a closer look at two of Americas biggest states, one red and one blue: Texas and New York.

In Texas, Mr. Trump made successive gains in 124 of its 254 counties, from rural, nearly all-white places to diverse counties along the southern border where he achieved many of his greatest increases in vote share in the entire country.

Where voters consecutively shifted in one direction in the last three elections Of Texas 126 counties that shifted consecutively in one direction over the last three elections, only two shifted to the left. Ellis County SHIFT IN MARGIN More Republican More Democratic Starr County Ellis County SHIFT IN MARGIN More Democratic More Republican Starr County

The biggest swing in the nation since 2012, moving 89 percentage points in Mr. Trumps favor, occurred in Starr County, which includes Rio Grande City and borders Mexico. It is also the nations most predominantly Latino county, with a 96 percent Hispanic voting-age population.

All told, Mr. Trump steadily improved his vote share over the three campaigns by more than 50 percentage points in seven heavily Hispanic counties in South Texas.

The parts of the state where Democrats most improved in the Trump era are concentrated in wealthy, well-educated suburbs. Four of the five counties where Democrats gained the most ground in 2024 compared with 2012 were outside Dallas, including the only Texas county that steadily voted more Democratic over that time, Ellis County.

This may sound crazy to you: Maybe this had to happen for the Democratic Party to wake up and stop taking people for granted based on the color of their skin, or their country of national origin, or where they live in the state, said Beto ORourke, the former congressman who has run unsuccessfully for president and for the Senate. If we dont do that, we will continue to lose.

Where voters consecutively shifted in one direction in the last three elections in New York Tompkins County The Bronx SHIFT IN MARGIN Queens More Democratic More Republican Brooklyn Tompkins County The Bronx SHIFT IN MARGIN Queens More Democratic More Republican Brooklyn

The results were echoed in New York, where 43 of the states 62 counties voted more Republican by at least 10 percentage points in 2024 compared with in 2012. The overall margin of victory for Democrats statewide was slashed in half.

The lone New York county to trend continuously toward the Democrats was Tompkins County, home to Ithaca, an overwhelmingly progressive university town where nearly 60 percent of residents have a college degree.

Yet counties that have shifted three times toward Mr. Trump include not only far-upstate counties, like St. Lawrence and Lewis, with vanishingly small nonwhite populations, but also some of the nations most diverse areas, like the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.

We could be entering a world where the greatest predictor of voting behavior is no longer race, said Representative Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from the Bronx. Donald Trumps greatest achievement  his greatest electoral achievement  lies not in breaking the blue wall in the industrial Midwest, but in beginning to break the blue walls in states like New York, and in counties like the Bronx.

Yet Mr. Torres is not yet ready to predict his partys doom.

I am convinced that Donald Trump is a singular phenomenon in American history, he said. I am unconvinced that his appeal is necessarily transferable to the Republican Party writ large. That remains to be seen.
A group of forward-thinking students from Roscrea Education Centre in Tipperary have been crowned overall winners of The B!G Idea, Irelands award-winning creative education programme, at The B!G Showcase event in Dublin today.

Their stand-out concept, FutureWork AI, is an innovative app designed to help young people navigate the future of work in an AI-driven world.

Responding to growing concerns about AIs impact on the workforce, Roscrea's Team FutureWork AI developed an app concept that empowers students to understand how AI could affect different careers, discover the skills and courses theyll need to stay competitive, and connect directly with colleges and resources for support.

The B!G Showcase marked the end of this years B!G Idea programme, which equips young people with creative problem-solving skills to address real-world challenges. Now in its fifth year, The B!G Idea continues to bridge education, industry, and community by encouraging innovation, critical thinking, and collaboration across Ireland.

Commenting from todays showcase event, Kim Mackenzie-Doyle, CEO of The B!G Idea, said: This years winning idea doesnt just raise awarenessit inspires action, giving young people the knowledge, tools, and confidence to shape their own future. It demonstrates exactly why The B!G Idea programme is so vital for Irelands future.

Pictured above are Roscrea's Team FutureWork AI facilitator Aisling Kate Ryan with Kim Mackenzie-Doyle, CEO of The B!G Idea. Photo: PJ Wright

"Our young people are facing unprecedented challenges  from AI to climate change  and creative thinking is the skill that will equip them to tackle the unknown.

In addition to the innovation shown by the students from Roscrea Education Centre, we have seen inspiring creativity and passion from all students this year. Its fantastic to see such a wide range of fresh ideas tackling complex issuesfrom sustainability to social justiceand it gives me real hope for the future, she said.

By empowering students from all backgrounds and all geographies to solve real-world problems with creative thinking, collaboration, and confidence, The B!G Idea is supporting a diverse generation ready to lead, innovate, and thrive in Irelands future economy.

Congratulations to Team FutureWork AI, their fantastic facilitator Aisling Kate Ryan, and their brilliant mentors Patrick Molloy  Dolmen Design & Innovation, Paul Geeleher  University College Cork, Neasa Egan  PA Consulting, Pallavi Sadangaya  FINEOS Corporation Ltd, and Alan Travers  Linesight, whose guidance and encouragement helped bring this stand-out idea to life.

READ NEXT: Pictures: Over 100 people support Roscrea's Darkness Into Light event

In addition to the overall winners, this years B!G Idea Awards recognised student teams across a range of themes, including another win for Tipperary with the Tackling Poverty Award (supported by The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) won by Team Hermosa from St. Josephs College, Borrisoleigh, Co. Tipperary.

This team developed the concept of a peer tutoring platform, funded by businesses, to connect students in need with free academic support.
Undocumented immigrants are arrested for violent crimes at rates far lower than legal migrants or native-born citizens, but the number is not zero. Politicizing the murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student killed by a Venezuelan national in the U.S. illegally, Trump was swept back into office in part on the promise to conduct mass deportations. His campaign promised a focus "on immigrants who have committed crimes."



(Image by Unknown Owner) Details DMCA



While far from the 11 million undocumented immigrants he vowed to expel, Trump has had some success ridding the country of "dangerous" criminals. For example, we can all rest easier knowing that "VML," as she is referenced in court papers, was deported swiftly, her menace neutralized.

VML is at a stage in life when defiance is common and authority is regularly questioned. People at this age are known to be disrupters of society, threatening the economy as they turn quiet evenings at local restaurants into chaotic scenes. They are lazy freeloaders with an unemployment rate that approaches 100%.

Under weaker Presidents, VML, born two years ago in Louisiana, would have been considered a citizen and protected from a deportation "with no meaningful process." Trump ended the protections of birthright citizenship with a stroke of his Sharpie, declaring in an Executive Order that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution did not mean to include the children of undocumented immigrants when it stated that "all persons born"in the United States"are citizens of the United States".

Thanks to the swift actions of the INS, VML was removed from the country before the courts could meddle in the process. Because he refused to turn himself in, the girl's father, who was not required to be at the routine check-in appointment at the New Orleans immigration office where his family was taken into custody, was prohibited from coordinating his child's care with his partner. ICE also refused to honor a temporary transfer of legal authority to the girl's Aunt who is a US citizen. A judge tried to speak with the girl's mother but she had already been released to Honduras.

Trump administration's decisive governance shone again when they acted swiftly to rid the country of a sickly four-year-old who was born in the United States illegally. While some would have allowed the process to be slowed down so that the doctors treating this child for Stage 4 cancer could be consulted, Trump understands that the right to life ends at birth and sent this family on their way. Officials did not even wait for his medications to be gathered. That is decisiveness.

Some woke, radical leftist, Marxist politicians are too busy promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to understand how much of a threat immigrants pose to our country as we enter Trump's Golden Age. In Los Angeles, school district Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho had the audacity to deny entry to Federal officials at two LAUSD schools because they would not present signed judicial warrants.

Carvalho has complained that it was "a falsehood" when these agents from Homeland Security told principals at the schools that "caretakers of these students [had] authorized them to go to the school." How is law enforcement supposed to do their job of protecting citizens if they are bound by facts, ethics, and the Constitution?

Before Trump, our "stupid" leaders have refused to enter schools and other "sensitive locations" to capture these elementary school criminals While these rules were put into place to ensure access to "essential services," why do children awaiting rulings on their refugee status need an education, health care or to practice their religion?

The Constitution should only apply to citizens. What's next? Access to legal services as these kids negotiate their way through the court system?

Carvalho wants to know "how a first-, second-, third-, fourth- or sixth-grader would pose any type of risk to the national security of our nation that would require Homeland Security to deploy its agents to elementary schools," as if an eight year old has never been charged with murder. Sure, the cases of this happening are exceedingly rare, but would you want to risk the lives of your family by letting these children run free?

Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, and serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
The agreement in principle still needs to be finalized. AP

The Justice Department has reached a deal with Boeing that will allow the airplane giant to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and killed 346 people, according to court papers filed Friday.

Under the agreement in principle, which still needs to be finalized, Boeing would pay or invest more than $1.1 billion, including an additional $445 million for the crash victims families, the Justice Department said.

In return, the department has agreed to dismiss the fraud charge against Boeing, allowing the manufacturer to avoid a possible criminal conviction that could have jeopardized the companys status as a federal contractor, according to experts.

The settlement was disclosed in a federal court filing Friday, just weeks before a trial was set to start June 23 in Fort Worth, Texas. It calls for the company to strengthen quality and safety measures, Justice Department lawyers said.

Its a stunning turnaround in the long-running legal case. Just last year, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal conspiracy. But that deal was rejected in December by U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor, who has been overseeing the case since 2021.

The new agreement  reached over strong objections from some victims families  still needs to be approved by OConnor.

After the government submitted notice of the agreement, lawyers representing family members of crash victims told OConnor they plan to object to the deal and urge him to deny any attempt by the government to dismiss the criminal case against Boeing.

The families intend to argue that the dismissal unfairly makes concessions to Boeing that other criminal defendants would never receive and fails to hold Boeing accountable for the deaths of 346 persons, they said in a court filing.

Many of the families opposed any deal that allowed Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution. Theyve fought for years to extract harsher penalties from the company. Both crashes were linked to a flawed flight control system on 737 Max jets. The only Boeing official to face trial was a mid-level manager overseeing the pilot manuals and training materials. He was acquitted.

Catherine Berthet, whose 28-year-old daughter Camille Geoffrey was killed in the 2019 crash, said she was absolutely stunned by the proposed agreement.

I will never get rid of my pain and my tears, Berthet said in a statement. By deciding not to prosecute Boeing and not to take it to court, the government is sending a message to the public that big companies are above the law and justice, even when they kill.

The government said a final agreement will be filed by the end of next week, but provided an overview of the terms in its filing. Among them: a $243.6 million fine for Boeing and a order for the planemakers board of directors to meet with family members of people killed in the crashes.

The tentative agreement would allow require Boeing to contribute $444.5 million to a fund for families of victims killed in the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019, according to the filing. Boeing also would spend $455 million to strengthen its compliance, safety and quality programs, the filing shows.

Ultimately, in applying the facts, the law, and Department policy, we are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome with practical benefits, prosecutors said in a statement, noting that theyd met extensively with relatives of the victims.

Not all of the victims families are opposed to the deal, according to prosecutors.

In Fridays filing, the Justice Department said family members and lawyers representing more than 100 crash victims either expressed support for the resolution, efforts to end the case before trial or did not oppose the agreement. One family member told the government he wants the DOJ to find a way to resolve this matter as soon as possible.

Boeing declined to comment on the deal. The companys shares fell less than 1% on Friday.

The case has taken several turns. In 2021, Boeing reached an agreement with the Justice Department to defer prosecution on charges that it deceived regulators about the system. Under that deal, Boeing paid a $243.6 million fine. In early 2024, two days before the charge wouldve been dismissed, a door-sized plug blew out of an airborne 737 Max. While no one was killed, the accident led to investigations and findings of lax controls in Boeings factories.

--Bloomberg News and The Associated Press contributed
This is Oregon Insight, a weekly look at the numbers behind the state's economy. Advance Local Media photo

Oregon has more residents over 65 than it does people under 18, a striking demographic reversal that has enormous implications for the states economy.

We are an aging population, state economist Carl Riccadonna told Oregon legislators at a committee hearing earlier this month, where he presented figures showing the states population has been racking up the years.

As recently as 1985, Oregon had more than twice as many children as seniors. But the states birth rate has fallen sharply  its among the nations lowest  and most baby boomers are now in retirement age.

The result is that the number of older adults has overtaken the number of kids. The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis estimates the state has nearly 900,000 people over 65, compared to 832,000 under 18 in 2024 and an estimated 821,000 now.

State economists expect that the number of seniors will continue rising while the number of children continues falling. By 2035, they forecast Oregon will have 40% more seniors than kids.

Based solely on the demographics of Oregon, demand for public services geared towards children and young adults will likely decline or increase only at a slower pace, whereas demand for elderly care and services geared towards the elderly will increase rapidly, state forecasters wrote in their quarterly economic report.

Fewer kids will eventually mean fewer workers, too, unless Oregon can become a more attractive destination for migrants.

Oregons aging population mirrors similar trends across the U.S. and in other developed countries. But those trends are especially pronounced in Oregon.

Just 1 in 5 Oregonians is under 18, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Thats the smallest share of children in any state west of the Mississippi River. The number of school-aged Oregon children has been falling since 2021.

Many factors contribute to Oregons relatively aged population.

Migrants who arrived in the 1970s and 90s have stayed and grown older. Housing costs are higher than in other parts of the country and so fewer people have families. Oregons education rates are high and college-educated people tend to have fewer kids. Oregon also has a less diverse population than other West Coast states, and white people tend to have smaller families.

Regardless of the reasons, the significance of Oregons aging population is clear.

Demographics are destiny, Riccadonna told lawmakers. And if you have a slower growth rate in your population, that means youre going to have a slower growth rate in your economy, all else being equal.

This is Oregon Insight, The Oregonians weekly look at the numbers behind the states economy. View past installments here.

-- Mike Rogoway covers Oregon technology and the state economy. Reach him at mrogoway@oregonian.com.

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
VANCOUVER, Wash.  A brand-new behavioral health campus in Vancouver is nearly ready to open  with landscaping and signage in place  but will sit empty for the foreseeable future after lawmakers cut funding for the facility in the state budget.

The Brockmann Residential Treatment Facility is currently under construction and was supposed to serve 48 patients across three 16-bed facilities on the campus at 16015 N.E. 50th Ave. in Clark County.

But the $42 million facility, which is scheduled to be completed in June, has no opening date. The Washington Legislature instead opted to fund a warm closure, paying staff to maintain the facility and property but not to open for patients.

Its the latest in a series of brand-new Washington behavioral health facilities that havent been able to fully open in recent months, despite millions invested in their construction. While state lawmakers have spoken about the importance of building smaller behavioral health treatment centers around Washington, bureaucratic hurdles and funding shortages frequently have forced them to delay or indefinitely halt admissions.

The cuts that led the state to halt admissions at the Brockmann facility stemmed from the states $16 billion budget shortfall, although lawmakers did not announce plans to remove funding for the treatment center until the budget was finalized last month.

Cynthia Shipley, a spokesperson from the Department of Social and Health Services, which would have operated the facility, said the agency did not know in advance about plans to cut the operating budget for the behavioral health campus.

Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, who is heavily involved in behavioral health issues, said the cut shouldnt have any immediate effect, as projections from DSHS show that the state has enough beds for the next year or two.

This was one of many difficult calls our budget writing team had to make, Dhingra said in an email. But delaying the project rather than cutting it will allow it to be completed when we are on stronger financial footing. Meanwhile, the available beds should provide some assurance for patients and the staff who do this important work.

Sen. Adrian Cortes, D-Vancouver, said that he and other lawmakers plan to revisit the issue in a year or two to see if they can fund the centers opening.

Cortes said his constituents were excited to have the facility open, as it addressed a need in the district and beyond.

He said hes not worried that the delays will cause the state to lose momentum with its behavioral health goals.

Mental health and all the components that touch it are such in need, he said. I think restarting (the funding process) would be a priority on any legislators plate, or at least it should be. It is certainly on mine.

But the cuts illustrate the bigger challenges with trying to build out the states behavioral health system, particularly as it tries to shift the role of Washingtons largest psychiatric facility, Western State Hospital, and find placements for patients no longer served there.

In 2018, then-Gov. Jay Inslee announced a plan to revamp the states behavioral health system. Part of the plan included shifting patients committed through the civil court system  those not charged with crimes but found by a court to be ill enough to need long-term hospitalization and treatment  out of Western State Hospital and into smaller community treatment centers around the state.

But as the state has slowly constructed new buildings, and as local governments and other operators also build elements of the system, theyve run into a few consistent challenges  most related to funding and staffing.

The Brockmann facility is set back off a rural Vancouver road, in a field now blooming with spring flowers. A high school and some homes sit nearby.

It was supposed to take civil commitment patients from Western State Hospital, said Shipley.

But when the Legislature passed the budget last month, it included funds for a warm closure of the campus  $595,000 over the next two years to pay a few staff to maintain the facility and property. It also included cuts of more than $74.4 million in state funding for the facility.

Shipley said that means DSHS will be unable to hire staff or accept patients into the facility for the foreseeable future, until operational funding is provided.

Community leaders and lawmakers havent hidden their frustration in recent months about new behavioral health facilities sitting empty or largely empty.

Crisis centers around the state, meant to be walk-in facilities for people in need of immediate behavioral health care, are among those that have faced obstacles. Some centers, like one in Lynnwood, have not been able to open because local officials cant find an operator that can make its financial model work.

I have a finished, beautiful, done, painted, furnished behavioral health facility for crisis services in my district, and a behavioral health crisis raging outside, and its empty, state Rep. Lauren Davis, D-Shoreline, said in February about the Lynnwood center.

One of the biggest new projects in the state also faced obstacles. In January, UW Medicine announced it had temporarily halted admissions to its Center for Behavioral Health and Learning.

Patients being considered for civil commitment can initially be detained for up to five days, but they are entitled to a court hearing to determine whether they should be institutionalized beyond that.

The university said it was unable to bring new patients in because it couldnt find adequate legal representation for patients held in court. The King County Department of Public Defense said it was overwhelmed with cases and didnt have enough funding to take on new ones.

Gov. Bob Ferguson stepped in and directed the state Office of Public Defense to begin assisting with cases immediately, and a bill sponsored by Dhingra passed this legislative session to offer more options to county public defenders.

But in April, UW Medicine said it was laying off one-tenth of its staff at the new facility, due to low numbers of patients coming in.

 2025 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A Black Lives Matter mural painted by Thaxton Waters II is seen in an aerial view on Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Kevin Wurm) AP

MINNEAPOLIS  A new narrative is taking root in the story of George Floyd and the former police officer convicted of murdering him.

It is manifesting on online message boards, where Floyd is called a drug addict and career criminal who died of an overdose, not by the knee of Derek Chauvin. Social media posts say Chauvin was a victim of mob justice and a corrupt legal system. Earlier this year, Elon Musk, one of Donald Trumps closest allies, elevated a petition asking the president to pardon Chauvin.

A Minnesota Star Tribune analysis found this counternarrative is shaped by reports from conservative media stars like Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro and others, along with Minnesota-based right-wing site Alpha News. Some of the claims central to the new story were first raised at trial and are now getting renewed attention. Others are blatantly false or lacking critical context.

Sunday is the fifth anniversary of Floyds killing. Below is a fact check on some of the popular assertions propelling the revisionist story of Floyds murder and the aftermath.

Claim: George Floyd had a criminal history

Rating: True

In the days after Floyds killing, Lt. Bob Kroll, then the head of the Minneapolis police union, sent a letter to rank-and-file members lamenting that the media would not report on Floyds violent criminal history. Days later, political commentator Candace Owens published a video referring to Floyd as an example of a violent criminal his entire life  up until the very last moment." Floyds history of criminal convictions has since become a pillar of the right-wing medias version of the Floyd story, including in a documentary produced by Liz Collin of Alpha News, who is married to Kroll.

Though some posts exaggerate the extent, the central claim is true. From 1997 to 2009, Floyd had criminal convictions in his former home of Harris County, Texas, for felony robbery with a deadly weapon, theft and multiple drug-related cases, according to the countys court database. He had no serious criminal convictions since living in Minnesota.

Some claims about Floyds history are not true, including a meme that purports to show a photo of a pregnant woman beaten by Floyd. The woman in this photo is not Aracely Henriquez, as the post claims. It is a woman named Andrea Sicignano, who posted these images of her injuries after being assaulted in Madrid.

Floyd was convicted in a 2007 case of robbing a woman named Aracely Henriquez at gunpoint. However, there is no mention in court documents that she was pregnant, a claim made by Owens that has appeared in several viral posts.

Claim: The official autopsy report shows Floyd was not murdered

Rating: False

In an October 2023 video viewed more than 23 million times, Tucker Carlson said: George Floyd, according to the official autopsy, was not murdered. The popular right-wing host claimed that records show conclusively that Floyd died of a drug overdose, not by Chauvins knee. Carlson and others have since repeated this and similar claims. But this is false. The official medical examiners report lists the manner of Floyds death as a homicide the medical term for a death caused by another person  and a jury convicted Chauvin of murder in April 2021.

The report does list fentanyl, methamphetamine and heart disease as significant conditions. But the same document says the cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.

In court, Hennepin County Medical Examiner Andrew Baker, who conducted the autopsy referred to by Carlson, stated definitively that drugs and other factors did not directly cause the death.

Mr. Floyds use of fentanyl did not cause the subdual or neck restraint; his heart disease did not cause the subdual or the neck restraint, Baker said.

Claim: The media hid videos of police first encountering Floyd

Rating: False

Alpha News The Fall of Minneapolis documentary begins with a provocative claim: Heres what politicians and the media didnt want you to see ... It then shows body-camera footage from officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng first encountering Floyd, who is acting erratically. Carlson also ran a segment suggesting the media suppressed these videos from the public, part of a larger media blackout of information that didnt fit the official narrative.

In fact, both local and national news published these videos three years before The Fall of Minneapolis. Several news outlets, including the Star Tribune, argued in court for the videos to be available for publication after a judge initially limited viewing to computer terminals in the courthouse.

Claim: Politicians weighed in on the case before the jury reached a verdict

Rating: True

In a video titled Derek Chauvins Trial Was Nothing Short of MOB RULE, Ben Shapiro says prominent politicians made public comments on the case before the jury rendered a verdict. This is true. President Joe Biden told reporters he was praying for the right verdict, calling the evidence overwhelming. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters urged protesters to get more confrontational if the jury reached a not-guilty verdict.

Judge Peter Cahill, who presided over the case, expressed intense frustration with the commentary, saying in court he wished public officials would stop talking about this case. He criticized Waters comments as disrespectful to the rule of law. But Cahill rejected a defense motion for a mistrial.

Shapiro claims these comments, along with news of a record settlement to Floyds family while jurors were being seated, contributed to undue influence on the verdict. Jurors have rejected the notion they were intimidated into the decision. In a joint interview with CNN, a panel of jurors described how they carefully weighed the evidence and testimony and reached a verdict free of outside influence, pushing back on misconceptions.

It wasnt an easy task, said one juror. We took this very seriously.

I just want the truth out, said another. People are saying we were pressured to give that verdict that day. Like, there was pressure on us to convict. Which was not true. We went through everything  before we made our decision.

Claim: The media downplayed the race of some officers

Rating: False

Fall of Minneapolis repeatedly draws attention to Kuengs race as a Black man, with Collin asking why this is rarely ever mentioned, while practically everyone focuses on Chauvin being white. Kueng notes in the movie that one of the other officers on scene, Tou Thao, is Asian, meaning half of those charged in the case were not white. I think that was something they just didnt want to admit, says Kueng. Specifically my race  because, again, it goes really counterintuitive to the way the narrative goes. They couldnt backpedal.

This is false. Kuengs race played significantly into his story as it unfolded in the media and courtroom. In June 2020, a month after Floyds killing, the New York Times published an article titled The Black Officer Who Detained George Floyd Had Pledged to Fix the Police which focused on Kuengs ethnicity and background and how he fit into the larger conversation about law enforcement and race in America. The story featured interviews from Kuengs family, including two siblings who had called for their brother to be arrested. Opinion columnists used Kueng as an example of how hiring minority officers isnt a silver bullet for police reform. News articles regularly specified Keungs race and included his mugshot or other images of him.

At his federal trial, Kueng spoke about growing up with a Black father and white mother. All my siblings are all minorities, he told jurors. Were all African American.

--By Andy Mannix and Liz Sawyer, The Minnesota Star Tribune

2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A woman walks along the beach at Cape Disappointment State Park in 2024. Located just south of Long Beach, Wash., the park is known for its dramatic coastline and the nearby jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River, where powerful currents and shifting sands create hazardous surf conditions. Photo courtesy of Bill Graves

A 15-year-old boy went missing off the southern Washington coast on Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release.

The boy was swimming near Long Beach, Washington, just north of Cape Disappointment State Park, around 8 p.m. Friday. When he began to struggle, two members of his group tried to reach him unsuccessfully, the Coast Guard said. A Pacific County Rescue Swimmer saved those two people and took them to the hospital for possible hypothermia.

Coast Guard members from Oregon and Washington searched for the boy by boat and by helicopter for more than five hours and over 100 nautical miles, the news release said. They suspended the search around 12:30 Saturday morning.
About 23% of Oregon voters cast a ballot in last weeks election, a drop from the percentage who participated in May elections two and four years ago, state tallies showed Friday.

Statewide turnout hit 27% in May 2023 and 26% during that election in 2021, according to unofficial data posted on the Secretary of States website at the time. However, this years turnout was higher than the May 2017 election where only 20% of Oregon voters cast a ballot, according to the historical data. The state does not officially track turnout for May elections in odd-numbered years when voters cast ballots in local school board and service district races and weigh in on money measures.

Turnout in all three Portland-area counties appeared to trail recent May elections as well, although official turnout numbers are not final because some ballots that were postmarked Tuesday havent yet arrived at election offices and others need signature verification.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, Multnomah County had the regions best turnout at 26%. That surpassed the May 2021 and 2019 elections, when turnout was approximately 25% and 16%, yet failed to reach the more than 30% turnout the county saw in May 2023 and 2017.

Multnomahs next ballot release is planned for Wednesday. However, Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said Friday that his office has counted all the ballots it has received so far and expects the only ballots remaining to be those that arrive early next week or ones with signature issues that need to be resolved.

Clackamas County had about 21% turnout as of 5 p.m. Friday. The countys turnout was eight percentage points below May 2023, although it did surpass the May 2019 election, when less than 19% of the county voted.

The next results from Clackamas will be released Tuesday afternoon. However, the numbers are not expected to significantly change. The countys Friday ballot drop included all ballots it had received so far, County Clerk Catherine McMullen said Friday.

Washington County was at 22% turnout as of Friday. In May 2023, the county posted a 23% turnout and two years prior, 24% of voters participated in the election.

Similar to the other counties, Washingtons only uncounted ballots are those that will be received by mail after Friday or those with signature problems to be resolved, the county clerks office said. The county wont announce updated results again until 4 p.m., Friday, May 30.

Fridays near-final results clarified the results of races in Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah counties that had remained too close to call throughout the week.

Mt. Hood Community Colleges $136 million bond passed, with results showing it ahead by 131 votes Friday afternoon. Partial returns on Election Day showed the bond failing, but as more ballots were tallied, support for the measure grew.

Also on Friday, technology consultant Syed Qasim won an open seat on the Beaverton School Board, beating community volunteer Erin Hatch to represent Position 5, which covers schools in the districts southwestern corner. As of 4 p.m. Friday, Qasim was leading Hatch with 52% of the vote to her 48%. Early returns had placed Hatch in the lead, but that soon flipped, with Qasim gaining votes in successive counts.

Earlier in the week, voters approved a $1.83 billion Portland Public Schools bond and a $421.3 million Tigard-Tualatin school construction bond.

 Eddy Binford-Ross covers education and local politics for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her at ebinford-ross@oregonian.com.

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Chunks of algae mats can be harmful or even fatal to humans and pets if ingested. Courtesy of the U.S. Geologic Survey

For decades, public health messaging around toxic algae blooms in Oregon and Washington have painted a clear picture of what to avoid: warm, stagnant lakes and ponds where planktonic algae colonies can grow and accumulate.

But Clark County health officials are shifting to track a previously-unmonitored form of toxic growths called benthic algae that can grow in faster-moving waterways  and can be just as deadly if ingested by people or pets.
Editorial cartoonists leapt upon the revelation that former President Joe Biden has advanced prostate cancer, followed by publication of a new book revealing the extent of White House efforts to hide his cognitive decline.

Bill Bramhall leads this weeks editorial cartoon gallery with his portrayal of the Democratic Party in see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil mode on top of Bidens head. Dana Summers criticizes CNNs Jake Tapper, co-author with Alex Thompson of the book Original Sin, for failing to report Bidens decline as a journalist covering the president. Phil Hands contrasts Bidens frailty with President Donald Trumps cruelty. Summers wonders who was running the country while Biden was president.

The House of Representatives passed Trumps big, beautiful bill that renews the 2017 tax cuts, enacts work requirements for food assistance and Medicaid and boosts funding for immigration enforcement, among many other things. Cartoonists comment on the boon to the wealthy (Jack Ohman, Mike Luckovich); the increase in the deficit (Michael Ramirez); and Speaker Mike Johnsons fractious Republican majority (Walt Handelsman).

Other topics in this weeks gallery include inconclusive negotiations between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine; Trumps spat with rock superstar Bruce Springsteen; the nations creaky air traffic control system; the death of actor George Wendt, who played the beloved character Norm on the TV sitcom Cheers; and the meaning of Memorial Day.

Cartoons were drawn by Jack Ohman, Nick Anderson, Bill Bramhall, Dana Summers, Drew Sheneman, Scott Stantis, Walt Handelsman, David Horsey, Phil Hands, Joel Pett and Joey Weatherford of Tribune Content Agency; and Mike Luckovich, Steve Breen and Michael Ramirez of Creators Syndicate.
A student walks down a hallway at Harmony Academy, Oregons first recovery high school. The state must follow through with funding for additional sober high schools and other investments to stem the youth addiction crisis, the author writes. Vickie Connor/The Oregonian

Tony Vezina

For The Oregonian/OregonLive

Vezina is executive director of 4D Recovery and a person in long-term sobriety. He also co-founded Oregons first sober high school, Harmony Academy.

Oregons youth addiction crisis isnt new  its just been neglected. Nearly two decades ago, the state released the first of multiple reports warning that youth-focused addiction services were underdeveloped and underfunded. Other studies have since confirmed the severe lack of adolescent treatment options persists.

Today, were still waiting for the state to make meaningful progress. Instead, Oregon ranks near the bottom nationally in youth addiction care  48th to be exact, according to Mental Health America. Roughly 41,000 Oregon youth between the ages of 12 to 17 are believed to need treatment, according to the 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, but only about 8,000 receive it.

Teens and families in Oregon struggling with addiction cannot wait another decade for help. Regardless of the many needs Oregon must fund, legislators can no longer ignore the gaping holes in our youth care system. Weve lost hundreds of young people in the past five years amid a raging drug crisis that Oregon was poorly equipped to handle. Legislators should commit now to advancing the states strategy for youth substance use disorder and mental health services by funding sober high schools, preventing kids from using substances, and funding addiction treatment services.

I started using drugs and alcohol at a young age. It wasnt until I was 27and had spent years in and out of jail and homelessnessthat I got sober, with the help of treatment and recovery support. Since then, Ive dedicated my life to helping others do the same through my work as executive director of 4D Recovery.

Through 4D Recovery, Ive worked with countless parents who are desperate for help. Many send their children out of state for treatment because there are no local options. When those kids come home, theres no structured support  no family treatment services, no peer services or specialized schools. These families spend everything to get their child help, only to be failed again by a system that offers nothing to sustain recovery.

Meanwhile, the drugs are growing deadlier. Fentanyl has turned experimentation into overdose. In 2023, Oregonians between 15 and 24 years old died of drugs more than any other cause  firearms, suicide, or car crashes. The risk for teens is higher than ever, and the resources are still inadequate.

We know what works. Sober high schools offer young people in recovery the chance to learn and heal in a safe, supportive environment. A group of advocates, including myself, opened the first one in 2019  Harmony Academy - which has shown success by helping nearly 500 teenagers on their road to recovery. Our group later helped pass legislation to open eight more by 2029, including two that opened in the Portland and Salem school districts. But funding for the next three was left out of this legislative budget, leaving other hopeful communities around the state devastated.

Legislative leaders should step up now and show their commitment to the concept by supporting House Bill 2502, which ensures the funding for these three schools  $8 million  is put back into the budget.

We also need to focus on primary prevention. That means investing in early education, family supports and school-based interventions that teach students essential skills before crisis hits. Prevention is cost-effective, evidence-based, and the most compassionate way to keep kids from ever needing treatment.

Lastly, Koteks proposed investments in behavioral health are another crucial step. Her budget would fund more treatment options, workforce development, and support for youth programs. These arent extrastheyre essentials.

I know what its like to be a young person struggling with addiction and to feel like no one is coming to help. I also know whats possible when help finally arrives: families find hope, meaning, and discover the silver lining on the other side of addiction.

Lets stop the stagnation and, as we say in recovery, get into the solution. This legislative session is Oregons chance to move from awareness to action and finally build a system that protects and supports its most vulnerable youth.

Sign up for our free Oregon Opinion newsletter. Email:


Legislators should refocus ODOT on prioritizing safe and reliable roads without asking for more money from Oregonians, the authors write. Dave Killen/The Oregonian

Christine Drazan and Daniel Bonham

For The Oregonian/OregonLive

Drazan, who represents District 51-Canby, is the House Republican leader. Bonham, who represents District 26-The Dalles, is the Senate Republican leader.

Founded in 1913, the Oregon Department of Transportation was created as the Oregon Highway Commission, designed to help connect Oregonians across our state with an improved road system. While the rain has long blessed our landscape, times were different, and Oregonians were increasingly transitioning from the wagon to the automobile.

The departments mission was clear  it was time to Get Oregon out of the mud!

This commitment to connecting Oregonians ushered in a century of road expansion that has empowered families to expand their horizons from Coos Bay to Joseph, Ashland to Portland, and everywhere in between. Oregons transportation infrastructure emerged as a cornerstone of a functioning government that meets the needs of her people.

Oregons mud looks different today.

Families across Oregon are tightening their belts as they experience the crushing weight of high taxes, rising grocery store prices, unaffordable housing costs and the sixth highest transportation costs in the nation.

At the same time, the roads we built over the last century are in desperate need of repair and Oregonians are wondering why having among the highest taxes in the nation isnt enough to plow the snow in Eastern Oregon, fix the potholes that dot the roads connecting the Portland suburbs to the Oregon Coast, or ensure that bridges dont collapse in Corvallis.

ODOT  the agency tasked with addressing these basic needs  has lost the trust of the people they serve. Not only did the agency recently admit a billion-dollar budget blunder but its record is riddled with projects that have blown past their budget or remain undelivered years after they were promised.

Its time for legislators to give the same clear direction to ODOT as lawmakers did more than a century ago: Get Oregon out of the mud.

We must provide safe and reliable roads  without asking Oregonians to pay more.

Unfortunately, Democrats dont see it that way. They are proposing billions in supercharged taxes and cost of living increases to expand non-essential programs that divert ODOT from its core mission of road maintenance.

With a 50% increase to the gas tax, a new tire tax, higher registration and title fees, a new road usage charge, and costly cap-and-trade style regulations for drivers, Democrats have taken their eyes off the road, asking Oregonians to pay more for less.

Their plan doubles down on transportation services Oregonians dont use, funding empty buses and poorly traveled bike lanes while cars are jammed in traffic.

This misguided approach puts ODOT further off course and makes it more costly  in time and money  for families to drop their kids off at school, drive to work and pick up groceries.

Oregon House and Senate Republicans see a better way to move Oregon forward.

With a state budget that has doubled over the last decade alone, we reject the premise that politicians must make life more expensive for Oregonians if we want to fix potholes, plow the snow and keep our streets safe.

Rather, we believe that the road ahead must be paved with principles of accountability, efficiency, clarity and most of all, respect for Oregonians hard earned tax dollars.

ODOT must tighten its belt and make drivable, safe roads its top priority.

Rooted in facts and focused on results, our transportation stabilization plan puts ODOT back on track:

No new taxes. Not one cent more from your pocket.

Fix the budget and keep maintenance jobs that are key to road safety.

Fix the culture. ODOT must return to its core mission and constitutional purpose: roads, bridges and public safety.

Prioritize spending. Make $686 million in targeted cost savings from non-core programs like the Climate Office, Innovative Mobility Office and Social Equity Division.

Protect federal transportation funding. Preserve programs that are eligible for federal matching dollars and comply with federal guidelines.

This isnt a wish list. Its a vision that serves as a bridge  an interim plan  that seeks to refocus the work of a critical agency and rebuild Oregonians trust in ODOT.

As representatives of the people, we have a duty to put Oregonians first. To prioritize spending based on performance and function  not politics. To ensure every dollar spent delivers safe roads and measurable results.

Its time to lead Oregon together and fix the roads that connect us all. Its time to lead Oregon out of the mud.

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Regarding the May 19 story, Chaotic administration of Portland anti-displacement policy leaves affordable apartments vacant: It is ludicrous for North/Northeast Oversight Committee Chair Steven Holt to say there is no crisis associated with the unfilled vacancies at affordable housing developments. Prospective renters are unable to secure housing, and affordable housing property owners are experiencing financial problems. Every night someone spends without housing they could afford but are blocked from accessing constitutes a crisis. Asking landlords to face financial difficulties due to the faulty administration of a well-intentioned program is likewise a crisis. Both should be addressed with full understanding of what renters and landlords are facing.

J. Daniel Steffey, Portland

Steffey is a longtime affordable housing developer in the Portland area.

To read more letters to the editor, go to oregonlive.com/opinion.
At a 2013 reception following Sunday service at St. Mary's Cathedral, Juliann Jensen talks with Archbishop John G. Vlazny in this Oregonian file photo. Randy L. Rasmussen

John G. Vlazny, who served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland between 1997 and 2013, died Friday at his Beaverton residence, the church announced Sunday. He was 88.

Vlazny was born on February 22, 1937 in Chicago, where he grew up and attended a seminary preparatory school for aspiring priests. He attended the Pontifical North American College and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome before returning to Chicago, where he was ordained in 1961.

Over the next 52 years, Vlazny served in church administrative and leadership roles in multiple states, including a 10-year stint as bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota.

Pope John Paul II appointed Vlazny as the 10th archbishop of Portland in October 1997. He was consecrated and entered the role later that year. Over the years, church members commended Vlazny for his approachable, kind and humble demeanor.

Colleen Jeffery, a Sherwood resident and longtime congregant who attended multiple retreats hosted by Vlazny, described him as a personable and polite leader and said his homilies were often deeply personal and inspiring.

He believed in our church, and he really stood up for it, Jeffery said.

During Vlaznys tenure, the Portland archdiocese was the target of dozens of lawsuits from individuals who said they had been sexually abused by a former priest of the church. In 2004, the archdiocese became the first in America to file bankruptcy in response to sex abuse cases.

In 2012, Vlazny received scrutiny for helping cover the legal expenses of a Woodburn priest who had been accused of sexual abuse and abuse of a child. Vlazny defended the loan, saying he was deeply saddened and troubled by the accusations, but that he felt obligated to help the priest cover the legal costs.

Vlazny also asked Catholic ministers to cancel their subscriptions to The Oregonian after the newspapers editorial board criticized the churchs response to abuse cases.

Vlazny retired from his position in 2013 and was replaced by current Archbishop Alexander Sample. Following a farewell Mass for Vlazny, parishioners praised his engagement with them and his warm spirit.

It was his homilies that got me back into the church, one attendee said of Vlazny. He has a wonderful, humble, pastoral style in the way he preaches and in the way he lives.

Funeral arrangements will be announced soon, the archdiocese said.

 Carlos Fuentes covers state politics and government. Reach him at 503-221-5386 or cfuentes@oregonian.com.

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Oliver Widger, 29-year-old Oregon man who sailed from Oregon to Hawai, arrives at the Waikiki Yacht Club, on Saturday, May 24, 2025 in Waikiki, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Michelle Bir) AP

HONOLULU  An Oregon man who quit his job at a tire company and liquidated his retirement savings to set sail for Hawaii with his cat, Phoenix, reached his destination Saturday, welcomed by cheering fans at the end of a weekslong journey that he documented for his mass of followers on social media.

Oliver Widger, who also was greeted by Hawaii Gov. Josh Green at the Waikiki Yacht Club on Oahu, acknowledged he was nervous facing the crowd, which included reporters. Widger said he was feeling really weird  not seasick, but, I just feel like I have to, like, hold on to things to not fall over.

In this photo provided by Oliver Widger via his Instagram account on Thursday, May 15, 2025, his cat, Phoenix, sits inside their sailboat somewhere in the Pacific Ocean as both make their way from Oregon to Hawaii. (Oliver Widger via AP) AP

He became an online sensation with his story, which followed a diagnosis four years ago with a syndrome that carried a risk of paralysis and made him realize he disliked his managerial job. He quit his job with no money, no plan and $10,000 of debt  and the goal of buying a sailboat and sailing around the world.

He taught himself to sail mostly via YouTube and moved from Portland to the Oregon coast. He spent months refitting the $50,000 boat he bought.

He set sail for Hawaii with Phoenix in late April, documenting their experiences for his more than 1 million followers on TikTok and 1.7 million followers on Instagram. He said he thinks his story, which made national news, resonated with people.

I think a lot of people are, you know, youre grinding at your job all day long and it doesnt really matter how much money you make at this point, everybodys just trying to do enough to get by and that just wears you out, he said. Its just the worlds in a weird place, and I think people have seen that its possible to break out.

Green presented Widger with a proclamation. Fans swarmed Widger after the news conference, many holding cameras and seeking selfies.

The scariest point of the trip came when a rudder failed, Widger said. Highlights included seeing dolphins and whales and periods of calm Pacific waters. Being in the middle of the ocean when it was completely glass in every direction was an absurd feeling, he said.

Widger, 29, said he never truly felt alone, since he was communicating with friends by means including video conference. But he also lamented not experiencing the open waters in a way that other sailors  who didnt have access to tools like Starlink internet satellites  have in years before.

He said he may travel next to French Polynesia. But he said he had been focused on getting to Hawaii and not on what hed do after that. He said he also needs to make repairs to his boat.
A sign with the company's logo stands outside a Rite Aid store in Salem, N.H., on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) AP

A Rite Aid store in Dauphin County is on the companys latest list of locations that are closing.

The Rite Aid store at 360 E. Main St. in Middletown is closing, the chain said in a bankruptcy filing on Friday. More than 150 stores are on the latest list of closings.

The 151 stores are in addition to the 210 stores Rite Aid previously announced it would close.

Earlier this month, Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy for a second time to pursue a strategic and value-maximizing sale process for substantially all of its assets.

Most of Rite Aids more than 1,200 stores are expected to close, including hundreds of locations in the Keystone State.

Philadelphia-based Rite Aid, which was located in Cumberland County for decades, has a large presence in Pennsylvania with well over 300 stores.

The company is also laying off around 1,100 corporate employees who work at or report to offices in York County and Philadelphia.

Rite Aid announced that it had entered into agreements for its pharmacy assets of more than 1,000 stores across the country with CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Albertsons, Kroger, and Giant Eagle.

CVS Pharmacy said that it has agreed to acquire the prescription files of 625 Rite Aid pharmacies across 15 states in areas that CVS serves, as well as acquire and operate 64 Rite Aid stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Those agreements were approved in U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week, according to Reuters.

Other Rite Aid stores in Dauphin County that have closed in recent years include locations in Halifax Township, Paxtang, and Steelton, as well as two facilities in Harrisburg on Market Street and Derry Street.
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels and friends started the Memorial Day weekend Saturday in Harrisburg with a show that left fans in awe.

It was the Blue Angels return to the area for the first time in 30 years as a part of their 2025 Air Dot tour. They set up at the Harrisburg International Airport earlier this week and began practicing  there were several social media posts with folks openly wondering what those low-flying jets were all about  and meeting with the community.

Saturdays show was sold out, and it was the first time many audience members had seen them perform.

Many audience members were excited, as many werent sure what the Blue Angels or the other acts included in the lineup would do.

The group is all about precision and showing off the talent and skills of the U.S. Navy, but precision and skill were taken to a whole new level throughout Saturdays show.

It all began with the singing of the national anthem. Then the first high-flying act featured the flying style of Mike Goulian, around 12:30 p.m., followed with him showing off a daredevil style. Goulain wowed the audience with plane tricks that stopped the engine mid-air, only to continue spinning and flying his plane upside down.

Goulian performed trick after trick, stunt after stunt, causing many oohs and aahhs from audience members. It was an electric performance that pumped up many audience members for the next act.

Taking a break from the high-flying, another notable moment during the show was the introduction of the Blue Angels Chairman of the Air Dot Show Tour, Lower Dauphin High School graduate, Bryan Lilley.

Lilley said he is excited to return to central Pennsylvania and bring the Blue Angels to yet another cool place to fly.

Its amazing to be here with you all, Lilley said. Im from here, this is my home. I got to go back to my old high school with the Blue Angels, and it meant so much to me.

We only fly in cool places, and Harrisburg/Hershey, with all the amusement parks and everything, is a pretty cool place to fly, he said. Have an awesome day, and we cant wait to fly for you!

In addition to Lilleys love for the Keystone State, he also participated in the days events as his Cyber truck, affectionately named CyberBeast, raced against a P-51 Mustang plane.

Lilley has a special connection with the makers of Cyber Trucks, Tesla, so his car can go much faster than the average Tesla-made car, and it was said during the show that he often boasts about outperforming planes.

CyberBeast lost the race though, but the audience still clapped and laughed at the show. One audience member said there was no way the CyberTruck was going to win, and laughed following the statement.

Swinging back into action, Commander and Major Pilot of the F-16 Viper team, Taylor Fema Hester, a Berks County native, took to the sky showing off the insane power and force of that plane.

Hester told PennLive earlier in the week that, unlike the Blue Angels, his entire performance is geared towards showing off the true aerial power of this high-flying combat plane.

Its a combat capabilities demonstration, Hester said. Unlike the Blue Angels ... my goal is to show what the airplane can do against an adversary in the air and on the ground. So that combat capabilities demo is about 12 minutes of the most aggressive fighter demonstration that you can see.

That is precisely what Hester did, the most impressive and notable part of his performance being when the planes altitude dropped and he flew 700 mph across the runway.

Hester flew faster than most folks eyes could keep up with, the sound only piercing your ears as the F-16 passed, allowing a glimpse of its speed and power.

Around 3 p.m., the Blue Angels hit the runway with a much less showy but awe-inspiring performance. The first 15 minutes were all about precision and accuracy, with planes #1-4 flying in tight formations, showing off the groups Diamond formation, while planes #5 and #6 showed off the unique capabilities of flying these FA-18 Super Hornets.

At some moments during the Blue Angels performance, the planes looked like they were one, moving at the same speed and flying so close together you couldnt tell there were two planes. They flew perfectly in line with each other, while inverted or upside down.

The last 15 minutes of the show featured the Blue Angel Delta, a formation and portion of the show that combines all six planes to perform together, creating formations that created quite a spectacle. At one moment in the show, all six came from the center of the runway, creating a visual fireworks effect, with one plane flying directly over the crowd as they scattered in different directions.

One audience member turned around in awe to another, stating, this cant be real, before continuing to watch and cheer as the show continued.

Just shortly after most of the Blue Angels had landed, in true Pennsylvania fashion, the weather decided it had had enough of the partly cloudy skies and rained, but some audience members stayed a little while longer to cheer and praise the Blue Angels for their performance.

According to their site, the Blue Angels will be back on May 25 for another sold out show.
By Barbara Ortutay and Claire Rush, The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore.  One program distributes laptops in rural Iowa. Another helped people get back online after Hurricane Helene washed away computers and phones in western North Carolina. Programs in Oregon and rural Alabama teach older people, including some who have never touched a computer, how to navigate in an increasingly digital world.

It all came crashing down this month when President Donald Trump  on his own digital platform, Truth Social  announced his intention to end the Digital Equity Act, a federal grant program meant to help bridge the digital divide. He branded it as RACIST and ILLEGAL and said it amounts to woke handouts based on race. He said it was an ILLEGAL $2.5 BILLION DOLLAR giveaway, though the program was actually funded with $2.75 billion.

The name seemed innocuous enough when the program was approved by Congress in 2021 as part of a $65 billion investment meant to bring internet access to every home and business in the United States. The broadband program itself was a key component of the $1 trillion infrastructure law pushed through by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden.

The Digital Equity Act was intended to fill gaps and cover unmet needs that surfaced during the massive broadband rollout. It gave states and tribes flexibility to deliver high-speed internet access to families that could not afford it, computers to kids who did not have them, telehealth access to older adults in rural areas, and training and job skills to veterans.

Whether Trump has the legal authority to end the program remains unknown. But for now the Republican administration can simply stop spending the money.

I just felt my heart break for what we were finally, finally in this country, going to address, the digital divide, said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a nonprofit that was awarded  but has not received  a $25.7 million grant to work with groups across the country to help provide access to technology. The digital divide is not just physical access to the internet, it is being able to use that to do what you need to do.

The word equity

While the name of the program likely got it targeted  the Trump administration has been aggressively scrubbing the government of programs that promote diversity, equity or inclusion  the Digital Equity Act was supposed to be broader in scope.

Though Trump called it racist, the words race or racial appear just twice in the laws text: once, alongside color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability, in a passage stating that no groups should be excluded from funding, and later, in a list of covered populations, along with older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, English learners, people with low literacy levels and rural Americans.

Digital Equity passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the acts chief proponent, in a statement. And thats because my Republican colleagues have heard the same stories as I have  like kids in rural communities forced to drive to McDonalds parking lots for Wi-Fi to do their homework.

It is insane  absolutely nuts  that Trump is blocking resources to help make sure kids in rural school districts can get hot spots or laptops, all because he doesnt like the word equity!

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which administers the program, declined to comment. Its not entirely clear how much of the $2.75 billion has been awarded, though last March the NTIA announced the allocation of $811 million to states, territories and tribes.

More confident

On a recent morning in Portland, Oregon, Brandon Dorn was among those taking a keyboard basics class offered by Free Geek, a nonprofit that provides free courses to help people learn to use computers. The class was offered at a low-income housing building to make it accessible for residents.

Dorn and the others were given laptops and shown the different functions of keys: control, shift and caps lock, how to copy and paste. They played a typing game that taught finger and key placement on a color-coded keyboard.

Dorn, 63, said the classes helped because in this day and age, everything has to go through the computer. He said it helped him feel more confident and less dependent on his children or grandchildren to do things such as making appointments online.

Folks my age, we didnt get this luxury because we were too busy working, raising the family, he said. So this is a great way to help us help ourselves.

Juan Muro, Free Geeks executive director, said participants get the tools and skills they need to access things like online banking, job applications, online education programs and telehealth. He said Trumps move to end funding has put nonprofits such as Free Geek in a precarious position, forcing them to make up the difference through their own fundraising and beg for money to just provide individuals with essential stuff.

Rugaya Ismail, center, is reflected in a computer screen during a keyboard basics class offered by Free Geek on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) AP

Sara Nichols works for the Land of Sky Regional Council, a multicounty planning and development organization in western North Carolina. On the Friday before Trumps inauguration in January, the organization received notice that it was approved for a grant. But like other groups The Associated Press contacted, it has not seen any money.

Land of Sky had spent a lot of resources helping people recover from last years storms. The award notice, Nichols said, came as incredible news.

But between this and the state losing, getting their letters terminated, we feel just like stuck. What are we going to do? How are we going to move forward? How are we going to let our communities continue to fall behind?

Filling unmet needs

More than one-fifth of Americans do not have broadband internet access at home, according to the Pew Research Center.In rural communities, the number jumps to 27 percent.

Beyond giving people access to technology and fast internet, many programs funded by the Digital Equity Act sought to provide digital navigators  human helpers to guide people new to the online world.

In the United States we do not have a consistent source of funding to help individuals get online, understand how to be safe online and how to use that technology to accomplish all the things that are required now as part of life that are online, said Siefer of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance.

This includes everything from providing families with internet hot spots so they can get online at home to helping seniors avoid online scams.

Free Geek employee Ashley Martinez points to the screen while helping John Castro during a keyboard basics class offered by Free Geek on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) AP

Health, workforce, education, jobs, everything, right? Siefer said. This law was going to be the start for the U.S. to figure out this issue. Its a new issue in the big scheme of things, because now technology is no longer a nice-to-have. You have to have the internet and you have to know how to use the technology just to survive, let alone to thrive today.

Siefer said the word equity in the name probably prompted Trump to target the program for elimination.

But it means that he didnt actually look at what this program does, she said. Because who doesnt want grandma to be safe online? Who doesnt want a veteran to be able to talk to their doctor rather than get in a car and drive two hours? Who doesnt want students to be able to do their homework?

Ortutay reported from San Francisco.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters try to put out a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP) AP

By Samya Kullab and Oleksii Yeroshenko, The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine  Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war.

Just hours earlier, Ukrainian capital, Kyiv and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russias Defense Ministry said each side brought home 303 more soldiers, after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday  the biggest swap of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that 303 Ukrainian defenders are home. He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.

In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month  the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since  Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each.

The largest aerial attack of the war

The scale of onslaught was stunning  Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraines Air Force.

In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes.

For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century,

Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia  a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialized in ways to deter Russia.

These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities, Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sundays targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help, Zelenskyy said. Determination matters now  the determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace.

The prisoner swap was the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month that have so far failed to produce a ceasefire and a rare moment of cooperation between the warring sides.

Russias Defense Ministry said emanwhile that its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Another sleepless night

Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service.

A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault lasted all night.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a local resident cries standing amid the rubble of her house ruined after Russia's air attack in Khmelnytskyi region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP) AP

Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.

In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the buildings walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.

The scale of Russias use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion.

A village engulfed in smoke and rubble

In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears.

The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, its just terrible, says 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraines most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and the grandchildren hadnt joined them for the weekend.

I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us, Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here its the ground floor.

She said, No, mum, Im not coming. And thank God she didnt come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the childrens rooms were, Fedorenko said.

Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. They burned to death, he said. I want to bury them, but Im not allowed yet.

Despite POW swaps, no letup in the war

The POW exchange was the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians.

Russias Defense Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the North group of Russian forces as saying Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in the Kursk region, which Putin visited days ago.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters search for victims following a Russian air attack in Zhitomir region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP) AP

The troops continue to advance forward every day, Yakimkin said, adding that Russians forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraines northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk.

Yeroshenko reported from Markhalivka, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Elise Morton in London contributed to this report.

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Senators Carolyn Comitta, D-Chester County, third from left, and Timothy Kearney, D-Delaware County, take part in the rally. Legislators and supporters rally for the LGBTQ House Fairness Act bill. The bill would protect an individual against discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. April 26, 2023. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com
Pa. Sen. John Fetterman said he has started to attend more hearings and cast more votes.

But, he told the New York Times in an interview published on Saturday that its not something he enjoys doing.

In fact, he told the Times that he felt he had been unfairly shamed into fulfilling senatorial duties, such as his participation with committees and casting procedural votes on the floor, dismissing them as a performative waste of time.

Fetterman said that he was showing up because people in the media have weaponized his absenteeism on Capitol Hill to portray him as mentally unfit.

He added that its more a result of his preference to spend more time at home and less on the mundane tasks of being a senator.

Fetterman, 55, grew up in York County and eventually moved to Braddock, Allegheny County, where he became mayor in 2005. More than a decade later, he ran for Pa. lieutenant governor and served in that role from 2019 to 2023, when his win over Republican Mehmet Oz sent him to Congress.

In the midst of that, he suffered a stroke days before the 2022 Senate primary, and questions about his mental and physical health have dogged him since. New York Magazines story on Fetterman earlier this month only added to the chatter, with his former chief of staff saying that he was concerned Fetterman wont be with us for much longer.

Fettermans response then was that it was a hit piece.

He followed that up with his New York Times interview and how these stories are being used against him.

My doctor warned years ago: After its public that you are getting help for depression, people will weaponize that, Fetterman told the Times. Simple things are turned. Thats exactly what happened.

He added, It shook me that people are willing to weaponize that I got help.

According to the story, Fetterman has missed 18.1% of floor votes since taking office. It noted that since he recovered from his stroke and returned to work, he has missed more votes than all but two senators, both of whom were campaigning for president last year: Republicans JD Vance of Ohio and Tim Scott of South Carolina. Only two senators, Washingtons Patty Murray  absent to care for her ailing husband  and Vermonts Bernie Sanders  out on his Fighting Oligarchy Tour  have missed more votes than Fetterman this year.

But there are good reasons for that record, Fetterman said.

The votes I missed were overwhelmingly procedural; theyre even called bed check votes, he told the Times. I had to make a decision: getting here and sticking my thumb in the door for three seconds for a procedural vote or spend Monday night as a dad-daughter date.
BEIJING - A joint statement signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin earlier this month avoided wording that could irk Japan, with Beijing asking to remove such reference so as not to damage ties with the neighboring country, diplomatic sources said Sunday.

The deletion apparently indicates the Chinese leadership's attempt to stabilize its relations with Japan, a U.S. security ally, amid an intensifying confrontation between Beijing and Washington.

In the document endorsed by the two leaders during their summit talks on May 8 in Moscow, China and Russia vowed to "further deepen mutual trust and cooperation between their militaries, expand the scale and scope of joint exercises, and organize regular joint sea and air patrols."

The sources said the draft joint statement originally referred to the two countries' commitment to "maintaining the security of Northeast Asia," which could suggest increased joint military activities by them in the vicinity of Japan.

Japan has repeatedly expressed concerns over joint military exercises between the two countries, including concerted bomber flights and warship navigation, near its territory.

The draft joint statement on deepening China-Russia strategic partnership also says Moscow welcomes investment by Chinese companies in a special economic zone on a group of Russian-held islands claimed by Japan, and that Beijing will cautiously study the possibility, according to the sources.

This sentence regarding the disputed islands, which are called the Northern Territories by Japan and the Southern Kurils by Russia, was eventually deleted, they said. The territorial row has long been a source of friction between Tokyo and Moscow, preventing them from signing a peace treaty after World War II.

The drafting of the document started in earnest late last year, with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi leading the process, the sources said, adding that the paper was revised several times.

Xi visited Moscow earlier this month for his summit with Putin and to attend a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, which Russia observes as Victory Day. The Chinese leader also watched a military parade in Moscow's Red Square.

Russia and China have been strengthening their ties in recent years, with Beijing opposing Western sanctions on Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that started in February 2022.

Xi and Putin pledged to resolutely respond to Washington's "dual containment" policy toward them, according to the joint statement.

The released document urged Japan to "draw lessons from the atrocious crimes it committed" and be "cautious in its words and deeds" on historical issues, and distance itself from militarism.

Putin told Xi that he would be "glad" to visit China to attend a ceremony in September to mark the 80th anniversary of what Beijing calls its victory in the 1937-1945 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

Masayuki Masuda, head of the China division at the Tokyo-based National Institute for Defense Studies, said the reference to deeper Beijing-Moscow military collaboration in Northeast Asia "could have triggered a backlash from Japan, the United States and South Korea."

China probably did not want the document to paint a picture of "a Japan-U.S.-South Korea alliance versus the China-Russia-North Korea camp," he said.

Russia and North Korea have also been expanding bilateral military cooperation under a partnership treaty signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June last year.

North Korea is believed to have received technical assistance from Russia for its military development in exchange for sending troops to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Related coverage:

Xi to visit Russia from May 7 to attend WWII Victory Day ceremony

New U.S. envoy arrives in Japan, vows cooperation to counter China

Trump says U.S. communicating with North Korea
The 2025 Winamax Sismix Main Event trophy has never been closer for the 24 remaining players who qualified today for tomorrows Day 3. Out of a record-breaking 3,390 entries in this event, 562 players returned at noon with hopes of making it through an emotion-filled Day 2.

It swung a lot, Jean-Come Haye admitted after bagging the chip lead with a massive 20,335,000 stack. I won a few big pots, he explained. I had this hand where I called three barrels with ace-jack, and another one on the feature table that helped me build my stack. But nothing is done yet, I have to stay calm and focused tomorrow, he added.

While Haye topped the overall chip counts in the main poker room, Jerome Crantz claimed the title of the biggest stack among the three tables under the dome, where the feature table is set up. With 15,140,000 chips, he was nearly caught by the end of the day by Maxime Bossard (13,575,000), who eliminated Thomas Bus with queens to close out the day.

Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Jean-Come Haye France 20,335,000 102 2 Jerome Crantz France 15,140,000 76 3 Maxime Bossard France 13,575,000 68 4 Lucas Lago France 12,805,000 64 5 Leo Choquelle France 10,005,000 50 6 Victor Guinand France 9,950,000 50 7 Victor Rials France 8,705,000 44 8 Nolan Madene France 8,575,000 43 9 Dario Alonso Spain 8,245,000 41 10 Mohamed El Wely Mauritania 8,035,000 40

Leo Choquelle (10,005,000) became the fifth player to bag more than 10 million chips after a day that saw him eliminate Aurelien Guiglini (35th  53,500 MAD), who had just previously knocked out Gaelle Baumann (45th  37,000 MAD) at the feature table. That same TV table also proved fatal for the Day 2 chip leader Francois POG Dequidt, who reached over 4,000,000 chips before losing two massive pots in a row and ultimately busting off-camera.

Those cameras, however, will be focused on Marc Bougaret (5,400,000) on Day 3. Known online as Lima.Europa, the French professional is a familiar name to the Winamax community thanks to his online results, and hell enter Day 3 as one of the main contenders. Im not feeling any pressure, he said. But live events are very different from online tournaments. I dont have as much live experience as some of the others. The real challenge for me is staying focused on those differences.

Despite that, Bougaret acknowledged having a solid day, "more preflop than post flop". I doubled up several times with premium hands, he explained. One such example came when he doubled through 2015 Sismix champion Jerome Sgorrano, who was eliminated shortly after.

Marc Bougaret

Among the remaining players, Victor Guinand (9,950,000), Nolan Madene (8,575,000), and Mohamed El Wely (8,035,000) will be strong contenders on Day 3. Theyre joined by Raphael Davidou (4,910,000) and Julien Veyssiere (4,900,000), who won a 8,000,000-chip pot with ace-king against kings and ace-seven. That hand saved me from suffering today, but I still suffered anyway, he joked.

Said Abdel Attey was involved in that same hand but still managed to bag 4,395,000 chips, one million more than Patrick Faraut (3,080,000), who got lucky cracking aces in the final hands of the day to double up.

Last but not least, Lucas Vervey (2,480,000), Victor Marques (1,500,000) and Mathis Livolant (895,000) will return with the shortest stacks, but no shortage of motivation.

Lucas Vervey

Play is set to resume at 12:30 p.m. local time, with blinds at 100,000/200,000 and a 200,000 big blind ante and 40-minute levels. The 24 remaining players have already locked up a minimum cash prize of 65,500 MAD, but all have their sights set on much more.

2025 Sismix Remaing Payouts

*Place Prize (in MAD) Place Prize (in MAD) 1 1,700,000 8 - 9 215,000 2 1,200,000 10 - 11 165,000 3 900,000 12 - 14 128,000 4 655,000 15 - 17 101,000 5 490,000 18 - 23 81,000 6 365,000 24 65,500 7 280,000

Stay tuned as PokerNews continues to provide you updates from Marrakech until a winner is crowned!
Guest editorial: The Biden health saga should remind the media to tell the truth
Moncks Corner, SC (29461)

Today

Cloudy with showers. High 84F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 72F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Tropical storm conditions possible. Overcast with showers. Becoming windy for the afternoon. High 84F. Winds NE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Tropical storm conditions possible. Rain early...then remaining cloudy with thundershowers developing overnight. Low 74F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Business Reporter

Andy Tsubasa Field covers business and development for The Post and Courier's Columbia bureau. He has reported on business for the Albany Times Union, general assignment news in Bridgeport for the Connecticut Post, Kansas state politics for the Associated Press and city hall for the Bismarck Tribune.
Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Tropical storm conditions possible. Heavy rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High around 80F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a half an inch..

Tonight

Tropical storm conditions possible. Showers and thunderstorms. Low 73F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
TOKYO - Japan's government plans to improve working conditions for chefs at its overseas diplomatic missions due to intensifying competition for talent as the nation's cuisine grows in popularity worldwide.

More than 6 million yen ($41,000) will be paid annually to chefs under the new scheme slated to start in January, up from the current average of around 4 to 4.5 million yen, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Many serve as live-in chefs at diplomatic establishments, but they will be allowed to opt for rented accommodation with the cost to be covered by the government, the ministry said.

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said chefs at overseas missions play "significant roles" in the hosting of foreign dignitaries, and recruiting good staff has "increasingly become harder."

"We expect chefs, as 'food diplomats,' to promote Japanese food more proactively," Iwaya told a press conference earlier this month when he announced the new system.

Every overseas outpost should have a chef, and busy locations, including the Japanese embassies in the United States and China, have two. Currently, about a dozen out of some 230 missions have a vacancy, according to the ministry.

The chefs will be contracted for two years and can be extended for one year. Currently, the length of their contracts tends to be open-ended as they are linked to the terms of their higher-ranked colleagues such as ambassadors and consuls general.

The new system is expected to enable the chefs to "draw their career paths more easily," Iwaya said.

Other improvements include adding funds to the chefs' salaries for them to use in bringing their spouses to countries where they work, the ministry said.

Related coverage:

Sakai knives a cut above for foreign visitors to Japan

Japan's "ekiben" boxed meals for train travelers rolled out in Zurich

Japan sake-brewing added to UNESCO intangible heritage
The Summerville Rotary Club honored local police, firefighters, paramedics and dispatchers Wednesday, May 21, at its annual First Responders Awards Luncheon. Pictured, from left, is Dorchester County Sheriff's Office Deputy of the Year Sgt. Londie Richardson, Summerville Police Officer of the Year Cpl. Gregory Santangelo, Rotary Club President Ellen Priest, Dorchester Consolidated Dispatch Dispatcher of the Year Amy Suggs, Summerville Communicator of the Year Sheila McClendon, Dorchester County Paramedic of the Year Michael Warren, Dorchester County Firefighter of the Year Dusty Bussart, Summerville Firefighter of the Year Connor Warren and Rotary Club member Hunter Jackson.
Kingstree, SC (29556)

Today

Overcast with showers at times. High 84F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 71F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Tropical storm conditions possible. Rain diminishing to a few showers this afternoon. High around 85F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Tropical storm conditions possible. Showers this evening then scattered thunderstorms developing overnight. Low 74F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
PR-Inside.com: 2025-05-25 11:00:11

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As Former White House Drug Czar Rahul Gupta revealed DEA intentional sabotage, will DEA Administrator Nominee Terrance Cole Address the Marijuana Crisis? Bureaucratic Inaction and Medical Delays Demand Accountability.WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / May 25, 2025 / When former White House Drug Czar Rahul Gupta revealed that theDrug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had intentionally delayed marijuana rescheduling from within its own ranks , it sent shockwaves through the cannabis policy world. For MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, thefederally compliant pharmaceutical companydeveloping cannabinoid-based treatments for Huntington's disease and Multiple Sclerosis, this revelation merely confirms what they have endured for years:bureaucratic sabotage from inside the DEA.The similarities between MMJ's stalled license application and the national rescheduling impasse are too glaring to ignore. Both involve DEA officialssubverting legal processes, ignoring scientific consensus, and acting contrary to Department of Justice (DOJ) directives. And in both cases, the ultimate cost is borne by suffering patients and U.S. scientific progress.MMJ's Seven-Year Delay: Compliance Met with ContemptMMJ BioPharma Cultivation has followed every federal rule:Two Investigational New Drug (IND) applications accepted by the FDA.Orphan Drug Designation granted for its proprietary cannabinoid capsule.DEA Schedule I Analytical Laboratory registration issued.Yet the DEA has refused to issue a Schedule I Bulk Manufacturing License necessary to grow cannabis for clinical trials. The agency's inaction has persisted for over seven years, despite multiple inspections and full compliance.The delay isn't based on science. It isn't based on law. It's based on unaccountable bureaucrats like DEA Deputy Assistant Administrator Thomas Prevoznik and marijuana policy administrator Matthew Strait, who wield unchecked power behind closed doors.Echoes of the Rescheduling CrisisGupta's recent statement to The New York Times revealed that the DEA's internal resistance to rescheduling cannabis had torpedoed the Biden administration's efforts. Despite HHS and FDA recommendations, and Attorney General Merrick Garland's approval, DEA leadership stalled the process and raised suspect questions about the medical value of cannabis-a move critics call " rigged." Sound familiar?That's precisely what MMJ BioPharma Cultivation has alleged in court: that DEA officials have subverted the Controlled Substances Act and DOJ policies, intentionally obstructing the lawful drug development process.Constitutional Violations, Ignored DirectivesThe Supreme Court's Axon ruling declared the DEA's Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) system unconstitutional. In line with this, DOJ formally informed courts it would no longer defend those ALJ tribunals. Yet MMJ's case was just sent back into that exact invalid hearing structure, scheduled for June 11, 2025.This isn't mere delay. It's institutional defiance of the rule of law.The Real Victims: Patients and ScienceWhile DEA officials delay and deflect, patients with progressive neurological disorders continue to suffer. MMJ's therapies could offer relief, but the agency that should be enabling scientific advancement has instead become its greatest obstacle.Meanwhile, as DEA devotes resources to sabotaging federally compliant companies, it admits in its own 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment that cartel-backed operations are thriving in legalized states, exploiting weak oversight."The irony is glaring," said MMJ CEO Duane Boise. "The DEA blocks lawful drug development while cartels profit. The agency is both gatekeeper and roadblock-and now, a constitutional liability." Time for AccountabilityMMJ BioPharma is calling on:Congress to launch immediate oversight into DEA misconduct.DOJ to enforce its own policies and halt illegal proceedings.DEA Nominee Terrance Cole to commit to ending this sabotage and comply with judicial precedent."This is no longer about science or safety," Boise concluded. "This is about entrenched power, defiance of the law, and a complete abandonment of the public interest. Congress must act now." MMJ is represented byattorney Megan Sheehan .CONTACT: Madison Hisey MHisey@ mmjih.com 203-231-85832SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings
PR-Inside.com: 2025-05-25 18:00:47

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As Australians seek to reduce gas and electricity usage, Liberty says personal loans could help make efficient-home upgrades a possibility.MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESS Newswire / May 25, 2025 / The Australian Government committed $1.8 billion to extending the Energy Relief Fund in the 2025-26 Federal Budget - an initiative providing rebates on household energy bills until December 2025.While this support is welcome, particularly during the colder months, many may be seeking long-term strategies to improve the efficiency and comfort of their homes.From replacing outdated appliances to installing double-glazed windows and new insulation, improving a home's energy performance often involves a combination of upgrades. However, the upfront costs are a barrier for many.Non-bank lender Liberty offers personal loans as a practical way to manage the upfront expenses involved with these upgrade projects, allowing homeowners to spread the cost of materials and labour over time.According to Communications Manager Bernadine Pantarotto, personal loans support Australians in achieving their goals while staying on top of their budget."Making your home more energy efficient could deliver many benefits, from year-round comfort to potential long-term savings," Ms Pantarotto said."Liberty personal loans are designed with flexibility in mind, helping you bring your plans to life sooner." Liberty says consumers could also use a personal loan for other purposes, including for travel, wedding planning, medical expenses, and debt consolidation.With loan amounts of up to $80,000 and an easy online application process, Liberty offers a fast and convenient way for customers to access the finance they need. In some cases, approved applicants may even receive funds on the same day."As free thinkers, we champion inclusive lending practises to help everyone access the support they need." Liberty takes a holistic approach to credit assessment, considering a range of customer circumstances - including those with variable income and less-than-perfect credit histories."We believe people are more than their circumstances and find innovative ways to support them," Ms Pantarotto said.Along with personal loans, the leading lender offers flexible home, car, business, commercial and SMSF loans.About Liberty As one of Australia's leading non-bank lenders, Liberty offers innovative solutions to support customers with greater choice. Over more than 27 years, this free-thinking approach to loan solutions has seen more than 900,000 customers across a wide range of home, car, business and personal loans, as well as SMSF lending and insurance. Liberty remains the only non-bank lender with an investment-grade credit rating offering custom and prime solutions to help more people get financial.Approved applicants only. Lending criteria apply. Fees and charges are payable. Liberty Financial Pty Ltd ACN 077 248 983 and Secure Funding Pty Ltd ABN 25 081 982 872 Australian Credit Licence 388133, together trading as Liberty Financial.Contact Laura OrchardMedia CoordinatorP: +61 3 8635 8888E: mediaenquiries@ liberty.com.au SOURCE: Liberty
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As Australian business owners plan for the new financial year, Liberty business loans provide support to those looking to stay ahead of the curve.MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESS Newswire / May 25, 2025 / The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported business turnover rose by 0.5% in trend terms in March, led by the wholesale trade sector. Despite global uncertainty and weather-related disruptions, monthly turnover has been steadily increasing since September 2024.As Australian businesses put plans in place to remain ahead of the curve in the new financial year, Liberty highlights the importance of timely funding.Communications Manager, Bernadine Pantarotto, says Liberty remains ready to support businesses to capitalise on this momentum and fuel their next phase of growth."In a dynamic economic environment, access to timely and flexible funding is critical for businesses looking to innovate, expand, or simply stay ahead of the curve," Ms Pantarotto says."Whether it's funding for expansion, equipment upgrades, or working capital, Liberty works closely with business owners to find the right fit." With over two decades of experience, Liberty is a leading lender that supports businesses of all sizes.The innovative non-bank offers a suite of flexible loans to suit a variety of business needs, including low doc business loans, secured business loans and business lines of credit.These options provide the flexibility business owners need to act quickly and confidently."Fast and flexible business loans can help business owners say yes' to growth opportunities," adds Ms Pantarotto.Growth looks different for every business, and Liberty understands that a one-size-fits-all approach to finance isn't the answer.As a free-thinking lender, Liberty takes a holistic view of each borrower's financial situation. This tailored approach allows Liberty to offer flexible lending solutions that align with each business's unique goals, challenges, and opportunities."Whether it's a new small business or a large, established operation, Liberty is ready help those customers that others may not take the time to understand," says Ms Pantarotto.For about 30 years now, Liberty has provided innovative lending solutions that help individuals, investors, business owners, and beyond, move towards their goals.Beyond business loans, Liberty also offers free-thinking home, car, personal, commercial, and SMSF loans.About Liberty As one of Australia's leading non-bank lenders, Liberty offers innovative solutions to support customers with greater choice. Over more than 27 years, this free-thinking approach to loan solutions has seen more than 900,000 customers across a wide range of home, car, business and personal loans, as well as SMSF lending and insurance. Liberty remains the only non-bank lender with an investment-grade credit rating offering custom and prime solutions to help more people get financial.Approved applicants only. Lending criteria apply. Fees and charges are payable. Liberty Financial Pty Ltd ACN 077 248 983 and Secure Funding Pty Ltd ABN 25 081 982 872 Australian Credit Licence 388133, together trading as Liberty Financial.Contact Laura OrchardMedia CoordinatorP: +61 3 8635 8888E: mediaenquiries@ liberty.com.au SOURCE: Liberty
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / May 25, 2025 / If you suffered a loss on your Ibotta, Inc. (NYSE:IBTA) investment and want to learn about a potential recovery under the federal securities laws, follow the link below for more information:or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. via email at jlevi@ levikorsinsky.com or call (212) 363-7500 to speak to our team of experienced shareholder advocates.THE LAWSUIT: This lawsuit is on behalf of persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded Ibotta securities pursuant and/or traceable to documents issued in connection with Ibotta's April 18, 2024 initial public offering.CASE DETAILS: According to the filed complaint, defendants made false statements and/or concealed that they did not properly warn investors of the risks concerning Ibotta's contract with The Kroger Co. ("Kroger"). Kroger's contract was at-will, and Ibotta failed to warn investors that a large client could cancel their contract with Ibotta without warning. Despite providing a detailed explanation of the terms of Ibotta's contract with Walmart, there was not a single warning of the at-will nature of Kroger's contract. Rather than disclosing the very real risk of a major client walking away at any time, Ibotta provided boilerplate warnings concerning the importance of maintaining ongoing relationships with their clients.WHAT'S NEXT? If you suffered a loss in Ibotta stock during the relevant time frame - even if you still hold your shares - go to https://zlk.com/pslra-1/ibotta-lawsuit-submission-form?prid=150093&wire=1&utm_campaign=2 to learn about your rights to seek a recovery. There is no cost or obligation to participate.WHY LEVI & KORSINSKY: Over the past 20 years, Levi & Korsinsky LLP has established itself as a nationally-recognized securities litigation firm that has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders and built a track record of winning high-stakes cases. The firm has extensive expertise representing investors in complex securities litigation and a team of over 70 employees to serve our clients. For seven years in a row, Levi & Korsinsky has ranked in ISS Securities Class Action Services' Top 50 Report as one of the top securities litigation firms in the United States. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.CONTACT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLPJoseph E. Levi, Esq.Ed Korsinsky, Esq.33 Whitehall Street, 17th FloorNew York, NY 10004 jlevi@ levikorsinsky.com Tel: (212) 363-7500Fax: (212) 363-7171 https://zlk.com/ SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has mandated telecom licensees in Nigeria to inform consumers of major service outages on their networks through media channels.

On Sunday, a statement signed by Nnenna Ukoha, the acting head of Public Affairs at the NCC, said the directive requires operators to provide information on the cause of the outage, affected areas, and estimated restoration time.

Telecom service outages have been a recurring issue in Nigeria, affecting millions of subscribers and impacting daily life, businesses, and the economy.

The causes of these outages include infrastructure challenges, fibre optic cable cuts, overloaded networks, and natural disasters, amongst others.

On Sunday, the NCC said consumers must be informed one week in advance in cases where operators have planned service outages.

This development, contained in the Directive on Reportage of Major Network Outages by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), is part of the commissions drive to ensure timely resolution of outages, enhance the quality of experience for telecom consumers, and keep consumers informed, the statement said.

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The directive noted that mobile network operators, internet service providers and other operators that provide last-mile services will also provide proportional compensation, including extension of validity, as may be applicable and in line with the provisions of the consumer code of practice regulations, where any major network outage continues for more than 24 hours.

It identifies types of major outages to include any network operational condition such as fibre cut due to construction/access issues/theft & vandalism and force majeure that impacts five per cent or more of the affected operators subscriber base or five or more Local Government Areas (LGAs).

Having an occasion of unplanned outage of, or complete isolation of network resources in 100 or more sites or five per cent of the total number of sites (whichever is less) or 1 cluster that lasts for 30 minutes or more; and lastly, any form of outage that can degrade network quality in the top 10 states based on traffic volume as specified by the commission from time to time, it added.

In furtherance of this, the NCC directed that all major outages are to be reported by operators through the commissions major outage reporting portal, which is accessible to the public through the commissions website.

The portal additionally discloses the identity of the culprit responsible for the disruption, it said.

Commenting on the directive and the major outage reporting portal, Edoyemi Ogor, the Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity, stated, The commission has trialled the reporting process and portal with operators for some months before issuing the directive.

By providing consumers and stakeholders in the telecommunications industry with timely and transparent information on network outages, we are entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency. This approach also ensures that culprits are held responsible for sabotaging telecommunications infrastructure.

This also aligns with our broader commitment to the effective implementation of the Executive Order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which designates telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII). It reinforces the need to safeguard these assets, given their centrality to national security, economic stability, and the everyday lives of Nigerians.

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KUMAMOTO, Japan - A major Japanese tutoring company has recently apologized for inaccurately describing the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease as hereditary in its online study material, a description that drew strong public criticism.

The false claim appeared in a video lesson for junior high school students from the firm's "Try IT" online service, which explained cases of infants developing the disease via mercury exposure through the placenta but wrongly called the condition "inherited."

Trygroup Inc., the operator of the nationwide home tutoring service Try, said in a statement available on its website Sunday, "We apologize for the inaccurate phrasing and have corrected it," adding the lesson video has already been taken offline.

Following the revelation of the misinformation, a group comprising patients and victims of Minamata disease, as well as the Environment Ministry, urged the company to make corrections.

Minamata disease is a neurological disorder caused by mercury poisoning. It affected thousands of people who unknowingly consumed seafood contaminated with mercury in areas around Minamata Bay in Kumamoto Prefecture on the southwestern main island of Kyushu.

In 1968, the Japanese government recognized that mercury in wastewater from a local chemical plant was responsible for the illness.

Related coverage:

FEATURE: Minamata disease photo collection strikes chords of tragedy

Japan minister apologizes for interrupting Minamata victims' remarks

Japan court orders compensation to 26 unrecognized Minamata victims
The Censorship Board of Kano State has immediately banned 22 Hausa-language film series, including well-known favourites like Labarina and Dadin Kowa. This was based on allegations of bypassing established regulatory procedures.

Abba El-Mustapha, the Boards executive secretary, announced this directive after a management meeting convened earlier this week.

In a formal broadcast, the Boards Information Officer, Abdullahi Sani Sulaiman, explained that the affected parties and projects had failed to undertake the mandatory vetting process required by state law before distribution or broadcast.

The Board has suspended 22 Hausa film series for violating our guidelines, which require that all films be submitted for censorship before public release, Mr Sulaiman stated.

Among the titles affected are Dakin Amarya, Mashahuri, Gidan Sarauta, Wasiyya, Tawakkaltu, Mijina, Wani Zamani, Labarina, Mallaka, Kudin Ruwa, Boka Ko Malam, Wayasan Gobe, Rana Dubu, Manyan Mata, Fatake, Gwarwashi, Jamilun Jiddan, Shahadar Nabila, Dadin Kowa, Tabarmar, Kishiyata, and Rigar Aro

Sulaiman accentuated the Censorship Boards position and rights to supervise all forms of visual storytelling intended for public consumption within and beyond Kanos borders.

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He added, Producers are instructed to cease airing or streaming their content on television or online platforms and are expected to submit their productions for censorship approval from Monday, 19th May 2025

Reprimand

He further reprimanded that failing to comply with the Boards directive within the specified timeframe would result in legal repercussions.

He also called on all TV stations and the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to support the Boards efforts to ensure these directives are adhered to and to help advance the Kannywood industry in line with its development goals.

The Board also encouraged regulatory agencies and media outlets to support the enforcement of censorship guidelines.

The statement read, We are calling on television stations and the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to support our efforts in ensuring compliance with censorship laws and promoting professionalism in the Kannywood industry.

READ ALSO: Kano Censors Board suspends top Kannywood actress over indecent dressing

This move is part of the state governments renewed efforts to clean and reorganise the Kannywood industry and enforce discipline among content creators.

The affected films, widely viewed on local channels and social media platforms, have aroused public conversations about the role of regulation against creative freedom.

However, the Board has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to upholding moral standards and preserving cultural values in the production of Hausa-language content.

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Grammy-winning superstar Burna Boy, in another big win, has extended his record as one of the most certified African artistes in the United Kingdom.

His hit collaboration with British-Nigerian rapper Dave has now been declared five times Platinum in the UK.

The song, released as one of the singles off Daves 2019 album, Psychodrama, has enjoyed laudable commercial success, making it one of Daves biggest hits and another major collaboration for Burna Boy.

This feat comes barely a few weeks after Burna Boys Alone became eligible for an RIAA Gold certification, as reported by PREMIUM TIMES earlier this year in March

According to Chart Data, the single Alone, one of the songs of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack album, has sold over 500,000 units in the United States.

At the 2023 Grammys, Alone was nominated for Best Global Song Performance, right behind Rihannas Lift Me. It has garnered 164 million Spotify streams, making it the second most streamed song on the album.

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This makes the song Burna Boys sixth RIAA certification and fourth solo plaque as he continues to sustain the position as one of Africas leading global stars.

With a 10-time Grammy nominee, the Afrobeats star is gearing up for a busy year as the expectations of his eighth album No Sign of Weakness increase.

Ahead of the album, the hitmaker recently released a glimpse of what to expect: a new single, Tatata, featuring American superstar rapper Travis Scott.

More feats

With this upcoming album, it is expected that Burna Boy will continue his unconventional commercial run, which has seen all of his last four albums earn Grammy nominations.

Recently, his achievements on the global music stage include being the only Nigerian artist to have three albums surpass 500 million Spotify streams.

Barely four days ago, he took to his Instagram and made a post that the African Giant had been killed by his people. Burna Boy has always had a love-hate relationship with his fans.

The African Giant Burna Boy died. His people killed him, he wrote

Burna Boys statement is the latest in a career plagued by a frosty relationship with his Nigerian audience, whom he constantly accused of undermining his career.

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Nollywood actor Godwin Nnadiekwe has been hospitalised after his colleague, Zubby Michael, kicked him in the chest during a film shoot.

The actors management, who disclosed this on his Instagram page on Sunday, stated that he is currently receiving treatment for internal bleeding.

According to the management, the kick on the actors chest was not part of the scripted scene.

They also posted a video showing the moment Michael kicked the actor in the chest.

In the video, Michael stepped out of a vehicle, vaulted over a barricade outside a residence, and launched a kick at Nnadiekwe as he appeared.

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Unauthorised kick

Following the incident, Michael walked into the building.

Nnadiekwes management did not disclose the name of the hospital where he is currently receiving treatment.

Their post read: He (Nnadiekwe) is undergoing treatment for internal bleeding following an incident involving a kick on the chest during filming with his colleague Zubby Michael. We are committed to providing the best possible care and will ensure timely updates are shared with the public and the AGN board.

We appreciate your concern and well wishes for Godwin at this time. Keep Godwin in your thoughts. The kick was neither scripted nor previously agreed upon for claritys sake. It was an unauthorised action, entirely outside the directors planned vision and blocking, and occurred without consent.

As of press time, Michael has not responded to the allegation.

PREMIUM TIMES checked the 40-year-old actors social media pages and found that the only post was a clip from a movie in which he was featured.

Nnadiekwe is known for movies like Ikemefuna, Zikora, The Pride of Oyim, and Mustapha.

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For me, Africa Daycelebrated annually on 25 Mayreadily brings to mind one remarkable individual and one pivotal institution. The individual is Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, a respected scholar and passionate pan-Africanist, whose life was tragically cut short on Africa Day in 2009, at just 48 years old.

The institution is the UBA Group, in part because of an invitation I received from them, in 2020, to be on a panel, themed Domestic Policies, Regional Development and a Global Agenda: SDGs and African Development at a Crossroad, organised to commemorate Africa Day that year.

The email invitation included this paragraph: As a leading pan African Bank with subsidiaries in 20 African countries and operations in the UK, USA and presence in France, UBA is constantly seeking to promote the Unity of Africa. It is who we are. Since then, I have closely followed the banks enthusiastic celebration of Africa Day each year.

I have another personal story that captures the significance of the A in U-B-A. Some years ago, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, I met an American gentleman, investment banker and art collector, who, upon hearing I was Nigerian, shared two memorable links to the continent.

The first was his participation, as a teenager, in an epic road trip from Paris to Lagos in the 1960s. The second was going ahead to serve, in the 1970s, on the board of UBA, representing one of the Banks international shareholders. In my mind, the story of that enthralling trans-Saharan trip blended seamlessly with that of the bank that now proudly describes itself as Africas global bank.

Now, another Africa Day is here, presenting an opportunity to reflect on the continents journey, and on the responsibilities confronting us as Africans committed to African progress.

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Its worth taking a moment to recall the radical origins of the Day. It was instituted to mark the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)the precursor of the African Unionestablished at a defining moment for the continent: when countries were gaining independence and trying to come to terms with what this meant, against the backdrop of a confusing and intensifying Cold War.

The choice of Ethiopiaone of only two African countries never colonisedas the site for the OAUs headquarters was profoundly symbolic, reflecting the bold, revolutionary spirit of the organisations founding fathers. As the New York Times noted in its coverage of the 1964 OAU Summit, Attacks on colonialism dominated the speeches and resolutions.

That spirit of radicalism is now more than ever needed by the continentbut in action, not just rhetoric. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem embodied this stance; stridently calling for giving African citizenship to all Africans wherever they may be, and for a completely borderless intra-African trade; this long before the African Continental Free Trade Area became a reality.

As we celebrate the 2025 Africa Day, we honour the efforts of activists and advocates like Abdul-Raheem, as well as financial institutions like the UBA that are channeling resources towards achieving the most important mission after political independence: fiscal liberation. An imperative that has become even more urgent given the way American politics is upending the global economic order.

It sounds like a cliche to say that Africa stands at a crossroads. But it is true, as many cliches are. For the continent, this decade began in the most disruptive way possible, with Covid-19 laying bare grave and disturbing inequalities in global vaccine access. Shortly after, the Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupted grain supplies and pushed many countries to the brink of hunger. And now, the US trade tariffs and the dwindling of global aid funding.

All these shocks have come with vital lessons, that ultimately Africa has to look out for itself; that it must prioritise developing the capacity to feed itself and build the manufacturing value chains required to produce essential goods. No one else will do it for us.

We also have to put in the hard work required to mobilise investments into transformational projects, across energy, agriculture, transport and logistics, healthcare, education and skilling, manufacturing, and other areas.

The harsh lessons of the last five years have since spurred African institutions to step up impressively; lending urgency to the implementation of the AfCFTA; birthing the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation to build the continents capacity to produce medicines and vaccines; and propelling UBA Group into a landmark $6 billion agreement with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), for financing SMEs across the continent.

And then, just this year, African Union Heads of State approved the establishment of an African Credit Rating Agency and an African Financial Stability Mechanism; two significant initiatives that will remake the African financial landscape. Also, this year, an African Energy Bank will take off, and in 2028, the African Central Bank is scheduled to commence operations.

There is indeed plenty of reason to be optimistic, excited even, about what the future holds for the continentnot least of which is a youthful population that will fuel global economic growth in the decades ahead. And, despite many challenges, despite geopolitical and economic shocks, despite the uncharted waters that lie ahead, it appears that we are in an era of unprecedented African confidence and ambition.

We now have to translate these attributes into true and enduring growth and prosperity that leaves no African behind. Betting on Africa is a no-brainer, as the UBA story demonstrates: in 2024, 51.7 per cent of total Group revenue came from operations outside Nigeria, i.e. the twenty African countries they operate in, as well as the UK, UAE, USA and France. In 2019, this figure was 31 percent.

All around us, there is proof that the way forward for unleashing Africas potential lies in bold action by and for the continentmobilising trade and investment, deepening cooperation, financing SMEs, supporting the next generation of African business championsand not hand-wringing. To borrow the words of the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheems email signature: Dont agonise; Organise!

And in the words of Tony Elumelu, the group chairman of UBA, No one but us will develop Africa  a core belief and driving force behind Africapitalism, which emphasises the importance of Africans owning and leading the continents development.

Africa Day 2025 is another chance to reflect on these timeless pieces of wisdom, and to celebrate the remarkable African individuals and institutions who are actively walking the talk, and funding it.

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Candidates who sat the rescheduled 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) can now check their results.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) disclosed this in a statement by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin.

JAMB had rescheduled the UTME for over 300,000 candidates whose results were affected by a glitch that affected 157 centres in Lagos State and the South-east.

Of the 336,845 who were eventually scheduled after isolated good sessions of the affected centres were excluded and their previously unverified candidates were added, 21,082 were absent, the board said.

The board said candidates who missed either the main or rescheduled UTME would have the opportunity to have a resit as the board is prepared to conduct a resit examination for them.

JAMB said 71,701 candidates missed the initial UTME, while 21,082 candidates were absent during the rescheduled UTME. Combined, a total of 92,783 candidates are eligible for the resit.

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JAMB expressed regret over the glitch that resulted in the rescheduling of the UTME.

The board said the review after the glitch has also revealed numerous alarming practices perpetrated by candidates and certain proprietors of schools and Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres, which have exacerbated examination irregularities.

Reviews before release

Mr Benjamin said the results were released after they were reviewed by Boniface Nworgu, a professor of educational measurement and evaluation, at the boards invitation.

Mr Nworgus review also followed a review by a committee of Chief External Examiners.

JAMB said the committee, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University, Olufemi Peters, a professor, was constituted to confirm that the results are in order.

New statistics

The board has also released the statistical analysis of the scores.

JAMB said 17,025 or 0.88 per cent of the 1.9 million candidates who sat this years UTME scored above 300.

It explained that 117,373 or 6.08 per cent scored above 250 points and 565,988 or 29.3 per cent scored above 200 points.

JAMB added that 1.3 million candidates, or 70.7 per cent, scored less than 200 points in the UTME.

However, the board noted that performance analysis remains consistent (between 11 per cent in 2013 and 34 per cent in 2016) with results from the past 12 years.

Underage results, others

JAMB said it has also resolved that the withheld results of the underage candidates who performed below the established standards be released; except where litigation is involved, he said.

The board explained that the underage UTME results do not qualify the candidates for admission.

It said the candidates had previously signed an undertaking during the registration process acknowledging that only those who meet the prescribed standards would be considered for underage special admission.

Candidates, CBT centres malpractices

JAMB condemned the involvement of some CBT centres in perpetrating serious registration and examination malpractices and resolved that all the implicated CBT centres should be blacklisted while complicit owners should be prosecuted.

In addition, the identified individuals who directly registered the candidates with modified pictures and biometrics be apprehended and prosecuted, the board said.

The board also said some candidates were found to be involved in some misdemeanours including involvement in soliciting of assistance in some WhatsApp Runs.

The meeting emphasised that its decision is not an endorsement of candidates unacceptable acts, rather a once and for all waiver.

It advised candidates to refrain from joining questionable WhatsApp and other anti-social groups.

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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the failure to disclose the details of any direct payments to the 774 local government councils in Nigeria, including the amounts sent to each council.

SERAPs suit followed a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court last July, which held that allocations from the Federation Account with the CBN must be paid directly to democratically elected local government councils, and that no governor has the power to keep, control or use the money meant for the councils.

In the suit number FHC/L/MSC/521/2025 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Lagos, SERAP is asking the court to direct and compel the CBN to disclose the details of any direct payments to the 774 local government councils in Nigeria including the amounts sent to each council since the Supreme Court judgment.

SERAP is also asking the court to direct and compel the CBN to disclose whether any direct payment has been made from the Federation Account with the CBN to the local government councils in Rivers State and to explain the rationale for any such payment.

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that, The CBN should make it possible for citizens to have access to the details of any direct payments to the 774 local government councils to ensure transparency and accountability, and judge whether the CBN and other agencies are complying with the Supreme Court judgment.

SERAP is also arguing that Granting the reliefs sought would go a long way in promoting the values and principles that underlie the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and are inherent characteristics of an open democratic society.

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According to SERAP, State governors are starving local governments of funds and putting them in peril, despite the Supreme Courts binding orders. State governors blatant disregard for the Supreme Courts orders undermines the integrity of the court and poses a direct challenge to the rule of law.

SERAP is also arguing that, The CBN ought to act in the public interest to ensure that the 774 councils in the country directly get their own money from the Federation Account, as ordered by the Supreme Court.

SERAP is arguing that, The CBN also has the constitutional and statutory duty to ensure that no part of the Federation is governed contrary to the Nigerian Constitution or by anybody that is not constitutionally empowered to do so.

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Oluwakemi Oni, read in part: The CBN should be facilitating compliance with the Supreme Courts orders. If state governors get away with ignoring the court, it will undermine the ability of the bank to credibly perform its statutory duties.

States and the FCT have continued to undermine and endanger the existence of local governments and their ability to effectively function as the third tier of government as envisioned under the Nigerian Constitution.

The CBN has a constitutional and statutory duty to protect the allocations in the Federation Account and the public funds disbursed from that Account directly to each of the constitutionally recognized three tiers of government.

The CBN also has the constitutional and statutory duty to protect any tier of the federal governance structure from going extinct or being destroyed.

Local government councils are legitimate owners of their allocations from the Federation Account.

Ensuring that all restrictions against direct disbursement of allocations from the Federation Account to the 774 councils will comply with the orders by the Supreme Court and stop states and the Federal Capital Territory from tampering with the allocations ahead of the 2027 general elections.

States and the FCT no longer have the right to retain the allocations for local governments in the Federation Account as they have persistently failed to use the allocations for the benefit of the local government councils and Nigerians.

The disbursement of the allocations meant for the 774 councils to states would be at the expense of poor Nigerians and continue to undermine the rights and well-being of those at the bottom of the economy and exacerbate the growing poverty in the country.

The CBN could play an important role in revitalising the 774 councils in the country and improving opportunities for Nigerians who reside in those councils. The CBN should not allow states to act in breach of the Supreme Court judgment and do whatever they like with the public funds meant for local government councils.

The CBN has a responsibility to comply with the Nigerian Constitution and the countrys international human rights and anticorruption obligations in the exercise of its statutory powers and functions.

Local government councils are entitled to a direct payment from the Federation Account of the amount standing to its credit in the said Federation Account. States should not be collecting, receiving, spending or tampering with the local government council funds from the Federation Account meant for the benefit of the councils.

The Supreme Court in a groundbreaking judgment declared that the Freedom of Information Act is applicable and applies to the public records in the Federation, including those kept by the CBN.

By the combined reading of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, applicable throughout Nigeria, there are transparency obligations imposed on the CBN to widely disclose the information sought by SERAP.

ALSO READ: SERAP sues CBN over increase in ATM charges

The Nigerian Constitution, Freedom of Information Act, and the countrys anti-corruption and human rights obligations rest on the principle that citizens should have access to information regarding their public institutions activities.

Nigerias Supreme Court in the July 2024 judgment declared unconstitutional and unlawful the retaining and using by the 36 state governors and FCT minister of allocations in the Federation Account meant for the 774 local governments in the country.

Following the judgment, the 774 local governments have reportedly opened dedicated accounts with CBN for the direct disbursement of allocations to them from the Federation Account.

Former president Muhammadu Buhari had in December 2022 stated that, If the money from the Federation Account to the State is about N100m, N50m will be sent to the chairman but he will sign that he received N100m. The chairman will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with.

According to Buhari, If the money from the Federation Account to the State is about N100 million, N50 million will be sent to the chairman but he will sign that he received N100 million. The chairman will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with.

According to reports, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) shared a total of N1.578 trillion among the three tiers of government as revenue generated in March 2025.

Kolawole Oluwadare

SERAP Deputy Director

25/05/2025

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The Police Command in Niger says its efforts contributed to the escape of four kidnap victims in Sarkin-Pawa, Munya Local Government Area of the state.

This is contained in a statement by its Public Relations officer, Wasiu Abiodun, on Saturday in Minna.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on 20 February, around 10 p.m., suspected kidnappers attacked Hayin-Dogo and Dangunu villages of Sarkin-Pawa, Munya LGA.

During the attack, one Usman Daina and four others were abducted, but Mr Daina was released after two days.

Since then, the joint security team has been mounting pressure through different clearance and rescue operations to rescue the victims.

Fortunately, on May 22, at about 12 noon, the victims, Deborah Daina, Gambo Amos, Cyprus Titus, and Satti Iko escaped from their abductors due to the sustained pressure from the security team.

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Meanwhile, the victims were taken to the hospital for medical attention and subsequently reunited with their families.

ALSO READ: Five abducted victims shot as police engage kidnappers in gunfight

The Commissioner of Police, Niger Command, Adamu Elleman, commended the joint security team for its display of gallantry which resulted in the rescue.

He reassured members of the public that the safety of lives and property would continue to be the priority of the police and other security agencies in the state.

(NAN)

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Nigerias solid minerals sector, driven by the Tinubu administrations new policy of local value addition and a tightened licensing regime, attracted over $800 million in processing projects last year.

The sector also generated over 38 billion in revenue in 2024, up from just 6 billion the previous year, despite receiving only 18% of its 29 billion budgeted allocation.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, revealed this during a feature interview for an upcoming State House documentary marking President Tinubus second anniversary.

Mr Alake said the sector has witnessed an increase in investor interest buoyed by the administrations mining sector reforms.

He listed the $600 million lithium processing plant near the Kaduna-Niger border, to be commissioned this quarter, the $200 million lithium refinery on the outskirts of Abuja, nearing completion, and two additional processing plants in Nasarawa, slated for commissioning before Q3 2025.

These investments follow the administrations insistence that no miner gets a license without a clear local processing plant. The days of exporting raw minerals from pit to port are over.

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When we resumed, the entire sector generated 6 billion annually. By the end of 2024, we hit 38 billion. And this was with just 18% of our 29 billion budgetary allocation released. It shows how effective our policy framework has been, Mr Alake stated.

According to the minister, in the first quarter of 2025 alone, two regulatory agenciesthe Mining Cadastral Office (MCO) and the Mines Inspectoratehave already recorded 6.9 billion and 7 billion in revenue, respectively.

The minister projected this year to be a record-breaking one for the sector, adding that the current budget allocated 1 trillion for mineral exploration, targeted at generating internationally certified geological data.

Exploration is key. When we came in, Nigeria had spent just $2 million on exploration, compared to $40 million in Sierra Leone, $148 million in Cote dIvoire, and over $300 million in South Africa. No serious investor will touch your sector without credible data, he said.

We are now focused on turning our mineral wealth into domestic economic valuejobs, technology, and manufacturing, he said.

As part of its seven-point agenda, the Minister said he has taken aggressive steps to curb illegal mining and formalise artisanal activity.

He noted that over 300 illegal miners were arrested last year, 150 prosecutions are ongoing, and nine convictions have been secured, including foreign nationals.

We adopted both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies. While enforcement has yielded results through the Mining Marshals, were also empowering locals by formalising them into cooperatives, making them eligible for finance and revenue sharing, he said.

He added that over 250 mining cooperatives have been established nationwide to absorb informal miners into the formal economy.

The minister said Nigeria now chairs the newly formed African Mineral Strategy Group, a continental bloc focused on ensuring local value addition and fairer mineral trade deals across Africa.

This was a direct result of Nigerias position at the 2024 Future Minerals Conference in Riyadh. Were leading Africa in saying: no more raw material exports without domestic beneficiation.

Reflecting on the rising investor confidence, Alake noted that top global players, including UK, US, Saudi Arabia, and UAE officials, have expressed interest in Nigerias lithium and other critical minerals.

The former British Deputy Prime Minister personally invited me to Downing Street to discuss their interest in Nigerian lithium, Alake said.

The US is also looking to diversify from China and sees Nigeria as a viable alternative.

He noted that with new revenue streams, foreign direct investment, tightened regulation, and a clear path toward industrialisation, Nigerias solid minerals sector is now a pillar of the Tinubu administrations economic diversification plan.

Nigeria has not had it this good in the solid minerals sector. Were restoring confidence, building data, enforcing the law, and returning value to Nigerians from their resources.

The mining cadastral office, the agency responsible for licensing and processing applications, received over 10,000 applications from local and foreign investors this quarter alone.

That shows you that this sector is vibrant. The vitality that weve introduced into this sector has never been done before the advent of President Tinubus administration, he said.

Bayo Onanuga

Special Adviser to the President

(Information and Strategy)

May 25, 2025

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Borno South Senator Ali Ndume has commended President Bola Tinubu for the recent appointment of some northerners to leadership roles within key federal agencies.

Mr Ndume, a known critic of President Tinubu, described the appointments as a deliberate effort to correct what many perceived as regional imbalances in previous government appointments since the president assumed office in May 2023.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the senator said the appointments reflect a welcome development in the Tinubu administrations approach to governance and inclusion, especially after criticisms from various quarters over the alleged marginalisation of the North and other regions.

Nigeria, with its diverse population comprising over 250 ethnic groups and more than 500 distinct languages, has long operated under a federal character principle enshrined in the Constitution. Section 14(3) of the Nigerian Constitution mandates inclusivity in the composition of federal appointments to ensure national unity and prevent the domination of any one group.

Despite this, President Tinubus earlier appointments had drawn criticism from some stakeholders in the North, South-east, and South-south, who accused the president of neglecting the federal character principle.

Mr Ndume was among those who had openly expressed discontent with the composition of the earlier appointments.

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However, the mode of appointments is changing. On Friday, President Tinubu appointed at least 12 individuals from Northern states into significant positions in federal agencies.

The appointees are Yazid Danfulani (Zamfara) as Managing Director, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC), Hamza Baba (Kano) as Programme Manager, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) and Abubakar Jarengol (Adamawa) as Executive Director, Operations, NAIC.

Others are Samaila Audu (Katsina) as Executive Director, Administration, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Musa Garba (Kebbi) as Executive Secretary, National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education and Issa Aremu (Kwara) as Director-General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS)

Responsive leader

Mr Ndume, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as President Tinubu, expressed optimism that these appointments would help restore northerners confidence in the presidents administration and demonstrate a renewed commitment to national balance.

The senator, known for not holding back in his critique of the executive, submitted that the appointment signals the presidents course correction and reaffirmation of his commitment to national unity and justice.

President Tinubu is someone who surrenders to constructive criticisms. I have known him to be a fair minded, cosmopolitan person. Yes, we are all bound to make mistakes. No one is infallible. I could recall that our leaders in the North, including my humble self, who felt jolted over recent appointments into key federal positions, raised our voices, screaming against the perceived imbalances.

The hallmark of a good leader and statesman is to quickly adjust himself when he takes a decision or makes a policy pronouncement that a large section of the people finds unpopular and uncomfortable with. President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has demonstrated several times that he is a responsive leader, he added.

This recent appointment of northerners into key positions in federal parastatals and agencies was meant to address the imbalances thrown up by his previous appointments, which left the North stranded.

While congratulating the newly appointed officials, Mr Ndume urged them to live up to expectations and justify the confidence reposed in them.

He also reiterated his loyalty to President Tinubu, assuring that while he remains a committed supporter, he would continue to perform his legislative oversight duties by speaking out against perceived lapses in governance.

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The federal government has announced the completion of three new cancer centres as part of efforts to expand cancer care access nationwide.

The facilities, located at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina; University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Nsukka; and University of Benin Teaching Hospital, are set to be commissioned on 29 May.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, disclosed this on Thursday in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Pate noted these centres form the first phase of what is projected to be the largest chain of oncology and diagnostic centres in West Africa.

He said the centres will serve nearly 2,000 oncology patients and 350,000 diagnostic clients annually.

He noted that it is also expected to train up to 500 clinicians over three years.

Mr Pate explained that key institutional staff are currently undergoing training before the centres full operational launch.

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The coordinating minister added that the government has not disclosed when the remaining seven cancer centres in the planned 10-centre network will be completed.

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death globally.

In Nigeria, late diagnosis and high treatment costs continue to worsen outcomes for thousands of patients, especially in underserved regions.

Health experts have consistently called for more investment in infrastructure, subsidised care, and local capacity development to improve survival rates.

Mr Pate assured that this new development is taking steps toward building a sustainable framework for cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment, across all income groups.

Support for disadvantaged patients

To address cost barriers that often prevent timely cancer diagnosis and treatment, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has introduced a cost-sharing scheme.

According to Mr Pate, the programme provides up to N400,000 in financial support for eligible disadvantaged patients undergoing radiotherapy.

This initiative will significantly reduce the financial burden of cancer care and increase access to treatment.

Under the compassionate leadership of Mr President and in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda, we are removing both supply and demand obstacles to affordable and qualitative cancer care in Nigeria, he said.

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TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged Sunday to improve the treatment and working conditions of Self-Defense Forces members tasked with serving in an increasingly challenging security climate.

During a roundtable with young personnel at a district-level command of the Maritime Self-Defense Force in Kyoto Prefecture, Ishiba said, "We must treat you appropriately as you strive to carry out your duties regardless of the risks."

His remarks came days after a revised law, which includes new and enhanced allowances for SDF members, was enacted on Wednesday. Ishiba's Cabinet, formed last October, has been aiming to tackle a serious shortage of recruits.

Recently, public trust in the SDF has been hit by a series of scandals including sexual abuse that have emerged at a time when the government is trying to significantly boost the nation's defense capabilities in response to a deteriorating geopolitical environment.

In his address to the personnel, Ishiba said the government "will thoroughly safeguard our country's independence and peace," referring to China's maritime assertiveness, North Korea's ballistic missile launches and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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A group of 47 Nigerian medical students who escaped war-torn Sudan in May 2023 are now struggling to register for the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council (MDCN) examination due to a document snag.

The students, many of whom fled or were evacuated by the federal government without exit visas, are currently racing against time to meet the registration deadline, with their future careers hanging precariously in the balance.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that these students, who were enrolled at Sudan International University (SIU), were evacuated to Nigeria during the 2023 conflict in Sudan while in their final year of study.

According to the students, with the approval of the National Universities Commission (NUC), they were permitted to continue their academic programme at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) in Sokoto.

Speaking to NAN on Sunday in Abuja, one student said: We successfully completed our studies and graduated in 2024, receiving our certificates as students of SIU.

He added that they were currently preparing to sit for the MDCN examinations.

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The student, however, added that one of the requirements was presenting a first entry visa and a last exit visa.

Unfortunately, none of us have these documents as most of our passports remained in Sudan due to the emergency evacuation.

We respectfully request permission to sit for the examinations scheduled for June 2025, he said.

The President of the Nigerian Students Association at SIU, Najid Hassan, confirmed that due to the war in Sudan, Nigerian students were evacuated by the federal government.

Mr Hassan explained that with NUC approval, the affected students were allowed to continue their academic programme at UDUTH following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between SIU and UDUTH.

After the MoU, we resumed studies at UDUTH in December 2023 and spent one year there.

We completed clinical rotations, lectures in gynaecology, paediatrics, surgery, and medicine, and graduated in October 2024.

We took examinations supervised by consultants at UDUTH, Mr Hassan said.

He added that after graduation, students were awarded certificates bearing the SIU name.

Mr Hassan, however, said that when they approached MDCN for registration, the process, expected to be seamless, became challenging.

We are currently preparing for the MDCN exams, but one requirement is the submission of a first entry visa and a last exit visa.

Unfortunately, none of us have these documents because most passports remain in Sudan due to emergency evacuation, Mr Hassan said.

He appealed to the federal government to intervene.

NAN reports that MDCN is the regulatory body for Medicine and Dentistry in Nigeria and was established by the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act.

The Act had been operational since 18 December 1963, and updated under the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The councils statutory functions include setting and reviewing standards for medical and dental education.

Sections 9(3) and (4) of the Act empower the council to conduct assessment exams for holders of foreign medical or dental qualifications recognised by their countries of origin.

Candidates expected to sit for these examinations are trained outside Nigeria at institutions listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools.

One of the application requirements is submitting relevant portions of international passports, including visas and arrival/departure stamps.

In a 2024 publication addressing students returning from conflict zones, MDCN Registrar Fatima Kyari reaffirmed these rules but expressed sympathy for students affected by COVID-19 and conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan.

The council has held extensive consultations and developed remediation pathways to facilitate integration.

Students graduating in 2023 or later were advised to return to a designated campus of their foreign university to complete studies physically.

They can also transfer to an accredited Nigerian university, subject to NUC approval; or integrate into a Nigerian university per NUC guidelines.

Many students from Sudan and Ukraine have successfully integrated through these pathways, exempting them from the foreign-trained medical and dental graduates (FTMDG) exams if graduating from Nigerian institutions, Kyari said.

ALSO READ: Medical students protest persistent blackout in UCH

She explained that the MoU with UDUTH was an academic collaboration and did not equate to clinical training for a medical qualification recognised by MDCN.

She noted that students who properly transferred and graduated from Nigerian universities approved by MDCN had been indexed, graduated, and registered as doctors.

The Federal Ministry of Education, through the Director of University Education, Rakiya Ilyasu, acknowledged the situation.

She advised the affected students to formally write to the Minister of Education, including their names, and to copy the Director of Education Support Services to help facilitate a resolution.

Similarly, NUC Deputy Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki, confirmed that the agency was aware of the development. He advised the students to contact the Ministry of Education to resolve the issues.

However, all efforts by NAN to obtain a response from Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), regarding the students plea proved unsuccessful.

Similarly, all efforts to get a reaction from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) failed.

The Deputy Provost of the Medical School said he had no authority to speak on the issue, while the Vice Chancellor, Bashir Garba, said he was on transit and would respond appropriately.

(NAN)

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The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted sunshine and cloudiness across the country from Sunday to Tuesday.

NiMet`s weather outlook released on Saturday in Abuja anticipated sunny skies with patches of cloud on Sunday, with chances of morning thunderstorms over parts of Taraba State in the northern region.

It forecast thunderstorms over parts of Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, Taraba, Bauchi, Zamfara and Adamawa States later in the day.

In the North-central region, sunny skies with patches of clouds are expected with prospects of isolated thunderstorms over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Nasarawa, Kwara and Kogi States in the morning periods.

Later in the afternoon/evening hours, thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Plateau, Niger, and Benue states.

In the Southern region, a cloudy atmosphere is expected with prospects of morning thunderstorms over parts of Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Imo, Abia, Edo, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Lagos and Bayelsa States, it said.

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NiMet anticipated thunderstorms over parts of Oyo, Ekiti, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Imo, Abia, Edo, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Lagos and Bayelsa States later in the day.

According to NiMet, sunny skies with patches of clouds are envisaged with chances of morning thunderstorms over parts of Taraba State in the Northern region on Monday.

The agency predicted isolated thunderstorms over parts of Kebbi, Taraba, Kaduna, Borno, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Adamawa states later in the day.

The agency envisaged sunny skies with patches of clouds during the morning hours in the North-central region.

Later in the day, isolated thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau and Kogi States.

In the Southern region, morning thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of Ondo, Ogun, Edo, Imo, Abia, Osun, Cross River, Delta, Lagos and Akwa Ibom States.

In the afternoon/evening hours, isolated thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Lagos states, it said.

NiMet predicted sunny skies with patches of clouds on Tuesday, with prospects of thunderstorms over parts of Sokoto, Zamfara, Taraba, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe and Kaduna States during the afternoon or evening hours in the northern region.

It anticipated sunny skies with patches of cloud in the North-central region with prospects of morning thunderstorms over parts of Benue, Niger, Kogi and Kwara states.

Later in the day, isolated thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kwara and Kogi states.

Over the southern region, morning thunderstorms are anticipated over parts of Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States.

Later in the day, isolated thunderstorms are expected over most parts of Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, Lagos and Delta States, it said.

NiMet urged the public to take adequate precautions as strong winds might precede the rains in the areas where thunderstorms were likely to occur

It further urged the public to ensure that loose objects are fastened to avoid collision and to avoid driving under heavy rain.

Disconnect electrical appliances from electrical sockets. Stay away from tall trees to avoid impact from falling branches and broken trees.

Airline operators are advised to get airport-specific weather reports (flight documentation) from NiMet for effective planning in their operations.

Residents are advised to stay informed through weather updates from NiMet. Visit our website www.nimet.gov.ng, it said.

(NAN)

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The International Press Institute (IPI) has called for the immediate recall of the Channels TV journalists expelled from the Akwa Ibom State Government House on the state governments orders.

The Channel TV correspondent and cameraman were expelled following a video clip aired on Channels TV in which Akwa Ibom Governor, Umo Eno, was seen confirming his imminent defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The state governments reckless action is an alarming development. These journalists are experienced media personnel with a deep knowledge of government activities, and no journalist should be made to face this kind of humiliating treatment simply for doing their job. We will continue to support and encourage impartial reportage no matter the situation.

We strongly condemn the Akwa Ibom State Governments action, which is a direct attack on the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression.

The state governments action is also a gross violation of SECTION 22 of CHAPTER 2 of the constitution, which provides that The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people.

It is especially distressing and disappointing that Governor Umo Eno, considered a media-friendly state executive, could behave in this unacceptable and anti-democratic manner. We hereby remind him that independent journalism, press freedom and unbiased reportage are essential to democracy.

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READ ALSO: Akwa Ibom govt evicts Channels TV journalists from Government House

We call on the governor to immediately reverse the expulsion and save his government from further embarrassment.

*Tobi Soniyi*

IPI Legal Adviser & Chairman Advocacy Committee

*Ochiaka Ugwu*

Secretary, IPI Advocacy Committee

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The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has labelled the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, as the architect of the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In his statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, Mr Wike highlighted specific allegations against Mr Makinde, which he said contributed to sustaining the crisis in the largest opposition party.

The minister, for instance, accused Mr Makinde, his former ally, of conniving with other party leaders to sabotage agreements reached to resolve the PDP crisis.

He noted that since the 2023 general election, the PDP had been battling crises, which he claimed were caused by a lack of trust and honesty among party leaders.

Mr Wike, who led the G5 governors, said to tackle the crisis, he and other members of the group held a meeting in Lagos State.

Mr Makinde was a member of the G5, a group of PDP governors aggrieved with the partys 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the then partys National Chairperson, Iyorchia Ayu.

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In that meeting, I made it clear to the Governor of Oyo State, HE. Seyi Makinde said that he (Makinde) was the architect of our (PDP) problems, pointing out to him that non-adherence to the agreements reached was the bane of the party and that he was the chief culprit of this anomaly.

At the end of the meeting, we resolved to bury the hatchet and make progress, Mr Wike said.

The minister said a follow-up meeting was subsequently held at Sarakis Guest House in Abuja, where top PDP leaders, including the partys Acting National Chairperson, Bala Mohammed, were present.

He said although tensions rose when he accused Mr Mohammed of reneging on previous agreements, the party leadership later resolved on a number of issues.

Mr Wike said the resolutions included that Samuel Anyanwu should remain the national secretary of the PDP in tandem with Supreme Court judgment and all litigations relating to Rivers State must be withdrawn by the national legal adviser.

He said that at another meeting held in Bauchi State, PDP leadership set up a committee headed by Mr Saraki to resolve all other lingering and pending issues in the party.

It is disheartening to note that even before the Bukola Saraki Reconciliation Committee began its work, the gentlemans agreement we reached at Sarakis Guest House was already being crudely violated.

To my chagrin, Seyi Makinde had connived with Peter Mbah of Enugu State to orchestrate the summoning of the meeting of so-called South-east leaders to recommend that if (Sunday) Ude-Okoye was not adopted as (national) secretary, they would pull out of the PDP. I have since granted an interview to the effect that that resolution of the South-east leaders can not hold, the minister said.

Again, Seyi Makinde organised some people in the National Secretariat to insist that the deputy national secretary should act as national secretary, in violation of the agreement earlier reached.

Mr Wike lamented that Messrs Makinde and Mohammed allegedly portrayed as rejected the letter confirming the candidacy of the PDP governorship candidate in the forthcoming elections in Anambra State, despite being duly signed by Mr Anyanwu.

All these actions are in complete violation of the agreements reached and would not do the party any good whatsoever, he stated.

The minister further said a properly attended zonal elective congress of the PDP was aborted because the letter inviting INEC to the congress was signed by the partys deputy national secretary instead of Mr Anyanwu.

INEC refused to attend because the proper signatory recognised by law, that is Senator Samuel Anyanwu, was not a signatory to the invitation notice. This is undeniably distasteful, provocative and annoying, to say the least, he said.

Mr Wike is officially a member of the PDP, although he serves in the APC administration of President Bola Tinubu.

He has been accused of deliberately sabotaging the PDP to the benefit of the Tinubu administration but has always maintained that he is a loyal member and benefactor of the PDP.

Ive pulled out of all agreements; Ill fight on

In the Sunday statement, Mr Wike said he has decided to fight on within the opposition party until justice is attained.

Most importantly, I had thought that we could keep the trust amongst us, but since it is now obvious that they would continue to play games to the detriment of the party, as is the case in the current debacle in the North-Central zonal elections, I have now firmly decided to pull out of all agreements hitherto reached.

I have decided to fight on until justice is attained, he said.

The former Rivers State governor boasted that none of the PDP leaders allegedly stoking the crisis had performed better than him sustaining the party.

What is more painful is that I contributed substantially to most of these governors winning their elections, yet I have not made any personal demands on any of them, and I would never do so, he said.

Background

There has been an intense contest about who the authentic national secretary of the PD,is between Messrs Anyanwu and Udeh-Okoye.

The contest, which is tearing the party apart, has reached various court,s including Nigerias Supreme Court.

Mr Anyanwu, the substantive occupant of the position, had stepped aside to contest in the 11 November 2023 Imo State governorship election on the PDP platform but lost to the incumbent governor, Hope Uzodinma of the APC.

He did not, however, submit a letter of resignation for the national secretary position of the party.

Meanwhile, in October 2023, some weeks before the Imo elefvction, the leadership of the PDP in the South-east nominated Mr Ude-Okoye to replace Mr Anyanwu as the partys national secretary.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that the position of the national secretary was zoned to the South-east by the PDP in 2021 ahead of the partys national convention on 30 October of that year.

In the heat of the debate, a High Court in Enugu State, in October 2023, ordered the PDP to replace Mr Anyanwu as the partys national secretary with Mr Ude-Okoye.The former PDP national youth leader filed the suitr.

The PDPs NWC had countered the order in a motion filed on 24 October 2023.

In the motion, the NWC asked the court to set aside the order, arguing that it was obtained by fraud and suppression of material facts and also faulted the order for not being specificabouto what position Mr Udeh-Okoye should fill.

In another twist, earlier in January 2024, a Federal High Court in Abuja declared Mr Anyanwu as the valid national secretary of the PDP.

The judge, Inyang Ekwo, also restrained the national leadership of the PDP from appointing any person as its acting national secretary until the expiration of Mr Anyanwus four-year tenure on 9 December 2025, as enshrined in the partys constitution.

In December, the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, upheld the High Courts ruling that Mr Ude-Okoye be recognised as the national secretary of the PDP against Mr Anyanwu.

In the lead judgement by Ridwan Abdullahi, the appellate court said Mr Anyanwus claim to the position after he contested and emerged as the PDP governorship election in Imo State violated the partys constitution, and his appeal had no merit.

Despite the judgement, Mr Anyanwu refused to vacate office and appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court.

Mr Ude-Okoye, on his part, assumed duty on 30 December on the strength of the judgement.

However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, in January 2025, ordered both parties to maintainthe status quo until the Supreme Court resolves the appeal.

Messrs Udeh-Okoye and Anyanwu interpreted the court order differently.

Mr Ude-Okoye believes that the status quo means that he should continue to function as the PDP national secretary as pronounced by the court of appeal.

Mr Anyanwu, on his part, argued that the courts status quo order amounted to a stay of execution of the court of appeal judgment affirming Mr Ude-Okoye as national secretary.

However, the Supreme Court, on 21 March 2025, nullified the judgements of the lower court,s which sacked Mr Anyanwu as the PDP national secretary.

While Mr Anyanwu celebrated the court overturning of his sack, the PDP leadership in the South-east expressed happiness that the court held that both courts had no jurisdiction to hear the case in the first instance.

The South-east PDP celebrated the ruling of the court that matters relating to the leadership or membership of a political party fall strictly within the partys internal affairs and should not be the business of any court.

On 14 May, the South-east Zonal Executive Committee of the PDP renominated Mr Udeh-Okoye as the partys national secretary.

At a meeting in Enugu, thee PDP leaders in the zon also threatened to dump the party if its National Working Committee (NWC) refuses to ratify Mr Ude-Okoye as the national secretary.

Last Tuesday, the South-east PDP leaders presented their resolution to renominate Mr Udeh-Okoye as national secretary to the partys NWC.

Read the full statement by Wike below:

PDP CRISIS: MY POSITION

1. Since after the 2023 General election, the PDP has been wantonly swinging from one part of a slippery precipice to another, owing fundamentally to dishonesty and lack of trust amongst its key stakeholders. To stem this ugly trend, efforts have been made to arrest this pernicious virus of dishonesty and treachery and enthrone fidelity to agreements with a view to stabilizing the party and moving it forward.

2. To this end, a meeting of the G5 was held in Lagos. In that meeting, I made it clear to the Governor of Oyo State, HE. Seyi Makinde, that he was the architect of our problems, pointing out to him that non-adherence to agreements reached was the bane of the party, and that he was the chief culprit of this anomaly. At the end of the meeting, we resolved to bury the hatchet and make progress.

3. As a follow-up to the aforementioned meeting, there was an expanded meeting in Abuja involving HE. Seyi Makinde, HE. Umaru Fintri, HE. Bala Mohammed, HE, Bukola Saraki, and I in Sarakis guest house. In that meeting, I made it clear that I had no personal problems with HE. Bala Mohammed, except that he hides under the facade of Chairman of PDP Governors Forum to serially renege on agreements. Tensions rose mightily in the meeting and it took all concerned to calm frayed nerves. At the end of the meeting, we came to some resolutions, including:

a. That Senator Samuel Anyanwu remains the National Secretary of the PDP in tandem with the Supreme Court judgement.

b. All legal matters relating to Rivers State must be withdrawn by the National Legal Adviser.

c. The suit on the State of emergency be withdrawn forthwith.

d. Nobody should deviate from the agreements so reached.

In the light of the foregoing, they pleaded with me to attend the stakeholders meeting at the Bauchi Government Lodge, regardless of my many engagements. I attended the meeting and clearly reiterated my earlier concerns, and to this end and in order to resolve all other lingering and pending issues, a committee was formed, headed by HE. Bukola Saraki.

4. It is disheartening to note that even before the Bukola Saraki Reconciliation Committee began its work, the gentlemans agreement we reached at Sarakis Guest House was already being crudely violated. To my chagrin, Seyi Makinde had connived with Peter Mba of Enugu State to orchestrate the summoning of the meeting of so-called South-East leaders to recommend that if Ude Okoye was not adopted as Secretary, they would pull out of the PDP. I have since granted an interview to the effect that, that resolution of the South-East leaders can not hold.

Again, Seyi Makinde organized some people in the National Secretariat to insist that the Deputy National Secretary should act as National Secretary, in violation of the agreement earlier reached. To attempt to give credence to this farce, a letter was written by the Deputy National Secretary, calling for a meeting of the NEC of the party. Furthermore, the letter confirming the candidacy of the Governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming Governorship elections in Anambra State, duly signed by the National Secretary, Senator Anyanwu and the acting National Chairman, was portrayed as rejected by the party through a rebuttal letter signed by the National Publicity Secretary, acting on the orders of Seyi Makinde and Peter Mba. All these actions are in complete violation of the agreements reached and would not do the party any good whatsoever. On the 24th of May 2025, in Jos, for instance, a well publicized and properly attended zonal elective congress of the PDP was aborted because the letter inviting INEC to the congress was signed by the Deputy National Secretary of the party. INEC refused to attend because the proper signatory recognized by law, that is Senator Samuel Anyanwu was not a signatory to the invitation notice. This is undeniably distasteful, provocative and annoying, to say the least.

5. I have painstakingly put out all these facts so that PDP members and the general public would know the truth. I have been in this party since 1998 and have worked tirelessly for the survival of this party with all my strength and it is on record that none of these persons have done anything close to what I have done to sustain this party. What is more painful is that I contributed substantially to most of these governors winning their elections, yet I have not made any personal demands on any of them and I would never do so.

6. Most importantly, I had thought that we could keep the trust amongst us, but since it is now obvious that they would continue to play games to the detriment of the party, as is the case in the current debacle in the North-Central zonal elections, I have now firmly decided to pull out of all agreements hitherto reached. I have decided to fight on until justice is attained.

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The Chief Technical Advisors (CTAs) to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have commended the Registrar Is-haq Oloyede for exemplary leadership in handling the technical disruptions that affected the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

In a letter to Mr Oloyede, a professor, the CTAs expressed their unwavering support to the Registrar and hailed his swift and transparent response to the incident.

The letter was signed by the Secretary, Chief Technical Advisors (CTAs) of the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ibrahim Abdullahi.

The CTAs oversee technical coordination of the UTME in all 36 states and the FCT.

The technical glitch, which affected the results of over 300,000 candidates in Lagos and the South-east, had drawn widespread criticism from the board.

But the CTAs commended Mr Oloyede for his sincerity, integrity, and humility in owning up to the incident and addressing it without delay.

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They reaffirmed their loyalty to the board and pledged continued technical support to safeguard the credibility and integrity of future examinations.

They also assured the public that every effort is being made to close the gaps and strengthen the system.

Your resolve to uphold the credibility of the UTME, even in the face of adversity, continues to inspire confidence in the system, the CTAs wrote in their letter as seen by this newspaper.

These actions, taken in rapid succession, reflect not only a commitment to technical accuracy but also a moral obligation to fairness and justice for all candidates.

They also condemned attempts by some individuals to introduce religious or sectional interpretations into what they described as a purely technical matter.

Such divisive narratives are unhelpful and detract from the ongoing professional efforts to improve the examination process for the benefit of all Nigerians, they said.

Glitch in 2025 UTME

JAMB had earlier admitted that a technical error affected the results of over 370,000 candidates across 157 Lagos and the South-east centres.

The admission followed a review of the results by stakeholders invited by the board after widespread concerns about low scores by candidates.

The board attributed the glitch to a failed software update and announced a rescheduled UTME for affected candidates.

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Nigerias Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, has affirmed that the federal government will not be reinvesting in the contentious national carrier, Nigeria Air, which was suspended shortly after its launch by the previous administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Minister disclosed this in a statement shared on his X page (formerly Twitter) on Sunday in response to an article published by the Vanguard newspaper.

The article detailed the address Mr Keyamo delivered in Lagos on Friday during the launch of a book titled 100 Years of Civil Aviation in Nigeria: History, Issues and Prospects, authored by Wole Shadare.

He explained that rather than investing in the national carrier, the government is open to receiving proposals from private or public entities within and outside the country for such purposes.

The correct story should be that the FG will not invest a dime in establishing a National Carrier but is always open to proposals from private or public entities, both in and out of the country, that truly benefit Nigeria and Nigerians in establishing a National Carrier, the Ministers tweet read.

However, the Minister said before that happens, the government is concentrating on developing policies to ensure the growth and survival of local operators in the country.

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Background

In September 2023, Mr Keyamo suspended the move to establish a national carrier less than two weeks after being sworn in as Aviation Minister and about four months after his predecessor, Hadi Sirika, unveiled the controversial airline in May that year.

After several failed promises, Mr Sirika launched Nigerias national carrier, Nigeria Air, less than three days before leaving office.

The development further heightened concerns among Nigerians, as many took to social media to question the move and Mr Sirikas handling of the airlines proposed operation.

The House of Representatives Committee on Aviation later called for the suspension of the establishment of Nigeria Air and the prosecution of those involved in unveiling the national carrier, describing the exercise as a  fraud.

Since leaving office, Mr Sirika and his associates are being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged N19.4 billion contract fraud and abuse of office.

At the event on Friday, Mr Keyamo said the federal government had shelved the idea of funding a national carrier but would instead implement policies to enhance the efficiency of local operators to grow and compete with international airlines.

He reiterated that recent reforms, such as the recently revised insurance policy on leased aircraft, will help local airline operators in the acquisition and financing of aircraft.

We have shifted focus to ensure growth and development for local operators through our policies, Mr Keyamo said, adding that air traffic operators have been trained and retrained, just as revenue leakages had been addressed to boost earnings.

The minister also hinted that almost all foreign airlines had complied with his directive to patronise local caterers for in-flight catering.

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This is the story of a country still marked by its wounds, but no longer defined by them. The story of a nation that now walks with purpose where it once stumbled in panic. The battles are not all won, but for the first time in a long time, Nigeria is not on its knees. It is on its feet.

There are stories that do not scream. They unfold not on television, social media scrolls or in the exaggeration of viral tweets but in moments of stillness, in places where peace used to be a stranger and is now fully settled. They whisper from war rooms lit by strategy, not spectacle. From farmlands where once no child dared to run, but which are now echoing with laughter. From police outposts resurrected brick by brick, from rubbles and ashes. I believe this is one of those stories, a chronicle of how Nigeria, through quiet resolve and determined strategy, began to reclaim itself from the grip of chaos.

In the days before 29 May, 2023, Nigeria resembled a federation of fragilities. Boko Harams menace in the North-East had become a grim tradition. The forests of the North-West served as capitals for bandit warlords, and separatist violence in the South-East had turned whole communities into no-go zones. In Kaduna State alone, officials recorded 1,192 people killed and over 3,300 kidnapped in one year alone. By 2023, more than 35,000 had perished in the decade-long insurgency in Borno. In the oil-rich Niger Delta, pipelines suffered more attacks than some military formations. We had not only inherited chaos; we had normalised it.

But then came a change, not the kind that arrives with fireworks or national applause, but the type you almost miss until it begins to reshape your mornings. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu brought with him a clarity of purpose, and in the shadow of that vision emerged a key figure  the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, whose name evokes a different kind of fear now: fear among criminals that Nigeria has stopped sleeping.

On Thursday, the NSA was called upon at the APC midterm conference to give an account of this salient sector in the last two years. With no drama or innuendo, Ribadu gave an excellent account, using facts and figures. Many in the room nodded because like millions of Nigerians they could identify how the reign of terror that once stopped many people from going home has caved in to strategic warfare.

In two years under Tinubus leadership and Ribadus supervision, the story has become pleasant for every dispassionate follower of events. In terms of figures, over 13,500 terrorists and armed criminals have been neutralised. More than 17,000 arrests made. Over 11,200 hostages freed. More importantly, over 124,000 insurgents and their families have surrendered, handing over more than 11,000 weapons. These are not just numbers, they are milestones engraved in human relief. They are the sighs of parents who once despaired of seeing their children return from school, or from bandits camps.

In the North-West, especially Zamfara and Kaduna, 11,250 hostages have been freed, and some of the most dreaded warlords  Ali Kachala, Boderi, Halilu Sububu  are no longer here to perpetrate their reign of terror. The government also deployed a comprehensive system of non-kinetic approach, using dialogue and community engagement. Dubbed the Kaduna Model, its a precursor to a full-scale initiative called Operation Safe Corridor North-West, which is in the works. Through it, 35 repentant bandit leaders laid down their arms. It is not forgiveness out of weakness, but a recovery strategy.

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In the North-East, where peace seemed like a myth, Borno is witnessing what can only be called thoughtful rebirth. Over 13,543 insurgents have been neutralised. Over 102,000 surrendered. In the charred heartlands of the Timbuktu Triangle and the marshy lairs of Tumbu Islands, soldiers have pushed insurgents into retreat. Eleven thousand recovered weapons and 252,596 rounds of ammunition lay as silent testimony.

Villages once erased from maps are reappearing in census reports. Resettlement has moved from policy to practice, and the air hums again with the sound of trade.

The Niger Delta, once a corridor of corruption and criminal oil syndicates, has witnessed a quiet economic resurgence. Crude oil production, which had dipped to less than a million barrels per day before 2023, climbed to an average of 1.8 million barrels in 2025. This is not a fluke. It is the product of relentless operations. Operation Delta Safe dismantled 1,978 illegal refineries, 3,849 dugout pits, and 3,773 cooking ovens used to process stolen crude. The pipelines turned green  operational  for the first time in years. And then, history was made: Oil production was scheduled to resume in Ogoniland, a region silent for over three decades, this time with community consent and federal protection.

In the South-East, the tide is turning. IPOBs once-feared sit-at-home orders are losing their grip. Fifty police stations have reopened. Separatist strongholds are collapsing. The streets of Enugu, Owerri, and Abakaliki hum again, not with threats, but with trade, traffic, and talk.

Perhaps the most underreported but crucial front is cyberspace security. Ribadus war room doesnt just fight with boots on the ground  it wages battles in the cloud. The Binance case exposed billions in crypto-linked economic sabotage. Dozens of suspicious accounts tied to terrorism and separatism were frozen. The newly established National Digital Forensic Laboratory now supports military and law enforcement investigations. A robust plan to protect critical national infrastructure has been activated and enforced.

And still, Ribadu does not claim the spotlight. When he speaks, it is to remind us of the horrors we survived  the Kaduna train bombing, the Owo church massacre, the 1,841 inmates who vanished from Kuje and Owerri. He asks us not to clap but to remember.

This is not to declare total victory. The Sahel still burns with jihadist fury, and regional instability laps at our borders. Arms still flow illegally, and climate-driven conflicts remain a threat. But there is a difference now: Nigeria is not merely reacting. It is anticipating. It is prepared.

Eight pillars now guide our national security approach: intelligence, inter-agency coordination, frontline operations, equipping, aerial upgrades, cyber defense, capacity building, and international collaboration. These are not bullet points on paper; they are the reason we can now speak of progress, not just pain.

If President Tinubu lit the flame, Ribadu has guarded it, shielding it from the winds of cynicism and sabotage. Two years on, the flame does not flicker. It burns brighter.

This is the story of a country still marked by its wounds, but no longer defined by them. The story of a nation that now walks with purpose where it once stumbled in panic. The battles are not all won, but for the first time in a long time, Nigeria is not on its knees. It is on its feet.

Ismail Auwal writes from Abuja, and can be reached via [email protected]

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The Design Thinking programme, therefore, represents a strategic evolution in Future Maps mission: building a generation of thinkers and doers capable of confronting the challenges of the 21st century. By embedding values such as curiosity, empathy, experimentation, and strategic foresight, the programme is preparing participants not only for todays problems but for the evolving demands of the future.

In todays fast-paced, ever-evolving world, innovation is not a luxury  it is a necessity. The ability to think critically, empathise deeply, and solve problems creatively has become fundamental across all sectors technology, governance, education, and entrepreneurship. Whether in launching a startup, shaping public policy, or building community-based solutions, success increasingly hinges on the ability to think beyond the obvious and lead with insight and empathy.

Recognising this growing need, the Future Map Foundation, in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has launched the Design Thinking Programme  a transformative initiative aimed at equipping individuals with the tools and mindset to become creative, agile, and solution-driven leaders.

This milestone comes on the heels of Future Maps recent strategic appointment of a new Board of Directors, a move intended to deepen the Foundations impact in youth empowerment and digital innovation across Africa. The board comprises distinguished professionals including Dr Mairo Mandara, a leading public health expert; Mrs Rakiya Shuaibu Mohammed, a veteran in technology and finance; Mr Kashifu Inuwa, director-general of NITDA; and Dr Odiong Akpan, a specialist in digital infrastructure and innovation systems.

According to Future Maps CEO Ahmad Shuaibu, the board members bring decades of experience and a wealth of insight that will guide the Foundation in scaling up its training programmes in cutting-edge fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Agritech, and digital entrepreneurship. Their leadership is also expected to significantly advance gender inclusion and enhance opportunities for marginalised communities, particularly in northern Nigeria.

With a bold target to train 3,000 Nigerians in deep-tech skills by 2030, Future Map continues to drive inclusive development and foster a digitally literate, innovation-ready youth population.

Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later

This intervention is both timely and essential, given the complex realities of our time  an era defined by rapid technological advancement, globalisation, and evolving socio-political dynamics.

From artificial intelligence to climate change, the challenges facing the world are deeply interconnected and increasingly multifaceted. Traditional approaches are insufficient. Addressing todays issues requires an interdisciplinary mindset that blends technical knowledge with human insight, strategic thinking with empathy.

While technology has transformed entire industries through automation, machine learning, and big data, it has also exacerbated social inequalities and environmental concerns. Addressing these layered challenges requires individuals who can synthesise complexity, embrace ambiguity, and devise solutions that are as inclusive as they are innovative.

In this context, mental agility and adaptive thinking are no longer optional  they are critical. However, the accelerated pace of change often leads to reactive decision-making at the expense of thoughtful, lasting solutions. This is precisely where design thinking offers immense value.

Design thinking is a structured, iterative methodology rooted in empathy. It prioritises understanding user needs, defining real problems, brainstorming possible solutions, prototyping, and testing ideas in context. By placing the human experience at the centre of innovation, it helps individuals move beyond surface-level fixes to uncover practical, sustainable, and impactful outcomes.

Moreover, design thinking promotes creativity by challenging individuals to step outside conventional thought patterns. It encourages experimentation, embraces failure as part of the learning process, and cultivates a mindset of resilience. These qualities are indispensable in todays unpredictable world.

The Future Maps Design Thinking programme builds on these principles with a rich, interdisciplinary curriculum that draws insights from technology, psychology, business, and the humanities. This broad foundation enables participants to approach problems from multiple angles, make unexpected connections, and generate breakthrough ideas that might otherwise remain hidden.

One of the core strengths of the programme lies in its focus on cognitive agility  the ability to adapt thinking and strategy in response to change. In a world where fixed solutions quickly become obsolete, this type of mental flexibility becomes a vital leadership trait. Participants are challenged to reframe problems, reimagine possibilities, and make informed decisions in real-time, all while navigating uncertainty with confidence.

Another defining feature of the programme is its experiential learning model. Rather than relying solely on lectures, participants engage directly with real-world scenarios through workshops, simulations, and collaborative projects. This hands-on approach ensures that learning is not just theoretical, but deeply practical  providing immediate relevance and long-term applicability.

Collaboration is a central pillar of the learning experience. Participants work in diverse teams, bringing together different cultural, professional, and academic backgrounds. This diversity fosters inclusive dialogue, hones communication and negotiation skills, and teaches the importance of mutual respect in complex decision-making environments.

Mentorship also plays a pivotal role. The programme engages accomplished professionals as mentors, offering participants personalised guidance and critical feedback. These mentors serve not only as experts in their fields, but also as thought partners who help refine thinking, challenge assumptions, and inspire participants to reach higher levels of performance and insight.

The programmes effectiveness is underscored by Future Maps impressive track record. Through earlier initiatives such as the Future Map Academy, Innovation Hub, and Round Table Dialogues, the organisation has nurtured a growing network of innovators, technologists, and social entrepreneurs. Alumni of these programmes have gone on to lead pioneering projects in health tech, digital education, policy reform, and grassroots innovation.

Many of them credit Future Map with helping them cultivate the mindset and skills needed to drive meaningful change  skills that go beyond technical know-how to include leadership, empathy, and adaptability.

The Design Thinking programme, therefore, represents a strategic evolution in Future Maps mission: building a generation of thinkers and doers capable of confronting the challenges of the 21st century. By embedding values such as curiosity, empathy, experimentation, and strategic foresight, the programme is preparing participants not only for todays problems but for the evolving demands of the future.

As the next edition of the programme approaches, Future Map is extending an open invitation to innovators, educators, development partners, and forward-thinking organisations. Whether by participating, mentoring, or providing institutional support, stakeholders are encouraged to be part of a movement that prioritises thoughtful innovation, inclusive development, and sustainable impact.

In a world that increasingly demands cross-cutting insight, purposeful leadership, and collaborative problem-solving, this programme offers a timely and transformative opportunity. Now more than ever, it is time to invest in the kind of thinking that doesnt just react to the future  but shapes it.

Shuaib S. Agaka is a tech journalist based in Kano.

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History warns that such centralisation often enables the unchecked dominance of majority ethnic groups, institutionalises inequality, and breeds resentment. Marginalised communities may increasingly feel excluded from national power, inflaming old grievances and raising the risk of unrest or secessionist agitation.

The recent wave of defections into the All Progressives Congress (APC)  most notably the political tsunami in Delta State  has reignited fears of Nigerias gradual drift toward a one-party state.

Critics, including opposition leaders and civil society actors, accuse the ruling APC of systematically absorbing elected officials from rival parties  governors, senators, and lawmakers at both state and federal levels  thereby orchestrating a de facto one-party system.

The APC, however, claims these defections are voluntary, crediting the performance and vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the driving force behind the mass migration.

Yet, a recent statement from APC National Chairman Abdullahi Umar Ganduje should worry any proponent of democracy. On Friday, 9 May, after leading three PDP senators from Kebbi State  Adamu Aliero, Yahaya Abdullahi, and Garba Maidoki  to visit President Tinubu, Ganduje remarked:

A one-party state is not by force. Its by negotiation. Its because other political parties see the effect of the positive governance of our party. If they decide to come to our party willingly, I think there is nothing wrong with that.

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While this may sound like a political win for APC loyalists, it presents an existential threat to Nigerias democratic architecture  a system already held together by fragile bonds of pluralism, inclusivity, and the informal North-South power rotation arrangement.

Nigeria is not just a democratic state. It is a diverse federation of ethnicities, religions, and regions. Its political stability depends not only on the conduct of elections, but also on the perception  and reality  of equity and representation.

Despite its imperfections, the multi-party system has offered Nigerians a platform to express divergent voices, hold the ruling class accountable, and preserve a semblance of national balance.

Flirting with the idea of a one-party state risks unraveling that balance. History offers cautionary tales. During the 2000s, the then-dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appeared poised to entrench a one-party regime. But its failure to uphold the North-South rotational presidency triggered internal fractures.

The alleged third-term agenda under President Olusegun Obasanjo and the emergence of another southern candidate, Goodluck Jonathan, following the death of President Umaru Musa YarAdua in 2010, alienated the North. That breach in the zoning arrangement planted seeds of discontent that eventually fractured the PDP and catalyzed the rise of the APC in 2015.

In 2023, the PDP once again dismissed the zoning principle by fielding Atiku Abubakar, a Northerner, after Muhammadu Buhari  also a Northerner  had completed two terms. This decision reignited internal dissent and significantly contributed to the partys electoral downfall.

Ironically, the APC, which once benefited from PDPs zoning missteps, nearly repeated the same error. There were credible indications that then-Senate President Ahmad Lawan, a Northern candidate, was favoured by some power blocs to succeed Buhari. Had that succeeded, the presidency might have remained in the North beyond the agreed cycle.

It took the political audacity and grassroots strength of Bola Ahmed Tinubu  a Southern stalwart within the APC  to reaffirm the necessity of Southern leadership. His eventual emergence as the APCs presidential candidate momentarily restored Nigerias North-South equilibrium.

But what happens if these internal democratic checks disappear? What if dissenting voices are absorbed or silenced, and no viable opposition remains to challenge imbalance or injustice?

Leaving Nigerias fragile rotational balance in the hands of a single dominant party  especially one guided by self-serving political elites  may prove disastrous.

History warns that such centralisation often enables the unchecked dominance of majority ethnic groups, institutionalises inequality, and breeds resentment. Marginalised communities may increasingly feel excluded from national power, inflaming old grievances and raising the risk of unrest or secessionist agitation.

This is the real danger of a one-party system: a political landscape where genuine choice becomes an illusion, debate is stifled, and delicate regional power-sharing arrangements are discarded.

The sustainability of Nigerias democracy does not lie in political monopolies, but in the strength of its pluralism. A one-party state may offer short-term political comfort, but it leads to democratic decay, authoritarian drift, and eventual disintegration.

What Nigeria needs is not fewer political parties, but stronger institutions, vibrant opposition, and renewed commitment to fairness, balance, and national unity.

The allure of dominance must give way to the discipline of democracy  because in a nation as complex and diverse as Nigeria, power must always be shared, not seized.

Umar Farouk Bala writes from Abuja. [email protected].

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TOKYO - Much of the world may have moved on from the coronavirus pandemic, but a painful legacy lingers in Japan: hospitals continuing to restrict patient visitations, even in the case of people wishing to see terminally ill loved ones.

In early 2025, Japan marked five years since its first COVID-19 case, after which the disease claimed more than 130,000 lives up until August 2024.

Infections have reappeared in seasonal waves even after the government downgraded the threat in May 2023 and placed COVID-19 in the same risk category as seasonal influenza.

For families who want to see hospitalized loved ones, Japan appears to be stuck in time. Hospital websites continue to post "COVID-19" bulletins about visitations such as requiring masks and temperature checks, setting time limits and restricting the number of visitors.

Now a group of physicians and social workers is demanding the restrictions be abolished or curbed, calling them a violation of human rights.

"It's unthinkable to me that they're still this strict," said a doctor in his 30s from the Tokyo metropolitan area on condition of anonymity, expressing a mixture of surprise and disgust at the continued COVID policies.

In January, his wife's mother was hospitalized with cancer at a facility in Akita Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

The hospital had said that visitation was only available for "two family members," and his wife was not permitted to see her own mother -- at least at first on hospital grounds.

Hopeful they would be allowed to see her after she was moved to a restriction-eased palliative care ward in March, they went to Akita with their child to visit the wife's mother.

But when the Tokyo doctor tried explaining to the hospital staff that "this might be the last time" for the woman to see her grandchild, they refused, arguing that children are not permitted due to their high risk of transmitting infection, saying rules are rules.

However, after the family persisted, the hospital said the woman "can meet with anyone if she leaves the hospital temporarily."

A "nursing taxi," a car service catering specifically for persons with special needs, was hastily arranged to bring her home where she was able to see her daughter, grandchild, family and friends.

The doctor was not at all satisfied with the effort.

"If this was supposed to be an infection control measure, the hospital's response contradicts itself," he said, adding even pets are allowed on hospital visitations. "How is it that patients are allowed to see their dogs and cats but not their grandchildren?"

The doctor is an infectious disease specialist and was involved in the pandemic response at a Tokyo hospital. Looking at the situation overseas, he said, "Japan's restrictions on visitation are excessive. I think there is an aspect of the medical field here that thinks it is easier not to have hospital visitations."

The health ministry has recommended that "consideration be given to ensuring opportunities for visits as much as possible, keeping in mind both the importance of visitations and infection-control measures," but has left specific policy measures to individual hospitals and medical facilities.

Last fall, a group of doctors who comprise an association for post-COVID 19 medical and welfare issues examined the situation at university and Red Cross hospitals across the country. It found that most had some restrictions still in place. There were some that do not allow visitations at all.

Kazuya Iwai, co-chair of the association and chief doctor of infection control at Shizuoka City Shizuoka Hospital in central Japan, says there are no restrictions at his hospital and children are also permitted to visit patients.

Although the hospital does not require masks, there is no difference in infection rates compared with other hospitals, he adds.

"There is no scientific evidence that visitation restrictions are effective in preventing the spread of infections," Iwai said.

"It is an important right for hospitalized patients to visit their loved ones, but patients and their families are reluctant to say so because they feel an obligation since they are being cared for," he points out.

Although there are moves to gradually ease restrictions, he warned, "If the easing is at the discretion of the hospitals, there is a risk that they will return to strict policies depending on their situations of infection and other factors. The public needs to raise its voice and speak out."

"Not being able to see family members in their final days is a human rights violation. The disadvantages are far greater than the advantages," he said.
The evidence is everywhere in the rising casualty count which NSA Nuhu Ribadu will not acknowledge. According to monitoring coalition, Nigeria Mourns, 4,416 people were killed in atrocities in Nigeria in 2023. In 2024, President Tinubus first full year in office, the number rose by 21.2 per cent to 5,353, including 308 security personnel. Some 88.5 per cent of these killings occurred in Northern Nigeria. Another 5,171 were abducted.

Marte, the headquarters of the eponymous Local Government Area (LGA) on the western floodplains of the Lake Chad in Borno State, North-East Nigeria, has been a site of lingering contest between Nigerian troops on the one hand and Islamist insurgents of Boko Haram on the other for over one decade. At 3,154 km2 , Marte LGA is just a little under the size of all of Lagos State.

For a while, between 2014 and 2015, Boko Haram reportedly bivouacked in Marte on its way to its more permanent operational headquarters in the Sambisa Forest. For much of 2015, control of the town exchanged hands in succession between the Nigerian Army and Boko Haram. Around May 2015, Boko Haram reportedly took back the city from the Nigerian troops who had held it for three months from February of the same year.

For the most part, Nigeria has controlled Marte thereafter with the exception of a brief duration in 2021, when the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) temporarily visited havoc upon a military base in Marte.

All that appears to have changed recently. Around Monday, 12 May, Islamist insurgents reportedly attacked the Forward Operating Base of the 153rd Task Force Battalion in Marte, resulting in considerable carnage. Sources familiar with the early morning attack reported that over 10 soldiers were killed and hundreds of personnel deserted. The (terrorists) burnt down armored tanks and made away with arms and ammunition. The beleaguered governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has been left appealing to his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure that Marte does not fall back into the hands of Boko Haram and its allies.

In the same week that they attacked Marte, the insurgents also attacked the 3rd Battalion base in Rann, Kala Balge district, killing at least five soldiers and leaving at least four others reportedly injured. The intensity and scope of the attacks by Boko Haram in Borno State in the past six months led the state governor to raise an alarm last April, suggesting that the country was losing ground in the fight against Islamist terror.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, a retired assistant inspector-general of the Nigeria Police Force, who has run for and is credibly rumoured to retain ambitions for another tilt at the presidency, ostensibly failed to get the governors memorandum. Addressing the National Summit, so-called, of the APC, the NSA claimed to have killed 13,543 Boko Haram elements in the first two years of the administration and recovered over 11,000 arms from them. He notably did not mention the haul of arms the insurgents have been busy harvesting from Nigerian military formations. Over the same period, he claimed, 124,408 Boko Haram fighters and their families also surrendered.

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It is unfortunate that the ruling party has chosen to make national security a party political matter. It is even more tragic that the wannabe political opposition has allowed it to get away with it. The result is a vacuum of leadership in the security sector filled and fed with an atrocious body count of Nigerian casualties, whose death and suffering barely registers on the priorities of the people supposed to protect the country, its people and communities.

In September 2023, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger created their own collective security arrangement and orbited off into the realm of Russias mercenary diplomacy. Since then, the consequences for Nigeria have been stark. In the period since September 2023 and despite the fantasies of NSA Nuhu Ribadu, Nigerias internal security situation has disintegrated into mayhem.

The central problem is a failure of strategy. To understand this, it is necessary to explain that the presidency is many jobs in one. A president is  among other things  party leader, chief marketer of the country, head of government, and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces. Every one of these roles of the president can be delegated, except the last. As Commander-In-Chief, the president sets security strategy.

For over 50 years, Nigerias national security strategy docked onto the neighbourhood of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). There was good reason for that. The countrys northern boundaries feed into the southern rim of the Sahel. With Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to its north as founding members of ECOWAS, the country could count solidly on friendly neighbours as buffers against the historical brutalities of Sahelian violence.

This understanding was at the heart of the transformation of the ECOWAS from an economic integration arrangement envisioned at its foundation in 1975 into a collective security arrangement in 1981. For much of the period since then, this arrangement held together.

However, following the military coup in Niger Republic in July 2023, the country lost its marbles and decided to bite its nose in order to spite its sovereign face. On behalf of ECOWAS, President Tinubu committed the blunder of threatening to invade another member of the ECOWAS collective security arrangement. He alone knows what he was thinking.

The hubris of President Tinubus handling of the coup crisis in Nigeria is inexplicable. With a landmass of over 1.267 million km2, Niger Republic constituted about 22 per cent of the 5.8 million km2 of the landmass of ECOWAS. The idea of an invasion of the country in order to militarily restore the ousted administration of President Mohamed Bazoum was always worse than bluster; it was plainly unviable.

In invoking war against Niger on behalf of ECOWAS, President Tinubu managed in one stroke to violate the prohibition against the use of force in international law; create the impression that Nigerias Sahelian neighbours did not matter; and suggest that France was a more important factor to Nigerias neighbourhood strategy than its immediate neighbours.

That much should have been evident to the people who thought up the idea. But the damage was beyond a resort to fantastic bluster where hard-nosed rationality was needed. The costs have been prohibitive and rising; and the result has been devastating.

On 28 May, the civic Coalition Nigeria Mourns invites all Nigerians wherever they may be to spare a thought for all these victims and their loved ones in a National Day of Mourning (NDoM) to rage, resist, and demand action from the government in memory of all who have been killed or violated. A more responsible government would not have waited for a group of un-armed, un-elected citizens to remind them.

In September 2023, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger created their own collective security arrangement and orbited off into the realm of Russias mercenary diplomacy. Since then, the consequences for Nigeria have been stark. In the period since September 2023 and despite the fantasies of NSA Nuhu Ribadu, Nigerias internal security situation has disintegrated into mayhem.

In the North-West states of Sokoto and Kebbi, a new terror group, Lakurawa, has taken root. South of Kebbi, in Kwara State, another new terror group, Mahmuda, runs murderously rampant. To the east of Kwara in Nigerias Middle Belt, vast swathes of territory and communities in Benue, Nasarawa, and Plateau states are being emptied in intense attacks credited to so-called foreign herdsmen.

The politicians are reluctant to acknowledge what is obvious and the soldiers have been trained not to say that their Commander-In-Chief has left them in an insecurity pickle. But that is exactly what President Tinubu has done with the way he has brought about the transformation of ECOWAS from an integrated security arrangement for the region into a rump of an association of Atlantic West African States (AAWAS).

The evidence is everywhere in the rising casualty count which NSA Nuhu Ribadu will not acknowledge. According to monitoring coalition, Nigeria Mourns, 4,416 people were killed in atrocities in Nigeria in 2023. In 2024, President Tinubus first full year in office, the number rose by 21.2 per cent to 5,353, including 308 security personnel. Some 88.5 per cent of these killings occurred in Northern Nigeria. Another 5,171 were abducted.

Behind these numbers are people, families, communities, traumas that both Nuhu Ribadu and the ruling APC will not allow Nigerians to see, hear, acknowledge or mourn. They are the experiences of loss and indignity that the dissolute wannabes in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) cannot bring themselves to ask the APC to account for or acknowledge.

On 28 May, the civic Coalition Nigeria Mourns invites all Nigerians wherever they may be to spare a thought for all these victims and their loved ones in a National Day of Mourning (NDoM) to rage, resist, and demand action from the government in memory of all who have been killed or violated. A more responsible government would not have waited for a group of un-armed, un-elected citizens to remind them.

Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a lawyer, teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and can be reached through [email protected].

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Trump literally ambushed Ramaphosa, lectured him, bullied him, spoke down at him, accused his government and people of heinous crimes, kept interrupting him when he attempted to speak, mocked his role as a peacemaker in the Ukraine/Russia conflict, and sought to utterly humiliate him To behave in this unacceptable manner and indulge in such mendacious falsehood is below any president, let alone the most powerful one in the world.

It was quite a show at the Oval office in the White House a few days ago when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with American President Donald J Trump to discuss bilateral issues and world affairs.

It began with Trumps unsubstantiated and frankly asinine allegation that the white Boers of South Africa are being subjected to mass murder, ethnic cleansing and genocide.

This is not only false but also painfully absurd.

Sadly it did not stop there. Trump went on to assert that Julius Malema, the inspirational, charismatic and colourful MP and leader and founder of the South African Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), is a hate-filled black supremacist, racist, cold-blooded murderer, and ruthless terrorist, whose intention it is to kill every white person in South Africa.

Needless to say these allegations are baseless and false. The Americans are attempting to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. It is nothing but yet another well-crafted but unsubstantiated mendacity.

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Even though Malema is very vocal and highly controversial, he does not strike me as a hater of whites but rather a hater of injustice, oppression, persecution and institutional racism.

He is a man with a social conscience who speaks for the poor, the weak, the vulnerable and the oppressed, and who has constituted himself into a major thorn in the flesh of the political establishment, and the ruling elites in South Africa, both white and black.

He is very eloquent, well-informed, well-read and quick off the mark, and these qualities, coupled with his obvious courage and strength, make him a formidable adversary, which every person of class, rank or privilege in his country has every reason to be wary of.

He also speaks a good deal of sense, while his passion for the truth, justice and equity for the black majority population of South Africa, and commitment to the emancipation of the African continent from the forces of imperialism and neo-colonialism, cannot be denied.

To millions of South Africans, Malema is a deeply courageous, insightful and profound man, and possibly the greatest post-Mandela hero and rising star that their nation has ever known.

To add to this, millions of Africans (including Nigerians and Zimbabweans) who live in South Africa regard him as a loyal and trusted friend, who has always spoken up for them and sought to protect them from the rabid xenophobia that most black South Africans suffer from, and who has a strong and commendable Nkrumaist Pan-African vision.

For Trump and his White House to attempt to disparage such a man who brings so much to the table and who has done so much to restore the self-respect and dignity of black South Africans and Africans all over the world, simply because he sang an old, outdated, pre-independence, Aparthied-era, anti-Boer war song at his political party rally is uncharitable and unkind.

To turn down the lights of the Oval Office, watch a film on him on television for four good minutes and make him the centre of discussion at a bilateral meeting between the presidents of two of the most respected nations on earth, only proves the fact that he is no longer only an African phenomenon but also a global brand and a rallying point for blacks from all over the world.

To that extent, Trump has inadvertently elevated his profile, rather than diminished it.

Like in the case of the Biblical Joseph, what Trump meant for evil, God meant for good.

Yet, perhaps the most shameful thing that Trump did on that day was not what he attempted to do to Malema but rather the following.

He presented a picture to Ramaphosa and his delegation of what was purportedly 1000 white South African graves with white crosses on them of white South African farmers who were supposedly dispossessed of their land by black terrorists and murdered in cold blood.

Contrary to the American presidents assertions, it was later confirmed that the picture was NOT of the graves of white farmers in South Africa but rather of a burial ground in a completely different country called Congo!

One wonders how the president of the most powerful nation on earth could make such an egregious and monumental blunder and indulge in such deceit and doublespeak, all in an attempt to humiliate the South African president.

I see the hand of Elon Musk, who is a South African and who has not hidden his contempt and disdain for the ANC-led South African government and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government has been accused by South Africa of genocide and indeed taken to the International Court of Justice and to the International Criminal Court both at the Hague, in all this.

Sadly, it didnt stop there. Trump literally ambushed Ramaphosa, lectured him, bullied him, spoke down at him, accused his government and people of heinous crimes, kept interrupting him when he attempted to speak, mocked his role as a peacemaker in the Ukraine/Russia conflict, and sought to utterly humiliate him.

To behave in this unacceptable manner and indulge in such mendacious falsehood is below any president, let alone the most powerful one in the world.

I see the hand of Elon Musk, who is a South African and who has not hidden his contempt and disdain for the ANC-led South African government and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government has been accused by South Africa of genocide and indeed taken to the International Court of Justice and to the International Criminal Court both at the Hague, in all this.

Both must have thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle!

Yet, the truth is that even if his predominately white right-wing MAGA base in America may have been excited and thrilled by his proverbial lynching and carpeting of a helpless and whimpering black president at the Oval Office, it has also alienated a lot of blacks and particularly African Trumpers like me, who have always refused to regard Trump as a racist but rather as a man who was specially chosen, prepared, raised and anointed by God to destroy the American Deep State. And, to terminate the Godless agenda of the globalists, to stop the wars of the world, to put God at the centre of affairs when it comes to politics and governance, to re-establish and re-instil the Christian virtues and values that America was built on, to break the back of the unholy, Luciferous trinity and anti-Christ philosophy of Obama, Clinton and Biden in world affairs and American politics.

I sincerely hope that we do not end up regretting our support for him, but if he continues in this way that support shall undoubtedly dwindle.

Why do I day this? Consider the following.

First, it was let us grab Greenland, Canada, Mexico, the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal and rename the Gulf of Persia, then it was let us turn Gaza into an American Riviera, then it was let us wage a tariff war against the nations of the world, then it was let us alienate and abandon our European allies, then it was let us provoke China, then it was let us go to the three richest nations in the Middle East and compel their Kings to invest trillions of dollars in America and even give us a new presidential jet. Then it was let us bring the little African leader who leads a country with the largest and most prosperous economy on his continent to the Oval office, humiliate him before the world and bully him into leaving our white brothers in South Africa alone, and the latest is let us stop foreign students from attending Harvard University because the authorities of that school have refused to bring to an end the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that are taking place on campus.

These actions are increasingly troubling and whether we have hitherto admired, loved and prayed for Trump or not, we cannot support a confirmed bully and racist. That would be ungodly.

We cannot support a man who finds it difficult to empathise with the suffering of others or who is fast losing his humanity. That would be incorrigible.

Trump needs to retrace his steps, divest himself of these glaring and obvious symptoms of megalomania, obsessive vanity and extreme narcissism, and get real.

God did not deliver him from the hands of his enemies and make him president to do this sort of nonsense but rather to make America great again and to make the world a better and safer place. If he fails to do this, God will leave him, remove him and replace him with another.

Back to the episode at the White House.

Cyril Ramaphosas responses to the grilling were equally embarrassing and frankly disappointing.

Most Western commentators have described his disposition, body language and reaction as weak, cowardly and cringeworthy and I am constrained to concur.

No president should bow and tremble before another, no matter how rich and powerful the latter may be.

In the African context, Nelson Mandela would not have done so and neither would have Murtala Mohammed, Olusegun Obasanjo, Jerry Rawlings, Thomas Sankara, Ahmed Ben Bella, Muammar Ghadafi, Patrice Lumumba, Gamal Nasser, Sani Abacha, Ibrahim Babangida, Kwame Nkrumah, Muhammadu Buhari, Robert Mugabe, Samora Machel or Ibrahim Traore.

This ritual of inviting foreign leaders to the Oval office, like King Hussein of Jordan (who literally had to bow and lick Trumps posterior), President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine (who was insulted, rubbished, humiliated and finally thrown out), and now Cyril Ramaphosa (who was forced to watch an embarrassing scene about his country on television), and belittling and denigrating them must stop.

As much as I love and support Trump, his attitude and policy on Africa and Gaza leaves much to be desired He needs to do better and he must understand that the Palestinians and the Africans, though facing challenges, are far more resilient than his people ever were and come from a far older and greater civilisation than his country ever did We may not have their money and power but we have God.

The humiliation of the South African president, particularly, was painful for me to watch because of the frightful history of his country and the terrible atrocities and apartheid system that the white Afrikaaner Boers subjected the black Africans to for hundreds of years.

They went through all that and now they have to suffer this in the hands of yet another white man.

This same white minority that oppressed and enslaved them in their own land for hundreds of years control 80 per cent of the economy and own 90 per cent of the land in their country today, despite the fact that they only constitute eight per cent of the population.

These are the people who Trump is claiming are being subjected to genocide and is offering asylum in America.

These are people who in the main and in the past have regarded black Africans as being no better than animals.

These are people who practised apartheid and described black people as the biblical hewers of the wood and drawers of the water.

These are the people who once regarded a black man as being a quarter of a human being, and not only refused to have legal inter-racial sex or marriages but compelled black people to live in shanty towns that were little better than concentration camps. And who subjected them to pass laws much in the sane way as the Israelis are subjecting the Palestinians to such inhumanity and degradation today.

If a Nigerian leader had been treated like this in the Oval office and I was in the room, believe me all hell would have broken loose and Trump, his VP, his ministers, his team and the American White House Press Corps would not only have got more than they dished out and bargained for but they would have been given a curt history lesson about the past and present atrocities of their nation and a thorough and precise lecture about the matter at hand.

I am a Trump supporter, but in all matters my nation and continent must come first.

I despise the way he bullied Ramaphosa and I hope and pray that he or any other foreign leader never tries this with any Nigerian leader who I am in the room with.

The days of talking down at African presidents are long over.

More importantly, the days of cowardly, weak, subservient, spineless, grovelling, corrupt, compromised and ignorant African lichspittles and quislings, who call themselves leaders but who lack self-esteem, self-respect and pride in their people and who have no shame or dignity, who are hopelessly compromised, who have no knowledge of world affairs or world history, who are pawns of the neo-colonialists and imperialists and who have sold their soul and destiny of their nation to the western powers, are long over.

This fact can be confirmed by what can best be described as the Traore spirit that is blowing into all the nooks and corners of our continent today.

As much as I love and support Trump, his attitude and policy on Africa and Gaza leaves much to be desired.

He needs to do better and he must understand that the Palestinians and the Africans, though facing challenges, are far more resilient than his people ever were and come from a far older and greater civilisation than his country ever did.

We may not have their money and power but we have God.

Their time is now but tomorrow belongs to us. That God who put them up there and established their hegemony and empire shall remember us.

We too shall rise and at that time all men shall say that the rejected stone has become the corner stone, that the Lord uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wisdom of the wise and that in truth all things are possible with God.

Femi Fani-Kayode is the Sadaukin Shinkafi, the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, a former Minister of Aviation and a former Minister of Culture and Tourism.

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God hates the pleasures of men.

The pleasures of men are varied, (King Ahasuerus) had ordered all the officers of his household, that they should do according to each mans pleasure. (Esther 1:8). But God prescribes only One pleasure for believers. That One pleasure is Himself.

God hates what pleases men. Jesus says, What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15).

God requires man to forsake his pleasures for His sake. He told me to forsake my favourite drinks, Coke and Fanta, and I have not had any of them in over 25 years.

Some pleasures He will require you to forsake permanently for His sake. Others He will require you to forsake for a season or some days. But if you are His son, one thing is certain: He will require you to forsake your pleasures at some time or the other. Jesus says: Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:33).

Gods Good Pleasure

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God is passionately committed to His pleasure. He declares in Isaiah, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. (Isaiah 46:10). He says of Cyrus: He shall perform all My pleasure. (Isaiah 44:28).

God the Father declared from heaven that He was well pleased with Jesus on two occasions, at His baptism and transfiguration. He said: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17, 17:5).

God was pleased because Jesus knew the good pleasure of God, and He was determined to do it.

The Israelites thought it was their sacrifices and offerings that pleased God. But God kept sending His prophets to tell them He was not concerned about them. But they did not listen.

The Holy Spirit spoke a Messianic psalm by the mouth of David: Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of Me. I delight to do Your will, O My God, and Your law is within My heart. (Psalm 40:6-8).

God was pleased with Jesus because the man Jesus did not come to the earth to do His own will, but the will of God. Jesus did not do what pleased Jesus but did what pleased God. This is all the more remarkable because what pleased God was not convenient for Jesus.

It pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. (Isaiah 53:10).

The pleasure of the Lord was to put Jesus through a terrible ordeal so that man would be saved. Paul says:

Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth  in Him. (Ephesians 1:9-10).

Jesus did not pursue His own pleasure but was devoted to what gave pleasure to God. He knew that what gives pleasure to God is the salvation of men. As He said to His disciples: It is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32).

On the way to the cross, the man Jesus asked God the Father if there was any other way that His good pleasure in the salvation of men could be accomplished.

He knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. (Luke 22:41-42).

The answer was that there was no other way. The good pleasure of the Lord in the salvation of souls could only be achieved with the cross. For man to be saved, Jesus would have to face a bruising and agonising death on the cross on behalf of all men. He would have to be a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Thereby, the good pleasure of God would be fulfilled through the redemption of men to eternal fellowship with God.

For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. (Psalm 149:4).

What is the work that God is doing in believers for His good pleasure? He is working salvation in the midst of the earth. (Psalm 74:12).

The Father loves Jesus because Jesus agreed to embrace this plan of salvation, even though it was unpleasant. Jesus says:

Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. (John 10:17-18).

Jesus then tells us we are required to follow His example:

He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honour. (John 12:25-26).

Who are those who love their lives in this world? They are those who are devoted to their own pleasures. They are those who do their own will. They are those who live in pleasure. Paul says: She who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. (1 Timothy 5:6).

Lovers of pleasure cannot be lovers of God. Lovers of pleasure cannot do the will of God. Jesus says: Not My will but Yours be done. But lovers of pleasure say, like Frank Sinatra: I did it my way.

Avoidance of Suffering

Those who opt for the bad pleasures of this life and try to avoid suffering cannot enter the kingdom of God. This is because God has decreed, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22).

Those devoted to bad pleasures who try to avoid tribulation easily fall into sin. Thus Elihu cautions: Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, for you have chosen this rather than affliction. (Job 36:21).

We cannot learn obedience without suffering.

Obedience requires us to do what we dont want to do, or what we find inconvenient.

Sacrifices of Righteousness

Why do believers fast? The classical answer says we fast to draw near to God, subdue the flesh and be spiritually minded. But we dont just fast, we fast to the Lord. For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. (Romans 11:36).

We fast because Jesus returned to heaven, and we want to be near Him on earth. The scriptures tell us:

The disciples of John came to Him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. (Matthew 9:14-15).

Those days are already here.

But even more significantly, we fast because God hates the pleasures of men. When we fast, we fast our pleasures. God asks:

Why have we fasted, they say, and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice? In fact, in the day of your fast, you find pleasure. (Isaiah 58:3).

Then He counsels:

If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honourable, and shall honour Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth (Isaiah 58:13-14).

Therefore, James cautions:

You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:3).

God is jealous that we find pleasure outside of Himself. He insists (He) is the Desire of All Nations. (Haggai 2:7).

The word of God must be our food and drink. Jesus says:

It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4).

Jeremiah says to God: Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16).

[email protected]; www.femiaribisala.com

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Pan-Africanism must be reclaimed  not as nostalgia, but as a practical and urgent roadmap. It must guide our trade policies, our education systems, our conflict resolution mechanisms, and our global diplomacy. It must be people-driven, not elite-dominated. And, most importantly, it must deliver tangible benefits to everyday Africans. This Africa Day, let us reflect not just on where we have come from, but where we are going  and whether we are headed there together, or apart. The AU must be more than a secretariat of summits. It must be the engine of a united, just, and prosperous Africa.

On this Africa Day, as Africans commemorate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963  now the African Union (AU)  one is compelled to ask: Have we, as Africans, lost touch with the ideals that inspired our forebears? Have we become too quick to forget the dream of a united, prosperous, and self-reliant Africa? An Africa built on solidarity, non-alignment, and the shared struggles and aspirations of its people? Pan-Africanism, once a powerful rallying cry against colonial rule and for collective dignity, has now been reduced in many quarters to a ceremonial slogan. Yet, the urgency of its message has never been more relevant. Sixty-two years after the AUs establishment, Africa still battles the persistent forces of poverty, violent conflict, foreign exploitation, and weak institutions.

The African Union at 62: A Legacy of Progress and Paralysis

The AU, to its credit, has achieved several milestones in its six-decade existence. It has helped entrench normative frameworks that uphold democratic governance, human rights, peace and security, and economic development. Notably, the adoption of Agenda 2063  Africas ambitious blueprint for inclusive growth and sustainable development  offers a vision of a continent that is peaceful, integrated, and prosperous. Similarly, the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) stands as one of the AUs landmark achievements. It promises to boost intra-African trade, create jobs, and strengthen regional value chains by breaking down economic barriers that have long fragmented the continent.

The AU has also amplified African voices in multilateral forums, such as the G20, and has coordinated the A3+1 (Africa plus the Caribbean) at the UN Security Council to unify positions on global issues. It has reached out to Africans in the diaspora, declaring 2024 as a year to demand reparations and restorative justice, which is a bold step in recognising historical wrongs and reclaiming African dignity. Health-wise, the establishment of the Africa CDC and its coordinated COVID-19 response were timely. The AUs pushback against vaccine apartheid exposed the double standards of the international community, and although it came at a heavy cost, it also signalled Africas readiness to assert itself.

Where the AU Falls Short

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But these gains are tempered by significant shortcomings. The AU has struggled to respond swiftly and decisively to violent conflicts. In Ethiopia, it took nearly two years to meaningfully engage, while thousands perished. The Principle of Non-Indifference, enshrined in the AU Constitutive Act, too often seems more theoretical than practical. Its numerous frameworks to counter military coups and promote constitutional rule have not translated into effective deterrents. Between 2020 and 2023, West Africa witnessed nine coup attempts  five of them successful. While the AU has rightly condemned such unconstitutional changes, it lacks robust strategies to address the slow erosion of democracy, misgovernance, and tenure elongation by civilian leaders  issues that often provide the pretext for military intervention.

Even among African people and national leaders, unity remains elusive. Ethnic nationalism, identity politics, and unresolved historical grievances continue to divide African communities. Tensions between Rwanda and the DRC, diplomatic rifts involving South Africa, Uganda, and others, as well as the standoff between Somaliland and Somalia, betray the fragile state of intra-African relations.

The deeper question remains: Should the AU remain a loose intergovernmental organisation, or should it evolve into a supranational authority capable of enforcing decisions and ensuring member states uphold agreed standards? Until this is answered decisively, many of its lofty ideals will remain paper promises.

Is Africa Moving in the Right Direction?

As a continent, it is not just about movement, but direction. And the signs are troubling. In 2024, over 35 million Africans were displaced due to violent conflict. Countries like Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remain trapped in cycles of violence, often underreported and neglected. Meanwhile, 600 million Africans lack reliable electricity, and nearly half of Sub-Saharan Africas population lives in poverty. Rather than prioritising urgent domestic and continental issues, African leaders are flying in droves to summits in Riyadh, Paris, or Beijing, while the continent burns. Where is our strategic focus? Where is the political will to make Agenda 2063 more than an aspirational document?

The Fractured House: Intra-African Discord and Global Relations

Even among African people and national leaders, unity remains elusive. Ethnic nationalism, identity politics, and unresolved historical grievances continue to divide African communities. Tensions between Rwanda and the DRC, diplomatic rifts involving South Africa, Uganda, and others, as well as the standoff between Somaliland and Somalia, betray the fragile state of intra-African relations. How can African leaders preach Pan-Africanism abroad, while practising parochialism at home?

Internationally, the situation is equally contradictory. In the Sahel, military juntas, under the guise of sovereignty and anti-West rhetoric, have expelled French troops only to deepen alliances with Russia, China, and Turkey. While there might be a need to diversify partnerships, this is hardly ideological independence  its simply changing patrons. Africa sits on critical resources that the world desperately needs  cobalt, lithium, rare earth minerals, oil, gas, and arable land. Yet, African leaders still negotiate from a position of weakness, exporting raw materials and importing finished products. This power asymmetry continues because of the failure to unite Africas bargaining power and prioritise its interests first.

If Africas political elites fail to renegotiate the social contract, respect democratic values, halt tenure elongations, and deliver basic public goods, they risk a set of youth-led protests and more waves of youth-instigated military coups. A continent as youthful and dynamic as Africa will not wait forever.

The Shifting Political Environment

Africas political terrain is also undergoing dramatic shifts. In South Africa, the possibility of a Government of National Unity (GNU) reflects growing voter discontent with long-dominant liberation movements. Botswana, often hailed for its stable democracy, is seeing a rising opposition. Elsewhere, ruling parties that once commanded loyalty on the basis of their roles in liberation struggles, are now facing electoral hostility. This is not just a rejection of parties  it is a cry against non-performance. Citizens are demanding results, not rhetoric. Unintentionally, in some cases, this disillusionment is turning into the rejection of democracy itself, with young people increasingly viewing elections as meaningless rituals that merely recycle elites.

If Africas political elites fail to renegotiate the social contract, respect democratic values, halt tenure elongations, and deliver basic public goods, they risk a set of youth-led protests and more waves of youth-instigated military coups. A continent as youthful and dynamic as Africa will not wait forever.

Reclaiming the Pan-African Dream

Pan-Africanism must be reclaimed  not as nostalgia, but as a practical and urgent roadmap. It must guide our trade policies, our education systems, our conflict resolution mechanisms, and our global diplomacy. It must be people-driven, not elite-dominated. And, most importantly, it must deliver tangible benefits to everyday Africans. This Africa Day, let us reflect not just on where we have come from, but where we are going  and whether we are headed there together, or apart. The AU must be more than a secretariat of summits. It must be the engine of a united, just, and prosperous Africa.

Until then, the dream of Pan-Africanism will remain just that  a dream, deferred.

Adeoye O. Akinola is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg. He also heads the African Union Studies Unit.

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Jigawa State Pilgrims Welfare Board has foiled an attempted cheating on its pilgrims in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, rushing to get diamond, gold or silver teeth through third party agents charging exorbitant prices.

The board bursted a syndicate of suspected cheaters who are mostly Saudi-Based Nigerians luring pilgrims to fix artificial teeth at varying costs in Nigerian currency.

The boards spokesperson, Habibu Babura, in a statement issued on Sunday said officials of the board have successfully intervened and foiled an attempt to defraud some of its pilgrims at Madinah through exorbitant gold and silver teeth prices.

Mr Babura said the leadership of the pilgrims Welfare Board is committed in ensuring a better welfare for its pilgrims.

The board, under the leadership of the Director-General, Alhaji Umar Ahmed Labbo, noted complaints regarding high and inconsistent prices being fraudulently charged to some of the pilgrims willing to buy the gold and diamond teeth.

The board observed the pattern being perpetrated through marauding third-party agents disguising themselves as Hajj guides, swung into action, and prevented the exorbitant charges on the pilgrims.

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The states Amirul Hajj and Emir of Kazaure, His Highness, Alhaji Dr Najib Hussaini Adamu, urged the pilgrims to prioritise supplications in the Holy land instead of rushing for the diamond teeth.

The emir commended the board officials for their timely intervention in foiling the fraud syndicate. He urged the pilgrims to seek guidance from their centre officers and clerics before engaging in any kind of activity in the Holy Land.

The Director-General of the Board, Ahmed Umar Labbo, reiterated the boards commitment in ensuring the better welfare of the state pilgrims both in Nigeria and in the Holy land, the statement said.

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1. Since after the 2023 General election, the PDP has been wantonly swinging from one part of a slippery precipice to another, owing fundamentally to dishonesty and lack of trust amongst its key stakeholders. To stem this ugly trend, efforts have been made to arrest this pernicious virus of dishonesty and treachery and enthrone fidelity to agreements with a view to stabilizing the party and moving it forward.

2. To this end, a meeting of the G5 was held in Lagos. In that meeting, I made it clear to the Governor of Oyo State, HE. Seyi Makinde, that he was the architect of our problems, pointing out to him that non-adherence to agreements reached was the bane of the party, and that he was the chief culprit of this anomaly. At the end of the meeting, we resolved to bury the hatchet and make progress.

3. As a follow-up to the aforementioned meeting, there was an expanded meeting in Abuja involving HE. Seyi Makinde, HE. Umaru Fintri, HE. Bala Mohammed, HE, Bukola Saraki, and I in Sarakis guest house. In that meeting, I made it clear that I had no personal problems with HE. Bala Mohammed, except that he hides under the facade of Chairman of PDP Governors Forum to serially renege on agreements. Tensions rose mightily in the meeting and it took all concerned to calm frayed nerves. At the end of the meeting, we came to some resolutions, including:

a. That Senator Samuel Anyanwu remains the National Secretary of the PDP in tandem with the Supreme Court judgement.

b. All legal matters relating to Rivers State must be withdrawn by the National Legal Adviser.

c. The suit on the State of emergency be withdrawn forthwith.

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d. Nobody should deviate from the agreements so reached.

In the light of the foregoing, they pleaded with me to attend the stakeholders meeting at the Bauchi Government Lodge, regardless of my many engagements. I attended the meeting and clearly reiterated my earlier concerns, and to this end and in order to resolve all other lingering and pending issues, a committee was formed, headed by HE. Bukola Saraki.

4. It is disheartening to note that even before the Bukola Saraki Reconciliation Committee began its work, the gentlemans agreement we reached at Sarakis Guest House was already being crudely violated. To my chagrin, Seyi Makinde had connived with Peter Mba of Enugu State to orchestrate the summoning of the meeting of so-called South-East leaders to recommend that if Ude Okoye was not adopted as Secretary, they would pull out of the PDP. I have since granted an interview to the effect that, that resolution of the South-East leaders can not hold.

Again, Seyi Makinde organized some people in the National Secretariat to insist that the Deputy National Secretary should act as National Secretary, in violation of the agreement earlier reached. To attempt to give credence to this farce, a letter was written by the Deputy National Secretary, calling for a meeting of the NEC of the party. Furthermore, the letter confirming the candidacy of the Governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming Governorship elections in Anambra State, duly signed by the National Secretary, Senator Anyanwu and the acting National Chairman, was portrayed as rejected by the party through a rebuttal letter signed by the National Publicity Secretary, acting on the orders of Seyi Makinde and Peter Mba. All these actions are in complete violation of the agreements reached and would not do the party any good whatsoever. On the 24th of May 2025, in Jos, for instance, a well publicized and properly attended zonal elective congress of the PDP was aborted because the letter inviting INEC to the congress was signed by the Deputy National Secretary of the party. INEC refused to attend because the proper signatory recognized by law, that is Senator Samuel Anyanwu was not a signatory to the invitation notice. This is undeniably distasteful, provocative and annoying, to say the least.

5. I have painstakingly put out all these facts so that PDP members and the general public would know the truth. I have been in this party since 1998 and have worked tirelessly for the survival of this party with all my strength and it is on record that none of these persons have done anything close to what I have done to sustain this party. What is more painful is that I contributed substantially to most of these governors winning their elections, yet I have not made any personal demands on any of them and I would never do so.

Most importantly, I had thought that we could keep the trust amongst us, but since it is now obvious that they would continue to play games to the detriment of the party, as is the case in the current debacle in the North-Central zonal elections, I have now firmly decided to pull out of all agreements hitherto reached. I have decided to fight on until justice is attained.

Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, CON

Minister, Federal Capital Territory

May 25, 2025

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It was a quiet but symbolic gathering in the heart of Abuja Nigeriaone that spoke volumes without the usual fanfare of politics. All 18 National Assembly members from Katsina State, representing both the Senate and the House of Representatives, came together and made a powerful declaration: their unwavering endorsement of Governor Dikko Umaru Radda for a second term in 2027.

The endorsement didnt come with noise or theatrics. It came with purpose. And in a country where political alignment can be fleeting, the unity displayed by Katsinas federal lawmakers was not only refreshingit was deeply telling. Something is working back home, and they want to see it continue.

Senator Abdulaziz Musa YarAdua (Katsina Central), who spoke on behalf of the group, captured the mood perfectly. Flanked by his colleaguesSenator Nasiru Sani Zangon Daura (Katsina North) and Senator Mohammed Muntari Dandutse (Katsina South)YarAdua described Governor Radda as a leader with vision, humility, and an unshakable commitment to the people of Katsina. He hasnt just governed, YarAdua said. Hes connected with the people in a way thats rare in our politics.

But this was not just a Senate affair. One after the other, House members added their voicesfifteen in allrepresenting every federal constituency in the state. From Salisu Yusuf Majigiri of Mashi/Dutsi to AB Dabai of Bakori/Danja, Sada Soli of Jibia/Kaita to Aminu Balele of Dutsin-Ma/Kurfi, their message was consistent: Governor Radda is on the right path, and Katsina is better for it.

Hon Shehu Dalhatu Tafoki, who represents Faskari/Kankara/Sabuwa, spoke with quiet conviction. What were seeing under this administration is not just projectsits a philosophy of inclusion and development that puts people first, he said. Others like Hon Aminu Ibrahim Muhammad (Malumfashi/Kafur) and Hon Aliyu Iliyasu Abubakar (Batsari/Safana/Danmusa) echoed the sentiment, citing visible progress in sectors like education, security, agriculture, and youth empowerment.

Theres a certain maturity in the tone of this collective endorsement. It isnt just about politicsits about continuity. The lawmakers are making a statement not just to the governor, but to the people of Katsina: that a steady hand at the helm, especially one that has earned their trust, is worth holding on to.

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For these federal legislators, their support goes beyond endorsementits a partnership. From Hon Yusuf Ahmed Doro (Bindawa/Mani) to Hon Abdullahi Aliyu (Musawa/Matazu) and Hon Sani Lawal (Zango/Baure), theyve played their part in amplifying the states development agenda at the national level, advocating for policies and projects that align with Governor Radda vision.

What makes this endorsement even more meaningful is the timing. Its still early in the political calendar2027 is two years away. But when 18 elected voices speak in unison this early, it speaks not of politics, but of genuine confidence. Confidence in leadership. Confidence in results. Confidence in a future that is already taking shape.

As Katsina charts its course forward, the message from its representatives in Abuja is loud and clear: Governor Radda has earned another term, not just because of promises made, but because of promises kept. And together, with him at the helm, they believe the next chapter will be even more transformative.

*Ibrahim Kaula Mohammed, the Chief Press Secretary to the Katsina State Governor, contributed this piece from Katsina.

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Governor Mohammed Umar-Bago of Niger has inaugurated a short-term 20-year development plan for the New Bida Town.

According to Mr Umar-Bago, the plan aims to strategically modernise the city in line with his administrations vision of Urban Renewal Development in the state.

The governor stated this at a Town Hall meeting and a stakeholders engagement on New Bida 20-year Development Plan organised by the Ministry of Lands and Survey, in collaboration with the New Niger Development Project, held in Bida on Sunday.

He said the plan was a short-term strategy that would engender rapid development and boost socio-economic activities in the town.

Speaking on the 44km Ring Road dual carriageway, which was aimed at diverting traffic, the governor said a new city would also spring up in the area.

Mr Umar-Bago stated that social amenities, as well as a 100 megawatt solar farm, would be provided for the people in the area.

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He added, With the thousands of articulated vehicles that pass through Bida, with all the negative consequences, the construction of the ring road, with a setback of 1km on each side, is a necessity for the health, safety, and prosperity of the town.

Mr Umar-Bago also stated that the development would be in phases, with 20-year short-term plans and 50-year long-term plans.

He added that over 3 million trailers passing through can generate N3 billion revenue monthly, but had been left untapped.

The governor promised that he would ensure the speedy development of the state in spite of inadequate financial resources.

Mr Umar-Bago said: Niger Government has no intention to seize or grab land. We want to establish layouts.

Wherever you have a house or a farm that falls on the right-of-way, you will be adequately compensated.

The state government has a development plan, and the concerned MDAs will continue to talk to the concerned people while I am admonishing them not to take laws into their hands.

He enjoined the people to show understanding and support for the project, stressing that the state government was not collecting anybodys land.

The owners of any property that will be affected by the project will be duly compensated, he said.

The governor, however, cautioned community members to be wary of land grabbers.

In his remarks, the Etsu Nupe and Chairman, Niger Council of Traditional Rulers, Yahaya Abubakar, called on the people to cooperate with the state government in its effort to develop Bida town and its environs.

Hr said, This will secure a good future for many generations. The construction of the road will save lives and create avenues for greater economic development.

The Etsu Nupe said that the gesture could not come at a better time than now, when Nigerians were facing various challenges, including economic hardship and bad road networks.

He said that Mr Umar-Bagos gesture would go a long way in alleviating the suffering of the people

Mr Abubakar lauded Umaru-Bagos developmental strides in the Emirate and the state in general.

He urged the people to embark on fervent prayers for God to give him the wisdom, sound health and ability to bring meaningful development to the state.

The Etsu Nupe enjoined the citizens to be law-abiding, respect constituted authorities and live in peace with one another, irrespective of their ethnic and religious affiliations.

The Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Maurice Magaji, explained that the event was a defining moment and a shared commitment to transform Bida into an economically vibrant city.

READ ALSO: Police arrest fake EFCC operatives for abducting students in Niger State

She added that the plan provided a framework for sustainable growth and environmental resilience, among others.

Mohammed Garba, a retired major general and APC stalwart in the state, and Muhammad Kutea-Yahaya, the pro-chancellor, Abdulkadir Kure University, Minna, among other stakeholders, also spoke at the event.

They were full of commendation for the governor for his developmental strides and called for support from the people to enable him to fully achieve his vision.

(NAN)

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The police in Katsina State have killed a notorious bandit, Audu Kushin of Tsamiyar Maigoro village in Malumfashi Local Government Area and rescued five kidnapped victims.

The police spokesman in the state, Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this in a statement in Katsina on Saturday.

He said that: On May 22, at about 10:15 p.m., a distress call was received at Malumfashi Division that some armed men suspected to be bandits attacked Unguwar Lado and Karo villages of Malumfashi.

A team of operatives led by the DPO responded promptly to the scene and engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel.

During the operation, one notorious bandit, identified as Audu Kushin of Tsamiyar Maigoro village, was successfully neutralised.

Unfortunately, he said, five kidnapped victims were shot and injured by the assailants.

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He said that the injured victims were rushed to the General Hospital, Malumfashi, for immediate medical attention.

Mr Aliyu added that efforts were being intensified to ensure the arrest of the fleeing suspects.

He further called on the public to continue supporting the command with timely information for prompt and decisive action against all forms of crime and criminality in the state.

(NAN)

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Following reported threats by bandits to carry out another attack on St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, the police have said it has made adequate deployment to safeguard churches and mosques.

A spokesperson for the state police command, Ayanlade Olayinka, said in a statement on Sunday in Akure.

St Francis Church was attacked by gunmen on 5 June 2022, leaving dozens dead and many others injured.

The attackers had rained explosives into the church during a Sunday morning mass, resulting in huge fatalities.

Although the painful memory still lingers in the minds of survivors, a reported threat by the bandits on Friday has sent shockwaves across the Owo community.

The community, led by its traditional ruler, Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye, the Olowo of Owo, has decided to hold a security summit to find ways to forestall any breach of peace in the town.

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Mr Olayinka, in the statement, said reports have come to the attention of the police regarding an alleged letter purportedly written by a bandit involved in the tragic Owo church attack, threatening to strike again.

It noted that while the source and authenticity of the said letter remain unverified, the report had necessitated a prompt and strategic response in the interest of public safety.

In response, the Commissioner of Police has ordered the heavy deployment of operational assets to all churches and mosques across the state, particularly during days of worship, he said.

Surveillance and patrol activities have also been significantly intensified to forestall any potential attack and reassure the public of their safety.

The Ondo State Police Command uses this medium to urge media houses and members of the public to desist from spreading unverified information or fake news that could heighten tension and cause unnecessary panic. Such actions are counterproductive and capable of undermining the security progress we have collectively achieved.

Residents of Ondo State are therefore advised to go about their lawful activities without fear or panic. The police, in collaboration with other security agencies, remain fully committed to ensuring the safety and security of all lives and property in the state.

For any suspicious activity or information, members of the public are encouraged to contact the nearest police station or use the emergency lines made available by the Command, the statement said.

Owo Security summit

The publicity Secretary of the planned summit, Bosun Oladimeji, said the maiden edition of the Owo Security Summit, themed Securing Owo and its Environ: Strategies for Community Safety and Resilience, will be held this week.

He said the summit aims to raise awareness about community security, foster cooperation between residents and law enforcement, reduce crime and propose sustainable security initiatives.

According to him, one key objective is establishing a Security Trust Fund to support long-term efforts.

Mr Oladimeji also said recent incidents, including the bandits renewed threat and several kidnappings, had significantly affected the socio-economic life of the people, making proactive security measures imperative.

He said dignitaries expected at the summit include Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and his deputy, Olayide Adelami.

He said Adesuyi Olateru-Olagbegi, a judge, will chair the event, with the Chairman of Owo Local Government Area, Tope Omolayo, as chief host. Olugbenga Olumolawa will chair the summit committee, while Taiwo Adenegan will serve as anchor.

He said all security agencies, traditional rulers, and stakeholders have been invited to develop a unified response to the looming threat.

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OSAKA - Swarms of midges have become a headache at the World Exposition in Osaka, causing visitors to cringe and raising concerns about possible health issues.

The small flies have been found on walls and the pillars of the wooden Grand Ring encircling many of the pavilions, with people forced to fight them off to avoid swallowing them.

"It shocked me when they landed on the bread I was eating. There are so many of them around and it's disgusting," said Toma Masatani, a 23-year-old graduate school student visiting the expo with friends from Saitama, near Tokyo.

While the midges at the expo do not bite, dead ones can cause asthma and other allergic reactions if inhaled.

"Wearing a face mask is advisable for those with asthma," said Koichiro Kawai, a professor emeritus at Hiroshima University specializing in the species. He added that electronic insect killers and insecticides are effective in getting rid of them.

The insects are believed to be emerging from the Water Plaza in the southern part of the venue, where seawater is stored. Noting they are possibly of marine origin, Kawai said they could persist until the end of autumn.

The expo organizer is taking action, spraying insecticide in locations where the midges are spotted, treating areas where rainwater tends to accumulate with a growth inhibitor and installing insect repellent lights.

Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura has also sought cooperation from insecticide maker Earth Corp. to counter the midges.

"We will fulfill our role of contributing to the expo's success by utilizing the knowledge and technology we have cultivated," the company said.

Related coverage:

Meet Pokemon GO Characters at the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan!

Baltic Pavilion calls for return of stolen Osaka expo mascot figure

Int'l body promoting next-generation fusion energy joins Osaka expo
JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 25, 2025, at the UN Global Compact (UNGC)'s Inaugural Global Business Summit in Jakarta, a total of 24 global leading solar companies including JA Solar, Jinko Solar, Tongwei, LONGi, GCL Group and other core upstream suppliers, collectively released the initiative for "Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA)".

A few GSSA representatives advocated for strengthening sustainability across the entire value chain at the summit

Distinguished leaders across government, industry and academia attended the summit, including United Nations Global Compact Assistant Secretary-General and CEO Sanda Ojiambo, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee , Chairman of the National Economic Council of the Republic of Indonesia H.E. Luhut B. Pandjaitan, Founder and co-chairman of Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio, President of the China Electricity Council Bao'an Xin, Chairman of Xiamen Airlines Dong Zhao, Founder and Chairman of GCL Gongshan Zhu.

At this critical juncture of global energy transition, the solar industry, as a cornerstone of renewable energy, serves as a pivotal solution to combat climate change and achieve carbon neutrality goals. Amid rapid industry growth, leading enterprises have jointly launched this initiative to address social and environmental challenges and advance sustainable development. Committed to delivering clean energy globally, the Initiative aims to strengthen sustainability across the entire value chain  promoting green mineral sourcing from the source, protecting ecosystems and biodiversity, building an equitable society for common good, and driving inclusive growth.

Aligned with the UNGC Ten Principles and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Initiative outlines 9 actionable pathways across three pillars, advancing ESG progress across the solar value chain and promoting its positive impact on the international market.

The GSSA initiative has garnered strong endorsement from the UNGC. Meng Liu, UNGC China Representative, stated: "We commend the global solar industry, particularly Chinese photovoltaic enterprises, for their contributions to advancing the global energy transition, and we welcome the launch of this initiative. Closely aligned with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact, the Initiative underscores corporate responsibilities in environmental protection, human rights safeguards, and sound governance. We look forward to the solar industry setting an exemplary model for global sustainable development through collective action."

Jing Li, Vice President of Branding and Sustainability Officer of JA Solar, officially launched this GSSA Initiative at the event, and introduced JA Solar's newly constructed responsible supply chain strategy with the theme of "Together Towards Tomorrow", which aims to promote the multi-stakeholders along the industry's value chain to evolve towards a sustainable future.

UNGC encourages more solar companies and supply chain partners to join this initiative and jointly advance the sustainable development of the industry. To truly fulfill the summit's vision of 'Better Business, Better World: Accelerating the SDGs', the first co-signatories pledge to collaboratively develop a concrete action roadmap with stakeholder engagement, to ensure effective implementation of the Initiative.

Appendix : Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA)

As the backbone of renewable energy, the global solar sector provides consumers, industries, and society with affordable and reliable clean energy. It has made remarkable contributions to advancing global energy transition and promoting sustainable development, with immense potential yet to be realized.

On the other hand, after decades of growth, the social and environmental footprints of the solar industry, particularly the associated risks across its supply chainhave increasingly emerged. These challenges pose significant obstacles to unleashing the industry's full potential and achieving its own sustainable development.

In light of this, we, as the undersigned photovoltaic enterprises and supply chain participants, guided by the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), hereby launch the Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA). We call on all companies in the industry and its supply chains to adopt sustainability principles and strategies, and actively undertake the following actions:

I. Just Transition: Safeguarding the green ecosystems and environment

a) Reduce pollution, conserve resources, improve environmental management, implement clean production, and promote a circular economy.

b) Cut energy consumption and carbon emissions, adapt to climate change, establish science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets, and achieve net-zero emissions as soon as possible.

c) Protect biodiversity and ecosystems, promoting green mining from origins of materials, ensuring zero deforestation and no net loss of biodiversity.

II. People-Centric Development: Building an Equitable Society for Common Good

a) Respect and protect workers' fundamental rights, create gender-responsive, diverse, inclusive, safe, and healthy workplaces, and enhance employees' skills and development potential.

b) Advance responsible procurement and marketing practices, implement human rights due diligence in supply chains, improve value chain transparency, traceability, and collaborative mechanisms, and strengthen supply chain resilience.

c) Plan PV projects in alignment with local conditions, respect the rights of communities and residents, and leverage industry expertise to support community and social development.

III. Governance Enhancement: Driving Inclusive Growth

a) Optimize corporate governance structures, enhance professionalism and diversity in governance mechanisms, improve investor relations management, and protect the rights of minority shareholders.

b) Operate with integrity and compliance, oppose all forms of unfair competition practices, proactively uphold a sound market order, and foster the healthy development of the industry.

c) Strengthen internal and external oversight systems, conduct standardized information disclosure and regular tracking of progress and targets, and establish multi-channel stakeholder engagement and dialogue mechanisms.

Building on the above consensus, we will pool wisdom and resources, engage in full collaboration, and establish a concrete action roadmap with the participation and support of multi-stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the GSSA Initiative.

SOURCE JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd.
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New York, May 25 : An all-party team of Members of Parliament is set to start a "peace mission" in the Americas that its leader Shashi Tharoor said will proclaim "the message that we will not be silenced by terrorism".

New York, May 25 (IANS) An all-party team of Members of Parliament is set to start a "peace mission" in the Americas that its leader Shashi Tharoor said will proclaim "the message that we will not be silenced by terrorism".

The eight MPs and Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the former Indian Ambassador to the US, were to start their mission in New York on Saturday evening with a visit to the 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Centre to honour the victims of the worst terror attack on the US.

They will also meet there with members of the diaspora and the media.

The team will go from here to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, before returning to the US for meetings with leaders, lawmakers and opinion-makers.

Before the team left India, Tharoor said, "The reason we are going is to speak for the nation, to speak about this horrendous crisis we were subjected to, in which our country was attacked by terrorists in the cruelest possible way."

"We need to speak up with clarity and conviction for our country, for our response, and to give the world the message that we will not be silenced by terrorism," he added.

In a display of the nation uniting against terrorism, the team is headed by Tharoor from the opposition Congress Party and includes Shambhavi of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Sarfaraz Ahmad of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and Milind Murli Deora of the Shiv Sena.

The other members are Shashank Mani Tripathi, Bhubaneswar Kalita, and Tejasvi Surya of the BJP, and GM Harish Balayogi of the Telugu Desam Party, a National Democratic Alliance partner.

After terrorists from The Resistance Front, an affiliate of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, massacred 26 civilians in Pahalgam following which India struck terrorist centres in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan attacked India, targeting civilian structures like places of worship, including gurudwaras, temples, and convents, and medical facilities in India, leading to an escalation of the conflict.

Starting the team's tour at the World Trade Centre memorial emphasises the message of Tharoor "that we don't want the world to look away either. We don't want indifference to try and forward the truth".

In the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, that had links to Pakistan, 2,731 people were killed.

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda which carried out the attack, was given asylum and government protection by the Pakistan government and was killed in Abottabad by US Navy's Elite Seals unit.

"It's a mission that will one day remind the world that India stands for all the values we need to preserve in the world today, of peace, of democracy, freedom, and not of hatred, of killing and on terror," Tharoor said.
Doha, May 25 : An all-party parliamentary delegation led by NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule arrived in Qatar late Saturday as part of the government's outreach with the international community on the fight against terror and over Operation Sindoor post the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Doha, May 25 (IANS) An all-party parliamentary delegation led by NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule arrived in Qatar late Saturday as part of the government's outreach with the international community on the fight against terror and over Operation Sindoor post the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Apart from Sule, the working president of the NCP-SP, the delegation comprises BJP leaders Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Anurag Thakur and V. Muraleedharan, Congress leaders Manish Tewari and Anand Sharma, Telugu Desam Party leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Aam Aadmi Party leader Vikramjeet Singh Sawhney, and former diplomat Syed Akbaruddin. It will also travel to South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt.

"Conveying India's strong message against terrorism to the world! A warm welcome to the multi-party delegation led by @Supriya_sule to Qatar. The delegation comprises @RajivPratapRudy, @vikramsahney, @ManishTewari, @ianuragthakur, @SriKrishnaLavu, @AnandSharmaINC, @VMBJP @AkbaruddinIndia. Ambassador @vipulifs the delegation. @MEAIndia," the Indian Embassy in Qatar said on Saturday in a statement on X.

Ambassador of India to Qatar, Vipul, received the delegation members Supriya Sule, Anand Sharma, Rajeev Pratap Rudy and Anurag Thakur at the Qatar airport.

"Taking India's strong message against terrorism to the world! A warm welcome to the multi-party delegation led by @Supriya_sule to Qatar. Ambassador @vipulifs received the delegation. @MEAIndia," it said in another post on X.

The post was shared by Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. Qatar is considered to wield influence in the West Asian region and has a role as a mediator in regional conflicts.

"The multi-party Indian delegation led by Supriya Sule, MP, Lok Sabha, is reaching today in Doha for a 2-day visit on May 24-26, 2025. This is the first leg of their tour to four countries namely Qatar, South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt. In Doha, the delegation will hold interactions with Qatari dignitaries as well as members of media, academia and others. The visit is taking place in the context of April 22 terrorist attack in India in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor and subsequent developments. The members of the visiting delegation include MPs from both Houses of Parliament, former Ministers and diplomats," the Indian Embassy in Qatar said in a press statement.

"Since the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the leadership of India and Qatar have remained in touch with each other. Amir of the State of Qatar, H.H. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and Prime Minister Modi had telephone conversation on May 6 and discussed the developments. Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Jassim Al-Thani and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also had a telephone call on May 7. Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its statement on April 23, had conveyed Qatar's strong condemnation and denunciation of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Embassy added in the statement.

"Have departed to Doha along with fellow parliamentarians on a four-leg visit to Qatar, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Africa to apprise them of India's position on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. During these 12 long days we will be meeting political leaders, intellectuals, and institutions to build global consensus in the fight against terrorism. Jai Hind INDIA," said Anurag Thakur, who is one of the members of this all-party delegation currently in Qatar.

The Sule-led group will then travel to South Africa, which holds the current G-20 Presidency and then head to Ethiopia, which is also the home to the African Union.

The delegation will visit Egypt, an influential country in the Arab world.

The delegation is one of the seven multi-party delegations India has tasked to visit 33 global capitals to reach out to the international community to emphasise Pakistan's links to terrorism and assert that the recent conflict was triggered by the Pahalgam terror strike and not Operation Sindoor as alleged by Islamabad.

Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.

Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.

After the operation, Pakistan retaliated with cross-border shelling across the Line of Control and Jammu and Kashmir as well as attempted drone attacks along the border regions, following which India launched a coordinated attack and damaged radar infrastructure, communication centres and airfields across 11 airbases in Pakistan.

On May 10, an understanding of the cessation of hostilities between the countries was announced.
Doha, May 25 : An all-party parliamentary delegation led by Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar leader Supriya Sule arrived in Qatar late Saturday as part of the government's outreach with the international community on the fight against terror and over Operation Sindoor post the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Doha, May 25 (IANS) An all-party parliamentary delegation led by Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar leader Supriya Sule arrived in Qatar late Saturday as part of the government's outreach with the international community on the fight against terror and over Operation Sindoor post the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Apart from Sule, the working president of the NCP-SP, the delegation comprises BJP leaders Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Anurag Thakur and V. Muraleedharan, Congress leaders Manish Tewari and Anand Sharma, Telugu Desam Party leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Aam Aadmi Party leader Vikramjeet Singh Sawhney, and former diplomat Syed Akbaruddin. It will also travel to South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt.

"Conveying India's strong message against terrorism to the world! A warm welcome to the multi-party delegation led by @Supriya_sule to Qatar. The delegation comprises @RajivPratapRudy, @vikramsahney, @ManishTewari, @ianuragthakur, @SriKrishnaLavu, @AnandSharmaINC, @VMBJP @AkbaruddinIndia. Ambassador @vipulifs the delegation. @MEAIndia," the Indian Embassy in Qatar said on Saturday in a statement on X.

Ambassador of India to Qatar, Vipul, received the delegation members Supriya Sule, Anand Sharma, Rajeev Pratap Rudy and Anurag Thakur at the Qatar airport.

"Taking India's strong message against terrorism to the world! A warm welcome to the multi-party delegation led by @Supriya_sule to Qatar. Ambassador @vipulifs received the delegation. @MEAIndia," it said in another post on X.

The post was shared by Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. Qatar is considered to wield influence in the West Asian region and has a role as a mediator in regional conflicts.

"The multi-party Indian delegation led by Supriya Sule, MP, Lok Sabha, is reaching today in Doha for a 2-day visit on May 24-26, 2025. This is the first leg of their tour to four countries namely Qatar, South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt. In Doha, the delegation will hold interactions with Qatari dignitaries as well as members of media, academia and others. The visit is taking place in the context of April 22 terrorist attack in India in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor and subsequent developments. The members of the visiting delegation include MPs from both Houses of Parliament, former Ministers and diplomats," the Indian Embassy in Qatar said in a press statement.

"Since the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the leadership of India and Qatar have remained in touch with each other. Amir of the State of Qatar, H.H. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and Prime Minister Modi had telephone conversation on May 6 and discussed the developments. Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Jassim Al-Thani and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also had a telephone call on May 7. Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its statement on April 23, had conveyed Qatar's strong condemnation and denunciation of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Embassy added in the statement.

"Have departed to Doha along with fellow parliamentarians on a four-leg visit to Qatar, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Africa to apprise them of India's position on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. During these 12 long days we will be meeting political leaders, intellectuals, and institutions to build global consensus in the fight against terrorism. Jai Hind INDIA," said Anurag Thakur, who is one of the members of this all-party delegation currently in Qatar.

The Sule-led group will then travel to South Africa, which holds the current G-20 Presidency and then head to Ethiopia, which is also the home to the African Union.

The delegation will visit Egypt, an influential country in the Arab world.

The delegation is one of the seven multi-party delegations India has tasked to visit 33 global capitals to reach out to the international community to emphasise Pakistan's links to terrorism and assert that the recent conflict was triggered by the Pahalgam terror strike and not Operation Sindoor as alleged by Islamabad.

Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.

Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.

After the operation, Pakistan retaliated with cross-border shelling across the Line of Control and Jammu and Kashmir as well as attempted drone attacks along the border regions, following which India launched a coordinated attack and damaged radar infrastructure, communication centres and airfields across 11 airbases in Pakistan.

On May 10, an understanding of the cessation of hostilities between the countries was announced.
New York, May 25 : Congress Lok Sabha MP, Shashi Tharoor, began on Saturday the "peace mission" with an all-party team of MPs to proclaim "the message that we will not be silenced by terrorism".

New York, May 25 (IANS) Congress Lok Sabha MP, Shashi Tharoor, began on Saturday the "peace mission" with an all-party team of MPs to proclaim "the message that we will not be silenced by terrorism".

"Carrying forth to the world India's strong message of zero-tolerance against terrorism! All-Party Delegation, led by Dr. Shashi Tharoor @ShashiTharoor welcomed by Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra @AmbVMKwatra in New York. #NeverForgetNeverForgive #OpSindoor," the Indian Embassy said in a statement on X.

The eight MPs and Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the former Indian Ambassador to the US, arrived here on the starting leg of the mission across the Americas, including the Caribbean.

They were to start with a visit to the 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Centre to pay tribute to the victims of the worst terror attack on the US.

They will also meet there with members of the diaspora.

The team will go from here to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, before returning to the US for meetings with leaders, lawmakers and opinion-makers.

Before the team left India, Tharoor said, "The reason we are going is to speak for the nation, to speak about this horrendous crisis we were subjected to, in which our country was attacked by terrorists in the cruelest possible way."

"We need to speak up with clarity and conviction for our country, for our response, and to give the world the message that we will not be silenced by terrorism," he added.

In a display of the nation uniting against terrorism, the team is headed by Tharoor from the opposition Congress Party and includes Shambhavi of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Sarfaraz Ahmad of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and Milind Murli Deora of the Shiv Sena.

The other members are Shashank Mani Tripathi, Bhubaneswar Kalita and Tejasvi Surya of the BJP, and GM Harish Balayogi of the Telugu Desam Party, a National Democratic Alliance partner.

After terrorists from The Resistance Front, an affiliate of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, massacred 26 civilians in Pahalgam, India struck terrorist centres in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan attacked India, targeting civilian structures like places of worship, including gurudwaras, temples, and convents, and medical facilities in India, leading to an escalation of the conflict.

Starting the team's tour at the World Trade Centre memorial emphasises the message of Tharoor "that we don't want the world to look away either. We don't want indifference to try and forward the truth".

In the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, that had links to Pakistan, 2,731 people were killed.

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda which carried out the attack, was given asylum and government protection by the Pakistan government and was killed in Abottabad by US Navy's Elite Seals unit.

Colombia is a country torn by years of terrorism where the anti-terrorism message will resonate.

"It's a mission that will one day remind the world that India stands for all the values we need to preserve in the world today, of peace, of democracy, freedom, and not of hatred, of killing and on terror," Tharoor said.
Bengaluru, May 25 : Bengaluru has reported its first Covid-19 death, according to an official statement issued by the Karnataka Health Department.

The patient died on Saturday, said the Health Department, adding that 108 persons were tested for Covid in the last 24 hours, and five persons tested positive. One person was discharged from the hospital, and the total number of active cases stood at 38.

Among the total 38 active cases, 32 are reported from Bengaluru. A total of 92 persons had undergone the test in the city, and two persons were positive in the last 24 hours, the report said.

The Ballari, Bengaluru Rural, Mangaluru, and Vijayanagar districts have one active case each and Mysuru district has reported two active cases, according to the report.

Sources in the Health Department stated that the deceased is an 85-year-old man.

Sources also stated that a woman who had returned from Mumbai has tested positive and has been kept in home isolation. In Belagavi, a pregnant woman has tested positive. She had travelled to Pune last month.

Many district hospitals, including Dharwad, have opened a 10-bed ICU ward exclusively for the treatment of Covid-infected people.

The technical advisory committee had suggested that the Health department start the Covid tests in eight medical colleges from Sunday across Karnataka, sources confirmed.

In response to a recent rise in Covid-19 cases in Karnataka, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said that while there is a slight uptick in cases in the state and in Bengaluru, there is no cause for concern.

Speaking to the media in Bengaluru on Saturday, Minister Rao said, "There is nothing to be alarmed about. It's a very normal situation. There has been a slight increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, with a slight rise over the last 15 days."

He added that the state's Technical Advisory Committee had met recently to discuss the situation. "We have issued an advisory stating that those with severe respiratory illnesses, especially those in hospitals, should get tested for Covid-19."

He further advised, "People who are on immunosuppressant drugs for various conditions, those with low immunity, pregnant women, and children should be a bit more cautious when visiting crowded places. Preferably, wear a mask in crowded areas. It not only helps in preventing Covid-19 but also other viral and bacterial infections. However, wearing masks is not compulsory. There are no travel bans or movement restrictions within the city or state," he clarified.

Minister Rao reiterated that normal life can continue without fear. "Everything is normal, work, life, and routine activities. So far, 257 cases have been reported across the country, and importantly, none of them have shown serious symptoms. Only mild symptoms have been detected, so there is no need to panic. My appeal to the public is that Covid-19 is now endemic. The coronavirus has become part of our system, just like any other virus. At any given time, someone may have Covid-19. The real concern is whether a new or severe variant emerges," he added.

The minister said that Covid tests are mandatory only for Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) cases.

"Otherwise, standard guidelines apply: keep your hands clean, maintain hygiene. These measures are beneficial not just for Covid-19 but for preventing many other diseases as well."

The Karnataka Health Department on Friday issued an advisory and said that a gradual increase is seen in the spread of Covid in Bengaluru in the last 20 days.
SANAA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthis announced on Sunday that the group had launched a hypersonic ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel, which was reportedly intercepted by Israeli defense systems earlier in the day.

"The rocket forces carried out a qualitative military operation targeting Ben Gurion Airport, using a hypersonic ballistic missile," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement broadcast by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

Sarea said the group would "continue enforcing a ban on air traffic to and from Ben Gurion Airport," referring to repeated Houthi attacks that have prompted several airlines to delay or reroute flights to avoid rocket strikes targeting Israel.

He noted that the Houthis would escalate their military operations further unless Israel halts its assault on the Gaza Strip and lifts the blockade.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli defense forces wrote on social media platform X that sirens had sounded across Israel following a "projectile" fired from Yemen. Israeli army radio later confirmed that the projectile had been intercepted. No casualties or damage were reported.

Since November 2023, the Houthi group, which controls much of northern Yemen, has been targeting Israel and Israeli-linked ships transiting the Red Sea to show solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza. 
Dhaka, May 25 : Bangladesh's political landscape witnessed a dramatic shift as the nation's top three political parties demanded a definitive election roadmap from the interim government led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.

However, sources indicated that Yunus offered "no specific response" to the party's demands during the discussion.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and the National Citizen Party (NCP) on Saturday reiterated their call for elections to be held between December and June during a crucial meeting with Yunus at his official residence.

As part of an attempt to ease the escalating political tensions, the BNP restated its demand for the removal of three advisory council members -- student representatives Asif Mahmud and Mahfuj Alam, along with National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman, according to the sources.

"We were not informed about the meeting's agenda in advance. However, we've handed the chief advisor a written statement on the current overall situation, demanding the resignation of three advisors for fair elections. We've also demanded bringing Awami League leaders to justice," BNP delegation leader Khandker Mosharraf Hossain told reporters after the meeting.

"We are in favour of justice. We want an independent judiciary. The remaining trials will continue even if BNP comes to power," he added.

However, the BNP said that even though the party placed its demands in front of Yunus, the Chief Advisor "did not provide any specific response."

Emphasising urgency, Hossain warned that delays in announcing an election roadmap would deepen concerns about the possible return of authoritarianism.

"A roadmap for holding national elections must be announced quickly. Reforms will continue. They will continue even when we come to power," he said.

BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury maintained that reforms must be consensus-driven and that elections were feasible before December 2025.

Echoing the demand for advisor resignations, committee member Salahuddin Ahmed called for the removal of Khalilur Rahman, Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, and Mahfuj Alam.

Following the BNP's meeting, Chief Advisor Yunus also held separate talks with Jamaat-e-Islami and the NCP.

During the discussions, Jamaat pressed for a clear timeline for elections as well as for judicial processes against Awami League leaders accused of involvement in the mass killings during the July uprising, sources said.

Jamaat leaders reportedly supported Yunus' proposed election window of December 2025 to June 2026, stating that reforms could follow the polls. The party stressed the need for a level playing field for all political entities and fair opportunities for even the smallest parties, sources noted.

Meanwhile, the NCP submitted a broader set of demands, including the reconstitution of the Election Commission, conducting local government elections ahead of parliamentary polls, and establishing simultaneous roadmaps for political reforms, trials related to the July killings, and plans for both parliamentary and constituent assembly elections.

The high-stakes meetings came just two days after Yunus publicly aired his frustrations over continued protests and hinted at stepping down.

He lamented that sustained agitation was undermining the government's focus on pushing reforms, delivering justice for the July killings, and preparing for a transparent electoral process.

A statement released on Saturday reinforced this concern, warning that these disruptions were not only impeding routine governance but also sowing confusion among the public.

Despite the growing turbulence, the Advisory Council reiterated the interim administration's determination to uphold its responsibilities.

It cautioned that if hostile elements, including defeated domestic forces or foreign interference, rendered governance unworkable, the administration would present all facts to the public and determine its next steps in partnership with the people.

Adding to the volatile atmosphere, the Secretariat in Dhaka remained under siege, with large groups of government employees protesting the proposed disbanding of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

In an effort to calm the situation, Chief Advisor's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said all political parties had voiced support for elections to be conducted under Yunus' leadership.

"He is a man of his word. What he says, he does," Shafiqul told the media.

He confirmed that Yunus remained committed to holding the elections between December and June as part of the interim government's promise to restore democratic order.
Thiruvananthapurami, May 25 : In a swift rescue operation, INS Sujata early on Sunday successfully rescued the remaining three crew members of a Liberian-flagged container ship that capsized in the Arabian Sea, approximately 38 nautical miles (about 70 km) off the coast of Kochi, Kerala, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said in a statement.

The ship, en route from Vizhinjam to Kochi, had been scheduled to arrive by Saturday evening. However, tragedy struck when the vessel began to take in water due to flooding in one of its holds.

The flooding caused the vessel to rapidly capsize in the early hours of May 25, prompting an emergency response.

"In the early hours of May 25, the vessel capsized rapidly reportedly due to flooding in one of the holds. Three crew remaining onboard the abandoned ship and were rescued by INS Sujata, which joined operations last evening," the ICG said.

According to the statement, all crew members are now safe. The ICG has launched an assessment of the incident and is issuing advisories to state authorities to manage any environmental impact or hazards.

The incident unfolded after the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) issued a warning on Saturday, alerting about a potential spill of hazardous material into the sea.

The ICG confirmed the ship, which was carrying marine gas oil and very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), had lost around 10 containers into the sea during the capsizing. These containers reportedly included oil substances critical for maritime operations.

VLSFO, a fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5 per cent by mass, is essential for compliance with the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) 2020 emissions regulations, aimed at reducing sulphur pollution in international waters.

Earlier on Saturday, 21 out of the 24 crew members were rescued after the ship began listing. The three remaining onboard -- the Captain, Chief Engineer, and Second Engineer -- had initially stayed behind but were later forced to abandon the sinking vessel.

The ship was nearing its destination at the Cochin Port when the emergency occurred. The ICG and other relevant agencies are closely monitoring the situation and taking steps to prevent any further environmental fallout from the spill.

Further updates on the investigation and clean-up operations are expected.
New Delhi, May 25 : A notorious chain snatcher was injured in a police encounter in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday, as he attempted to escape. The accused is in police custody and is currently receiving treatment.

The accused, identified as Naeem, was intercepted following a tip-off and attempted to flee. During the chase, he opened fire on the police, prompting retaliatory action in which he sustained a gunshot wound to the leg.

According to police sources, in light of rising criminal incidents in the area, the Kotwali Nagar police in Ghaziabad have intensified checking and patrolling operations. During one such operation, they received credible information from an informer that the chain snatcher involved in a recent case, reported at Nandgram police station on May 17 near VVIP Mall in Rajnagar Extension, was heading towards Hind Nagar from Chipiyana on a stolen motorcycle.

Acting swiftly, the police set up a checkpoint. Upon sighting the suspect, officers signalled for him to stop. However, he attempted to escape by accelerating his motorcycle. During the chase, his bike slipped due to loose gravel near a construction area. As he fell, he opened fire on the pursuing officers.

In the retaliatory fire by the police team, the accused was shot in the leg. He was immediately taken into custody and rushed to a hospital for medical treatment.

Informing about the encounter, ACP Ritesh Tripathi said, "On Sunday, Kotwali police station, Ghaziabad, received information that the accused involved in the May 17 chain snatching near VVIP Mall in Rajnagar Extension was heading from Chipiyana to Hind Nagar. When police tried to stop him, he attempted to flee and later opened fire at the police. In retaliatory action, he was shot in the leg and is currently undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital. Further investigation is underway."

Upon search, police recovered a country-made pistol (.315 bore), one live cartridge, one spent cartridge, Rs 5,200 in cash, proceeds from selling a snatched gold chain, and the stolen motorcycle used in the crime. A background check revealed that Naeem has multiple cases registered against him, including theft, robbery, and violations under the Gangster Act.

Further legal proceedings against the accused are underway.
New Delhi: President Donald Trump on his return for a second term was apparently creating a reputation for 'unpredictability' and even 'arbitrariness' by issuing a large number of Executive Directives many of which were being questioned in courts and evoking adverse reactions from the international community as well.

New Delhi: President Donald Trump on his return for a second term was apparently creating a reputation for aunpredictabilitya and even aarbitrarinessa by issuing a large number of Executive Directives many of which were being questioned in courts and evoking adverse reactions from the international community as well.

India continues to believe that India-US relations are rooted in a natural strategic friendship, that the two largest democracies of the world must come together to deal with the grave threats of faith-based terrorism and the doings of dictatorial regimes like Chinaas and that any trade disparity issues affecting them should be settled through negotiations.

India as a major power has to constantly evaluate how Trumpas approach to this country impacted the bilateral relations but it does not have to be swayed by the criticism that others at home or abroad might be levelling against Trumpas actions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done well to broadly adopt this line, believing in the logic that both the US and India needed each other.

There is no particular reservation any country should have against President Trumpas declared doctrine of aAmerica Firsta and its application in the spheres of diplomacy and trade as also in regard to the US stakes in the ongoing military conflicts in some parts of the world. Two aspects of President Trumpas readiness to issue Executive Directives attract attention- his willingness to face judicial scrutiny of his decisions, which was the hallmark of democracy, and acceptance of the need to acourse correcta in suitable cases.

Trumpas clear emphasis on the economic advancement of the US is traceable to his shrewd observation that Americaas main rival, Communist China, had drawn lessons from the demise of the USSR and consciously taken the economic route to becoming the second superpower, at a time when the American economy had dipped in terms of the balance of trade and budget deficit.

Trump has, therefore, focused his attention on the cost-effectiveness of federal administration enforced through lay-offs where necessary, cutting down on the funding of projects that did not yield any direct benefit to the US and bringing back manufacturing and other sources of employment to America.

A new department- Department of Government Efficiency(DOGE)-under Elon Musk, a close confidant of President Trump, is driving the campaign for downsising federal agencies, unearthing systemic corruption and reorganising various wings of the federal government.

Efficiency and cost-effectiveness go together since the number of persons doing a job in the given time ought to be reduced to the optimal minimum and similarly, a task should be completed in time, in the minimum number of operational steps. Following Trumpas mandate of providing aminimum government maximum governance,a PM Modi had already set this objective for India- Elon Musk ordered large-scale lay-offs and reorganisation of many wings of the federal government.

Through a Presidential order on March 20, Trump dismantled the Department of Education alleging that it was awasteful and polluted by liberal ideologya.

Federal actions were initiated against Columbia, Harvard and Princeton universities for permitting anti-Semitic activities on the campus.

Department of Health and Human Services(DHH) was reorganised to bring down its Divisions from 28 to 15 through internal mergers and its workforce of 82,000 was reduced by 25 per cent resulting in a saving of $1.8 billion a year.

Meanwhile, a striking example of bureaucratic corruption unearthed by DOGE was its discovery that 12.3 million people aged 120 years or more, were still continuing to be on asocial securitya record. Their names were struck off by DOGE at one go.

Another form of serious bureaucratic irregularity became evident when Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) discovered that thousands of Pounds of ready-to-eat frozen chicken products were being sold without food inspection by a New Jersey-based Brazilian Corporation using the brand aSnack Maniaa. They were ordered to be withdrawn as they were likely to result in serious health consequences.

It is seen that Trumpas initiatives are largely driven by the economy but they had an ideological shade of the extreme right too.

A precipitate move of President Trump was to declare a anational emergencya for turning out all illegal migrants from the US which allowed use of Army for blocking the southern border and induction of Homeland Security to constitute statewide teams for detecting such individuals. H1 Visas were curtailed, citizenship by birth was abolished and a general sense of discrimination against outsiders was allowed to prevail-all of which caused concern, particularly in India where the best talent chose to go to the US for higher studies and high-value jobs.

Earlier in a press conference, President Trump clarified that he did not want to come in the way of American companies inducting aengineers on merita and that he only wanted ordinary jobs to be denied to Americans in favour of a cheaper workforce being brought from outside for reasons of corporate profit.

India showed a good understanding of US concerns about illegal migration and PM Modi himself assured President Trump that India would cooperate with the US in breaking the fraud-ridden eco-system of illegal migration to America.

India is not facing any significant problem relating to US visas beyond closer scrutiny of applicants, which was expected.

Although President Trump was the first world leader to condemn the terrorist violence at Pahalgam on April 22 in no uncertain terms, some misgivings arose in India about the American responses to the subsequent developments relating to the retaliatory military action taken by the Modi government against Pakistan.

PM Modi announced after holding a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) that Defence Forces had been given a free hand to carry out strikes on terrorists and their supporters at a time of their choosing.

When the Indian Air Force made multiple aBalakote typea strikes at nine terrorist camps beyond LoC and inside Pakistan based on intelligence- in the early hours of May 7 -an element of surprise had still been retained. Appropriately named Operation Sindoor the Indian retaliation led to unsuccessful attempts by Pakistan to make drone attacks on some places close to the Indian border. The drones, used by Pakistan, were gifted by Turkey as it came out later and they were mostly shot down by our air defence.

In an upgraded response India launched missile attacks causing grave damage to several leading Air bases in Pakistan. A desperate Pakistan army reached out to the Trump Administration, reminding it of the nuclear capability of the two countries, and unsurprisingly President Trump and his top functionaries moved to broach the idea of a ceasefire.

The request for a ceasefire came from DGMO Pakistan and India accepted it with PM Modi himself defining Indiaas future stand in his address to the nation on May 12 evening.

In what can be regarded as an enunciation of Indiaas National Security Policy, the Prime Minister stated that any future terrorist attack on India from the soil of Pakistan will be treated as an act of war and responded to by our defence forces accordingly, that India would not be deterred by any nuclear threat from Pakistan and that any talk with Pakistan will only be about cross-border terror and PoK in keeping with Indiaas stand that atalks and terror do not go togethera and that the only agenda on Kashmir was the return of PoK to India.

It is likely that President Trump did not want to abandon Pakistan and looked at the latter as a trading partner but he would also not like to cause any harm to the strategic India-US friendship.

It is in the nature of things for Trump to be a little hyperbolic- he claimed credit for stopping a awara between India and Pakistan and averting the death of amillions of peoplea- and went on to offer to mediate between the two countries on Kashmir. Seeing the reaction of India against a third party intervention on Kashmir, however, Trump quickly did a acourse correctiona by saying on May 16 that India and Pakistan should pursue a direct dialogue on the issue.

It is not difficult for India to maintain the much-needed friendship with the US despite a certain aunpredictabilitya about President Trump and the trait of being avaingloriousa that the whole world could see in him.

An important part of the strategic diplomacy of India would be to highlight the Sino-Pak collusion that was in evidence during the post-Pahalgam military confrontation between India and Pakistan.

(The writer is a former Director Intelligence Bureau)
Seoul, May 25 : An all-party parliamentary delegation from India, led by Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, met with Indian Ambassador to South Korea Amit Kumar on Sunday to outline a Korea-specific approach for upcoming diplomatic engagements, emphasising India's firm stance of zero tolerance against terrorism.

The visit to Seoul follows the delegation's successful outreach in Japan and forms part of India's global diplomatic campaign aimed at highlighting the significance of Operation Sindoor and reaffirming its resolve against Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism, especially in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

"Visited the Indian Embassy in Seoul as part of an all-party delegation to discuss Operation Sindoor. We had a constructive meeting with Amit Kumar, Ambassador of India to the Republic of Korea, focusing on strengthening bilateral cooperation. Grateful for the warm hospitality and insightful exchange," Jha posted on X following the meeting.

The delegation comprises BJP MPs Aparajita Sarangi, Brij Lal and Pradan Baruah, Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, and Ambassador Mohan Kumar.

During their earlier visit to Japan, the parliamentarians engaged with members of the Indian diaspora and key stakeholders, underlining India's unwavering stand against terrorism.

They stressed that combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is a national priority and made a strong case for Japan's support in ensuring the perpetrators, financiers, and sponsors of the Pahalgam attack are brought to justice swiftly.

In South Korea, the delegation is expected to meet with senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, legislators from the National Assembly, as well as representatives from influential think tanks and leading media houses.

The meetings aim to build international consensus around India's anti-terrorism position and garner global support for its recent military and diplomatic efforts under Operation Sindoor.
Agartala/Shillong, May 25 : The five 'Border Haats' -- two in Tripura and three in Meghalaya -- have remained closed for a long time, and their prospects are uncertain amid the volatile situation in Bangladesh, officials said on Sunday.

Agartala/Shillong, May 25 (IANS) The five aBorder Haatsa -- two in Tripura and three in Meghalaya -- have remained closed for a long time, and their prospects are uncertain amid the volatile situation in Bangladesh, officials said on Sunday.

These 'Border Haats' (border markets) along the India-Bangladesh borders have remained closed since March 2020 after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns. However, three aBorder Haatsa in East Khasi Hills district and South West Garo Hills district in Meghalaya reopened in 2022, and the south Tripura border market reopened in May last year. But, these border markets again closed after the violence in Bangladesh began in June-July last year, especially after the fall of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5, 2024.

A senior official of the Tripura Industries and Commerce Department said in Agartala that before the unrest began in Bangladesh in June-July last year, district administration officials of the concerned districts of the two countries held a series of meetings to reopen the aBorder Haatsa, but there has been no positive progress after that.

In the weekly border market, on average, at least 25 to 27 vendors, including women from both sides of the border, sell their products and various items.

The first aBorder Haata was inaugurated in 2011 between the West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya at Kalaichar and Kurigram in Bangladesh. Subsequently, other aBorder Haatsa were set up in Meghalaya and Tripura.

According to Indian officials, before the unrest in Bangladesh started, the governments of the two countries had approved 10 more aBorder Haatsa along the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura and Meghalaya. Out of them, six are in Meghalaya, and four are in Tripura.

Both the Indian and Bangladeshi governments were earlier keen to reopen more aBorder Haatsa in the four northeastern states -- Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram, which share a 1,880-km border with Bangladesh to boost the local economy and increase the income of the border villagers.
New York, May 25 : Operation Sindoor has shown Pakistan that India can hit terrorism infrastructure with a "degree of precision" and put it on notice that if its terrorists hit New Delhi there will be consequences, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said as his team of members of Parliament brought the anti-terrorism message to the US.

"We are determined now that there's got to be a new bottom line" to Pakistan's terrorist attacks on India, he said here at the start of the mission of MPs of the BJP and the opposition parties.

"The perpetrators of terror should indeed be brought to justice, and we are not going to stop our hunt for those who did this latest atrocity," the Congress leader said.

"We have tried everything, international dossier, complaints," to no avail, he said, explaining why India directly attacked the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and the areas of Kashmir it occupies.

Speaking at India's consulate here, he said the team will be meeting government officials, legislature members, think tanks, and influential foreign policy experts, and interact with the media and the public.

He said that they will call for global solidarity against terrorism and explain how India has suffered from terrorism and was forced to act. The team will go from here to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, before returning to the US for meetings in Washington.

In a forceful display of the nation uniting against terrorism, the team is headed by Tharoor from the opposition Congress Party and includes Shambhavi of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Sarfaraz Ahmad of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and Milind Murli Deora of the Shiv Sena.

"I don't work for the government, as you know. I work for an opposition party," Tharoor said of his role. The other members are Shashank Mani Tripathi, Bhubaneswar Kalita, and Tejasvi Surya of the BJP, and GM Harish Balayogi of the Telugu Desam Party, a National Democratic Alliance partner.

After terrorists from 'The Resistance Front', an affiliate of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, massacred 26 people in Jammu and Kshmir's Pahalgam, India struck terrorist centres in Pakistan.

Pakistan then attacked India, targeting civilian structures like places of worship, including gurudwaras, temples, and convents, and medical facilities, leading to an escalation of the conflict.

The team of MPs started with a visit to the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Centre to honour the 2,731 victims of the worst terrorist attack in the US, which also has connections to Pakistan.

A large number of members of the diaspora and others joined the MPs, who placed flowers at the monument.

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, which carried out the attack, was given asylum and government protection by the Pakistani government and was killed in Abbottabad near Pakistani military facilities by the US Navy's elite SEAL unit.

Tharoor said the visit to the 9/11 memorial was "a reminder that this is a shared problem, but also out of a spirit of solidarity with the victims".

The team sent "a very strong message that we are here in a city which is bearing still the scars of that savage terrorist attack in the wake of yet another terrorist attack in our own country", he said.

Tharoor said, "The Phalgam attack was planned by those who wanted to disrupt the process of normalisation in Kashmir and damage the prosperity of the Kashmiri people. Their broader aim was also to provoke a bigger backlash in the rest of India by trying to make it a religious issue, singling out their victims by religion."

But it failed because "there was an extraordinary amount of togetherness cutting across religious and other divides in India that people have tried to provoke", he said.

He said that TRF took responsibility for the Pahalgam killings. India had informed the UN Security Council's anti-terrorism sanctions committee about the TRF, he said.

Soon after the Pahalgam attack, the Security Council issued a statement condemning the attack, but China and Pakistan together prevented it from naming the TRF, he said, showing Islamabad's complicity in the attack.

India's consulate said that the MPs also met with prominent think tanks, academics, and media to "highlight the strategic ties between India and the US and underscore the collaborative efforts to tackle the evolving threat of terrorism".

"The delegation conveyed India's firm message of zero tolerance and unified national resolve against terrorism," it added.
New Delhi, May 25 : Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) Pawan Kapoor will visit Washington soon at the directive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top sources revealed on Sunday.

The visit, which could take place next week, comes in the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's repeated claims that his administration brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan earlier this month, after long hours of talks.

India has maintained that the understanding was reached after Pakistan's desperate attempts to seek an end to hostilities in light of Indian forces pounding its air bases during Operation Sindoor.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar had also reiterated this week that not just the US, but many countries had reached out to India between May 7-10.

In an interview with Netherlands-based NOS, the EAM stated that the cessation of firing and military action was negotiated directly between India and Pakistan, and the ceasefire understanding was reached after the adversary nation made the "first move".

He added that it is natural for other countries to set up communication channels with nations engaged in military conflict.

"US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to me while US Vice President JD Vance spoke to PM Modi," the EAM said.

Trump has also said that India has offered to enter a bilateral trade deal with the US which "basically" proposes that "no tariffs" would be levied on a range of American goods.

"They are offering us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariffs," Trump said in Qatar's capital Doha, earlier this month.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Washington in February this year, had held talks with Trump on negotiating the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement by the fall of 2025.

Meanwhile, an eight-member, all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also kicked off its visit to the Americas and the Caribbean earlier today.

The delegation is carrying forth to the world India's strong message of zero-tolerance against terrorism.

The team will go to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, before returning to the US for meetings with leaders, lawmakers and opinion-makers.
New York, May 25 : The all-party delegation led by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor engaged with prominent think tanks, academic leaders, and the media in New York.

The Consulate General of India in New York announced on X that "The All-Party Delegation from India, led by Honable MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor, engaged with prominent think tanks, academic leaders, and media in New York. The discussions underscored India's steadfast national resolve to combat terrorism - united in voice, resolute in action."

The statement came during the Indian delegation's diplomatic outreach visit to the US, where members reiterated India's unwavering commitment to fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

According to an official statement by the Consulate, "The All-Party Delegation from India, led by Hon'ble Member of Parliament Dr. Shashi Tharoor, arrived in New York as part of a diplomatic outreach aimed at projecting India's united and resolute stance against terrorism."

The Indian representatives held engagements with leading think-tanks, academic institutions, and media organisations in New York. These interactions focused on strengthening India-US strategic relations and emphasised the importance of global cooperation in counterterrorism efforts, it said.

The delegation conveyed India's "firm message of zero tolerance and unified national resolve against terrorism", and advocated for "stronger international mechanisms to counter terrorism, disrupt its support networks, and bring perpetrators to justice."

The delegation includes senior Indian lawmakers and diplomats: Bhubaneswar Kalita and Milind Murli Deora (Rajya Sabha MPs), Shashank Mani Tripathi and Ganti Harish Madhur (Lok Sabha MPs), and Ambassador (Retd.) Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

As part of their visit, the delegation paid a solemn tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks.

"As a mark of solemn remembrance and solidarity, the delegation visited the 'National September 11 Memorial & Museum' and paid tribute to the innocent lives lost in the tragic 9/11 attacks," the statement said, reaffirming India's solidarity with all victims of terrorism globally.

The visit is part of India's broader diplomatic global outreach following Operation Sindoor, to build consensus among key international stakeholders in addressing the complex and evolving threats posed by terrorism.
New Delhi, May 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat, beginning May 26, during which he will launch and inaugurate projects worth thousands of crores of rupees and participate in the celebrations of 20 years of Gujarat Urban Growth Story.

On May 26, in line with his commitment to enhancing connectivity and building world-class travel infrastructure, PM Modi will dedicate to the nation a Locomotive manufacturing plant aimed to produce electric locomotives of 9000 HP for domestic purposes and for export.

He will also flag off the first electric locomotive manufactured from the plant, which will help in increasing the freight loading capacity of Indian Railways. These locomotives are being designed to reduce energy consumption, which contributes to environmental sustainability.

PM Modi will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate multiple development projects worth around Rs 24,000 crore and address a public function in Dahod.

Later, PM Modi will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate multiple development projects worth over Rs 53,400 crore in Bhuj.

In Bhuj, the works being launched include transmission projects for evacuating renewable power generated in the Khavda Renewable Energy Park, transmission network expansion, Ultra super critical thermal power plant unit at Tapi, among others.

He will flag off the Vande Bharat Express between Veraval and Ahmedabad & Express train between Valsad and Dahod stations. The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the gauge-converted Katosan- Kalol section and flag off a freight train on it.

On May 27, the Prime Minister will participate in the celebrations of 20 years of Gujarat Urban Growth Story and launch Urban Development Year 2025, and also address the gathering on the occasion.

Notably, Urban Development Year 2005 in Gujarat was a flagship initiative launched by the then Chief Minister, Narendra Modi to transform Gujaratas urban landscape through planned infrastructure, better governance, and improved quality of life for urban residents.

Marking 20 years of the Urban Development Year 2005, PM Modi will launch the Urban Development Year 2025, Gujaratas urban development plan and State Clean Air Programme in Gandhinagar.

The Prime Minister will also dedicate more than 22,000 dwelling units under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and release Rs 3,300 crore for urban local bodies in Gujarat under the Swarnim Jayanti Mukhyamantri Shaheri Vikas Yojana.
COLOMBO, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Two teenage boys were killed in separate motorcycle accidents in Sri Lanka on Saturday, local police said on Sunday.

In the first incident, a 14-year-old boy died after the motorcycle he was riding collided head-on with a truck at the Hakmana-Beliatte road, Southern Province. The boy was pronounced dead upon admission to Tangalle Hospital, the police said.

In a separate accident, a 15-year-old boy was killed and four others injured when a motorcycle crashed into the back of another motorcycle in Siyambalanduwa, Uva Province. The injured were admitted to Sirigala Hospital for treatment, the police said.

The police said none of them were wearing helmets. Authorities are continuing further inquiries.

Road accidents are common in Sri Lanka, with a significant number of them involving motorcycles. 
New Delhi, May 25 : The conclave of the NDA chief ministers and deputy CMs began here on Sunday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his senior Cabinet colleagues attending the event.

All the BJP-ruled states and alliance partners are attending the meeting.

During the meeting, the leaders listened to PM Modias Mann Ki Baat address, the first after Operation Sindoor. In the monthly radio address, PM Modi hailed the Armed Forces and said the operation is a reflection of a transforming India, united in the fight against terrorism and recognising the power of being self-reliant.

The leaders paid their tributes to the 26 people who were brutally killed by terrorists on April 22 in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. Following this terror attack, India launched Operation Sindoor to avenge the deaths. Nine terror bases in Pakistan and PoK were demolished in precision attacks by the India Armed Forces.

Sources said the meeting will pass a resolution to congratulate the armed forces and PM Modi for the success of Operation Sindoor. Another resolution will be passed to laud the Central government for its decision to conduct caste enumeration in the next census.

The NDA meet has been called to deliberate on the vision and strategic action plan for achieving Viksit Bharat @2047. At the heart of this meeting will be the guiding principle that the path to a developed India lies through the development of its states -- Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat.

This meeting holds special significance as it comes at a time when India is riding a strong wave of economic and governance transformation. The next two decades offer a critical window of opportunity for the country to leap from its status as a developing nation to that of a global economic and political powerhouse.

The central theme of the discussion will be how individual states can contribute meaningfully to Indiaas ambition of becoming a $30 trillion economy by 2047.

The meeting comes a day after PM Modi held the NITI Aayog meeting, where PM Modi exhorted the states to come together with the Centre to speed up development across the country.

The Prime Minister is expected to emphasise that states must craft bold, inclusive, and forward-looking vision documents, aligned with the national goals but grounded in local realities. With most states now in advanced stages of preparing their own Viksit Rajya @2047 plans, this meeting will serve as a forum to share progress, best practices, and challenges.

One of the key focuses will be on ensuring that each state defines clear objectives across economic, social, and environmental domains. These include growth in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), employment generation, enhancement in health and education outcomes, gender equity, climate resilience, and water and energy security.

States will be encouraged to adopt a SOAR (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results) framework, shifting the developmental lens from constraints to capabilities and measurable impact.

The meeting will also review progress on existing transformational schemes that have already reshaped lives across the country-- such as Swachh Bharat, Ujjwala Yojana, PM Awas Yojana, and Jal Jeevan Mission.

The Prime Minister is likely to call upon Chief Ministers to set up dedicated Project Monitoring Units (PMUs), real-time War Rooms, and Monitoring and Evaluation Cells to ensure transparent and accountable delivery of programmes.
Srinagar, May 25 : The J&K Police on Sunday arrested a drug peddler in Baramulla district after recovering contraband substances from his possession.

A police statement said, "Continuing its efforts to eradicate the menace of drugs from society, Baramulla Police have arrested a drug peddler and recovered contraband substances from his possession. A police party from Police Station Sheeri, headed by the station house officer (SHO) of police station Sheeri, established a checkpoint at Zandfaran Link Road. During checking, one person identified as Abid Rasheed Sofi, son of Abdul Rasheed Sofi, a resident of Heewan, Baramulla, was intercepted. Upon search, 190 grams of a charas-like contraband substance were recovered from his possession."

The police said he has been arrested.

"Accordingly, a case FIR No. 30/2025 under sections 8/20 of the NDPS Act has been registered at Police Station Sheeri, and further investigation has been initiated," the statement mentioned.

The police have urged the people to report any instances of drug peddling or other criminal activities to the nearest police station or by dialling 112.

"Your cooperation is essential in our collective fight against the drug menace. We reassure the community that police will continue to act firmly against such offenders as per the law," the police station said.

Security forces have launched an aggressive operation against terrorists, their overground workers (OGWs) and sympathisers.

The operation also includes a crackdown on drug smugglers and drug peddlers, as the intelligence agencies say the proceeds of hawala rackets and drug smuggling ultimately get siphoned into funding terrorism.

A confirmatory indication of drugs and their abuse being promoted from across the border is that 90 per cent of drugs, contraband and psychotropic substances are routed into Jammu and Kashmir through the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB). Trans border smuggling of drugs into the country is also a major problem faced by states like Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, where the IB exists.
New Delhi, May 25 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's absence from the NITI Aayog meeting sparked a political storm with the state BJP on Sunday cornering him for allegedly ignoring the interests of the state by skipping the crucial brainstorming exercise.

The Chief Minister's office claimed that Siddaramaiah was forced to stay away from the meeting due to his prior commitment in Mysuru, but the official justification failed to pacify the opposition BJP.

The explanation for skipping the meeting, however, failed to pacify the BJP, with state president B.Y. Vijayendra slamming the Chief Minister in a social media post on X and saying, "Karnataka deserves better!"

He described the Chief Minister's absence as "a deliberate withdrawal from opportunities that could shape Karnataka's future".

Vijayendra also hit out at Siddaramaiah for placing politics over progress and staying away from the PM-chaired meeting.

"A Chief Minister desperate to cling to a slipping chair, more focused on appeasing his high command than uplifting his people, continues to place politics over progress. But can true governance ever succeed when politics is prioritised above the people?" asked the state BJP President.

He also trained his guns on the Congress government for what he called its failures. "The Congress government in Karnataka, unable to hide its complete lack of development work, keeps harping about what the Centre owes, as if blaming Delhi will somehow cover up its own failures."

"But governance is not a blame game or a chorus of complaints; it is a shared responsibility built on cooperation and commitment to the people. When PM Shri @narendramodi ji invites every Chief Minister at the 10th NITI Aayog Governing Council to shape the shared vision of a Viksit Bharat @ 2047, our CM @siddaramaiah chooses to skip," said the BJP President.

Siddaramaiah was not alone among the Chief Ministers from non-NDA states to skip the meeting. West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee and Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan also stayed away.

Earlier, PM Modi chaired the 10th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog at Bharat Mandapam on the theme Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat@2047. It was attended by Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors representing 24 States and 7 UTs.
New Delhi, May 25 : The Centre has procured over 29.7 million tonnes (MT) of wheat so far during the 2025-26 rabi marketing season, which extends from April to June. This is the highest procurement since the 2021-22 season, official figures showed.

The wheat procurement this year is up 13.5 per cent compared to the same period last year, with purchases nearing completion in most major producing states, according to data compiled by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi expects the final figure for wheat procurement to touch 320-325 lakh tonnes due to the record harvest this year.

Total wheat purchase stood at 265.9 lakh tonnes in 2024-25. The government has set a wheat procurement target of 312 lakh tonnes for the 2025-26 marketing year, the minister said,

FCI data shows all five major wheat procuring states -- Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh -- have procured more wheat in the current year, as compared to last year.

About Rs 62,346.23 crore in minimum support price payments have been made, benefiting 2.27 million farmers, the data showed.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced on Monday that Indiaas foodgrain production has increased by over 106 lakh tonnes to 1,663.91 lakh tonnes in 2024-25, which represents a 6.83 per cent increase over the corresponding figure of the previous year.

"In 2023-24, the countryas total foodgrain production was around 15,57.6 lakh tonnes. I am glad to tell you that in 2024-25, it has become 16,63.91 lakh tonnes," Chouhan said at a press conference recently.

"The production of the rabi crop was 1600.06 lakh tonnes in 2023-24, now it has increased to 1645.27 lakh tonnes," the minister said.

The Union Minister said that his ministry's vision was not only to meet the countryas own food requirement, but also to make India the food basket of the world.
Chennai, May 25 : AIADMK general secretary and Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, on Sunday said that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin attended the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 24 only because the state is facing a crisis.

Addressing journalists in Coimbatore, Palaniswami said CM Stalin had boycotted the NITI Aayog meetings for the past three years, depriving Tamil Nadu of vital opportunities to secure Central funds and development schemes.

"Had he participated earlier and presented the demands of Tamil Nadu, the state could have benefited. But he chose not to represent the people's needs," he said.

He claimed that CM Stalin's sudden participation in Saturday's meeting indicated that "there is a problem now", which prompted him to engage with the Prime Minister.

"We will know what exactly he discussed with the PM only if the Prime Minister himself reveals it," he added.

Recalling CM Stalin's earlier stance, Palaniswami pointed out that the DMK leader, while in the Opposition, had protested against PM Modi's visits to Tamil Nadu by flying black balloons.

"Now, after becoming Chief Minister, he waves the white flag whenever the Prime Minister visits," he said, mocking the perceived change in approach.

Palaniswami further accused the ruling DMK of widespread corruption under its 'Dravidian model' of governance.

He said the Enforcement Directorate had conducted raids and launched investigations into alleged irregularities in TASMAC, the state-run liquor distribution network.

"The corruption in TASMAC is common knowledge. While the matter is sub judice and I cannot discuss it in detail, it is being looked into seriously," he said.

On the law and order front, the AIADMK leader alleged that safety for women, children, and the general public has deteriorated. He claimed that drug abuse was rampant across the state and linked the rise in violent crimes such as murder and robbery to the drug menace.

"Those addicted to drugs are often the ones involved in such crimes. I have repeatedly raised this issue in the Assembly and with the media, urging the government to take strong measures to curb drug usage and trafficking. But no action has been taken," he said.

Palaniswami concluded by stating that the government had failed to deliver on key issues, despite repeated warnings and calls for accountability.
Chennai, May 25 : With the southwest monsoon's early onset over Kerala and advancement to several parts of Tamil Nadu, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall across multiple districts of the state till May 28.

According to RMC officials, several regions, including the Nilgiris, Coimbatore (ghat areas), Theni, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Dindigul, Kanniyakumari, and Tiruppur, are expected to witness intense rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds ranging from 40 to 50 kmph between May 25 and May 28.

RMC Director B. Amudha noted that a low-pressure area is likely to form over the west-central and adjoining north Bay of Bengal around May 27.

This development could further enhance rainfall activity over the southern peninsula in the coming days.

The Nilgiris and the ghat areas of Coimbatore have already recorded significant rainfall in the past 24 hours.

Avalanche and Pandalur in the Nilgiris district received 11 cm of rain each, while Chinnakalar in Coimbatore recorded 9 cm.

The Meteorological Department has issued a Red Alert for the Nilgiris district, warning of the possibility of isolated extremely heavy rainfall on May 25 and 26.

Chennai is expected to experience moderate rain and thunderstorms during the same period.

Daytime temperatures in the city are likely to hover between 35 degrees Celsius and 37 degrees Celsius.

Authorities have advised residents in hilly and low-lying areas to stay vigilant and follow safety instructions issued by local administrations.

The risk of landslides, flash floods, and waterlogging is particularly high in vulnerable districts, especially in the Western Ghats region.

Disaster management teams are on standby, and officials are preparing for potential disruptions to travel, transport, and public utilities.

With the monsoon system expected to remain active, further forecasts regarding rainfall in June will be issued by the RMC after the formation of the anticipated low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal.
Chennai, May 25 : Dr. Salahuddin Muhammed Ayub, the Chief Qazi to the Government of Tamil Nadu, passed away in Chennai due to age-related ailments. He was 84.

His funeral will take place at 5 p.m. on Sunday at the historic Wallajah Mosque, also known as the Triplicane Big Mosque.

A renowned scholar and respected figure in the Islamic community, Dr. Salahuddin held a Doctorate in Arabic Language and Literature.

Prior to his appointment as Chief Qazi, he served as a professor of Arabic at New College, Chennai, where he earned admiration for his scholarship and dedication to teaching.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin expressed deep sorrow over his passing. In a condolence message, Stalin said: "Dr. Salahuddin Ayub was a respected scholar whose contributions to the welfare of the community were immense. He always showed personal affection towards me since my tenure as the MLA from Thousand Lights. Even during his illness, he remained committed and made it a point to attend Iftar events in which I participated. His demise is an irreparable loss to the Muslim community and to Tamil Nadu as a whole."

Prince of Arcot, Nawab Muhammed Abdul Ali, also expressed condolences, recalling his family's longstanding association with the late Chief Kazi.

He described him as "a great scholar and a humble man."

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai extended his sympathies to the bereaved family and the Muslim community through a message on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

AIADMK general secretary and opposition leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami also posted his condolences on X, stating: "I am deeply saddened by the passing of the Chief Qazi of the Tamil Nadu Government and an esteemed scholar who rendered invaluable service to both the Tamil and Islamic communities. His demise is a significant loss not just to the Islamic community but to all of Tamil Nadu. I pray for his soul to rest under the mercy and shade of the Almighty, and extend heartfelt sympathies to his family and to all our Muslim brothers and sisters."

TVK leader and Tamil superstar Vijay paid tribute on X, writing, "Deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Tamil Nadu Government's Chief Qazi, Allama Mufti Dr. Muhammad Salahuddin Ayyubi Qadiri Azhari. He discharged his duties with integrity and righteousness. Despite being entitled to government privileges such as an official residence, a siren-equipped vehicle, and an office, he chose to decline all benefits and served with humility and sincerity."

In a press release, Nusrat Ali Khan, secretary of the Shia Sunni Unity Movement India, described the late Chief Qazi as "an epitome of unity and a perfect example for the Muslim community."

Khan added that his services to the nation would be remembered and appreciated forever.

Dr. Salahuddin Mohammed Ayub leaves behind a legacy of scholarship, humility, and service that will continue to inspire generations.
New Delhi, May 25 : The Congress and the BJP were involved in a verbal duel over economic issues on Sunday, with the former alleging a fall in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the latter slamming the Opposition party's misleading fixation with 'net FDI' and 'ignorance'.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh targeted the government for what he called dwindling foreign direct investment by posing on the social media platform X: "The just-released RBI data reveals that Net FDI inflows into India in 2024/25 have plunged by an unprecedented 96 per cent to a measly $0.4 billion."

In-charge of the BJP's National Information and Technology Department, Amit Malviya, retorted, saying, "Today, foreign capital is betting on India's future. The Opposition and their cheerleaders' fixation with "net FDI" is not only economically misleading  it reflects either ignorance or a deliberate distortion of facts."

"India's gross FDI inflows stood at $81 billion in FY25  a 14 per cent year-on-year increase, despite global economic uncertainty and monetary tightening in the West. India continues to rank among the top 5 global FDI destinations," said Malviya, an ex-banker himself.

Earlier, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications questioned the government's policies and said: "Whatever whitewashing of an official explanation for this precipitous fall is being provided, the fact remains that this reflects tremendous investment uncertainty in India - which is deterring not only foreign investors but Indian companies as well, who would rather invest abroad than at home. We ignore the implications of the dramatic decline at our own peril."

Malviya went on to give a comparison between FDI attracted under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and during the UPA era.

"Since 2014, cumulative FDI inflows have exceeded $670 billion. The Modi Government's reforms  ranging from Ease of Doing Business, PLI schemes, and digital infrastructure to taxation overhauls  have established a credible, rules-based investment climate," said Malviya.

The BJP leader said, "More importantly, this is quality capital. FDI is now flowing into high-value sectors such as semiconductors, electric mobility, defence manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and green energynot merely into real estate or speculative financial instruments."

Hitting out at the failures of the Congress-led government, Malviya said, "Contrast this with the UPA era, marked by policy paralysis, retrospective taxation, and scandals like 2G and Coalgate, which created a hostile environment for both domestic and foreign investors. Back then, capital flight was the norm."

The BJP leader also used this opportunity to school Congress leaders on how to calculate FDI.

"Globally, FDI performance is measured by gross inflows, as reported by institutions like UNCTAD and the IMF. 'Net FDI' subtracts repatriation and Indian outbound investment, which unfairly distorts the picture, especially now that Indian companies are expanding abroad as global players. Outbound FDI is a sign of economic maturity, not a liability," he said.
New Delhi, May 25 : SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has reportedly proposed setting up a massive US-Japan sovereign wealth fund to invest in cutting-edge technology and infrastructure.

According to a report by the Financial Times (FT), Son discussed this plan with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

While the proposal has not been formally submitted yet, the idea is gaining traction amid growing efforts to reshape economic and technological ties between the two countries.

The envisioned fund could require about $300 billion in starting capital and use significant financial leverage to amplify its investments, the report said.

The fund would be jointly owned and operated by the US Treasury and Japanas Ministry of Finance, with both sides holding sizable stakes.

There are also possibilities of bringing in limited partners, which may allow retail investors from both countries to participate.

This comes at a time when Bessent is reportedly seeking new revenue streams for the US Treasury without increasing taxes.

The FT report suggests the fund could offer a potential solution by creating long-term returns through strategic investments.

However, no official statements have been made yet.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Son had a high-profile meeting in Seoul with Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong and OpenAI chief Sam Altman.

The trio discussed AI strategies and possible collaborations, including the ambitious $500 billion Stargate project aimed at building advanced AI infrastructure in the US.

Son told reporters in Seoul that the discussions had been "very good" and focused on the future of AI and mobile technologies.

"I will discuss an update of the Stargate project and potential collaborations with Samsung Group," Son stated.

Son also spoke highly of South Korean technology prowess and engineers, while stressing the growing importance of AI in all countries.

While no official deals were announced at that meeting, Son had indicated that further talks would follow, including discussions on potential involvement from companies like SK hynix.
New Delhi, May 25 : Union Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh has strongly urged Indian consumers to boycott Turkish apples, citing the country's support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

"Turkey supports enemy nations, so if people have decided not to eat Turkish apples and instead choose Himachal apples, it's the right decision," said the minister while addressing the media during his visit to Himachal Pradesh.

Singh inaugurated the Bob Organics organic fertiliser production unit at Byada in Panchrukhi near Palampur on Saturday. He also interacted with students from the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), gaining insights into the functioning and innovation behind the plant.

Later, the minister visited a traditional pottery-making institute in Andretta, where he tried his hand at shaping clay pots. He appealed to residents to take pride in this ancient art and to expand it as a means of sustainable livelihood.

"This is a part of the Ministry of Textiles. Pottery is a traditional craft that has cultural and economic value," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to double the import duty on apples from the current 50 per cent to discourage their import from Turkey and safeguard the interests of the state's fruit growers.

The CM urged that quantitative restrictions should also be imposed on imported apples.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, CM Sukhu said Himachal Pradesh is known as the 'apple bowl' of the country and is famous for producing delicious varieties of the fruit. The apple is the prime cash crop of the state and generates an income of about Rs 4,500 crore annually.

CM Sukhu said that at present, apples are being imported from nearly 31 countries, and about 5.19 lakh metric tons were imported in 2024, an increase of 500 times compared to 1,100 metric tons imported in 1998. The Chief Minister said apples from Turkey have been flooding the Indian markets in recent years, which has posed a great threat to the apple growers of the country.

When asked about Congress opposing India's foreign outreach, Giriraj Singh stated that an all-party delegation is visiting 33 countries to counter false narratives spread by Pakistan.

"This is not new. In 1994, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, along with Manmohan Singh and Salman Khurshid, had gone to the UN to fight similar misinformation. If Congress doesn't understand this and feels frustrated, what can I do?" he said.
The opening ceremony of the 20th Western China International Fair is held in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 25, 2025. The fair opened in Chengdu on Sunday under the theme of "Deepen Reform For More Momentum, Expand Openness for Greater Growth." The fair, which is hosted by the People's Government of Sichuan Province, has attracted over 3,000 enterprises from home and abroad, and will last until May 29. Hungary and Laos serve as the guest countries of honor at the fair, while east China's Zhejiang Province and northwest China's Qinghai Province act as the guest provinces of honor. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)

CHENGDU, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The 20th Western China International Fair (WCIF) opened on Sunday in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, showcasing cutting-edge technologies and diverse products, and attracting more than 3,000 companies from 62 countries and regions.

For the first time, this year's event has two guest countries of honor: Laos and Hungary. Laos' pavilion is spotlighting tea, coffee, furniture and handicrafts, while Hungary's is presenting 17 firms specializing in wine, medical devices and eco-friendly water treatment technology.

The fair provides valuable opportunities for business matchmaking, investment cooperation and information sharing for enterprises from Laos and other countries, effectively enhancing connectivity and integration in regional commodity markets, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune said at the opening ceremony.

Making her first appearance at the fair, Indonesian exhibitor Fransisca Pauline Tjandra is showcasing handmade accessories. And by running a workshop on manual handicrafts such as shell necklaces, she expects that more Chinese people will learn about Indonesian handicrafts through the event.

"To attend the fair, I even learned some basic Chinese, like 'nihao' (hello), 'xiexie' (thanks) and 'Duoshaoqian?' (How much?)," she said.

Hosted by the Sichuan provincial government, the fair will run until Thursday. 

People visit the pavilion of Hungary at the 20th Western China International Fair in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 25, 2025. The fair opened in Chengdu on Sunday under the theme of "Deepen Reform For More Momentum, Expand Openness for Greater Growth." The fair, which is hosted by the People's Government of Sichuan Province, has attracted over 3,000 enterprises from home and abroad, and will last until May 29.

Hungary and Laos serve as the guest countries of honor at the fair, while east China's Zhejiang Province and northwest China's Qinghai Province act as the guest provinces of honor. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)

A kid interacts with a robot at the 20th Western China International Fair in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 25, 2025. The fair opened in Chengdu on Sunday under the theme of "Deepen Reform For More Momentum, Expand Openness for Greater Growth." The fair, which is hosted by the People's Government of Sichuan Province, has attracted over 3,000 enterprises from home and abroad, and will last until May 29.

Hungary and Laos serve as the guest countries of honor at the fair, while east China's Zhejiang Province and northwest China's Qinghai Province act as the guest provinces of honor. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)

A visitor tries AI glasses at the pavilion of Zhejiang Province at the 20th Western China International Fair in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 25, 2025. The fair opened in Chengdu on Sunday under the theme of "Deepen Reform For More Momentum, Expand Openness for Greater Growth." The fair, which is hosted by the People's Government of Sichuan Province, has attracted over 3,000 enterprises from home and abroad, and will last until May 29.

Hungary and Laos serve as the guest countries of honor at the fair, while east China's Zhejiang Province and northwest China's Qinghai Province act as the guest provinces of honor. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)

People visit the pavilion of Laos at the 20th Western China International Fair in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 25, 2025. The fair opened in Chengdu on Sunday under the theme of "Deepen Reform For More Momentum, Expand Openness for Greater Growth." The fair, which is hosted by the People's Government of Sichuan Province, has attracted over 3,000 enterprises from home and abroad, and will last until May 29.

Hungary and Laos serve as the guest countries of honor at the fair, while east China's Zhejiang Province and northwest China's Qinghai Province act as the guest provinces of honor. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)

People view a robot dog displayed at the pavilion of Chengdu at the 20th Western China International Fair in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 25, 2025. The fair opened in Chengdu on Sunday under the theme of "Deepen Reform For More Momentum, Expand Openness for Greater Growth." The fair, which is hosted by the People's Government of Sichuan Province, has attracted over 3,000 enterprises from home and abroad, and will last until May 29.

Hungary and Laos serve as the guest countries of honor at the fair, while east China's Zhejiang Province and northwest China's Qinghai Province act as the guest provinces of honor. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)

People view an aircraft model at the pavilion of Sichuan Province at the 20th Western China International Fair in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 25, 2025. The fair opened in Chengdu on Sunday under the theme of "Deepen Reform For More Momentum, Expand Openness for Greater Growth." The fair, which is hosted by the People's Government of Sichuan Province, has attracted over 3,000 enterprises from home and abroad, and will last until May 29.

Hungary and Laos serve as the guest countries of honor at the fair, while east China's Zhejiang Province and northwest China's Qinghai Province act as the guest provinces of honor. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)
Gandhinagar, May 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Gujarat on May 26 and 27, during which he will launch and inaugurate a series of development projects across Dahod, Bhuj, and Gandhinagar, cumulatively worth more than Rs 77,000 crore.

According to a statement from the Prime Ministeras Office, the Prime Minister will begin his Gujarat tour in Dahod on May 26, where he is scheduled to arrive around 11:15 a.m.

In a boost to the Make in India initiative, he will dedicate to the nation the Indian Railwaysa Locomotive Manufacturing Plant, which will produce 9,000 HP electric locomotives for both domestic use and export. He will also flag off the first electric locomotive manufactured at the plant.

These high-powered locomotives, equipped with regenerative braking systems, are expected to enhance Indian Railways' freight capacity while promoting energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. In addition, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for development projects worth around Rs 24,000 crore in Dahod.

These include major railway infrastructure works and initiatives led by the Government of Gujarat. He is also expected to flag off a new Vande Bharat Express between Veraval and Ahmedabad, further improving regional connectivity. Later in the afternoon, the Prime Minister will travel to Bhuj, where he is scheduled to arrive at 4 p.m.

There, he will launch and inaugurate a series of projects exceeding Rs 53,400 crore in investment value. He will also address a public gathering, focusing on the regionas development trajectory.

On May 27, PM Modi will be in Gandhinagar to participate in the 20-year celebration of Gujaratas Urban Growth Story. The event, scheduled for 11 a.m., will also mark the launch of Urban Development Year 2025. The Prime Minister is expected to address urban stakeholders and officials at the event.
Nabha : , May 25 (IANS) Amid the presence of former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday called upon the people to come forward and join the crusade against drugs and corruption to make it a mass movement.

Addressing the gathering at a function organised by the Aggarwal Sabha here, the Chief Minister said the government has embarked on a war against the menace of drugs and corruption, adding this drive can be successful only with the proactive support and cooperation of the people.

He said this is the fight for the coming generations and cannot be won without the support of the common man.

CM Mann exhorted the people to extend wholehearted support for this cause so that Punjab can be made a progressive and frontrunner state in the country.

The Chief Minister said the war against drugs has to be transformed into a mass movement for which people should work hard.

He said it is pivotal to make Punjab a drug-free state, adding, "It is the fight for the coming generations and it is the moral duty of everyone to support it."

CM Mann said that this fight will continue till the curse of drugs is not wiped out. The Chief Minister said the bulldozer drive to demolish properties of drug smugglers will be continued till a logical conclusion is reached.

He said the action is being taken as per the law of the land and it is aimed at ensuring that the drug trade is dealt a fatal blow.

CM Mann said this action will be further intensified so as to ensure that the drug is completely wiped out from the state. The Chief Minister said he would continue to fight for safeguarding the interests of Punjab till his last breath.

CM Mann said he raised the issues of water, the Yamuna-Satluj Link (YSL), high-handedness of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), Chandigarh and others before Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the meeting of NITI Aayog held in New Delhi on Saturday.

He said that as custodian of the interests of three crore people of Punjab, it is his moral duty and he will always do that.

In his address, AAP's national Convener Kejriwal said the previous regimes not only patronised the drug dealers but they themselves carried out the business in their government vehicles.

However, he said the state government is acting strictly against the drug menace and it will not allow its youth to fall prey to this menace.

He said now villagers are getting drug-free as an anti-drug campaign has been embarked on in the state, and every village is being covered under the ambitious programme.
Seoul, May 25 : The amount of compensation paid to victims of drug side effects in South Korea declined in 2024 for the first time in six years, government data showed on Sunday.

The government collected 4.75 billion won (US$3.5 million) last year from 760 pharmaceutical companies for the national drug side effects relief fund, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management.

The relief program provides financial support to individuals or bereaved families of those who suffer death, disability or illness caused by adverse drug reactions, reports Yonhap news agency.

Financial assistance includes lump-sum payments for death or disability, medical expenses and funeral costs.

In 2024, compensation was paid out for 161 cases, reaching 1.84 billion won, down 18.3 percent from 2.25 billion won a year earlier, the data showed.

The decline is mainly due to a decrease in compensation for deaths linked to side effects and lack of public awareness of the program.

"As payouts accounted for only 38.7 percent of the funds collected last year, the government should more actively promote the program through hospitals, medical professionals and pharmacies," an industry official said.

Meanwhile, South Korea will work to triple the size of the animal medicine market to 4 trillion won (US$2.7 billion) by 2035 as part of efforts to foster new growth engines for the economy, the agriculture ministry said last month.

The government also aims to increase the country's exports of veterinary medicine products fivefold to 1.5 trillion won and create 15 animal pharmaceutical companies with an annual revenue of at least 50 billion won each over the next 10 years, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The ministry said the plan comes amid growing demand for animal pharmaceutical products around the globe, sparked by an increase in pet ownership, livestock product consumption and infectious diseases in animals.

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Jammu, May 25 : An Assistant Sub-inspector (ASI) of police was killed and another policeman was injured on Sunday when a speeding vehicle hit them in J&K's Samba district.

Officials said that ASI Yog Raj Singh, along with his team, had set up a checking point on the border road at Pulpur in the Supwal area of Samba district following information about possible attempts by smugglers to transport bovine animals.

"The police party tried to stop a speeding load carrier at around 4.15 am, but its driver jumped the barricade and hit them, resulting in injuries to the ASI and another policeman. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital, where the ASI succumbed to his injuries," an official said.

He further added that police have registered a case and recovered the vehicle, which was found abandoned in a nearby area, while a hunt is on to identify and arrest the culprit driver.

Bovine smuggling is a cause of concern for the local police as these animals are smuggled into J&K or from one district to the other in violation of government directives that make permission for such transport by the concerned district magistrate obligatory.

After the recent hostilities between India and Pakistan on the International Border (IB) that falls in Kathua, Samba and partly in Jammu districts, security forces are maintaining high vigil to ensure that no infiltration occurs during heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan Rangers in these districts.

Although the IB in J&K is completely fenced with a multi-layered high fence, there have been incidents of terrorists breaking through the fortified fencing under the cover of Pakistani fire.

Security Forces have also discovered a tunnel along the IB being used by the terrorists to sneak into the Indian side.
New Delhi, May 25 : Nine Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in India were arrested from Wazirpur JJ Colony, Delhi Police said on Sunday.

The Bangladeshis, without valid travel documents, visas, or permits, violated the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and other applicable immigration laws by illegally crossed into India through the Cooch Behar border, said an official of Delhi Police Foreigners Cell, North-West District.

One smartphone equipped with the banned In My Opinion (IMO) application was recovered from them. All individuals have been handed over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), R.K. Puram, New Delhi, for deportation proceedings, the police said.

Bhisham Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West District), said those rounded up included four minors and all of them are from District Kurigram in Bangladesh.

The other five were identified as: Saidul Islam (45), Nazma Begum (42), Nazmul Ali (23), Azina Begum (20) and Apple Ali (19).

Acting on an input received on May 23, a police team cordoned off the targeted area and conducted a comprehensive verification drive. "Approximately 50 footpaths and 100 lanes were thoroughly checked during an intensive combing operation undertaken within the jurisdiction of police station Bharat Nagar," said a police official.

The team, which traced the illegal residents, included SI Shyam Bir, ASI Rajender, HC Vikram, HC Praveen, and Ct. Deepak, who worked under the close supervision of Inspector Vipin Kumar (Foreigners Cell) and Ranjeev Kumar, ACP/CAW Cell.

Highlighting the challenges faced during the investigation, DCP Bhisham Singh said that during questioning, the accused tried to mislead interrogators by claiming Indian citizenship.

The head of the Bangladeshi family told police that they had previously worked at a brick manufacturing unit in Mewat, Haryana.

They fled Mewat out of fear of being apprehended by the Haryana Police. Since then, they had been frequently changing footpaths and were in the process of securing rented accommodation in an attempt to blend into the local population, the police said.
Ahmedabad, May 25 : The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule for by-elections to two Assembly constituencies in Gujarat - Visavadar and Kadi - with polling set to be held on June 19.

Ahmedabad, May 25 (IANS) The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule for by-elections to two Assembly constituencies in Gujarat a" Visavadar and Kadi a" with polling set to be held on June 19.

The Visavadar seat fell vacant following the resignation of Bhupat Bhayani, the sitting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA who later joined the BJP.

The Kadi constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, fell vacant after the demise of Karsan Punjabhai Solanki, the BJP MLA representing the seat.

According to a statement issued by the Election Commission, the gazette notification for the bye-elections will be issued on May 26 (Monday). The last date for filing nominations is June 2 (Monday), followed by the scrutiny of nominations on June 3 (Tuesday). Candidates can withdraw their nominations until June 5 (Thursday).

Polling on both seats will be conducted on June 19 (Thursday), and votes will be counted on June 23 (Monday). The Commission has set June 25 (Wednesday) as the final date by which the entire election process will be completed.

Located in the Saurashtra region, Visavadar has historically been a politically vibrant constituency. It was once represented by former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, and has seen power swing between the BJP and other parties. In the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections, Bhupatbhai Bhayani won the seat on an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket, making headlines as one of AAPas notable gains in Saurashtra. However, his subsequent resignation and shift to the BJP necessitated the current bye-election.

This seat will now test the BJPas consolidation efforts and AAPas grassroots presence in the region.

Kadi, a Scheduled Caste (SC)-reserved constituency in North Gujaratas Mehsana district, has long been considered a BJP stronghold.

The seat fell vacant following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Punjabhai Solanki, who was elected in 2022. Given the BJPas established influence in North Gujarat and its deep cadre network in Mehsana, the bypoll in Kadi is expected to be a key test of the partyas ability to retain support among SC voters amid national and local-level political developments.
Los Angeles, May 25 : Actor John Krasinski, who is known for his work in 'The Office', believes that 'Fountain of Youth' is superior to the Harrison Ford-starrer 'Indiana Jones'.

The 45-year-old actor plays Luke Purdue, the estranged brother of Charlotte Purdue (played by Natalie Portman) in 2025 American heist adventure film directed by Guy Ritchie, and he teams up with his sibling for a worldwide hunt to find the mythological fountain of youth in the flick styled like the 'Indiana Jones' franchise, reports 'Female First UK'.

Krasinski said the family aspect is what "drew me in" and put the flick "ahead" of the iconic films created by George Lucas. He told SFX magazine, "I think for me, it was really this relationship (that gave it) a different twist, instead of a whole romance thing at the centre of the movie. What I really liked was that family was this thing that we often forget about, and it might be the treasure that we're all really seeking in our lives. So that was really the thing that drew me in, which Indy didn't have. So there! We're ahead of 'Indiana Jones' already! Please don't tell Harrison Ford that".

As per 'Female First UK', Krasinski said working with Ritchie was another factor in his decision to take on the role of Luke along with being enticed by family being at the heart of the film.

The 'IF' actor explained, "I've been a huge Guy Ritchie fan forever. I don't know if I've been on set with a director where it's his world in its entirety, and I mean that in the best way. Though it may sound chaotic, and it does take a little time to understand the rules of how to go about starting every day with that off-the-cuff, kind of, writing, there is an energy to it that I've never experienced before. This is one of those movies where you'll look back and go, 'I'm so glad I did this'".

The 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' star, who has Hazel, 10, and Violet, seven, with his actress wife Emily Blunt, laughed at the fact it's the first film that is appropriate for his young children to watch.
Chennai, May 25 : The century-old fireworks industry in Tamil Nadu's Sivakasi has formally applied for a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in a bid to protect its legacy, enhance credibility, and open new avenues for exports.

The application for the GI tag under the "manufactured goods" category was submitted to the Geographical Indications Registry by the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association (TANFAMA), through advocate and IPR attorney, P. Suganthi.

Often referred to as the "fireworks capital of India," Sivakasi, and its surrounding regions like Vemkottai, Virudhunagar, Sattur, Srivilliputhur, and parts of Kovilpatti, produce over 80 per cent of the country's fireworks. The industry thrives in Sivakasi's dry climate, which is particularly well-suited for firework manufacturing. The sector has a market value of approximately Rs 6,000 crore, growing at a rate of nearly 10 per cent annually.

"There are many illegal and unregulated units operating not just in Sivakasi, but across the country. We are the pioneers of this industry, and a GI tag will help distinguish authentic Sivakasi-made fireworks. It will also enable us to seek financial support and expand into international markets," a TANFAMA representative said.

Intellectual Property Rights attorney P. Sanjai Gandhi emphasised that a GI tag could help curb the menace of counterfeit and substandard fireworks in the market.

"A GI tag lends credibility and acts as a safeguard against duplicate products," he said.

The industry has long struggled with safety concerns, as illegal manufacturing units have contributed to frequent accidents involving fires and explosions. By securing a GI tag, the association hopes to reinforce quality control and improve safety standards.

According to the GI filing, Sivakasi-made fireworks are used beyond celebrations. They are utilised by the armed forces for training purposes, and certain airports use Sivakasi rockets to deter birds and prevent bird strikes. The history of this industry dates back to pre-Independence days, with three pioneering firmsNational Fireworks (chain crackers), Kaliswari Fireworks (fire pots), and Standard Fireworks ('Lakshmi' bombs). By 1980, the number of factories had surged to 189, employing over 75,000 people. Today, the region houses more than 1,000 units. Despite its growth, the industry faces challenges, including environmental concerns and a lack of interest among the younger generation to join the family trade. Manufacturers hope that a GI tag will revitalise interest and secure the future of this iconic industry.
Imphal, May 25 : Director General of Border Security Force (BSF) Daljit Singh Chawdhary visited trouble-torn Manipur and reviewed the prevailing law and order situation, officials said on Sunday.

A BSF spokesman said that during his two-day visit (May 24-25) to Manipur, the BSF DG held separate meetings with Manipur governmentas security advisor Kuldiep Singh, a former DG CRPF and the stateas Director General of Police Rajiv Singh and reviewed the law and order situation.

The DG, accompanied by senior BSF officials, addressed officers and troopers at the forceas sector headquarters, Koirengei, through a Sainik Sammelan. All officers and BSF troopers in various districts of Manipur participated via a video conference.

He lauded their unwavering efforts in safeguarding the region and motivated them to continue their tireless service.

The DG also visited BSF units deployed on the fringe areas of Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts and interacted with the troopers.

He also visited the 10th battalion BSF headquarters at Loktak, where he interacted with the troopers and encouraged them to sustain their efforts in upholding peace and security in the area.

The DG BSF, during the tour, was given a comprehensive briefing on the current law and order situation in Manipur, and he interacted at length with the sector officers, the spokesman said.

He also witnessed a demonstration of the BSF personnel and interacted with the troops and commending their dedication and commitment in maintaining security in the state.

During the two-day tour, Chawdhary, a senior IPS officer, was accompanied by BSFas Additional Director General, Eastern Command, Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, Inspector General, Mizoram and Cachar Frontier, Sanjay Kumar Misra and Inspector General (STC-BSF) Indra Deo Singh.

After the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023, as part of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), several battalions of BSF were deployed in the northeastern state by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Besides BSF, a huge contingent of the Army, Assam Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were also deployed in different parts of Manipur to deal with the situation.
Kochi: The Liberian-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3 sank off the coast of Kochi on Sunday, May 25, 2025.. Image Source: IANS/@SpokespersonMoD

Thiruvananthapuram, May 25 : The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has issued a public warning following reports from the Indian Coast Guard of a possible leak of hazardous substances from a capsized container vessel off the state's coast, an official said on Sunday.

Thiruvananthapuram, May 25 (IANS) The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has issued a public warning following reports from the Indian Coast Guard of a possible leak of hazardous substances from a capsized container vessel off the stateas coast, an official said on Sunday.

The cargo reportedly fell from the Liberian-flagged ship MSC ELSA 3, which was on Saturday en route to Kochi port from Vizhinjam before it sank in the Arabian Sea.

In response to the environmental threat and potential public safety hazards, the Kerala government has launched urgent containment measures.

Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) have been deployed to manage the risk of drifting cargo containers and a possible coastal oil spill.

A high-level emergency meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary directed the Factories and Boilers Department and the Pollution Control Board to constitute the RRTs.

The District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs), police, and other key agencies have been instructed to provide all necessary assistance for emergency operations.

According to official sources, MSC ELSA 3 sank approximately 14.6 nautical miles (around 27 km) off the Thottappally coast.

Nearly 100 containers are believed to have fallen into the sea, with many now drifting towards the shore at a speed of around 3 kmph.

The Indian Coast Guard has launched a full-scale containment operation.

Two Coast Guard ships are currently engaged in the area, while a Dornier aircraft is being used to spray chemical dispersants over the affected zone.

The Director General of the Coast Guard, who also leads the National Oil Spill Response Plan, is personally supervising the operations.

In anticipation of oil settling on the seabed, the state government is preparing a contingency plan involving coordinated underwater cleanup efforts.

This will be a joint operation involving the Coast Guard, Navy, Forest Department, and the Factories and Boilers Department.

To bolster precautionary measures, the Port Department, Coast Guard, and Navy have been instructed to mobilise additional booms and skimmers to contain any potential oil spread.

District-level task forces have also been activated to address various emergency scenarios, including recovery of containers, shoreline cleanup, and marine pollution control.

A public advisory has been issued urging coastal residents to stay at least 200 metres away from any unfamiliar objects or containers that may wash ashore.

Citizens are requested to immediately alert authorities by dialling the emergency number 112 and are advised not to gather near such sites.

Fishermen have been strongly advised against venturing into deep-sea waters, particularly within a 20-nautical-mile radius of the incident site.

They have also been warned not to approach or handle any floating containers or suspected hazardous materials they may encounter at sea.

Officials have emphasized that the immediate priorities are to ensure public safety, prevent environmental damage, and protect the livelihoods of the local fishing communities.
JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China stands ready to join Indonesia to address risks and challenges, and consolidate cooperation in the "five pillars" of politics, economy, people-to-people and cultural exchange, maritime affairs and security.

Li made the remarks during talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. 
Chennai, May 25 : The Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority (TNSCZMA) has imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 9.60 lakh on the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms during the construction of a bridge under the East Coast Road (ECR) expansion project.

The penalty was levied for the continuous dumping of excavated material into the ecologically sensitive Odiyur Lagoon in Chengalpattu district. The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the Authority, based on provisions of the CRZ Notification, 2011, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

The action follows a petition filed by Palluyir Trust for Nature Education and Research, which highlighted the violations occurring during the bridge construction.

Following the petition, the Authority directed the District Collector of Chengalpattu to conduct an on-site inspection to verify whether the alleged dumping was taking place within the CRZ area and to take necessary action.

The District Collectoras report confirmed that NHAI was indeed dumping construction debris into Odiyur Lagoon, in direct violation of CRZ clearance conditions.

According to the original CRZ clearance issued to NHAI in October 2020, one of the key stipulations was that no excavated material should be dumped in water bodies or surrounding areas.

Additionally, the site was to be restored to its near-original condition upon completion of the bridge construction. The Authority stated that NHAI had failed to comply with these conditions.

Subsequently, the TNSCZMA reported the violation to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), which then directed the state authority to initiate action against the project proponent.

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) assessed the environmental compensation based on the duration and impact of the violation, using a formula devised by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The Authority approved the calculated compensation and instructed the Member Secretary of TNSCZMA to proceed with penal action against NHAI under relevant environmental regulations.

It may be noted that the bridge construction is part of the Chennai-Puducherry expansion of the East Coast Road under Phase 1 of the Bharatmala Pariyojana project.

The project involves realigning the existing two-lane 240-meter bridge across Odiyur Lake, connecting Paramankeni and Mudaliarkuppam villages in Cheyyur taluk. To improve road geometry and ensure a design speed of 100 km/hr, NHAI has proposed a new 490-meter bridge with a better approach curve.

Meanwhile, the matter is also under judicial scrutiny, with the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) hearing a related case concerning the dumping of debris into Odiyur Lagoon.
Doha, May 25 : The Shura Council of Qatar, the country's top legislative body, on Sunday extended unequivocal support to India, echoing the Supriya Sule-led delegation's call that terrorism in any form must be eliminated and uprooted from wherever they rear their ugly head.

Doha, May 25 (IANS) The Shura Council of Qatar, the countryas top legislative body, on Sunday extended unequivocal support to India, echoing the Supriya Sule-led delegationas call that terrorism in any form must be eliminated and uprooted from wherever they rear their ugly head.

The Indian delegation, led by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) Supriya Sule, met Qataras legislative body members and shared details about Indiaas Operation Sindoor a" the targeted military strikes that dismantled terror bases in Pakistan and also about Pakistanas open support and shielding of terror, corroborating the charge with documentary evidence.

The NCP(SP) MP, briefing the media after the Shura Council meeting, said that all members of Qatar Parliament stood in Indiaas support and elicited a common view that terrorism must be uprooted from its source.

She said that Qatar Parliamentarians shared similar views to India in containing terrorism and also maintaining a zero-tolerance policy on corruption.

Earlier in the day, the all-party delegation led by Supriya Sule met Qatar's Shura Council in Doha, delivering India's firm message against Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism and also on the urgency to rein in the patrons and those nations promoting or shielding terror on their soil.

The all-party delegation led by Supriya Sule comprises Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Anurag Thakur and V. Muraleedharan, Congress leaders Manish Tewari and Anand Sharma, Telugu Desam Party's Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Aam Aadmi Party leader Vikramjeet Singh Sawhney, and former diplomat Syed Akbaruddin.

Supriya Sule, speaking to IANS, also shared the pain and agony of a Pune-based family and emphasised why it was important to wage war against terrorism.

"The country and the world are united against terrorism because we have all witnessed the pain. Even today, there are two families from Pune, and from my own experience, I can tell you that whenever I talk to them, the first thing they say is that whenever they close their eyesa"even after many yearsa"the entire scene comes vividly before them, and they still feel that moment of fear. You can imagine what every one of these families would have gone through," she said.

The delegation, as part of India's broader diplomatic outreach, will also travel to South Africa, Ethiopia, and Egypt in the coming days.
Aizawl, May 25 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah has supported the Mizoram government's proposal to establish a Mizo Territorial Army (MTA) battalion to deal with drug trafficking and other law and order-related issues, officials said on Sunday.

A senior official of the Mizoram government said that Chief Minister Lalduhoma, during his visit to New Delhi, discussed several issues with the Home Minister last week.

"The Chief Minister expressed his gratitude to the Home Minister for supporting his proposal to establish a Mizo Territorial Army battalion, describing it as a crucial initiative to provide employment for Mizo youths while contributing to national security," the official said.

He said that during the meeting, Shah expressed his deep appreciation for Mizoram, describing it as "one of the most peaceful states in India."

Regarding the handover of Lengpui Airport to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Shah assured his commitment to intervene and expedite the process as needed.

They further reviewed the status of the Mizoram Maintenance of Household Registers Bill, 2019, which was passed by the Mizoram Legislative Assembly during the previous MNF (Mizo National Front) government and remains pending with the President of India, the official said.

He said that for quite a long time, the state government has been requesting the Centre to help the state to raise the MTA to deal with the smuggling of drugs and other contrabands being illegally imported from Myanmar.

"The state government has manpower shortages to deal with the narcotics trafficking from across the border. The state government earlier submitted proposals to the Ministry of Home Affairs about the raising of the MTA," he said.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has recently proposed setting up its zonal office in Mizoram.

NCB Director General Anurag Garg recently met Mizoram Chief Minister and suggested setting up a full-fledged NCB zonal office in the state and emphasised the need for more staff and officials who are acquainted with the local language and the ground situation of the state.

Lalduhoma, a former IPS officer, during the meeting with Garg had discussed ways and means to curb the drug trade and usage of narcotics by the youth.

The Chief Minister had told the NCB DG that he had already requested the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to constitute or to allow the state government to form the MTA to further strengthen vigilance along the state's unfenced borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Mizoram shares a 510 km and 318 km border with Myanmar and Bangladesh, respectively, and these unfenced frontiers are hotspots for the smuggling of diverse drugs, including highly addictive methamphetamine tablets, foreign cigarettes, areca nuts, arms and ammunition, and exotic animals and their parts.
New Delhi, May 25 : In a big step to take India's traditional medicine systems like Ayurveda and Yoga to the global stage, the Ministry of Ayush and the World Health Organization (WHO) have signed a major agreement, the government announced on Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the importance of this agreement in the 122nd episode of 'Mann Ki Baat', saying that this move will help make Ayush accessible to people across the world in a scientific manner.

"Friends, something has happened in the field of Ayurveda as well, which you will be very happy to know about," said PM Modi.

"Just yesterday, i.e. on 24th May, an MoU was signed in the presence of the WHO Director General and my friend Tulsi Bhai. Along with this agreement, work has started on a dedicated traditional medicine module under the International Classification of Health Interventions," PM Modi added.

"This initiative will help in making Ayush reach a maximum number of people across the world in a scientific manner," the Prime Minister stated.

This agreement marks the beginning of work on a new traditional medicine module under the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI), which is a system developed by WHO to classify medical treatments and procedures.

The module will include traditional Indian therapies such as Panchakarma, Yoga therapy, Unani regimens, and Siddha treatments.

These will now be documented in internationally accepted scientific terms.

The inclusion of traditional medicine in the ICHI system will not only bring more recognition to Ayush therapies worldwide but will also improve their acceptance in health insurance, hospital records, and clinical research.

It will make billing more transparent and help set fair prices for these treatments.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also welcomed this step. He posted on X saying he was pleased to sign an agreement with the Ministry of Ayush for a $3 million contribution from India towards WHO's work on traditional medicine and ICHI.

This move also supports India's vision of promoting its traditional knowledge in global healthcare systems with scientific backing.

The combination of WHO's ICD-11 for classifying diseases and the new ICHI module for interventions is expected to make Ayush an important, evidence-based part of health policies and systems around the world.
Chandigarh, May 25 : In a significant breakthrough, Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) Punjab, in a joint operation with Ferozepur Police, have arrested three associates of the Ashish Chopra gang involved in the sensational double murder of Rishabh and Shalu owing to gang rivalry between the Nata gang and the Chopra gang, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Sunday.

Those arrested have been identified as Manpreet Singh and Ramandeep Singh, both residents of Ferozepur, and Sonu, a resident of Faridkot. Police teams have also recovered three pistols, along with seven cartridges and four shells from their possession.

DGP Yadav said the arrest of the accused has also led to the cracking of another murder case, in which a person identified as Yotham was killed, with Manpreet Mannu being the main shooter. Further investigation is underway to identify other associates of this gang and establish backward and forward linkages, he added.

Sharing details of the operation, Additional Director General of Police (AGTF) Promod Ban said acting on specific intelligence, police teams from AGTF led by DSP Rajan Parminder, along with Ferozepur Police, raided the hideout of Ramandeep Singh and Sonu in Gulabe Wala village in Sri Muktsar Sahib district. The accused attempted to flee and opened fire at the police party but were apprehended after a chase, he said, adding that a criminal case has been registered.

The ADGP said in a separate operation, accused Manpreet Mannu was intercepted in Ferozepur, where he opened fire at the police team in a bid to escape. In retaliatory fire, the accused sustained a bullet injury and was arrested, he said, adding police teams have also impounded his motorcycle.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Ferozepur) Bhupinder Sigh said the accused have a criminal background and were involved in multiple heinous crimes, including the recent double murder case.
Moscow, May 25 : Russian President Vladimir Putin's helicopter was caught in the "epicentre" of a massive Ukrainian drone offensive during his first visit to the liberated Kursk Region earlier this week, a Russian military commander has revealed.

However, air defence units in the region managed to beat off the attack and ensured the safety of the President, an air defence division commander, Yury Dashkin, told channel Russia 1 in an interview aired on Sunday, RT reported.

Putin's helicopter had found itself "in the epicentre of an operation to repel a massive drone attack by the enemy" in Kursk Region, Dashkin said.

In his first visit to Kursk Region on Tuesday, after it was fully liberated from Ukrainian forces in April, Putin met Governor Aleksandr Khinshtein, as well as the heads of local municipalities and volunteers who have been helping those affected by the now-repulsed Ukrainian incursion, according to the Kremlin.

However, at that time, Ukraine launched an "unprecedented" UAV assault on the region, but Dashkin said that Russian air defences destroyed 46 incoming fixed-wing UAVs, according to Dashkin.

"I would like to stress the fact that the intensity of the attacks during the flight of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's aircraft over the territory of Kursk Region increased significantly," he said.

The air defence units in the area had to "simultaneously conduct anti-aircraft combat and ensure the safety of the President's helicopter in the air. The task was accomplished. The attack of the enemy drones was repelled, with all aerial targets being hit", Dashkin added.

As per Russia, Ukraine significantly intensified its drone strikes inside the country this past week. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow reported that 764 drones had been intercepted over Russian territory between Tuesday and Friday. According to the Defence Ministry, the scale of the assault has not abated, with hundreds more UAVs being destroyed on Saturday and Sunday.
New Delhi, May 25 : Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta reiterated her government is committed to ensuring timely, transparent, and sensitive resolution of public grievances and, as part of this initiative, the public grievance portal will be upgraded soon, an official said on Sunday.

Instructing officials to promptly resolve pending grievances, CM Gupta said the government is not a ruler but a servant of public.

CM Gupta said, "This is not just a grievance redressal programme; it is our commitment to listen to the people and find solutions. We will ensure every complaint is addressed in a time-bound and responsible manner."

She further added that the present public grievance portal is being upgraded to be more user-friendly, enabling citizens to register complaints without technical barriers. Complainants will now be able to track the status of their complaints online and also provide feedback.

The CM said following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mantra of good governance and transparency, the Delhi government has prioritised direct communication with the citizens by organising Jan Sunwai or public grievance hearing camps.

As part of this initiative, Jan Sunwai camps are organised every Saturday across all revenue districts of the capital in collaboration with public representatives, including Cabinet Ministers, MLAs, and Municipal Councilors.

These camps include the presence of District Magistrates and other officials from the Delhi government, the Municipal Corporation, Delhi Police, power companies, and over 18 other departments.

Notably, to maintain a direct connection with the public, these programmes are being held not just at revenue office premises but also at schools, community centres, and public halls like chaupals and baraat ghars, said an official statement.

"So far, over a thousand grievances have been registered in Jan Sunwai camps held across all districts of Delhi. Of these, many were resolved on the spot, while the rest have been forwarded to the relevant departments for further necessary action," it said.

The primary concerns raised by citizens include water supply, sanitation, encroachment, road maintenance, and law and order, said an official.

Departments such as the Delhi Jal Board, Municipal Corporation, Public Works Department, Health Department, Food and Civil Supplies Department, and Delhi Police have collaborated to address these issues, he said.

At the Jan Sunwai camp held on May 17, more than 1,260 citizens sought resolution of their problems, reflecting the public's growing trust and awareness of this initiative.

Similarly, at the May 24 Jan Sunwai camp, over 1,350 people took part, the official said.
New Delhi, May 25 : Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena on Sunday commended the efforts of the Rekha Gupta government to desilt drains and focus on preparing the city's drainage system to handle rainwater flow during the advancing monsoon.

In a social media post accompanied by videos showing rainwater flowing in large drains, the L-G said, "The morass set in due to neglect of more than a decade will take considerable time getting fully sorted, but the new government's efforts at governance are indeed gratifying."

In a special appreciation for the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, headed by Minister Parvesh Verma, Saxena said, "It's encouraging to see the Irrigation & Flood Control Deptt striving to make our drains flow & mitigate waterlogging, amidst heavy unexpected rains. The consistent efforts of Hon'ble CM Smt @gupta rekha vide field visits & monitoring have started showing results."

The L-G's words of praise coincided with Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva lauding the government for preparing the city for monsoon.

Sachdeva stated that while sudden storms and monsoon-related waterlogging have been regular occurrences in Delhi every year, the situation till last year was worsened by the negligence of the then-government. However, this situation has significantly improved now.

Sachdeva said that when Delhiites woke up this morning, they were faced with multiple complaints of fallen trees and waterlogging due to a storm that hit late last night.

Following the instructions of CM Gupta, all BJP MLAs and councillors, along with officials from the Delhi Jal Board and Public Works Department, took to the streets.

"By 9 a.m., most trees had been cleared and much of the waterlogging removed, easing traffic across the city. By noon, the situation had been brought under control," he said.

After every spell of rain, the people of Delhi can clearly see the difference between the former Arvind Kejriwal government and the current BJP-led administration, he said.

Sachdeva emphasised that while the Kejriwal government used to blame the L-G and officials for waterlogging and leave citizens in the lurch, the BJP government takes responsibility and, after thunderstorms or rain, works actively with officials and staff to normalise the situation.
Bhopal, May 25 : A deeply disturbing incident -- reminiscent of the infamous Nirbhaya case in Delhi -- has emerged from Khandwa district, where an elderly tribal woman was gang-raped, subjected to extreme torture following which the victim ultimately lost her life.

The accused even used a sharp steel object to disembowel internal portion of private parts. The accused -- two individuals -- have been taken into custody, yet the police have not disclosed further details about the incident.

The perpetrators committed unspeakable acts, inserting sharp objects into the victim's private parts, causing severe internal injuries.

She suffered prolonged agony and ultimately succumbed to her wounds.

The victim, a 45-year-old mother of two grown children, was reportedly abandoned by her attackers after the assault, loot of Rs 20,000 and left to suffer in excruciating pain before finally passing away due to the lack of timely medical intervention.

According to police sources, the crime occurred on Saturday afternoon under the jurisdiction of the Khalwa police station near Roshni village.

"The assault was so brutal that her ovary was forcefully expelled from her body," a source revealed.

Reacting to the tragedy, the Congress strongly condemned the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government and announced a three-member investigative committee to uncover the truth behind the case.

The panel, composed entirely of women, aims to ensure justice. State Congress unit president Jitu Patwari expressed his outrage on social media, stating: "The brutal rape and murder of a tribal woman in Khandwa district has shaken the entire state. We strongly denounce this heinous act and are committed to seeking justice for the victim's family. A three-member investigation team will visit the location, engage with the victim's family, speak to local representatives and officials, and present a detailed report to the party leadership. The Congress remains vigilant in upholding the dignity and safety of the tribal community and will ensure that the perpetrators face the harshest punishment."

According to locals, a wedding ceremony had taken place in the village on Friday.

Several women from the family had come to stay at a nearby farm, and after the festivities, they asked the victim to escort them back.

The farm was barely half a km away.

However, she never returned home that night. Assuming she had stayed at the farm, her family did not immediately search for her.

The next morning, when she was still missing, they went to the farm, only to be told that she had returned the previous evening, accompanied by two villagers, Sunil and Hari.

Later, a woman from the same village, Bhuribai, informed them that the victim was lying in excruciating pain, semi-conscious, in a shed behind her house.

When her family reached her, she was barely conscious. They tried to revive her, gave her water, and eventually brought her home.

When asked what had happened, she painfully whispered: "Something terrible has happened to me. I will not survive."

She told them that Sunil and Hari had raped her. She was critically injured, suffering from severe bleeding, with internal organs protruding.

Both accused were known to her. Authorities suspect that sharp or hard objects were used during the attack, causing extensive damage.

The victim was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to her injuries during treatment. Preliminary medical reports have confirmed severe internal trauma.

The police are yet to confirm whether they have received the post-mortem report.
New Delhi, May 25 : Apart from conveying India's unified and unwavering stand against terrorism in Bahrain, members of an all-party delegation visited different places of worship and shrines showcasing the country's ethos rooted in pluralism, an official said on Sunday.

The delegation's head, BJP MP Baijayant Jay Panda and five other members visited the 200-year-old 'Shreenathji Temple' in Manama. Another member of the delegation, Satnam Singh Sandhu, visited the gurdwara 'Shri Guru Singh Sabha',

During the temple visit, Panda was accompanied by Rekha Sharma, Phangnon Konyak, Nishikant Dubey and Ambassador Harsh Shringla.

A message on the social media handle 'India in Bahrain' said, "Members of All-Party Delegation @PandaJay @sharmarekha @SPhangnon @nishikant_dubey @harshvshringla visited the 200-year-old 'Shreenathji Temple'."

The temple was constructed in 1817 by the Thattai Bhatia Hindu community, who had migrated from Sindh before the partition of India, according to information on social media.

In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the temple and launched $4.2 million renovation plan for the temple.

Earlier, the delegation arrived in Bahrain and interacted with the Indian diaspora as well as conveyed India's unified and unwavering stand against terrorism.

The visit, aimed at strengthening India's ties in the region and highlighting the country's firm stance against cross-border terrorism, marks the beginning of a multi-nation tour across Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria.

"The All-Party Delegation led by @PandaJay interacted with prominent personalities in #Bahrain. The delegation praised their contribution to stronger bilateral ties. Reiterated India's firm stance against terrorism. @SPhangnon @ghulamnazad @sharmarekha @asadowaisi," the Indian Embassy in Bahrain said in a statement on social media platform X.

Taking to X, BJP MP Panda said: "Our Indian diaspora has succeeded globally, & this makes us all very proud. Today, along with my esteemed colleagues from the all-party delegation, we engaged with the Indian community in Bahrain & conveyed India's unified & unwavering stance against terrorism. #OperationSindoor."
JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here Sunday that China has always taken Indonesia as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy.

China is willing to deepen all-round strategic cooperation with Indonesia and firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns, Li made the remarks during his talks with Speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives Puan Maharani.

He noted that under the strategic guidance of the presidents of the two countries, China-Indonesia relations have witnessed continuous and robust development.

Facing the current volatile international situation, the two countries, Li said, should unite and cooperate more closely, which is not only a practical need for promoting their respective causes of modernization, but also conducive to promoting peace and development in the region and the world at large.

China is also ready to join Indonesia in carrying forward their traditional friendship, and consolidating cooperation in the "five pillars" of politics, economy, people-to-people and cultural exchange, maritime affairs and security, so as to bring greater benefits to the people of the two nations.

The Chinese side is willing to work with Indonesia to strengthen friendly exchanges between their legislative bodies and inter-party cooperation, and enhance policy communication and the sharing of governance experiences, said Li, calling on both sides to make greater achievements from their cause of friendship.

Li urged the two sides to ensure the implementation of landmark and important projects such as the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, facilitate two-way trade and investment, and jointly create a fair and favorable business environment.

The two sides should expand cooperation in emerging fields such as the digital economy, green development and artificial intelligence, enabling higher-level mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, Li noted.

He said that China is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with Indonesia within multilateral mechanisms, including the United Nations, jointly uphold the basic norms governing international relations, and safeguard the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core.

Li also called on the two countries to oppose unilateralism, protectionism and power politics, carry forward the Bandung Spirit of solidarity, friendship and cooperation, and inject stability and certainty into the cause of global peace and development. 
Bhubaneswar, May 25 : Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati on Sunday suggested that Odisha can strengthen its historical ties with Southeast Asian countries by enhancing port infrastructure, adopting green shipping, and promoting digital and cultural connectivity.

During his address at the valedictory ceremony of the 3rd International Conference on Indian Cultural Heritage (ICICH) held in Bhubaneswar, Kambhamapati suggested that modern nations can learn new ideas from their glorious heritage.

"The past is not just about history, but gives us useful ideas for dealing with today's world," said Kambhampati.

The Governor also emphasised the enduring relevance of Odisha's maritime heritage in promoting connectivity, cultural exchange, and sustainable development.

Speaking on the theme "Kalinga and Southeast Asia: The Civilisation Connect," Kambhampati stated that the legacy of ancient Kalinga's maritime endeavours offers important lessons for Southeast Asia in addressing environmental and developmental challenges.

"Odisha's rich history of maritime trade, exploration, and cultural exchange with countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam is not just a matter of pride but a guide for contemporary regional cooperation," he remarked.

He praised the collaborative efforts of the Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department, Utkal University, and the Institute of Media Studies for organising the conference, calling it a meaningful step in reconnecting with Odisha's glorious past.

The Governor noted that Kalinga, now Odisha, had strong maritime and cultural ties with Southeast Asia for over two thousand years.

"People from this region travelled widely, establishing links whose influence can still be seen today in architecture, inscriptions, customs, and place names," he said.

He emphasised that Kalinga's maritime network played a major role in the spread of Indian culture and religion.

"Temples like Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobudur in Indonesia show influences of Kalinga's temple architecture. The spread of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Sanskrit, and the celebration of festivals like Nyepi in Indonesia and Pchum Ben in Cambodia, reflect deep-rooted cultural bonds," he said.

These exchanges, he added, were based on mutual respect and enriched local traditions.

He also stressed the need for joint research and heritage education to instil pride in future generations.

Among others who addressed the occasion were Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, former Foreign Secretary of India Lalit Mansingh, Principal Secretary of the Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra, and Chairman of the One Asia Foundation, Patita Paban Mishra. The vote of thanks was delivered by Professor Upendra Padhi, Chairman of the 3rd ICICH.
Colombo, May 25 : Two teenage boys were killed in separate motorcycle accidents in Sri Lanka, local police said on Sunday.

In the first incident, a 14-year-old boy died after the motorcycle he was riding collided head-on with a truck at the Hakmana-Beliatte road, Southern Province. The boy was pronounced dead upon admission to Tangalle Hospital, the police said.

Xinhua news agency reported that in a separate accident, a 15-year-old boy was killed and four others injured when a motorcycle crashed into the back of another motorcycle in Siyambalanduwa, Uva Province. The injured were admitted to Sirigala Hospital for treatment, the police said.

The police said none of them were wearing helmets. Authorities are continuing further inquiries.

Road accidents are common in Sri Lanka, with a significant number of them involving motorcycles.

Available data shows an average of 38,000 crashes annually in Sri Lanka, resulting in around 3,000 deaths and 8,000 serious injuries. The estimated annual road crash deaths per capita are the highest among its immediate neighbours in South Asia and are five times that of the best-performing countries in the world.

High road crash fatality and injury rates in Sri Lanka are undermining the economic growth and progress made over the past decade on reducing poverty and boosting prosperity. Over two-thirds of road crash victims are productive, working-age adults between 15-64 years of age.

This situation is exacerbated by the rapid growth in vehicle ownership - 67 per cent between 2011 and 2018 - and the diversity of motorised and non-motorised traffic of varying sizes and speeds. This leaves vulnerable road users without adequate protection a" more than 90 per cent of crash victims are pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
Tokyo, May 25 : Nearly 60 per cent of Japanese believe rice prices will decline following the appointment of Shinjiro Koizumi as farm minister, according to a Kyodo News poll.

The change comes after former minister Taku Eto resigned for saying he never buys rice as his supporters have sent him enough, a remark that sparked public outrage amid record-high rice prices, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rice prices have doubled over the past year despite government efforts to stabilise supply. Koizumi plans to lower prices to the 2,000-yen (about 14 U.S. dollars) range by selling stockpiled rice directly to retailers.

The Kyodo survey also showed support for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Cabinet rose to 31.7 per cent, though 52.6 per cent still disapprove.

In the upcoming upper house election, 28.6 per cent plan to vote for the ruling party, while 14.3 per cent support the Democratic Party for the People and 13.6 per cent back the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, according to the poll.

Shinjiro Koizumi has been serving Japanese Minister of Agriculture since May 2025. He previously served as the Minister of the Environment from September 2019 to October 2021.

He also serves as a Member of the House of Representatives for the Liberal Democratic Party.

He is the second son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the younger brother of actor Kotaro Koizumi.

After the election of the Abe Government in 2012, Koizumi was appointed as a Vice-Minister for Reconstruction, focusing on the northeastern region of Japan that was devastated by the March 2011 tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster.

He publicly opposed his father's calls for Japan to abandon nuclear energy immediately.

In 2019, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appointed Koizumi to the Cabinet as Minister of the Environment, a role he retained when Yoshihide Suga succeeded Abe as prime minister in September 2020.
New Delhi, May 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to reach Gujarat, his home state, for a two-day visit beginning Monday, where he will launch many big-ticket projects amounting to thousands of crores. This marks his first visit to his home state, after Operation Sindoor -- Indian Armed Forces' targeted strikes that turned terror bases into ashes, across the border.

Ahead of PM Modi's Gujarat visit, the roads and streets in his home state have been adorned with gigantic billboards, posters and hoardings, hailing the Prime Minister as well as the Armed Forces for the successful Operation Sindoor.

Huge posters have been put up at key intersections of the cities, including Ahmedabad and Bhuj, billboards erected at multiple locations to celebrate the armed forcesa targeted strikes across the border under PM Modias stewardship.

Big advertisement boards displaying the success of Operation Sindoor have been put near Metro stations, roundabouts and other locations.

The elaborate arrangements for the Prime Ministeras visit to his home state seek to showcase the idea and resolve of aNew Indiaa that doesnat fear but deters its enemies with stern action, under the strong leadership of PM Modi.

During his two-day visit to Gujarat, PM Modi is set to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple projects, including Rs 53,400 crore in Bhuj and Rs 24,000 crore in Dahod.

The PM will begin his Gujarat tour with Dahod visit on May 26, where he is scheduled to arrive around 11:15 a.m. He will dedicate to the nation Indian Railwaysa Locomotive Manufacturing Plant, which will produce 9,000 HP electric locomotives for both domestic use and export. He will also flag off the first electric locomotive manufactured at the plant.

Thereafter, he will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate multiple development projects worth around Rs 24,000 crore in Dahod and will also address a public function.

PM Modi will then travel to Bhuj in the evening, where he will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate multiple development projects worth over Rs 53,400 crore at Bhuj and also address a public function.

PM Modi will head to Gandhinagar on May 27, where he will participate in the celebrations of 20 years of Gujarat Urban Growth Story and launch Urban Development Year 2025. He will also address the gathering on the occasion.
Nanning, May 25 : Rescue teams have found three more bodies, bringing the death toll to six following the mountain torrent that struck a village in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local authorities said on Sunday.

The disaster hit Sanshe Village in Longsheng county, Guilin City, early Friday morning, Xinhua news agency reported.

Nine search and rescue teams have been deployed to carry out the rescue operations. As of 6 p.m. Sunday, two people remain missing.

The search efforts remain intense and orderly, with all parties continuing high-intensity sweeps, according to local authorities.

Due to its geography and various climates, China is exposed to an array of natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods, forest fires, and typhoons.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, at least four people died and 17 remain missing after torrential rain triggered landslides in China's southwestern Guizhou province.

The military was deployed to assist in rescue efforts.

Two died in Changshi township, and two from nearby Qingyang village, where 19 people from eight different households were initially trapped after being hit by a landslide.

China is facing hotter and longer heatwaves and more frequent and unpredictable heavy rain as a result of climate change.

The country is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, authorities have said, because of its huge population.

Authorities initiated their third-highest emergency response for heavy rain in mountainous Guizhou as well as the nearby provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi.

More than 400 emergency staff, including military officers and firefighters, were sent to assist in the rescue mission.
Kuala Lumpur, May 25 : Greater regional and deeper cooperation were discussed by officials participating in the 25th ASEAN Economic Community Council (AECC) meeting, Malaysia's Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry said here on Sunday.

In his remarks as chair of the meeting, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the current economic environment calls for collaboration and commitment to advancing common interests among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Xinhua news agency reported.

"At the same time, we also internally need to look into ways to increase intra-ASEAN trade so as to reduce our dependencies towards external partners," he said.

He added that ASEAN's response in addressing the recent shifts in economic posture by the US has so far been measured, seeking dialogue rather than escalation, while keeping the grouping's interests at the forefront.

"The current economic environment that we're in calls not for retreat, but for renewed resolve," he said.

Zafrul also highlighted the progress made under the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025, which serves as the strategic roadmap for building a highly integrated and cohesive ASEAN economy.

"Through the Blueprint, ASEAN has made significant strides in areas such as trade liberalisation, investment facilitation, MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) development, digital transformation, and sustainable economic initiatives," he said.

The 25th AECC meeting is being held in conjunction with the 46th ASEAN Summit, under Malaysia's 2025 chairmanship, themed "Inclusivity and Sustainability."
Chandigarh, May 25 : The Enforcement's Directorate's (ED) Jalandhar Zonal Office has conducted search operations at various residential and business premises located in Haryana and Punjab in connection with a money laundering investigation related to fraud committed by various persons/entities in distribution and sale of rice to poor people under 'Bharat Rice Scheme', an agency statement said on Sunday.

Chandigarh, May 25 (IANS) The Enforcement's Directorate's (ED) Jalandhar Zonal Office has conducted search operations at various residential and business premises located in Haryana and Punjab in connection with a money laundering investigation related to fraud committed by various persons/entities in distribution and sale of rice to poor people under aBharat Rice Scheme', an agency statement said on Sunday.

During the search operation on Friday, Indian currency amounting to Rs 2.02 crore, gold bullion valued at Rs 1.12 crore (approx), electronics devices, incriminating documents and records were recovered and seized, it said.

The ED initiated an investigation of the basis of the FIR registered by the Punjab Police under various sections of the IPC against Gopal Goyal, owner of Shiv Shakti Rice Mill, Jai Jinender Rice Mill, Harish Kumar Bansal & others.

During the investigation, it was found that the persons were diverting rice obtained from the designated government agencies at a lower price for providing it further to poor people at an affordable price under aBharat Rice Schemea.

They were required to process, clean and pack the same in 5/10 kg bags before supplying/selling it to the common/poor people.

However, it was revealed that persons involved and related entities, instead of distributing/selling the rice to the intended beneficiaries through prescribed modes of the scheme, diverted the rice to other rice millers or sold it through other modes in violation of the scheme, thereby generating Proceeds of Crime.

Further investigation is in progress, the ED said.
Putrajaya, May 25 : Malaysia and Laos formed a strategic partnership to boost cross-border trade between Penang Port and the Thanaleng Dry Port (TDP) via rail and sea, with the exchange of a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) here on Sunday.

The MoC was exchanged between MMC Port Holdings Sdn Bhd Chief Executive Officer Azman Shah Mohd Yusof and PTL Holding Co. Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Chanthone Sitthixay. The signing was witnessed by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his Lao counterpart Sonexay Siphandone, who is on an official visit ahead of the 46th ASEAN Summit, Xinhua news agency reported.

This cooperation underscores Malaysia's growing role as a regional logistics hub and aligns with efforts to enhance regional connectivity. It will not only promote multimodal integration by combining rail and sea transport, but also reduce transit times and logistics costs, improve supply chain efficiency, and boost regional economic growth, Azman Shah told local media.

"We are pleased to contribute to TDP's efforts to realise Laos' national strategy to transform from a land-locked country to a land-linked nation. This partnership positions Malaysia as a gateway for trade between mainland Southeast Asia and global markets, while also supporting Laos in becoming a land-linked economy," he said.

Meanwhile, Anwar also met with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh, who is in Malaysia for an official visit, with the two leaders witnessing the exchange of documents between Malaysia and Vietnam, aimed at strengthening cooperation in energy, education and regional integration.

"This visit is a manifestation of a shared commitment to continue strengthening bilateral relations, expanding strategic cooperation, and further strengthening solidarity and cohesion among ASEAN countries," Anwar said in a statement following the meeting.

As chair of the ASEAN grouping for 2025, Malaysia will host the 46th ASEAN Summit, along with the 2nd ASEAN-GCC Summit and inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Summit, from Monday to Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Malaysia remains committed to fostering a united, inclusive and forward-looking ASEAN Community that is responsive to the needs of its peoples and resilient to regional and global challenges," it said.
Chennai, May 25 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M.K. Stalin on Sunday reaffirmed his party's unwavering commitment to its core ideology and state autonomy, declaring that the DMK will never compromise on its foundational values.

In a strongly worded letter to party cadres, Stalin defended his recent participation in the NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asserting it was in the best interests of the state's development.

Setting the stage for the DMK's political roadmap towards the 2026 Assembly elections, Stalin announced that he is ready to engage directly with party workers at the upcoming General Council meeting on June 1 in Madurai.

"Are you ready?" he asked in a rallying call to his cadres, emphasising that the meeting would shape a victorious campaign in the months ahead.

In his letter, Stalin hit back at Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), who had questioned his sudden participation in the NITI Aayog meeting after a three-year absence.

Stalin compared his own transparent and public visit to Delhi with what he described as a "discreet" and "fear-driven" trip made by Palaniswami, allegedly to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in secret.

"Fearing central agency raids, he (Palaniswami) rushed to Delhi without even informing his own party colleagues. He claimed to visit the AIADMK office but quietly went to Amit Shah's residence, using multiple vehicles to avoid detection. Unlike him, I did not mortgage my party," Stalin said.

The Chief Minister asserted that his Delhi visit was undertaken to raise Tamil Nadu's developmental demands with the Centre and was conducted in full view of the media.

In contrast, he alleged that EPS' visit occurred soon after properties linked to his relatives in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were raided by central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Stalin accused the BJP-led Union Government of misusing federal agencies like the ED, CBI, and Income Tax Department to target the DMK, more so than any other political party.

Despite this, he said, the DMK had never bowed down to pressure.

"We have faced such raids with courage and challenged them legally. We will never surrender like others have," he declared, alluding to the AIADMK's perceived closeness with the BJP. The Chief Minister also questioned why his government should compromise with the Centre over cases that originated during the AIADMK regime.

"Why should we bear the burden of their misdeeds?" he asked.

Stalin clarified the DMK's rationale for organising a recent rally in support of the Indian Armed Forces following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

He reiterated that the DMK has always placed national security and unity above politics.

"Our party stands first in upholding the integrity of the nation. This is a value instilled in us by Arignar Anna and Kalaignar Karunanidhi," he said.

He recalled former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's praise that "the DMK, whether in alliance or opposition, stands firm in its decisions", and added that leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh had also acknowledged the party's consistent stand.

At the recent NITI Aayog meeting, Stalin said he had proudly represented Tamil Nadu's contributions to India's economy.

"I told them that Tamil Nadu contributes 10 per cent to the country's economic growth. Under the Dravidian Model of governance, we are determined to increase this to 15 per cent. We are committed to helping India achieve its $30 trillion economy dream," he said.

Looking ahead, Stalin said he is eager to meet the young and next-generation brigades of the DMK at the General Council in Madurai, where the party will set the tone for its Assembly election campaign.
Sanaa, May 25 : Yemen's Houthis announced on Sunday that the group had launched a hypersonic ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel, which was reportedly intercepted by Israeli defence systems earlier in the day.

"The rocket forces carried out a qualitative military operation targeting Ben Gurion Airport, using a hypersonic ballistic missile," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement broadcast by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

Sarea said the group would "continue enforcing a ban on air traffic to and from Ben Gurion Airport," referring to repeated Houthi attacks that have prompted several airlines to delay or reroute flights to avoid rocket strikes targeting Israel, Xinhua news agency reported.

He noted that the Houthis would escalate their military operations further unless Israel halts its assault on the Gaza Strip and lifts the blockade.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli defence forces wrote on the social media platform X that sirens had sounded across Israel following a "projectile" fired from Yemen.

Israeli army radio later confirmed that the projectile had been intercepted. No casualties or damage were reported.

Since November 2023, the Houthi group, which controls much of northern Yemen, has been targeting Israel and Israeli-linked ships transiting the Red Sea to show solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
NICOSIA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Secretary-General's personal envoy has launched a renewed effort to revive stalled peace talks in Cyprus, with low expectations of a breakthrough ahead of a high-level summit planned for July in Geneva under the auspices of UN chief Antonio Guterres.

The envoy, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, a seasoned Colombian diplomat, held a 75-minute meeting on Friday with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, marking the start of a critical round of consultations aimed at narrowing the gap between the island's divided communities, according to local media reports on Saturday.

Speaking after the meeting, Holguin said both sides had agreed to "work hard this month to achieve results based on the March agreement," referring to commitments made earlier this year to launch discussions on six thematic areas focused on confidence-building measures.

"We want to present concrete outcomes ahead of the mutually agreed-upon measures in July, and that is my focus during this visit," Holguin stated.

Cyprus has remained divided since 1974, when a Turkish military intervention followed a coup by Greek army officers. Decades of UN-led negotiations have failed to deliver a comprehensive solution.

Holguin is scheduled to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Monday, before engaging next week with representatives from Cyprus's three guarantor powers - Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Her itinerary also includes stops in Athens, Ankara, and London following her stay in Cyprus through May 31. She will also travel to Brussels for talks with Johannes Hahn, recently appointed as the European Union's special envoy on Cyprus.

Cyprus government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis confirmed that Holguin and Christodoulides discussed Hahn's role and the broader interplay between EU-Turkey relations and the Cyprus peace process. He emphasized the EU's potential to significantly support ongoing UN efforts. 
Moscow, May 25 : Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 303 prisoners on Sunday, completing the largest prisoner exchange under an agreement reached during their recent talks in Istanbul, TArkiye.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that 303 Russian servicemen have "returned from Kiev-controlled territory," while an equivalent number of Ukrainian prisoners have also been freed.

Among those released were personnel from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X, Xinhua news agency reported.

The freed Russian prisoners are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, where they are being provided with necessary psychological and medical assistance, said the Russian Defence Ministry.

Following their direct negotiations in Istanbul on May 16, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each, marking the largest prisoner swap since the start of the conflict in 2022.

On Friday, both sides exchanged 270 soldiers and 120 civilians, followed by a 307-for-307 swap of military personnel on Saturday.

The three-day exchange of prisoners was the 65th swap of captives between the two sides since the start of the conflict and the sixth of its kind this year, according to Ukraine's Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Amaravati, May 25 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mentioning YogAndhra 2025 in his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat on Sunday.

Naidu said that the people of Andhra Pradesh have united for this cause. "We are organising month-long Yoga sessions across our state, including at 100 tourist destinations, along with several other exciting initiatives leading up to June 21. Through this, we aim to make Yoga an integral part of our daily lives," the Chief Minister posted on X.

"We look forward to welcoming you to Visakhapatnam on June 21 to mark the grand culmination and celebrate International Yoga Day together," Naidu told the Prime Minister.

'YogAndhra 2025', a month-long state-wide Yoga movement, was launched by the Chief Minister on May 21.

The campaign will culminate in the 11th International Yoga Day celebrations in Visakhapatnam on June 21, in which Prime Minister Modi will participate.

Naidu had said that at least two crore people should participate in 'YogAndhra'. The target is to give certificates to 10 lakh people.

The Chief Minister said 5 lakh people will participate in the International Yoga Day programme to be held in Visakhapatnam on June 21, from RK Beach to Bhogapuram.

The state government aims to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest gathering for a Yoga session at one place.

In 2023, Surat hosted the Yoga session with 1.53 lakh participants at one location, setting a new Guinness World Record.

Meanwhile, through another post on social media, the Chief Minister hailed that under the bold and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has officially overtaken Japan to become the world's fourth-largest economy at $4.2 trillion.

"According to IMF data, India will surpass Germany to become the 3rd largest economy globally by 2028. Today, we are at a juncture where all states must come together and join forces to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047. As the nation marches towards this dream, Andhra Pradesh is set to be India's growth engine while achieving the goal of Swarna Andhra @ 2047," wrote Naidu.
New Delhi, May 25 : Hailing this historic transformation of India in last decade, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, on Sunday called upon the citizens of the country to commit to the cause of nation building and work sincerely towards realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.

Addressing a gathering at the "Mann Ki Baat" listening event and 'Tiranga Yatra' in Dibrugarh, Sonowal said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' has consistently inspired the citizens of the nation through transformative ideas and stories of courage from across the country. Listening to today's address once again left me inspired".

"The Prime Minister has urged all citizens to dedicate themselves to building a developed and self-reliant India. Under his leadership, India has emerged as the world's fourth-largest economy. We must commit ourselves to taking this journey of growth and prosperity to even greater heights and ultimately achieve Modi ji's vision of a Viksit Bharat," the minister added.

Joining the Tiranga Yatra to celebrate the success of Operation Sindoor, Sonowal paid tribute to the valour of India's armed forces and credited their fearless dedication and PM Modi's resolute leadership for the mission's success.

Along the route, Sonowal also interacted with rickshaw pullers and labourers to thank them for their service to the society.

"Shramiks are one of the key driving forces of our great nation. Meeting these hardworking individuals is always a source of joy and inspiration for me. I thank them for their hard work towards the service of the society. After interacting with them, I felt encouraged and grateful to this wonderful country where everyone is working towards building a better tomorrow under the dynamic and inspiring leadership of PM Narendra Modi," he mentioned.

"The unshaken smiles of Shramiks, even in the face of hardship, are what keep us going. They always inspire me. The Modi government remains committed to their holistic welfare and development," the minister added.

IANS

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Ahmedabad, May 25 : The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) Ahmedabad Zonal Office has conducted search operations, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), at four locations in Ahmedabad and Junagadh, concerning a portfolio management company operating without registering with the market watchdog SEBI, a statement said on Sunday

The ED initiated an investigation based on a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India before a special court for SEBI cases, Greater Mumbai, under Sections 12 and 24(1) of SEBI Act, 1992 alleging that Alderbrooke Portfolio Management Services Pvt. Ltd. have collected/raised around Rs 24.38 crore from its clients for their portfolio management, despite not being registered with the SEBI as a portfolio manager or in any other capacity.

It had also failed to refund the said collected amount.

The ED probe revealed that Alderbrooke Portfolio Management Services Pvt Ltd.was collecting funds and indulging in unauthorised portfolio management activities by entering into agreement/MOU with the clients and managing their portfolio/ funds by investing in cash as well as derivative segment without obtaining registration from the SEBI in violation of Section 12 of the SEBI Act.

The search operation resulted in the recovery and seizure of various incriminating documents, the statement said.

Further investigation is in progress, it added.
Mumbai, May 25 : The latest episode of the adventure reality show 'MTV Roadies Double Cross' was defined by high stakes, and tensions running at an all time high.

Mumbai, May 25 (IANS) The latest episode of the adventure reality show aMTV Roadies Double Crossa was defined by high stakes, and tensions running at an all time high.

The Roadies reach the task location consisting of towering structures, hanging grids, ziplines, and a setup that screams next-level madness. The Gang Leaders are given the difficult challenge to choose the one contestant who can perform from their whole gang.

But thereas a catch, Rannvijay throws in a twist, saying that four Roadies will compete, and one of them will be voted out by their rivals in an instance where politics meets pressure.

A giant metal grid sways mid-air. From it hang ropes, the only way up. The Roadies claw and climb with desperation. At the top, tricky math equations test their speed and brains. The goal? Unlock a box with the right code - but not all boxes hold keys. Only the smartest, the sharpest, will find the key to their bike.

From the top of the structure, they zipline down in full action-hero mode, hurling color bombs at bullseyes, every accurate shot shaving seconds off their final time. Then, itas a mad dash to their bikes, and the last leg is a high-speed race to the finish. One final burst of adrenaline decides who crosses into the finale, and who crashes out of the competition.

Gautamas Gang emerges as the winner flying past the winning margin of barely a second. This wasnat just a win, it was a statement. It wasnat just a task, it was war. With blood, sweat, betrayal, and redemption all rolled into one. And now, with the aTicket to Finalea in hand, Gautam's gang stands inches away from immortality.

aMTV Roadies Double Crossa is available on MTV and JioHotstar.
Paris, May 25 : Italy's Lorenzo Musetti marked his return to Court Philippe-Chatrier with a dazzling first-round triumph over Yannick Hanfmann while local star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard secured a contrasting triumph over Zizou Bergs in another opening round match at the French Open here on Sunday.

Musetti, the eighth seed competing at the iconic venue for the first time since winning the bronze medal at last year's Paris Olympics, delivered a stylish all-court performance to move past qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-2, 6-0 at Roland Garros.

With his opening win at the clay-court major, Musetti improved to 23-5 on the surface since July, including a run to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final in Monte-Carlo last month.

In contrast, Mpetshi Perricard, the 21-year-old Frenchman, fed off the energy of a lively home crowd to notch a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-4 triumph over Zizou Bergs on Monday. The French player trailed 0/5 in the second-set tie-break but reeled off seven consecutive points to move ahead under the roof of Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Other early winners on Sunday in Paris included 12th seed Tommy Paul, who rallied past lucky loser Elmer Moller, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 in the pair's maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash. The American, who is in the second round for the fifth time in his career, will take on Marton Fucsovics, who defeated wild card Tristan Schoolkate 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

However, the focus was on Musetti as he made his return to Paris count.

At a career-high No. 7 in the ATP Rankings, Musetti has enjoyed a significant breakthrough during the European clay swing. In Rome earlier this month, he became the first Italian in history to reach the semifinals at all three Masters 1000 events on the surface in one season.

Having lost his previous ATP head-to-head clash with Hanfmann in Madrid in 2023, Musetti was eager to mark his recent rise with an impressive first-round performance, and he did so after a testing opener. The 23-year-old countered Hanfmann's big serving with ease, highlighted by a stunning backhand return winner in the seventh game of the second, one of five straight points Musetti won from 40/0 to break for a 5-2 lead.

Overall, Hanfmann won just 49 per cent (31/63) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys Stats, during the two-hour, seven-minute match. By improving to 9-4 at Roland Garros, Musetti set a second-round meeting with local wild card Valentin Royer or lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan.

Down 0-5, Mpetshi Perricard was in deep trouble and faced the prospect of losing the match in front of a partisan home crowd. But he clawed his way back and held his own in the later stages of the match.

"At 0/5, I tried to make it back little by little," said Mpetshi Perricard. "I tried to go point by point, then at 5/5, 6/5, with the whole crowd behind me, I felt [great]. It was a tough match, physically, so I will do my best to be ready for Wednesday," Mpetshi Perricard was quoted as saying by the official website.

With the score level at one set apiece, Mpetshi Perricard was on the brink of falling to a 1-2 deficit. But from 0/5 in the tie-break, the 6'8" Lyon native promptly fired two aces to keep his hopes alive. Bergs then showed signs of tension with a sloppy forehand unforced error before the Frenchman stretched for a stunning pass to reclaim the mini-break for 4/5.

The 31st-seeded Mpetshi Perricard then found two mighty serves, which were both backed up by forehand winners to earn a set point, on which Bergs hit a double fault. It marked the end of an absorbing tie-break and sparked raucous cheers, which were amplified due to the atmosphere under the closed roof.
Bhopal, May 25 : In a twist, the police in Madhya Pradesh stated on Sunday that "no hard, metal, or wooden object" was recovered from the crime scene in the deeply disturbing incident-reminiscent of the infamous Nirbhaya case in Delhi-which has emerged from Khandwa district, where an elderly tribal woman was gang-raped on Saturday.

Bhopal, May 25 (IANS) In a twist, the police in Madhya Pradesh stated on Sunday that "no hard, metal, or wooden object" was recovered from the crime scene in the deeply disturbing incidentreminiscent of the infamous Nirbhaya case in Delhiwhich has emerged from Khandwa district, where an elderly tribal woman was gang-raped on Saturday.

The police are awaiting "forensic and post-mortem report." Allegedly, she was brutally tortured and ultimately lost her life.

The police also said no body part was protruding from her body, when police recovered it and sent for post-mortem. Speaking to IANS, Rajesh Raghuwanshi, additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) stated that the matter is under investigation.

He said, "the victim had accompanied the accused Sunil and Hari, as she was known to them, to their house on Friday evening, where the three consumed alcohol together, as witnesses said."

On Saturday morning, Hari's mother informed the victim's family that she was unwell and advised them to take her home. The family took her back but did not inform the police until after her death.

Although she was bleeding profusely, the authorities have not recovered any sharp object that may have been used. "No body part was protruding," the officer said.

The post-mortem and forensic reports are expected to clarify the cause of her injuries and death. Some reports indicate that the perpetrators used a sharp metal object to cause severe internal injuries, but police have not confirmed this claim.

The accusedtwo individualshave been taken into police custody. Other reports suggest that the perpetrators inflicted extreme suffering, leading to prolonged agony before the victim succumbed to her wounds.

The victim, a 45-year-old mother of two, was allegedly robbed of Rs 20,000 after the assault and left to die due to a lack of timely medical intervention.

The crime occurred on Saturday morning, and she passed away the same afternoon near Roshni village, under the jurisdiction of the Khalwa police station.

The senior police officer stated: "The woman was known to the accused and stayed at their house on Friday after coming back from marriage. The three had a drinking session together. The reason for her excessive bleeding needs to be medically established. Both accused individuals denied any wrongdoing, and we are investigating the matter thoroughly."

Reacting to the tragedy, the Congress Party condemned the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government and announced a three-member investigative committee, composed entirely of women, to ensure justice.

The victim's family revealed that she was last seen with Sunil and Hari on Friday evening. She was later found in severe pain, semi-conscious in a shed.

She confirmed the assault before succumbing to her injuries. Authorities continue their investigation, and the post-mortem report remains pending.
Bhubaneswar, May 25 : The Berhampur Police on Sunday arrested a former Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO) in Odisha's Ganjam district on the charges of embezzlement of government funds to the tune of over Rs 1.37 crore by presenting forged documents.

The 29-year-old accused Samir Kumar Mishra, Ex-PEO of Keluapalli Gram Panchayat (GP) under Rangeilunda block, belongs to Aska area of Ganjam district.

The massive fund embezzlement came to fore after Biswajit Ray, the BDO, Rangeilunda lodged a complaint at the Golanthara police station in this regard.

During investigation, the cops ascertained that accused Mishra was working as PEO of Keluapalli GP since 2019.

It was also found that Mishra was managing all the financial transactions of the GP with the approval of Sarapanch.

To facilitate the developmental works of the government, the cheque books, cash books and other documents were entrusted to Mishra and he was the custodian of the same.

In the event of withdrawal of money, both signatures of the PEO and Sarapanch are mandatory as all the accounts were joint accounts.

"But accused Ex-PEO Mishra for his personal and illegal gain and with dishonest intention, put the fake signature of Sarpanch in the cheque books and withdrew around Rs 1.37 crore by producing the fake cheques at the Union Bank branch at Tulu in Ganjam district since around one year," said a senior police official.

The police also found that Mishra had prepared a fake passbook and handed over the same to present PEO Susanta Kumar Pattanik of Keluapalli GP.

"During annual audit for the year 2023-24, Mishra has also produced the fake passbooks for verification. The entire fraud amount was misappropriated by the accused for his own use knowing that the money belongs to the government, sanctioned for development works of Keluapali GP," added the senior police official.
Georgetown, May 25 : Shashi Tharoor, who is heading a delegation of the Members of Parliament, arrived in Guyana on Sunday on the second leg of the mission to expound India's anti-terrorism message and Operation Sindoor's goals.

"It is Guyana's 59th Independence Day tomorrow (Monday), and we will be present at the midnight speech by the President (Irfaan Ali) tonight," Tharoor said in an X post announcing his arrival.

The team arrived here after a stop in New York on Saturday during which they visited the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Centre that symbolises America's stand against terrorism and met with academics and think-tankers.

India's High Commission in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, said, "The delegation will be interacting with the Guyanese leadership and key interlocutors from media, Indian community and diaspora, and friends of India in Guyana."

The MPs will emphasise "our strong message of unity and brotherhood as well as India's collective resolve to fight against the scourge of terrorism," it added.

The team will go from here to Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, before returning to the US on June 3 for meetings in Washington.

The Tharoor-led delegation is one of the seven teams of Members of Parliament fanning out across the world to 33 countries to convey India's position in the aftermath of the massacre of 26 civilians at Pahalgam by The Resistance Front, an affiliate of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba.

India struck nine terrorist centres in Pakistan and the areas of Kashmir it occupies.

Pakistan then attacked India, targeting civilian structures like places of worship, including gurudwaras, temples, and convents, and medical facilities, leading to an escalation of the conflict.

Underlining the national unity against terrorism, the team is headed by Tharoor from the opposition Congress Party and includes Shambhavi of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Sarfaraz Ahmad of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and Milind Murli Deora of the Shiv Sena.

The other members are Shashank Mani Tripathi, Bhubaneswar Kalita, and Tejasvi Surya of the BJP, and GM Harish Balayogi of the Telugu Desam Party, a National Democratic Alliance partner.

Tejasvi Surya and Sarfaraz Ahmad arrived in Georgetown on Saturday night.

BJP MP Surya said on X, "Guyana holds a special place in India's foreign relations, with nearly 40 per cent of its population being of Indian origin."

He added that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, "our longstanding ties have only strengthened over the past decade."

Speaking in New York, Tharoor outlined the message the delegation will be conveying on their travels.

The various efforts to get Pakistan to end its support for terrorism and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure have failed.

Therefore, he declared, "From our point of view, this is it. You do this, you're going to get this back."

"And we have demonstrated with this operation that we can do it with a degree of precision and with a degree of restraint that the world we hope will understand," he said.

"We have a right to self-defence, we've exercised that right, we have not done so irresponsibly...," Tharoor said.
Guwahati, May 25 : In a pointed statement aimed at critics who frequently raise concerns over India's strategic 'Siliguri Corridor', Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday drew attention to Bangladesh's own geographical vulnerabilities, asserting that the neighbouring country has two fragile corridors that are even more susceptible to disruption.

"To those who habitually threaten India on the 'Chicken Neck Corridor', they should note these facts as well," Sarma said, referencing the Siliguri CorridorIndia's narrow 22-km-wide land link connecting its northeastern states to the mainland, often viewed as a strategic 'chokepoint'.

Sarma highlighted that Bangladesh's own version of "chicken necks" includes the 80-km-long North Bangladesh Corridor, stretching from Dakhin Dinajpur to South West Garo Hills.

According to him, any disturbance in this area could effectively cut off the entire Rangpur division from the rest of Bangladesh, creating a major national security and connectivity crisis for Dhaka.

Equally significant, he pointed out, is the Chittagong Corridor, a narrow strip running from South Tripura to the Bay of Bengal.

"This corridor, smaller than India's chicken neck, is the only link between Bangladesh's economic capital and political capital," Sarma stated, referring to the vital route connecting Dhaka with Chittagong, the country's primary port city.

"I am only presenting geographical facts that some may tend to forget," Sarma added, suggesting that the often singular focus on India's vulnerabilities overlooks the broader regional geography.

His remarks are likely to stir conversation in strategic and diplomatic circles, especially as regional tensions remain a subject of continuous monitoring.

Sarma earlier cautioned Bangladesh about its own chicken's neck -- not one, but two -- at a time when Dhaka has raked up politics over India's chicken's neck corridor that connects the country to the north east.

He put Bangladesh on notice amid Dhaka's apparently growing interest in India's strategically crucial chicken's neck, also known as the Siliguri corridor.

"We have one chicken's neck. But Bangladesh has two chicken necks. If Bangladesh attacks our chicken's neck, we will attack both the chicken necks of Bangladesh... the one in Meghalaya connecting Chittagong port in Bangladesh is even thinner than India's chicken's neck and is located just a stone's throw away," Samra told reporters.

The BJP leader also reminded Bangladesh of India's military strength, especially after operation Sindoor, where India destroyed terror camps deep inside Pakistan and also pounded its military bases. Sarma said "Bangladesh has to be reborn 14 times" before attacking India.
JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China is willing to work with Indonesia to enhance alignment of development strategies, and deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

Li made the remarks during his talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. 
Kohima, May 25 : The Five Tribes Committee has announced to launch a phased agitation campaign soon demanding immediate revision of the job quota for the state's five backward tribals.

Kohima, May 25 (IANS) The Five Tribes Committee has announced to launch a phased agitation campaign soon demanding immediate revision of the job quota for the stateas five backward tribals.

On April 26, the Five Tribes Committee served the ultimatum to the Nagaland government, demanding immediate revision of the job quota for the stateas five backward tribes.

The deadline expires on Monday (May 26).

A spokesman of the tribal organisations on Sunday said that the Five Tribes Committee, comprising Angami Public Organisation, Ao Senden, Lotha Hoha, Rengma Hoho, and Sumi Hohoon after reviewing the reservation policy has announced that it would soon initiate peaceful protests if the Nagaland government fails to act on its demands for a review of the state's job reservation policy.

The five tribal communities include, Angami, Ao, Lotha, Rengma and Sumi.

The Committee had earlier issued a 30-day ultimatum to the state government on April 26. With the deadline expiring on Monday (May 26), the Committee has reaffirmed its preparedness to launch a phased agitation campaign.

Formed in August 2023, the Committee submitted a formal representation to the government in September the same year. However, the spokesman said that the Committee has yet to get any response from the state government, prompting the ultimatum and proposed protest action.

He said that Five Tribes Committee members emphasised their view that the current job reservation policy, introduced in 1977 for a 10-year term, has remained in effect without formal review for 48 years.

The Committee expressed concern over the continuation of what they describe as a temporary policy that has now become institutionalised without reassessment. The Five Tribes Committee announced that the first phase of agitation would include peaceful rallies in all district headquarters inhabited by the five tribal communities.

A second phase may involve a peaceful dharma at the state secretariat in Kohima.

Additional protest actions may be declared subsequently.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio earlier told the Nagaland Assembly session that the reservation for the backward tribals began in 1977 and 37 per cent of the non-technical and non-gazetted jobs are currently reserved for them.

The reservation is divided into 25 per cent for seven Eastern Nagaland backward tribals and 12 per cent for four other backward tribals of other regions.
Patna, May 25 : The political fallout continues over the expulsion of Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, as former Bihar chief minister and Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi launched a fierce attack on the RJD patriarch, questioning the selective morality and timing of the disciplinary action.

Manjhi, who is also the patron of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), criticised Lalu Prasad's decision to expel Tej Pratap for six years from the RJD and the family, in the wake of a viral video and photos showing Tej Pratap with Anushka Yadav, a woman he claims to have been in a long-term relationship with.

"When Daroga Prasad Rai's granddaughter and Chandrika Rai's daughter, Aishwarya Rai, was brutally thrown out of the house, why did your values and ethics not wake up then, Lalu Yadav?" asked Manjhi.

"If you truly cared about dignity and culture, then you should have expelled those responsible for Aishwarya's mistreatment back then," he said.

The controversy reignited after photos and a video of Tej Pratap Yadav with Anushka Yadav went viral on social media.

Tej Pratap initially claimed that his Facebook account was hacked, but the content continued to spread, prompting Lalu Prasad to take the drastic step of disowning and suspending Tej Pratap from the party and family.

However, Manjhi was not convinced by the moral positioning of this decision, calling it too little, too late.

Recalling earlier incidents, Manjhi alleged that Rabri Devi, Lalu Prasad's wife and former Bihar CM, physically assaulted Aishwarya Rai before she was evicted from the family home.

"Lalu Yadav, you talk of sanskar (values) and maryada (dignity). But when Aishwarya was beaten and insulted, you didn't expel anyone. Where was your commitment to culture then?" Manjhi said in a sharp statement.

He further demanded to know why no action was taken against family members who allegedly mistreated Aishwarya, and why she was abandoned after the marriage turned sour almost immediately.

Earlier, Manjhi posted a strong statement on X, vowing political consequences: "Every woman in Bihar will take revenge for the injustice done to Daroga Babu's granddaughter Aishwarya Rai in the coming elections," Manjhi wrote.

He also warned the Lalu family against repeating the same mistake with Anushka Yadav, implying that the family's decisions are driven by political intent, not ethics.

"If Tej Pratap was in a relationship before marriage, why did you ruin another girl's life? Will the Lalu family now ruin Anushka Yadav's life too because of political convenience?" Manjhi questioned.
Paris, May 26 : No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka opened her French Open campaign with a smooth 6-1, 6-0 win over Kamilla Rakhimova in exactly an hour to begin Sunday's play on Court Philippe-Chatrier on a proper note.

Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China also made a winning start, defeating former Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in an early match in the women's singles first round.

Sabalenka arrived in Paris as the form player of 2025, seeking her first Roland Garros crown. The reigning US Open champion owns a tour-leading three titles this year, including her third Madrid trophy last month, and her overall record is now 35-6. On Sunday, Sabalenka fired 30 winners, including five aces, across the 13 games of the match -- while keeping her unforced error count down to 17. By contrast, Rakhimova was only able to find nine winners in total.

The World No.1 faced just two break points in the match, both in the fourth game of the second set, and saved both with clean winners. She converted five out of 11 opportunities on the Rakhimova serve. She will next face Jil Teichmann, who defeated qualifier Lucrezia Stefanini 6-4, 6-4. They have met once previously, with Sabalenka victorious over the Swiss player 6-2, 6-1 in the 2022 Doha third round.

Elsewhere, in Sabalenka's section of the draw, Viktorija Golubic took out former No. 2 Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 in 1 hour and 41 minutes. Kvitova was playing her first match at Roland Garros since 2023 and seeking her first win here since 2022, but was undone by a total of 45 unforced errors. Her record since returning from maternity leave in February now stands at 1-5.

In the other half of the draw, Zheng Qinwen defeated Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-3 in a first-round match. Zheng, the No. 7 seed, advanced to the second round at Roland Garros for the fourth consecutive year and extended her winning streak at the tournament to seven matches. She will next face either Alexandra Eala of the Philippines or Colombia's Emiliana Arango.
New Delhi, May 25 : In yet another embarrassment for Islamabad pushing forward its fake propaganda of claiming military operation victory over India, various social media users in Islamabad and across the world, mocked the Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir for presenting a framed painting, which shows striking resemblance to an alleged Chinese military exercise, as a gift to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at a high-profile dinner event.

However, what caught the internet's eye was a framed painting gifted by General Munir to Prime Minister Sharif.

Images released from the event showed the painting, which was touted as a depiction of the so-called military operation over India.

But sharp-eyed users on social media platform X were quick to point out that the image bore a striking resemblance to a four-year-old photograph from a Chinese military exercise.

Several users claimed that the image was lifted directly from publicly available visuals of the Chinese People's Liberation Army drills, raising questions about the authenticity of Pakistan's portrayal of Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos.

"Apparently the Pakistan Army Chief has gifted PM Shehbaz Sharif a dated Chinese military photo as a souvenir to illustrate Pak Army attack against India. So not just a fake victory narrative but also a fake photo with it. What a joke @OfficialDGISPR," one social media user on X said.

"They can't even produce original visuals of their own military operation," a second user in a post on X quipped.

"In another embarrassing moment, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif gifts a morphed photo of a Chinese PHL-03 rocket launcher downloaded from Google Images to Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir. (smiling emoji).#pakistan #asimmunir #operationsindoor #India #viral #funny #globalnews #trending #news," another social media user wrote on Instagram.

Criticism has also mounted over the timing of Munir's promotion.

Traditionally, the rank of Field Marshal is reserved for military leaders who steer their nation to undeniable victory in war.

But in this case, no such conflict has occurred, and sources suggest that during the alleged "Operation Sindoor," it was India that inflicted damage on Pakistan's airbases and neutralised its drones and missiles.

A high-profile dinner hosted by Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff, has stirred fresh controversy online.

The event, meant to honour the political leadership, the armed forces' "steadfast commitment," and the "indomitable spirit" of the people of Pakistan as seen during "Marka-e-Haq - Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos," became the subject of widespread mockery on social media.

The dinner was attended by top political and military leadership, including President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani, and others.

Indian defence systems have thwarted Pakistan's military response following Operation Sindoor, successfully intercepting most of the drones and unmanned aerial vehicles launched from across the border.

Despite these realities, the Pakistani narrative around Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos was presented as a patriotic high point at the dinner.

But the discovery of the Chinese-origin image has now undermined the credibility of the narrative and made the entire event a subject of public mockery.

As of now, neither the Pakistan Army nor the government has issued any clarification regarding the viral image or the backlash over Munir's promotion.
A staff member builds up a newly-produced toy product at a sample room of a toy company in Yongjia County, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

HANGZHOU, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Playground slides, park swings, mall play structures, kindergarten climbing sets -- these childhood favorites all belong to a single category of toys: non-powered amusement facilities.

In this realm of childhood wonder, Qiaoxia, a small town in Yongjia County, east China's Zhejiang Province, has cemented its position as a global epicenter of playground equipment manufacturing.

With over 1,300 toy manufacturing and supporting businesses packed into its 150-square-km area, the town produces 63 percent of China's non-powered playground facilities.

In recent years, the town dubbed "China's capital of teaching equipment and toys" has transformed itself through innovating its products and extending its industrial chain, with its various products exported to more than 100 countries and regions.

The industry traces its roots in the town to the 1970s, when local artisans, inspired by preschool teaching materials, began crafting educational toys from white clay and wood.

"Using the resources from the local kaolin mine, villagers first produced plasticine before crafting wooden knives and dumbbells as teaching toys," said Xu Jianbin, head of the economic and information technology bureau of Yongjia County.

A breakthrough came around 1978, when local wood-carver Wu Yuanxi created plastic educational posters based on the country's kindergarten textbooks, which became a national sensation.

At the same time, China was initiating its reform and opening-up, followed by two decades of rapid economic growth, a sharp increase in people's living standards, and a drastic rise in demand for toys.

By the 1990s, educational plastic posters, wooden puzzles, playhouses, slides, and ball pits became hits that turbocharged Yongjia County's toy industry, which went through a transformation from family workshops into professional enterprises.

Kaiqi Group, a leading toy producer established in 1995, was among the earliest enterprises in China to integrate the production and R&D of playground equipment.

"With a dedicated team of over 100 R&D personnel, the company introduces dozens of new products every year," said Hu Zhang, deputy general manager of the group, adding that the company has set up a sales and R&D center in Shanghai and spends more than 20 million yuan (about 2.78 million U.S. dollars) on average annually on R&D.

Hu recalled that the company's landmark transformation occurred around 2008, when the founders of the group, following an overseas visit, poured some 70 million yuan into equipment upgrades.

"Back then, our foreign peers produced much higher quality toys, prompting our mould upgrades," Hu said.

The investment paid off. At an international fair in 2012, their products were warmly received by foreign clients.

In addition to enhancing product quality and diversifying offerings, local toy enterprises are innovating their business models.

Starting with trampolines, Liben Group Corporation has expanded into customized non-powered amusement equipment, as well as facilities in children's theme parks and outdoor fitness equipment. Recently, the company has opened seven indoor amusement venues in cities like Shenyang and Changchun, handling everything from design to operations in-house.

"This new model drives growth while also allowing product optimization through direct customer feedback," said Miao Xiangpeng, the company's deputy general manager.

After nearly 50 years of development, Qiaoxia has established a coordinated industrial ecosystem, now home to six enterprises each with an annual revenue exceeding 100 million yuan.

A government work report released in March said China will accelerate efforts to boost the development of county economies.

Driven by the town's toy manufacturing industry, Yongjia County secured a total industrial output of 4.74 billion yuan among its 60 enterprises above the designated size in the sector in 2024, an increase of 8 percent over the previous year.

An enterprise above the designated size means one with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan.

"By helping firms set up R&D hubs and jointly exhibit at global trade shows, we will secure new orders and boost our reputation as China's capital of teaching equipment and toys," said Chen Ming, deputy Party chief of Qiaoxia Town. 

A set of non-powered amusement facilities is pictured at the exhibition hall of a toy company in Yongjia County, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)
The southwest monsoon arrived in Maharashtra on Sunday, making it the earliest onset of the annual rainfall season over the state in 35 years, the India Meteorological Department said.

IMAGE: Commuters wade through a waterlogged road amid heavy rains as unseasonal rains lash several parts of Mumbai, at Andheri in Mumbai on May 20, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo

The southwest monsoon is expected to advance to Mumbai and some other parts over the next three days, the IMD added.

In 1990, southwest monsoon made onset over Maharashtra on May 20, IMD scientist Sushma Nair said.

The monsoon advanced into some more parts of the Arabian Sea, Karnataka, entire Goa, parts of Maharashtra, north Bay of Bengal, and parts of Mizoram, parts of Manipur and Nagaland on Sunday, the IMD said.

The northern limit of monsoon passes through Devgad, Belagavi, Haveri, Mandya, Dharmapuri, Chennai, Aizawl and Kohima, it said.

"Conditions are favourable for further advance into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, more parts of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Karnataka including Bengaluru, some parts of Andhra Pradesh, remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, more parts of west-central and North Bay of Bengal and some more parts of North Eastern states during next three days," the IMD said.

In Maharashtra, the coastal Konkan stretch and Mumbai have been witnessing heavy pre-monsoon rains over the last two days.

The southwest monsoon hit Kerala on Saturday, marking its earliest arrival over the Indian mainland since 2009 when it had reached the southern state on May 23.

Normally, the southwest monsoon marks its onset over Kerala by June 1 and covers the entire country by July 8. It starts retreating from northwest India around September 17 and withdraws completely by October 15.

It usually reaches Maharashtra around June 7 and Mumbai on June 11.

M Rajeevan, a monsoon expert and former secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said early onset and covering a large area on the first day is not uncommon.

"In 1971, monsoon at the time of onset covered a larger area in Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra. Present active monsoon conditions will continue at least till June 2 and will help to advance monsoon into Maharashtra and eastern parts of the country," Rajeevan said.
Members from the all-party delegation led by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi, concluded their Russian leg of the visit as a part of India's global outreach program on Operation Sindoor, on Saturday night (local time).

IMAGE: All-party delegation leader DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi addresses a press conference during Operation Sindoor global outreach, in Moscow, May 24, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo

On US President Trump claiming credit for cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, Kanimozhi said, "When something like this happens, different heads of state speak to each other... But, I think independent countries decide what to do independently."

The delegation will now head to Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, where they are expected to arrive on Sunday. Member of the delegation, Brijesh Chowta left earlier for Ljubljana.

Following the all-party delegation's visit to Russia, led by DMK MP Kanimozhi to Russia, Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar said the visit sent a strong message reaffirming India's "zero tolerance" policy towards terrorism.

Speaking to ANI earlier, India's Ambassador to Russia, Vinay Kumar, said, "The first outcome of the visit is that there is full understanding of the threat that terrorism emanating from Pakistan poses to the larger international community, not only India. Second, there is a complete understanding that this threat needs to be tackled. There is unflinching support for the fight against terrorism. There is also an understanding that it cannot be business as usual, that there is a need to take a tough stand, and that we all want this problem to be resolved through political and diplomatic means. India has the right to defend itself..."

He added, "Her (DMK MP Kanimozhi) delegation's visit to Russia in the first place conveyed India's determination of zero tolerance for terrorism and what the new normal that the government of India, the Prime Minister, has talked about. There is nobody in Russia who actually has any doubt about the threat that terrorism poses as it emanates from Pakistan, because most terror attacks across the world in the last few decades have a signature or direct involvement of Pakistani actors. Not only was Osama bin Laden living in the military township, but also a large number of other terrorists who are very active in Russia itself, had got training from those institutions being run by the Pakistani establishment."

The delegation, led by Kanimozhi, includes Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai, Capt. Brijesh Chowta of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Prem Chand Gupta of Rashtriya Janata Dal, Ashok Kumar Mittal of the Aam Aadmi Party, and former Ambassador Manjeev S Puri.

After concluding its Russian leg of the visit, the delegation will visit Slovenia.

Other countries which the delegation will cover include Greece, Latvia, and Spain to highlight Operation Sindoor and reaffirm India's unwavering stand against terrorism.
India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is expected in Moscow early next week to attend a major security meeting organised by Russia's Security Council.

IMAGE: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Photograph: ANI Photo

Doval is invited for the 13th international meeting of high representatives for security issues on May 27-29 under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu.

"Invitations to participate in the forum have been sent to more than 150 countries of the Global South and East, the CIS, Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries, as well as to the leadership of more than 20 international organisations," the Russian Security Council said in a release.

Like India, Pakistan is also a member of the SCO, and its NSA Lt Gen Asim Malik is also expected to be in Moscow for the meeting.

There is speculation that in the wake of Operation Sindoor, the two key Indian and Pakistani NSAs will be in Moscow and the Russian side may facilitate their face-to-face meeting, South Asia columnist of leading business daily 'Kommersant' Sergei Strokan told PTI in Moscow.

He recalled that on Friday while receiving the multi-party parliamentary delegation led by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko had promised to jointly fight against terrorism and use the UN, BRICS and SCO platforms for close cooperation in decisive combat against all manifestations of terrorism.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the April 22 Pahalgam attack, which claimed 26 lives. India carried out precision strikes as part of Operation Sindoor on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7.

It was followed by Pakistan's attempt to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions.

The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10.
India now has a new approach in combating cross-border terrorism from Pakistan and anyone involved in such crimes will not go unpunished, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said in New York hours before he led a delegation of Parliamentarians to Guayana.

IMAGE: All-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor engages with prominent think tanks, academic leaders, and media for Operation Sindoor global outreach, in New York on Sunday. Photograph: ANI Photo

Tharoor made the remarks at a community event in New York as the delegation made a stopover -- during which he and other members of the delegation also paid tributes at the 9/11 memorial -- in the American city before leaving for Guyana.

In Bahrain, the all-party Indian parliamentary delegation on Sunday briefed Bahrain's Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa about the challenge of cross-border terrorism facing India and New Delhi's firm resolve to combat it.

Separate Indian delegations also briefed political leaders in South Korea and Slovenia on India's policy of zero tolerance in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people died.

"India stands together in declaring zero tolerance for terrorism," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in a post on X as he lauded the efforts put in by the all-party delegations.

In an interaction hosted by the Consulate General of India in New York with a select group of prominent members of the Indian-American community and individuals from leading media and think tanks on Saturday, Tharoor said that India's message to Pakistan has been clear: "We didn't want to start anything. We were just sending a message to terrorists."

"This has now got to be a new norm. No one sitting in Pakistan is going to be allowed to believe that they can just walk across the border and kill our citizens with impunity. There will be a price to pay, and that price has been going up systematically," Tharoor said.

Pakistan covets India's territory, and they want to have it at any price, he said, adding: "And if they can't get it through conventional means, they're willing to get it through terrorism. That is not acceptable, and that's really the message that we are here to give all of you in this country and elsewhere."

Tharoor and other members of the delegation visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York 'in a spirit of solidarity' but which was also meant 'to send a very strong message that we are here in a city, which is still bearing the scars of that savage terrorist attack, in the wake of yet another terrorist attack in our own country', he said, a reference to the April 22 Pahalgam attack.

In Bahrain capital Manama, after meeting of the delegation, led by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Baijayant Jay Panda, with Bahrain's Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa; Ali bin Saleh Al Saleh, the chairman of Shura Bahrain, the upper house of the legislative body of Bahrain, and Abdulnabi Salman Ahmed, First Deputy Speaker, Council of Representatives.

The Indian delegation 'underscored India's resolve to fight against terrorism and strengthen bilateral ties', said a post on X by the Indian Embassy in Bahrain.

On their first day Saturday, the Indian MPs also met prominent Indians and civil society members when Panda said, "Bahrain and India have a deep and long-standing relationship... I would like to thank the government of Bahrain for the consistent stand that it has taken. We truly appreciate Bahrain's strong comments during recent developments."

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi, also a member of the delegation, while answering a question during the meeting, said, "Our government has sent us here, and various other delegations comprising all party members across various parts of the world, so that the world knows of the threat that India has been facing."

"The terrorists have justified killings of innocent people in India. In our opinion, there is no difference between terrorists in Pakistan and ISIS takfiri ideology," Owisi said.

In South Korea, the all-party parliamentary delegation led by Janata Dal-United MP Sanjay Jha on Sunday shared with the members of the Indian diaspora the insights on the military campaign Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

The delegation reiterated the Modi government's stand against terrorism and said that dialogue with Pakistan cannot co-exist with terror.

The team also held 'substantive interactions' with eminent Korean dignitaries, including former Foreign Minister Dr Yoon Young-kwan, Vice-Chairman of Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Kim Gunn, former Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, Director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center, Major Gen Shin Sang-gyun, former Korean Ambassadors to India, Amb. Shin Bong-kil and Amb. Lee Joon-gyu, the Indian Embassy in Seoul said in a post on X.

One of the members of the delegation to Seoul, Abhishek Banerjee of Trinamool Congress, said, "The dialogue spanned issues of peace, regional stability, and strengthening multilateral efforts to confront the threat of terror."

The multi-party delegation led by NCP MP Supriya Sule met with Dr Hamda Al Sulaiti, Deputy Speaker of the Qatar Shura Council and other Qatari MPs in Doha on Sunday taking 'India's strong message against terrorism to the world!'

Meanwhile, the all-party delegation led by DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi reached Slovenia for 'Taking Bharat's message to the world'.

All the delegations described the Indian diaspora as a 'force multiplier' and asked the members to help sensitise public opinion and political opinion in their respective countries about India's stance on combating terror.

These delegations are among the seven multi-party delegations India has tasked to visit 33 global capitals to reach out to the international community on Pakistan's designs and India's response to terror.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the April 22 Pahalgam attack, which claimed 26 lives.

India carried out precision strikes as part of Operation Sindoor on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7.

It was followed by Pakistan's attempt to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions.



The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10.
The suspension of 18 Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs from the Karnataka Legislative assembly for six months has been revoked, Speaker U T Khader said on Sunday.

IMAGE: Leader of the Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly R Ashoka, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and other BJP and JD-S MLAs stage a protest against the state government outside Vidhana Soudha, in Bengaluru on March 12, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo

The decision, more than 2 months after the suspension, was announced by Khader after a meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, H K Patil.

In an unprecedented move, 18 BJP MLAs were suspended for six months from the Assembly on March 21, for showing 'indiscipline' and 'disrespecting' the Speaker, following which they were forcefully evicted from the House by the marshals as they refused to leave.

Khader said: "Though I proposed the suspension, the House gave its approval through a resolution. So, today the leader of the House and Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Law Minister and Leader of the Opposition discussed with me. It has been decided to revoke the suspension and the conditions that were specified, and to allow them to function as legislators."

Speaking to reporters here, he said: "The suspension has been revoked happily. There are no conditions. Those legislators are our friends and not enemies, the incident had happened in a fit of the moment. To ensure that such incidents don't repeat, I too had to take strict action."

Further, he said the legislators realised their mistake and they also had the understanding that they may not able to attend legislative committee meetings and official tours.

It could lead to embarrassment. In his capacity as the Speaker, it is his duty to protect the respect of MLAs.

"I'm confident that they will not repeat such a behaviour. With that faith in them, I have revoked the suspension," he said, adding the decision will be ratified by the House during the next session.

The incident leading to suspension had occurred on the last day of the assembly's budget session; following the massive protest of BJP MLAs against 4 per cent reservation to Muslims in public contracts and demanding judicial probe into alleged 'honey-trap' attempt against Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna.

During the protest inside the Assembly that day, some BJP legislators climbed onto the podium and surrounded the Speaker's chair; few MLAs hurled papers at the Speaker and marshals had to forcefully evict the BJP MLAs who had surrounded the Speaker's chair.

Noting that it has been two months since the suspension, the Speaker said all legislators expressed regret about the incident and they said they did not intend to show any disrespect to the chair.

He said Ashoka too had contacted him several times on this issue and submitted a letter expressing regret and assured that such incidents would not get repeated.

"He (Ashoka) had requested to reconsider the decision aimed at allowing the legislators to perform their duties. He had also spoken to the Chief Minister and the Law Minister in this regard. Also the Governor and Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Shobha Karandlaje and other senior leaders had contacted or communicated to me in this regard," he detailed.

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot had last month written to the Chief Minister and the Speaker to consider the request to revoke the suspension of 18 BJP MLAs positively, and to take necessary steps in this regard.

The suspended MLAs were BJP chief whip Doddanagouda Patil, former Deputy CM C N Ashwath Narayan, S R Vishwanath, B A Basavaraju, M R Patil, Channabasappa, B Suresh Gowda, Umanath Kotyan, Sharanu Salagar, Dr Shailendra Beldale, C K Ramamurthy, Yashpal Suvarna, B P Harish, Bharath Shetty, Dheeraj Muniraju, Chandru Lamani, Muniratna and Basavaraj Mattimud.

When asked whether the suspension was revoked fearing a setback if they go to court, Khader said, there is no need to discuss such things, and the Speaker has certain powers.

"When the situation comes, let's discuss it. Two months of time was there, no one has gone anywhere," he said.

Responding to a question whether Governor's intervention and BJP's plans to utilise the suspension during the upcoming session led to the decision to revoke it, the Speaker said, "I don't want to discuss it. No one can directly interfere in the Speaker's decision. Suggestions and requests can be made. I have positively taken the suggestions made."
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday expelled his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav from the party, besides declaring 'he shall have nothing to do with the family'.

IMAGE: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in conversation with his son Tej Pratap Yadav during a meeting in Patna. Photograph: ANI Photo

Tej Pratap had on Saturday evening announced on social media that he was 'in a relationship for 12 years' with a woman, despite being married and his divorce petition still pending before a family court in Patna.

He, however, deleted the post a few hours later, claiming on X that his Facebook page was 'hacked'.

Lalu Yadav, who announced his drastic move on social media, made no mention of the previous day's happenings, but criticised his elder son's actions, public conduct and 'irresponsible behaviour', saying 'disregard for moral values in personal life weakens our collective struggle to achieve social justice'.

He admonished Tej Pratap for behaving in a manner 'not in consonance with the values of my family' and declared that 'he shall have no role, henceforth, in the party and the family. He is expelled from the party for six years'.

The development came with barely a few months left for the Bihar assembly polls, which the RJD will fight under the leadership of Lalu's younger son, Tejashwi Yadav.

Born to Lalu and Rabri Devi, both former chief ministers of Bihar, the brother duo is among four of nine siblings active in politics.

The couple's eldest child, Misa Bharti, is the party MP from Pataliputra, while another daughter, Rohini Acharya, made an unsuccessful maiden attempt from Saran in the Lok Sabha polls last year.

The remaining five siblings, all sisters, have so far not entered politics, though one of them, Hema Yadav, has been named in the land for jobs scam pertaining to Prasad's tenure as railway minister in the United Prongressive Alliance government.

Both Hema and Tej Pratap were granted bail in the case, which the ED is probing, by a Delhi court in March this year.

When Tejashwi Yadav, the former deputy chief minister, was asked about what was the proverbial last straw, he gave a guarded response but minced no words in stating 'things have not been to my liking'.

"My elder brother is an adult. He is free to make any choice in his personal life. But there are certain things we cannot tolerate. And this is what our national president has asserted in his post," said Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.

Tej Pratap Yadav had made his political debut in the assembly polls of 2015, and is a second-term MLA with two brief stints in the state cabinet.

In his first term, he represented the Mahua assembly segment, but was made to shift base to Hasanpur five years later because of a general perception that he was not very popular with voters.

Unlike his younger brother, who has since emerged as the most popular politician of his generation in the state, Tej Pratap Yadav has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

A few months ago, he made headlines for threatening a policeman in his security detail with suspension upon refusal to dance as per his command and speeding on a two-wheeler without wearing a helmet.

Earlier, he had been in the news for an ugly marital dispute, besides antics like supporting rebels in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, floating a parallel outfit 'Lalu Rabri Morcha' and occupying the chair reserved for the national president while at the RJD office.

Reacting to the turmoil in RJD, Janata Dal-United spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said, "Lalu Prasad has used a jack to salvage his reputation after his elder son tried to cover up his misdemeanour with the claim that his Facebook page had been hacked."

"But Lalu Prasad must remember that he will still be charged with dynasty rule and keeping mum when his daughter-in-law, a grandchild of a former CM, was humiliated," he said.

The allusion was to Aishwarya, the granddaughter of Daroga Prasad Rai, who tied the knot with Tej Pratap Yadav in 2018 but left his house a few months later, alleging that she was driven out by her husband and in-laws.

BJP leader Nikhil Anand claimed, "Lalu Prasad has tried to save the reputation of his family and his party by acting against his elder son. But they can still not be absolved of the ill-treatment meted out to Aishwarya."
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi, part of the all-party delegation led by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Baijayant Panda, said that terrorist groups wrongly use religion to justify killing innocent people.

IMAGE: An all-party delegation member AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi (right) speaks during an interaction with prominent personalities in Manama, Bahrain, May 24, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo

He said that Islam condemns terrorism and the Quran clearly says that killing one innocent person is like killing all of humanity.

During an interaction with the prominent personalities in Bahrain, Owaisi said, "These terrorist organisations have justified killings of innocent people in India and they have out of context quoted Quranic verses...we have to put an end to it. They have used religion to justify the killing of people. Islam condemns terrorism and the Quran has categorically stated that the killing of one innocent person is like the killing of whole humankind."

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Democratic Progressive Azad Party chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad called for stronger international support to combat terrorism.

Azad said, " ...We need support at every international fora and in OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)...we don't want to eliminate any country. We want Pakistan to dismantle this terrorist infrastructure and take action against terrorists..."

In the same interaction, BJP MP S Phangnon Konyak said that Pakistan has continued its terror activities against India since partition and urged Bahrain to ask Pakistan to take responsibility.

She added that the Indian government has made its stand clear and will respond firmly if attacked again. "Since partition, Pakistan has not stopped its terror activities against India...Our request is if Bahrain can also come forward and ask

Pakistan to step up and take responsibility for its actions...government of India is very clear on its stand this time...if attacked again, India will respond," Konyak said.

The delegation, led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, also includes Nishikant Dubey MP, BJP; Phangnon Konyak, MP, BJP; Rekha Sharma MP, NJP; AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi; Satnam Singh Sandhu MP; Ghulam Nabi Azad; and Ambassador Harsh Shringla.

The delegation aims to brief international partners on India's response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism while engaging with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Algeria.

The multi-party delegation, consisting of seven groups led by one MP each, has been initiated to counter global misinformation and highlight India's zero-tolerance policy on terrorism.
The New Zealand Defence Force has alerted the market to its future procurement plans, including several potentially large ICT investments.

NZDFs plan include, subject to funding, the procurement of services for application modernisation, which follows the recent completion of the implementation of foundational Microsoft Azure Public Cloud and modern Citrix Enterprise desktop solutions.

Many of our existing systems need to be modernised or consolidated to achieve the full benefit of these using modern technologies, NZDF noted in a posting on Friday.

An information management and data fabric programme was also on the forces shopping list, subject to funding.

This included procurement of initial setup services, such as architecture support, for the initial phase of the programme, which is aimed at addressing challenges with NZDFs current information systems and processes.

A new claims management system for veterans is also on NZDFs agenda to manage and pay entitlements under the Veteran Affairs Act, again subject to funding approval.

Wideband global satellite ground terminals were also on the list as was an emergency management communication system for NZDFs Auckland base.

A future ERP system replacement, already at its shortlisting stage, was also noted. This project, to replace the forces aging ECC6 SAP software with the vendors new cloud-based S/4HANA suite, was paused last September.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang addresses the Indonesia-China Business Reception 2025 in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 24, 2025. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto also attended the event. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

JAKARTA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday urged China and Indonesia to make the pie of cooperation bigger, strengthen industrial integration and safeguard free trade.

Li made the remarks when addressing the Indonesia-China Business Reception 2025.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Indonesia diplomatic ties and the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, Li said that more than seven decades ago, the world stood at a historical crossroads.

Amid global discord and confrontation, China and Indonesia, together with other Asian and African nations, gathered in Bandung and forged the Bandung Spirit of solidarity, friendship and cooperation, which has played a pivotal role in advancing South-South cooperation and steering the world toward positive development, Li said.

Today, more than seven decades later, the world is once again at a critical crossroads, Li said, adding that amid evolving international situation intertwined with turmoil, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, and acts of bullying are increasing.

Against this backdrop, the contemporary value of the Bandung Spirit has become more prominent, Li said.

He called on both sides to follow the general trend of historical progress, adhere to seeking common ground while reserving differences and peaceful coexistence, resolve differences through consultation, promote win-win results through cooperation, and achieve development and prosperity through joint construction and shared benefits.

Noting that China and Indonesia have consistently upheld the Bandung Spirit in advancing all-round practical cooperation, Li said that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state in recent years, China-Indonesia cooperation has continuously reached new heights.

With bilateral trade expanding in scale and improving in quality, two-way investment growing rapidly, and major projects yielding remarkable results, Li added, the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has continued to strengthen its bonds, delivering tangible benefits to businesses and people in both countries while injecting greater certainty into the world economy.

Li emphasized that this year, China's economy has achieved rapid growth amid increasing external challenges, demonstrating strong internal drivers and tremendous growth potential.

Li noted the incremental space for demand release, saying that China is implementing a strategy to expand domestic demand and is launching specific initiatives to boost consumption, which will continuously unlock the potential of its mega-sized market.

There is also vast potential in technology empowerment, Li said, noting that China continues to make breakthroughs in technological innovation, with artificial intelligence, robotics, biopharmaceuticals and other fields accelerating their integration across industries, which will create more innovation and investment cooperation opportunities for businesses worldwide.

Li also pointed to potential in industrial upgrading, saying that China is vigorously advancing the high-end, intelligent and green transformation of its manufacturing sector while expanding overseas investment in an orderly manner, and will enhance the efficiency and resilience of global industrial and supply chains in collaboration with other countries.

China is ready to share incremental growth space and development opportunities with all countries, including Indonesia, and remains steadfast in opening up wider to the world, Li said, adding that China will create a more favorable environment for foreign enterprises to invest and operate in China.

Li expressed hope that the business communities of China and Indonesia will enhance docking and take active actions to promote more fruitful cooperation in various fields between the two countries.

Prabowo, for his part, said that the relationship between Indonesia and China is one of the most strategic and promising bilateral relations in the 21st century.

Indonesia is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in the fields of economy and trade, industry, green economy, as well as science and education, enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges, so as to better achieve mutual benefits and win-win results, he said, adding that Chinese enterprises are welcome to continue to invest and do business in Indonesia and broaden the scope of cooperation.

Indonesia highly appreciates China's important role in international affairs and stands ready to work with China to carry forward the Bandung Spirit, maintain peace, stability and prosperity in Asia, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and uphold international equity and justice, he said.

Before the dinner, the leaders of the two countries jointly visited a commemorative exhibition marking the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference and an exhibition of the achievements of economic and trade cooperation between China and Indonesia. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang addresses the Indonesia-China Business Reception 2025 in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 24, 2025. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto also attended the event. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)
Romanian President-elect Nicusor Dan has returned a favor to political allies in Poland, addressing a mass rally in Warsaw in support of pro-EU presidential candidate Rafal Trzaskowski on May 25.

The visit highlights how politics in Poland and Romania have become intertwined amid wider geopolitical concerns.

Speaking to crowds waving Polish and European Union flags in bright spring sunshine, Dan said he brought a pro-EU message, a message for the rule of law, for Poland and Romania to be aligned within the European Union and to push for the same thing, for security in the eastern area.

Dans trip came a day before his inauguration and a week before a second-round runoff election in Poland.

Trzaskowski -- backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centrist Civic Coalition  will face Karol Nawrocki from the conservative opposition Law and Justice party.

Tangled Crosscurrents

Shortly before Romanias second-round runoff vote on May 18, Tusk endorsed Dan with a video message recorded in Romanian.

Tusk had also warned that Russia would be delighted in the event of twin election victories for Dans nationalist opponent George Simion and Nawrocki in Poland.

His comments came after Simion had traveled to Poland to support Nawrocki.

I want to work with President Rafal Trzaskowski, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, for a collaboration between our countries and for a strong European Union, Dan said on May 25.

Last Sunday we won the presidential elections in Romania. The people rejected isolationism and Russian influence," he said.

Whether these tangled crosscurrents have any impact on the Polish election, in which the candidates appear to be neck-and-neck, will become apparent when polling stations close on June 1.

Trump And Ukraine Loom Large

Both Poland and Romania border Ukraine, and the ongoing war there -- as Russias full-scale invasion continues -- has played an important role in both election campaigns.

Poland has been one of Ukraine's big supporters and hosts nearly one million refugees.

Nawrocki met US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on May 2, in what was viewed by some as an endorsement, and he has questioned Ukraines suitability for EU or NATO membership.

As Poland gears up for one last week of campaigning, Romania now gets down to its next political chapter.

Dan will be inaugurated on May 26, taking his oath at a joint meeting of both houses of parliament before a formal handover of power from interim president Ilie Bolojan.

It is expected that Dan will make Bolojan the new prime minister.

Dan has said his first overseas trip after taking office may be to neighboring Moldova, which shares close linguistic, cultural, and political ties with Romania. But he has also raised the possibility of visits to Brussels or Washington, depending on needs.

Ties with the United States were strained during the campaign, with Washington appearing to sympathize with Romanias nationalist opposition.

Dan has said the relationship will improve. He may have a chance to work on it at the NATO summit in late June.
Opposition politician Hykmete Bajrami reminded Kosovos lawmakers of Einsteins alleged description of insanity -- doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome -- after an early attempt to elect a house speaker failed.

A month later, and after a total of 21 failed attempts to move forward in the process of forming a government following February elections, many in Kosovo are wondering if Bajrami is on to something.

A political stalemate with the opposition over Prime Minister Albin Kurtis choice for speaker, Albulena Haxhiu -- neither side has budged so far -- is making it impossible to put parliaments leadership in place to allow the formation of a government at a time when the country is looking to make progress on its path to European Union membership.

The institutional crisis that followed the elections of February 9, 2025, has crossed every tolerable limit and is damaging not only the Assembly, but also the functioning of the entire democratic and institutional system of the country, a group of civil society organizations warned before the latest failure in the house over the weekend.

Kurtis party won 48 seats in the February elections. While he has the support of some deputies from Kosovo's minority groups -- excluding the Serb community -- their combined backing still falls short of the 61-seat majority required to elect a speaker and form a government.

Haxhiu, who served as a justice minister and senior figure in Kurtis Vetevendosje (VV) party, is viewed by opposition parties as a divisive choice. Her repeated failure to garner the required votes in the 120-seat assembly has also raised broader questions about Kurtis capacity to form a governing coalition.

Political parties that were in opposition during the last parliament, such as the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), have urged Albin Kurti to nominate a more broadly acceptable candidate for speaker, but he has refused to compromise.

Confrontational Rhetoric

Their resistance has been further reinforced by what they describe as Kurtis confrontational rhetoric during the election campaign, deepening their reluctance to cooperate with him -- even in the context of a potential future coalition.

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has stated it will not support any speaker candidate proposed by Vetevendosje and has rejected Kurtis offer to join a governing coalition. Instead it proposed a transitional government composed of all ethnic Albanian parties, which represent the majority population in Kosovo. This proposal was rejected by Vetevendosje.

In a bid to break the impasse after the seventh vote failed, lawmakers have been voting on a proposal to form a commission to oversee a secret ballot for the speaker vote. But that proposal, too, has been repeatedly rejected by deputies, including in the weekend vote.

Under Kosovos legal framework, the inaugural session of parliament must be reconvened every 48 hours until a speaker is elected. There is no legal time limit for how long this can continue. The next vote is slated for May 27.

Adrian Shtuni, a Washington-based foreign policy and security expert, says Kosovo's ongoing institutional paralysis is not merely a result of political polarization but a deeper failure to articulate a shared strategic vision for the countrys future.

In an interview with RFE/RL's Kosovo Service, he described the situation as a mutual zugzwang, where any political move is seen as a risk, and no actor is willing to compromise.

More specifically, the reasons for the delay are because no one has the minimum 61 votes, and also no one has a real will to compromise or sufficient trust in potential coalition partners, Shtuni said.

Critical Period

The failure comes at a critical time for Kosovo, one of Europes poorest countries.

Ambassadors from the Quint countries -- the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy -- have warned Kurti over the political deadlock and have urged the swift formation of a stable and functional government -- essential, they emphasized, for unlocking frozen funds, addressing key domestic and international priorities, and advancing Kosovos path toward Euro-Atlantic integration.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, last week called for all of Kosovos political parties to come together and cooperate.

During a visit to the country, she announced the easing of sanctions imposed on Kosovo over its role in heightening tensions in the Serb-dominated north.

But further progress is needed if Kosovo is to take advantage of the bloc's 6 billion euro ($6.8 billion) Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.

"For that to happen, Kosovo needs functioning institutions that can effectively implement reforms, and that's why I encourage all parties to break the political stalemates and swiftly form a government," she said.

Some analysts put the blame for Kosovos political deadlock primarily on Vetevendosje, which, despite winning the election, has insisted on a speaker candidate who lacks broad support.

They say that, even if Kurti eventually wins this battle, any government to emerge from the crisis is likely to be unstable.

Dr. Gezim Visoka, professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Dublin City University in Ireland, said the current political paralysis in Kosovo should serve as an incentive to rethink and rebuild the countrys political culture.

He added that the absence of international intervention should serve as a signal to political parties that this is a test of Kosovos maturity as a state and of its ability to change governments and power without international intervention or oversight.

It is paradoxical that the current parties have demanded Kosovos independence from international supervision, yet now find it difficult to make it functional and self-sustaining, he said.
US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin "has gone absolutely crazy" following a series of deadly attacks on Ukrainian cities and warned that if he attempts to conquer all of Ukraine, it will lead to Russia's "downfall."

Ukrainian officials said on May 26 that Russia had launched some 355 drones at Ukraine overnight -- a record number in more than three years of war -- along with nine cruise missiles.

The attack, the third consecutive night Russia had fired a major salvo at Ukraine, hit several locations, including residential buildings and industrial facilities, officials said.

"Ive always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him," Trump said in his harshest public comments ever regarding the Kremlin leader. "He has gone absolutely CRAZY!"

"He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and Im not just talking about soldiers," Trump wrote on his social media platform late on May 25. "Missiles and drones are being shot into cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. Ive always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe thats proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!"

The Truth Social posting came shortly after Trump assailed Putin in similar comments to reporters.

"I'm not happy with what Putin is doing. He's killing a lot of people, and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin," he told reporters in New Jersey as he prepared to fly back to Washington.

Putin is "sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all," Trump said angrily on the Morristown airport tarmac.

"We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all," Trump said. "I'm surprised. Very surprised."

"Something happened to this guy -- and I don't like it."

Trump said he would "absolutely" consider imposing further sanctions against Russia to force progress in peace talks, although he wasn't specific.

The Kremlin responded to Trump's message by warning of "emotional overload" at a "very crucial moment," adding that Putin "is taking the decisions that are necessary to ensure the security of our country."

In a sign of growing impatience among Ukraine's allies over what they see as Russia's stalling tactics, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said there were "no longer any range restrictions" on arms supplied by key Western allies to Ukraine, allowing Kyiv to attack "military positions in Russia."

"There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine -- neither by the British nor by the French nor by us nor by the Americans," he said during a forum organized by German state broadcaster WDR.



"This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia.... With very few exceptions, it didn't do that until recently. It can now do that."

Officials from Britain, France, and the United States have yet to confirm Merz's claim.

In his criticisms, Trump also turned his attention to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sharply chastising him for "doing his country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I dont like it, and it better stop."

The flood of comments came after Zelenskyy, in a rare public rebuke of Kyivs most-important ally, condemned what he called Americas silence after Russian attacks over the weekend killed at least 13 people and left dozens of others injured.

Commenting on May 26, Zelenskyy said that "only a sense of total impunity can allow Russia to carry out such strikes and continue increasing their scale."

"There is no real military logic to this, but there is significant political meaning. In doing this, Putin shows just how much he despises the world -- the world that spends more effort on 'dialogue' with him than on real pressure," he added.

Ukraine's European allies remained vocal in their condemnation of Russia's latest attacks and for the need to maintain support for Kyiv.

"Last night's attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine," top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas wrote on social media.

She called for "the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war."

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said in a TV debate that the attacks were "further proof that Russia is not interested in peace."

The governor of Ukraine's Sumy region on May 26 said that Russian forces had captured four villages as part of an attempt to create a "buffer zone" on Ukrainian territory.

Oleh Hryhorov said the four villages were now held by Russian forces. He said their residents had long been evacuated.

"The enemy is continuing attempts to advance with the aim of setting up a so-called 'buffer zone,'" he wrote.

The death and destruction at Ukrainian civilian sites was mixed with rejoicing and jubilant scenes over the weekend as hundreds of prisoners of war returned from captivity in Russia for the third day of a mass exchange in a so-called 1,000-for-1,000 swap deal.

"This Is The Best Feeling," Says Ukrainian Soldier Returned From Russia In Mass Prisoner Exchange No media source currently available 0:00 0:01:18 0:00

"It is good that I'm home. Everything will be all right. I have no words," Oleksandr, a returning soldier, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.

He said he had been captured in Avdiyivka, in eastern Ukraine, on July 27, 2022.

"My wife and son [are waiting for me]. We will talk soon," he added.

"I was waiting for this day. I still can't believe it," another soldier, who did not give his name, told RFE/RL.

"I didn't know how long I would be there...We had no information. For three years we didn't know what was happening to our country," he added.

At the same time, Russian media reported that 303 Russian soldiers released by Ukraine had landed in Moscow on May 25 and would "undergo medical treatment and rehabilitation."

Ukrainian Civilian Deaths Mount

Russian missiles and drones struck Ukrainian cities with deadly fire over the weekend.

Among the 13 reported deaths were three minors -- aged 8, 12, and 17 -- in the northwestern region of Zhytomyr, far away from the front lines.

But the capital, Kyiv, appeared to be the focus of Russia's latest attacks, although several other cities experienced air assaults as well.

"It has never been like this before. There were dozens of explosions. Not 10, not 15 -- it was endless. You hear that roar in the sky and then bang! And we just keep waiting for what's next," Oleh, a pensioner in Mykolayiv, told RFE/RL after the May 25 attacks.

"We assume that [a drone] was on its way to bomb a factory [nearby], but it was shot down and hit the house as it fell. The blast was crazy. We were in the kitchen at that moment. We all ran to the hallway and sat there. It was really scary," he added.

The details provided by both sides could not be independently verified.

RFE/RL is effectively banned in Russia and unable to operate there. Its teams in Ukraine regularly witness deadly attacks on civilian targets across the country.

Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help, Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine and European countries have called for a significant ramping up of the existing sanctions regime unless Moscow accepts a 30-day cease-fire proposed by Washington.

But Trump has proved reluctant to do it, praising a recent telephone call he had with Putin, in which the Russian leader did not agree to any pause in fighting.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, AFP, and Reuters
Ukrainians rejoiced amid jubilant scenes as hundreds of prisoners of war returned from captivity in Russia for third day of a mass exchange on May 25, hours after Moscow launched its largest ever air attack on its neighbor.

"It is good that I'm home. Everything will be alright. I have no words," Oleksandr, a returning soldier, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.

He said he had been captured in Avdiyivka, in eastern Ukraine, on July 27, 2022.

"My wife and son [are waiting for me]. We will talk soon," he added.

"I was waiting for this day. I still can't believe it," another soldier, who did not give his name, told RFE/RL.

"I didn't know how long would I be there...We had no information. For three years we didn't know what was happening to our country," he added.

Meanwhile, Russian media reported that 303 Russian soldiers released by Ukraine had landed in Moscow on May 25 and would "undergo medical treatment and rehabilitation."

"This Is The Best Feeling," Says Ukrainian Soldier Returned From Russia In Mass Prisoner Exchange No media source currently available 0:00 0:01:18 0:00

'America's Silence'

Following Russia's major air assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned what he called Americas silence. The attacks across major Ukrainian cities claimed at least 13 lives and left dozens more injured.

Among the reported dead were three minors -- aged 8, 12, and 17 -- in the northwestern region of Zhytomyr, far away from the front lines.

America's silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, Zelenskyy wrote on social media on May 25.

Hours later, US envoy Keith Kellogg said attacks on Kyiv were "shameful" and urged for a cease-fire.

"The indiscriminate killing of women and children at night in their homes is a clear violation of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols designed to protect innocents...Stop the killing," Kellogg wrote in his X account.

It was the second night in a row that Russia launched mass attacks using missiles and drones.

"It has never been like this before. There were dozens of explosions. Not 10, not 15 -- it was endless. You hear that roar in the sky and then bang! And we just keep waiting for what's next," Oleh, a pensioner in Mykolayiv, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service after the May 25 attacks.

"We assume that [a drone] was on its way to bomb a factory [nearby], but it was shot down and hit the house as it fell. The blast was crazy. We were in the kitchen at that moment. We all ran to the hallway and sat there. It was really scary," he added.

Dmytro, another Mykolayiv resident, told RFE/RL how he and others had to save a neighbor who "had his leg stuck under bricks that started falling from the fourth floor as their ceiling caved in."

"It was a miracle that he moved to the hallway..." he added. "Had he stayed in the living room or the bedroom, he would have been cut in half."

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 367 air strikes, including the use of 9 Iskander ballistic missiles, more than 50 cruise missiles, and nearly 300 drones.

The Call For Sanctions

"Last night's attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine," top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas wrote on social media.

She called for "the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war."

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said in a TV debate that the attacks were "further proof that Russia is not interested in peace."

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul -- who had visited Ukraine earlier this month -- on May 25 urged Ukraine's allies to "react with determination" after the latest Russian attacks.

"We cannot accept this," Wadephul told German television. Putin "is trampling on human rights, this is an affront, also against US President Donald Trump, who has tried so hard to get Putin to the negotiating table."

Meanwhile, Russias Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The numbers given by both sides could not be independently verified.

RFE/RL is effectively banned in Russia and unable to operate there. Its teams in Ukraine regularly witness deadly attacks on civilian targets across the country.

Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help, Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine and European countries have called for a significant ramping up of the existing sanctions regime unless Moscow accepts a 30-day cease-fire proposed by Washington.

But Trump has proved reluctant to do it, praising a recent telephone call he had with Putin, in which the Russian leader did not agree to any pause in fighting.

With reporting by AFP
Kenneth Fox

Sunday's front pages focus on a range of stories from the Google chief executive saying he is committed to Ireland to fears over a trade war between the EU and US.

The Business Post reports, Google boss Sundar Pichai said the tech giant is committed to Ireland but that the EU needs to slash regulation, as a deeply damaging trade war with the US looms.

Our front page today. Pick up a copy in stores or subscribe at https://t.co/LyVcHklEWC for these stories plus:  Exclusive: Google chief commits to Ireland  40 over 40: Irelands top in tech  Developers call for radical tax cuts pic.twitter.com/s4nFliQvVS  Business Post (@businessposthq) May 25, 2025

The Sunday Independent, report there are four weeks to save Europe from an all-out trade war with the US, after President Donald Trump sent shockwaves across Europe with a new threat of rising tariffs to 50pc, sources close to the negotiations have told the Sunday Independent
All-Party Delegation, Asaduddin Owaisi Calls Pakistan a Failed State latest news

all our warfare were able to stop whatever was thrown from a failed state like Pakistan.

All-Party Delegation, Asaduddin Owaisi Calls Pakistan a Failed State latest news: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi interacted with prominent Indians and civil society members in Bahrain as part of a diplomatic outreach by an all-party delegation led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda. He said the problem of terrorism emanates from Pakistan and even called Pakistan a failed state. He added that India has shown utmost restraint in dealing with Pakistan, even after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

Our government has sent us here so that the world knows the threat India has been facing for so many years. Unfortunately, we have lost a huge number of human lives. Innocent people have been killed, he said, answering a question during the meeting.

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Pointing out Pakistans support for terrorism, he said, The fact of the matter is that this problem emanates from Pakistan only. Unless and until Pakistan stops promoting, aiding, and sponsoring all these terrorist groups, this issue will not go away.

He also spoke about how India has shown restraint time and again, including in the recent war-like situation between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 innocent lives were taken after the attackers identified victims based on their religious profile. The TRF, a shadow group of the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, had claimed responsibility for the attack.

He said, India has exercised utmost restraint in dealing with this problem. I do not want to reiterate what the head of my delegation, my honourable, good friend Mr. Jay Panda, has said. But please understand  India has exercised utmost restraint. You know, even after the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 tourists have lost their lives and please understand the enormity of this massacre  a girl who got married six days ago, on the seventh day, she becomes a widow. Another girl who got married two months ago, she becomes a widow.

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He said India has the " wherewithal and, all the means to ensure the safety not only of Indians but anyone who lives in India, citing how on the 9th and 10th of May, Pakistan unleashed whatever it had (arms and amunition), no amount of damage happened in the mainland India.

He also said, Yes, in the Poonch area we know what happened, referring to casualties and fatalities in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir during the recent four-day war-like situation between the two neighbouring countries, despite the extensive defense resources India has.

all our warfare were able to stop whatever was thrown from a failed state like Pakistan.

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Talking about Indias firm position and intolerance towards terrorism, he said, I can assure you with full responsibility that our government has taken all necessary steps to protect the life and limb of every Indian. This government has made it very clear: If they take up this misadventure again, the consequences will be beyond what they are expecting.

See, we dont want to reply in that way. There is a limit to the patience of Indians. You cannot go on and come into India and kill people. You cannot place bombs. The first terrorist suicide attack took place in front of the J&K Assembly. You had Uri, Pulwama and last year, in July, terrorists went and shot Hindu pilgrims who were travelling in a particular bus. Seven people were killed.

Highlighting how the whole nation unites when it comes to Indias integrity, he said, There is complete unanimity in our country, irrespective of whatever political affiliations we belong to. Yes, we have political differences, but when it comes to the integrity of our country, it is high time the neighboring country understands.

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He also expressed hope and requested the Bahraini government to help India bring Pakistan back onto the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, citing how Pakistan uses funds to support terrorists.

I hope and request that the Bahraini government will assist us in bringing Pakistan back to the FATF grey list because this money has been used to support those terrorists.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), established in 1989 by the G7 countries, aims to develop policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

Pakistan has been placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) "grey list" three times, once in from February 2008 - June 2010, the second time from February 2012 - February 2015 and third time from June 2018 - October 2022.

He also pointed out that Pakistan allowed a designated terrorist to offer namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayer) for those killed on the night of Operation Sindoor  Indias strategic and calibrated strike on terrorist sites in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan. He cited this as a clear example of how Pakistan supports terrorism, calling it an act of shamelessness.

Im sure our chairman, my friend Jay Panda, must have told you that we had bombed those 9 terrorists sites, especially Bhawalpur of Let-How is it that a designated terrorist is offering the namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayer) for those people? I mean, there is a limit to this shamelessness.

The delegation, led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, includes MPs Nishikant Dubey (BJP), Phangnon Konyak (BJP), Rekha Sharma (BJP), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), Satnam Singh Sandhu, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Ambassador Harsh Shringla.

The visit aims to brief international partners on India's stance and to highlight the threats posed by cross-border terrorism. Each delegation comprises at least five parliamentarians from across parties and a senior diplomat, who will travel to various world capitals to inform them about the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. Some non-MPs have also been included.

The delegation is scheduled to visit the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Russia, Japan, South Africa, and countries in West Asia, among others, according to a report in The Economic Times.

(For more news apart from All-Party Delegation, Asaduddin Owaisi Calls Pakistan a Failed State latest news latest news, stay tune to Rozana Spokesman)
Big News: Akali Councillor Harjinder Singh Bahman Shot in Amritsar, Dies at Hospital

Two unidentified attackers arrived on a motorcycle and fired multiple shots.

Big News: Akali Councillor Harjinder Singh Bahman Shot in Amritsar, Dies at Hospital

The councillor of Ward No. 2 of Jandiala Guru constituency in Amritsar was shot in broad daylight in the city area of Chheharta.

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Two unidentified attackers arrived on a motorcycle and fired multiple shots at Harjinder Singh Bahman. According to sources, the councillor was hit by 3 to 4 bullets. During treatment at the hospital, he succumbed to his injuries.

The attackers came on a motorcycle; one started the bike while the other fired continuous shots.

Police investigations are underway.

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(For more news apart from Akali Councillor Harjinder Singh Bahman Shot in Amritsar, Dies at Hospital, stay tune to Rozana Spokesman)
Instagram Influencer Sukh Ratia Arrested in Murder Case

The duo, reportedly in need of money and chasing online fame, allegedly agreed to commit the crime.

Instagram Influencer Sukh Ratia Arrested in Murder Case, latest news: Famous Instagram influencer Sukhpreet Singh, popularly known as Sukh Ratia, has been arrested on serious charges of murder. Known for his Instagram reels and stylish lifestyle, he has more than 525,000 followers. He is now the prime accused in a gruesome murder case.

The Noida Special Task Force (STF) arrested him and later handed him over to the Navi Mumbai police.

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The 24-year-old Sukh Ratia, a resident of Haryana, has studied up to the 12th grade. In 2022, he moved to Mumbai with his maternal cousin Gurpreet Singh to pursue a career in modeling. There, he came into contact with a woman who ran a salon and was originally from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. During police interrogation, Sukhpreet admitted that this woman had hired him for 5 lakh rupees to murder another woman  the wife of a man named Kishore Singh.

Kishore Singh had planned the murder of his wife. On the night of May 18, Sukh Ratia and his accomplice Gurpreet Singh, wearing masks, first conducted surveillance on the target. They then followed her and slit her throat on a public street, leading to her death. The entire incident was captured on CCTV.

According to police investigations, Sukhpreet had purchased a knife online ahead of the murder and kept a close watch on the victim's movements on the day of the crime. It was not an impulsive act but a carefully planned professional contract killing, as per our sources. The duo, reportedly in need of money and chasing online fame, allegedly agreed to commit the crime.

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The Noida STF received a tip-off that the two accused were standing near Ghant Chowk circle in the Surajpur police station area and were attempting to flee. The STF immediately informed the Navi Mumbai police, and in a joint operation, both suspects were arrested. Cases have been registered against them under IPC sections 103(1) and 61(2).

According to ASP Rajkumar Mishra of the Noida STF, after the FIR was filed by the Mumbai police, assistance was sought from the Uttar Pradesh STF. Acting on the provided information, a joint operation was launched, and both accused were arrested from the Surajpur area. They have since been handed over to the Navi Mumbai police.

(For more news apart from Instagram Influencer Sukh Ratia Arrested in Murder Case, stay tune to Rozana Spokesman)
Three Killed, One Critically Injured in Horrific Road Accident on Lucknow-Agra Expressway in Unnao

A young girl in the car, sustained serious injuries...rushed to Kannauj Medical College.

Horrific Road Accident on Lucknow-Agra Expressway in Unnao, latest news: Unnao (Uttar Pradesh), May 25  A tragic road accident took place on Saturday on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway in Unnao district, resulting in the death of three people and leaving one girl critically injured.

The incident occurred in the Bangarmau Kotwali area, where a car collided with a container under unclear circumstances. The impact was severe, leading to the immediate death of three occupants of the car.

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The deceased have been identified as Viney Pathak, son of the late Pashupatinath Pathak from Bihar, Umesh Singh, and Seema Upadhyay, wife of the late Ajit Upadhyay, a resident of Deoria district.

A young girl, who was also in the car, sustained serious injuries and was rushed to Kannauj Medical College for urgent medical treatment.

Local authorities reached the scene soon after the incident and launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of the collision. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination.

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(For more news apart from Horrific Road Accident on Lucknow-Agra Expressway in Unnaol, stay tune to Rozana Spokesman)
JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China stands ready to work with Indonesia to oppose unilateralism, protectionism and power politics.

In his meeting with Speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives Puan Maharani, Li said the Chinese side is willing to enhance communication and coordination with Indonesia within multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations, jointly safeguard the basic norms governing international relations, and uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core.

He also called on the two sides to carry forward the Bandung Spirit of solidarity, friendship and cooperation, and inject stability and certainty into the cause of global peace and development. 
The Romanian journey of French artist Dieudonne Auguste Lancelot

French lithographer, engraver and illustrator Dieudonne Auguste Lancelot was one of the foreigners who visited the Principality of Wallachia in the 19th century.

Ioan Bianu (1856-1935)

Steliu Lambru, 25.05.2025, 14:00

French lithographer, engraver and illustrator Dieudonne Auguste Lancelot was one of the foreigners who visited the Principality of Wallachia shortly after the Union of 1859. Born on February 2, 1823 in Sezanne, in northern France, Lancelot specialized in the reproduction of images. The lithographs and engravings he created were used by various French travel publications from the mid 19th century, such as Le Tour du monde, Le Magasin pittoresque, Le Monde illustre, Les Jardins, Guides-Itineraire and Guides-Cicerone du Paris illustre, guide itineraire pour les voyageurs. Lancelots name is of great importance for the history of the Romanian Principalities due to the journey he undertook in 1860 to what is now southern Romania.

Throught time, political expansion went hand in hand with knowledge and exploration of new territories. In the 19th century, the Romanian world was discovered by Western Europe as the end point of the continental journey of the river Danube. The place where the Danube flows into the sea aroused the curiosity of Europeans. Mihaela Varga is a historian and art critic and she has studied the contribution of foreign travelers to disseminate information, as well as to political decision-making:

It was customary for a writer traveling to a new place to be accompanied by a draftsman who would make sketches on the spot, just like in the 20th century an art historian or a historian would be accompanied by a photographer. Engravings would then be made from the sketches and published first in a newspaper and then in the form of a volume. Paris was in 1869 the true cultural capital of the world. It was therefore home not only to many historians, many writers, but also to countless professionals from the world of book printing and the production of culture.

Dieudonne Auguste Lancelot was 37 years old when he arrived in Wallachia travelling on the Danube. He sailed on the river to the port of Giurgiu, 60 kilometres south of the capital Bucharest. From there, he travelled northwest and followed an itinerary that led him to the monasteries in northern Oltenia. And from there he reached the Danube again, westwards, and returned to his homeland. What does a viewer today see through the eyes of Lancelot, captured in his engravings, and what is lost? Mihaela Varga tells us more:

The documentary value of the objects left behind is very important because, for example, it can be seen that there were some buildings in front of the cathedral at Curtea de Arges. You can also see the buildings near the Stavropoleos church in Bucharest at that time. There were other delightful details such as villages with houses with very high rooftops that were usually made of straw or reed. The roofs require a very sharp slope so that the water left by snow and rain can drain as quickly as possible.

Speaking about Lancelots legacy in the Romanian world, art historian Simona Dragan believes that the engravings from Wallachia have a great documentary value, even more so than artistic:

The 19th century Romanian world is illustrated in engravings made by predominantly French and Central European artists. As art and civilisation historians and philologists, we are equally interested in what those foreign artists saw when they travelled to the Romanian lands, then Romania, in the 19th century. It was a century of accelerated changes that in effect began with the Phanariots and leaves us with a kind of Romanian art nouveau, the art of the 1900s, so a century in which many things happened. Documents, whether engravings, prints and photographs, can be subjected to comparative studies and can provide us with information about the past. The period that art historian Adrian-Silvan Ionescu considers of interest to the West for the Romanian world is that between the Crimean War and the 1877 War of Independence, with consequences that extended to around 1900. Somewhere around 1900, the Wests interest in what was happening in Romania faded.

Simona Dragan says Dieudonne Auguste Lancelots image capture everyday Romanian life.

Beyond the representative architectural styles, we have what I call the dead time of travelling. Artists travelling to the Romanian countries provide us with images of travelling carriages, boats, and the human typologies which Lancelot saw during his Danube journey. There are many things that we, as art historians, look at carefully. The images read like a book.
May 25, 2025

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsflash

Newsroom, 25.05.2025, 13:55

Government  Negotiations with parliamentary parties to form the future government in Bucharest will officially begin on Tuesday, announced Romanias president-elect, Nicusor Dan. He said they intended to form a solid majority in Parliament, including all pro-European parties, which, Dan said, would have a positive impact on the countrys economic and financial development. Dan also stressed that participation in the governing act must be seen as a gesture of responsibility by all pro-European parliamentary parties, given that reducing the budget deficit is a priority for the future executive. Following discussions that the president-elect had with officials from the ministries of Finance and European Funds, about 30 billion lei (almost 6 billion Euros) would be needed to balance the budget for 2025.

Investiture  The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest are meeting on Monday in a solemn session in which the president elect, Nicusor Dan, will take the oath of office. Invited to the plenary session of Parliament are the former presidents of Romania, members of the interim government, of the Constitutional Court, MEPs, the Custodian of the Crown of Romania, Margareta and Prince Radu, representatives of central public institutions, authorities and institutions under parliamentary control, of European institutions, of religious denominations, as well as ambassadors accredited to Bucharest. We recall that the result of the decisive round of the presidential election of May 18, following which the then mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, overtook the leader of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians, George Simion, was validated on Thursday by the Constitutional Court of Romania.

Visit  Romanias president elect is today in Poland, in Warsaw, where he was received by the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Nicusor Dan will then participate in a march and an electoral rally organized by the mayor of Warsaw, Rafa Trzaskowski, the pro-European candidate for the presidency of Poland. In a weeks time, the latter will face the historian Karol Nawrocki, the candidate of the conservative Law and Order party, in the second round of the presidential election.

Attack  Russia sent a new wave of drones into the Ukrainian capital last night, killing three people and wounding 10. The drone launches were accompanied by cruise missile strikes in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions of southern Ukraine. It is the second consecutive night of Russian attacks as the two sides engage in a prisoner exchange agreed upon during the talks in Turkey last week. Russia and Ukraine released 390 prisoners each on Friday and another 307 on Saturday, with the rest set to be released today. Meanwhile, Kyiv has said that more than 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war who have returned home have been repeatedly tortured. Kyiv has also shown images of emaciated Ukrainian soldiers with signs of abuse on their bodies during other prisoner exchanges. Under international conventions, it is illegal to torture or starve prisoners of war. Meanwhile, Russia says it will present its conditions for a ceasefire in Ukraine after the prisoner exchange is completed.

Trade register  The number of companies with foreign participation in the share capital, newly registered in Romania, decreased in the first 4 months of the year, according to data from the National Office of the Trade Register. During the mentioned period, almost 2,100 such entities were established, 9% less than in the same period of 2024. And the subscribed share capital was only 9.7 million dollars, down by over 21% compared to that of companies registered in the period January-April 2024. All in all, there are almost 260,000 companies with foreign participation in Romania. Most investors are from Italy, but the highest value of the share capital belongs to companies from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Disinformation  The Romanian Interior Ministry (MAI) and the National Directorate of Cyber Security draw attention to the emergence of new false information in the online space, which can mislead people. The MAI specifies that some messages on the internet using the names of state institutions have no real basis and do not represent their official position. The Romanian police do not get involved in political activities and do not support any message of this type, the ministry specifies. The National Directorate of Cyber Security also recalls that deep fake technology uses artificial intelligence to create audio, video or image content that appears authentic. These materials can be used for disinformation, blackmail or manipulation of public opinion. The Directorate recommends that users should verify the source of the material and the context in which it is presented. (LS)
May 25, 2025 UPDATE

The latest news from RRI

Newsflash

Newsroom, 25.05.2025, 20:06

Government  Negotiations with parliamentary parties to form the future government in Bucharest will officially begin on Tuesday, announced Romanias president-elect, Nicusor Dan. He said they intended to form a solid majority in Parliament, including all pro-European parties, which, Dan said, would have a positive impact on the countrys economic and financial development. Dan also stressed that participation in the governing act must be seen as a gesture of responsibility by all pro-European parliamentary parties, given that reducing the budget deficit is a priority for the future executive. Following discussions that the president-elect had with officials from the ministries of Finance and European Funds, about 30 billion lei (almost 6 billion Euros) would be needed to balance the budget for 2025.

Investiture  The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest are meeting on Monday in a solemn session in which the president elect, Nicusor Dan, will take the oath of office. Invited to the plenary session of Parliament are the former presidents of Romania, members of the interim government, of the Constitutional Court, MEPs, the Custodian of the Crown of Romania, Margareta and Prince Radu, representatives of central public institutions, authorities and institutions under parliamentary control, of European institutions, of religious denominations, as well as ambassadors accredited to Bucharest. We recall that the result of the decisive round of the presidential election of May 18, following which the then mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, overtook the leader of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians, George Simion, was validated on Thursday by the Constitutional Court of Romania.

Visit  Romanias president-elect, Nicusor Dan, who is in Warsaw, declared that he wanted to work with Rafa Trzaskowski, as President of Poland, for a good collaboration between the two countries and for a stronger European Union. Dan participated in the March of a Million Hearts electoral march, organized by the pro-European mayor of Warsaw, a candidate running in the presidential election in Poland. He conveyed to the thousands of Poles present that Romania and Poland share the same vision and the same values, such as democracy, freedom of expression and the rule of law. At the same time, Nicusor Dan also said that, in the May 18 election, Romanians defeated isolationism and Russian influence, they chose seriousness, honesty and respect for the law. Before participating in this rally, Nicusor Dan was received by the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk.

Ukraine  Russia announced on Sunday that 303 Russian soldiers had been exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers in the third and final stage of a major prisoner exchange between Kyiv and Moscow. The exchange was agreed on May 16, during the peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey. Thus, between May 23 and 25, the Russian and Ukrainian sides carried out an exchange of 1,000 prisoners each. 390 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers were released on Friday and another 307 on Saturday. Kyiv announced that over 95% of the Ukrainian prisoners of war who returned home were repeatedly tortured. Moreover, on the occasion of other prisoner exchanges, the Ukrainian administration presented images of very weak Ukrainian soldiers with signs of abuse on their bodies. According to international conventions, it is illegal to torture or starve prisoners of war.

Romanians abroad  Romania needs the voice and involvement of Romanians abroad, said the president-elect Nicusor Dan on the occasion of the Day of Romanians Abroad. He stated that he assumed the mandate to create bridges between the decisions made in Bucharest and the ideas, desires and needs of Romanians abroad. Sunday is a good opportunity to reiterate the governments commitment to developing policies that will more effectively support Romanians abroad, said the interim prime minister Catalin Predoiu. The Day of Romanians Abroad is marked annually on the last Sunday of May.

Defense  The US Embassy in Bucharest on Sunday marked the anniversary of the operationalization of the Aegis Ashore missile defense system in Romania, informally known as the Deveselu defense shield. The diplomatic mission believes that this state-of-the-art system plays a vital role in the missile defense architecture of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and that, since its activation, it has increased security and deterrence capacity on the eastern flank of the Alliance. The US Embassy emphasized that, at Deveselu, the collaboration between American and Romanian forces demonstrates the strength of the alliance and the common commitment to regional stability. The embassys message comes in the context of discussions about a possible reduction of the American military presence in Europe, a topic that is on the agenda of the NATO summit in The Hague, due between June 24 and 26. In parallel, European allies are preparing to ensure their security to a greater extent, amid Russias growing aggressiveness, and on the negotiating table is a proposal to gradually increase defense spending to 5% of Gross Domestic Product by 2032.

Trade register  The number of companies with foreign participation in the share capital, newly registered in Romania, decreased in the first 4 months of the year, according to data from the National Office of the Trade Register. During the mentioned period, almost 2,100 such entities were established, 9% less than in the same period of 2024. And the subscribed share capital was only 9.7 million dollars, down by over 21% compared to that of companies registered in the period January-April 2024. All in all, there are almost 260,000 companies with foreign participation in Romania. Most investors are from Italy, but the highest value of the share capital belongs to companies from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Disinformation  The Romanian Interior Ministry (MAI) and the National Directorate of Cyber Security draw attention to the emergence of new false information in the online environment, which can mislead people. The MAI specifies that some messages on the internet using the names of state institutions have no real basis and do not represent their official position. The Romanian police do not get involved in political activities and do not support any message of this type, the ministry specifies. The National Directorate of Cyber Security also recalls that deep fake technology uses artificial intelligence to create audio, video or image content that appears authentic. These materials can be used for disinformation, blackmail or manipulation of public opinion. The Directorate recommends that users should verify the source of the material and the context in which it is presented. (LS)
Books inspired by Mars

Lanzas reading recommendations inspired by Mars

Mars has drawn the fascination of scientists and writers alike. So what are the planetary scientists reading? Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Nina Lanza shares her thoughts.

Kim Stanley Robinsons Mars trilogy

Lanza: He really obviously looked at a ton of images from Mars. What he described was not something that has happened yet, but its so plausible. Some of this stuff wouldnt work, because now we know more about Mars, but based on when that was written, its really impressive.

And I felt like when he described the vistas that these ... settlers were experiencing, you can tell that this was somebody who looked at a lot of pictures of Mars because it felt incredibly familiar to me. So that was really enjoyable.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

Lanza: A Martian comes to Earth. Lot of problematic things about that book, but I think that the idea that terraforming another planet and living there is just a technical endeavor, thats not true, and I think we know that a lot more now. I feel like that was sort of an early thought about how does culture play into living in a new place, in these isolated places.

A City on Mars: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through? by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith

Lanza: Its a great book because ... it deals with a lot of, like, So you want to live on Mars? What do you need? Youre going to need a school, do you want kids? Whats the law on Mars? ... People are staring to think again, if we are going to actually do this, what do we need to set up? What do we need? We cant just dump a bunch of people there. ... We need to have a plan, and there are some really specific things that we need to work on.
ISLAMABAD, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Nine terrorists were killed in three separate operations in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the military said on Sunday.

The security forces conducted intelligence-based operations in Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and Khyber districts of KP, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement.

During the operation in Dera Ismail Khan, four terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces, said the ISPR statement.

In another operation, another two terrorists were neutralized in the Tank district, the ISPR said.

In the third encounter that took place in the Khyber district of the province, three terrorists were killed, the ISPR said.

Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in these areas, it added.

Sanitization operation is being carried out to eliminate the presence of other terrorists from the area.

The military said the security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country. 
Worldwide, coastal areas are squeezed between a rising sea level on one end and human structures on the other. The distance between a sandy coastline and the first human structures averages less than 400 meters around the world. And the narrower a coastline is, the lower its biodiversity as well. That is shown by the thesis that coastal ecologist Eva Lansu will defend at the University of Groningen on May 20th. "This coastal squeeze is not only a problem for biodiversity, it also affects our defense against flooding and our drinking water supply," Lansu says.

All sandy beaches

For her research, Lansu analyzed a huge database, previously created by colleagues at TU Delft and Deltares, of all the world's (ice-free) sandy beaches. On top of that map, she projected another map of all human-built structures and paved roads. With that, she calculated the distance from the high waterline to the first built-up area.

The average 390 meters around the world that resulted from these measurements is shockingly little, Lansu argues. "For a seaside resort like Zandvoort or Scheveningen, it may still sound like a long distance, but when you consider that it's an average that includes the beaches of Walvis Bay in Namibia or the Amazon in South America, we are building remarkably close to the coast."

Vulnerable to sea level rise

Constructions close to the sea make coastal areas extra vulnerable, Lansu emphasizes in her dissertation. "The narrower a coast, the sooner you will run into problems with rising sea levels." In addition to those weaker defenses, narrower coasts are also bad news for biodiversity, Lansu found in a comparative study in both the Netherlands and the United States. In the Netherlands, together with colleagues, Lansu visited 35 dune areas. In each of these areas, they walked a transect perpendicular to the coastline and determined plant diversity every hundred meters. She did the same along 12 transects in the states of Florida and Georgia. Lansu: "It was clear that the wider the coast was, the greater the plant diversity. Especially the first two kilometers, that diversity increased rapidly."

In the Netherlands, only coastal areas of at least 3.8 kilometers wide reached their maximum plant diversity. "But unfortunately, such wide zones are rare. Dutch dune areas are on average no more than one kilometer wide, leaving plant diversity stuck at half the possible level," Lansu said.

Manage better or plan smarter

The limited biodiversity in narrow coastal strips can be boosted to some extent by nature management. But much more important, Lansu argues, is spatial planning. "We will have to take into account rising sea levels and avoid further hardening our coasts. We also need to start looking at coastal expansion, as has been done in the Netherlands with the 'Sand Motor' near the village of Monster."

The Sand Motor is a place where a gigantic amount of sand was deposited off the coast once in 2011, only to have it spread naturally along the coast. Lansu: "At that spot you can already see quite a few embryonic dunes forming on the newly raised beach. But future coastal expansion could stimulate natural sand dynamics and associated biodiversity even better. After all, biodiversity is not a luxury. It is our insurance for the future, for coastal defense, drinking water supply and in general also for our food supply."
Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 25, 2025. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China is ready to work with Indonesia to elevate political mutual trust and strategic coordination between the two countries to a higher level.

Li made the remarks while meeting with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto during his official visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

The premier first conveyed cordial greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Prabowo, noting that China and Indonesia are good neighbors and good partners.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 75 years ago, the two sides have supported each other and stood by each other, and their traditional friendship has remained firm and ever-relevant, Li added.

During Prabowo's China visit in November last year, the presidents of the two countries reached important consensus on building a China-Indonesia community with a shared future that has regional and global influence, which has taken bilateral ties to a new historical high and opened up broad prospects for cooperation, Li said.

China, Li said, is willing to work with Indonesia to adhere to the original aspiration of establishing diplomatic relations, carry forward the tradition of friendship, and enhance unity and cooperation.

He added that the Chinese side also stands ready to consolidate cooperation in the "five pillars" of politics, economy, people-to-people and cultural exchange, maritime affairs and security, jointly address risks and challenges, and better promote common development.

Li pointed out that China is willing to work with Indonesia to enhance the alignment of development strategies, and deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, especially by optimizing and strengthening landmark projects.

He urged the two sides to further enhance the "golden brand" of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, and promote the construction of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Corridor and the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" project.

Li said both sides should enhance market connectivity and industrial collaboration, improve the level of trade and investment facilitation, and expand cooperation in areas such as finance, new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI), aerospace and the ocean.

China is willing to expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges with Indonesia, facilitate personnel exchanges, deepen cooperation in areas related to people's livelihood such as food and agriculture, poverty reduction and health, and bring more benefits to the two peoples, said the premier.

At present, the rise of unilateralism and protectionism has severely disrupted the international economic and trade order, Li noted, adding that confronting these risks and challenges, solidarity and cooperation remain the only viable path forward.

Li said that China stands ready to work with Indonesia and other developing countries to jointly uphold the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit, and implement the three major global initiatives.

He called for steadfastly upholding multilateralism and free trade, promoting an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, resolutely safeguarding common interests, and jointly advancing peace, stability and development in the region and the world at large. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 25, 2025. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)
A study by scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has found that implementing robust air pollution control measures could mean Southeast Asian countries prevent as many as 36,000 ozone-related premature deaths each year by 2050.

Ozone-related premature deaths refer to fatalities caused by prolonged exposure to harmful ground-level ozone. The pollutant worsens asthma, heart disease, and other chronic conditions -- particularly among the elderly and vulnerable groups.

Drawing on pollution data from international databases tracking emission sources, the NTU research team employed detailed atmospheric models to understand how ozone concentrations might evolve under different pollution scenarios by 2050.

Researchers then estimated the potential number of premature deaths from prolonged ozone exposure by combining the pollution levels with health risk models, population data, and disease mortality rates.

Under a business-as-usual scenario their model predicts that by 2050, annual ozone-related deaths in Southeast Asia could drop by 22,000 due to planned NOx cuts from power plants, factories, and transport, especially in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand.

If countries went greener and followed a scenario of stringent emission reduction measures, Southeast Asia could avoid up to 36,000 annual ozone-related premature deaths by 2050.

Conversely, under a high-emission scenario in which fossil fuel consumption continues to rise, annual ozone-related premature deaths could be 33,000 higher annually by 2050.

Ozone is a key air pollutant formed when nitrogen oxides (NO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react in sunlight. In urban environments, major sources of these emissions include motor vehicles, industrial processes, and energy generation.

Exposure to elevated levels of ozone can lead to serious health problems, including respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and premature death. In 2018, pollution from fine particulate matter and ozone in Southeast Asia was estimated to have caused 899,000 premature deaths.

The NTU research team notes that ozone pollution is an escalating concern in the region, driven by rising human activity linked to economic development -- particularly in the transportation, industry, and fuel combustion sectors. The researchers hope their findings underscore the urgent need for stronger mitigation efforts.

Ozone sensitivity varies across the region

In the study, published in Environment International, scientists from NTU's Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Health (CCEH), Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS), Asian School of the Environment (ASE), and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) employed advanced computer models to examine how nitrogen oxides (NO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) -- key pollutants driving ozone formation -- interact with emission sources across Southeast Asia. The researchers also evaluated potential outcomes under various future pollution scenarios.

Emissions from road traffic, shipping, and industrial activities contribute the bulk of NO pollution, while VOCs are naturally occurring gases primarily emitted by vegetation.

The study revealed that in major urban centres such as Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City, ozone levels are affected by both NO and VOCs. As such, reducing both pollutants in tandem is crucial to effectively lowering ozone concentrations in these cities.

Conversely, in rural areas and coastal regions such as Kalimantan in Indonesia and Malacca Strait, ozone formation is more strongly influenced by NO levels. In these areas, targeted reductions in NO emissions would be the most effective strategy for mitigating ozone pollution.

According to the NTU research team, measures to reduce ozone pollution could include stricter regulations on industrial emissions, enhanced transport policies, and focused efforts to curb emissions from shipping and biomass burning.

Lead author of the study, Associate Professor Steve Yim, Director of CCEH said: "Ozone reduction is not straightforward, as it requires careful regulation of its precursors -- nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds -- rather than direct removal from the atmosphere. The tropical conditions in Southeast Asia also make ozone formation different from that in other parts of the world."

"We believe our research fills a critical knowledge gap by examining how ozone behaves specifically in Southeast Asia, a region that has received relatively little attention in this context," added Assoc Prof Yim, who is also affiliated with ASE, LKCMedicine, and EOS.

The researchers believe a deeper understanding of how ozone is formed and controlled in Southeast Asia will enable policymakers to develop more targeted and effective air pollution reduction strategies.

Co-author, Distinguished University Professor Joseph Sung, NTU's Senior Vice President (Health and Life Sciences) and Dean of LKCMedicine, highlighted the urgency of action: "Ozone is an invisible yet harmful pollutant. Our study shows that by taking decisive steps now, we can significantly reduce the region's health burden and improve air quality. This research reinforces the vital role of air quality management in protecting public health. The links between ozone exposure and respiratory illness are well-established, and our findings offer robust evidence to inform policy decisions that will protect the well-being of millions across Southeast Asia."

This study reflects NTU's commitment to advancing climate science and supporting global sustainability goals.

Looking ahead, the research team intends to expand their work to explore how climate change and land-use patterns may further influence ozone pollution.

These insights will also form the basis for collaboration with policymakers, industry stakeholders, and international environmental organisations to design and implement sustainable air quality management strategies.
There is a strong association between an older person's view of how they are ageing and how well they will physically recover after a fall.

That is the finding of a new research study from Imperial College London and Coventry University, which is the first to suggest how important psychological factors may be in post-fall physical recovery. The study is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Falls in older adults are a major health concern because they can lead to high levels of physical disability and hospitalisation, as well as affecting people's ability to live independently. The consequences of falls in older adults cost the NHS an estimated 5 million a day. However, not every older adult who falls experiences physical decline, so understanding why some recover much better than others is vital for developing therapies and interventions.

In the study, researchers found that individuals with more positive self-perceptions about ageing at baseline -- such as a person saying that age wasn't stopping them from doing what they wanted to do in life -- were significantly less likely to experience physical problems or need help with daily activities after the fall.

The study involved longitudinal data from nearly 700 older adults across England between the ages of 60-90, who had not suffered any falls in the previous years. The data included questionnaire responses that measured mindsets and beliefs about ageing. The researchers then assessed the members of this group who experienced a fall in the following year, to explore links between their subsequent recovery from this fall and their initial ageing-related mindset and beliefs. This included measurements of post-fall walking speed, whether assistance was needed for daily living activities, and how physically inactive the person was after their fall.

Those who had initially shown more 'positive' ageing mindsets -- such as believing that ageing was not stopping them doing what they wanted to do -- were far more likely to physically recover in the months after a fall.

The results were found to be independent of other important factors such as age, gender, depression, and pre-fall physical function. The results also controlled for whether the fall led to physical injury or not. As such, the researchers say the findings cannot simply be attributed to the older adults with a 'positive' mindset being younger, fitter, less depressed, or sustaining fewer injuries in general.

The researchers found that an individual scoring the highest possible score on the 'self perceptions of ageing' measurements -- or, having the most positive mindset -- would have 162% lower odds of showing slow gait speed, 200% lower odds of being dependent on others to perform daily living activities, and 123% lower odds of physical inactivity following a fall, compared to an individual scoring the lowest possible score.

Dr Toby Ellmers of Imperial College London's Department of Brain Sciences, who co-led the study, said: "Those who expressed more positive feelings about their own ageing seemed to be protected against worse physical consequences after a fall. There was substantial difference in the rate of physical recovery in the people we studied, and this seemed to be linked to their initial beliefs about growing older."

Co-lead Dr Mathew Hill of Coventry University's Research Centre for Physical Activity, Sport and Exercise Sciences, said: "Although we knew from previous research that negative mindsets and beliefs about ageing are associated with increased risk of negative health outcomes, such as stroke and mortality, this is the first research linking these specifically to physical recovery after a fall."

Dr Ellmers added: "Our results suggest that changing the way that some older people view their ageing process could play a key role in improving recovery and wellbeing. It's even possible that simple 'tweaks' to help people develop a more positive mindset around ageing -- such as having discussions with a friend or relative about the positives associated with ageing -- could help. This is something we are very keen to explore in future research."

The authors note that the present study did not control for the severity of different falls (but only if injury did occur) and does not allow definitive conclusions about causality. As a next step, the researchers are hoping to explore whether addressing negative beliefs about ageing can help stave off physical decline following a fall.
ADDIS ABABA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Claver Gatete has called on African countries and businesses to intensify efforts to enhance the global visibility and competitiveness of African brands.

Gatete made the call on Friday during the unveiling of the "Brand Africa 100: Africa's Best Brands 2025" ranking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, which highlighted the continent's most admired brands.

With Africa's rising middle class propelling the continent's consumer market, which is projected to surpass 2.2 trillion U.S. dollars by 2030, Africa's branding story is equally diverse and dynamic across the continent, Gatete said.

He cited examples of African innovation and value addition: Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire in cocoa processing, Kenya in mobile banking, Nigeria's creative industries, Rwanda's green transformation initiatives, and South Africa's industrial base.

Gatete underscored the continent's demographic advantage, with more than 70 percent of its population under the age of 35, calling it "far-reaching implications" for sustainable development.

Despite this potential, he acknowledged that only a handful of African brands have achieved meaningful global visibility, a challenge that must be addressed through coordinated action.

To address the challenge, Gatete proposed five strategic pathways to integrate authentic African brands into the continent's broader development agenda and enhance their international competitiveness.

"It is imperative that we keep in mind that what defines a brand is not merely a logo or a slogan. An authentic African brand must straddle the embodiment of Africa's stories, culture, and aspirations," he said.

Jointly organized by Brand Africa, UNECA, and African Business, the Africa's Best Brands 2025 ranking was determined through a comprehensive survey conducted in 31 countries. 
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  We have always been one Staten Island. And when we uplift one another, our borough grows even stronger.

The Spring Brunch for the benefit of Project Hospitality will celebrate community leaders whose partnership with the not-for-profit helps lighten the burden for all Staten Islanders.

Three outstanding individuals and institutions will be recognized Thursday, May 29 at the 2025 Spring Brunch for the Benefit of Project Hospitality.

The brunch runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Historic Old Bermuda Inn in Rossville.

Tickets are priced at $65. Phone 718 448-1544 for further information.

HONOREES

To be recognized during the brunch are the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A.), whose members work out of the ferry terminal where Project Hospitality got its start, and every day connect thousands of Staten Islanders to the rest of the city in the boroughs iconic orange ferryboats.

Richmond University Medical Center & Richmond Health Network will be recognized for their leadership in preventative, specialty and emergency care, and its new, forward-looking partnership with Project Hospitality.

Dr. Ruta Shah-Gordon, vice president for Enrollment and Campus Life at Wagner College, will be lauded for her impressive commitment to education and service on campus and in the wider community.

The Rev. Roland Ratmeyer Founders Award

Established in 1875, The Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A.) is the nations oldest and finest maritime labor union. Its large and diverse mix of engineers and deck officers are experienced and skilled in all aspects of the maritime workforce.

On Staten Island, M.E.B.A. members ensure the boroughs ferry boats safely transport more than 16 million passengers a year.

Its the maritime workers who shuttle homeless people, many of them disabled, gently off a docked boat, who encounter and encourage and relocate homeless people who are found sleeping or encamped on ferry ramps, or the boat itself.

Such up-front, personal, public care comes from a compassionate and courageous place in a maritime workers heart.

Rev. Ratmeyer did his own shepherding of homeless people in the ferry terminal and boats in the very early days of Project Hospitality.

The Marine Engineers Beneficial Association and Secretary-Treasurer Roland Rex Rexha will accept the Roland Ratmeyer Founders Award on behalf of the Staten Island membership.

Rexha is a Staten Islander, a proud first-generation American, and a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, who has spent more than a decade on the Staten Island Ferry, where he tirelessly advocates for the rights and needs of maritime workers.

Rexha is Vice President of the AFL-CIO and a key representative within the International Transport Federation (ITF).

The Rabbi Marcus Kramer Humanitarian Award

Daniel J. Messina, a PhD. in health science with a specialization in health care leadership, is president and CEO of Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC), an award-winning healthcare facility and teaching institution serving Staten Island residents for more than 120 years as a leader in acute, medical, and surgical care.

As part of its commitment to behavioral and mental health, RUMC is Staten Islands only provider of inpatient psychiatric services for adolescents.

The facility is also the boroughs only designated Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) Center of Excellence.

The 440-plus bed facility is nationally recognized for its neonatal care and welcomes the birth of nearly 3,000 babies a year.

Founded in 2020, the Richmond Health Network works in conjunction with the medical facility to expand access to quality medical services on Staten Island, with an emphasis on preventative services and specialty care.

In February, Richmond University Medical Center and Project Hospitality finalized a partnership that will provide ongoing, seamless care to individuals after their discharge from the hospital.

RUMC and Richmond Health Network will work together with Project Hospitality to provide wide-ranging health, mental health, and other vital support to clients to address the interrelated factors that impact well-being.

The visionary partnership will enhance the level and continuity of care for vulnerable individuals to help them achieve better health and quality of life.

The Bishop Ahern Achievement Award

Dr. Shah-Gordon serves as the Vice President for Enrollment and Campus Life at Wagner College, where she has dedicated two decades to developing ties between students and the broader Staten Island community.

Following Superstorm Sandy, Dr. Shah-Gordon worked with the Student Government Association to create Wagner Cares, mobilizing volunteers, coordinating donations, and supporting borough recovery efforts.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she played a pivotal role in shaping a resilient campus culture that prioritized student well-being, academic continuity, and community wellness.

Dr. Shah-Gordon passionately advocates for the student body at Wagner to reflect the tapestry of backgrounds that make up our nation.

Beyond Wagner, Dr. Shah-Gordon serves as Chair of the Governance Committee on the Board of Directors for Project Hospitality and is a proud Board Member of the Jewish Community Center of Staten Island.

Project Hospitality

Since the not-for-profit formed in 1982 as an interfaith effort to provide sandwiches to people camped out in the ferry terminal then expanded to include a simple food pantry, soup kitchen and short-term shelter, Project Hospitality has grown into the boroughs largest and oldest social safety net.

Project Hospitality touches the lives of almost one in 10 Staten Islanders every year, serving more than 50,000 borough residents with food, shelter, permanent housing, recovery services and other vital support.

Staten Islanders may come to the agency only once a year for free tax preparation or when their pantries are bare, or they may receive long-term assistance in a compassionate continuum of care that supports them on their journey to self-sufficiency.

Extraordinary community members, such as those to be feted at this years Spring Brunch, make it possible for Project Hospitality to take care of our neighbors who are experiencing hardship.
Joseph Neumeyer, 28, an American-German citiizen is accused is attempting to firebomb the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, authorities say. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

A dual American and German citizen stood before a judge in Brooklyn Federal court on charges that he attempted to firebomb the Branch Office of the United States embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, according to authorities.

Joseph Neumeyer, 28, was taken into custody at John F. Kennedy International Airport early Sunday after being deported by Israeli officials to the United States.

Neumeyers social media revealed that in May, he posted, join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv. Death to America, death to Americans, and f--- the west, according to the criminal complaint.

Other social media posts from an account believed to be used by Neumeyer revealed threats to assassinate President Donald Trump.

The complaint says Neumeyer arrived in Israel in April, and on May 19 made his way outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv carrying a dark-colored backpack.

Neumeyer allegedly spat on an Embassy guard as he walked past and managed to break free as the guard attempted to detain him, leaving behind his backpack.

A search of backpack revealed three Molotov cocktails filled with flammable fluid, authorities said.

Law enforcement tracked Neumayer to his hotel where he was arrested.

This defendant is charged with planning a devastating attack targeting our embassy in Israel, threatening death to Americans and President Trumps life, Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.

The Department will not tolerate such violence and will prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law.

If convicted, Neumayer faces five to 20 years in prison, in addition to a maximum fine of $250,000.
The above Google Maps image depicts the East 188 Street and Marion Avenue where the deadly shooting occurred. Google Maps

Police are searching for persons of interest in connection to a deadly double shooting in the Bronx on May 18 left an 57-year-old man dead and a woman wounded, according to police.

Gunfire erupted just before 6:45 p.m. in front of 300th block of East 188 Street, according to the report.
- An aerial view of the lower Manhattan skyline looking east, Oct. 22, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Steve Zaffarano) Steve Zaffarano Steve Zaffarano

What better way to welcome in the unofficial start of the summer than with one of New York Citys most visually striking natural event.

Manhattanhenge occurs just a handful of times each year when the road grid in Manhattan lines up with the low-setting sun.

Leading to the summer solstice, according to the American Museum of Natural History, the setting sun will eventually align with the street grid.

This, along with clear views to the horizon and the vertical buildings that create a frame around the sun are what cause the occurrence.

There will be four opportunities to catch Manhattanhenge this year, with two of them mere days away.

First, the Half Sun on the Grid days, according to the natural history museum, can be seen Wednesday, May 28 at 8:13 p.m. and Saturday, July 12 at 8:22 p.m.

On these days, the sun will be partially cut off by the horizon.

Next are the Full Sun on the Grid days, where the sun will be fully visible above the horizon line.

These days will happen Thursday, May 29 at 8:12 p.m. and Friday, July 11 at 8:20 p.m.

For those looking to catch the unique sunset, the American Museum of Natural History suggests finding a spot as far east as you can while still having a view of New Jersey across the Hudson River.

In addition the following locations were recommended:
President Donald Trump has looked to make massive cuts to the federal workforce as a way to save the government money.

Tens of thousands of workers have already been fired in just the first five months of the Trump administration, CNN reported.

But the Supreme Court in a ruling said that theres one federal worker that Trump cant just summarily dismiss: the chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve system.

Politico reported that the high court last week said that the relationship between the president and the Federal Reserve is different from that of other independent agencies.

That signaled that Fed Chair Jerome Powell is legally protected from being removed by Trump, who has been highly critical of Powell.

The Federal Reserve was mentioned in a ruling that let stand Trumps decision to fire members of two independent U.S. labor boards.

The justices said that they did not think their opinion on the relationship between the president and the Fed chairman had implications for whether the president was allowed to fire Fed board members or other officials on the central banks rate-setting committee.

The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States, the justices said.

Trump appointed Powell during his first term as president, but has grown increasingly disenchanted with the Fed chairman.

Powells termination cannot come fast enough, Trump wrote in April.

Trumps criticism has sparked bi-partisan calls of support for the continued independence of the central bank, Barrons reported.

Powells term as Fed chair runs until May 2026 and Powell has said repeatedly that he intends to serve until his term expires.
Have you ever ticked the box to fly carbon neutral, had something delivered via carbon-neutral shipping or chosen to pay a bit extra to buy carbon-neutral gas from your energy retailer?

These green premium products are marketed to us everywhere. They target eco-conscious consumers wanting to do the right thing and create the impression that by paying a premium, the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from flying, shipping or burning gas are neutralised or offset with carbon credits.

EnergyAustralias Yallourn Power Station in Victoria. Credit: Bloomberg

But the settlement of a recent court case has shown not only that this kind of marketing is misleading Australian consumers; its also a form of greenwashing. This is a practice by which a business makes its products or services seem more sustainable than they are, usually in a bid to create a positive brand image or improve their reputation.

According to a 2023 study by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 57 per cent of businesses reviewed made concerning claims about their environmental credentials. This week, a case heard in the Federal Court of Australia offered us an up-close view of what this looks like in practice.
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Eating outJust open Caulfield North scores a neighbourhood restaurant with fine-dining cred After nearly changing careers, a former Society and Cutler & Co chef has rediscovered his love for cooking at an airy day-to-night diner. Tomas Telegramma Updated June 6, 2025 , first published May 26, 2025 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

As featured in the June 2025 hitlist. See all stories .

When Aanya  the Jessi Singh-backed Indian fine diner that chefs Nishant Arora and Janos Roman were set to open in Collingwood  fell through, Arora was at a loss. Things really didnt go to plan so we had to walk away from it, says Arora, citing a breakdown in his and Romans relationship with their business partner. I was so burnt out that I almost left the hospitality industry. I started doing a finance course. Banksia operators Nishant Arora and Adam Aflalo. Simon Schluter But an unsolicited LinkedIn message jolted the Indian-born chef back into the kitchen. The message was from Adam Aflalo, who comes from the tech world but was on the hunt for a chef to co-found a restaurant. Over a few meetings, including a boozy dinner at Hopper Joint, they clicked. And now theyve opened Banksia, a neighbourhood restaurant in Caulfield North, where Aroras fine-dining cred makes a statement on Hawthorn Road.

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The chef grew up in the hinterland of northern India before moving to New Zealand, where he worked at celebrated restaurants Sidart and Cassia. He went on to stage at the three-Michelin-starred Frantzen in Stockholm - it opened my mind! - then settled in Melbourne, serving on the opening team for Society and as a sous chef at Cutler & Co. Banksias plum sorbet. Simon Schluter But he made most of a splash alongside Roman at their Aanya pop-ups, where innovative Indian cooking took centre stage at venues like The Hotel Windsor. Aroras goal is to create a globetrotting menu, largely powered by a binchotan-burning charcoal grill. There are several nods to his homeland. Loddon Valley lamb cutlets come with black-garlic-curry dipping sauce, while a southern-Indian-inspired coconut-and-galangal sauce accompanies John Dory. Taking inspiration from Italys Puglia region is a myth-busting entree that Arora says challenges the preconception that seafood and cheese are strange bedfellows. Delicately sliced raw tuna is served with stracciatella and a fragrant lemon-myrtle dressing. Theres also a rice-less risotto that subs in barley and celeriac, crowned with a lions mane mushroom steak thats marinated, cooked sous vide and finished on the charcoal.

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Raw tuna is served with stracciatella and a fragrant lemon-myrtle dressing. Simon Schluter Aflalo  who grew up in the area  says that while there are some great cafes around, this pocket of the south-east has long been lacking the night-time dining stakes. But thats not to say its all dinner. A dedicated express menu  running alongside the regular a la carte offering  makes Banksia a daytime destination as well, with dine-in and takeaway lunch options aplenty. Feeling fresh? Salads include green goddess and panzanella, with proteins to add on. Want a (made-to-order) sandwich? Go hefty with the Reuben. Its smoky beef brisket, sauerkraut and Russian dressing are all house-made. Banksia co-owner Adam Aflalo. Simon Schluter In a prime corner site opposite Caulfield Park, where Hawthorn and Balaclava roads meet, Banksia has reimagined the former Parkside Pantry. Its light and bright and gone are the deli fridges, replaced with an open kitchen and a stone countertop with bar seating.

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When the restaurant eventually gets its liquor licence, youll be able to perch there with a local craft tinnie, perhaps by Huntingdale brewery Kaiju, but its mocktails until then. Lunch, Wednesday-Sunday; dinner, Friday-Sunday.

98 Hawthorn Road, Caulfield North, banksiarestaurant.com

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Exclusive Eating outComing soon Celebrity chef Rick Stein to open flagship restaurant in Sydney The Brit is bringing his signature seafood dining style to a beachfront suburb later this year. Bianca Hrovat Updated June 6, 2025 , first published May 26, 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

Rick and Sarah Stein plan to open a new restaurant at Coogee Beach. Get ready, Sydney: British celebrity chef Rick Stein is coming. Together with his wife, Sarah Stein, hes announced plans to open a 220-seat restaurant and bar overlooking Coogee Beach in November. The restaurant, Rick Stein at Coogee Beach, is set to be a day-long celebration of Australian-caught seafood at the coming InterContinental hotel  from Steins signature Cornish-style fish and chips (hand-cut potatoes, fried fish with a generous splash of malt vinegar) at lunch; to a refined (but relaxed) dinner service, serving pies filled with scallops, snapper and blue-eye trevalla. It will be a familiar concept to those who have dined at Steins two regional restaurants at the two Bannisters hotels. The one in Port Stephens was awarded a Critics Pick in the current Good Food Guide, but the Mollymook restaurant didnt make the cut. Rick Steins Port Stephens restaurant. Max Mason-Hubers

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The Bannisters hotels were recently acquired by Melbourne-based investment fund Salter Brothers, partners of British hotelier IHG. (Salter Brothers also run the Spicers Retreats.) As part of that deal, the company is working to rebrand and transform three Crowne Plaza hotels into InterContinental hotels, including the beachfront property at Coogee. Thats where the Steins come back in. We dont really have ambitions about, you know, growing enormously, Rick says, noting regional restaurants will continue to operate unaffected. But [Salter Brothers] happened to have this property at Coogee, and the beachfront location appealed to us. At the end of the day, thats what the restaurants at Port Stephens and Mollymook are about  having a connection with the sea. Rick and Sarah Stein.

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The sea has always been central to Ricks career as a restaurateur, which began with a small harbourside bistro called The Seafood Restaurant, back in 1975. The chef rose to prominence as a TV personality, hosting BBC shows such as Rick Steins Taste of the Sea, and author, publishing more than 25 cookbooks. Hes since built an international hospitality empire, which spans 11 restaurants over two separate operations in Australia and Britain. Related Article Rick Steins go-to dumpling spot in Sydney In Sydney, Sarah will handle the blue and white coastal aesthetics and publicity, while Rick will prepare the restaurant. First, by selecting a head chef  someone who understands how excellent the seafood is in Australia, and how to serve it up in the best possible way  without the fuss of fine-dining  and then, by writing the menu. Rick Steins classic fish pie will get an Aussie makeover at his new restaurant. James Murphy

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When formulating dishes, Stein prefers a simple, straightforward approach to cooking, allowing local produce to sing. He draws on a lifetime of memories and influences  growing up in Britain, travelling throughout Europe and India for his television shows, eating at some of Neil Perrys first restaurants; and dinner parties with his wife in Sydney. Theres a fish curry, influenced by his time in Goa; a tuna crudo, marinated with passionfruit, lime and green chilli, which he made for a New Years Eve potluck in Sydney 15 years ago; and the fish pie, which gives the British staple an Aussie spin. We want to serve fantastic food, but we also think its vital to have very good restaurant managers, Sarah says. Its important to us that everyone, no matter who they are, feel as though theyre treated with the same warmth and friendliness. The Steins plan to visit the restaurant at least three times a year, as they split their life between Australia and Britain. Its an approach thats worked for other British restaurateurs in Australia  namely, Clare Smyth, who operates three-hatted Oncore by Clare Smyth from afar, with visits to the Barangaroo restaurant at least every six months. Related Article Amazingly crisp: Rick Steins secret to convincing people to eat (and cook) more fish

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A new treatment for bladder cancer is being rolled out across Australian hospitals, with doctors hopeful the approach will improve survival rates for the deadly disease.

The treatment involves two affordable chemotherapy drugs that have previously been ineffective on their own. However, when the drugs are combined, they offer a lifeline to patients with aggressive cancer on the lining of their bladders who have exhausted other options.

Alan Feher benefited from a new treatment for bladder cancer and is now in remission Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Until now, we havent really had any options for those patients, aside from removing their bladder, if they were fit enough for surgery, said Associate Professor Weranja Ranasinghe, from the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Those unfit for surgery were put into palliative care.
JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday called on China and Indonesia to enhance the facilitation of two-way trade and investment, and jointly create a fair and favorable business environment.

The two sides should ensure the implementation of landmark and important projects such as the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, Li said during his talks with Speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives Puan Maharani. 
We have been keeping you abreast of the dust storm affecting parts of Australia today, after extraordinary images emerged from South Australia, where road conditions turned hazardous due to a moving cloud of orange dirt.

By mid-afternoon, the dust cloud had crossed the border into neighbouring towns in Victoria and NSW, causing air quality to plunge.

The dust storm has reached the NSW town of Wentworth. Credit: Malcolm Traeger

In Werrimull, a tiny Victorian town near the border, the air quality was rated extremely poor at 3pm to 4pm as levels of particulate matter in the air soared.

The level of fine particles that can be inhaled deeply into the lungs, and pose a significant health risk, was recorded to be more than 10 times higher than safe levels. The official health advice is for residents to stay indoors as much as possible with windows and doors closed.

It was a similar situation for Coombah, in NSWs far west.

Poor air quality was recorded as far east as Kyalite, in NSWs Riverina district as the dust storm spread east.

You can read more about the wild weather here.
The lucrative nature of Sydneys tobacco trade was laid bare when Muhd Al Zoubi fronted Downing Centre Local Court on Friday to answer to a single tobacco-related offence at his Haymarket store.

It is not an insignificant business, said magistrate Megan Greenwood. Each year, revenue is in the low millions of dollars.

Muhd Al Zoubi covered his face as he left Downing Centre Local Court with his lawyer Ali Addouj. Credit: Sam Mooy

Shes not wrong. Financial statements submitted in court reveal Al Zoubis company, TSG George Street Pty Ltd, had a turnover of more than $3.3 million last year, well up on the $1.86 million of a year earlier.

Thats not Al Zoubis only TSG outlet, either. The wholesale and retail business is just one of more than a dozen TSGs of which the 48-year-old tycoon is a director, built up over a decade in the industry and making him one of the states biggest tobacconists.
Almost 20 Victorian schools have more than doubled in size over the past five years as the states surging population growth and online education sector fuel an enrolment boom.

At McKinnon Secondary College in the citys south-east, where enrolments increased by 30 per cent between 2019 and 2024 to just over 2870, principal Michael Kan has had to hire 70 new employees in just two years to keep pace with the growth.

McKinnon Secondary College principal Michael Kan, school captains Amelie and Jake and assistant principal Kellie Felmingham. Credit: Penny Stephens

Thats a lot, Kan said. I have more people starting in my school than many schools would have in their entire staff. So its pretty crazy.

Its a challenge, but its also an opportunity because there are so many great young teachers coming through, and its a great time to refresh.
Traffic wardens are refusing to work at a dangerous childrens crossing servicing a West Australian private school, citing the significant number of drivers choosing to speed through the area who put their lives  and students  at risk.

Presbyterian Ladies College has spoken out after receiving a notice from WA Polices Childrens Crossing Unit that the latest traffic warden appointed to the role had asked to be removed not long after starting because they felt unsafe.

Presbyterian Ladies College Perth principal Cate Begbie takes on the role of traffic warden to help keep students safe.

The school has struggled to find a long-term traffic warden for the crossing along Stirling Highway in Peppermint Grove since 2021, with staff having to fill any gaps  sometimes for months at a time.

Principal Cate Begbie, who has also taken on shifts at the crossing, said the school had spent the years since warning police and the state government it was unsafe, with multiple near-misses and serious incidents recorded.
Her husband responded, youve pushed me too far, before he pushed the knife into her chest. Moments later, Sue managed to get away and, with blood everywhere, ran through the garage, down the driveway and on to the street where she yelled and screamed for help. At 1am, her neighbours ran into the street, and the police and an ambulance arrived within minutes. She underwent surgery for a 4-centimetre wide, 1-centimetre deep wound to her chest, which luckily avoided any vital organs. Court transcripts reveal her husband told paramedics and police at the scene this has been coming.

I could have killed her three or four times while all this shit was going on, he told police. The man claimed at the time he could not recall the incident, and admitted drinking large quantities of alcohol while on prescription painkillers, which was his only explanation. He was arrested and charged with one count of intended harm doing an act as a result of which bodily harm was caused. In February, he was jailed for 4 years after pleading guilty. There were other assaults, Sue said, but charges over those were dropped due to lack of evidence.

Her husband initially pleaded not guilty, so the court process was protracted. The wait for justice was as debilitating for Sue as the assault itself. After the initial trauma of being stabbed by her husband, this Perth woman couldnt have predicted what came next. Credit: Ross Swanborough But, wanting to separate herself as quickly as possible from her husband, she embarked upon property settlement and divorce proceedings. She had been the main breadwinner, ran a successful real estate business, and brought property and good financial standing to the relationship at the start. She thought given the violent assault, she would leave with most of her assets intact.

She was wrong. Sue was ordered by a Family Court judge to pay her estranged husband spousal maintenance at $400 a week and to pay for his car, mortgage and health insurance. That you could be treated like that, first of all, by someone, and then you have to support them? I couldnt believe it, she said. With the Family Court, the one who has the least gets the most. They would look at my earning capacity  Im 15 years younger, Ive got a business, I have all these things  youre going to get penalised.

Sue claims she was gagged in the Family Court from mentioning her husbands criminal charges. I was just overruled. I wasnt even allowed to speak, she said. I just couldnt deal with it ... it forces you to give up because you feel so unfairly treated. Family Court law also prohibits Sues real identity from being published  Sue is a pseudonym used by this masthead  which she said makes her feel further victimised as she wanted her story told. As the law stands, family violence is largely treated as a separate issue from financial proceedings in WA, unless it can be directly linked to financial loss.

Leach Legal chief executive Catherine Leach said this had led to situations where victims, even those who had suffered extreme violence, were not properly protected in property or maintenance decisions. The criminal conduct of an abuser may not be taken into account, leading to unjust outcomes that can further victimise survivors both emotionally and financially, she said. This will change on June 10, when a revised Family Law Act comes into effect. Leach, whose firm specialises in family and divorce law, said for the first time, courts would be required to consider the financial consequences of family violence when determining property settlements and spousal maintenance and this would significantly strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence in family court. Loading
An unusually large number of voters in hospitals and aged care centres had their votes rejected as informal in the May 3 election, potentially affecting the result in at least one closely contested electorate.

The Australian Electoral Commission will examine the almost tripling of the rate of informal votes collected by its special hospital teams since the previous election, which resulted in thousands of votes across the country being rejected.

MP Julian Leeser is concerned by the surge in informal votes collected by the AECs special hospital team in his seat of Berowra. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In two seats, Berowra in northern Sydney and Lyons in regional Tasmania, two teams collected more informal than formal votes. In Berowra, the informal rate among the 250 ballots collected by its special hospital team soared by 64.5 per cent since the 2022 election to almost 70 per cent.

In the Tasmanian electorate of Lyons, one team recorded a 54 per cent rate of informal votes. In Riverina, NSW, rates of 46.7 and 37.2 per cent were detected by two teams. In the Sydney electorates of Watson and Grayndler the latter held by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese  respective rates of 33 per cent and 38.3 per cent were recorded by the teams.
GPs in NSW will soon be able to diagnose and prescribe medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), under major changes that will slash appointment wait times and make it more affordable for children and adults to receive a diagnosis and treatment.

The NSW Labor government will pay for GPs to undergo the accredited training required for them to prescribe ADHD medication, which is restricted at present to psychiatrists and paediatricians. GPs will also be able to do a further tier of training to allow them to diagnose ADHD.

Neridah Armstrong with her son Andrew, who has ADHD and like many patients, faced lengthy waits to see a specialist. Credit: Steven Siewert

Under the current system, many patients in NSW wait months or years to get a diagnosis, which can cost thousands of dollars, before having to maintain appointments with specialists  who also have lengthy wait times and high fees  for medication.

The ADHD Foundation Australia says the neurodevelopmental condition affects between 5.9 and 7.1 per cent of children and adolescents. It is the most common mental disorder among children.
The government considers this scenario less likely than the economic conditions forecast in the budget papers, but the analysis highlights potential impacts of the 2025 US trade wars on Victoria. Risks to the Victorian outlook from global conditions have increased amid a highly uncertain global backdrop, the budget papers say. Beef exports are one of Victorias biggest goods markets with the US. Credit: Bloomberg Recent policy announcements have already had an impact on confidence, which could lead households and businesses to delay spending and investment decisions and amplify the effects of changing trade policies on global and domestic activity. Victoria has relatively modest direct exposure through its exports, the budget papers say, but the indirect consequences of sustained tariffs could be larger through their effects on global growth and Victorias other trading partners.

The US has imposed a 10 per cent baseline tariff on most imported goods. Most Australian products are subject to this tariff, with some limited exceptions and a higher charge on steel and aluminium. Beyond the effects on global trade, the USs policy announcements could also affect consumer and business confidence, which could lead households and businesses to delay spending and investment decisions. If that occurs, these confidence effects would amplify the economic effects of weaker global trade, the budget papers say. In Treasurys modelling of a worst-case scenario, global demand for exports would be 1 per cent lower than forecast coupled with sharp falls in confidence that weigh down investment and consumer spending. If this occurred, the government is forecast to lose $1.25 billion from its bottom line in 2025-26, endangering Victorias expected $600 million operating surplus, the first since before the pandemic. Another $564 million could be lost over the forward estimates, with most of the damage to the budget happening in the first two years.

By comparison, last years budget papers modelled a domestic slowdown and forecast a $600 million hit to the budget over four years. In a more positive scenario modelled by Treasury, a higher-than-expected recovery in household spending in 2025-26 would add an extra $975 million to government income that year, adding up to $1.9 billion in extra revenue across the forward estimates. Loading Speaking about the budget on Tuesday, Treasurer Jaclyn Symes said the government was looking at the impact of tariffs on pharmaceuticals and beef, but a lack of confidence across other countries would have the biggest impact on the economy. Instability can lead to people being cautious about the decisions and the investments that they make, and so its actually the ramifications of the decisions, as opposed to the decisions themselves, that well keep a close eye on, she said.

The government is spending $35 million on programs to boost exports and support businesses with international trade. Another $18.1 million will maintain the states global network of trade and investment offices. A further $627 million is put towards delivering the Economic Growth Statement, a policy document released in late 2024 which sought to improve private-sector confidence by promising reforms such as streamlining of regulators. Symes said the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and had told her that 5 per cent of their members exported, but many more had the capacity to do so, and Australia and Victorias reputation as a stable place to do business could encourage this. Paul Zalai, director of the Freight & Trade Alliance and secretariat of the Australian Peak Shippers Association, said it was impossible to predict the full impact of US tariffs because the goalposts kept moving. Shipping demand to the US is fluctuating weekly, with vessels and equipment being scheduled inconsistently. This volatility disrupts supply chains globally and creates uncertainty for Australian traders, he said.

Zalai said it was vital that Australia diversify its trade partnerships. Loading We must actively pursue emerging markets across Asia and urgently finalise a free trade agreement with Europe, he said. Even with success in these areas, we are still vulnerable to global shipping disruptions. However, there are pressing domestic issues well within our control. Adding to concerns for Victorian farmers are drought conditions across parts of the state.

The Allan government has announced an expanded support package for farmers, but the sector is calling for more, and some have lashed the government for increasing its levy on emergency services. Hamish McFarlane, director of Te Mania Angus in south-west Victoria, said although drought conditions remained the biggest issue for the industry, Victoria needed to maintain a relationship with the US because of Americas high demand for secondary cuts. Theyre big consumers of beef, and theyve got to get it from somewhere ... We need to have a ready outlet for that portion of the animal, and thats why I think we need to keep very, very much on side with them, McFarlane said. Victorian Farmers Federation president Brett Hosking agreed weather conditions were the biggest concern for farmers, but US tariffs had also caused anxiety. Markets as a rule of thumb do like certainty, and so do we as farmers, because it gives us something that we can actually budget our production on, he said.
Madolline Gourley had a special reason to be nervous when she applied for a working holiday visa for a trip to Canada.

Back in 2022, the Brisbane resident had flown into Los Angeles on her way to a pet-sitting holiday when she was denied entry to the United States.

Madolline Gourley from Brisbane was denied entry to the US in 2022. Now shes finding it is causing issues when entering other countries. Credit: Paul Harris

Even though she wasnt being paid for looking after a homeowners pets, she was in violation of her ESTA visa waiver because the free use of the owners residence was considered a form of payment. Therefore, she was working, and anyone with an ESTA visa waiver is not allowed to work. After sitting through two interrogations, and after just a few hours in the USA, she was shunted out of the country on a flight back to Australia.

A denial of entry has repercussions. The US, Canada, Australia, the UK and New Zealand share the information collected by their immigration departments, says Gourley. So when she applied for a working holiday visa for Canada under the International Experience Canada program, she was alarmed when one of the questions on the application asked: Have you ever been refused a visa or permit, denied entry to, or ordered to leave Canada or any other country/territory?
It has already been designated by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States as a breakthrough device. The neuroscientist behind the advances said it meant medical professionals were able to see changes in the brain far earlier, at a level normally only be possible via a post-mortem examination. Over the past year, two major treatments for Alzheimers disease have been given the green light by UK regulators. Donanemab and lecanemab are the first treatments found to slow progression of the disease. Donanemab has just been approved for use in Australia, however is not yet available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Lecanemab has not received approval. Both have also been blocked for use on Britains National Health Service, on the grounds they are not cost-effective. Experts believe that diagnosing dementia early is key to making treatments more effective and helping to ensure they become more widely available. Almost 1 million people in Britain are living with dementia, but this number is expected to reach 1.4 million by 2040. About 400,000 people have dementia in Australia.

Oxford Brain Diagnostics, a spinout company from the University of Oxford, was founded by Dr Steven Chance, former associate professor of neuroscience at Oxford, and Professor Mark Jenkinson, a leading expert in brain imaging. Loading The breakthrough was achieved after the company received funding from British investment firm BGF and the Oxford Technology & Innovations Fund. Identify other neurodegenerative conditions Studies have found the method can detect neurodegenerative changes before any visible brain shrinkage or atrophy appears on standard imaging as well as distinguish between different types of dementia.

It has also been found to predict which individuals with mild cognitive impairment are more likely to develop dementia. The platform could also help to identify other neurodegenerative conditions including Parkinsons disease and multiple sclerosis. About 400,000 people in Australia have dementia. Chance said: The core technology is founded on my background, looking at the microscopic structure of brains at autopsy for many years. You couldnt do that with a living patient and this is what we needed. He said the technology could have a transformative impact, bringing hope to millions of people who are seeking a non-invasive, precision diagnostic tool to reveal the truth about their brain health.

For now, the target patient market is those suffering mild cognitive decline, allowing professionals to differentiate between types of dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases. Chance said clinics might offer annual checks for those with concerns about memory problems. In time, and with the advent of more medicines to treat dementia, such advances could be rolled out to those in mid-life, he said. More than 20 per cent of those over 50 have Alzheimers-type changes, small-scale changes that would be otherwise invisible. These breakthroughs open up a whole new way of monitoring brain health. Alzheimers Research UK policy head David Thomas said: Dementia is caused by diseases that often begin years before symptoms appear, and so finding new ways to detect these diseases earlier is vital. There is a huge amount of progress happening in this space and its encouraging to see UK companies contributing to that.
SINGAPORE, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Singapore police have launched investigations into more than 850 scam cases involving reported losses of over 15.4 million Singapore dollars (about 12 million U.S. dollars), following a two-week enforcement operation.

In a statement on Saturday, the police said 335 individuals -- 119 women and 216 men aged between 16 and 81 -- are assisting with investigations for their suspected roles in the scams as scammers or money mules.

The cases mainly involved friend impersonation scams, investment scams, job scams, e-commerce scams, government official impersonation scams, and rental scams, the police said.

Those under investigation may face charges including cheating, money laundering, or providing payment services without a license.

Police also urged the public to reject any requests to use their bank accounts or mobile lines, warning that account holders could be held criminally liable if their information is linked to illegal activities. 
The arrangement allows the UK and US to maintain Diego Garcias military functions unchallenged, shielded from legal challenges that had increasingly threatened its status. We had to act now, Starmer said. The base was under threat. The final deal was announced by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after a High Court injunction brought by a former Chagos resident was overturned on Thursday. Credit: AP If we do not agree this deal  we would not be able to prevent China, or any other nation, setting up their own bases on the outer islands, he warned. There is no alternative but to act in Britains national interest. About 9300 kilometres south-east of the UK, and about 2000 kilometres north-east of Mauritius, Diego Garcia lies at a crucial choke point between the Indian Ocean and key maritime routes.

Its remote location enables a secure base for operations, supporting naval carriers and intelligence-gathering efforts critical to counterterrorism and nuclear monitoring in an age of rising Indo-Pacific tension with China. To lose that capability  Starmer argued  would be irresponsible, even dangerous. An aerial view of Diego Garcia. Credit: US Navy via AP We would lose the first line of defence against other countries who wish to interfere and disrupt this capability  rendering it practically useless, he said. On paper, the agreement is a hard-headed military lease cloaked in diplomatic compromise.

The UK will retain full operational control, including the electromagnetic spectrum satellite used for communications, and enforce a 24-nautical-mile buffer zone around the island within which nothing can be built or placed without British consent. Mauritius is also prohibited from allowing foreign security forces on the outer islands, ensuring the base remains under Western control. The UK government maintains that the deal offers value for money. Which countries are still Commonwealth realms? Antigua and Barbuda Australia The Bahamas Belize Canada Grenada Jamaica New Zealand Papua New Guinea Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Solomon Islands Tuvalu United Kingdom Starmer noted that the average 101 million annual lease payment is the same, or slightly less than, the running cost of an aircraft carrier minus the aircraft. Additional payments include 45 million annually for 25 years to support economic development projects in Mauritius and 40 million to establish a trust fund for former Chagos residents.

For the Chagossians  descendants of the Afro-Creole islanders forcibly expelled in the 1960s and 70s  the flag change is not the final chapter but another betrayal. Some 1500 islanders were uprooted to make way for the US base. The British government once described them dismissively as a few Tarzans and Man Fridays and dumped them in Mauritius and Seychelles with little compensation. Decades later, many still live in poverty facing discrimination and fading hopes of return. Bernadette Dugasse (centre right), who led a last-minute legal challenge to block the deal, said: Sir Keir Starmer is washing his hands of the Chagossian people. Credit: Getty Images Now, they watch as their birthplace is transferred from one former coloniser to another  again, with little say. Sir Keir Starmer is washing his hands of the Chagossian people, Bernadette Dugasse, who led a last-minute legal bid to block the deal, told reporters.

We are not 100 per cent sure everyone will benefit. Most of us still live in the same conditions 50 years after we arrived. I dont trust the Mauritian government. The British government concedes that while resettlement on the outer islands is theoretically possible, it remains logistically daunting. The 45 million annual support fund for Mauritius will be administered solely by the Mauritian government, without direct UK oversight. We had to act now. The base was under threat. British PM Keir Starmer Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch condemned the deal as an expensive surrender and accused Labour of saddling taxpayers with enormous costs for diminishing returns. Nigel Farage accused Starmer of selling off a Cold War jewel to the highest bidder. Yet Starmer pointed to the support from key allies.

It is worth reminding ourselves who is in favour of this treaty  the US, NATO, Five Eyes, India. Against it? Russia, China, Iran, and surprisingly, the leader of the opposition and Nigel Farage. In Washington, where the Trump administration had once questioned the deal, it hailed the agreement. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Diego Garcia critical to regional and global security. US President Donald Trump gave his personal blessing during a February meeting with Starmer. A protest outside the High Court last week against the British governments plan to return control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Credit: Getty Images The deeper concern now shifts to what the Chagos handover signals for Britains other overseas holdings. Critics warn it may set a precedent, casting long shadows over sovereign base areas such as Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus  and even stirring uncertainty in places such as Gibraltar and the Falklands. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy insists those territories are not up for negotiation, but the UKs claim that Chagos is a one-off will be tested by time  and by those watching closely.

The decision on Chagos shows that the UK government understands a need for new thinking on how to preserve the more remote outposts of British influence, Samir Puri, the director of the Global Governance and Security Centre at Chatham House, said last year. There are understandable concerns that, as a result of the decision, China may develop commercial ports in the region and seek to compete with India for economic and strategic relationships. But this is a long-term matter of concern to monitor, regardless of the UKs decision on Chagos. Loading The deal isnt just another post-colonial housekeeping exercise. It is Britain confronting  and recalibrating  its place in the 21st century. It will keep Diego Garcia operational, and will still help shape Indo-Pacific security, but only by paying rent to a former colony. And it has been forced  not by war, but by international law  to give back what it once claimed as its own.
Washington: Donald Trump has called Russian President Vladimir Putin crazy, while also criticising Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, after the largest Russian attack yet on Ukraine left 12 people dead.

Russia fired 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, overnight on Saturday, most of which Ukraine said it had shot down. Three children were among the dead, officials said. It was the largest attack of the war in terms of weapons fired, although other strikes have killed more people.

Donald Trump speaks to reporters at New Jersey before boarding Air Force One. Credit: AP

The barrage prompted Zelensky to call out American silence, saying the inaction was encouraging Putin in his war effort. But hours later, Trump warned that the Ukrainian leaders choice of words was doing his country no favours.

Im not happy with what Putins doing, Trump told reporters in New Jersey on Sunday (Monday AEST), before boarding his plane for a return to the White House from his Bedminster golf club.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Freegan Food Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA), is proud to announce the launch of a four-month pilot program designed to support vulnerable seniors in St. Maarten. This initiative, made possible through the support of Minister Brug and the Ministry of VSA, seeks to address critical issues of food insecurity and social isolation among the elderly.

The program aims to identify and assist senior citizens who are most in need, offering targeted food support and access to essential services. By working closely with Ministry officials, the Freegan Food Foundation will help ensure that seniors across the island receive the care, dignity, and recognition they deserve.

We are deeply grateful to Minister Brug and the Ministry of VSA for recognizing the importance of protecting and uplifting our senior citizens, said DJ Jansen, Managing Director of the Freegan Food Foundation. This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to ensuring that no oneespecially those who have laid the foundation for our societyis left behind.

While this pilot program focuses specifically on seniors, the Foundation continues to see a steady increase in requests from families across the island seeking food assistance. The growing demand highlights the broader need for community-based support systems, and the Foundation remains committed to helping as many households as its resources will allow.

This pilot represents an important milestone in the Foundations ongoing work and signals the potential for a sustained and impactful partnership with the Ministry of VSA.

For more information or to support the initiative, please contact the Freegan Food Foundation at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +1 (721) 580-2349.

Together, we are building a stronger, more compassionate St. Maarten.
N. Korea detains three over warship launch accident: KCNA



Seoul, May 24 (AFP) May 24, 2025



North Korea has detained three people over an accident that occurred during the launch of a new warship this past week, state media reported early Sunday.

Pyongyang has said that "a serious accident occurred" at Wednesday's launch ceremony in the eastern port city of Chongjin for a newly built 5,000-ton naval destroyer, in which sections of the bottom of the vessel were crushed.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called the mishap a "criminal act caused by absolute carelessness".

Those detained are Kang Jong Chol, the chief engineer at the Chongjin shipyard; Han Kyong Hak, head of the hull construction workshop; and Kim Yong Hak, deputy manager for administrative affairs, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

The KCNA report said the three were "responsible for the accident".

On Friday, KCNA reported that shipyard manager Hong Kil Ho had been summoned by law enforcement.

South Korea's military said US and Seoul intelligence authorities assessed that North Korea's "side-launch attempt" of the ship failed, and the vessel was left listing in the water.

KCNA, however, reported that an "underwater and internal inspection of the warship confirmed that, unlike the initial announcement, there were no holes made at the warship's bottom", calling the extent of the damage "not serious".

Based on its size and scale, the South Korean military said the newly built warship is believed to be similarly equipped to the 5,000-ton destroyer-class vessel Choe Hyon, which North Korea unveiled last month.

Pyongyang has said the Choe Hyon is equipped with the "most powerful weapons", and that it would "enter into operation early next year".

Seoul's military has said the Choe Hyon could have been developed with Russian help -- possibly in exchange for Pyongyang deploying thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Ukraine.

Analysts say the warship involved in Wednesday's accident may have also been constructed with Russian assistance.
Turkey, PKK must both change for peace: former militant



Diyarbakir, Turkey, May 25 (AFP) May 25, 2025



"When you try and explain peace to people, there is a very serious lack of trust," said Yuksel Genc, a former fighter with the PKK, which recently ended its decades-long armed struggle against the Turkish state.

Talking over a glass of tea in a square in Diyarbakir, the biggest city in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast, this 50-year-old former fighter with long auburn curls is worried about how the nascent rapprochement between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) will play out.

"The guerillas are sincere, but they don't think the state is," said Genc, her words briefly interrupted by the roar of a fighter jet flying overhead.

"They think the government does not trust them."

For years, she was a fighter with the Kurdish rebel group, which on May 12 said it would disarm and disband, ending a four-decade armed struggle against the Turkish state that cost more than 40,000 lives.

The historic move came in response to an appeal by its jailed founder Abdullah Ocalan, arrested in 1999 and serving life in solitary ever since on a prison island near Istanbul.

Genc herself joined the militants in 1995 when she was a 20-year-old university student in Istanbul.

"At that time, many Kurdish villages were being burnt down, and we were constantly hearing about villages being evacuated, people being displaced and unsolved murders," she said.

She described it as "a time of terrible repression".

"You felt trapped, as if there was no other way than to join the guerrillas," she said.



- After arrest, Ocalan urged calm -



Four years later, after years in exile, Ocalan was snatched by Turkish commandos in a Hollywood-style operation in Nairobi.

"Ocalan's capture provoked a deep sense of rage among the guerrillas, who feared it would mean the Kurdish cause would be destroyed," she said.

But it was Ocalan himself who called for calm and insisted it was time for the Kurdish question to be resolved democratically. He urged his followers to go to Turkey, hand over their weapons and seek dialogue.

"He thought our arrival would symbolise (the PKK's) goodwill, and persuade the state to negotiate."

Genc was part of the first so-called "groups for peace and a democratic solution" -- a group of three women and five men who arrived in Turkey on October 1, 1999 on what they knew would be a "sacrificial" mission.

After a long march through the mountains, they arrived in the southeastern village of Semdinli under the watchful eye of "thousands" of Turkish soldiers huddled behind rocks.

Handing over their weapons, they were transferred to the city of Van 200 kilometres (140 miles) to the north where they were arrested.

Genc spent the next nearly six years behind bars.

"For us, these peace groups were a mission," she said. "The solution had to come through dialogue."



- 'Peace work has a cost' -



After getting out, she continued to struggle for Kurdish rights, swapping her gun for a pen to become a journalist and researcher for the Sosyo Politik think tank.

Even so, her writing earned her another three-and-a-half years behind bars.

"Working for peace in Turkey has a cost," she said with a shrug.

When Recep Tayyip Erdogan became prime minister in 2003, there was hope for a new breakthrough. But several attempts to reach an agreement went nowhere -- until now.

"Like in 1999, the PKK is moving towards a non-violent struggle," she said.

"But laying down arms is not the end of the story. It is preparing to become a political organisation."

Resolving the decades-long conflict requires a change on both sides however, said Genc.

"It essentially involves a mutual transformation," she argued.

"It is impossible for the state to stick with its old ways without transforming, while trying to resolve a problem as old and divisive as the Kurdish question."



- 'Ocean of insecurity' -



Despite the recent opening, Genc does not speak of hope.

"Life has taught us to be realistic: years of experience have generated an ocean of insecurity," she said.

"(PKK fighters) have shown their courage by saying they will lay down their weapons without being defeated. But they haven't seen any concrete results."

So far, the government, which initiated the process last autumn, has not taken any steps nor made any promises, she pointed out.

"Why haven't the sick prisoners been released? And those who have served their sentences -- why aren't they benefiting from the climate of peace?"

And Ocalan, she said, was still being held in solitary despite promises of a change in his situation.

The number of people jailed for being PKK members or close to the group has never been revealed by the Turkish authorities.

"The fact that Ocalan is still not in a position to be able to lead this process towards a democratic solution is a major drawback from the militants' point of view," she said.

"Even our daily life remains totally shaped by security constraints across the region with the presence of the army, the roadblocks -- all that has to change."
Gaza rescuers say six killed in pre-dawn Israeli strikes



Gaza City, Palestinian Territories, May 25 (AFP) May 25, 2025



Rescuers in Gaza said six people were killed and several more wounded in pre-dawn Israeli air strikes in the north and centre of the Palestinian territory on Sunday.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said five people were killed in a strike on a home in Jabalia, in the north.

Another person was killed in a drone strike on tents sheltering displaced people west of Nuseirat in central Gaza, he added.

The Israeli military has stepped up its Gaza operations in recent days in what it has described as a renewed push to destroy Hamas.

On Saturday afternoon, the military said it had carried out strikes on more than 100 targets throughout Gaza over the past day.

Gaza's health ministry said Saturday that at least 3,747 people had been killed in the territory since a ceasefire collapsed on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,901, mostly civilians.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Air raid sirens in Jerusalem as army says intercepts Yemen missile



Jerusalem, May 25 (AFP) May 25, 2025



The Israeli army said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Sunday, shortly after air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem, according to AFP journalists.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted," the army said in a statement.

Israel's rescue service, the Magen David Alom, said there were no reports of injuries related to the launch.

The Israeli military reported shooting down two missiles launched from Yemen on Thursday, with the MDA reporting at least one person injured while seeking shelter from the first.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel since the Gaza war broke out in October 2023 following Hamas's attack on Israel.

The rebels, who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians, paused their attacks during a two-month Gaza ceasefire that ended in March, but resumed them after Israel restarted its campaign in coastal territory.

The Huthis recently warned they would impose a "naval blockade" on the Israeli port of Haifa after the country's military intensified its offensive in Gaza.
Gaza rescuers say 22 killed in Israeli strikes



Gaza City, Palestinian Territories, May 25 (AFP) May 25, 2025



Rescuers in Gaza said 22 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Israeli air strikes across the Palestinian territory on Sunday.

Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said seven people were killed in a strike on a home in Jabalia, in the north.

Some people were still under the debris, he added, as "the civil defence does not have search equipment or heavy equipment to lift the rubble to rescue the wounded and recover the martyrs".

Two more people, including a woman who was seven months pregnant, were killed in an attack targeting tents sheltering displaced people around Nuseirat in central Gaza, he said, adding doctors were unable to save the unborn child.

Also included in the toll were the civil defence's director of operations Ashraf Abu Nar and his wife, who were killed in a strike on their home in Nuseirat, according to Bassal.

Fatal strikes were also recorded around Deir el-Balah in the centre of the territory, Beit Lahia in the north, and the main southern city of Khan Yunis.

In all, civil defence teams recovered "at least 22 martyrs, including a number of children, and dozens of injured" on Sunday, with a number of people still missing, Bassal said.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes.

The military has stepped up its Gaza operations in recent days in what it has described as a renewed push to destroy Hamas.

On Saturday afternoon, the military said it had carried out strikes on more than 100 targets throughout Gaza over the past day.

Gaza's health ministry said Sunday that at least 3,785 people had been killed in the territory since a ceasefire collapsed on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,939, mostly civilians.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Uganda 'suspends' military cooperation with Germany: army



Nairobi, May 25 (AFP) May 25, 2025



Uganda has "suspended" all military cooperation with Germany, its army spokesperson said Sunday, claiming the German ambassador is "engaged in subversive activities" in the east African country.

The escalation follows another army statement on Friday, which alleged some European diplomatic missions had been supporting "negative and traitorous groups" opposed to the government, also singling out German ambassador Mathias Schauer.

It also comes as Uganda faces increasing international condemnation over its treatment of the opposition.

"The Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) has with immediate effect suspended all ongoing defence and military cooperation activities with the Federal Republic of Germany," said army spokesman Chris Magezi on X.

Magezi said the move was in response to "credible intelligence reports that current German Ambassador to Uganda His Excellency Mathias Schauer is actively engaged in subversive activities in the country".

Magezi said that the suspension will "remain in force until the full resolution of the matter of the Ambassador's involvement with hostile pseudo political-military forces operating in the country against the Ugandan government".

He did not give further details, but confirmed to AFP that "the decision has been taken".

The German embassy in Uganda has not publicly commented.

Human rights groups say Uganda has accelerated its crackdown on opponents and dissidents as they prepare for presidential elections in the next seven months.

The president's son and heir-apparent, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has frequently threatened members of the opposition, recently claiming to have abducted the bodyguard of the country's main opposition leader and to be torturing him in his basement.

Local media reported on a recent meeting between European diplomats, including Schauer, and President Yoweri Museveni's brother.

During the meeting, Schauer reportedly criticised the colourful social media posts frequently made by Kainerugaba, who is also the head of the Ugandan army.

It is unclear at this stage what impact the move to suspend military cooperation might have.

Germany and Uganda have long-standing ties, with the German embassy characterising the relationship as one of "stability and trust" on its website.

Schauer has served as the European nation's ambassador since 2020.

Bilateral trade between the two last year was worth roughly $335 million, according to the German embassy, noting that Uganda mainly imported "machinery and chemical products".
Uganda suspends military cooperation with Germany: army



Nairobi, May 25 (AFP) May 25, 2025



Uganda has "suspended" all military cooperation with Germany, its army said Sunday, claiming the German ambassador "engaged in subversive activities" in the east African country.

The army earlier accused some European embassies of supporting "negative and traitorous groups", singling out German ambassador Matthias Schauer.

It followed reports that diplomats had criticised the behaviour of President Yoweri Museveni's son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is head of the army.

Kainerugaba, who is considered most likely to succeed his 80-year-old father as president, is known for his colourful social media posts.

He has frequently threatened members of the opposition online and recently boasted of kidnapping and torturing the bodyguard of the country's main opposition leader in his basement.

"The Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) has with immediate effect suspended all ongoing defence and military cooperation activities with the Federal Republic of Germany," said army spokesman Chris Magezi on X.

Kainerugaba posted: "We are having some issues with the current German ambassador to Uganda".

"It has to do with him as a person. He is wholly unqualified to be in Uganda. It has nothing to do with the great German people. Whom I admire a lot," Kainerugaba wrote.

European diplomats reportedly raised criticisms about Kainerugaba in a meeting with Museveni's brother, Salim Saleh, earlier this week.

Local media reported that Saleh vowed to "rein in" the army chief.

Rights groups say the government has accelerated its crackdown on opponents and critics ahead of elections in January when Museveni hopes to extend his 40-year rule.

Germany and Uganda have long-standing ties. The German embassy characterises the relationship as one of "stability and trust" on its website.

Schauer has served as the European nation's ambassador since 2020.

Bilateral trade between the two last year was worth roughly $335 million, according to the German embassy, noting that Uganda mainly imported "machinery and chemical products".
Children walk past a screen at the exhibition area of Beijing during the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 24, 2025. Opened here on Thursday, the five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. Activities related to traditional culture and cultural heritages attracted many young visitors. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)

Visitors watch a clapper talk show at the exhibition area of Tianjin during the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 24, 2025. Opened here on Thursday, the five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. Activities related to traditional culture and cultural heritages attracted many young visitors. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)

Children pose for a photo with models at the exhibition area of Shandong Province during the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 24, 2025. Opened here on Thursday, the five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. Activities related to traditional culture and cultural heritages attracted many young visitors. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)

Children experience a traditional Chinese printing skill at the exhibition area of Jiangxi Province during the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 24, 2025. Opened here on Thursday, the five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. Activities related to traditional culture and cultural heritages attracted many young visitors. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)

An artist teaches children to make clay sculptures at the exhibition area of Shanxi Province during the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 24, 2025. Opened here on Thursday, the five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. Activities related to traditional culture and cultural heritages attracted many young visitors. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)
'Death is sometimes kinder': Relatives recount Gaza strike that devastated family



Gaza City, Palestinian Territories, May 25 (AFP) May 25, 2025



Alaa al-Najjar was tending to wounded children at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip when the news came through: the home where her own 10 children were staying had been bombed in an Israeli air strike.

The paediatrician, with no means of transport, ran from the Nasser Hospital to the family house in the city of Khan Yunis, a relative told AFP, only to be met with every parent's worst nightmare.

"When she saw the charred bodies, she started screaming and crying," said Ali al-Najjar, the brother of Alaa's husband.

Nine of her children were killed, their bodies burned beyond recognition, according to relatives.

The tenth, 10-year-old Adam, survived the strike but remains in critical condition, as does his father, Hamdi al-Najjar, also a doctor, who was also at home when the strike hit.

Both are in intensive care at Nasser Hospital.

When the body of her daughter Nibal was pulled from the rubble, Alaa screamed her name, her brother-in-law recounted.

The following day, under a tent set up near the destroyed home, the well-respected paediatric specialist sat in stunned silence, still in shock.

Around her, women wept as the sounds of explosions echoed across the Palestinian territory, battered by more than a year and a half of war.



- 'Their features were gone' -



The air strike on Friday afternoon was carried out without warning, relatives said.

Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said it had "struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure" near its troops, adding that claims of civilian harm were under review.

"I couldn't recognise the children in the shrouds," Alaa's sister, Sahar al-Najjar, said through tears. "Their features were gone."

"It's a huge loss. Alaa is broken," said Mohammed, another close family member.

According to medical sources, Hamdi al-Najjar underwent several operations at the Jordanian field hospital.

Doctors had to remove a large portion of his right lung and gave him 17 blood transfusions.

Adam had one hand amputated and suffers from severe burns across his body.

"I found my brother's house like a broken biscuit, reduced to ruins, and my loved ones were underneath," Ali al-Najjar said, recalling how he dug through the rubble with his bare hands alongside paramedics to recover the children's bodies.

Now, he dreads the moment his brother regains consciousness.

"I don't know how to tell him. Should I tell him his children are dead? I buried them in two graves."

"There is no safe place in Gaza," he added with a weary sigh. "Death is sometimes kinder than this torture."
A spokesperson added: This is just the start of a very long process (cleaning sessions are limited by stress and the risk of hypothermia) and there is still the worry of ingestion or toxicity, but we are absolutely determined to give this boy a chance.
The US president held a two-hour phone call with Putin on Monday, during which he reportedly warned he was prepared to walk away from negotiations entirely  despite pledging during his election campaign to end the war on "day one" of his second term.
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
Weather Alert

Take action to protect yourself and others  extreme heat can affect everyones health. Determine if you or others around you are at greater risk of heat illness. Check on older adults, those living alone and other at-risk people in-person or on the phone multiple times a day. Watch for the early signs of heat exhaustion in yourself and others. Signs may include headache, nausea, dizziness, thirst, dark urine and intense fatigue. Stop your activity and drink water. Heat stroke is a medical emergency! Call 9-1-1 or your emergency health provider if you, or someone around you, is showing signs of heat stroke which can include red and hot skin, dizziness, nausea, confusion and change in consciousness. While you wait for medical attention, try to cool the person by moving them to a cool place, removing extra clothing, applying cold water or ice packs around the body. Drink water often and before you feel thirsty to replace fluids. Close blinds, or shades and open windows if outside is cooler than inside. Turn on air conditioning, use a fan, or move to a cooler area of your living space. If your living space is hot, move to a cool public space such as a cooling centre, community centre, library or shaded park. Follow the advice of your regions public health authority. Plan and schedule outdoor activities during the coolest parts of the day. Limit direct exposure to the sun and heat. Wear lightweight, light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing and a wide-brimmed hat. Never leave people, especially children, or pets inside a parked vehicle. Check the vehicle before locking to make sure no one is left behind. Humidex values reaching 40 are expected. A heat event is expected this weekend. What: Daytime highs of 31 to 33 degrees Celsius and a humidex of 40. Overnight lows of 21 to 25 degrees Celsius, providing little relief from the heat. When: Today to Sunday, coming to an end Sunday night. Additional information: Hot and humid air can also bring deteriorating air quality and result in the Air Quality Health Index approaching the high risk category. ### For more information: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/climate-change-health/extreme-heat/how-protect-yourself.html https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/climate-change-health/extreme-heat/who-is-at-risk.html Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to ONstorm@ec.gc.ca or post reports on X using #ONStorm.
TEHRAN, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Seven Iranian nationals imprisoned in Kazakhstan were repatriated on Saturday to serve the rest of their jail terms, Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

The convicts were transferred to Iran through the efforts of the Iranian Justice Ministry, Foreign Ministry, and the Iranian embassy in Astana, Mehr quoted Askar Jalalian, Iran's deputy justice minister for human rights and international affairs, as saying.

He added that the repatriation took place under a convict extradition agreement signed between the two countries in April 2016, noting this was the second group of Iranian convicts transferred from Kazakhstan to Iran in the past three months to complete their jail terms.

Jalalian said that since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21, 2025, 156 Iranians jailed in other countries had been transferred to Iran's prisons. 
BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhua) -- For decades, as Chinese farmers toiled beneath the sun to scrape by, artistic expression was often deemed an unattainable luxury -- a privilege beyond their grasp. One reason, among many, lay in the scarcity of opportunities and the pervasive lack of confidence.

Yet now, a vibrant new cultural epoch is unfolding across China's rural hinterlands, as the untapped creativity of the land bursts onto national -- and increasingly global -- stages.

In Xinzhai Township, east China's Shandong Province, an all-farmer art troupe named Baihua has become a staple of the local open-air stage. Guo Cheng, a lifelong villager and the group's leader, recalls how it all began: a shared love of local opera "Bangzi," and five neighbors gathering after a day's farmwork.

Today, the troupe has more than 50 members who write and perform their own songs about rural life, government policy, and community stories."We sing what we live," Guo said. "It's straight from the heart."

Baihua's performances, livestreamed to tens of thousands, have earned invitations to stages across the region -- their next stop: the provincial capital city of Jinan. "We used to wait for city troupes to come perform. Now we're the ones bringing the show," Guo said.

ARTISTS WITH CALLOUSED HANDS

All over rural China, farmers like Guo are stepping into the spotlight. From folk opera to paintings and embroidery, art created by villagers is gaining recognition for its authenticity and grassroots origin.

"Their works are real," said Ning Chuanmin, Party chief of Xinzhai Township. "That's what makes people watch and listen."

Similar stories are flourishing thousands of miles away. In Qijiang District, southwestern city of Chongqing, a farmer named Liu Qinfo spends his days hoeing fields and his nights tapping into his creative side by carving woodblocks.

Since attending a free workshop on Qijiang Farmers' Printmaking -- an intangible cultural heritage tradition dating back to the 14th century -- eight years ago, Liu has found an outlet for his passion for painting, capturing the transformation of rural life with burins in dozens of his works.

"We farmers live the stories -- and now we're telling them," he said.

Qijiang is now home to over 1,000 farmer printmakers, some of whom have been invited to more than 40 countries for cultural exchanges. Over 1,500 of their works have been showcased in art institutions both in China and around the world.

This wave of creativity reflects a broader shift from top-down cultural outreach to community-driven expression.

Since declaring victory over extreme poverty in 2021, China has prioritized cultural development as a key pillar of rural revitalization. A new blueprint for building China into an agricultural powerhouse over the period of 2024 to 2035, released in April, calls for expanding public cultural services, empowering local artists, and promoting works rooted in rural life and values.

"Material progress and cultural development go hand in hand," noted Liu Hanjun, a visiting professor at Wuhan University. "As living standards rise, Chinese farmers' desire for a richer cultural life grows stronger, laying a solid foundation for rural cultural development."

A HERITAGE REBORN

Liu Hanjun also emphasized the importance of mutual support and two-way resource exchange between urban and rural areas to preserve and renew the cultural heritage of the countryside.

The revival of rural culture also means safeguarding heritage -- not as relics under glass, but as living, evolving traditions.

In Wenggong Village, nestled in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Wang Xiaomei -- a veteran culture journalist -- transformed her ancestral home into a museum in 2018. Today, it showcases more than 6,000 pieces of traditional ethnic craftsmanship, including batik, embroidery, and other artifacts collected from villagers across 80 counties in the province.

"Rural revitalization isn't just about roads and buildings," Wang said. "It's about restoring cultural confidence."

The museum now hosts around 100 events a year for both visitors and locals -- from craft workshops and oral history sessions to concerts and reading nights. It has become the village's cultural living room, a space for celebration, connection, and learning.

Its staff are all farmer-artisans. Among them is Jiang Min, a 43-year-old villager who trained at the museum and now leads batik workshops for visitors. "Since the museum opened, the village has come alive," she says.

Unlike city institutions, rural museums are deeply rooted in the rhythms of agriculture and village life, said An Laishun, vice president of the International Council of Museums. "They strengthen connections between villagers and their culture and attract visitors."

CULTURE THAT PAYS

In eastern Zhejiang Province, the cultural revival of the countryside is also giving a major boost to real income.

A provincial initiative has dispatched more than 1,500 cultural experts -- from university professors to master artisans -- to rural areas. Their mission: help villages design projects that rediscover and tap into local heritage, creating lasting value for their people.

Wu Maoying, a professor from Zhejiang University, helped revive Xitou Village's thousand-year-old celadon pottery tradition. Under her guidance, locals turned an ancient kiln-opening ritual into an immersive tourist experience. Visitors now join villagers in crafting and firing celadon ware.

The initiative has sparked a cultural and economic boom. Xitou welcomed over 100,000 visitors in 2024 and was named one of the UN World Tourism Organization's "Best Tourism Villages." Residents have formed artisan workshops and performance troupes, with sales of cultural products surging.

"Villagers used to hide their talents," says Wu. "Now they're performing across the province. Their pride in their culture has grown immensely."

Since its launch, the initiative has helped generate over 145 million yuan (about 20 million U.S. dollars) in income through cultural tourism and creative industries in the province.

Yu Jinhong, Party chief of Xinjian Village in Zhejiang, emphasized how cultural programs have lifted the community's spirit. "Our village has become a work of art -- and we are the artists behind it." 
Regional security, with a focus on the situation in the Black Sea region amid the Russian Federation's war of aggression against Ukraine, was one of the topics addressed during the meeting between Romanian Minister of National Defence Angel Tilvar and Belgian Minister of Defence Theo Franken, Agerpres reports.

According to a Saturday press release of the Ministry of National Defence (MApN), the meeting took place on Friday at the 71st Air Base "General Emanoil Ionescu" in Campia Turzii.





The Romanian minister underscored the importance of strengthening NATO's defence posture on the eastern flank and ensuring security and stability in the Black Sea region, in the context of preparing for decisions to be adopted at the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague, scheduled for June.'An important point in the official talks was the reaffirmation of support for the Republic of Moldova in its European integration path, emphasising the importance of European coordination in strengthening the resilience and stability of that country and other partners in the EU's eastern neighborhood,' the MApN noted.
Interim Minister of Foreign Affairs Emil Hurezeanu delivered a message on Sunday on the occasion of the Day of Romanians Everywhere, emphasising that this moment serves as a reminder of the fundamental values we believe in and that unite us, Agerpres reports.

"The Day of Romanians Everywhere represents a symbolic moment of celebration for those living outside Romania's borders, whether they belong to the historical communities near our borders or to the Romanian diaspora. This day reminds us of the fundamental values we believe in and that unite us, of our shared linguistic, spiritual and cultural heritage, and of the sacrifices made by those who fought for freedom and for a prosperous and developed society.



He also said that the diaspora is an integral part of the evolution of Romania's international reputation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the celebration of Africa Day on May 25, a symbol of African unity and the global importance of this continent, according to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Sunday.

The theme established by the African Union (AU) for the 2025 Africa Day celebration is: "The Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparatory Justice."





The Ministry of Foreign Affairs treats the development of relations with Africa as a priority in Romania's foreign policy, based on partnership and mutual respect. Furthermore, the MAE reaffirms its commitment to the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms, to diversity, and to the fight against racism and all forms of intolerance or discrimination.
President-elect Nicusor Dan was welcomed on Sunday by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, on the occasion of his visit to Poland, Agerpres reports.

The Polish Prime Minister's Chancellery announced on Facebook, on Sunday, that the meeting between the two officials is underway.





The president-elect announced on Saturday this visit to Poland, to participate in an electoral event supporting the candidacy of Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski in the country's presidential elections.
ST. LOUIS  A surge of people converting to Orthodox Christianity is helping local parishes here buck the national trend of declining church attendance and membership at other Christian denominations.

Four years ago, St. Michael the Archangel in south St. Louis had 15 members. Today, it has more than 100. Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Town and Country welcomed 18 new members so far this year, up from just two last year.

St. Nicholas, near Forest Park, has seen nearly 40 prospective members over the past two years. And leaders at St. Basil the Great, a Russian Orthodox in Des Peres, say they have seen 20 to 30 new members every year since the pandemic.

These new converts are largely between 18 to 35 years old, and equally split between men and women, parish leaders say.

Some are converting from Catholicism and mainline protestant denominations, which measure growing churches as a congregation that adds around three members per year. Others are converting to Orthodox Christianity from a segment of the population sociologists dub the nones, because they have no religious affiliation.

The lockdown of 2020 did some good things for the soul of America, said the Rev. Doug Papulis, a priest at St. Nicholas.

COVID changed everything, he said. It crumbled the foundations that people built their lives on  it pulled the rug out from under them, and it forced them to become introspective and to evaluate what really matters to them. People came out of the pandemic wanting something really substantive.

The increase in new members and faith-seekers  those exploring Orthodox Christianity  comes at a time when other Christian mainline denominations are grappling with declines.

The St. Louis Archdiocese is midway through a multi-year effort known as All Things New, which has resulted in the shuttering of parochial schools and merging Catholic parishes. Meanwhile, protestant congregations facing mounting maintenance bills and declining congregations are selling their buildings and moving into other churches.

In contrast, the uptick has officials in Orthodox churches considering streamlining their conversion process and opening new parishes to accommodate the growth.

This is enough of an influx that everybody in Orthodoxy is talking about it, said the Rev. Matthew McDonald at St. Michael the Archangel. He called it unprecedented.

What is Orthodox Christianity?

Orthodox Christianity dates back to the earliest days of Christianity, when it split from the Catholic Church in the Great Schism of 1054.

Some Orthodox churches are known by their historic geographical roots, like Greek, Serbian and Russian  similar to referring to Catholic parishes as being Irish or German, said the Rev. Steven Salaris, of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Maryland Heights. Its tied to the early Christian churches of Syria and Lebanon.

The region is also home to Romanian, Ethiopian and Eritrean congregations, plus the Orthodox Church in America.

Orthodox worship services, known as the Divine Liturgy, include a mix of choral singing and chanting, the use of incense and communion. The Sunday service can be two hours long and each component remains largely unchanged over the centuries.

The worship experience was unlike anything Dr. Madeleine Stevens had ever experienced growing up in the Presbyterian church. On Forgiveness Sunday leading up to Lent, priests and congregants at St. Nicholas approach each other and mutually ask each other for forgiveness.

Its beautiful, she said. Children forgiving parents, teen siblings forgiving each other, and even folks who dont know one another but acknowledge their own need for forgiveness.

Leaving the church that morning was the moment things shifted for me, she said.

Stevens, an occupational therapist, converted to the Greek Orthodox Church last year, as did her husband.

Since converting, how she lives out her faith has changed. She said she now places a greater emphasis on fasting, by abstaining from eating meat and dairy products on Wednesdays and Friday.

Fasting from the things we want is a reminder that what goes in our mouths is not as important as what goes out of our mouths, she said.

Orthodoxy in St. Louis

The roots of Orthodox Christianity in St. Louis run deep.

The citys introduction to Orthodoxy came with the first wave of Greek immigrants  a group of boatmen who worked on the Mississippi River  arriving in St. Louis in the 1860s.

The first Greek Orthodox parish was established in 1904 when the Church of the Holy Trinity was established at the intersection of 19th Street and Delmar in St. Louis. It was the first Greek Orthodox Church in Missouri.

The first Russian Orthodox Church in St. Louis was founded in October 1909. The first Serbian Orthodox parish, Holy Trinity, also opened that year, according to parish history.

A second Greek Orthodox parish, Annunciation, was founded in 1911 in downtown St. Louis. A third parish, St. Nicholas, was opened in 1917 and settled on the citys north side.

Dr. Rabia Gregory, a religious studies professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said St. Louis Orthodox Christian community experienced massive waves of immigration following World War I and before World War II and again in the 1990s after war in the Balkans.

Now, there are three Greek Orthodox parishes in the St. Louis metro region: St. Nicholas in St. Louis, Assumption in Town and Country and Saints Constantine and Helen in Swansea. Each parish has between 300 to 1,000 members, according to information provided by Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The Greek Orthodox parishes, Annunciation and Holy Trinity, closed decades ago.

Today, Orthodox churches are found across the region, from St. Charles County to Jefferson County. While Orthodox Christians account for less than 1% of the U.S. population and St. Louis population, there is still a significant amount of Orthodox Christians in St. Louis, Gregory said.

St. Louis ranks in the top 10 for metro regions with the highest concentration of Orthodox Christians per capita in the U.S., she said.

Internet and the ancient church

Some leaders point to the proliferation of Orthodoxy-related videos being posted on social media, including on YouTube, as one reason why people are flocking to the centuries-old faith.

One YouTube account, Roots of Orthodoxy, has amassed more than 212,000 subscribers and posted more than 300 videos that have garnered more than 32 million views. The videos posted by this account showcase Orthodox Christianity by interviewing priests about conversion, Biblical symbols, baptism, iconography in churches, heaven and even Jesus Christs masculinity.

For all the modern ways of reaching potential newcomers, some point to Orthodoxys steadfastness as its appeal.

Archbishop Sergii Alekseev, a rector with the Russian Orthodox Church, says the stability of the tradition of the Orthodox Church is a reason why the parishes are flourishing.

The Orthodox Church does not change with the social trends of the world, Alekseev said.

Orthodox Christianity does, for example, consider homosexual behavior as a sin, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights group. Similarly, Orthodox Christians do not recognize same-sex marriages. It also does not ordain openly LGBTQ people or women in ministry.

This is in contrast to some of Americas largest protestant churches  United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A., United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, and others  have in recent years taken a progressive stance on LGBTQ issues and allowing women to serve in ministry.

Even with their denominations stance, a 2018 survey by the Public Religious Research Institute found that 59% of Orthodox Christians in the U.S. support LGTBQ issues, including marriage equality.

Orthodoxy prides itself on a ministry that is unchanging, said McDonald, of St. Michael the Archangel. While Orthodox churches define marriage as between a man and a woman, many local parishes welcome openly gay congregants, he said.

But several of the new members say it wasnt politics that brought them to Orthodoxy. Instead, they say the liturgy resonated with them.

Weston Haldeman, of Fenton, said he was moved to tears the first time he attended a service.

It was everything I felt that I was lacking spiritually, said Haldeman, who described himself as being religiously and spiritually homeless, after spending his childhood attending non-denominational and Lutheran churches in his native Colorado.

He said the colorful artwork of the Orthodox Church, the chanting, the incense and homily were a stark contrast to the minimalist churches of my childhood.

It was a sensory explosion, he said. Especially from the protestant tradition I knew in my childhood, which just seems so barren now.

Haldeman, who also goes by Weston Adam, said many new converts he knows are dissatisfied with Protestantism.

They feel there has been an abandonment of the Gospel in order for the church to be reflected better in our culture, he said. It has left people feeling frustrated, feeling like it was all meaningless.

Eyes to the Future

Metropolitan Nathanael Symeonides  a leader in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese similar to the Catholic Churchs Cardinal  was in St. Louis recently to celebrate the growth of the local parishes.

He said the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese is beginning to talk about when a community is too large to shepherd and when it may need to start a new parish.

We dont have a process that is well-defined when it comes to expansion, Symeonides said. So we are eager to learn to from our Western Christian brothers and sisters, who are more experienced in this  Protestant churches know how to plant churches very well.

The three Greek Orthodox parishes in the St. Louis region average between 100 and 250 people each Sunday. Symeonides said the new parishes would intentionally be physically smaller and have smaller memberships than St. Nicholas or Assumption, which boast memberships of more than 800 congregants.

The next generation of churches will be smaller, Symeonides said, because I think you can do so much more when you have a smaller community. People take a lot more ownership of the life of the parish, they know each other more, and they feel more comfortable with each other.

These new parishes will likely open over the next five years, church leaders said.

Its inevitable, said Papulis, a priest at St. Nicholas. We have people coming as far as, for instance, from Washington, Missouri (which is about 50 miles away). I dont know how sustainable it is for someone to be able to do that long-term.

Rev. Michael Arbanas, another priest at St. Nicholas, said church leaders are considering how to the streamline the conversion process  which can take up to a year or longer.

And Symeonides said he would throw all the rules away, if it meant reaching a growing portion of the American public who have no religious affiliation. According to the Pew Research Center, one in four Americans are religiously unaffiliated, describing themselves as either atheists, agnostics or nothing in particular. That number is even higher among young Americans.

They are growing up in an age that is so different than their parents, Symeonides said. It is crazy how negative our world is, and so I dont blame them for saying that they dont embrace anything.

When I see young people who are not affiliated, I dont see them as a lost cause, he said. I see them as a burning heart that is longing for something to be attached to, for someone to come along and hold them by their hand, and to lift them up out of the negativity.
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BENTON, Mo.  Carl Rose is in debtors prison.

It pretty much says so on the order that Scott County Associate Circuit Court Judge Julia Koester signed to send Rose to jail for at least seven days. It was for a civil contempt charge related to a business dispute lawsuit. Rose cant get out of the Scott County Jail, Koesters order says, unless he pays the court $10,500.

He doesnt have it. He said so in a court document he filed himself to seek his release. His husband says Rose doesnt have any money. His lawyers in another case say he doesnt have any money.

Hes been in jail 11 days and counting.

Hes exhausted all his resources and hes going to let fate run its course, says Roses husband, Drew Rodgers-Rose.

The couple has lived in Scott County, in southeast Missouri, for more than a dozen years. Its where Rose grew up, where he used to be a police officer and a sheriffs deputy.

Rose was sent to jail because the judge found him in civil contempt amid a two-year-old legal battle with his former business partner, John Caudle.

The two men started a funeral home business together in 2020. Things went sour. Caudle accused Rose of improper financial transactions and using company money to buy a truck and an SUV. Caudle, who is represented by attorney Phil Dormeyer of Cape Girardeau, filed a lawsuit. Rose hired an attorney, later fired him and ended up representing himself.

Last year, as the case was about to go to trial, Rose was charged with 50 counts of criminal fraud, including 47 felonies, related to the dispute. After seven days in jail, he bonded out. He has been monitored by an ankle bracelet, which costs him $160 every two weeks. That case, based on the same underlying issues as the civil case, was moved to Butler County and is scheduled for a trial in October.

But the civil trial, with Rose representing himself, took place last summer. In a one-day trial  Rose skipped the afternoon part of it  Koester ruled against him. She also issued a civil judgment of more than $400,000 against him.

Caudle tried to collect, including seizing items from the Sikeston house where Rose and Rodgers-Rose live. Thats when St. Louis attorneys Hugh Eastwood and Chris Hoell got involved. When the sheriff showed up at the house with Caudle and Dormeyer to seize Roses assets, they started taking at least some things that were marital property.

Basically, anything that wasnt bolted down, they took, Rodgers-Rose says.

Thats an unconstitutional taking of marital property, Eastwood and Hoell contend. They filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in February, naming former Scott County Sheriff Wes Drury, Dormeyer, Caudle and Scott County as defendants.

The search was meant to humiliate and harm the homeowners, not to collect on the civil judgment, the lawsuit contends.

In the suit, Roses attorneys address the underlying small-town drama that is difficult to separate from the case. Rose used to be a sheriffs deputy. Drury fired him after Rose announced a plan to run for sheriff against his boss. Drury won the race. Rose later ran and lost a race for coroner.

Last year, as Rose and Caudle were involved in their legal dispute over the failing business partnership, Caudle ran for and won the office of coroner.

The sheriffs sale of the property that was seized from Rose and Rodgers-Rose netted only a couple thousand dollars. Then, Dormeyer filed a motion for contempt in the Scott County case because Rose hadnt fulfilled elements of the civil judgment.

Earlier this month, the judge found Rose in contempt, in part because he didnt follow her instructions to open an account at a specific bank to track deposits he would have to make.

Though its not clear in court records how she determined it, Koester found Rose was willfully refusing to comply with her order. Thats important, says Peter Joy, a Washington University law professor. Joy says a judge can only hold a person in jail over a failure to pay monetary damages if the judge believes they have the ability to pay.

If the person doesnt have the capacity to pay, then they cant be put in jail, Joy says.

Eastwood and Hoell say Rose doesnt have any money. Hes unemployed. Caudle and Dormeyer already took whatever possessions they could, including Roses truck. He isnt going to magically come up with the money to get out of jail, his husband says.

It is shocking and outrageous that in a 2025, a judge is willing to indefinitely lock up a person until they pay a $10,000 ransom that they cannot afford simply at the request of an overzealous attorney, Hoell says.

Because of ethics rules, Eastwood and Hoell cant represent Rose in the civil lawsuit in Scott County to try to get him out of jail. Thats because they filed the federal lawsuit that also names Dormeyer, an attorney on the state case.

Attorneys for Caudle, Dormeyer and the other Scott County defendants have said in court documents that the search and seizure of Roses property was lawful. They have sought to get the federal lawsuit dismissed, arguing it is essentially a state matter already being handled by a different judge.

Plaintiffs repeated casting of Mr. Rose as a victim of political lawfare is a transparently disingenuous framing of the underlying civil and criminal cases against him, Dormeyer alleges in a filing.

To date, Rose hasnt been convicted of a criminal offense. But he sits in jail, with an ankle monitor attached, as a judge tries to help the elected county coroner collect a business debt. The folks at the jail, under the supervision of a new sheriff, have been nice, Rodgers-Rose says. They dont seem to understand why Rose is there, he says.

How long is Carl supposed to sit behind bars before the judge decides enough is enough and releases the man whose only crime is not having $10,000 laying around? Hoell asks.

Its a good question.
Gloria Lee Hollis Broun, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, dear friend, devoted nurse, and cherished member of the St. Louis community, passed away peacefully May 24, 2025. Her extraordinary life of 94 years created memories for all those she touched. Mom never met a stranger  everyone was family or friend.

Our Moms true joy was her family. She treasured her childhood growing up in a loving family in Hannibal, Missouri. Her parents Vera and Fred taught her the value of faith and family. Pam and Lera were more than Moms sisters; they were her close friends. She relished time at festivals with Bob, Leras husband, and Hannibal High classmates. Mom cherished her many high school friends, traveling with them for decades. She also loved keeping in touch with Dads family, most recently her brother-in-law John.

St. Louis became her home after marrying our dad, Dr. Goronwy Broun, following her nursing education at St. Louis University. Family was her highest passion, but nursing was a close second. Mom and dad raised six children: Randy (Lisa), Caroline (Mike), Barb (Jay), Steve (Susie), Ann (Mark), and Bill (Mary). Mom was proud of their accomplishments and thrilled with each of her 16 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. They were more than a source of delight to her. They were a source of life. She welcomed our neighbors children, Cristina and Molly, as her own; they are still lovingly part of Moms and our lives. We are thankful for their memories of time with her.

Moms passion for nursing and helping others was evident throughout her life. As her kids grew, she returned to school, earning a Masters in Nursing eventually teaching at St. Louis University and the University of MissouriSt. Louis. Her dedication and enthusiasm for the profession inspired a new generation of nurses and touched families in St. Louis where she also served as a community nurse. She was proud of her accomplishments as president of the Missouri Nurses Association. Her leadership and advocacy helped shape the future of nursing in Missouri.

Beyond family and nursing, Mom eagerly contributed to the St. Louis community and her beloved parish, St. Roch. Active in the St. Louis University Hospital Auxiliary, she delighted in being the Flower Lady at St. Louis University Hospital. She delivered not only blooms but comfort and compassion, bringing a tender ear to those facing lifes most difficult moments. The St. Andrews Charitable Foundation recognized Mom as a Remarkable St. Louisan, a richly deserved tribute to her tireless commitment to St. Louis.

Our parents were faithful members of St. Roch Parish. A deeply religious and compassionate woman, Mom had an unwavering commitment to her faith. She was active in the Altar Society, and provided comfort and hospitality to grieving families.

Moms love of life extended beyond St. Louis. She enjoyed traveling with family and friends throughout the U.S., in many areas of Europe, and the Far East. She created memories for all who traveled with her as she explored the world, met people, and experienced new cultures.

We can only describe Moms life as one of unyielding strength, joyful service, quiet mercy, and deep love. Her grace, kindness, and tireless spirit have left a lasting impression on all who know her. She will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five oclock pm to eight oclock pm on Friday the 30th of May at Lupton Millard Chapel, 7233 Delmar Blvd. St. Louis, MO. 63130.

Funeral Mass will be at ten oclock AM on Saturday, the 31st of May at St. Roch Catholic Church, 6052 Waterman Blvd, St. Louis, MO. 63112.

Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, MO.

In lieu of flowers, Gloria and the family kindly request donations to Nurses for Newborns, 3 Sunnen Dr. St. Louis, MO 63143 / 314-544-3433 or https://nursesfornewborns.org/donate/ and to Evelyns House  The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital, 1001 Highlands Plaza Dr. West, Suite 140, St. Louis, MO 63110 or https://www.foundationbarnesjewish.org/Give-Hospice.
My heart sank when I saw my old house in St. Louis.

Fridays tornado absolutely wacked my former block in the DeBaliviere Place neighborhood, where my family had lived until recently. Neighbors sent photos of splintered trees. The same images showed the windows I used to gaze out of for many happy years blown out and shattered. The leaded glass that had anchored the facade for a century was nowhere to be seen, nor was the original ornate cornice ripped from the brick buildings formerly elegant roofline.

It felt like a punch to the gut. My neighbors were all safe, but the idyllic tree-lined neighborhood might never be the same. The home where we celebrated birthdays and holy days with friends and family had suffered such a shocking blow.

The Gateway city has gotten more than its fair share of extreme weather. I wrote in these pages a few years back, when the same home was knee-deep in flood waters and whole neighborhoods in Metro East were made swampy with sewage overflows.

As St. Louis cleans up the rubble of collapsed churches, blown out storefronts and tree-crushed homes, I worry that the recovery may be more complicated as the Trump administration eliminates federal programs that track the damage and fund resilience to deal with extreme weather events.

Missouris lawmakers in Washington need to answer some hard questions about whether they support policies being moved in the Capitol right now. We should all be asking:

Do you support the elimination of key weather forecasting capacity from the federal government?

Among the many impacts of misguided DOGE cuts that have hollowed out numerous federal agencies are the significant loss of staff at the National Weather Service. It may have impacted the warning and response to the deadly Kentucky storms this weekend. Do members of Congress really believe that eliminating services like this that the public rely on is a good example of efficiency?

The current administration has been slow or refused to dole out emergency relief funds to states and communities that are not politically aligned. The administrations hesitancy to declare federal disaster emergencies in Arkansas, California, West Virginia and Kentucky delayed help in those places. The response to St. Louis situation in the week after the tornado was similarly slow. Is that OK?

Programs designed to harden our infrastructure and make communities better prepared for extreme weather like flooding, hurricanes and tornadoes are being cut left and right. Arent those exactly the kinds of things we should be investing in as extreme weather events are on the rise?

If not, do our representatives think Missourians should be going it alone as they clean up from this storm and the ones that may follow?

As insurance premiums rise or become unavailable, as is happening in many places across the United States, will Missouri step in to help fix and bring resiliency to our infrastructure? Currently $13 million in FEMA resilient community grants for Missouri are on the chopping block, including more than $1 million for Joplin as it continues to deal with previous tornado damage.

Do you support the erasure of climate data and tracking of the cost of extreme weather?

The Trump administration has erased existing public climate data sets and stopped collecting data about air pollution. The administration will no longer track the costs associated with extreme weather linked to climate change, including storms like the one that raked St. Louis last week. Stopping that recordkeeping will certainly obscure the impacts and therefore stymie efforts to address climate change or fund the projects needed to fortify our communities from increasingly frequent extreme weather events.

Whatever you think is causing it, extreme weather is affecting more and more people. Whether its wildfires in New Jersey, heat waves in Seattle or flooding in Oklahoma, no area of the country is immune.

The administration recently sought comments from the public regarding the drastic cuts proposed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Thousands of people responded  the vast majority speaking positive about their interactions with FEMA and reinforcing the need for federal disaster assistance.

Yet policy changes and massively slashed budgets being advanced by Congress and the administration undercut the nations approach to disaster response. Will Missouri and other states be left holding the bag? Can they provide the services and assistance needed moving forward?

Over the weekend, I reached out to my neighbors to let them know they are not alone. I am sure it is cold comfort as some are forced to live out of their damaged homes with tarps for temporary protection.

St. Louis deserves a federal response that truly addresses its needs  both in this desperate moment and in the wake of future storms. Missourians should demand that of their delegation in Washington.
VALLETTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- A vibrant showcase of Chinese traditional arts, including music, dance, and puppetry, was held Saturday night in Zurrieq, western Malta, to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Dragon Boat Festival.

Also known as the Duanwu Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, it falls on May 31.

The cultural evening opened with a pipa solo titled "Dragon Boat" performed by Chinese artist Guo Mei. The classic piece, originating from the region located in the coastal area south of the Yangtze River, which is called "Jiangnan" in Chinese, depicts the joyful scenes of dragon boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Artists from the Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Centre brought a diverse range of performances to Maltese audiences, including a water sleeve dance that combined the grace of Chinese opera and dance, a martial arts demonstration, a traditional puppetry show, and bamboo flute music. A humorous dance titled "Tortoise Serving Tea," where a dancer mimicked a tortoise offering tea through expressive movements, drew laughter and applause from the crowd.

"Today is more than just an event -- it is a vibrant expression of the strong and growing ties between our peoples," Zurrieq Mayor Rita Grima said in her opening remarks. She highlighted the significance of the Chinese artists' visit, noting that it marked an important step in strengthening the friendship between the two countries. "It reflects the spirit of openness and cooperation that defines our partnership," she added.

"It was really nice -- the music, the dance. I liked them very much," said audience Madeline Mangion Galea, who told Xinhua it was her second time experiencing Chinese performances live. She expressed hope to see more such events in the future.

"The performances were amazing and impressive," said another audience Joseph Abela. A fan of martial arts, Abela praised China as a "great and beautiful country," adding, "Unfortunately, I haven't been to China yet, but I hope to visit someday."

The event was jointly organized by the China Cultural Centre in Malta, the Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Centre, the Western Regional Council Malta and the Zurrieq local council. 
Tom Cruise addresses the crew on the 1MC during a visit to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on March 3, 2023. (Samuel Wagner/U.S. Navy)



For fans of Tom Cruises Mission: Impossible series, the Pentagon can answer the incredulous question at the climax of its latest trailer: You gave him an aircraft carrier?

Yes, the US Navy and Air Force Special Operations decided to accept the mission: Help Cruises secret agent Ethan Hunt save the world. Or, at least make a movie about it.

For Paramount Globals The Final Reckoning, released Friday in the U.S., Cruise and the crew spent three days in the Adriatic Sea filming aboard the USS George H.W. Bush, a nuclear powered Nimitz-class carrier commissioned in 2009.

Its the latest cinematic incarnation of Cruises career-long affinity for the U.S. military and its aircraft (as well as doing his own stunts). Its also an example of the Pentagons willingness to showcase its hardware and martial might through a classic piece of American soft power, the Hollywood blockbuster.

The Pentagon has a long history as a supporting character, most famously the 1990 spy thriller The Hunt for Red October  the one where Scotsman Sean Connery plays a Soviet submarine captain.

Before getting on board, the Defense Department reviews scripts for accuracy and depictions of the military. (The Pentagon declined, for instance, to support Oliver Stones multi-Oscar-winning Vietnam War drama Platoon.)

The U.S. military also charges for equipment use, as well as transportation and lodging for personnel. For 2022s Top Gun: Maverick, for example, the Navy was paid as much as $11,374 an hour to use its F/A-18 Super Hornets  which Cruise couldnt control as he flew in the fighter jets backseat.

For The Final Reckoning, however, Paramounts reported blowout budget of $400 million got a break because the carrier and crew were already on scheduled training missions.

Most, if not all, of the aircraft time was logged as official training requirements, and therefore not reimbursable, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The cast and crew  including Cruise, co-star Hannah Waddingham and director Christopher McQuarrie  were ferried to the carrier aboard Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. MH-60S Seahawks, flown by the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5 based in Norfolk, Va.

While aboard from Feb. 28 to March 3, 2023, Cruise hosted a Top Gun: Maverick viewing in the ships hangar bay and visited with sailors, who had been deployed for about six months at that time, the Navy said in a statement Friday.

Given that we were on deployment, operational and safety plans were in place so that if called upon, we were ready to execute our mission on a moments notice, spokesman Lieutenant Commander Matthew Stroup said in the statement.

The crew also filmed flight sequences, a scene in the navigation bridge and Hunts departure aboard a CV-22 Osprey tiltroter aircraft, from the 352nd Special Operations Wing out of Souda Bay, Crete, which was on a joint training exercise with the carrier group.

The film supplemented the already scheduled training and did not interfere with any requirements, said Air Force Special Operations Command spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Rebecca Heyse.

The USS Hyman G. Rickover, a Virginia-class attack submarine, also makes a cameo, shot off the coast of Massachusetts. The interiors, however, were pure Hollywood: stage sets and actors for sailors. They did, however, have the help of a Navy representative and a retired submarine commander as a technical adviser.

Being able to namecheck an aircraft carrier that youve actually filmed on lends a dimension of accuracy to the film that elevates it, Paramount said in a response to questions, referencing a scene where Cruises Hunt specifically requests the Bush carrier. The

Pentagons support lends authenticity to the military involvement necessary to help Ethan Hunt accomplish his mission.
Staff Sgt. Joshua Rux of the U.S. Army Europe and Africa Band and Chorus plays taps among the grave markers at the Somme American Cemetery, May 25, 2025. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)



BONY, France  The commander in charge of Army operations in Europe led Memorial Day tributes Sunday at the Somme American Cemetery, where some of the first American troops to die in combat on European soil are buried.

Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, said that although the nearly 1,850 soldiers interred at the site died more than a century ago, their service must never be forgotten.

Honoring their sacrifices reminds us that freedom isnt free and that the American soldier will go and fight wherever, and whenever, their nation calls, Donahue said.

Soldiers with the Armys 7th Engineer Brigade salute in front of the memorial at the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France, May 25, 2025. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)

Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, salutes during a Memorial Day ceremony at the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France, May 25, 2025. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)



The event was one of about two dozen held in Europe over Memorial Day weekend at cemeteries run by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

More than 100,000 Americans who fought in both world wars are buried at ABMC sites in Europe beneath white crosses and Stars of David  enduring reminders of the sacrifice that helped secure the Continents freedom.

French and American officials were joined by British and Australian representatives at the ceremony, where several wreaths were laid. French soldiers stood in formation, and a U.S. Air Force contingent that included members of the Ramstein Air Base honor guard participated.

An Army formation from the 7th Engineer Brigade, based in Ansbach, Germany, and part of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command based in Kaiserslautern also took part.

Being in the military, recognizing that there were those who gave their ultimate sacrifice for love of the country and the defense of the nation and our allies, its definitely something that we all feel connected to because we have all sworn to uphold that same oath and take it to that ultimate level if need be, Army 1st Sgt. Issac Turrentine said.

Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, shakes hands with a young French flag bearer during a Memorial Day ceremony at the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France, May 25, 2025. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)

Nearly 1,850 U.S. soldiers killed in World War I are buried beneath white crosses and Stars of David at the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)

U.S. airmen wait to conduct a ceremonial firing during a Memorial Day ceremony at the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France, May 25, 2025. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)



The 14.3-acre cemetery features rows of white headstones like other ABMC sites. A massive bronze door with an American eagle leads into the chapel, whose outer walls contain sculpted pieces of military equipment and bear the names of 333 missing soldiers.

They are among more than 20,000 missing U.S. service members memorialized at ABMC sites in Europe. A rosette  a small bronze circular marker resembling a flower or laurel wreath  is placed beside a name when a missing service members remains are identified.

Sundays ceremony came about a week before the start of the annual D-Day commemorations in nearby Normandy, which mark the World War II Allied landings of June 6, 1944.

Though World War II is widely remembered as a fight against tyranny and Nazi oppression in Europe, World War I occupies a more complicated place in public memory.

The United States remained neutral for nearly three years, reluctant to become entangled in a distant European conflict that many Americans saw as not their fight.

But by early 1917, German submarine attacks on American ships and the infamous Zimmermann telegram  in which Germany proposed a military alliance with Mexico  forced a reckoning. On April 6, 1917, Congress declared war.

President Woodrow Wilson framed the decision as a moral imperative: to make the world safe for democracy.

By the time American troops began fighting in the Somme region, it had already been devastated by years of trench warfare. The 1916 Battle of the Somme resulted in more than 1 million casualties and is considered one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

Airmen with the Ramstein Air Base Honor Guard participate in a Memorial Day ceremony at the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France, May 25, 2025. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)



The American cemetery in Bony contains the graves of U.S. soldiers who fought in the final offensives of the war, mainly in September and October 1918, during the assault on the Hindenburg Line  Germanys last major defensive position  while serving under British command. Others fell near Cantigny, the site of the first major American-led attack of the war.

The operations marked the emergence of U.S. forces as a serious presence on the Western Front.

When we visit these cemeteries, or any of the American cemeteries in Europe and Africa, its not just a history lesson; its a deeply moving experience that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and paid the ultimate sacrifice, Donahue said. Its a sacred reminder that as Allies, we have a collective duty to transform, adapt and innovate ahead of war to ensure we dont repeat the experience of the First World Wars trench warfare.

By the end of World War I, about 116,000 U.S. troops had died.

Last year, approximately 3 million people visited ABMC sites worldwide, including 1.5 million at Normandy American Cemetery. In 2024, about 700 visitors came to Somme American Cemetery, an increase of 200 from the year before.

By continuing to honor the fallen, we perpetuate their legacies and pass on to future generations an understanding of the collective sacrifice required to safeguard our freedom and prosperity, said Stephen Munro, superintendent of the Somme American Cemetery.
The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) trains horses on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)



WASHINGTON  The horse-drawn caissons of the 3rd Infantry Regiment that have carried the caskets of deceased service members to gravesites at Arlington National Cemetery since 1948 are scheduled to formally resume service on June 2 after a two-year suspension over concerns for the herds health and welfare.

Major reforms to the caisson detachment have been undertaken since two sick horses were euthanized because of colon impaction, the Army said.

The caisson program has been overhauled with a focus on increased training for the soldiers, improvements to facilities and upgraded equipment, said Maj. John W. Strickland.

Caisson funerals will be limited basis to two per day and up to 10 per week. This is not the same program. It has been completely rebuilt, Strickland said.

The caissons are horse-drawn wagons primarily used in funerals. Pulled by six horses and three riders, they serve as dignified transport for the flag-draped casket in funeral processions.

Staff Sgt. Alexis Horta walks past Lance, a Percheron-breed horse, on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Arlington, Va., as the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) trains horses used to pull military caissons during funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Staff Sgt. Alexis Horta cleans the stall of Kennedy, a Percheron-breed horse on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)



Being the first team back to the cemetery is a significant occasion, but I am confident we will carry out the mission flawlessly, said Staff Sgt. Alex Horta, a squad leader in the caisson detachment.

In May 2023, the Army canceled the iconic horse-drawn funerals, after an internal investigation revealed poor living conditions for the animals, malnourishment and a lack of open space for the herd, according to Maj. Gen. Trevor Bredenkamp, commander of the Army Military District of Washington.

Horses had been confined to small lots littered with debris and manure. They were fed low-quality hay, and some ingested sand and gravel.

Caisson-pulling military horses were dying in 2022 because of the Armys failure to provide proper food, veterinary care, pastureland and stables for the herd, said Rep. Morgan Luttrell, a Texas Republican and Navy veteran who grew up on a horse ranch.

Our caisson platoon should be the most elite organization of its kind on the planet, Luttrell said.

Before the pause, some of the horses were working 45 days straight although they were supposed to get two weeks of rest after 14 days of work, the Defense Department said.

Formalized more than 75 years ago, the tradition of horse-drawn funeral processions is one of the most iconic pieces of U.S. military history, serving as the mounted escort to our nations fallen, according to the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington.

In April, the Army announced plans to resume the caisson program after redesigning it. After careful consideration and coordination, we are pleased to reintegrate the caisson conveyance into funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery, a solemn and revered tradition, said Karen Durham-Aguilera, executive director of Army National Military Cemeteries.

When service resumes, horse-drawn processions will be limited to service members killed in action, Medal of Honor or Prisoner of War Medal recipients, senior noncommissioned officers (E-9), senior warrant officers (CW-5) and senior commissioned officers (O-6 and above).

In December, Congress passed the Honoring Our Heroes with Dignity Act as part of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which included funds to update historic stables at Joint Base Meyer-Henderson Hall. The legislation also mandated standardized training and certification for riders.

Training has also shifted from impromptu methods to a structured pipeline, the Defense Department said.

Caisson soldiers must have about 20 weeks of training, beginning with basic rider instruction to advanced training in Ocala, Fla., before they assume their roles within the unit. Before the pause, training lasted for about eight weeks, Strickland said.

Sgt. Damien Copeland cleans around a horseshoe on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)



The chance to work with the horses every day and the honor of escorting our nations fallen to their final resting place with them had me intrigued, so I decided to try out, said Sgt. Damien Copeland, who joined the Army in March 2022 and was assigned to the caisson program after basic training. Less than 12 of us made it through to make it into the basic horsemanship training program to have the chance of graduating and working with the horses.

Renovations underway at the stables include increasing stall size, enhancing the footing in and around the stalls with rubberized pavers, improving the ventilation system and rebuilding paddocks.

From the caissons to the saddles, aging and worn-out equipment has been replaced. A new caisson, designed by the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, uses modern materials to reduce the wagons weight by more than 1,000 pounds, the Army said. Earlier versions of the wagon weighed 1 tons.

The herd size is about 50 horses, and the Army is looking to procure additional horses to build more squads, Strickland said.

Many of the horses are Percheron, a breed with a large frame and calm temperament. Each squad consists of 11 horses  seven horses for the team and four that serve in a backup capacity, he said.

The program previously had about 60 horses. About 50 were retired to farms across the country, Strickland said.

Those that served 10 years or more or that were over a certain age were retired, he said.

The horses live and train at the Nova Equestrian Center in Loudon County, Va. The quarters provide the space and training facilities necessary to keep the herd healthy and fit, Strickland said.

Squads rotate to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia for specialized training then return to the 50-acre equestrian center, where there is grazing land.

The 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) trains horses on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

The 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) raise their fingers mimicking a statue they pass on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. The regiment believes it is bad luck not to point their fingers up while passing the statue. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

The 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) prepares to train horses on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) trains horses as they pass the Tomb of the Unknown Solider on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Pfc. Joshua Allen attaches a bridle onto Cincinnati, a Percheron-breed horse on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Following a training ride, Spc. Dylan Braden is all smiles as he leads his horse back to its stable on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Following a training ride, Cpl. Dylan Lee holds the lead as Spc. Dylan Braden hoses down Cincinnati, a Percheron-breed horse on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Following a training ride, Cpl. Dylan Lee uses a sweat scraper to dry off Cincinnati, a Percheron-breed horse, on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Arlington, Va. The sweat scraper removes excess water from the horses coat after being hosed off. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Pfc. Vadrick Donsbach, left, and Spc. John Hinderer apply leather conditioner to saddles following a training ride on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)



Going forward the squads will have a dedicated work-to-rest cycle where we will stable the horses here on Fort Myer for two weeks with a two-week period at the [equestrian center] for rest and reconditioning, Strickland said.

Army officials said they consulted with world-class equine experts as they rebuilt the program over the past two years.

They included David OConnor, an Olympic equestrian; Chester Weber, an equestrian athlete with a background in horse driving teams; and Jim Westbrook, who has extensive experience as a trainer in horse-driving competitions.

The caisson detachment maintains a support staff and command team reporting directly to the regimental commander, supplemented by civilian trainers and veterinary professionals, the Army said.

Horta, who joined the caisson program in 2024, said he settles for nothing less than perfect execution for himself and the caisson detachment he leads with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment.

We get to do our mission every single day. The biggest difference is that we have to get it right every time. Every family deserves a perfect ceremony, and thats what we try to provide, said Horta, who has served in the Army since 2017 with deployments to Germany, Poland and South Korea.

With a greater emphasis on training and education, the Army is reexamining rotations so service members dont have to exit the program after achieving proficiency.

There is no formal length of time a soldier serves in the caisson detachment, but we are actively pursuing options to retain soldiers longer, Strickland said.

One of the first things Horta said he learned after joining the caisson detachment was the importance of predictability, routine and a calm presence for horses and the riders.

After spending eight years in the Army, I was very accustomed to saying commands a certain way. Here, its completely different. Most of the commands are subtle hand gestures and head nods, Horta said.

Sgt. Natalee Silva nuzzles Goose, a Percheron-breed horse, on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)



Sgt. Natalee Silva said maintaining ceremonial composure is critical to the role.

Being a part of this regiment teaches a lot of discipline and attention to detail, said Silva, who joined the Arizona National Guard as a truck driver and later served on the border with Mexico.

I signed a new contract to become an infantryman shortly after I left the border mission and went active duty. After going through OSUT I was stationed here at Fort Myer, Silva said, referring to One Station Unit Training, which is 22 weeks of training for recruits at a single base. She tried out for the caisson program in 2023.

Mornings start just after dawn for the caisson detachment. Responsibilities include general care for the horses, cleaning and maintenance of equipment and other requirements in and around the barn.

From Day 1 we are taught everything that it takes to care for and work with the military horses, Copeland said. Our basic horsemanship training taught us about groundwork, proper riding, the caisson mission and understanding the feel of the horses and their mannerisms.

Although several of the caisson soldiers have prior experience handling horses, it was not an initial requirement, Strickland said.

My grandfather owns a ranch, and my father was a team roper growing up so I was sometimes around horses as a kid, Silva said.

When I was 12, my family bought a small plot of land in north Texas, Horta said. Thats where my passion for horses began. Shorty after that, I spent every day after school in the saddle, riding my own horses and helping neighbors condition theirs.

The caisson detachment recently provided ceremonial services to honor former President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 29.

It was a prideful moment working the state funeral. It was an honor for my team and I to accompany President Carter one last time through Washington, D.C., Horta said. Above all, we are extremely proud of the horses ability to maintain composure and feel comfortable among the large crowds.

The Army acknowledged the achievement of transforming the program over two years.

A 77-year legacy was reformed and revitalized. This brought forward a tradition of honoring American service members in line with modern science, and creating programs, partnerships and practices that would allow caisson to sustain itself well into the future, the Army said in a formal statement.

Horta has been in the process of reviewing the horses and riders in their various positions, a final step in preparation for the official return to Arlington National Cemtery.

We prioritize our horses, Horta said. My team and I ensure we maintain a safe and habitable environment fit for the horses to feel comfortable. We coordinate training with other platoons on base to prepare ourselves and the horses for highly prestigious missions and honoring our nations fallen.
Afghan refugees evacuated from Kabul board a bus after arriving at the Al Udeid military base in Qatar on Aug. 31, 2021. (Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post)



The Trump administrations move to end deportation protections for wartime allies who fled to the United States after the fall of Afghanistan has infuriated veterans of the 20-year conflict there, who say the U.S. government is betraying a sacred promise made to some of Americas most vulnerable partners.

This month Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem announced the administrations termination of temporary protected status, or TPS, for Afghans, exposing thousands, potentially, to deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as soon as July, when the policy is to take effect.

The fear, veterans and other advocates say, is that anyone who returns to Afghanistan will almost certainly face reprisal by the Taliban, the extremist militant group that in 2021 overran the U.S.-trained Afghan military and toppled the government in Kabul.

If they attempt to deport the Afghans, youre going to see actual physical conflict between veterans and ICE, predicted Matt Zeller, an Army veteran who became a prominent advocate for Americas Afghan allies after his interpreter saved his life.

Advocacy groups estimate that about 10,000 Afghans in the United States have been dependent on TPS while they navigate the lengthy and complex process for obtaining permanent residency, a process made all the more difficult, they say, by the absolute chaos that defined Afghanistans collapse  and by the guidance they received from the U.S. government while trying to escape.

By declaring his intent to end these protections, President Donald Trump risks alienating a key demographic  veterans of the war  at the same time he seeks to court them politically. His administration has intensified its scrutiny of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and demanded accountability for 13 U.S. troops and an estimated 170 Afghans killed in a suicide bombing at Kabuls airport as the evacuation, hastily orchestrated by the Biden administration, raced to a tragic end.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Since returning to office, Trump has moved with speed and severity to eliminate legal immigration pathways, particularly humanitarian protections for those who fled crises abroad. In announcing an end to Afghans TPS, the administration said there have been notable improvements in Afghanistan under the Talibans authoritarian rule  a claim the Afghans advocates call fundamentally wrong.

To me as a veteran, thats incredibly offensive, said Andrew Sullivan, a former infantry company commander in Afghanistan who works with No One Left Behind, a veterans nonprofit that helps resettle Afghans and Iraqis who risked their lives to serve the U.S. government during its post-9/11 wars.

Sullivan, who last year addressed a Republican-led congressional hearing focused on Taliban reprisals, said he has met with Afghans who were attacked or tortured because of their U.S. affiliation  including one who is now a paraplegic. The Trump administrations assessment of the safety conditions in Afghanistan, he said, is laughable.

If there was ever a country that deserves TPS, Sullivan insisted, it is Afghanistan.

An international watchdog, Human Rights Watch, wrote in its 2025 report on Afghanistan that the situation there has worsened over the past year as Taliban authorities intensified their crackdown on human rights, particularly against women and girls. More than half the population needed urgent humanitarian assistance last year, the group found, including nearly 3 million people who faced emergency levels of hunger.

CASA, Inc., a national immigrant rights organization, has sued the Trump administration over its decision to end Afghans TPS, arguing that Noem, as homeland security secretary, failed to follow statutorily mandated notice procedures and callously endangered thousands of people living and working lawfully in this country. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, where the case will be heard, has set an expedited schedule.

The wars deadly endgame has been fiercely politicized. Trump tirelessly attacked President Joe Biden over the scenes of violence and despair that marked the two-week retreat from Kabul. In turn, Biden and his aides faulted Trump, who in his first term as president struck an exit deal with the Taliban that Biden maintained he was forced to carry out. Various investigations have determined that both administrations  and the two that came before them  each made costly mistakes.

Many Republicans who took part in the frantic effort to rescue Afghan allies now echo Trumps skepticism about the evacuees.

Since the FBI arrested an Afghan evacuee last year on charges he was planning an Islamic State-inspired Election Day attack, Trumps backers and fellow immigration hard-liners have argued, without evidence, that a broader swath of the evacuee population poses a threat to U.S. national security.

Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), an Army veteran who lost both legs in an explosion while serving in Afghanistan and who convened last years House hearing on Taliban reprisals, said he sees a stark contrast between Afghans who worked directly with U.S. forces  who he said would not be affected by the TPS termination  and those who did not.

Theyre not one in the same, Mast said in an interview. Theres people that maybe worked on a base, maybe they worked at [TGI] Fridays on a base as a waiter or something like that. That doesnt mean that they were out on missions with me, rolling people up, right?

The congressman said he was not immediately concerned that the Taliban might seek to execute or punish such people if they returned to Afghanistan. Ill think about how I feel about that, he said.

Shawn VanDiver, president and board chairman of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of groups that have worked to extricate and protect vulnerable Afghans, said he was appalled by what he called the political amnesia of those such as Mast. It was only last year that the congressman sounded the alarm about what might happen to Americas Afghan allies if the U.S. government failed to keep its promises to protect them.

These are real lives, not talking points. And the idea that a cook, a janitor or a mechanic at Bagram [air base] deserves less protection than a combat interpreter is both morally bankrupt and strategically foolish, said VanDiver, a Navy veteran. The Taliban doesnt do performance reviews. They dont check resumes. They kill people for being associated with us.

These are people whose only crime is having lived, learned or worked in the United States. And now, with TPS terminated and no viable pathway forward, they face an impossible choice: return to persecution or risk deportation from the very country they trusted, he said.

Many of those who escaped Afghanistan were simply lucky enough to make it through the panicked crowds thronging Kabuls airport as the Taliban closed in and began meting out violent retribution to those suspected of working with the United States, or with the Afghan government that Washington had supported.

Tens of thousands of other Afghans, who advocacy groups said were eligible for the Special Immigrant Visas reserved for those who served the U.S. mission, were left behind. Others who made it onto evacuation planes were separated from young children, their spouses or their parents, and have sought to bring them to the United States in the years since.

For veterans of the war who say their survival depended on the relationships they built with Afghan partners, Trumps abrupt cancellation of deportation protections is a deeply, bitterly shameful slight. Some devoted considerable time and personal expense to help evacuate and resettled their former Afghan partners during Kabuls collapse.

Advocacy groups such as No One Left Behind say they continue to urge members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to intervene. But the GOP, which holds majorities in the House and Senate, has yet to demonstrate an appetite to challenge a president who is so determined to lock down U.S. borders and ramp up deportations, no matter the means  and no matter the potential cost.

The Afghans plight gained some attention during a recent Senate hearing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire), the Senate Foreign Relations Committees top Democrat, appealed for clarity on Trumps plans. Americas Afghan allies, she said, have been stranded in Qatar and Albania, and Pakistan and Afghanistan, she said. Is this administration going to allow them to come to the United States as promised?

Rubio was vague in his response, citing an ongoing review. We are determining, he said, whether we are properly vetting people.

Advocates say the Afghans dependent on TPS include womens rights activists, journalists, humanitarian workers, and former members of the Afghan military and government who are ineligible for Special Immigrant Visas because they did not work directly for the United States. But even for those who are eligible, obtaining them has been extraordinarily difficult because many  at the urging of the Biden administration  sought to evade Taliban detection as they fled and destroyed documents showing their U.S. affiliation.

Some of these are our closest partners, people that actually worked with us and for us, that are simply using the TPS program because that was the only option, said Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a former Army Ranger who fought in Afghanistan and was among the U.S. lawmakers who rallied to help when the evacuation was declared.

If theyre sent back to Afghanistan, Crow said, it would be a death sentence for them.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has departed on a significant six-day visit to Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Iran and Tajikistan on Sunday. The prime minister is scheduled to arrive in Istanbul via a special aircraft. He is accompanied by a delegation that includes Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi.

This multi-nation tour is expected to focus on strengthening bilateral ties and discussing regional issues.

During the visit, the prime minister will have wide-ranging discussions with the leaders of these countries on an entire range of issues covering bilateral relations and matters of regional and international importance, said the PM Office Media Wing in a press release.

The premier, during his visit to these countries, will have the opportunity to express the deepest appreciation and acknowledgement for the support extended to Pakistan by the friendly countries during the recent standoff with India.

He will also attend the International Conference on Glaciers in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to be held on 29-30 May.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had reaffirmed his countrys unwavering support for Pakistan, assuring Islamabad that Turkey would, God willing, stand by Pakistan in both good times and bad.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan announced full support and strong solidarity with Pakistani government and people, despite boycotts by India, while Iran had extended offer to mediate and de-escalate tensions between Pakistan and India, which spiraled into worst fighting in decades.

According Foreign Office press release, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation on Saturday with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

During the discussion, both leaders reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral relations and exchanged views on regional and international developments. They also spoke about the forthcoming visit of PM Shehbaz to Azerbaijan.

It is pertinent here to mention that Pakistan has launched a diplomatic campaign to discuss with its friendly countries about Indias aggression towards Pakistan on unfounded allegations of the latters involvement in the Pahalgam attack.

At least 26 people were killed in the April 22 attack on tourists in the scenic part of IIOJK, Pahalgam. Following which, India immediately blamed Pakistan for the attack without providing a shred of evidence corroborating the claim, which has been denied by Islamabad, and launched a series of small cross border attacks before launching missile strikes inside the country.

This led to a short-lived battle between the nuclear-armed neighbouring countries, which finally stopped through intervention of the United States, as asserted by US President Donald Trump.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto will lead a high-level delegation comprising key parliamentarians to global capitals to present Pakistans case at the international level after the recent Pakistan-India conflict.

In a meeting with PM Shehbaz on Friday, the PPP chief thanked the premier for trusting him with this diplomatic task and entrusting him with the leadership of the Pakistani delegation.

I hope that under your leadership, this delegation will present Pakistans position and narrative to the world in a comprehensive and effective manner, the prime minister said.
ISTANBUL, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met on Saturday in Istanbul to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments, the Turkish presidential office said.

The closed-door meeting lasted for an hour and a half, according to a statement by the office.

The statement noted that this marked al-Sharaa's first visit to Turkiye following the decision by the United States and the European Union to lift sanctions on Syria earlier this month.

Erdogan expressed Turkiye's satisfaction with the start of the sanctions being lifted and underscored the importance of preserving Syria's territorial integrity. He stressed that unified governance of both the country and its military is essential for long-term stability.

Al-Sharaa conveyed his gratitude to Erdogan for his support and efforts in the lifting of sanctions.

Erdogan emphasized that bilateral relations and cooperation between Turkiye and Syria will continue to grow in all areas, particularly in energy, defense, and transportation.

During the meeting, Erdogan further stated that Israel's occupation and aggression on Syrian territory are unacceptable, affirming that Turkiye will continue to oppose such actions. 
Truck driver who buried wifes body under stairs claims he never intended to kill her

Besotted and possessive Richard Satchwell kept his wifes decaying body buried under the stairs in their Youghal home for six-and-a-half years.

Satchwell didnt take the witness stand during his four-week trial at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of his wife, Tina, which has now finished hearing evidence.

While he never spoke, the jury was able to listen to recordings of him explain his version of how, in March 2017, Tina met her fate, during Garda interviews played in court.

But Tinas voice was not heard at any stage during the proceedings before the 12-member jury.

The Satchwells earlier in their relationship

Instead, there were glimpses of her personality and details of how she led her life from people who knew her.

Her cousin and half-sister shed tears as they described Tina and told the court of their contacts with Richard.

Called as a defence witness, Lorraine Howard explained how she and the victim were half-sisters who grew up across the road from each other in Fermoy, Co Cork.

Three years younger, Lorraine said they were close and spent a lot of time together and described Tinas shock when discovered the person she thought was her mother was in fact her grandmother.

Tina resented what she saw as being given up at birth and it led to several screaming matches between the girls.

Tina Satchwell

Emotional at times as she gave her testimony, Lorraine agreed as well that she had described her as high maintenance when it came to clothes.

The relationship with Richard she said was odd and she didnt like the way he called Tina his trophy wife.

Lorraine Howard was the last of the 57 witnesses who gave evidence in the trial.

The day before, Tinas cousin Sarah Howard took the stand where she too became emotional as the jury watched her in a Prime Time interview from 2018 when there were still hopes Tina was alive.

In that TV interview Sarah told how the disappearance was tearing their family apart and questioned the fact that a person could just disappear without someone knowing what happened.

From the witness box, she told how Tina would spend time with her, bring her down town and brought her as a child to get her ears pierced.

She agreed with defence counsel Brendan Grehan that it was a favourite auntie thing.

An outgoing fashion lover, Tina was never without her dogs and was in great form when Sarah last saw her in December 2016.

Lorraine Howard said Tina was high maintenance

After her disappearance Ms Howard was one of a number of witnesses who heard from Richard about how Tina had left, taking 25,000 savings and had been violent towards him.

She also told the court how she thought it was strange when, a few months later, Richard offered her a chest freezer  because she said he wasnt the type to give away anything.

Sarah recounted how one day he charged her children 50c each when they chose a nail varnish and CD from his car boot sale stall.

At the time, she didnt know this was the unplugged chest freezer in which Richard had stored his wifes body before burying her in the makeshift indoor grave.

Like Lorraine, Sarah had never witnessed Tina being violent.

The woman Richard had told gardai was Tinas best friend, Angela Sheehan, told how the pair were just acquaintances, someone she knew from the sauna at Fermoy swimming pool.

Ms Sheehan said she never saw Tina again after the Satchwells moved to their new home in Youghal in 2016

A car boot sale shopper, John Keohane, whose wife had known Tinas family in Cork, told how when he had joked that she must be seeing a man, Tina told him that that there was only one man for her and that she loved Richard.

Prosecution counsel Geraldine Small said Satchwell was conniving

Afterwards, when he met Richard alone at another car boot sale, he was told that Tina was a street angel and a house devil who had slapped him and knocked teeth out.

His own impression of her was that she was a lovely woman who dressed well, and he told Richard he didnt think she could hurt a child.

On Friday, counsel for the prosecution, Geradine Small, took off the gloves as she made a closing statement to jury.

She told the jury: This is a case that is screaming out for your common sense.

Satchwell, she said, was brazen, shameless, conniving and calculated as he sought to give the impression he was wife was still alive.

Richard Satchwells tears on RTEs Crimecall when his wife Tina was already dead

She highlighted the evidence where she said Satchwell had lied and distracted to create an impression Tina was depressed and violent.

He kept up the false narrative right until the body is discovered, but cant remember exactly how Tina had died.

Ms Small pointed out how he remembered making special breakfast with grapes, mandarins, apples and yoghurt but not how close his hands were to Tinas throat as he fended her off with a belt.

A self-serving arch-manipulator he didnt offer details of how Tina died, she said, because he didnt want to be caught out.

His defence counsel Brendan Grehan told the jury that Richard Satchwell caused his wifes death, buried her, and told lies knowing they were hurting those who knew her.

Theres no doubt hes guilty, but guilty of what?

In a Garda interview, Satchwell was told that Tina could not have died the way he described, but no expert witness was asked if his version was in fact possible.

Mr Grehan pointed out to the jury that pathologist Maragret Bolster, the woman who carried out 30,000 post-mortems wasnt asked the question.

He said there was no evidence of intent to kill or to cause serious harm  an ingredient of murder that the prosecution have to prove.

The jury was reminded by counsel that they are High Court judges and have to be cold and clinical as they assess the evidence to reach a verdict.

Before the jurys deliberations begin, the trial judge Paul McDermott will summarise the evidence and explain points of law when proceedings continue on Monday.

News in 90 Seconds - May 25th 2025
Vladislavs Jukums, 28, of Highfield Crescent, Swords, Co. Dublin, was arrested on Friday and charged with motor theft, two counts of burglary, and criminal damage on May 23 in his locality

An alleged burglar stole a car from a house and mounted a footpath as young children were going to school in Dublin before crashing into a signpost, a court was told.

Vladislavs Jukums, 28, of Highfield Crescent, Swords, Co. Dublin, was arrested on Friday and charged with motor theft, two counts of burglary, and criminal damage on May 23 in his locality.

The father of one appeared before Judge Catherine Ghent, who set his bail at 300, requiring a 100 lodgement from him and approval of a 500 independent surety.

However, she stipulated that the bail, with various conditions, including a curfew and a bar from returning to Swords, cannot be taken up until he gets an appropriate new address.

Judge Ghent remanded him in custody to appear again next week.

Garda Shane Murphy told a contested bail hearing at Dublin District Court on Saturday that at just 7.41 am, he responded to a vehicle driving recklessly and dangerously in Applewood estate, Swords.

On arrival, he said, he saw a 2022-reg Toyota C-HR driving at speed with a flat tyre. Garda Murphy said that he activated his lights and sirens to indicate this vehicle to stop, but the Toyota continued at speed towards the patrol car before it "mounted the kerb and drove along the footpath to evade gardai".

The court heard that pedestrians and young schoolchildren had to move to avoid being struck.

The car still failed to stop for gardai and subsequently lost control and crashed on the roundabout at the end of Brackenstown Road, Swords, Co. Dublin, where it hit a signpost on the footpath with pedestrians present.

Garda Murphy alleged the accused was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, which was confirmed to have been subject to an unauthorised taking during a burglary at Castleview Park, Swords, Co Dublin.

Judge Ghent was told the owner woke to a man entering her bedroom before taking her car keys.

It was claimed that the accused carried out a second burglary at nearby Ashton Broc, Swords, Co. Dublin on the same date. The accused attempted to break into the front door of the address by smashing a rock several times against the glass pane of the front door, causing damage. The accused allegedly walked towards a vehicle and attempted to smash the front driver's window with a rock.

According to the garda, the accused then walked around the side of the house and gained access to his address through the back door, but nothing of note was removed from the address.

The garda raised concerns that unemployed Mr Jukums was not residing at his stated address, his mother's home and that he was staying with his partner, who lived close to the two burgled houses.

Defence solicitor Carol Slattery queried whether young children would have been on their way to school at the time, and the garda contended that it was in a built-up area where people started early.

The solicitor stressed that Mr Jukums, who has yet to enter a plea, had the presumption of innocence and could face a lengthy period in custody on remand while the Director of Public Prosecutions prepared the case. Ms Slattery said her client would obey strict conditions.

The accused, who is on social welfare, was granted legal aid. The judge warned him that he must sign on at his new local garda station when he is released, provide gardai with a contact phone number and have no contact with witnesses.

Dublin District Court

News in 90 Seconds - May 25th 2025
The court was told Frank Gaynor, his wife Sylvia, and four of their family may have seen what was coming down the track when they failed to appear

A Dublin family linked to 26 previous personal injury cases now face a bill for legal costs of up to 150,000 after a judge threw out six new claims for damages against a motorist.

The Circuit Civil Court was told Frank Gaynor and his wife Sylvia, both aged 60, and four of their family may have seen what was coming down the track at them in their latest cases claiming up to 360,000 in damages when they failed to appear for the hearing.

Barrister Paul McMorrow told Judge Christopher Callan that none of the six, who allege they suffered whiplash injuries in a rear-ending traffic accident seven years ago, had turned up to advance their cases and had been earlier been directed by the court to decide whether they were going ahead with them.

Mr Gaynor and his wife, of Drishoge Manor, Oldtown, Co Dublin, had led objections in October last year to their solicitor being allowed to pull out of their case due to a breach of trust. But they have not been seen in the Circuit Civil Court since.

Their solicitor had felt unable to successfully challenge a full defence that had been entered by Allianz, insurers of motorist Brien Stenson, of Carrs Mills, Donabate, Co Dublin, who the Gaynors were claiming had rear-ended them.

Their daughters Nicole (35) and Jazmin (33), together with brothers Frank Junior (33) and Reece (21) had joined their parents in claims for up to 60,000 damages each arising from the accident near the Hilton Hotel on Malahide Road in April 2018.

Mr McMorrow, who appeared with Karen Cahill of Nathaniel Lacy solicitors, told the court that the defendant wanted all of the Gaynors to prove every single allegation they had made in their personal injury claims.

Counsel said Mr Stenson and his insurers alleged that the extent of their injuries could not possibly have arisen from such a collision as had occurred.

He told the court that, despite not having appointed new solicitors, the family would be capable of representing themselves because they were well acquainted with legal proceedings, having been linked to 26 previous claims.

The defendant wishes to have a court order that these proceedings be brought to an end today, Mr McMorrow said.

The Gaynor family has been given a fair chance and had been advised they could appoint new solicitors but have not done so.

Judge Callan said the court noted the cases had been set down for trial on May 7 last and that there had been no appearance at that time nor again today when the case had been put in for mention to see whether they intended to proceed with the prosecution of their claims.

He dismissed every claim brought by the Gaynors and made orders for legal costs against each one of them.
Ms Justice Denise Brett ruled that the garda or any garda witness in the case cannot be identified

A garda who was shot in the leg when his sub machine gun discharged after it is claimed it snagged on his bullet proof vest has sued the State in the High Court.

Ms Justice Denise Brett ruled that the garda or any garda witness in the case cannot be identified.

The garda has brought an action against the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General.

The gardas ankle was shattered after he claimed he was required to manoeuvre himself within the confined space of a patrol vehicle and the safety selector switch and the trigger of his firearm were caused to snag on his bullet proof vest and the gun discharged one round.

In evidence the garda told the court he never experienced pain like it and he nearly passed out.

The Four Courts in Dublin. Photo: Collins

In the proceedings it is claimed that there was a failure to provide him with a safe place of work and he had been caused to carry his firearm in close proximity in a confined space while wearing alleged inappropriate personal protective equipment.

His counsel Liam Reidy SC instructed by Brigid ODonnell solicitor told the court that liability was admitted in the case but initially there was a full denial of liability and allegations of contributory negligence were made against the garda that he had been the author of his own misfortune. This, counsel said was distressing for the garda and he could not believe it.

In his evidence the garda who was in the Force over 15 years at the time of the incident said he had in July 2019 been on patrol with colleagues in an area where there had been serious incidents including shootings.

He said he was the driver of the jeep and he was wearing a bullet proof vest and had a pistol in a holster and a sub machine gun in a sling around his neck pointing down.

He said he turned around to check the back seat when his sub machine gun discharged.

I felt immediate excruciating pain and I saw smoke from the weapon and blood squirting up to the seat, he said.

He added: The pain really kicked in ; it was so bad, I nearly passed out . I never experienced that type of pain, he said.

He said his colleague made his weapons safe and he was brought to hospital.

The ankle was shattered . I remember the doctor saying my leg was a mush before I went into surgery, he told the judge.

.The bullet had gone through the back of his left leg and ankle joint and his left ankle had shattered. He had to have surgery and later physiotherapy and he was out of work for 18 months after the incident.

The garda told the court he did everything he could to build up his leg afterwards  but the pain never really left.

He had further surgery to the ankle in January this year and he told the court he is still in pain and he lost a lot of muscle mass in his leg and he will have to build his leg back up again.

The Garda told the judge he did everything in accordance with procedures in relation to the handling of his firearm. He said he prided himself in relation to safety with firearms.. He said he was devastated when the claims of contributory negligence were initially made by the State parties.

The case continues.

Stock photo

News in 90 Seconds - May 25th 2025
Clejan and Doroscan had previously assaulted Mr Ilyas with various weapons, including a hammer, causing the injuries that led to his death

Four men have been convicted of offences arising out of the "inhumane" murder of Mahamud Ilyas, after a jury convicted a 21-year-old of impeding the apprehension of two drug dealers who beat the victim to death for stealing a bag of cannabis.

Lorenzo Cantaragiu drove Mr Ilyass murderers Viorel Doroscan (23) and Otrniel Richardo Clejan (24) to a wooded area in Co Meath where the two killers left Mr Ilyas (22) for dead.

Clejan and Doroscan had previously assaulted Mr Ilyas with various weapons, including a hammer, causing the injuries that led to his death.

Lorenzo Cantaragiu has also been convicted of cleaning the car to impede the prosecution of Doroscan and Clejan, knowing or believing that they had caused serious harm to Mr Ilyas.

Robert Burns (59), who lived at the apartment in Verdemont in Blanchardstown where the assault took place, was initially charged with six counts of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Clejan and Doroscan.

A little over one week into the trial, Burns pleaded guilty to one offence of cleaning the apartment at Verdemont on December 9, 2022, knowing or believing Clejan had committed serious harm there. The prosecution indicated that the other charges will be dismissed at a later hearing.

The Central Criminal Court jury returned unanimous verdicts on the four charges against Cantragiu on Friday afternoon.

The panel of seven men and five women rejected the defence case that Cantaragiu had feared for his life and had acted reasonably given the "intimidating and terrifying" circumstances in which he found himself.

They had deliberated for a total of four hours and 58 minutes.

Viorel Doroscan and Otniel Richardo Clejan.

Mr Cantaragiu did not react as the verdicts were delivered. He later bowed his head and wiped his eyes.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt thanked the jury for the hard work and commitment they put into this case and the important contribution they had made in this very sad and very difficult matter.

He exempted each of them from jury duty for 30 years.

After the jury delivered its verdicts, Jane Murpy BL, prosecuting, made an application for Cantaragiu to be remanded in custody ahead of a sentencing hearing on June 23.

Michael Lynn SC, for Cantaragiu asked that his client be granted bail, highlighting the fact that Cantaragiu is a 21-year-old man with no previous convictions.

After considering the matter, Mr Justice Hunt said the defendant had been involved in the disposal of a man who was very badly wounded, at best. He said to treat another human being in this manner was grotesquely inhumane and Mr Ilyas had literally been left for dead.

He remanded Cantaragiu in custody to June 23 and directed the preparation of a probation report.

Mr Ilyass body was discovered in a wooded area at Belgree Lane in Co Meath on December 10, 2022.

The 22-year-old died from blunt force trauma to the head. Assistant State pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster told the jury that the deceased sustained depressed fractures to his head, which were "typical of hammer blows".

It was the States case that Doroscan and Clejan were involved in the sale and supply of drugs and that they beat Mr Ilyas to death after a row over a stolen bag of cannabis.

Victim Mahamud Ilyas.

Cantaragiu, of Castlegrange Park, Blanchardstown, had faced four charges of impeding the prosecution or apprehension of Doroscan and Clejan, while knowing or believing them to have committed the offence of causing serious harm to Mr Ilyas. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

He was accused of impeding the prosecution by driving Doroscan and Clejan to Belgree Lane in Co Meath, where Mr Ilyas's body was found in a field the following day.

It was further alleged that Cantaragiu cleaned his car to impede the prosecution.

Defence counsel Michael Lynn SC had argued that Cantaragiu believed he was at risk and had acted reasonably given the "intimidating and terrifying" circumstances in which he found himself.

He reminded the jury that Cantaragiu told gardai that Doroscan and Clejan had threatened to kill him and he saw no way to escape.

Cantargiu had told gardai that he feared that "bigger criminals" or drug dealers would come after him and he was worried for his family.

When interviewed, Cantaragiu said that he drove Doroscan and Clejan to an area in Hollystown where they took the body out.

Thats the last time I seen them with him. I last seen him when he was headfirst in the ditch and I helped him up. He was breathing, because I heard his gasps. I left after that and never went back, he told officers.

During the trial, the jury viewed CCTV footage from Verdemont in Blanchardstown on December 9th showing two people wearing dark clothing carrying a red object which contained the victim.

Read more Two men convicted of murdering Mahamud Ilyas after row over stolen bag of cannabis

A BMW driven by Cantaragiu then exited the car park and travelled towards Kilbride, Co Meath, before returning at 4.18pm from the area where the deceased was found.

At 4.29pm, Cantaragiu entered the Circle K at Mulhuddart, where he purchased cleaning products. Less than a quarter of an hour later, Cantaragiu met with an individual at Circle K, Coolmine to sell the BMW.

In his closing address to the jury, Eoin Lawlor SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said that Cantaragiu had known Doroscan and Clejan had brought a body down to the car, so he had known that the offence of causing serious harm had been committed.

Counsel said the CCTV footage showed that Cantaragiu arrived at the apartment at 3.46pm, but the body was not brought to the car until 3.53pm, with the boot of the car open for a long time.

He said Cantaragiu had time to weigh the significance of what was being asked of him, but it was clear he intended to assist. Counsel said Cantaragiu later sold his car, as he knew that the car had become a crime scene.

Doroscan, of Bay Meadows Square, Hollystown, West Dublin, and Clejan, with a former address at Verdemont, had both pleaded not guilty to Mr Ilyas's murder on December 9, 2022 but were unanimously convicted by the jury on Tuesday.

The 12 jurors rejected the defence case that the two men had acted in self-defence after they claimed Mr Ilyas came running into an apartment with a weapon and threatened to kill them.

Witness Vlady Ndosimau previously told the trial that he barged through the door of the apartment after hearing a loud banging noise. Inside, he said he witnessed Mr Ilyas sitting on the floor, with his back against a radiator, looking as if he had been beaten and with blood coming from his nose. His hands and feet were tied using a rope or a zip tie and he was moaning while Clejan and Doroscan shouted at him, the witness said.

Doroscan, holding a fruit knife, stood between Mr Ilyas's legs while Clejan stood close to his head with a hammer in his hand, the witness said. Doroscan, he said, kept on shouting "where is the stuff" while Mr Ilyas responded by "groaning and groaning".

Mr Lawlor told the jury that the use of a hammer was the modus operandi for conflict resolution employed by Doroscan, while the appalling, callous way in which the victims body was disposed of indicated his co-accused's part in the joint enterprise of the murder.

During the nine week trial, the jury viewed footage of a Snapchat video on Doroscans account that showed a man lying on the ground, face up, with visible blood on his face and a large blood stain on the wall behind him.

The short clip showed the video-taker moving in closer to the head of the man on the floor and video-takers shoe can be seen briefly. Detective Inspector Liam Donoghue said the shoe matched those worn by Doroscan on the same day.

Metadata from Snapchat showed that the clip had been taken at 2.51pm on December 9, 2022 in Verdemont estate in Blanchardstown.

Doroscan and Clejan have been remanded in custody and will be sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment at a sentencing hearing on June 23 when members of the victim's family will be invited to make Victim Impact Statements.
Jamie Murray (30), who also goes by the name Jamie Kinsella and has an address at St Ronans Park, Clondalkin, is facing multiple charges

A man accused of leading gardai on a high-speed chase in a hijacked milk delivery van with the driver's daughter still inside was unable to appear before the District Court today due to hospitalisation, as his legal team sought access to photographs of his injuries taken on his admission to prison.

Jamie Murray (30), who also goes by the name Jamie Kinsella and has an address at St Ronans Park, Clondalkin, is facing multiple charges including the unauthorised taking of a vehicle, assault and dangerous driving following an alleged incident in Citywest in the early hours of May 12.

At Cloverhill District Court today, defence counsel Alexander Langan MacDonnell BL told Judge Alan Mitchell that his client was currently receiving medical treatment.

Judge Mitchell agreed to remand Mr Murray in custody until June 4, saying that a longer-than-usual adjournment was permitted due to the medical certificate provided.

Mr MacDonnell also requested that photos taken of Mr Murrays injuries on admission to Cloverhill Prison be released to the defence solicitor. The solicitor had written to the prison service seeking the images, but the request had been refused, the court was told.

Judge Mitchell said he did not have the authority to compel the prison service to release the photos, stating they were not directly relevant to the immediate charges before the court.

I dont think I have the jurisdiction to direct the prison service to furnish anything. I can only recommend, he said, adding that the issue could become relevant later if a complaint is made or if the legality of the arrest or detention is challenged.

Stock photo

News in 90 Seconds - May 25th 2025

Garda Conor Lavin previously told Tallaght District Court that the charges relate to an incident that occurred around 3am on May 12, when two men approached a milkman during deliveries at Carrigmore Crescent, Citywest.

After the milkman refused to give them a lift, the men allegedly forced their way into the van - with one of the men reportedly brandishing a weapon - and drove off while the milkmans adult daughter, who had been working with him, was still in the back of the van.

The woman, who is in her 30s, later jumped from a side door of the moving vehicle on Cheeverstown Road. Gardai chased the van for around 20km before it crashed into a ditch near Glencree, Co Wicklow.

Mr Murray was arrested at the scene, the court was told.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.
Legal aid was granted to Theresa Cassidy (48)

A woman in her 40s is to stand trial accused of stealing over 170,000 from a county Monaghan childcare facility.

Theresa Cassidy (48) of Coolkill East, Ballybay, Co Monaghan appeared at a sitting of Monaghan District Court to face 24 counts of theft over the course of a near four month period in 2023 from Doohamlet Childcare Limited.

The charges allege that between June 30 and November 7, 2023, at a place unknown within the jurisdiction by electronics means from the bank account of Doohamlet Childcare Limited drawn at Bank of Ireland, Main Street, Ballybay, Co. Monaghan, Ms Cassidy stole 170,763.97 from the Monaghan childcare facility.

Theresa Cassidy (48) is to stand trial accused of 24 counts of theft that resulted in the loss of over 170,000 from a Monaghan childcare facility.

Ms Cassidy wore dark trousers, a white t-shirt and turquoise cardigan to court as she watched on from the rear of a congested public gallery when her case was called before Judge Raymond Finnegan.

Sgt Lisa McEntee, court presenter for the State, opened proceedings by revealing how directions obtained from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had consented for Ms Cassidy to be sent forward for trial to the Circuit Criminal Court.

Theresa Cassidy was remanded on bail to appear back at a sitting of Monaghan District Court in July for the anticipated serving of a book of evidence.

In noting how the case dated back to 2023, Judge Finnegan asked if the State was in a relatively advanced position to proceed with its prosecution.

Its been decided on and we just need the book of evidence as all 24 counts are going forward, replied Sgt McEntee.

Theresa Cassidy outside Monaghan Courthouse.

Judge Finnegan remanded Ms Cassidy on bail to a sitting of Monaghan District Court on July 14 for the anticipated serving of a book of evidence.

Legal aid was also granted to Ms Cassidy after her defence solicitor Niall Fox confirmed she was a suitable candidate for such an application.
Svitlana Karabudak (49) appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court

A woman who stole over 21,000 by using a friends card to draw down welfare benefits and using the money to travel to Turkey for weight loss surgery has been given time to repay the money.

Svitlana Karabudak (49) appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court before Judge John Aylmer charged with theft, forgery and deception offences relating to fraudulently claiming benefits.

Karabudak used her friends Public Services Card to draw down benefits from Bundoran Post Office.

The total loss to the exchequer was 21,416 and the amount was made up of one parent family payments, child benefit and back to school allowances.

The money was withdrawn weekly over the course of a year from March 2023 to 2024.

Karabudak, with an address in Co Cavan, was charged with a total of 42 offences, and on Thursday, she entered guilty pleas to seven sample charges.

She faced charges of theft relating to offences at the Post Office, West End Bundoran, did steal property to whit, the sum of 888 and 604, being a Department of Social Protection one parent family payment and child benefit payment, being the property of Department of Social Protection. The incident related to offences on November 9, 2023 and March 9, 2024.

She is also charged with deception by inducing the post office clerk to do an act, to whit, to pay her a Department of Social Protection one parent payment and child benefit payment in the amounts of 604 and 888, in the name of Liudmyla Rahimova, with the intention of making gain for yourself and causing loss to another.

She is also charged with forgery, contrary to section 25 of the Criminal Justice Theft and Fraud Offence Act 2001 by making a false instrument to whit, a post office signing docket in the name of Liudmyla Rahimova, and using the PPS number with the intention that it be used to induce another person to accept it as genuine and to do some act, namely payment of social welfare one parent family payment and child benefit payment in the name of Liudmyla Rahimova to the prejudice of that person or any other person.

Garda Paul Lynch gave evidence relating to the investigation and said gardai became aware of the incidents from the social welfare special investigations that Liudmyla Rahimova had been living at an address in Bundoran with her two children but had returned to Ukraine.

However, she was still in the receipt of social welfare payments.

An investigation was launched and documentation was received along with CCTV footage.

The court heard Karabudak and the woman had been friends before she returned to Ukraine.

The accused woman was identified and a search warrant was issued with gardai attending the property on March 18, 2024.

In the course of the search, the public services card was found in her bedroom along with 4,100 in 50 euro notes and receipts from her signing on in the incorrect identity.

The court heard the woman made frank admissions and outlined she had come to Ireland with her child, and she had remained here while her friend left.

Her friend left her PPS card behind and she began collecting the money.

The money collected relates to 17,056 in one parent family payment and a further 3,840 in child benefit payment, while a back to school payment of 520 was received.

The court heard the money was spent on going to Turkey for weight reduction surgery while she also spent money on an operation for her son.

The court heard Karabudak has no previous convictions.

Svitlana Karabudak.

News in 90 Seconds - May 25th 2025

Barrister for Karabudak Sean McGee, instructed by solicitor Rory OBrien, told the court his client was completely forthright and made full admissions at the earliest opportunity.

The court heard the defendant wanted to start a repayment plan as soon as possible and did not attempt to cast the blame elsewhere.

Mr McGee said his client said she was very sorry and regretted what she had done.

Karabudak is currently repaying the money at a rate of 100 a week and has repaid 3,556 so far.

Mr McGee said this money along with the 4,100 seized by gardai during the search left the outstanding balance at 13,760.

The court heard Karabudak had not come to adverse attention since the incident and gardai had no concerns in that regard.

The court heard Karabudak came to Ireland from Ukraine in 2022 due to the ongoing war and she is currently living in Cavan with her 18 year son.

Mr McGee said she lives an isolated life and her son suffers from epilepsy and other health issues.

Karabudak is now in full time employment working as a cleaner in a factory.

Letterkenny Circuit Court. Photo: North West News Pix

A probation and welfare report was before the court which detailed that Karabudak advised that her friend was unaware of the offending and it was opportunistic and an easy way to regroup money.

The court heard Karabudak had always intended to stop, but she became accustomed to the increase in money.

Karabudak was assessed as low risk of reoffending and deemed suitable for community service.

Mr McGee said the offence was not premediated but opportunistic and was difficult to stop once she had started.

Judge John Aylmer said Karabudak was repaying the money at a rate of 5,200 per annum with a view of the remaining amount being paid off in three years but added it was in her interest to accelerate repayments if she can.

Judge Aylmer questioned if Karabudak intended on staying in the country and was told she did.

Judge Aylmer said the best outcome would be the repayment of the money.

He said the offences would merit a custodial sentence and while he placed the offending at the lower end of the scale, he would be confident that two years in prison would be an appropriate sentence before mitigation.

He said he would give credit for her early guilty plea, her co-operation and her immediate efforts to repay the money.

Judge Aylmer said he would adjourn the case for 12 months to allow Karabudak time to repay the money.

He said if she wants finality in the matter sooner rather than later, she would need to increase the payments.

Judge Aylmer added if the money is repaid, the case could be dealt with by way of a suspended sentence or community service.

However, he added if money is not repaid, he will reconsider.

The case was adjourned for 12 months.
Kamil Scibior and spouse Edyta had cocaine, cannabis and meth stash in home & business

This is the high level drug dealer and his beauty salon owner wife who were caught with a stash of just under 230,000 worth of cocaine, cannabis and methamphetamine  concealed in their home and a storage room in the salon.

Kamil Scibior (42) gave our photographer the finger as we pictured him standing outside Carlow Circuit Court with his wife Edyta Scibior (37)  the owner of Home of Shellac in Carlow town  ahead of their sentencing in connection with the massive haul.

Kamil, who received a six-year jail sentence, and glam mum-of one Edyta, who received a suspended four-and-half-year sentence, were identified by gardai following a February 2023 operation targeting the sale and supply of cocaine in the Carlow district.

Giving evidence before Eugene OKelly on Friday, Det Garda Ian Roche of Carlow Garda station, led by prosecutor Niall Storan, confirmed he had applied for a search warrant for the couples home at Crossneen Manor, Graiguecullen on February 22nd 2003.

He agreed the basis for the application was information gathered during a months long operation.

As a result of inquiries, surveillance and intelligence, Kamil Scibior was identified as a man involved at a high level in the sale and supply of the drug, he said, adding gardai believed cocaine was being stored at the house in Crossneen Manor for sale and supply.

Edytas nail salon

He confirmed that a search was carried out at Crossneen Manor followed up by a search of Edyta Scibiors business premises House of Shellac on Dublin St Carlow.

He said drugs valued at 229,204.65 were seized during the two searched including cannabis valued at just over 58,000, methamphetamine valued at 50,000 and cocaine valued at just over 90,000.

The drugs found in the house were found in a downstairs utility room/toilet while the drugs at House of Shellac were in a locked storeroom.

Kamil Scibior was arraigned, the court heard, on July 22nd 2024 and pleaded guilty to possession of all the drugs for sale and supply at both premises under section 15a of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Edyta Scibior pleaded guilty to two section 15 drug offences in relation to the drugs found at the two premises.

Kamil Scibior and his wife Edyta on holiday

Det Gda Roche agreed it was during the follow up search at House of Shellac that he became aware that Kamil Scibior had presented himself at the public desk of Carlow Garda station.

He said Kamil was cautioned and arrested.

During interviews, Edyta Scibior told gardai she had been living in Ireland for 16 years and had set up her own salon four years earlier.

She said she lived at Crossneen Manor with Kamil, her 12-year-old son and his 12-year-old son from a previous relationship who resided with them on a week on week off basis.

She said both she and her husband were originally from Poland and confirmed she employed four women at the salon at a rate of 12 an hour but these women did not have access to the storeroom.

When she was asked about the drugs found at her home and business, she told gardai: I know nothing about that. Do you honestly believe I knew about that? You know me. I bring kids to school, I knew nothing about these drugs.

In his interviews, Kamil Scibior did make admissions, the court was told.

Asked by gardai what he thought had been found, he responded: Plenty of stuff, probably drugs!

Kamil Scibior shows off his manicure as he attends court with his wife Edyta

He claimed to gardai he had met a man on the street who handed him two boxes, one of which he brought home and one which he left at the business.

He claimed he didnt know the boxes contained drugs saying: I dont sell drugs.

Asked who the man was, Kamil responded that he had never seen the man before and didnt know who he was.

He said he had only become aware he was holding illegal drugs the day before when he got the smell of weed.

Asked whether Kamil had taken full responsibility for the presence of the drugs, Det Gda Roche said he had.

He also told gardai he doesnt sell drugs and his wife didnt know anything about it.

The court heard Kamil had two previous convictions for no insurance and failure to produce a driving licence.

Edyta Scibior also had two previous convictions for motoring-related offences.

Det Garda Roche agreed with Kamil Scibiors barrister David Bulbulia that his clients first contact with gardai was when he presented himself at Carlow Garda station and took full responsibility for the drugs.

He further agreed Kamil had followed this up with a guilty plea at his arraignment and that he had returned to Ireland and appeared in court each time his case was called despite his bail being varied on two occasions to allow him travel back to Poland.

Asked by Judge OKelly to again go over the background for the application for the search warrant, Det Garda Roche said this had occurred following an ongoing operation as well as enquiries and surveillance lasting a number of months.

Asked whether he had formed an opinion as to where on a hierarchical space in the criminal enterprise Mr Scibior was, Det Gda Roche responded, very high, Judge.

Asked about his opinion in relation to Ms Scibior, Det Garda Roche responded: I believe she was involved as well, Judge.

Outlining the contents of a probation officers report Mr Bulbulia noted his client had taken full responsibility, was deemed at low risk of reoffending and had a good work history having spent the previous 16 years working at a manufacturing plant in Bagnelstown.

He asked the court to depart from the minimum 10-year sentence.

Mr Aidan Doyle BL defending Ms Scibior, said the principal mitigation in his clients case was her guilty plea and the fact she came before the court with no relevant previous convictions.

He said the probation report reveals a stubbornness or unwillingness to accept her full involvement in this operation  she now fully understands that by owning two premises where there is a substantial amount of drugs in existence, you are in effect part of a drug operation.

He noted his client cared for two children, employed six people in her business and is currently developing a beauty product with the aid of the local university that is soon hoped to go on the market.

Handing down a sentence of six years to Kamil Scibior, Judge OKelly said he was deviating from the minimum 10-year-sentence as the defendant had no relevant convictions, had travelled to Poland twice and returned, had a good work history and had entered a plea of guilty.

Handing down a headline four-and-half-year sentence to Edyta Scibior, Judge OKelly suspended this in its entirely noting she was deemed at low risk of reoffending, the effect jailing her this would have on two 14-year-old children as well as the fact she owns a business that employs six people.

He ordered her to enter a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of four years and six months.

Kamil Scibior and wife Edyta

News in 90 Seconds - May 25th 2025
Judge throws out insurance claims totalling 360,000

This is the patriarch of a family linked to 26 previous compo claims who had a further six lawsuits totalling 360,000 thrown out of court this week and now faces potential legal costs of up to 150,000.

Plumber and taxi driver Frank Gaynor (60) agreed that 26 previous claims was a lot but said dont worry about it when the Sunday World asked him for comment outside his large gated property in rural Oldtown in north county Dublin.

A court heard this week that Gaynor, his wife Syliva (60) and four of their children were all seeking up to 60,000 each after claiming to have suffered whiplash in a traffic incident in Dublin in April 2018.

The family home sits on nine acres

All six failed to turn up in court to present their case this week after their solicitor came off record last year citing a breach of trust.

As a result, their case was thrown out and they now face significant legal costs which could total 150,000.

Asked if he wanted to comment on why he and his family dropped their cases, Gaynor said: No, youre grand. Good luck to you mate.

When our reporter said 26 previous claims was a significant number, Gaynor replied: Yeah, before adding, Dont worry about it.

When asked further questions, he said: Thanks a lot, before going in behind his electric gates at his impressive home in Oldtown.

Frank Gaynor outside his home in Oldtown, Co Dublin

The property, which is described as a manor, featured as the Sunday Times home of the week back in 2004 when it was on the market for 1.35m and was described as a substantial six-bed country house on nine acres offering a rare opportunity to acquire a fine equestrian property on the periphery of Dublin.

The Gaynors bought the home in 2008 and applied for planning permission that same year for a proposed new double storey extension to front, side and rear of existing dwelling  but the application was rejected as invalid.

The family also own other property around Dublin.

The Sunday World can also reveal that Frank Gaynor has had three judgements issued against him for monies owed to Revenue Commissioners since 2018. The first in August 2018 was for 11,439. The second, later that year, was for 5,873 and the most recent was last December for 12,098.

The Gaynor home was on the market in 2004 for 1.35m

Trinity Credit Union in Donaghmede, north Dublin, also secured judgements against Gaynor for monies owed in 2010.

The credit union and the Revenue Commissioners secured judgement mortgages for the monies owed  which is when a court order for monies owed can be converted into a mortgage registered against a debtors property.

Revenue secured their latest judgement mortgage registered against Gaynors property in March this year.

The family failed to appear at Dublin Circuit Civil Court on Wednesday, with the court hearing they likely saw what was coming down the tracks at them in their latest cases.

Barrister Paul McMorrow told Judge Christopher Callan that none of the six, who allege they suffered whiplash injuries in a rear-ending traffic accident seven years ago, had turned up to advance their cases and had been earlier directed by the court to decide if they were going ahead with them or not.

Frank Gaynor outside his home in Oldtown, Co Dublin

Frank Gaynor had led objections last October to their solicitor being allowed to pull out of their case, due to a breach of trust, but has not been seen in the Circuit Civil Court since.

Their solicitor had felt unable to successfully challenge a full defence that had been entered by Allianz, insurers of motorist Brian Stenson, Carrs Mills, Donabate, Co Dublin, who the Gaynors were claiming had rear-ended them.

Mr Stenson, whose wife was driving the car that day, told the Sunday World that they were happy with the courts decision,

This is going on seven years. There was a bit of stress involved [preparing for the case] and were happy with the outcome and relieved its over now.

The Gaynors daughters, Nicole (35) and Jazmin (33), together with brothers Frank Junior (33) and Reece (21) had joined their parents in claims for up to 60,000 damages each arising from the accident on Malahide Road just after the turn from the N32 in April 2018.

Frank Gaynor outside his home in Oldtown, Co Dublin

Evidence would have been heard in the case that it was the fourth accident the Gaynor family were involved in and around the same junction.

Insurers were prepared to give evidence that family members were also in another accident turning left from the Malahide Road toward Donaghmede. They were in another accident after a turn from the Donaghmede direction onto the Malahide Road and yet another accident coming up from Coolock on the N32 towards the Malahide Road.

Mr McMorrow, who appeared with Karen Cahill of Nathaniel Lacy solicitors, told the court the defendant wanted all of the Gaynors to prove every single allegation they had made in their personal injury claims.

Counsel said Mr Stenson and his insurers alleged that the extent of their injuries could not possibly have arisen from such a collision as had occurred.

He told the court that despite not having appointed new solicitors, the family would be capable of representing themselves as they were well acquainted with legal proceedings having been linked to 26 previous claims.

Judge Callan

dismissed every claim brought by the Gaynors and made orders for legal costs against each one of them.

Taxi driver Frank Gaynor

News in 90 Seconds - May 25th 2025
This photo taken on May 22, 2025 shows toys themed on the hit animated film "Ne Zha 2" at the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

This photo taken on May 22, 2025 shows a trendy toy displayed at a POP MART-themed tea restaurant at the Hong Kong exhibition zone during the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)

Visitors purchase products at the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 23, 2025. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

Visitors select blind boxes at the Chongqing exhibition zone during the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 22, 2025. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)

Visitors purchase products at the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 23, 2025. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

A visitor poses for photos at a POP MART-themed tea restaurant at the Hong Kong exhibition zone during the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 22, 2025. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)

Visitors take photos of trendy toys at the POP LAND of the Beijing exhibition zone during the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 24, 2025. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)

A staff member introduces trendy toys to a visitor at the Dongguan exhibition zone during the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 24, 2025. Currently, Dongguan produces over 80 percent of China's trendy toys. In 2024, the city was home to 160 large-scale enterprises involved in trendy toy production, achieving a total revenue of nearly 23.8 billion yuan (about 3.3 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of nearly 19 percent. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)

Visitors purchase Sanxingdui-themed products at the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 23, 2025. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

A visitor looks at an electronic sports-themed blind box at the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 24, 2025. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Xiao Ennan)

A visitor takes photos of a "Black Myth: Wukong" bust at the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 23, 2025. The 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair opened Thursday in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, offering an artificial intelligence (AI) exhibition area for the first time.

The five-day event is being held across eight exhibition halls -- three comprehensive spaces and five specialized areas. The specialized halls cover a broad array of fields, including international cultural trade, cultural tourism, art and design, film and gaming, and intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)
Former US Marine denies involvement and claims that he is being framed

An American who has identified himself as a suspect in the Michael Gaine murder investigation was refused asylum in this country and had been served with a deportation notification.

The revelation comes after farmhand and busker Michael Kelley made public his status as an asylum seeker earlier this week.

Mr Kelley, a former US marine, had sought asylum in this country over fears of unjust persecution in the US.

A source confirmed: The application for asylum was unsuccessful and a deportation notification had been issued.

Michal Gaine

A notification is not the same thing as a deportation order and is served at a much earlier stage when an individuals application for asylum is refused.

After a notification is served, the party concerned is still legally entitled to appeal the refusal of their asylum application. American citizens do not have an automatic right of residency in this country.

It was unclear yesterday when Mr Kelley was served with the notification.

Kelley, who has been put up in a short-let apartment in Tralee since he was moved off Mr Gaines farm in recent weeks, has been spending his days busking in the town.

Earlier this week, he publicly identified himself as a suspect in the killing and confirmed that he was the individual arrested by gardai on suspicion of Mr Gaines murder.

He denied any involvement in the killing and said it was his belief he is being framed.

Sources also said yesterday that DNA tests carried out on remains recovered from the slurry tank on Mr Gaines farm in Carrig East, near Molls Gap, had confirmed they are those of the missing 56-year-old.

Gardai searched Michael Gaines farm for what was originally a missing persons case

The family were informed of this development earlier in the week, our source said.

The last official sighting of Mr Gaine was when he bought phone credit in his local Centra shop in Kenmare on March 20 and it is now feared the tragic farmer was dead within hours of this sighting.

Sources also divulged that there are a number of developments ongoing in the probe.

Former US Marine Michael Kelley

Its understood gardai are in the process of conducting a full background check on the suspect and are examining his asylum application.

Mr Kelley was arrested on Sunday last, more than 36 hours after suspected body parts had been discovered in slurry being spread on Mr Gaines farm the previous evening.

Gardai believe Mr Gaine was dismembered after he was killed and that the body parts were dumped in a 50,000 gallon slurry tank on the farm.

The discovery of the remains in the slurry after it was spread over two fields on the farm has led to criticism in the local area of the initial stages of the investigation.

News in 90 Seconds

However, sources have rejected this criticism saying no one could have foreseen the possibility at the time the tank was initially drained that the farmers body had been so brutally dismembered.

When the slurry tank was initially drained and the solid waste was searched, this was a missing persons investigation and those involved were looking for a body.

No one had any reason to believe they were searching for body parts and human tissue.

Forensic and laboratory tests will now be central in determining the precise cause of death and how long the dismembered remains were in a slurry tank before being discovered.

Over the past week, several items on the farm, including a chainsaw have been secured by gardai and sent for forensic analysis.

The piece of land where parts of Michael Gaines body were discovered

Gardai had hoped that in the event the chainsaw was used to dismember Mr Gaine, DNA profiles from the killer and victim might be present. The results of these tests are not being released for operational reasons.

Searches this week also focused on a slatted shed unit, which allows waste to drain through to a collection tank.

The latest operations were supported by local, regional and national garda units, other emergency services and the Defence Forces.

Speaking yesterday, Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae said that people in the area remain hopeful and are praying the investigation is brought to a successful conclusion.

Obviously, people would have been happier if the remains had been found sooner but we cant turn back time.
The four members of the OBrien family of Tralee settled High Court actions over the incident

A toddler was extremely lucky he was not strapped into his buggy when a car on the Circuit of Kerry rally went out of control through a protective barrier and threw the buggy up against a wall, the High Court heard.

Jamie OBrien was watching the motor rally along with his parents and his sister at a church car park at Ballymacelligott, near Tralee, when the accident happened ten years ago.

He ended up covered in blood with lacerations to his face and head.

On Thursday the four members of the OBrien family of Tralee settled High Court actions over the incident.

Their counsel Padraig McCartan SC told the court Jamie who is now 12 was extremely lucky he wasnt strapped in the buggy at the time of the accident on April 19,2015.

He said the boy has been left with scars on his head and over his eyebrow. The boy settled his legal action for 75,000.

The Four Courts in Dublin. Photo: Collins

Jamies sister Megan, who is now 17, was seven years old at the time was also injured and had to be airlifted to hospital.

Counsel said the girl was standing holding her fathers hand when the car struck her and drove her back into the corner of the car park wall.

Counsel said her parents thought their daughter was dead and she had multiple injuries and was airlifted to Cork University Hospital.

She was in ICU and had to have four different surgeries. Her injuries included a large degloving injury to her ankle along with leg and rib fractures and knee and shoulder injuries.

She was in hospital for about a month. Megan, who counsel said had now made a full recovery, settled her action for 250,000.

Jamie and Megan along with the their parents Olivia and Alan OBrien had sued the driver of the car David Murphy, Coole West, Athea, Co Limerick, along with Tralee Autosports Co Ltd, trading as Kerry Motor Club with registered offices at Knockmoyle, Tralee and Motorsport Ireland with offices at Dawson Street, Dublin and Kerry County Council.

Mr Justice Paul Coffey was told that the actions brought by Mr and Mrs OBrien had been settled and could be struck out. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

It was claimed there was a failure to ensure that adequate safety mechanisms were in place on the circuit rally route and were such that would prevent injury to the spectators.

There was also an alleged failure to satisfactorily assess the adequacy of the position of the barriers and their distance from the route so as to ensure that any spectators watching from behind those barriers would be safe from danger.

Stock photo

News in 90 Seconds - May 25th 2025

It was further contended there was a failure to ensure the event was adequately marshalled.

There was also an alleged failure to prepare or implement any or any adequate safety plan.

All of the claims were denied and it was denied that the car was being driven otherwise that in a manner that would have been expected at or as part of the preparation of a stage of a motor rally event on a closed road..

Noting the adult settlements, Mr Justice Coffey also approved the 75,000 and 250,000 settlements for Jamie and Megan and said they were fair and reasonable. He wished the family well for the future.
Mullingar woman Dympna Little has grown an army of online fans for her darkly funny skits, but tells Deirdre Reynolds its not all about clicks

Dympna, aka dimplestilskin, received an outpouring of love after her mum Lily died in December

Her Instagram spoofs touch on absolutely everything from GAA to grief - so Dympna Little has to laugh that her most watched video to date is about her recent practical decision to have her lip filler dissolved.

People are so invested in the lips, she laughs.

I dont know why theyre so interested.

I paid for it, but I said to the doctor that was doing it, I might just record a bit, people are obsessed with these f**king [lips]. I bet theyll be sharing, Oh, she got the lips dissolved.

I looked yesterday  I think it was over a million views!

In fact, since sitting down with Magazine+ this week, the characteristically honest video has been watched 1.2m times, and counting.

Then again, it is her lippy brand of comedy that has turned the dental nurse from Westmeath into an online sensation in the space of a few short years.

Better known as @dimplestilskin on Instagram, shes gone from sharing funny skits with just a few family members on WhatsApp to growing an online fanbase of 224k people all over the world with her distinctly Irish gallows humour.

It blows my mind, begins Dympna, who still works in a dental practice. Its crazy.

To be honest with you, I always thought if I just got 10,000 followers that was really good, and I was on 10,000 for about three years [on TikTok], the darker humour was better accepted over there. I slowly started posting onto Instagram, then it just kind of blew up.

Dympna with her mum Lily

People are very nice to me out and about. Theyll come [up] and tell me, line for line, a video that I made years ago; Im going, Im just so happy that you got the joke!

So, like, I appreciate people following me, but the number doesnt really affect me any more  if 50 people think the video is funny, Im happy.

Despite her massive following, unlike many online personalities, Dympna has chosen not to plug products on her page, giving her the freedom to skewer influencer culture, as with her breakthrough video in 2023, which she recalls going viral for all the wrong reasons.

It was me making fun of people who record themselves [giving money to] homeless people, its not a good deed if youre recording yourself  kind of along those lines.

I had just come back from having eye surgery in Turkey, so my face was quite swollen, so I looked like a f**king monster, she jokes. Everyone was sharing it like, Oh my God, what is that? All the comments were like, Whats wrong with your face?

In the beginning, I was like, I dont know if Im able for this.

Then I was like, dya know the way every town has a looper, and they shout mad things at you for no reason walking by? You wouldnt start crying because they said it to you.

No matter what you put up, someones going to say something bad about you, she adds. It doesnt affect me anymore, not at all. You do develop a very thick skin.

Far outweighing that nastier side of finding Insta fame, in any case, is the virtual hug of support she felt from her followers after the death of her mother, Lily, aged 69, to cancer in December, shares Dympna, who is now also using her platform to petition the Irish Government to pay a 500 wig grant directly to oncology patients, rather than hairdressers.

By the thousands and thousands, she says of the kind responses that flooded in to her emotional videos about missing her mam, not to mention the funny ones about dealing with doctors or country funerals. Very similar stories just going, I know how you feel, and theyll kind of tell me stuff about their mam as well.

Sometimes I do burst out crying, and I have to stop and try [to] record again. Then when I post it, I go, Oh God, I was crying on the internet, thats embarrassing.

Dympna, aka dimplestilskin, received an outpouring of love after her mum Lily died in December

News in 90 Seconds - May 25th 2025

You do feel very vulnerable  but its just grief in real time, I suppose.

There was a lot of people who felt like they kind of got to know mammy during [her illness], and mammy knew them. They were all lighting candles for mammy  she was so grateful.

When she died, it felt like I had this hug from everyone, and it was nice.

I know people give out about social media and everything, but it can be a good way of just venting the everyday stuff, she continues.

Sometimes you feel like, Im definitely the only person that feels this, theres something wrong with me. Then someone goes, Thats how I feel, and they often describe it better than I can, and you dont feel as alone with things.

Now, as well as cutting back on filler, Dympna is cutting back on the filters too, feeling more comfortable in her own skin on social media and beyond.

Extremely painful, she describes reversing the cosmetic injectable she got eight years ago. My lips just shrunk down to nothing, they were like a cats arse, where it [temporarily] dissolves all your own [hyaluronic acid] as well, so it takes a while for them to come back.

I was blessed with big lips anyway, so I dont know why I got lip filler, if Im honest with you  I should have just left them alone. I knew they were ducky looking, and then when I got online, people were like, Oh my God, your lips  you look like a duck!

But then people moved on  no one really mentions it anymore, so I was like, OK, now its time, because I was too defiant to do it when they were at me about it.

For a long time, when I started making the videos, I was too conscious of myself so I was using filters, she says. In my head, I felt like there had to be some sort of separation between me and the video. Im probably a bit more myself [now] than the early days.

One thing that wont change, the Mullingar native promised, should she realise her dream of making a career out of comedy, is her truth (and, indeed, F) bomb-dropping style.

My brain is always in video mode, Dympna says of getting inspiration from the most irrelevant thing. Im lucky that way, I never have to sit down and think of a video.

I mightnt think of one for days, and Im like, Oh thats it, all the videos are gone, Ive no more ideas, ever  and then the next day I could have 12 ideas.

Often to the peril of family and friends, she laughs: It happens all the time [where] people are like, Dont make a video out of that... as if I would!
A Tauranga man who gave two decades of his life to the Royal New Zealand Navy in the 1960s and 1970s has been honoured this week for his contribution with something quite novel.

William John Newell  or Scouse to his mates  was presented with an Anzac quilt by Tauranga woman Cheryl Farrow at his Papamoa home on May 19, surrounded by friends, family, RSA members and fellow veterans.

Newells Navy story began when he signed on at age 17 to serve his country and expected to return home after a couple of days.

Instead, he ended up serving 20 years around Southeast Asia on 12 of His Majestys New Zealand Ship (HMNZS) ships and at the Irirangi, the Navy base radio station near Waiouru.

I enjoyed most moments, and I made some great mates, Newell said. I was what they call a ships technician. I looked after all the electronics.



William Newell with his Anzac quilt. Photo / Ayla Yeoman

Newell was the only technician on the ship, so he had a rifle but was not required to be on the upper deck, he said.

Our main job was to stop the trade between Indonesia and Malaysia. We did patrols up the Malacca Strait.

Newell worked as a patrol sailor and a ship technician during the nine months he served on the Malacca Strait. The rest of his time was spent at the Irirangi as a radio mechanic at the radio station that managed overseas communications, he said.

After being discharged from service on July 26, 1980, he worked as a technician for Fonterra before retiring with wife Margaret in Tauranga more than 20 years ago.



Sheryl Farrow, Margaret Morunga, and William Newell. Photo / Ayla Yeoman

He has previously been awarded with the New Zealand Operational Medal, the General Service Medal Borneo with Malay Peninsula Bar, the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, the Defence Service Medal and the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal for his contribution.

The 82-year-old said he was honoured to receive the quilt designed with New Zealand patterns and a Navy symbol from Farrow, who had discovered a similar tradition overseas and adapted it for Kiwi servicemen here in the Bay of Plenty.

So far, she has gifted 200 quilts to deserving servicemen.
Kurt Thomson is easy to spot when hes training for his upcoming charity walk. Hes the one pounding the pavement wearing a pair of gumboots.

The Papamoa resident wants to raise $6000 for the I Am Hope Foundation by traipsing more than 600km around Tauranga during October-November this year in the heavy rubber boots.

Last year, 617 New Zealanders sadly took their own lives, so Ill be walking more than 600 kilometres in gumboots for them, said Thomson.

I helped out with the Gumboot Friday event at the Mount last year, and this year I wanted to do something bigger to get some attention and raise as much money as possible.

The charity resonates with Thomson, whos had his own battle with depression.

A couple of years ago I was in a dark place, he said, recounting that it was a 2am call from a friend that pulled him through.

He stayed on the phone with me until the sun came up.

It was a horrible feeling so thats why I want to make this walk harder by wearing gumboots. It represents peoples struggles with mental health.

The original idea was to walk 600km from Auckland to Wellington, starting this October and finishing on November 7, which is Gumboot Friday.

I hadnt taken into account the motorways, said Thomson.

As a result, his new plan is to walk the 600km  still all in gummies  in his home city of Tauranga from October to November 7 this year  by traipsing an average of 30km a day for 21 days.



Kurt Thomson is going to pound 600km of Tauranga pavement in October-November, for the I Am Hope Foundation. Photo / Bob Tulloch

Already there have been people reaching out wanting to join me for parts of the walk, so Ill be posting my starting point each day. It would be cool to have some company.

With an estimated six hours a day of walking in store, Thomsons support crew will have plenty of plasters on hand to combat blisters.

And therell be plenty of foot massages, too.

Thomson said the walk also represents the way back to mental health wellness, by taking it step by step.

When things werent going well, I remember thinking that it cant get better, said Thomson.

Youve got to remember that nothing lasts forever  even if you break it down to getting through hour by hour.

One day at a time is all you need to do in those dark moments because tomorrow is always a new day. If I can raise some money to help people struggling, that would be really great.

To donate, visit: givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/618-reasons-to-keep-going
Improving mental and physical health and creating a sense of belonging, Te Puke Menz Shed is more than just a workshop.

Its the life skills, opportunities and meaningful connection that brings the men back to the shed week after week.

Te Puke Menz Shed is a fully equipped wood working workshop for men over 60 to participate in projects, repairing and making goods for themselves and the wider community. The shed offers men a welcoming space to share their skills, have a laugh, and work on practical projects, both individually and as a group.

Its an initiative that started in Australia in the 1990s and had a worldwide community. Menz Sheds can be found all around New Zealand, with 10 sheds throughout the Bay of Plenty. Established in 2017, Te Puke Menz Shed has more than 35 members.

With a focus on all things wooden, projects are wide ranging from crafting new items, to repairing furniture and restoration projects. Timber toys are thoughtfully crafted with care and donated to organisations such as the Salvation Army which gives them to families in need.

Creating bespoke outcomes to suit their unique need, members work closely with schools, daycare centres, kindergartens, churches, community centres, the general public, councils, and environmental agencies.

Current president Kevin Heath said that working directly with the local community means the men could use their skills to support them with custom, hand-crafted solutions.

Whether they need rat traps made for pest management, or play equipment for a local school, the men take immense pride in their work.

Being a part of the shed is a lot of fun and it is great to see new faces join us, especially when they are younger than most of us. Its our hope that they will carry on building the future in this special place.

The shed provided a true sense of purpose for its members, with the friendships formed supporting their mental and physical wellbeing. Addressing mens health issues was a core objective of the Menz Shed movement, where there were opportunities for health providers to come and korero with the men in an environment where the men feel comfortable.

When I first joined the shed, I did so because I enjoy working with my hands and making stuff, however I have since learned that the shed is not about woodwork, it is about maintaining mens wellbeing in their retirement years and wood working is just the mechanism by which we do that.

TECT Community Trust granted more than $7000 to the shed in 2024 for replacement and purchase of woodworking equipment. This included a new wall saw which has made it easier to take on larger projects.

TECT trustee Greg Brownless said that as a community-focused hub, the Menz Shed served its members and the wider community in a practical and positive way.

Empowering these men through providing a safe and social environment has significant impact on their wellbeing through their retirement years. The connection between members and that to the community is having a wonderful impact and we are proud to support the shed to grow and continue to contribute.

Visitors were welcome at The Shed at 48 Cameron Rd, Te Puke. It is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am to 12pm.

To learn more about the shed and how to become a member to broaden your skills and help the community, email tepukemenzshed@gmail.com or check out its Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MenzShedTePuke/
Blood cancer patients, advocates and doctors say the lack of new funding for medicines in the Budget locks in four more years of "denied access and patient harm".

There was a huge public backlash after last year's Budget failed to include promised funding for more cancer drugs, forcing the government to subsequently announce an extra $604 million for Pharmac over four years.

However, Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand, the Blood Cancer Alliance, and the Cancer Society said while the government was "re-celebrating" last year's announcements, that money was already allocated, which meant there was no money for new treatments.

In a joint statement, they have called on the government to clear Pharmac's "backlog" of unfunded medicines.

Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand chief executive Tim Edmonds said only 180 blood cancer patients benefited from last year's funding boost - less than 1 percent of all New Zealanders living with a blood cancer.

"This Budget was a chance to deliver on promises to improve access to cancer medicines but once again, blood cancer patients have been left behind.

"For many patients who had hoped for good news today, waiting another year may simply not be an option."

A letter to the government in March, signed by more than 50 haematologists, raised concerns about how funding was being prioritised by Pharmac and described the situation as a "fundamental health policy failure".

They warned of eroding trust, low morale, and avoidable deaths due to delays in funding clinically proven medicines.

One of its signatories, consultant haematologist Rodger Tiedemann, said New Zealand languished at the bottom of the OECD for access to modern medicines.

"It's clear from Budget 2025 that we were ignored. When did it become okay for the New Zealand government to overlook the needs of New Zealanders with blood cancer?"

Every year approximately 2800 people are diagnosed with blood cancer in New Zealand, and there was currently no way to prevent or screen those cancers.

Cancer Society chief executive Nicola Coom said medicines were the primary treatment option for them.

"This growing group has been left behind again. Relying on private fundraising and GoFundMe campaigns is not a solution.

"New Zealand must do better and fund blood cancer medicines. This budget has let this group down."

Otaki resident Rob Crozier, 77, was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) at 54.

Now 77, he is still paying $13,000 a year for health insurance, which pays for unfunded drugs approved in New Zealand.

"But that's not an option for everyone, and I don't know whether they actually still offer that kind of insurance."

He was at Parliament for Budget Day as a trustee of CLL New Zealand, having lobbied for years for better funding for treatments.

"I was corresponding with the previous Health Minister Dr Shane Reti, who said he was waiting for the Cancer Control Agency report on availability of blood cancer medicines, which came out last year.

"So we had hoped for even a modest increase in funding, but we've been disappointed again."

Crozier said the unequal treatment of blood cancer patients compared with patients with solid tumours was particularly unfair given the lack of alternatives.

"You can't treat leukaemia with surgery or radiation, which are options for other cancers, it can only be done with medicine.

"There are all these fantastic new medicines out there, but you can only access them if you're super rich. And I'm not super rich."
It wont be enough.

That is the reaction from one Bay of Plenty meal provider after the Government gave community foodbanks $15 million for a year in the Budget.

Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upton said the $15m will be managed by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), the New Zealand Food Network and partner agencies.

This will support the work of the Food Network, regional food hubs and community food providers, as they jointly distribute more than 4.5 million meals a month.

The $15m will go towards national and regional food distribution infrastructure, food security initiatives that increase community food resilience and self-sufficiency, and help providers buy and distribute food.

It follows earlier funding.

Love Soup Kitchen, a not-for-profit based in Rotorua, provides free, health-focused meals for the elderly, families and children.

Manager Julie King said the money could have a real impact, especially if it was distributed fairly and reached frontline organisations.

Any funding that helps us keep up with demand is a lifeline.

King said Love Soup was remaining realistic with the growing demand it is experiencing.

Were seeing growing demand at our community pop-ups, especially from families struggling to keep up with rising grocery costs.

Each pop-up attracted 100 to 400 people.

Love Soup Kitchen manager Julie King (left) says demand is growing at its community pop-ups. Photo / NZME

Demand is overwhelming, we are constantly needing more kai, more storage, more hands and transport.

The funding will help but it wont be enough to meet the full scale of need across Aotearoa.

She said the challenges go beyond food alone and she would like to see long-term investment in food-rescue infrastructure, transport solutions and support for volunteer-driven organisations.

While its a positive step, its not a full solution.

Tauranga Community Foodbank general manager Nicki Goodwin said the news was so unexpected.

It does show the good work thats been done by some national groups that connect with the central government.

She said these groups were getting the chance to share a clear picture of food insecurity.

Voices are being heard, so thats positive.

Goodwin said she did not know what the funding would mean for her organisation or how it would be distributed.

If we assume they are going to share some funding with us, then the security that gives us to know the support were giving will be able to continue without draining community resources and funders is important.

Tauranga Community Foodbank general manager Nicki Goodwin. Photo / Alex Cairns

The foodbank has helped 109% more people in April 2025 compared with April 2022.

It had 12% more households needing kai support in April this year compared with April 2024, which is an extra 75 households.

Goodwin said the extra Budget money gave hope.

It gives us the security to know that we can continue to provide the kind of food support were offering and not look at having to reduce what we provide or how many people we can help.
BRUSSELS, May 25 (Xinhua) -- EU officials and member-state representatives expressed their discontent with U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to slap a 50 percent tariff on European goods, warning that coercive tactics would jeopardize transatlantic trade talks.

Trump accused the EU on Friday of "taking advantage of the United States on trade" and being "very difficult to deal with" on his social platform Truth Social, and announced that he is "recommending a straight 50 percent Tariff on the EU, starting on June 1, 2025."

The tariff threat came amid stalled negotiations, with Washington demanding unilateral concessions from Brussels to open up to U.S. business, while the EU has been seeking an agreement that offers mutual gain, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the EU-U.S. trade talks.

European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic responded on social platform X that the EU stands ready to defend its interests.

Stressing the bilateral trade "must be guided by mutual respect, not threats," Sefcovic wrote, "The EU's fully engaged, committed to securing a deal that works for both. The EU Commission remains ready to work in good faith."

Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament's International Trade Committee, posted on social platform Bluesky that EU legislators will travel to Washington next week "to demystify some misperceptions" about EU trade policy.

"If Trump is truly seeking cooperation and negotiations, he will always find open doors in the EU. If he's just looking for us to rubber-stamp his demands, he's knocking on the wrong door," Lange wrote.

He also rejected Trump's claim that the EU was created to "take advantage of the United States" on trade.

Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin described Trump's announcement as "enormously disappointing," warning that such high tariffs would "grievously damage one of the world's most dynamic trading relationships" and disrupt global markets.

French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade Laurent Saint-Martin condemned Trump's tariff threats as "of no help during the negotiation period," reiterating the EU's stance for de-escalation.

Saint-Martin told the French news channel BFMTV that imposing heavy duties on American imports was not the outcome the EU sought, but warned that Brussels would take retaliatory measures to restore a genuine balance of power if necessary.

Noting that "tariff conflicts know no winners," Katherina Reiche, Germany's economy and energy minister, said, "Tariffs harm the United States and the EU in equal measure." 
Dear Eric: Carpooling wants to be reimbursed for gas for a 30-mile round-trip journey to pick up a friends disabled son from the bus stop. The request from the dear friend doesnt happen very often. My two cents are this: Losing or even offending a dear friend isnt worth any price, let alone the price of a few gallons of gas ($10 or less). True friends grant favor requests, when possible, and usually without expecting anything in return. If it becomes a regular request, then definitely broach the subject, but a rare request is truly a favor, and granting favors has a way of coming back to you. Instead, Carpooling could think of this favor as a meal she might take to her friend if she were sick (and would likely spend more than $10 in that case).

 Dear Friends are Priceless

Dear Priceless: Ten dollars is not the same everywhere nor is it the same to every budget. The letter writer isnt just complaining; the letter states that the frequency of the requests, combined with the amount, created a financial hardship. Its important to remember that everyones finances are different and one persons easy favor is another persons stretch. The pricelessness of dear friends goes both ways; if I had a dear friend whose load I could lighten by covering the price of gas, Id leap at the opportunity to do so.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.
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dragracer567 Senior - BHPian



Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: BAH / MCT Posts: 1,147 Thanked: 6,476 Times

Re: Combat Aircraft of the Indian Air Force Quote: SmartCat Originally Posted by Fair enough. Truth is generally between the extremes (6 losses vs 0 losses). And after Air Marshal AK Bharati's press conference reply stating "losses are part of combat", we really shouldn't be insisting that there were no losses on our side.



The Pakistani losses are less clear, I was following the skirmishes as they evolved over Friday night and Saturday morning. The attack on the Nur Khan airbase almost surely hit a C-130E - it was in a video I saw on the night of the attack, while some folks seem to think that an AWACS was hit on the ground as well.



Anyhow, while this whole engagement don't vindicate the quality of Chinese weapons - their SAMs were sitting ducks, it does force many folks - especially from the west to take notice of the offensive capabilities of Chinese weapons.



Also, another takeaway I was pleasantly surprised with was the insane performance of Indian air defenses, they seem almost on par with Israel with the various Indian, Russian and Israeli systems nicely integrated - likely even better than Russia's own air defense system that struggles to intercept Ukrainian drones in its territory - same with the Saudis using Patriots. This also brings into question the efficacy of saturation drone attacks against countries with competent air defense systems like India and Israel (hear that Elon?) - a question we've been pondering since the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. This was also the combat debut for the Brahmos - that too the air-launched version, the Pakistani air defences didn't seem to stand a chance against his beast, no wonder it is India's most popular defense export, further, the SCALP also played a key role especially during the initial attack on the militant camps. I guess the IAF avoided Brahmos for the initial attacks as it would be difficult to avoid collateral damage while attacking militant hideouts in heavily populated areas - unlike military targets which are more segregated.



I do have a feeling that the Indian side deliberately suppressed news of successful engagements with Pakistani planes to allow Pakistan to take the win in front of their populace and take the off-ramp - our objective was to hit the terror camps, not start a fight with the Pakistani military. If the fight had gone on for one more day, it would quickly be evident to the Pakistani public that they were on the losing side, making a ceasefire less viable.



This also brings into light, Pakistan's age-old problem with strategic depth, their funny geography (since Pakistan has no natural boundaries with its neighbors) means that India could easily target all its main cities - Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Karachi etc. while apart from a handful of tier-2 cities at the border states, most of India didn't bat an eye! This should give a reality check to the Pakistanis, their status quo is just untenable but after the promotion of the general who instigated this fight to a field marshal, I see no hope.



As for India, the goal should be for the Air Force to have the kind of overarching firepower that would prevent Pakistan from even thinking of an attack - this can only be achieved by numbers and quality! This is the case with the Navy where the Pakistanis wouldn't dare engage the Indian Navy. Exactly, the statements from the IAF have been carefully calibrated but it is quite evident that there have been some losses. It is generally accepted now that at least one Rafale was lost but the Pakistani claim that it was shot down by the PL-15 needs to be looked at since the Indian side is confident that we had no loses due to the PL-15. Even if it were, it probably wouldn't have been a fair fight with the Rafales probably being configured for ground attack with limited AAMs - possibly MICA instead of the more potent Meteors. If that were case, the limitation isn't the quality of the Rafale as a fighting platform but rather the quantity - we just don't have enough of them as these are the only platforms with AESA radars that can hit BVR targets at such ranges till the Tejas Mk1A and the upgraded Su-30s get the Gandiva.The Pakistani losses are less clear, I was following the skirmishes as they evolved over Friday night and Saturday morning. The attack on the Nur Khan airbase almost surely hit a C-130E - it was in a video I saw on the night of the attack, while some folks seem to think that an AWACS was hit on the ground as well.Anyhow, while this whole engagement don't vindicate the quality of Chinese weapons - their SAMs were sitting ducks, it does force many folks - especially from the west to take notice of the offensive capabilities of Chinese weapons.Also, another takeaway I was pleasantly surprised with was the insane performance of Indian air defenses, they seem almost on par with Israel with the various Indian, Russian and Israeli systems nicely integrated - likely even better than Russia's own air defense system that struggles to intercept Ukrainian drones in its territory - same with the Saudis using Patriots. This also brings into question the efficacy of saturation drone attacks against countries with competent air defense systems like India and Israel (hear that Elon?) - a question we've been pondering since the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. This was also the combat debut for the Brahmos - that too the air-launched version, the Pakistani air defences didn't seem to stand a chance against his beast, no wonder it is India's most popular defense export, further, the SCALP also played a key role especially during the initial attack on the militant camps. I guess the IAF avoided Brahmos for the initial attacks as it would be difficult to avoid collateral damage while attacking militant hideouts in heavily populated areas - unlike military targets which are more segregated.I do have a feeling that the Indian side deliberately suppressed news of successful engagements with Pakistani planes to allow Pakistan to take the win in front of their populace and take the off-ramp - our objective was to hit the terror camps, not start a fight with the Pakistani military. If the fight had gone on for one more day, it would quickly be evident to the Pakistani public that they were on the losing side, making a ceasefire less viable.This also brings into light, Pakistan's age-old problem with strategic depth, their funny geography (since Pakistan has no natural boundaries with its neighbors) means that India could easily target all its main cities - Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Karachi etc. while apart from a handful of tier-2 cities at the border states, most of India didn't bat an eye! This should give a reality check to the Pakistanis, their status quo is just untenable but after the promotion of the general who instigated this fight to a field marshal, I see no hope.As for India, the goal should be for the Air Force to have the kind of overarching firepower that would prevent Pakistan from even thinking of an attack - this can only be achieved by numbers and quality! This is the case with the Navy where the Pakistanis wouldn't dare engage the Indian Navy. Last edited by dragracer567 : 23rd May 2025 at 22:46 .
Lu Rifeng (L), a police officer from Nanning branch of Nanning railway public security bureau, and his colleague Yang Tieming change shift at Pingxiang Railway Station in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 20, 2017. Train T8701 left Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for Hanoi, Vietnam at 6:05 p.m. on May 25, marking the resumption of China-Vietnam international passenger rail service after a five-year suspension. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)

NANNING, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Train T8701 left Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for Hanoi, Vietnam at 6:05 p.m. on Sunday, marking the resumption of China-Vietnam international passenger rail service after a five-year suspension.

The Nanning-Hanoi international train runs daily, leaving Nanning at 6:05 p.m. and arriving in Hanoi at 6:30 a.m. the next day. The return train departs from Hanoi at 10:20 p.m. and arrives in Nanning at 10:06 a.m. the following day.

Tickets for this train are currently sold offline only. Passengers can buy tickets with a passport at railway stations in Guilin, Nanning, Chongzuo and Pingxiang. Travelers must obtain a paper visa or prepare visa-free documents in advance and complete customs procedures at border stations. 

He Jianlin (R), a railway police officer from Nanning branch of Nanning railway public security bureau, introduces travel safety information to a passenger on a train bound for Hanoi at a railway station in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 25, 2025. Train T8701 left Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for Hanoi, Vietnam at 6:05 p.m. on May 25, marking the resumption of China-Vietnam international passenger rail service after a five-year suspension. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)

Lu Rifeng (C), a police officer from Nanning branch of Nanning railway public security bureau, patrols along the rail line with his colleagues in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 21, 2020. Train T8701 left Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for Hanoi, Vietnam at 6:05 p.m. on May 25, marking the resumption of China-Vietnam international passenger rail service after a five-year suspension. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)

He Jianlin (L), a railway police officer from Nanning branch of Nanning railway public security bureau, communicates with his colleague Wang Rongxin outside a train bound for Hanoi at a railway station in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 25, 2025. Train T8701 left Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for Hanoi, Vietnam at 6:05 p.m. on May 25, marking the resumption of China-Vietnam international passenger rail service after a five-year suspension. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)

Wang Rongxin (front), a railway police officer from Nanning branch of Nanning railway public security bureau, is on duty with his colleague on a train bound for Hanoi at a railway station in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 25, 2025. Train T8701 left Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for Hanoi, Vietnam at 6:05 p.m. on May 25, marking the resumption of China-Vietnam international passenger rail service after a five-year suspension. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)

He Jianlin (L), a railway police officer from Nanning branch of Nanning railway public security bureau, is on duty with his colleagues outside a train bound for Hanoi at a railway station in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 25, 2025. Train T8701 left Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for Hanoi, Vietnam at 6:05 p.m. on May 25, marking the resumption of China-Vietnam international passenger rail service after a five-year suspension. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)
PGA BHPian

Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Ludhiana Posts: 345 Thanked: 1,346 Times

View My Garage





Re: Understanding Economics https://m.economictimes.com/news/eco.../121350727.cms



Came across this article, reproduced below:



Quote: "The American way of life in the second half of the 20th century came to be synonymous with big cars, even bigger trucks, and the sprawling freeways on which they scurry about like purposeful ants. Cheerleaders point to productivity growth and the 24 cents private industry saved for every dollar invested in the highway network; critics talk about communities gutted by asphalt and the weakening of social ties in large cities. Nearly 75 years later, the car economy  with all its promises and pitfalls  has latched on to a new host half a world away.



At 6 million-plus kilometers (4 million miles), Indias road network is now the second largest in the world after the US, according to official data from New Delhi. Leave aside the vast differences in their quality, the most-populous nation has more than twice as many kilometers of roads per square kilometer of land as the US, a much bigger country by size. China, which has built a lot of highways but chosen highspeed trains as the focal point of transport, has a much lower density.



For intercity travel, Indias template ought to have been 21st-century China, not 20th-century America. The fastest train journey between Chennai and Bengaluru, two hubs of activity in southern India, takes over four hours. In that time, one could go from Beijing to Shanghai, a distance nearly four times greater. Whoosh, the Jakarta-Bandung line that Indonesia built with Beijings help, is a good model. New Delhi, however, doesnt want a new dependence on China, even though its own first high-speed line, being built with Japans shinkansen technology, is running years late.



Roads continue to hog the limelight. Much of Indias national highway system was built in the past 25 years. It has been the countrys single-largest infrastructure development, ahead of railways and power, with nearly $30 billion invested last year. But since the network has been expanded with expensive debt, the cost to users is high.



A still-small, car-owning middle class (fewer than one in 10 households) is feeling squeezed by the $7 billion it pays in tolls every year. The National Highway Authority, which racked up more than $40 billion in debt, is deleveraging. Its selling assets to private operators and investment trusts; its also securitizing a part of its portfolio. But no matter who owns them, debt financing means roads still have to generate revenue. The burden on motorists will only swell as new highways get constructed.



The US confronted the debt-financing problem well before President Dwight Eisenhower started the interstate highway program in 1956. Toll Roads and Free Roads, a 1939 report prepared for Congress, rejected the usage-fee option as revenue from traffic in many places wouldnt be enough to retire the bonds needed to back them. So the funding came from the government, which taxes motorists on gasoline and diesel.

However, Indian motorists are paying 30% more for fuel than the average American. Then there is the vehicle itself. The auto industry complains that hefty taxes have put cars in the same category as drugs or alcohol. Half the cost of a new SUV is tax. It isnt hard to see why consumers are unhappy. The logistics industry is thrilled, though. The market share of roads in freight transport has grown to 65%. Some of it has come at the expense of the British-built railways, once the cornerstone of the sub-continents urbanization.



Blue-collar migrant workers dont have a choice. Trains moving at slow speeds of 35 to 50 kilometers per hour connect their homes in villages to their workplaces in cities. For the middle class, however, the romance of the Great Indian Railway Journeys has faded. Just like in the US, theyre being pushed toward highways for relatively shorter distances and to air travel for the rest. This is when a dozen small airports havent had a single passenger in months, according to Bloomberg News. Within cities, subways are coming up even in places where they arent a practical option. Meanwhile, between cities, range anxiety on highways means slow adoption of electric vehicles.



No wonder then that roads accounts for 93% of carbon emissions from transport, compared with 84% in the US and 81% in China. Our malfunctioning toll plazas, with their long queues, cause waste of fuel, underutilization of the vehicle fleet, loss of productivity, and contribute to intense pollution, says Anil K. Sood, a Hyderabad-based public policy analyst.



In a deeply unequal society like Indias, the cost of a car-centric economy is felt disproportionately by buyers of entry-level hatchbacks; they have practically gone on strike. Things are serious enough for the government to consider proposals like an annual highway pass to lower the load. But those will at best bring temporary relief. Better public transport is what will make the middle class breathe easy."

We all know what is and to an extent still going wrong with our highways. But the solution do not seem to have an economic common sense. In last one year, I drove on three greenfield highways, KMP, Ambala- Jaipur, parts of Asr -Jamnagar expressway. I found the vehicle load on these highways to be much much below their carrying capacity. I wonder what is the state on our other greenfield expressways built at a huge cost, and if so Why?



While the issue of one yearly toll pass seem good , same toll for an Alto and ScorpioN or Fortuner, is undoubtedly much heavier load for an Alto owner. And I do feel that overall toll rates are more than desirable in our context. Came across this article, reproduced below:Besides some starting facts such as roads per sq km of area, much higher carbon emissions, not much increase in speed of freight trains, I felt it raises certain valid issues.We all know what is and to an extent still going wrong with our highways. But the solution do not seem to have an economic common sense. In last one year, I drove on three greenfield highways, KMP, Ambala- Jaipur, parts of Asr -Jamnagar expressway. I found the vehicle load on these highways to be much much below their carrying capacity. I wonder what is the state on our other greenfield expressways built at a huge cost, and if so Why?While the issue of one yearly toll pass seem good , same toll for an Alto and ScorpioN or Fortuner, is undoubtedly much heavier load for an Alto owner. And I do feel that overall toll rates are more than desirable in our context. Last edited by Chetan_Rao : 23rd May 2025 at 16:28 . Reason: Added quote tags to excerpt. Thanks.
Doppelkuplung Newbie



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Ha Giang loop - Vietnam



We were team of 4 mates from Dubai, 3 of us flew from Dubai and one joined us in Hanoi from Chennai since he had his riding gear back home.



The flights are overpriced as always with Emirates being the only non stop flight plying Dubai - Hanoi.



3 of us reached on 2nd May and had booked accommodation at Daewoo hotel because of the name. However there are no signs of connection with the automaker.



There are 2 popular bike rentals in Vietnam - Tigit & Style. We chose CB500X from Tigit since they had extensive knowledge about the routes and had the facility to pick and drop bikes at different places in case we changed plans midway.



We rented a Fortuner from Hanoi to Ha Giang town (pronounced HaZaang) where we would collect the bikes at our hotel. The 4th guy was picked up from airport enroute Ha Giang. The roads were butter smooth entire stretch except some patches, roads were empty but Vietnamese drivers follow the speed limit religiously making the drive feel slow but safe. Stopped in a Dhaba type highway eatery with passable food and at another complex selling Tea, Sugarcane juice, random spices as we entered Ha Giang region. Things are priced very reasonable and we enjoyed the time being millionaires (in Vietnamese Dong)



Reached the hotel, had a quick check in and shower and went down to check out the bikes which were already parked across the street. All had about 23K on odo and we picked whichever bike was near us and went for a familiarization ride.



Had Pizza at a local eatery with a big Israeli group, chatted with them for a while and left to our hotel. Pork meat as protein and Beer as hydration is staple in Vietnam. Even small tea shops have local beers stored on display refrigerators.



We had IDP, India DL, insurance and what not? But we were in for a shock the next morning.



Started the ride a bit late because of the breakfast (we knew this was our last proper hotel breakfast) and one bike had a flat tyre. As we were riding out of the city Vietnam Police stopped us. Despite having all documents they told us using translator device that our IDP is not valid however we could pay 3Mn VND each and thy would issue Vietnam DL valid for the trip.



Tourists with big bikes were targeted (500CC is biggest in Vietnam from what we saw) and eventually paid the amount as advised by Tigit team. They gave us a Red book with no flag, no stamp or nothing written in English.



We were checked at 4 places after that and the red book was handy to proceed without delays. The change of expression in their face while we fished out the Red book was entertaining (From 4 X 3Mn smile to 0 in no time)



We reached Dong Van (126 kms) as planned and checked into a small hotel. The facilities were average but a young guy name "Kha" who was the receptionist, waiter, laundryman all rolled into one, compensated by being very friendly and enthusiastic. His team cooked us Vietnamese dinner but a bit spicier. We wandered into the town and ended up celebrating someone's birthday at a Karaoke bar.



Vietnamese breakfast is 7AM-10AM, Lunch is 11.30AM - 1.30PM and Dinner is 7PM-9PM max. Cities have late night eateries but many restaurants close at 10 and refuse to let customers in after 9PM.



We had a decent breakfast next morning and rode around 180Kms through superb roads to reach Pac Bo boutique resort near Cao Bang. Ma Pi Leng pass enroute is gorgeous and there were lot of tourists in this area who rented smaller motorbikes and scooters for a short ride in the mountains. Halfway through, this route rides very close to China and you can notice change in facial features and dressing style seen in other towns. Since we were the only guests, they tried their best to serve us which they thought is their nicest dishes.



The next days ride was only 100 kms to Ban Gioc waterfalls sitting next to Chinese border. We took a shorter route through a forest and the roads were bad at many places and there were absolutely no shops or anything for most of the distance.



Reaching Ban Gioc we checked into a resort closest to the waterfall. One side of the river is Vietnamese boats and other side is Chinese. There were few tourists on the Viet side but none on the other.

The waterfall itself was scenic and the place was scarily quiet. Met an American Dad/Son riding same bike as ours and chatted for a bit before they left to their hotel.



The breakfast was bearable despite the language barrier and we suspect that some of us ate farmed worm sausage thinking it is pork.



Next days ride was to Bac Son (Tham Khach) where one can ride through a natural cave approx. 1 km long. This cave also has an abandoned military project inside which adds to the mysterious setting. We ended up at a homestay to the American duo whom we met earlier. There was a young Vietnamese group there and they were playing some sort of foot shuttle badminton all the time and not staring at mobile phones which was unusual.



Next day was the saddest one as it was the last day of our ride to Hanoi before we flew to Ho Chi Minh City for some shopping and then return to Dubai. We did Bac Son - Hanoi through inside roads avoiding major roads (Motorbikes are not allowed on bigger Motorways in any case). The day was the hottest and humid in the whole trip and we were drained when we reached Tigit office in Hanoi. We were surprised when they offered to refund some amount (about $70 a bike) since their initial price calculation included the transport from Ha Giang to Hanoi by truck.



The whole ride was uneventful except each of us dropping the bikes while parking. The traffic sense in rural areas is something which really made the ride a breeze. Two wheelers in cities have a different mentality though - HCMC was crazy and Hanoi was busy but somewhat sensible.



May is not the ideal month for the ride except for absence of rains, anyone considering this route could try mid November - mid December which would be more enjoyable.



99% of people there are honest. It is better to use an app to get a taxi in Vietnam. The rates are reasonable. The only time we got cheated was when we hailed a taxi from roadside and he charged us 5 times the app rates. TShirts, Luggage and footwear is priced half of what you would pay in Dubai at good shops. There are lot of fake designer brands being sold on the streets as well. Anyone taking a stroll in the old quarter must start with an empty stomach since there are literally hundreds of options in what is probably 1sq km area.



















































I had an opportunity to do a short ride through some villages and passes in Ha Giang loop in Northern Vietnam. The loop itself has no fixed route and can last from 1-2 days to 2 weeks depending on how many places you visit. The good thing about the route is one can return to Ha Giang or Hanoi at any point as there are 2-3 roads criss-crossing most villages and one can create their own loop.We were team of 4 mates from Dubai, 3 of us flew from Dubai and one joined us in Hanoi from Chennai since he had his riding gear back home.The flights are overpriced as always with Emirates being the only non stop flight plying Dubai - Hanoi.3 of us reached on 2nd May and had booked accommodation at Daewoo hotel because of the name. However there are no signs of connection with the automaker.There are 2 popular bike rentals in Vietnam - Tigit & Style. We chose CB500X from Tigit since they had extensive knowledge about the routes and had the facility to pick and drop bikes at different places in case we changed plans midway.We rented a Fortuner from Hanoi to Ha Giang town (pronounced HaZaang) where we would collect the bikes at our hotel. The 4th guy was picked up from airport enroute Ha Giang. The roads were butter smooth entire stretch except some patches, roads were empty but Vietnamese drivers follow the speed limit religiously making the drive feel slow but safe. Stopped in a Dhaba type highway eatery with passable food and at another complex selling Tea, Sugarcane juice, random spices as we entered Ha Giang region. Things are priced very reasonable and we enjoyed the time being millionaires (in Vietnamese Dong)Reached the hotel, had a quick check in and shower and went down to check out the bikes which were already parked across the street. All had about 23K on odo and we picked whichever bike was near us and went for a familiarization ride.Had Pizza at a local eatery with a big Israeli group, chatted with them for a while and left to our hotel. Pork meat as protein and Beer as hydration is staple in Vietnam. Even small tea shops have local beers stored on display refrigerators.We had IDP, India DL, insurance and what not? But we were in for a shock the next morning.Started the ride a bit late because of the breakfast (we knew this was our last proper hotel breakfast) and one bike had a flat tyre. As we were riding out of the city Vietnam Police stopped us. Despite having all documents they told us using translator device that our IDP is not valid however we could pay 3Mn VND each and thy would issue Vietnam DL valid for the trip.Tourists with big bikes were targeted (500CC is biggest in Vietnam from what we saw) and eventually paid the amount as advised by Tigit team. They gave us a Red book with no flag, no stamp or nothing written in English.We were checked at 4 places after that and the red book was handy to proceed without delays. The change of expression in their face while we fished out the Red book was entertaining (From 4 X 3Mn smile to 0 in no time)We reached Dong Van (126 kms) as planned and checked into a small hotel. The facilities were average but a young guy name "Kha" who was the receptionist, waiter, laundryman all rolled into one, compensated by being very friendly and enthusiastic. His team cooked us Vietnamese dinner but a bit spicier. We wandered into the town and ended up celebrating someone's birthday at a Karaoke bar.Vietnamese breakfast is 7AM-10AM, Lunch is 11.30AM - 1.30PM and Dinner is 7PM-9PM max. Cities have late night eateries but many restaurants close at 10 and refuse to let customers in after 9PM.We had a decent breakfast next morning and rode around 180Kms through superb roads to reach Pac Bo boutique resort near Cao Bang. Ma Pi Leng pass enroute is gorgeous and there were lot of tourists in this area who rented smaller motorbikes and scooters for a short ride in the mountains. Halfway through, this route rides very close to China and you can notice change in facial features and dressing style seen in other towns. Since we were the only guests, they tried their best to serve us which they thought is their nicest dishes.The next days ride was only 100 kms to Ban Gioc waterfalls sitting next to Chinese border. We took a shorter route through a forest and the roads were bad at many places and there were absolutely no shops or anything for most of the distance.Reaching Ban Gioc we checked into a resort closest to the waterfall. One side of the river is Vietnamese boats and other side is Chinese. There were few tourists on the Viet side but none on the other.The waterfall itself was scenic and the place was scarily quiet. Met an American Dad/Son riding same bike as ours and chatted for a bit before they left to their hotel.The breakfast was bearable despite the language barrier and we suspect that some of us ate farmed worm sausage thinking it is pork.Next days ride was to Bac Son (Tham Khach) where one can ride through a natural cave approx. 1 km long. This cave also has an abandoned military project inside which adds to the mysterious setting. We ended up at a homestay to the American duo whom we met earlier. There was a young Vietnamese group there and they were playing some sort of foot shuttle badminton all the time and not staring at mobile phones which was unusual.Next day was the saddest one as it was the last day of our ride to Hanoi before we flew to Ho Chi Minh City for some shopping and then return to Dubai. We did Bac Son - Hanoi through inside roads avoiding major roads (Motorbikes are not allowed on bigger Motorways in any case). The day was the hottest and humid in the whole trip and we were drained when we reached Tigit office in Hanoi. We were surprised when they offered to refund some amount (about $70 a bike) since their initial price calculation included the transport from Ha Giang to Hanoi by truck.The whole ride was uneventful except each of us dropping the bikes while parking. The traffic sense in rural areas is something which really made the ride a breeze. Two wheelers in cities have a different mentality though - HCMC was crazy and Hanoi was busy but somewhat sensible.May is not the ideal month for the ride except for absence of rains, anyone considering this route could try mid November - mid December which would be more enjoyable.99% of people there are honest. It is better to use an app to get a taxi in Vietnam. The rates are reasonable. The only time we got cheated was when we hailed a taxi from roadside and he charged us 5 times the app rates. TShirts, Luggage and footwear is priced half of what you would pay in Dubai at good shops. There are lot of fake designer brands being sold on the streets as well. Anyone taking a stroll in the old quarter must start with an empty stomach since there are literally hundreds of options in what is probably 1sq km area. Last edited by Aditya : 25th May 2025 at 06:34 . Reason: Grammar
borntotravel.03 Originally Posted by Hello Everyone Out there,



Today will be going to share a self driving Experience from Agra to Sikkim In & Days Covering 3800km in 7 Days



Day1: Agra To Siliguri



We started our drive from Agra in the afternoon at around 3 PM and drove directly onto the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. It was around 3.5 hours that we took to drive through that portion. Then we approached on the Outer Ring Road, which linked us to the Purvanchal Expressway. The roads till the Purvanchal Expressway were great, and we had a fantastic and smooth drive.



While going towards Siliguri, we took the exit at Ghazipur (Pro Tip: At the end for cut shorting the time). We were able to travel about 700 km in a mere 7 hours. But the moment we hit Ghazipur, conditions worsened. Road conditions were deplorable, and during the night hours, there was a huge line of trucks on the thin single-lane roadsmaking driving very tiring and difficult.



Once we managed to pass Ghazipur, we stopped at a roadside dhaba, slept for around 2 hours, and continued our journey at 3 AM. We arrived at our stay by 11 AM. In the evening, we ventured out to a local market and visited a spot nearby called Upper Dudhiya.





Day2: Siliguri to Darjeeling



Next morning we woke up early and full of adrenaline to take to the roads once again which our bringing us to our dreamland to gurudongmar lake.



we began our journey at 6 in the morning and going up the curves of kurseong we arrived darjeeling by 8:30 in the morning. we directly headed towards the batasia loops there after we had our braekfast at near vegetarian cafe with very homly atmosphere. theresfter we begin our trip to visit tea gardens and factory. we began our ride towards jorethang a lovely site in south sikkim .in the way we halt at a tea factory and observed the procedure how tea are seggragated. then we proceeded for our overnight stay at darjeeling



Day3: Darjeeling to Lachen



We began our journey at 4 AM to get to Tiger Hill to witness the sunrise. But when we arrived at the checkpoint, we heard that the tourism office had to provide us with a special passsomething we hadn't planned on the night before. Therefore, we went straight to Lachen.



We halted at around 8 AM in a peaceful forest region with the river Teesta quietly flowing behind us. This was the ideal place to have breakfast. We placed our gas stove in the portable form and prepared some bread, butter, and coffeea plain but soothing meal amidst nature.



Post-breakfast, we proceeded towards Mangan to secure permits for North Sikkim. We arrived at the DC Office by about 11 AM and secured the permits with minimal inconvenience.



After that, we encountered a tough stretcha part that had recently been flooded. A makeshift detour had been taken, but it was ugly, with huge rocks and an incline. This section surely was in need of fine driving talent to get through without any harm and without harming the vehicle. We hardly saw any private cars on this route; local cabs were in the majority.



We arrived in Lachen around 5 PM, a quiet village that is used as the launching point for people visiting Gurudongmar Lake. Everyone usually spends a night here to acclimatize to the high altitude. We strolled around the quiet village, had an early dinner, and slept earlylooking forward to the big day tomorrow.



Day4: Mighty Gurudongmar



We got up at 3 AM and started driving to Gurudongmar Lake at about 4 AM. The roads were almost vacant, with just a solitary vehicle crawling up the rough off-road road in front of us. As we went higher up, the terrain became all the more difficultbut then the sunrise broke upon the snow-clad peaks, and we were rewarded with one of the most awesome views of our lifetime.



We stopped briefly to soak in the moment and take some photographs before continuing our journey. Ours was the third vehicle to cross the checkpoint, which gave us a peaceful, early arrival at the lake.



We finally arrived at Gurudongmar Lake at approximately 8 AM, and it was well worth all the effort. The scenery was surreala life-time experience. We lingered there for almost an hour, drinking in the beauty and tranquility of the location.



While returning, we had breakfast at the Madras Cafe, an army-owned canteen at an altitude of 15,000 feet. The warmth of food and hospitality was just what we needed.



Then we drove towards Lachung, our second stop, and arrived there by about 8 PM, bringing an end to a long but memorable day.



Day5: Lachung to Gangtok



With our hearts filled with happiness after watching the awe-inspiring beauty of Gurudongmar Lake, we proceeded to explore other regions of Sikkim. On that day, we headed towards Yumesamdong and Zero Point.



We had breakfast exactly at Zero Point, amidst a clean white sheet of snowit was something out of a dream. Returning, we saw the colorful rhododendron plantations of Yumthang Valley that painted a splash of color against the white landscape.



After that, we started our return journey to Gangtok. But as we reached the city, we were attacked by heavy rain, which unluckily prevented us from visiting anywhere else that night.



Day6:Nathula,Zuluk



Day 6 started with yet another experience. We had set out to visit Zuluk, but at first couldn't obtain the necessary permits. Nevertheless, since we already possessed Nathula Pass permits, we decided to go ahead and see what we could manage along the route.



We arrived at the 3rd Mile Check Post, where permits are issued. To our good fortune, we found that we could obtain all required permits from there itself. While we had come prior to 7 AM and the office was not yet open, we waited patiently. As soon as it became functional, we obtained our permits and continued on our journey.



By about 9 AM, we arrived at Nathula Passa very emotional experience. Only one barbed wire stands between India and China, and standing there provided us with an immense feeling of patriotism. To our surprise, even our mobile phones changed to the Chinese network and time zone, which made the experience even more unreal. After taking a few unforgettable snaps, we proceeded towards Zuluk.



Zuluk is a well-kept secret in East Sikkim. The distance of approximately 42 km from Nathula took us about two hours to cover. Of the delights of this trip, the Zigzag Road, with its 32 hairpin bends, is perhaps most well knowna view that looks remarkably like something out of another world.



Having soaked in the scenery, we returned to Gangtok. In the evening, we went to the serene Rumtek Monastery and then took a leisurely walk down MG Marg, where, coincidentally, a shoot for Aashiqui 3 was in progress!



Day7&8



The following day, we set off for home, getting as far as Siliguri by the end of Day 7.



Day 8 was an early start on the road from Siliguri at 5 AM and arrived in Agra around 8:30 PMtravelling a phenomenal 1,300 km in 15 hours!



Pro Tip: This was made possible due to the intelligent route we had mapped earlier, and it ended up being a grand successand here we're sharing it with you!



We drove on NH27 from Siliguri, which took us to Gorakhpur. Then we merged into the Gorakhpur Link Expressway, which straightaway connects to the Purvanchal Expressway. This strategic decision saved us nearly 5 hours of journey time compared to the traditional route.



And with that, our amazing adventure reached its conclusion.



Throughout this unforgettable road trip, we traveled a total of 3,800 km in our Mahindra Scorpio, discovering the best of Sikkim and making memories for a lifetime.
Forward-looking: Oracle has committed to spending approximately $40 billion on Nvidia's latest high-performance chips to power a massive new data center in Abilene, Texas. The facility will require up to 1.2 gigawatts of power once fully operational and serves as the flagship site of the Stargate project  a $500 billion initiative led by OpenAI and SoftBank to reshape the landscape of AI computing in the United States and beyond.

The facility will cover eight buildings across 875 acres. Crusoe Energy Systems and Blue Owl Capital raised $15 billion in debt and equity to finance the buildout. JPMorgan played a key role by providing $9.6 billion in loans, including a recently announced $7.1 billion tranche.

When crews complete construction, the Texas facility will be one of the world's largest data centers when it opens in mid-2026. OpenAI has entered into a 15-year lease for the entire campus, which insiders told the Financial Times would run on roughly 400,000 Nvidia GB200 superchips.

The data center will serve as a critical platform for OpenAI's AI model training and deployment, marking a crucial step in diversifying its computing resources and reducing reliance on Microsoft, its primary infrastructure provider until now.

The exclusivity agreement between OpenAI and Microsoft concluded earlier this year, as OpenAI's demand for computing power surpassed Microsoft's available capacity. While negotiations continue regarding the duration of Microsoft's licensing rights to OpenAI's models, this development marks a significant shift toward diversified cloud partnerships for the AI leader.

While Stargate has yet to directly invest capital in any data center beyond the Texas site, its global expansion plans are already taking shape, with additional deployments being considered in Europe and Asia. The scale and speed of these investments underscore the intensifying competition among technology companies and nations to build the backbone for the next generation of artificial intelligence.

The Stargate project is ambitious in scale and vision. Backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and Abu Dhabi's MGX, the group plans to invest up to $500 billion over four years to build a national network of AI supercomputing centers. The first $100 billion will fund up to 20 sites, starting with the Texas facility.

Sources say that SoftBank and OpenAI will each hold a 40 percent stake in the venture, making them the primary equity holders. Oracle and MGX, a state-owned investment firm from the United Arab Emirates, have committed $7 billion each. SoftBank will oversee finances, while OpenAI leads operations.

OpenAI and its partners plan to expand Stargate beyond the US, starting with a 10-square-mile AI campus developed alongside Emirati tech firm G42 in Abu Dhabi.

The site could consume up to 5GW of power  more than four times the Texas center  and eventually house over two million of Nvidia's most advanced chips. The UAE project, announced during President Donald Trump's recent Gulf visit, forms part of OpenAI's "OpenAI for Countries" initiative to help governments build sovereign AI infrastructure.

Masthead credit: Financial Times
Editor's take: The University of Arizona could become the birthplace of the world's first petahertz-speed transistor. If successful, this research work could mark the dawn of a new era in computing, where the speed of light, rather than electricity, sets the pace for innovation.

A team of scientists has unveiled a breakthrough that could one day propel computers to operate at speeds millions of times faster than today's most advanced processors.

The discovery, led by researchers at the University of Arizona and their international collaborators, centers on harnessing ultrafast pulses of light to control the movement of electrons in graphene  a material just one atom thick.

The research, recently published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that electrons can be made to bypass barriers almost instantaneously by firing laser pulses lasting less than a trillionth of a second at graphene. This phenomenon, known as quantum tunneling, has long intrigued physicists, but the team's ability to observe and manipulate it in real time marks a significant milestone.

Mohammed Hassan, an associate professor of physics and optical sciences at the University of Arizona, explained that this advance could usher in processing speeds in the petahertz range  over a thousand times faster than the chips powering today's computers. Such a leap, he said, would transform the landscape of computing, enabling dramatic progress in fields ranging from artificial intelligence and space research to chemistry and health care.

Hassan, who previously led the development of the world's fastest electron microscope, worked alongside colleagues from the University of Arizona, the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Their initial focus was studying how graphene conducts electricity when exposed to laser light. Typically, the symmetrical structure of graphene causes the currents generated on either side to cancel each other out, resulting in no net current.

However, the team made a surprising discovery after modifying the graphene samples. They observed that a single electron could "tunnel" through the material  and that this fleeting event could be captured in real time. This unexpected result prompted further investigation and ultimately led to the creation of what Hassan calls "the world's fastest petahertz quantum transistor."

To achieve this, the scientists used a commercially available graphene phototransistor, enhanced with a special silicon layer. They exposed it to a laser switching on and off at an astonishing rate of 638 attoseconds  each attosecond being one quintillionth of a second. The result was a transistor capable of operating at petahertz speeds, a feat previously considered far beyond reach.

Unlike many scientific breakthroughs that require highly controlled laboratory environments, this new transistor functioned in everyday, ambient conditions. This opens the door for the technology to be adapted for commercial use and integrated into future generations of electronic devices.

Hassan and his team are now working with Tech Launch Arizona to patent and commercialize their invention. Their next goal is to develop a version of the transistor that operates using standard, commercially available lasers, making the technology more accessible to industry partners.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 25, 2025. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- During Chinese Premier Li Qiang's ongoing official visit to Indonesia, the two countries highlighted the contemporary value of the Bandung Spirit and pledged for closer bilateral cooperation as well as better strategic coordination.

"China stands ready to work with Indonesia and other developing countries to jointly uphold the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit," Li said Sunday in talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

In April 1955, a landmark conference in Indonesia's city of Bandung gathered 29 Asian and African nations under the flag of solidarity, friendship and cooperation, marking the awakening of the part of the world known now as the Global South.

"Today, more than seven decades later, the world is once again at a critical crossroads," Li said on Saturday when addressing the business community of the two countries.

Unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, and acts of bullying are increasing, he said, stressing that against this backdrop, the contemporary value of the Bandung Spirit has become more prominent.

Shortly after the premier's arrival on Saturday, Li and Prabowo jointly visited a commemorative exhibition marking the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference.

In his visit, Li has urged China and Indonesia to make the pie of cooperation bigger, strengthen industrial integration and safeguard free trade.

He told Prabowo on Sunday that China is willing to work with Indonesia to enhance the alignment of development strategies and deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, especially by optimizing and strengthening landmark projects. Li urged the two sides to further enhance the "golden brand" of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway.

The premier also said both sides should enhance market connectivity and industrial collaboration, improve the level of trade and investment facilitation, and expand cooperation in areas such as finance, new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI), aerospace and the ocean.

Noting that 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, Prabowo said on Sunday that Indonesia will take this opportunity to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership with China and jointly promote peace, development in Asia and the world.

He said Indonesia is ready to expand cooperation with China in agriculture, finance, infrastructure, green economy, AI and education, and upgrade industrial collaboration. Prabowo also expressed the hope that more Chinese enterprises invest and do business in Indonesia.

The two leaders on Sunday witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation documents in areas concerning economic development policies, industrial and supply chain as well as finance.

Li also met with Speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives Puan Maharani on Sunday. He told Puan that China insists on taking Indonesia as a priority in neighborhood diplomacy, and is willing to deepen all-round strategic cooperation with Indonesia.

Analysts here spoke highly of the visit and the future development of China-Indonesia relations.

"Premier Li's visit to Jakarta sends a strong signal that China-Indonesia relations are growing increasingly close. The two countries have developed a strategic partnership across economic, political and developmental spheres. This visit reflects the deepening cooperation and mutual recognition of each other's roles in regional and global affairs," said Muhammad Syaroni Rofii, a scholar on international relations at the University of Indonesia.

Li arrived here Saturday for an official visit and will leave for Malaysia on Monday to attend the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-GCC (the Gulf Cooperation Council)-China Summit in Kuala Lumpur. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 25, 2025. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)
Li Shixiang searches for the remains of the Great Wall in the Heishan Gorge area in Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 13, 2025.

The 49-year-old Li Shixiang lives in Haiyuan County in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, known as a "Museum of the Great Wall." Ningxia has a total of over 1,500 km of the Great Wall built during multiple dynasties, with the most ancient section already 2,000 years old.

Born near the ruins of an ancient city, Li spent a lot of time there, playing with bronze coins and broken arrows after school. He said that the fun the cultural relics had brought him was unforgettable.

Li dropped out of a local college about 20 years ago and painted wall advertisements for a living.

When he was traveling and painting advertisements in rural areas, he noticed a lot of Great Wall sections and smoke towers that were left unrecorded and unprotected. He felt an urge to do something.

Not academically trained, Li has his own researching method. He firstly draws a scope where wall relics might exist based on related books and documents, and then searches on the satellite map.

If a promising location appears, he rides his motorbike or drives a car there immediately, with just a pen, a notebook, a tape measure, a cellphone and some food.

Most frequently, he drove all the way to one site only to find nothing. But there have also been surprises. In 2019, after five hours of driving, he found the relics of an ancient city in the desert of the neighboring Gansu Province.

"There was not a single footprint around. I was so excited that I cried and forgot my tiredness," Li said.

He has explored almost all of the areas of the Great Wall in China -- Beijing, Shaanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia. He has driven over 300,000 km, taken tens of thousands of photos and his writings have filled over 300 notebooks.

Over the years, he encountered wolves, fell into icy water, and once narrowly fell from a cliff. His eyes got hurt, and his toe was snapped. But all the pain was nothing compared to the pain he felt seeing sections of the Great Wall destroyed.

Fortunately, the country has been pouring efforts into the protection of the Great Wall. He himself was also hired as a Great Wall keeper by the local government in 2016, and his work has been acknowledged by the cultural relics protection department. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)

Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town by motorcycle in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 12, 2025 shows Li Shixiang patrolling the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)

Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town by motorcycle in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

Li Shixiang works on field drawings at his studio in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)

Li Shixiang drives away a flock of sheep that have strayed into the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)

Li Shixiang reads an ancient book to mark a location of an ancient town at his studio in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

Li Shixiang works on field drawings at his studio in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)

Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 12, 2025 shows Li Shixiang patrolling the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)

Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)

Li Shixiang investigates remains of the Great Wall in the Heishan Gorge area in Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 13, 2025 shows Li Shixiang searching for the remains of the Great Wall in the Heishan Gorge area in Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)

Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town by motorcycle in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

Li Shixiang displays porcelain shards while patrolling the site of an ancient town in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 13, 2025 shows Li Shixiang driving to the Heishan Gorge area in search of the remains of the Great Wall in Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)

Li Shixiang draws sketch while searching for the remains of the Great Wall in the Heishan Gorge area in Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

Li Shixiang searches for the remains of the Great Wall in the Heishan Gorge area in Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 13, 2025 shows Li Shixiang driving to the Heishan Gorge area in search of the remains of the Great Wall in Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)

Li Shixiang uses a drone to patrol an ancient wall in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)

Li Shixiang patrols the site of an ancient town by motorcycle in Haiyuan County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)
Iraq's water reserves lowest in 80 years: official



Baghdad, May 25 (AFP) May 25, 2025



Iraq's water reserves are at their lowest in 80 years after a dry rainy season, a government official said Sunday, as its share from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers shrinks.

Water is a major issue in the country of 46 million people undergoing a serious environmental crisis because of climate change, drought, rising temperatures and declining rainfall.

Authorities also blame upstream dams built in neighbouring Iran and Turkey for dramatically lowering the flow of the once-mighty Tigris and Euphrates, which have irrigated Iraq for millennia.

"The summer season should begin with at least 18 billion cubic meters... yet we only have about 10 billion cubic meters," water resources ministry spokesperson Khaled Shamal told AFP.

"Last year our strategic reserves were better. It was double what we have now," Shamal said.

"We haven't seen such a low reserve in 80 years," he added, saying this was mostly due to the reduced flow from the two rivers.

Iraq currently receives less than 40 percent of its share from the Tigris and Euphrates, according to Shamal.

He said sparse rainfall this winter and low water levels from melting snow has worsened the situation in Iraq, considered by the United Nations to be one of the five countries most vulnerable to some impacts of climate change.

Water shortages have forced many farmers in Iraq to abandon the land, and authorities have drastically reduced farming activity to ensure sufficient supplies of drinking water.

Agricultural planning in Iraq always depends on water, and this year it aims to preserve "green spaces and productive areas" amounting to more than 1.5 million Iraqi dunams (375,000 hectares), said Shamal.

Last year, authorities allowed farmers to cultivate 2.5 million dunams of corn, rice, and orchards, according to the water ministry.

Water has been a source of tension between Iraq and Turkey, which has urged Baghdad to adopt efficient water management plans.

In 2024, Iraq and Turkey signed a 10-year "framework agreement", mostly to invest in projects to ensure better water resources management.
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David Tennant has confessed that he had his eye on a superhero role that ultimately went to fellow actor Pedro Pascal.

The Scottish actor is known in hit sci-fi series including Doctor Who and the Netflix show Jessica Jones, as well as his more recent role as the villain Tony Baddingham in Disney+s hit show Rivals.

It has now emerged that he was keen to play the character of Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, the leader of Marvel Comics Fantastic Four.

In terms of superheroes, I dont know, I did slightly have my eye on Reed Richards, and unfortunately, it looks like theyve gone in a different direction, Tennant said during an appearance at MCM Comic Con in London this weekend.

Although if it has to be someone, Im happy for it to be Pedro Pascal, frankly.

Tennant had been asked by a fan about which superhero or villain role he would have loved to take on, regardless of whether someone else had taken the role.

open image in gallery David Tennant said he coveted a role that went to Pedro Pascal ( Getty )

I would have quite liked to be Reed Richards. Id quite like to be able to do all that, he said, stretching his arm out to imitate the characters powers to stretch to extraordinary lengths.

So Ill stick with that even though its gone, even though its gonna be a while before theres another go at that, I think, unfortunately.

He added: I think Pedro Pascal is great. Im very, very pleased that he exists.

He had earlier said that he felt he got the best supervillain with the character of Kilgrave opposite Krysten Ritters Jessica Jones.

open image in gallery Pedro Pascal at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival ( 2025 Invision )

Reed Richards has been depicted in TV and film on a number of occasions, including by Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd in the 2005 movie Fantastic Four. That film and a 2007 sequel made a combined $630m.

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The character will now appear in the forthcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films The Fantastic Four: First Steps, scheduled for release this year, in Avengers: Doomsday, out in 2026, and in Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).

It was announced in February last year that Pascal had been cast as Reed Richards along with The Crowns Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman, The Bears Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, aka The Thing, and Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch.

Tennant has been back shooting a new season of Disney+s hit show Rivals, based on the bestselling 1988 novel by Jilly Cooper as part of her Rutshire Chronicles series.

open image in gallery David Tennant as Tony Baddingham in Rivals ( Robert Viglasky )

Disney+ confirmed that the second season had begun shooting on 21 May with a series of behind-the-scenes photos, including of Tennant and his co-stars Alex Hassell, Bella Maclean and Aidan Turner.
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Aaron Taylor-Johnson has seemingly hinted that he could be the worlds next James Bond after signing a deal with the films watch provider, Omega.

This week, he became one of Omegas global ambassadors and celebrated the deal at the companys HQ in Biel, Switzerland where he enjoyed a tour of their watchmaking facilities and museum.

The brand has been on the wrists of 007 actors for 30 years, first donned by Pierce Brosnan in the 1995 film GoldenEye and most recently worn by Craig in No Time to Die.

After signing the deal, the 34-year-old actor said: 'I have always had an appreciation for timepieces but especially for Omega. Now, after visiting the factory, I am in awe of the skill required to manufacture such a luxurious product.

Omega's CEO, Raynald Aeschlimann, described Aaron as a versatile actor with a range that covers action, thriller, romance and much more.

The last James Bond film was No Time To Die in 2021 starring Daniel Craig. Bonds future has been hanging in the balance following Amazons acquisition of MGM Studios in 2022.

The acquisition initially gave Amazon distribution rights but not creative control. However, it was announced earlier this year that Amazon Prime had spent a reported $1 billion to gain full creative control from producer Barbara Broccoli, leaving fans more shaken than stirred about the future direction of the franchise.

With the new film officially in the works, there has been rife speculation as to who will next don Bonds iconic tux.

Taylor-Johnson has been the bookies frontrunner at various points but dropped down due to his cool responses to rumours. Divergent (2014) star Theo James is the current favourite at 6/4, while Superman (2013)s Henry Cavill is ahead of Taylor-Johnson (7/2) at 3/1. James Norton (6/1) and Jack Lowden (12/2) are also being rumoured.

Ladbrokes representative Cal Gildart said: 'Henry Cavill's return to the head of the Bond betting didn't last long, with Theo James as short as anyone has been to pick up the world's most famous license to kill.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the bookies third favourite for the role ( Getty Images / Eon Productions )

Prior to Amazons purchase of the Bond franchise, it was even rumoured that Taylor-Johnson was Barbara Broccolis ideal candidate. When Esquire asked him about the role, however, he responded: Its not really for me to say anything.

On signing the deal with Omega, Taylor-Johnson said: I have always had an appreciation for timepieces but especially for Omega. Now, after visiting the factory, I am in awe of the skill required to manufacture such a luxurious product.

Omegas CEO described Taylor-Johnson as a versatile actor with a range that covers action, thriller, romance and much more.

Amazon bosses are currently said to be considering locations across the UK in which to set the much-anticipated new film, which experts predicted is likely to be released at the end of next year or in 2027.

While Donald Trump has pledged to put a 100% tariff on all films made outside of the USA, he did promise that James Bond has nothing to worry about.
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The movie armorer who was convicted in the accidental shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has been released from a New Mexico prison on parole.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, now aged 28, was found guilty in March 2024 of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal on-set shooting of Hutchins.

Upon completion of her 18-month sentence, Gutierrez-Reed signed out of the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility on Friday to return home to Bullhead City, Arizona, prison records show.

open image in gallery Hannah Gutierrez Reed served 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter ( Santa Fe New Mexican )

Gutierrez-Reed is also being supervised under terms of probation after pleading guilty to a separate charge of unlawfully carrying a gun into a licensed liquor establishment.

Hutchins was tragically killed in October 2021 when a prop gun held by Alec Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on Rust, discharged during a rehearsal, fatally striking her and injuring director Joel Souza.

Baldwin has maintained his innocence, insisting in interviews with authorities that he never pulled the revolvers trigger.

Following a thorough investigation, it was determined that live ammunition had somehow made its way onto the set. Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing the live ammunition on set and flouting basic safety protocols for weapons handling.

open image in gallery Halyna Hutchins died after a prop gun containing live ammunition went off on set ( Getty )

It was found that Gutierrez-Reed had carried a gun into a downtown Santa Fe bar where firearms are prohibited weeks before Rust began filming.

Gutierrez-Reed was handed the maximum 18-month sentence. Jurors acquitted her of allegations that she tampered with evidence in the Rust investigation. She currently has an appeal against the conviction pending in a higher court.

The terms of her parole include mental health assessments and a prohibition on firearms ownership and possession.

An involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin was dismissed at trial last year on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense.

open image in gallery Alec Baldwin has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the tragedy ( AP )

Months after the tragic on-set shooting, filming for Rust resumed. The Western was eventually completed in Montana and was released in select theatres earlier this month.

The film, which follows a recently orphaned 13-year-old boy whose grandfather takes him on a journey to old Mexico after hes been sentenced to death for an accidental killing, was deemed a tough slog by critics.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press
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Alan Yentob, the broadcaster, programme-maker and longtime BBC executive, has died aged 78.

The news was shared by Yentobs family, who said he died on Saturday.

For Jacob, Bella and I every day with Alan held the promise of something unexpected, his wife Philippa Walker said. Our life was exciting, he was exciting.

He was curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body. But more than that, he was the kindest of men and a profoundly moral man. He leaves in his wake a trail of love a mile wide.

In a lengthy statement, BBC director-general Tim Davie said: Alan Yentob was a towering figure in British broadcasting and the arts. A creative force and a cultural visionary, he shaped decades of programming at the BBC and beyond, with a passion for storytelling and public service that leave a lasting legacy.

For nearly 60 years Alan championed originality, risk-taking and artistic ambition. From Arena to Imagine, from commissioning groundbreaking drama to giving emerging voices a platform, his influence is woven into the fabric of British cultural life.

open image in gallery Alan Yentob was hailed for his championing of originality, risk-taking and artistic ambition ( Getty Images )

Davie said that Yentob believed profoundly in the BBCs role as a home for creativity, curiosity and the arts, accessible to all.

He described the broadcaster as an unforgettable presence who was engaging, witty and endlessly curious, he brought energy and warmth to every conversation. He was generous with his time, fierce in his convictions, and full of joy in the work of others.

Yentob was born in London in 1947 to a family who left Iraq for Manchester. He grew up in Didsbury until he was 12. The family then moved back to London and Yentob went on to study law at the University of Leeds, where he became heavily involved in drama.

He joined the BBC in 1968 as a general trainee. At the time, he was the only non-Oxbridge graduate and took his first job with the corporations World Service.

In 1975, he secured unprecedented access to David Bowie for Cracked Actor, by the BBCs Omnibus strand, which captured the British artist in the throes of a cocaine-induced identity crisis in Los Angeles.

open image in gallery David Bowie in 1974 (  Getty Images / Reel Art Press )

Bowie had come to America with an extraordinary cast of characters, all of whom he had determined to kill off by the end of the Diamond Dogs tour, Yentob said while reflecting on the programme in 2013.

Id caught him at what was an intensely creative time, but it was also physically and emotionally gruelling. Our encounters tended to take place in hotel rooms in the early hours of the morning or in snatched conversations in the back of limousines. He was fragile and exhausted but also prepared to open up and talk in a way he had never really done before.

The filmmaker Nicolas Roeg later said it was Cracked Actor that prompted him to cast Bowie in his 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth, as he was struck by the musicians other-worldly quality: Almost from that moment, I couldnt believe it. I felt this was the man, he said.

Yentob, after working as a producer and director, was appointed head of music and arts in 1985, a position he maintained until being appointed controller of BBC Two in 1988. He was controller of BBC One between 1993 and 1997 and announced as the BBCs creative director in 2004.

Among the shows Yentob commissioned were the BBC hits Absolutely Fabulous, which was created, written by and starring Jennifer Saunders, and The Late Show. He launched the childrens strands CBBC and CBeebies, and appeared onscreen interviewing figures including Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Bob Geldof and Kazuo Ishiguro.

open image in gallery Alan Yentob with Salman Rushdie

He also commissioned the successful comedy panel show Have I Got News for You, and the BBCs 1995 series Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, and widely considered one of the best adaptations of Jane Austens 1813 novel.

open image in gallery Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennett and Colin Firth as Mr Darcy in the BBCs Pride and Prejudice

Over the years, he became friends with figures including Orson Welles, who was the subject of a programme Yentob made in 1982, and Mel Brooks.

Perhaps one of the friendships that caused the most intrigue was one with rapper and music mogul Jay-Z, who hosted Yentob at a Hollywood Bowl show and then at Glastonbury, where Yentob was seen standing on the side of the Pyramid Stage during his history-making 2008 headline performance.

When I walked in to see Jay-Z for the first time, I was given champagne from Jay Zs own brand, which he delivered himself and cost no less than 800 bucks a bottle, Yentob recalled to The Independent in an interview that year.

He saw me and handed me my own bottle, he was already in the midst of going on stage at the Hollywood bowl. As he walked off I could see Diana Ross arriving to give him a hug and Jerry Seinfeld was walking down the corridor. It's the champagne and the bling. I remember thinking I feel rather stupid standing in the middle of this lot  but that's showbusiness.

Yentob also defended himself from accusations that his programming strand, Imagine, was a vehicle to puff up his own acquaintances, dubbed Als Pals by critics.

People say theyre all puffs, theyre not puffs, he argued. If something amazes me or enthuses me I want to share it.

open image in gallery Yentob with King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, at the Dominion Theatre in London ( PA Archive )

In 2015, he stepped down as BBC creative director, saying at the time that his role at the charity Kids Company was a serious distraction.

Yentob, who was chairman of trustees at the charity, faced scrutiny over his role as well as claims he tried to influence coverage at the corporation of its troubles.

He always insisted there was no conflict of interest in his decision to call Newsnight about its investigation into Kids Company and had not abused my position at the BBC.

He was presented with a CBE in the 2024 birthday honours list for services to the arts and media.

open image in gallery Yentob with his CBE in 2024 ( via Reuters )

To work with Alan was to be inspired and encouraged to think bigger, Davie said. He had a rare gift for identifying talent and lifting others up  a mentor and champion to so many across the worlds of television, film and theatre.

Above all, Alan was a true original. His passion wasnt performative  it was personal. He believed in the power of culture to enrich, challenge and connect us. We have lost one of the great creative spirits of our time. But his programmes, his voice, and the generations he inspired, will live on.

Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. Alan will be hugely missed as a friend, a colleague, and one of the defining figures in the story of British culture.

Amol Rajan, the BBC Radio 4 presenter and former Independent editor, paid tribute to Yentob with a video on Instagram and a caption that described him as such a unique and kind man: an improbable impresario from unlikely origins who became a towering figure in the culture of post-war Britain.

He continued: Modern Art never had a more loyal ally. His shows were always brilliant, often masterpieces, sometimes seminal. So much of Britains best TV over 5 decades came via his desk. That was public Alan. In private, he was magnetic, zealous, and very funny, with a mesmerising voice and mischievous chuckle.

He oozed fortitude until the very last. He had his foibles and failures, but Alan Yentob was one of the most generous, influential, singular, passionate, supportive, creative and loved men of his generation. I commend his spirit to the living.
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Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard has shaved off his signature brown locks  and fans are heartbroken.

The 22-year-old actor debuted his freshly shaved head on Sunday at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Tokyo, Japan, where he and Stranger Things co-star Gaten Matarazzo were invited to present.

Wearing a textured black-and-white suit, Wolfhard spoke to Billboard Japan ahead of the ceremony about his first studio album, Happy Birthday, coming out next week.

Stranger Things co-stars Finn Wolfhard (left) and Gaten Matarazzo (right) at the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Japan ( Billboard Japan )

I had a lot of fun recording with some of my friends from Chicago, and theyre all really amazing musicians, so Im excited for people to hear everyones work, the Ghostbusters actor said.

Wolfhard was then asked to name some of his favorite anime shows and movies, to which he listed the 1988 action sci-fi Akira, 1998s space western series Cowboy Bebop, and the one-season horror series Death Note.

Matarazzo, 22, named Attack on Titan and the manga series One-Punch Man as his favorites.

Screenshots from the interview have since gone viral online, with several fans responding in shock over Wolfhards new look.

BALD FINN WOLFHARD HAS RUINED MY LIFE, one fan declared. Anothercommented: WHY IS FINN WOLFHARD BALD WHO THE F*** TOLD HIM TO SHAVE IT?

Bald Finn Wolfhard was not on my 2025 bingo card, another person noted.

One fan lamented: Never ask a Finn Wolfhard stan what happened 25/05/2025.

Finn Wolfhard you are NOT enlisting take that wig AWF! another quipped.

Wolfhard, best known for his role as Mike Wheeler in Netflixs hit series Stranger Things, has for years famously donned loose brown curls. While hes certainly worn it at varying lengths, his new buzz cut is by far the shortest hes ever gone, at least since hes been in the spotlight.

The young actor will reprise his role as Mike in the forthcoming fifth and final season of the popular thriller.

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Production on the new season reportedly wrapped in December 2024, with episodes expected to premiere later this year.

Wolfard was only 13 years old when the first season of the drama was released in 2015. And while he said he doesnt think he would ever go back and do something over, the one thing he would do differently would be to directly put myself into therapy when the show first came out and blew up.

It was so crazy and overnight that there was not really any time to think about that, he told People last month.

Reflecting on his 10-year journey on the show, Wolfhard said: I was so happy with his ending, and I dont know, I was satisfied, but I was also very confused and sad, but also very happy.

Filming the finale, he added, was definitely a lot.

I felt like I was in a dream or something. None of it felt real. I dont know, it felt perfect, he said.
BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The People's Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Pan Gongsheng and Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on establishing a cooperation framework to promote bilateral transaction settlement in local currencies, the Chinese central bank said.

The new agreement expands upon a previous MoU signed between the two central banks on Sept. 30, 2020, which was limited to current account transactions and direct investment.

According to the PBOC, the scope of bilateral local currency settlement cooperation will be expanded to include transactions made through capital and financial accounts.

The MoU was designed to advance the use of local currencies in bilateral trade and investment while fostering cooperation between the two countries' monetary and financial markets. 
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The Food and Drug Administration has advised restaurants and retailers against selling or serving certain oysters imported from the Republic of Korea due to their potential contamination with norovirus.

A recall of the particular shellfish was issued on the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend.

The warning posted to the FDA website alerts restaurants and food retailers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Washington not to sell or serve certain frozen, raw and half-shell oysters.

open image in gallery FDA recalled imported Republic of Korea oysters due to potential norovirus contamination ( Getty Images for Osteria Del Mar )

They should safely dispose of the potentially contaminated oysters or contact their distributor to arrange for destruction.

Individual consumers in those states who have also purchased these oysters are advised to do the same.

The notice further warns consumers that food containing norovirus may look, smell, and taste normal. However, consuming these potentially hazardous products can cause illness, and potentially severe illness in people with compromised immune systems, according to the FDA.

Norovirus is a highly contagious stomach bug with common symptoms including diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain.

open image in gallery Picture of a label that would be included on cartons of oysters with Lot Code: B25013 ( FDA )

People who experience symptoms should contact their healthcare provider and report their symptoms to their local health department.

Symptoms typically develop within 12 to 48 hours after being exposed to norovirus, and most people with norovirus illness get better within one to three days, according to the FDA.

The advisory goes on to list a few steps employees should follow to prevent cross-contamination.

This latest recall of oysters due to the potential risk of norovirus contamination comes months after the FDA issued a similar recall four times within a month for the same reason in February.

In December 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the number of reported norovirus outbreaks have exceeded the numbers that weve seen recently and in the years before the pandemic.
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Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie have welcomed their fourth child together, daughter Poppy Eliza Josephine Johnson.

Mrs Johnson told her Instagram followers the news with a video posted on Saturday (24 May), revealing that Poppy had been born three days ago.

I cant believe how pretty and tiny you are. Feel so incredibly lucky, she said. We are all totally smitten. Not sure Ive slept a minute since you were born as cant stop looking at how completely lovely you are.

Mrs Johnson continued to thank the maternity team at University College London Hospitals, in particular Asma and Patrick, who have looked after me so well through all my pregnancies. I really cannot thank you guys enough.

In 2023, the Johnsons announced the birth of their third child, a son named Frank Alfred Odysseus Johnson.

Carrie again shared the news on Instagram, where she revealed that shed given birth on 5 July 2023 at 9.15am and shared several photos of the newborn.

In the caption of the photo, the former political activist revealed the name the couple had chosen, while joking about the middle name her husband picked out for their newborn son.

She wrote: A week of Frankie. Welcome to the world Frank Alfred Odysseus Johnson born 5 July at 9.15am. (Can you guess which name my husband chose?!)

Am loving every minute of the sleepy baby bubble. Seeing my older two embrace their new brother with such joy and excitement has been the most wonderful thing to see. We are all very smitten ... Now, can anyone recommend any good series/box sets to binge while breastfeeding?

She first revealed the news that they were expecting their third child by writing on Instagram: New team member arriving in just a few weeks. Ive felt pretty exhausted for much of the last eight months but we cant wait to meet this little one.

Boris Johnson was previously leader of the Conservative Party and won the general election as leader in December 2019.

While he dealt with Brexit and the pandemic during his tenure, there were several developments in her personal life too, including marrying Carrie Johnson (nee Symonds ) and having two children together.

In December 2021, Boris Johnson and Carrie welcomed their second child.

They announced the birth of a healthy baby girl at a London hospital on 9 December and later revealed that they named her Romy Iris Charlotte Johnson.

A spokesperson for the couple said at the time: Both mother and daughter are doing very well. The couple would like to thank the brilliant NHS maternity team for all their care and support.

In July 2021, following the pregnancy announcement, Carrie revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage earlier in the year, and felt incredibly blessed to be pregnant again.

At the beginning of the year, I had a miscarriage which left me heartbroken, she wrote. I feel incredibly blessed to be pregnant again but Ive also felt like a bag of nerves.

Opening up about her miscarriage, Carrie said she had found comfort in speaking to others who had also experienced a similar loss.

Fertility issues can be really hard for many people, particularly when on platforms like Instagram it can look like everything is only ever going well.

I found it a real comfort to hear from people who had also experienced loss so I hope that in some very small way sharing this might help others too, she said.

open image in gallery Boris Johnson and wife Carrie on their wedding day ( PA Media )

The timing of her announcement suggested she was pregnant at the time of their wedding.

The couple were engaged in late 2019 and welcomed their first child, a son named Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, in April 2020. They married in an intimate wedding ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in May 2021.

While the baby girl was Carries second child, Boris is more familiar with the experience of parenthood. During his resignation speech, Boris thanked Carrie and all of my children. However the exact number of offspring the former prime minister has remains unclear.

Here is everything you need to know about Boris Johnsons children.

When was Boris Johnsons youngest baby born?

The youngest of Boris children is his daughter, Poppy Eliza Josephine Johnson, born on 21 May 2025.

Her older brother Frank Alfred Odysseus Johnson, Johnsons third child with Carrie, was born on 5 July 2023.

She is also younger sister to Wilfred, who was born on 29 April, 2020, and to Romy Iris Charlotte Johnson, who was born on 9 December 2021.

open image in gallery

How many other children does Boris Johnson have?

It is believed that the former prime minister has nine children, however, he has not officially confirmed the exact number.

What is known is that Boris and his second wife, Marina Wheeler, who separated in 2018, have four children together: Lara Lettice, 27, Milo Arthur, 25, Cassia Peaches, 23, and Theodore Apollo, 21.

open image in gallery Boris Johnson pictured with his daughter Lara Johnson at a polling station after casting their votes in the election for the next Mayor of London in 2012 (G

Boris also has a fifth child, Stephanie Macintyre, who was fathered as a result of an affair with art consultant Helen Macintyre.

The Appeal Court ruled in 2013 that the public had a right to know that he had fathered a daughter during an adulterous liaison while Mayor of London in 2009.

The core information in this story, namely that the father had an adulterous affair with the mother, deceiving both his wife and the mothers partner and that the claimant, born about nine months later, was likely to be the fathers child, was a public interest matter which the electorate was entitled to know when considering his fitness for high public office, the court said.

Why is the number of children Boris Johnson has vague?

During the court proceedings, it was alleged that Stephanie Macintyre was one of two children the former prime minister fathered as a result of an affair.

The three appeal court judges said: It was not material to the judge's conclusion whether contraceptive precautions were taken.

What was material was that the father's infidelities resulted in the conception of children on two occasions.

Has the former prime minister ever spoken publicly about his children?

Boris Johnson has famously diverted questions about his family and personal life, especially during the election campaign in 2019.

During a radio interview with LBC, presenter Nick Ferrari asked the former politician how many children he had and if he was fully involved in their lives.

Boris responded: I love my children very much but they are not standing at this election.

I'm not therefore going to comment on them.

He added: I am not going to put them onto the pitch in their election campaign when I think what people want to hear is what my plans are for the country, what this government is determined to do and how we are going to take this country forward.

That is the way all parties should be judged.

In a 2024 interview with The Diary of a CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett, he responded to a direct question about the number of children he has with the reply: Search me.
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Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. Today, Amreen, age 15, from New Delhi, India, asks:

Is it possible to upload the consciousness of your mind into a computer?

The concept, cool yet maybe a little creepy, is known as mind uploading. Think of it as a way to create a copy of your brain, a transmission of your mind and consciousness into a computer. There you would live digitally, perhaps forever. Youd have an awareness of yourself, youd retain your memories and still feel like you. But you wouldnt have a body.

Within that simulated environment, you could do anything you do in real life  eating, driving a car, playing sports. You could also do things impossible in the real world, like walking through walls, flying like a bird or traveling to other planets. The only limit is what science can realistically simulate.

open image in gallery In theory, mind uploading will be possible in the future (PA) ( PA Wire )

Doable? Theoretically, mind uploading should be possible. Still, you may wonder how it could happen. After all, researchers have barely begun to understand the brain.

Yet science has a track record of turning theoretical possibilities into reality. Just because a concept seems terribly, unimaginably difficult doesnt mean its impossible. Consider that science took humankind to the Moon, sequenced the human genome and eradicated smallpox. Those things too were once considered unlikely.

As a brain scientist who studies perception, I fully expect mind uploading to one day be a reality. But as of today, were nowhere close.

Living in a laptop

The brain is often regarded as the most complex object in the known universe. Replicating all that complexity will be extraordinarily difficult.

One requirement: The uploaded brain needs the same inputs it always had. In other words, the external world must be available to it. Even cloistered inside a computer, you would still need a simulation of your senses, a reproduction of the ability to see, hear, smell, touch, feel  as well as move, blink, detect your heart rate, set your circadian rhythm and do thousands of other things.

But why is that? Couldnt you just exist in a pure mental bubble, inside the computer without sensory input?

Depriving people of their senses, like putting them in total darkness, or in a room without sound, is known as sensory deprivation, and its regarded as a form of torture. People who have trouble sensing their bodily signals  thirst, hunger, pain, an itch  often have mental health challenges.

Thats why for mind uploading to work, the simulation of your senses and the digital environment youre in must be exceptionally accurate. Even minor distortions could have serious mental consequences.

For now, researchers dont have the computing power, much less the scientific knowledge, to perform such simulations.

Scanning billions of pinheads

The first task for a successful mind upload: Scanning, then mapping the complete 3D structure of the human brain. This requires the equivalent of an extraordinarily sophisticated MRI machine that could detail the brain in an advanced way. At the moment, scientists are only at the very early stages of brain mapping  which includes the entire brain of a fly and tiny portions of a mouse brain.

In a few decades, a complete map of the human brain may be possible. Yet even capturing the identities of all 86 billion neurons, all smaller than a pinhead, plus their trillions of connections, still isnt enough. Uploading this information by itself into a computer wont accomplish much. Thats because each neuron constantly adjusts its functioning, and that has to be modeled, too.

Its hard to know how many levels down researchers must go to make the simulated brain work. Is it enough to stop at the molecular level? Right now, no one knows.

2045? 2145? Or later?

Knowing how the brain computes things might provide a shortcut. That would let researchers simulate only the essential parts of the brain, and not all biological idiosyncrasies. Its easier to manufacture a new car knowing how a car works, compared to attempting to scan and replicate an existing car without any knowledge of its inner workings.

However, this approach requires that scientists figure out how the brain creates thoughts  how collections of thousands to millions of neurons come together to perform the computations that make the human mind come alive. Its hard to express how very far we are from this.

Heres another way: Replace the 86 billion real neurons with artificial ones, one at a time. That approach would make mind uploading much easier. Right now, though, scientists cant replace even a single real neuron with an artificial one.

But keep in mind the pace of technology is accelerating exponentially. Its reasonable to expect spectacular improvements in computing power and artificial intelligence in the coming decades.

One other thing is certain: Mind uploading will certainly have no problem finding funding. Many billionaires appear glad to part with lots of their money for a shot at living forever.

Although the challenges are enormous and the path forward uncertain, I believe that one day, mind uploading will be a reality. The most optimistic forecasts pinpoint the year 2045, only 20 years from now. Others say the end of this century.

But in my mind, both of these predictions are probably too optimistic. I would be shocked if mind uploading works in the next 100 years. But it might happen in 200  which means the first person to live forever could be born in your lifetime.

Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question youd like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.

And since curiosity has no age limit  adults, let us know what youre wondering, too. We wont be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.

Dobromir Rahnev is an Associate Professor of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article
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Jane Goodall has opened up about her first marriage and how she wishes it could have played out.

The 91-year-old primatologist was a guest Wednesday on Alex Coopers Call Her Daddy podcast, where the two spoke about relationships and how Goodall was able to handle both her job and a love life.

She met her first husband, the late National Geographic photographer Hugo van Lawick, when his magazine sent him to take photos of Goodall while she was studying chimpanzees in Africa.

They wanted to make a film and they wanted good photographs, so they sent Hugo van Lawick, and I really didn't want him to come, she told Cooper. I hadn't met him because I just wanted to be there with the chimps, you know. I didn't want anybody, and I was afraid they'd be scared of him and, you know, all my hard work would be undone.

Goodall quickly learned about van Lawicks love of animals and appreciated the work he was doing to share the knowledge that chimpanzees really are like us.

I definitely wish we could have carried on with that marriage because it was a good one, Goodall said ( Getty Images for Sierra Club )

They were soon married for ten years from 1964 to 1974 and welcomed one child together, Hugo Eric Louis.

In terms of the couple breaking up, Goodall said their relationship ended gradually. She explained that National Geographic stopped paying van Lawick to come to Gombe in Tanzania, where she was studying chimpanzees.

He had to go on with his career and he got some money to do films on the Serengeti, and I couldn't leave Gombe, she said. I had to stay  I couldn't leave Gombe, and so it slowly drifted apart. And it was sad.

Despite the relationship not panning out, the primatologist reflected on the decision, saying it was the right thing.

But, she added: You know, I definitely wish we could have carried on with that marriage because it was a good one.

One year after her divorce from van Lawick, Goodall married Tanzanian parks director Derek Bryceson, who left her widowed in 1980.

She has previously talked about her relationships with the two men, revealing in an interview with People back in 2020 why she decided not to get married a third time after Brycesons death.

Well, I didn't want to, she told the publication at the time. I didn't meet the right person, I suppose, or potentially the right person.

I had lots of men friends, many, Goodall added. I had lots of women friends, too. My life was complete. I didn't need a husband.

In light of how both of her marriages ended, she told the publication that they still had a profound impact on her life. If I hadn't married him, there wouldn't be a Gombe today, she said about Bryceson, noting he helped her establish the Gombe Stream National Park.

If Hugo hadn't come along, the chimp story [probably] would have ended, Goodall added.

She also noted:  Unfortunately, they were both extremely jealous. Both of them. Even jealous of women friends. They were really jealous and possessive ... How I could do it twice? I don't know.
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Kim Kardashian has taken a major step forward in her quest to become a lawyer.

Kardashian, 44, didnt do a traditional law school stint, opting instead to study under a lawyer in a workaround offered in California. She enlisted in an apprenticeship program with a San Francisco law firm in 2018, according to multiple reports. Now, shes celebrating the completion of that program.

Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney Shaheen Manshoory explained toThe Independent that Kardashians program is known as the Law Office Study Program, which in California requires a minimum commitment of four years. However, in her case, she has participated in this apprenticeship program for six years, likely because she struggled to pass what is called the baby bar, Manshoory shared.

Kardashian took the baby bar, or first-year exam, three times before passing on her fourth try in 2021. Its not an easy test, Manshoory added. Those required to take the baby bar attend non-accredited law schools or are enrolled in the Law Office Study Program.

That exam differs from the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), which is required in California and tests the ethical component of legal practice, and from the traditional bar exam, which Kardashian is now eligible to take since she passed the baby bar and MPRE.

The fundamental difference between the two exams is that the baby bar only tests three areas of law covered in your first year of law school; whereas, the state bar examination tests fourteen areas of law, Manshoory explained.

Kim Kardashian has celebrated a milestone moment in her journey to become a lawyer ( Reuters )

Kardashian will face her biggest educational test yet in sitting the California state bar, which Manshoory says is known as one of the most challenging bar exams in the country.

The Skims founder marked the completion of her program with a small private ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She shared multiple photos and videos from the event on her Instagram Stories, including a snap of her in a graduation cap.

Jessica Jackson, the lawyer who mentored her, said Kardashian spent 18 hours a week, 48 weeks a year for six straight years on the program.

Jackson called Kardashians one of the most inspiring legal journeys we've ever seen.

Six years ago, Kim Kardashian walked into this program with nothing but a fierce desire to fight for justice, Jackson said in a speech shared on Instagram. No law school lectures, no ivory tower shortcuts, just determination. And a mountain of case law books to read.

Among those celebrating Kardashians accomplishment was Ivanka Trump, who congratulated her friend in an Instagram Story.

Congratulations Kim! You did it! My favorite law school graduate! Trump captioned the picture of Kardashian donning her grad cap.
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Rosie ODonnell has expressed her astonishment after sharing a recent photo of herself, as she continues to update fans on her health journey.

The comedian revealed earlier this year that she is taking the drug Mounjaro for her diabetes, a side-effect of which has been weight loss.

I am on Mounjaro for my diabetes and one of the side effects is you lose weight, she said in a TikTok posted on 20 March.

But its also because I had a chef for over two years in Los Angeles and I don't have a chef now. It's me cooking for Clay and me.

ODonnell, 63, moved to Ireland in January with her youngest child, Clay, in response to Donald Trumps return to the White House.

In a post shared on Saturday (24 May), ODonnell wrote, I cant believe this is me now, and added the hashtags Mounjaro, weight loss and body dysmorphia.

The photo showed her apparently in the middle of a stand-up comedy routine, wearing a white shirt and green top with black trousers.

Ireland looks good on you, Rosie! one fan commented.

Looking great, another follower said. And look at you doing stand up in Ireland. Literally back to your roots.

ODonnells close friend and fellow comedian Kathy Griffin remarked: I LOVE THAT YOURE DOING STAND UP.

In her March post, ODonnell appeared to allude to her struggles with body dysmorphia as she said she didnt believe a shop assistant who helped her pick out the right size for a pair of trousers.

They brought in some pants and I didnt look at the size. I put them on and as we were leaving, they said what the size would be comparable to in America and I didnt really believe them, she said.

But Im telling you, I feel healthier. Im sleeping better.

Rosie ODonnell moved to Ireland from the US earlier this year ( Getty )

ODonnell first confirmed that she was taking Mounjaro back in 2023, when she shared a response to a fan who asked how she had been able to lose 10lb since Christmas.

About two months ago my doctor put me on  not Ozempic  Mounjaro and Rapatha, she said. One I do every other week and one I do once a week.

She added that, with the exception of a celebratory champagne toast, she had not drunk anything except water since Christmas.

Im not eating sugar as much as I can, she said. My appetite has decreased significantly. Its probably the meds. And Im trying to move more. So, all those things combined, thats what it is.
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Tom Cruise has made a rare comment about parenting after being asked about his experience of Fathers Day.

The 62-year-old is currently on a promotional tour for his new film, Mission Impossible: the Final Reckoning, which he has said could be the last instalment in the long-running franchise.

Cruise was asked: What would an ideal Fathers Day look like for you? by an E! News presenter, who reminded him that the occasion was just around the corner.

The Top Gun star looked taken aback as he replied: Hey, just having fun, man. Making movies, big adventure, having a great time.

He is famously discreet about his private life and has three children: an adopted son and daughter with his ex-wife Nicole Kidman and a biological daughter with ex-wife Katie Holmes.

The actors family life has been the subject of speculation, with Cruise threatening to sue a magazine for $50m for suggesting he had abandoned his and Holmess daughter, Suri, following the couples split.

In June 2024, it was reported that Cruise and Holmess daughter Suri had dropped her fathers surname for her high school graduation ceremony. Instead, multiple outlets revealed she had gone by Suri Noelle rather than Suri Cruise.

Tom Cruise has three children ( Getty Images for Paramount Pictures )

The Page Six report included a photo of the graduation pamphlet credited to celebrity news agency Backgrid, with the name Suri Noelle circled. The moniker was likely a tribute to the 18-year-olds mother, whose middle name is Noelle.

Holmes and Cruise welcomed their daughter Suri in April 2006. The actors first met in 2005 and were engaged two months later, before tying the knot in an Italian ceremony in November 2006. Holmes filed for divorce from the Eyes Wide Shut star in June 2012 after five years of marriage.

The First Daughter star has previously opened up about keeping her daughter safe because of her childhood in the spotlight. What has been really important for me with my daughter, because she was so visible at a young age, is I really like to protect her, she told Glamour in April 2023. Im very grateful to be a parent, to be her parent. Shes an incredible person.
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Shoppers have started to boycott Walmart for a second time, two months after Marchs economic blackout.

Advocacy group Peoples Union USA announced there would be a boycott of Walmart from May 20 to May 26 after accusing the company of crushing small businesses and underpaying its employees.

The boycott includes both in-store and online shopping at Walmart locations and affiliated Walmart-branded companies, such as Sams Club, as well as private label brands such as Great Value and Equate.

John Schwarz, the founder of the Peoples Union, posted a video Tuesday on Instagram explaining the reasoning for the boycott, telling his followers, After all the record profits, all the tax loopholes, all the corporate greed, Walmart now once again wants to raise prices.

But this time, because of the tariffs, as if they're not already raking in billions, as if they can't absorb the cost. As if you and I should carry this burden.

The Independent has contacted Walmart for comment.

Schwarz and the Peoples Union previously organized a week-long economic blackout back in March, where consumers were asked to avoid making purchases from Amazons main site as well as the other companies it owns, including Amazon Alexa, IMDb, Prime Video, Ring, Twitch, Whole Foods, and Zappos.

At the time, Schwarz told CNET the objective of the calculated strike is simple: for Amazon to record a dip in sales.

The boycott includes shopping at other affiliated Walmart-branded companies, such as Sams Club ( Getty Images )

In an Instagram post, Schwarz described how to hit Amazon the hardest and take a stand against its impact on small businesses and treatment of workers after the company reported a 10 percent year-on-year increase in net sales in Q4 2024 to almost $188 billion last month.

If you want to focus your firepower, you target what you use the most, he said.

It was not immediately clear how many people were due to participate in the boycott.

Prior to the Amazon boycott, the Peoples Union took aim at corporate giants with a sweeping consumer blackout, which urged consumers against making purchases at major retailers for 24 hours.

Schwarz told CNN that the movement went international, adding: Every country has messaged me, people from all over the world commenting on the videos. How can we stand in solidarity?

However, an analysis from digital retail consultancy company Momentum Commerce showed Amazon had slightly higher sales that day.

The organization has other boycotts planned throughout the next couple of weeks, including a Target boycott from June 3 to June 9, a McDonalds boycott from June 24 to June 30, and an Independence Day boycott on July 4.
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At least six people were injured, including one critically, after an argument led to a shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, police said.

Police responded to a call reporting an active shooter just after 10 p.m. Saturday and found multiple people with gunshot wounds, police wrote in an online statement.

At least four people were taken to local hospitals, and two other victims arrived at the hospital in their own vehicles, police said.

One of the victims was in critical condition as of Sunday morning, while the other victims were in stable condition, police said.

The shooting, which police said appears to have started from an argument, is currently under investigation by Colorado Springs Homicide unit.

Police say there is no suspect at this time.

No arrests have been announced.
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A father allegedly handed his teenage son a gun in order to carry out a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, according to police.

Roberto Martinez took his 14-year-old son on a graffiti spree in downtown LA on February 10 and later came across Kevin Rivera.

Five shots were fired through a cars passenger window, wounding two other people and killing Rivera, according to an LAPD search warrant affidavit obtained by The Los Angeles Times.

The teen was allegedly holding the gun.

Martinez, 43, and his son have been charged with murdering Rivera, whom Martinez believed to belong to a rival gang, the newspaper reported.

Martinez has pleaded not guilty, though he has been in and out of prison since 2005 for possessing drugs and guns, court records have shown. According to the LAPD, he is a member of a Hollywood gang called The Magicians Club, or TMC, and has the nickname Stranger.

open image in gallery Roberto Martinez took his 14-year-old son on a graffiti spree in downtown LA on February 10 and later came across Kevin Rivera, according to the LAPD. The teenager is alleged to have shot and killed Rivera ( Getty Images )

Details of his sons case are not public because of his age.

Following his arrest, Martinez told a fellow prisoner details of a shooting, claiming that four people got dropped and one died, according to the affidavit obtained by The Times.

He added that the victim was from Playboys, another Los Angeles based gang, the affidavit said.

My son did what he had to do, dog, Martinez said in a recorded call, according to the affidavit. Honestly I tried to stop him. I tried to grab the gun.

However, according to the affidavit, detectives allege that Martinez handed his son the weapon that he used to kill Rivera.

The weapon was later recovered in Wilmington, California, after a man allegedly tossed the gun while trying to escape LAPD officers. The .40-caliber Glock recovered during the pursuit was tested and matched to the one used to kill Rivera, according to police.

WhatsApp messages on Alvarezs phone allegedly show that he bought the Glock for $800 five days after Rivera was fatally shot, the affidavit stated.
HAIKOU, May 25 (Xinhua) -- At the entrance of the 2025 International Conference on Rare Diseases, visitors are greeted by a poignant painting: a young girl lies in a hospital bed as a nurse approaches with a cart filled with medication. Outside the window, birds soar gracefully against a backdrop of blue sky that stretches endlessly over the open sea.

The artwork is by Liu Xinruo, a Chinese girl with an inherited disorder of bone growth. A small plaque beside her painting notes: "Pseudoachondroplasia. Orthopedic surgeries at age 8 and 15."

Liu's painting offers a quiet but powerful message -- even amid pain and uncertainty, there is strength and resilience. Her story mirrors the experiences of more than 300 million people worldwide living with rare diseases.

From Friday to Sunday, experts from across the globe, including clinicians, researchers, pharmaceutical representatives, policymakers, and patient advocates, convened in Haikou, capital of China's southern island province of Hainan, to discuss the future of rare disease diagnosis and care.

Globally, more than 7,000 rare diseases have been identified, yet only about 5 percent have approved treatments. In China alone, over 20 million people are affected by rare conditions.

However, progress is now clearly taking shape. As China works to fulfill its pledge of ensuring health for its 1.4 billion people, patients like Liu are starting to experience tangible improvements.

At the conference, Ma Xudong, an official with China's National Health Commission, highlighted a multifaceted strategy that is making significant strides in steadily advancing care for patients with rare diseases. Key measures include the creation of a national rare disease list, expanded insurance coverage, improved clinical guidelines, and accelerated drug development.

China has established a collaborative hospital network covering all provincial-level regions. The network, now comprising 419 hospitals, facilitates case referrals, telemedicine, and data sharing -- helping to reduce the average diagnostic time for rare diseases from four years to less than four weeks, while slashing costs by 90 percent.

Meanwhile, China's official list of recognized rare diseases has expanded to 207 conditions. More than 90 rare disease drugs have been included in the national medical insurance system, significantly lowering the financial burden on patients.

Technological innovation is playing a critical role in addressing the complex challenges of rare disease care. The China Alliance for Rare Diseases (CARD) has developed a digital health platform focused on intelligent applications for diagnosis, patient management, clinical research, education, and drug development.

Even more groundbreaking is the clinical launch of PUMCH-GENESIS, a large language AI model developed by Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Leveraging vast datasets of rare disease knowledge and genetic information, the model helps doctors make faster and more accurate diagnoses.

"Technology's true value lies in making the impossible possible," said Zhang Shuyang, president of PUMCH.

Policy innovation has also opened new frontiers. In Hainan's Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, a special regulatory framework has allowed the introduction of 45 internationally approved rare disease drugs not yet authorized for use elsewhere in China.

The National Natural Science Foundation of China has launched a funding program for rare disease research, and the Ministry of Science and Technology has approved the creation of a national key laboratory for complex and rare diseases.

Beyond medicine and policy, a growing network of professional and grassroots support is helping rare disease patients feel less isolated. Over the past decade, organizations such as the Beijing Illness Challenge Foundation, the CARD, and the Chinese Society of Rare Diseases of the Chinese Medical Association have united experts, patients, and decision-makers in shared action.

In a video address to the conference, Martin Taylor, the World Health Organization's Representative to China, praised the country's inclusive process for developing its national rare disease list, which incorporated input from patient groups. He called for global cooperation to build sustainable models of care that address not only physical treatment but also the lifelong mental and emotional needs of patients.

Experts from the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium echoed this view, stressing the need for countries to share resources and ensure that scientific progress outpaces the diseases themselves.

"Supporting people with rare diseases is not a one-off effort," said Li Linkang, executive director of CARD. "It's a lifelong commitment." 
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Authorities are investigating after a concert at Black Bike Week in Atlantic Beach, South Carolina, descended into chaos Saturday night, resulting in multiple injuries that sent people to the hospital, according to local reports.

The annual Memorial Day weekend event, which draws in thousands of bikers and motorcycle enthusiasts, many from the Black community, turned into a chaotic scene with multiple people injured after an apparent argument led to a stampede, The Sun News reported.

While at least 19 people were taken to the hospital in ambulances, earlier reports and rumors spreading online of mass casualties are false, Atlantic Beach Police Interim Chief Carlos Castillo said.

Fights erupted during a concert that was taking place Saturday night into early Sunday, causing the crowd to panic. Law enforcement said fights broke out, but they believed agitators ran and disappeared into the crowd, Castillo told The Sun News.

The Atlantic Beach Bike Festival, also known as the Black Bike Week, has been held in Atlantic Beach, South Carolina, for years, drawing in hundreds of bikers and motorcycle enthusiasts. ( Getty Images )

Those hospitalized were injured for a variety of reasons, including being trampled, heat exhaustion and dehydration.

No arrests had been made as of Sunday afternoon.

Event attendee Hilton Dewitt told The Sun News earlier Sunday that there may have been an argument on the street around 1 a.m. that caused concert goers to rush toward the stage.

He said ambulances then came and police shut the event down. The event was set to start up again after 3 p.m. Sunday.

We sincerely regret that anyone was injured, but we also regret the unfactual information that is being falsely spread about the Atlantic Beach Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival, Castillo wrote.

The Atlantic Beach Bike Festival has been hosted at Atlantic Beach and other nearby beaches over Memorial Day weekend for years and draws in a large crowd of bikers, according to The Sun News.

This years event is being held from Friday to Monday, according to the report.

Atlantic Beach police did not immediately return The Independents request for comment Sunday morning.

This is a developing story...
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Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old from Georgia, has been extradited to the United States from Moldova after federal authorities say he led a murder cult and tried to poison students at Brooklyn Jewish schools.

Chkhikvishvili  known as Commander Butcher, according to prosecutors  was arrested in Chisinau, Moldova last summer after he was indicted in New York on charges of soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence.

Prosecutors say Chkhikvishvili led the Maniac Murder Cult, which is an international racially motivated violent extremist group. The group follows a Neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence against racial minorities, the Jewish community, and other groups it deems undesirables, according to the Department of Justice.

Members share a common goal of challenging social order and governments via terrorism and violent acts that promote fear and chaos, prosecutors say.

Chkhikvishvili pleaded not guilty during his appearance in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday.

open image in gallery Michail Chkhikvishvili pleaded not guilty to scheme to hand out poison candy to Jewish children ( Department of Justice )

As the groups alleged leader, Chkhikvishvili is accused of planning and soliciting a mass casualty attack in New York.

The scheme allegedly involved someone dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out candy laced with poison to members of the Jewish community, particularly children in Brooklyn who attended Jewish schools.

The 21-year-old is also accused of saying he wanted the attack to be bigger action than Breivik, referring to Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian neoNazi who committed a bombing and mass shooting in Norway in 2011. He killed 77 people.

Prosecutors say Chkhikvishvili admitted to other crimes, telling people he was glad I have murdered and that he would murder more but make others murder first.

Chkhikvishvili is accused of drafting step-by-step instructions to carry out the scheme and sharing detailed manuals about creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases with the person he wanted to carry out the scheme.

Some of these materials are linked to foreign terrorist organizations, including ISIS, prosecutors say.

Since 2021, Chkhikvishvili has been distributing a manifesto called the Haters Handbook which encourages people to commit acts of mass violence, according to the Justice Department.

New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch praised efforts to capture the 21-year-old.

This defendant allegedly planned to poison Jewish children and carry out mass murder in New York City, Tisch said. He incited bombings, arsons, and violence against racial and religious minorities  driven by a hateful neo-Nazi ideology. These werent idle threats. They were detailed plans.
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A routine traffic stop in Texas led to the discovery of an alleged human smuggling operation involving 12 undocumented migrants concealed within hollowed-out hay bales.

Officials said a Fayette County deputy stopped a white Ford F-250 towing hay bales Tuesday around 12:50 p.m. on eastbound Interstate 10 near Flatonia, roughly 70 miles east of Austin.

open image in gallery Texas officials allegedly found 12 migrants in hollowed-out hay bales ( Fayette County Sheriff's Office )

Upon inspection, the deputy noticed the bales had been meticulously altered, revealing hidden compartments reinforced with metal frameworks, according to the sheriffs office. Inside, deputies found 12 people inside.

This method of concealment is not only deceptive but incredibly dangerous to human life, Sheriff Keith Korenek said in a Facebook post. Smugglers continue to use increasingly creative and hazardous techniques to transport individuals across Texas highways.

open image in gallery Fayette County officials say this is the first time theyve seen migrants in bales of hay ( Fayette County Sheriff's Office )

Deputies said the 12 migrants were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while two Houston residents, Adanaylo Lambert, 22, and Lency Delgado Fernandez, 25, were arrested as the coordinators of the operation. They are expected to face state and federal human smuggling charges.

The driver, Delbert Flanders, 44, from Kansas, also was arrested on state and federal smuggling charges. He was taken to a local hospital for unspecified medical treatment.

open image in gallery The discovery happened during a routine traffic stop ( Fayette County Sheriff's Office )

Fayette County authorities say this is the first time theyve encountered migrants hidden in hay bales.

The case remains under investigation.
If there was a throne for the king of sweet spreads, Nutella would sit on it.

Australians ate 15 million kilos of the chocolate hazelnut spread last year. It is far and away the flagship product of Ferrero, the Italian family business that also makes Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Kinder Surprise, Kinder Bueno and Tic Tacs.

Nutella has been rated the No.1 spread for 2023 and 2024, according to a Circana sales data shopping panel. By the numbers, Ferreros Australian business is selling more chocolate: revenue rose 10.1 per cent to nearly $382 million in 2024, with Nutella comprising a third of that. Profits rose 6.5 per cent to $14.5 million.

Nutella and Biscoff are both well-loved sweet spreads, but they take different approaches to reach new audiences. Credit:

With a 50-year legacy of local production behind it, the iconic chocolate hazelnut spread practically sells itself.
The stage is minimalist, adorned with a side table laden with a vase of flowers, a globe and an array of lamps. Occasionally therell be a lighting effect, like a spotlight that emulates the moon or a tortoise shell speckled design projected onto the back curtain. Loading The crowd is tentative about applauding, waiting for a conclusive indication that shes finished before clapping between tracks. Hardly anyone raises their phone to record, and when they do, she kindly asks them to stop. The performance goes for just under two hours, including the encore. A long time to be standing, even for the most dedicated fan. A couple of audience members even faint. Seating would have ensured a comfortable concert experience and suited the intimate atmosphere. A captivating performance, where you surrender to Aobas fantasy and detach from the chaos of the outside world.

Reviewed by Vyshnavee Wijekumar

MUSIC

Floodlights 

Forum Melbourne, May 24 Smoke, an immense cage of light, an eager rush onto one of Melbournes most storied stages, and a hometown heroes welcome that swells the room. Floodlights night is a triumph already. Alive (I Want To Feel) is heralded by the lone trumpet of Sarah Hellyer: the bugler in the face of a gathering storm. And alive we feel. Melbourne rock band Floodlights at the Forum on Saturday night. Credit: Martin Philbey Floodlights are no pop band; no hits or Hottest 100 contenders, though their second album, Painting of My Time, was shortlisted for the 2023 Australian Music Prize. What tonights packed room reflects is more unusual: a serious following for serious music, with a gritty, localised aesthetic that more tenderly echoes Midnight Oil, The Triffids, Goanna  bands that tried to make sense of a country and its shadows. Tonights set leans hard on Underneath, the new album that continues the collectives earnest search for meaning in a more inward direction. Its less postcard-accessible than Small Town Pub and Nullarbor  older tunes that reliably lift the energy when long intros and murmured set-ups lead attention to drift. The new material is thematically dense, deliberate, sometimes elusive.

But JOY is pure high. Horses Will Run creeps and surges with dream-state drama. Frontman Louis Parsons doesnt so much sing as declaim. Hes insistent, on edge, but rarely quite decipherable in the wiry ensemble attack. Hellyers heroic trumpet and wailing blues harp are recurring motifs, adding flashes of texture and tension that hark back to Aussie pub rock forebears. Louis Parsons, lead singer and guitarist for Melbourne rock band Floodlights, performs on stage at the Forum on May 24, 2025 Credit: Martin Philbey Mid-show, the piano-led Melancholy Cave wants to pull the room into a hush, but the crowd seems elsewhere. Theres a nagging sense that much of Underneath hasnt quite landed yetat least not live. But Buoyant is a late-set victory. As promised by the title, the room levitates. The crowd picks up the booming hook and sways into a proper old-school beer barn moment. And the sprawling 5AM is an epic set closer of slow-building, stadium-targeted proportions. Its been an emotional day for us, Parsons offers gratefully before the single-song encore. Golden oldie Painting of My Time is the climax the night needs and again, the room rises to meet its all-in chanting refrain. Its late, but a moment of exhilarated arrival that makes the journey worthwhile. Floodlights dont always hit their mark. But theres no question they know what theyre aiming for.

Reviewed by Michael Dwyer

THEATRE

Endgames 

fortyfivedownstairs, until June 1 Three brief encounters with hideous men achieve a sense of twilit tragicomedy in the hands of the legendary Max Gillies. The legendary Max Gillies stars in Endgames at fortyfivedownstairs. Credit: Jodie Hutchinson With Endgames, Gillies rejoins director Laurence Strangio to present whats in some ways a companion piece to their 2018 production of Krapps Last Tape  this time uniting the late Beckett work Eh Joe with an excerpt from Jack Hibberds classic monodrama A Stretch of the Imagination and Chekhovs shambolic lecture On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco. Although Hibberd died last year, the curtain may long continue to fall on his immortal stage creation, Monk ONeill. The misanthropic hermit in Stretch remains an incarnation of Australian male destructiveness and despair as appalling as he is compelling.

Hibberd used this character to diagnose cultural disease  from slashing misogyny to the rapacity and bad faith of colonialism  with a clear-eyed honesty that reshaped what was possible on our stages, and this excerpt includes Monks final will and testament, in which he gives: All my lands and property, goods and chattels, to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia  On no account must my domain fall into the clutches of the predatory and upstart albino. I believe that the tides of history will swamp and wash aside this small pink tribe of mistletoe men, like insects Change insects to dead leaves With Endgames, Gillies rejoins director Laurence Strangio. Credit: Jodie Hutchinson One Tree Hill isnt his to give, of course, and even Monks presence is erased in this version, largely an audio performance under crepuscular lighting. Gillies only appears once, rifle in hand, pursuing an emu on heat through the shadows; the brilliantly produced soundscape, however, overfills the physical absence  not least in the copious, and comically loud, urination which bookends the piece.

If that whets the appetite for a proper remount of Stretch, the audio monologue in Eh Joe is part of Becketts creative intention. The elderly loner here sits entombed in silence on a couch, as the accusatory voice of a woman (Jillian Murray) torments him with memory and regret. Loading As he seduced women in his life, so this internal voice now seduces him towards death, and Gillies wordless performance haunts with barely perceptible pain and confusion, with the agony of futile presence. Gillies has always had a talent for clowning, and in the Chekhov, he leans into a more overtly satirical sort of existential monologue. Nyukhin is a nervy, ineffectual public speaker. The man is supposed to be giving a charity lecture on the evils of tobacco, but it keeps turning into a digressive complaint about his wife and daughters, whom he fears. The actor fumbles his lines more than a few times, which matters less than it might when hes playing a character who wishes he could erase his memory, and whose comical lack of authority is his defining feature.
JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China is ready to work with Indonesia to elevate political mutual trust and strategic coordination between the two countries to a higher level.

Li made the remarks while meeting with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto during his official visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

The premier first conveyed cordial greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Prabowo, noting that China and Indonesia are good neighbors and good partners.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 75 years ago, the two sides have supported each other and stood by each other, and their traditional friendship has remained firm and ever-relevant, Li added.

During Prabowo's China visit in November last year, the presidents of the two countries reached important consensus on building a China-Indonesia community with a shared future that has regional and global influence, which has taken bilateral ties to a new historical high and opened up broad prospects for cooperation, Li said.

China, Li said, is willing to work with Indonesia to adhere to the original aspiration of establishing diplomatic relations, carry forward the tradition of friendship, and enhance unity and cooperation.

He added that the Chinese side also stands ready to consolidate cooperation in the "five pillars" of politics, economy, people-to-people and cultural exchange, maritime affairs and security, jointly address risks and challenges, and better promote common development.

Li pointed out that China is willing to work with Indonesia to enhance the alignment of development strategies, and deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, especially by optimizing and strengthening landmark projects.

He urged the two sides to further enhance the "golden brand" of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, and promote the construction of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Corridor and the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" project.

Li said both sides should enhance market connectivity and industrial collaboration, improve the level of trade and investment facilitation, and expand cooperation in areas such as finance, new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI), aerospace and the ocean.

China is willing to expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges with Indonesia, facilitate personnel exchanges, deepen cooperation in areas related to people's livelihood such as food and agriculture, poverty reduction and health, and bring more benefits to the two peoples, said the premier.

At present, the rise of unilateralism and protectionism has severely disrupted the international economic and trade order, Li noted, adding that confronting these risks and challenges, solidarity and cooperation remain the only viable path forward.

Li said that China stands ready to work with Indonesia and other developing countries to jointly uphold the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit, and implement the three major global initiatives.

He called for steadfastly upholding multilateralism and free trade, promoting an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, resolutely safeguarding common interests, and jointly advancing peace, stability and development in the region and the world at large.

For his part, Prabowo asked the Chinese premier to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi, and said that Indonesia and China share a long history of friendly exchanges and deep-rooted people-to-people friendship.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries as well as the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, Prabowo said that Indonesia is ready to take this opportunity to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership with China, advance the building of an Indonesia-China community with a shared future, and jointly promote peace and development in Asia and the rest of the world.

Prabowo spoke highly of the fruitful progress in bilateral cooperation and expressed Indonesia's willingness to learn from China's successful experiences in poverty reduction and rural development.

He said Indonesia is ready to expand cooperation with China in agriculture, finance, infrastructure, green economy, AI and education, and upgrade industrial collaboration. He also expressed the hope that more Chinese enterprises invest and do business in Indonesia.

Indonesia is committed to implementing the consensus on joint maritime development with China, accelerating consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and jointly safeguarding peace and stability in the region, he said.

Indonesia looks forward to coordinating closely with China on multilateral platforms such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and BRICS, firmly supports multilateralism, opposes protectionism, and stands ready to work with China to uphold the common interests of developing countries and tackle global challenges, he added.

After the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in areas concerning economic development policies, industrial and supply chain as well as finance.

Ahead of their talks, Prabowo held a welcome ceremony for Li at the Merdeka Palace. 
Some 32,000 residents across 14 northern NSW towns remained isolated on Sunday as emergency workers from across Australia and New Zealand arrived in the disaster zone to assist with the colossal task of assessing flood damage to thousands of homes.

More than 400 properties have been destroyed or declared uninhabitable since record-breaking floodwaters began to recede in the past two days, and that number is expected to grow.

Residents in Taree begin the flood clean-up on Saturday. Credit: AAPIMAGE

The last four emergency warnings for northern NSW were downgraded on Sunday afternoon. More than 60 areas remain under Watch and Act orders, with some communities still urged to avoid flooded areas or prepare to isolate.

Five people have died in the disaster. NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Daniel Austin urged people to heed warnings still in place despite the desire to return home. We dont want any further hurt, and we certainly dont want any further fatalities moving forward, he said.
THE FORUM Our voices ignored

While the pain and distress of this person are real (Sex change patient sues two doctors, 24/5), I wonder if people realise the impact this reporting would have on me and those like me who seek and rely on gender-affirming care for our wellbeing.

Trans and gender-diverse people are so often ignored in conversations about our lives, and about the systems that support us. Journalists dutifully write their articles but seemingly fail to reflect on how their reporting of constant attacks on our community might affect us. People talk about us, and argue about us, but apart from the occasional quote, rarely talk with us, or centre our voices.

We appear as sidenotes in articles about those who oppose us. We deserve better than this.

Trans and gender-diverse people can  and do  live joyful, wonderful, fulfilling lives.

I ask The Age to see beyond the headlines, to recognise the limitations of its understanding and discussion of transgender experience and to see us as more than an issue or a culture war; to see us as individuals, with stories that are just as rich as any other.

Halo Jones, Pascoe Vale South Courage in action

Mel Jefferies is the brave tip of a chilling iceberg (Sex change patient sues two doctors, 24/5). I applaud her courage in exposing the unconscionable behaviour of medicos on the gender-affirmation gravy train in Australia.

The Age is also to be commended for breaking the censorship on the tragic results of gender ideology.

Sarah Yeomans, Preston Regrets for all surgery

As a GP for more than three decades, I have looked after many patients post-surgery, including trans people with gender-affirming surgery. The regret rates for most surgical procedures are quite high, except for gender-affirming surgery which bucks this trend with studies consistently demonstrating a regret rate of less than 1 per cent.

Studies also demonstrate that knee surgery has regret rates of 6 to 30 per cent, and Caesarean section surgery commonly has regret rates as high as 30 per cent.

A gender-affirming medical approach, including hormone therapy and surgery, is a vital and necessary medical assistance for those who need this often life-saving care. Doctors must be able to confidently continue to care for some of the most vulnerable in our society without fearmongering.

Dr Rebecca McGowan, Indigo Valley Out of date

Memo to The Australian Club (Uproar as club gives senior role to man who assaulted former fiancee, 25/5): Its not the 1950s. We now strive to include (rather than exclude) all genders, religions and ethnicities. We also dont allow smoking cigars in workplaces. Get with it!

Rosslyn Jennings, North Melbourne

Tempest in brandy balloon

The recent article on The Australian Club can properly be characterised as a storm in a teacup or perhaps a tempest in a brandy balloon.

We are told that there is uproar about the appointment of a man with a history of family violence to a senior position at the men-only club. This history relates to offences almost 20 years ago, and for which the man received a small fine, a bond, and no conviction was recorded.

Almost 50 years of experience in the law suggests to me that this sentence indicates that the court considered these offences to be at the very low end of the scale.

Those critiquing the appointment suggest that their views would be softened if there was evidence of accountability. The article states that the man pleaded guilty. I guess that that might qualify as accepting responsibility. No?

Would a similar article have been written about a female appointee to a senior position at The Lyceum Club for the same conduct almost 20 years ago?

Con Differding, Torquay Loading Who would have thought?

No surprise that an establishment so out of touch with todays reality would appoint a self-confessed female abuser to a senior position.

Marie Nash, Balwyn The true coalition

The Australian electorate clearly prefers centrist governments, a preference exacerbated by compulsory voting and the preferential system. The Nationals and the Greens will only ever be fringe parties.

The only coalition that makes sense in Australian politics is a coalition between Labor and Liberal. They are both centrist.

They both elevate the economy over society; they are both obsessed with defence and security; they both tremble in fear at the word tax; and neither has the guts to stand against the ethnic cleansing happening in Gaza. If they formed a coalition, they would never be out of power.

Steve Halliwell, North Fitzroy Crisis of identity

Your correspondent (Letters, 25/5) poses the crucial question: If there were to be ceasefire in Gaza, what would happen next? Speculation about what influence Hamas would have is just that: speculation. What is certain is that the Netanyahu government has no plan for a future that allows Gaza to be rebuilt, offers any prospect of a Palestinian state, or pledges adherence to international law. To paraphrase Descartes, the maxim that guides the Israeli establishment is I am at war, therefore I am. A ceasefire in Gaza would confront Israel with a crisis of identity.

Tom Knowles, Parkville

Need for an opposition

Im never going to vote for the Liberals or Nationals. But it is important for our democracy that there is a viable opposition, an opposition that can present plausible alternative viewpoints, that can shift the direction and tone of legislation, highlight gaps and opportunities that benefit our wider community.

The opposition is not there simply to oppose ... thats been tried and is devoid of community support. We need an opposition that stands up for those citizens neglected by the government.

If the Liberal and National parties exit this space, there are the Greens and independents who will take over as the de facto opposition.

Peter Moore, Clifton Hill Stop your whingeing

I have a confession to make. My wife and I have a very comfortable retirement. Oh, we have nothing like $3 million individually in super but we can still draw a decent pension. Weve just had two weeks in England flying business class. I admit being over 80 is not wonderful physically but the money is pretty good, thanks to Peter Costello deciding 20-odd years ago that pensions from superannuation would be tax-free. How stupid was that? And how much has it cost the budget?

To those people who do have $3 million in super and might lose a bit through government changes, stop your whingeing and be glad youre so well-off.

Peter Hepburn, Claremont, Tas. Housing as a human right

Australias housing market has become fundamentally unjust. As a recent migrant, Ive found the system not merely expensive but exploitative. The dream of a stable, affordable home feels increasingly out of reach for many, especially young people and newcomers.

This is not just a crisis of affordability; it is a crisis of values. Housing has been reduced to an investment strategy, driven by tax concessions and speculative demand. Meanwhile, tenants face exorbitant rents and insecure leases, and public housing continues to languish. Its time we stopped treating homes only as commodities and began treating housing as a human right. We need bold reforms. If we dont act, we risk entrenching a generational divide that corrodes our social contract and undermines Australias promise of a fair go.

Sohail Akhtar, Burwood Excuse my cynicism

Loophole after loophole after loophole ... we see it so often when government regulates something (Loophole lets developers not pay open space levy, 25/5). Might I be excused my cynicism for suggesting the governments lawyers are subtly instructed  wink wink, nudge nudge  to leave these loopholes to keep developers on side? Oh, perish the thought!

Vaughan Greenberg, Chewton Sorry for the injustices

Monday is National Sorry Day. I want to acknowledge and apologise to Aboriginal people for all that you have endured since white settlers colonised this land. While I have tried not to perpetuate this racism, I recognise I have benefited from systemic injustices against you. I deeply respect the rich cultures, histories and contributions of Aboriginal communities, and I regret the harm that has been inflicted upon you  both in the past and in the present. I commit to learning, listening and using my voice to support justice and reconciliation.

I know words alone are not enough but I hope this message expresses my genuine sorrow and my commitment to being a significant part of positive change.

Suresh Rajan, Stirling, WA

Opera crumbs not enough

Like many people in Melbourne, Opera Australia lost me many years ago (Opera Australias predictable woes, 24/7). The crumbs sent down the Hume Highway werent sustaining. And while Im sure it is hard work, and expensive, to run a national touring company, the Australian Ballet manages to do this and does an excellent job.

The Australian Ballet has seasons in Melbourne and Sydney and tours nationally. Regularly. It is a true national company.

Furthermore, as it has to sell tickets to survive well, it always has its audience in mind. It does story ballets, which really is ballet to many people, yet balances this with new works. So it melds the old and the new, and in this way we all move with it.

It should also be congratulated for how well it keeps its supporters involved and engaged. Its communication is exemplary, and it should be an example to other arts organisations.

Jenny Darling, Southbank AND ANOTHER THING ...

Flooding in Taree on Saturday. Credit: Nine News Floods and drought

Australia needs a national insurance scheme. Funded like Medicare, it would cover all manner of risks involving national disasters, including flood.

Barry Revill, Moorabbin Surely, if you live in a floodplain, its your choice. Forget about insurance, or government help.

Mick Webster, Chiltern

Were really struggling, says a Benalla farmer (Where the levy breaks, 24/5). Dont underestimate the impact of this emergency services levy. Mental health is a serious issue for farmers.

Trish Berry, Point Lonsdale When in a muddy or extremely dry hole, smart people stop digging, especially for gas (The long-term data showing disasters can be sheeted home to climate change, 25/5).

Lesley Walker, Northcote Recount

With Zoe Daniel talking about the possibility of a recount in Goldstein (Daniel pushes for recount as Wilson wins, 25/5) and Tim Wilson hoping that shell find peace, the rest of us are hoping that shell find votes.

Philip West, Jan Juc Zoe Daniel says: As always, I will respect the process and await the commissions decision. A pity she didnt do that on election night.

Greg Hardy, Upper Ferntree Gully Politics

If there is pride before a fall, is it only a stumble if you are just a little proud?

Kevan Porter, Alphington

Can someone explain why 50 per cent of Greens federal MPs have hyphenated surnames while the Liberals, Nationals and crossbench have none, and Labor has only one?

Peter Bennett, Clifton Hill Furthermore

The Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar to US President Donald Trump must be fully checked for safety issues (Love at first sight  but Trump will have to wait to fly new Air Force One, 25/5). But the only self-destruct mechanism will be the person it is carrying.

Alan Inchley, Frankston They are killing the farmers and eating their pets ...

Meredith Taylor, Richmond Finally

Great idea from Vladimir Putin that the root causes of the Russian invasion of Ukraine should be eliminated (Russia, Ukraine each free 390 prisoners, 24/5).

Michael Helman, St Kilda The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here.
In this series, we examine the work of Victorias Yoorrook Justice Commission, a public inquiry into the impact of colonisation on Indigenous Victorians.

An ancient culture, a bloody past and hope for a healed future collided on Sunday on a windswept beach as hundreds of walkers converged on the site of Victorias first recorded massacre.

The beach outside the south-west Victorian town of Portland has been known for more than 190 years as the Convincing Ground after whalers used muskets to kill  or convince  an unknown number of members of a coastal-dwelling clan of the Gunditjmara people.

Walkers on the first stage of the Walk for Truth which began in Portland on Sunday. Credit: Justin McManus

Many of the walkers on Sunday, including traditional owners of ancient Gunditjmara land around the Portland district, carried their own families passed-down memories of numerous other atrocities committed in this old district.

We walk for the people who arent here, who didnt survive, said one of those traditional owners, Aunty Claudette Lovett.
The wide and winding residential streets of Rowville are lined with rows of mature gum trees that were planted by the council 30 to 40 years ago. The trees tower over houses and give the suburb a leafy character and clear connection to the nearby Dandenong Ranges.

To some residents, the trees are majestic, to others a suburban menace that belongs in the bush.

Buckingham Street in Rowville, where mature native trees have been investigated for removal. Credit: Paul Jeffers

On Monday, Knox City Council will debate a report on the cost and consequences of removing more than 150 of Rowvilles most established native trees, following calls for their replacement with less imposing trees by a now former councillor, Darren Pearce, last year.

The councils report found that removing the trees would cost it almost half a million dollars it has not budgeted for, reduce habitat for wildlife, and increase urban heat and energy consumption.
Shoppers were running and hiding in stores, as chairs were picked up, weapons flung down and the centre was plunged into lockdown. Ali said he grabbed a young man kicking the male who Anthony was holding on the ground and pulled him off. They were both taking a bit of a beating, he said. Then another guy [involved in the brawl] had blood gushing from his head, so I helped move him over to the gelato shop and ran and got a first-aid kit from the McDonalds.

Witnesses said they saw multiple males struck by machetes in the chaos. Police said on Monday that they had arrested and charged four gang members over the brawl. They believe it was a planned act of retaliation after an incident the day before, and no innocent bystanders were hurt. All eight people involved had been identified and were known to police, detectives said, while court documents show at least three were out on bail at the time. Police are also searching for a man who performed a citizens arrest to appropriately recognise him for his actions  possibly referring to Anthony, who can be seen in footage of the brawl widely circulated online but has used a pseudonym to speak to media. Ali and long-time friend Shaz. Credit: Eddie Jim Of his own decision to intervene, Ali said he was used to crowd chaos, having survived both the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 and a bombing in his native Sri Lanka. I think I reacted automatically, he said, and he knew his long-time friend, Shaz, who also witnessed the brawl, would have my back.

Jules, 17, was serving customers at the gelato shop when Ali told her to get back to safety as he dropped the machete behind her counter. It all happened so fast, Jules told this masthead. She quickly put gloves on and moved the machete safely out the back for police to collect later. Police officers apprehend a person at Northland after Sundays brawl. Credit: Facebook The shop floor was covered in blood as bystanders surrounded a male injured in the clash.

Jules ferried tea towels back and forth to an off-duty nurse, who rushed to help stem his bleeding, and another man removed his shirt to help. A false alarm that a gun might have been involved in the brawl, which police quickly ruled out, had sent dozens more shoppers running for cover soon after the fight was over, Jules and Ali said. Id never seen anything like that before, said Jules, a year 12 student. But Im feeling OK. I just couldnt go to school today because I left my schoolwork in the back, and weve been locked out. Two boys, aged 15 and 16, who police allege were the primary offenders, were arrested at the scene on Sunday and charged with affray and other violent offences. Both were remanded in custody, having already been out on bail. Police patrol Northland on Monday. Credit: Eddie Jim

One of the teenagers appeared in a childrens court on Monday with scratches and lacerations on his face, which his lawyer said required medical attention. He will appear in court again on Friday to apply for bail. The other boy, also charged with intentionally causing serious injury and affray among other offences, did not apply for bail and will return to court in June. Loading Police later charged two others, a 20-year-old man from Thornbury, who was also out on bail at the time of the fight, and an 18-year-old man from Bundoora. Both have been released on bail. A 20-year-old man suffered serious head injuries in the clash and remained in hospital in a stable condition on Monday. Police said two other males involved had since sought hospital treatment. Northland largely reopened on Monday, but some stores, such as the gelato and sushi shop where the fight unfolded, had their gates drawn, and police patrolled the centre.

A Boost Juice worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told of how customer Anthony had rushed to intervene on Sunday. He said he heard the thud of impact when a machete hit someones head and arm. I was too shocked to move, he said. At least one brawler had his face covered and was dressed all in black like a ninja, the staffer said. For a second, I thought they were playing dress-up. Then, it started. People even picked up chairs. Some Northland staff told this masthead they felt shaken by Sundays violence but most said they felt security had acted fast. Jules said Ali had stayed to check on her and her young colleague, as customers fled the shop.

Ali and Shaz, who co-run a local business, called customers and community members to check on them as they left the centre on Sunday. We walked to a nearby mosque to pray for everyone [involved], Ali said. Those guys were just young kids. Boost Juice staff said they ended up making Anthony a juice before they were all evacuated from the centre. That guy [Anthony] was so calm, Ali said. He said as he was leaving, Damn, I forgot the air fryer. The Victorian government has fast-tracked a ban on the sale of machetes in the aftermath of the brawl, bringing it forward by three months, to Wednesday.

Loading John Coyne, who formerly worked in criminal intelligence at the Australian Federal Police, said the violent scenes at Northland were part of a long-standing problem with lost youth in Australia that you wont solve just by locking more kids up. Social media had allowed nebulous youth gangs, which often formed and dissolved fast, to co-ordinate discreetly and at a new scale, he said. Data from the Crime Statistics Agency shows violence and threats at shopping centres have been steadily rising over the past decade to a high last year of 1964 incidents recorded. Local youth worker Navin Dhillon said he had noticed an increase in young people committing high impact offending such as knife crimes and carjackings. [A machete] is very large, its heavy, its intimidating, he said. It can be used by young people as a way to attain upward social mobility among their peers  as it often signals that they are not to be messed with.

But he said it was also a sign of boys feeling insecure and vulnerable, something hed seen borne out in discussions with young people. Dhillon called for responses to be evidence-led, with investment in more early intervention, crime prevention and culturally specific supports. We want to make sure we prevent them from being in the sort of activity that we saw on the weekend in the first place. Youth Support and Advocacy Service CEO Andrew Bruun said the recent youth crime wave was not due to one thing, and required more detailed investigation to understand.

On Monday, the police union said it was not opposed to more police or protective services officer patrols of shopping centres because police need to be more visible on our streets. Union boss Wayne Gatt welcomed the premiers fast-tracked ban on machetes. But he also called for careful planning around the safe surrender of the weapons as well as tougher sentencing, even after the Allan governments recent youth bail crackdown. Northlands management, Vicinity, said on Monday that it was taking the incident seriously but normal operations had resumed. We understand yesterdays incident was distressing, it said. It took police six minutes to arrive to the Northland brawl on Sunday after the first triple-zero call after 2.30pm. With Lachlan Abbott and Alexander Darling
A messy workplace dispute is brewing between teachers at Victorias Catholic schools and their employers, with the educators union threatening Fair Work action to enable its members to take industrial action.

A militant mood among the states government school teachers has spread to the 30,000 educators at Victorian Catholic schools, whose wages lag behind their interstate counterparts by up to $10,000 a year.

The vast majority of Catholic teachers surveyed by the union said they were ready to walk off the job for better pay and conditions, raising the prospect of school strikes.

But a protected sector-wide strike by Catholic teachers is not a current option because the 30,000 educators are employed by 33 separate church-linked entities, ranging in size from the giant Diocese of Melbourne to single-site employers.
Nationals leader David Littleproud did not tell his own colleagues about his demand that Sussan Ley dump the decades-old principle of shadow cabinet solidarity, deputy leader Kevin Hogan has revealed.

Hogan has declared that, after a damaging week that has left some in the Nationals questioning Littleprouds judgment and even his future as party leader, Littleproud should absolutely remain as leader.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud with deputy leader Kevin Hogan and Senate leader Bridget McKenzie on Tuesday. Credit: AAP

Shadow cabinet solidarity, like cabinet solidarity, binds frontbenchers to support a partys policy decision once it has been adopted and is an important tenet of the Westminster system of cabinet government.

Dumping the principle is a near-impossible demand and one immediately rejected by Ley during tense negotiations that contributed to a temporary split between the two coalition parties after 38 years last week.
When Vanessa Crump had a new five-bedroom house built, her neighbours couldnt believe their eyes.

When I drove past on my way to work this morning, there was nothing there, one told her. By the time I got home again, there was a complete house standing! What the ?

Vanessa Crump was shocked by how quickly her son built her prefab home. Credit: Nicky Catley

Crump, 76, sitting on her verandah, looking out over the dam in the middle of her acreage in Sydneys north-west, laughs. You know, I could hardly believe it myself, she confesses. My son was the builder, and he explained it to me, but you dont really understand it until you see it with your own eyes.

Crumps new house is one of an increasing number of prefab and modular homes being put up all over Australia, with components made in factories and either assembled or erected on site.
Looking across the Moei River from Thailand, you can see them on the distant Myanmar rooftops  dozens of white rectangles, arranged in clusters. Theyre a warning sign for what could be lurking underneath.

June 2, 2025

by Zach Hope and Kate Geraghty
Warning: Graphic content

Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip: A Palestinian doctor who rushed home from work after an airstrike hit her Gaza home begged rescuers to let her hold the body of her young daughter as they pulled the child from the rubble.

Paediatrician Alaa Najjar lost nine of her 10 children in the strike on Friday, colleagues from Nasser Hospital and Gazas Health Ministry said, and her husband, also a doctor, was severely injured.

Adam Najjar (left), who survived the strike, with sisters Sidra and Eve, two of the children killed.

Hamdi Najjar, the doctors husband, remains in critical condition with severe brain injuries, and their only surviving child, Adam, is in a moderate condition, said Ahmed al-Farra, the head of paediatric care at Nasser Hospital.
HONG KONG, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Paul Chan, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said on Sunday that Hong Kong's IPO fundraising has surpassed 76 billion HK dollars (about 9.7 billion U.S. dollars) so far this year, soaring sevenfold year-on-year and reaching nearly 90 percent of last year's total.

Chan said in his blog that amid an uncertain external environment, Hong Kong, as a "super connector" between the mainland and the global market, is making every effort to seize opportunities.

Last week, two major themed financial forums were held in Hong Kong, driving strong fundraising activity in the market. Many seasoned foreign investors expressed their intention to increase asset allocations in the mainland and across Asia through Hong Kong. In the same week, the Hong Kong IPO market welcomed the largest new stock listing globally this year.

Additionally, the Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited hosts its inaugural International Forum for Patient Capital. Many tech company representatives noted that the event helped them connect with more potential investors and long-term funding, facilitating better capital alignment with innovation-driven enterprises and providing stronger support for technology research, development, and commercialization.

On May 23, the ordinance on company re-domiciliation officially took effect. On the day of the announcement, a major international insurance company responded by declaring its plan to relocate its registration to Hong Kong. The market anticipated that companies from other sectors, such as shipping, may also follow suit.

Chan said that the strong performance of Hong Kong stocks this year, along with the increasing number of domestic and international companies establishing global headquarters, research centers, and regional offices in the city, reflected the confidence of global investors and businesses in Hong Kong. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.83 HK dollars) 
Son of Sardaar and Jai Ho actor Mukul Dev no more





MUMBAI :

ACTOR Mukul Dev, best known for his roles in films such as Son of Sardaar, Yamla Pagla Deewana and Jai Ho, has passed away, his brother Rahul Dev said on Saturday. He was 54. My brother Mukul Dev passed away peacefully last night at New Delhi due to ailing health, Rahul Dev told PTI. According to Mukul Devs close friend Vindu Dara Singh, the actor died at a hospital in the national capital. He was unwell for eight to ten days. He was not looking after his health and was depressed after the demise of his mother. We were waiting for Mukul to join us for the photo shoot of Son of Sardaar 2 but he had stopped answering our calls, Singh told PTI. Mukul Dev, a former model, is survived by his daughter, Sia Dev, from his marriage to ex-wife Shilpa Dev. He made his acting debut with the 1996 movie Dastak, co-starring Sushmita Sen and Sharad Kapoor.

He was largely seen playing supporting roles in Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Telugu films. Some of his notable movies included Ajay Devgns Son of Sardaar, Salman Khan-starrer Jai Ho and Yamla Pagla Deewana, starring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, as well as Kohram, R... Rajkumar and War Chhod Na Yaar. He was also the co-writer of filmmaker Hansal Mehtas critically-acclaimed 2017 movie Omerta, starring Rajkummar Rao. Mehta mourned Mukul Devs death in a post on Instagram. Not done Mukul mere dost so many more stories, so much more laughter. See you on the other side my dear friend, he wrote alongside a photo of the actor. Devgn remembered Mukul Dev as a jovial person, who went too soon. Still trying to process it.Mukul... You had a way of making everything lighter, even on the heaviest days. Om Shanti, he wrote on Instagram. Sen posted on Instagram, Mukul Dev Rest in peace you wonderful soul.

South superstar Jr NTR, who starred in 2010 action movie Adhurs which featured Mukul Dev in a pivotal role, also condoled his death. Saddened by the passing of Mukul Dev garu. Remembering our time in Adhurs and his commitment to the craft. My condolences to his family. Om Shanti, he said in a post on X. Actor Manoj Bajpayee said Mukul Dev was an artist whose warmth and passion were unmatched. Its impossible to put into words what Im feeling... Gone too soon, too young. Praying for strength and healing for his family and everyone grieving this loss. Miss you meri jaanuntil we meet again. Om Shanti, he wrote on Instagram. Actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut posted on her Instagram Stories, Terribly sad. RIP Mukul ji. Rip Mukul bhai. You will always be missed. Stay strong @rahuldevofficial bhai, wrote actor Sonu Sood on social media. Actor Arshad Warsi expressed his grief, saying he was heartbroken. I was really fond of him. He was a friend, colleague, a wonderful person with a beautiful soul may his soul rest in peace, he wrote on Instagram. On the small screen, Mukul Dev appeared in popular daily soaps such as Gharwali Uparwali, Kumkum, Kutumb and Kasshish.
Cadence Wardhaman Nagar toconduct Evento 2025 today





Business Reporter ;

CADENCE Academy, Wardhaman Nagar announced Evento 2025, its highly anticipated annual exhibition, set to take place onMay 25 at the institutes campus in Central Avenue, Nagpur. Evento 2025 serves as a dynamic platform for students of Fashion and Interior Design to showcase their creative projects, models, and design concepts. The exhibition not only celebrates student talent but also aims to bridge the gap between education and the professional world, offering budding designers an opportunity to connect with potential employers and industry leaders.

Speaking about the event, AmitZham,Director of Cadence Wardhaman Nagar, shared: Evento is more than just showcase  its an important step in preparing our students to be market-ready. Many of our students arealready working under reputed professionals, and events like these strengthen their exposure to real-world practices and expectations. The exhibition will feature innovative fashion garments, interior models, 3D design visual, and concept presentations developed by students under expert faculty guidance. With months of planning and dedication invested by students, faculty, and staff, the event promises to be a vibrant celebration of creativity, craftsmanship, and professional potential. The event will be from 11 am to 7pm at Cadence Academy, 2nd Floor, Sharda Complex, Above HDFC Bank, Near Telephone Exchange Square, Central Avenue, Nagpur. (9823273512 / 9373273513).
No goal is impossible: PM to States, UTs





NEW DELHI :

PM asks States and UTs to work together like Team India and remove policy bottlenecks, encourage investment, generate jobs

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked the States and Union Territories to remove policy bottlenecks to encourage investment and generate employment as he stressed that if the Union Government and States work together like Team India, no goal is impossible. Briefing reporters about the 10th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog, CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said that everyone present at the meeting unanimously supported Operation Sindoor, undertaken by India to destroy terror infrastructure in Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi, he said, also urged the states to focus on agriculture, education and healthcare. The Prime Minister said that the 10-year journey of NITI Aayog was to prepare the nation to achieve the goal of Vikshit Bharat. The theme of the Governing Council meeting was Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat@2047.

The meeting was attended by 31 States and Union Territories of a total of 36, Subrahmanyam said, adding those who could not make it had prior commitments and informed the Council. The States which did not attend the meeting were Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar and Puducherry, he said, adding the 10th meeting of the Council saw maximum attendance.

We have to increase the speed of development. If the Centre and all the States come together and work together like Team India, no goal is impossible, NITI Aayog said in a post on X, quoting the Prime Minister as saying. India becomes worlds fourth largest economy, says NITI Aayog CEO: India has become the fourth largest economy in the world, overtaking Japan, NITI Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam said. Briefing reporters after the 10th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog, Subrahmanyam said overall geopolitical and economic environment is favourable to India. We are the fourth largest economy as I speak. We are a USD 4 trillion economy as I speak, he said. Citing IMF data, Subrahmanyam said India today is larger than Japan.
Pak violated spirit of IWT: India tells UN





By Yoshita Singh

UNITED NATIONS

INDIA ripped through Pakistans disinformation at the UN on the Indus Waters Treaty, asserting that Islamabad violated its spirit by inflicting three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India that seek to hold hostage lives of civilians, religious harmony and economic prosperity. We are constrained to respond to the disinformation being carried out by the delegation of Pakistan with regard to the Indus Waters Treaty. India has always acted in a responsible manner as an upper riparian state, Indias Permanent Representative to UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said on Friday. Harish was addressing the UN Security Council Arria Formula meeting organised by the Permanent Mission of Slovenia on Protecting Water in Armed Conflict  Protecting Civilian Lives. Harish highlighted four aspects to expose the disinformation by Pakistan, which spoke about Indias decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty. In the wake of the horrific April 22 Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 civilians were killed, India had decided that the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 would be held in abeyance with immediate effect until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. Harish told the UN meeting that India had entered into the Indus Waters Treaty 65 years ago in good faith. Noting that the Preamble of the Treaty describes that it was concluded in a spirit of good will and friendship, Harish said throughout these six and a half decades, Pakistan has violated the spirit of the treaty by inflicting three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India.

The Indian envoy underlined that in the last four decades, more than 20,000 Indian lives have been lost in terror attacks, the most recent of which was the dastardly targeted terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam. Even as India has shown extraordinary patience and magnanimity throughout this period, Harish said Pakistans state-sponsored cross-border terrorism in India seeks to hold hostage the lives of civilians, religious harmony and economic prosperity. Harish pointed out that India has formally asked Pakistan to discuss the modifications of the Treaty on several occasions in the past two years but Islamabad continues to reject these. Pakistans obstructionist approach continues to prevent the exercise of full utilisation of legitimate rights by India, he said.

Further, Harish said that in the past 65 years, far-reaching fundamental changes have taken place not only in terms of escalating security concerns through cross-border terror attacks but also growing requirements for producing clean energy, climate change and demographic change. Technology for dam infrastructure has transformed to ensure the safety and efficiency of operations and water use. Some of the old dams are facing serious safety concerns, he said adding that Pakistan has continued to consistently block any changes to this infrastructure, and any modifications of the provisions, which is permissible under the Treaty. He noted that in 2012, terrorists even attacked the Tulbul Navigation Project in Jammu and Kashmir. These cynical acts continue to endanger the safety of our projects and the lives of civilians. It is against this backdrop that India has finally announced that the treaty will be in abeyance until Pakistan, which is a global epicentre of terror, credibly and irrevocably ends its support for cross-border terrorism.

It is clear that it is Pakistan which remains in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty. Earlier in the day, Harish delivered a strong response to Pakistan at a UNSC open debate on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, calling out Pakistans grossly hypocritical behaviour and asserting that a nation that makes no distinction between terrorists and civilians has no credentials to speak about protecting civilians. After Pakistans Ambassador at the UN Asim Iftikhar Ahmad raked the Kashmir issue and spoke about the recent conflict between the two nuclear-armed countries, Harish slammed Pakistans baseless allegations and said India experienced decades of Pakistani-sponsored terrorist attacks across its borders.

This has ranged from the horrific 26/11 attack on the city of Mumbai to the barbaric mass murder of innocent tourists in Pahalgam in April 2025. The victims of Pakistani terrorism have been predominantly civilians since its objective has been to attack our prosperity, progress and morale.

For such a nation to even participate in a discussion on the protection of civilians is an affront to the international community, Harish said. Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the Pahalgam attack, which claimed 26 lives. India launched Operation Sindoor under which it carried out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7, following which Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions. The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10. Harish told the UN Security Council that Pakistan has repeatedly used civilian cover to advance the cause of terrorism.
Rare coins tell tales of queens





By Vaishnavi Pillay :

We are all familiar with coins that bear the names of kings, etched into metal as symbols of power, legacy, and empire. But not many know the stories about the rare and remarkable instances when women - queens, consorts, and even kings mothers - left their mark in coins in India. Ashok Singh Thakur, Chairman of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), explained to The Hitavada that each coin is more than a monetary artifact, it is a miniature monument to the influence, status, and sovereignty of queens. One of the earliest known instances of a queens name appearing on Indian coinage dates back to the Satavahan period in ancient India, stated Thakur and added that around 10050 BCE, Queen Naganika, consort of King Siri Satakarni, was featured in coins, jointly issued by King Siri Satakarni and Queen Naganika, making it the first joint coinage in Indian numismatic history and the earliest known Contd from page 1 coins to to bear the name of an indigenous queen. The coins are notable for their vertical Brahmi inscription reading Naganikaya.





They feature a prominent pillar topped with a horse effigy, believed to symbolise the Ashwamedha Yagya, a Vedic ritual. From the Naneghat inscription, it was indicated that Queen Naganika continued to rule in her own right after the death of King Satakarni, stated Thakur. On the reverse of the coin appears the Ujjaini symbol, a distinctive mark associated with the Satavahan period, further identifying the coins origins. Thakur also highlighted another unique tradition from the Satavahan period, the inclusion of the kings mothers name on coins. These royal women were not officially titled as queens in all cases, but rather honoured as mothers of reigning kings, which was significant in a society where individuals were typically identified by their fathers name, he explained. The appearance of mothers names on coins reflected the important social status and influence royal women held at the time.

These coins, typically minted in silver, were known as dram and stand out as rare and progressive in the context of early Indian coinage. Another instance comes from the Delhi Sultanate period, during the reign of Razia Sultan (12361240 AD), daughter of Sultan Iltutmish of the Turk Dynasty. She was entrusted with the throne, and coins minted during her reign were made of silver, known as tanka, mentioned Thakur. Thakur continued that Nur Jahan, the wife of Mughal Emperor Jahangir, also issued coins in her own name, although she was never officially declared a sovereign queen. These coins, minted in silver and gold (mohar), featured inscriptions such as Ba Hukm-e-Shah Jehangir (By the order of Emperor Jehangir), signifying that while she ruled with his authority, her individual identity and power were recognised. Noor Jahans coins are a rare instance in global numismatic history where a woman, without a formal royal title, had currency issued bearing her name. In the region of Deogiri (later known as Daulatabad), another queen, Lashumadevi, around 1261 AD, she issued gold coins known as Padmatanka, which bore her name inscribed in Devanagari script as Lashuma. These coins featured, five distinct punches, two Kannada letters reading Shri. a shankh (conch shell), a lotus in the centre, the inscription Lashuma in a single line, and a sword symbol below, explained Thakur. These coins were uniface and weighed around 3.79g to 3.84g. All these coins, though few and far between, provide undeniable proof of matrilineal honour and female agency in an otherwise male-dominated historical narrative.
Rs 155 crore scam Key suspect flees to Europe as Crime Branch tightens noose around accused





Staff Reporter :

As the Crime Branch intensifies its investigation into the Rs 155 crore scam of fraudulent billing and on-line gaming racket, several accused have started fleeing the city to evade arrest. Notably, businessman Anshul Mishra (40), a key suspect in the case, has reportedly fled to Europe following simultaneous raids conducted by the Crime Branch on the premises of the accused persons. Mishra, a resident of Zingabai Takli, Mankapur, was allegedly operating Balaji Enterprises, a front for the scam that handled a large portion of the fraudulent transactions. The Crime Branch revealed that there were large financial exchanges between Mishra and another accused, Santosh alias Bunty Rampal Shahu.

Acting on this lead, police raided Mishras office on Saturday and found it deserted. During the raid, officials seized a number of incriminating items including bogus bills, transaction records and fake company seals. Investigators believe that Mishra fled the country soon after learning that police were preparing to register a case against Bunty Shahu and his network. So far, the police have arrested five accused in connection with the scam - Santosh alias Bunty Rampal Shahu (52); Jayesh Rampal Shahu (36), both residents of Kapil Heights, Imambada; Brijkishore Ramvilas Maniyar (59) of Shankar Nagar; Rishi Hitesh Lakhani (21) of Shastri Nagar; Anand Vinod Harde (33) of Surya Nagar, Kalamna. In addition to Mishra, three other prime accused - Riyaz Ali alias Mamu from Mominpura, Govind Tanna, and Anuj Agrawal from Wardhaman Nagar - have also fled Nagpur and are currently absconding.

The Crime Branch has started working on a plan to notify the Immigration Department, on Monday, regarding Anshul Mishra and other absconding accused, in a bid to initiate extradition procedures and curb further escape attempts. The Crime Branch officials stated that more arrests are likely in the case during further investigation. The scam started when the police received an information that two shell companies - Kshitij Enterprises and Awadh Enterprises- were found to be central to the illegal operation. Kshitij Enterprises is believed to have facilitated dubious transactions for as many as 113 fake companies, while Awadh Enterprises was linked to 57 such entities. The money routed through these accounts was allegedly siphoned off and reintegrated through hawala channels, suggesting the involvement of a broader, well-coordinated financial syndicate.
RUNWAY 14 Rarely-used landing strip that can save crores







Sandeep Shirkhedkar

By Kaushik Bhattacharya :

Incorrect Landing Direction at Nagpur airport causing Rs 200 cr per year loss to stakeholders: Study Absence of Instrumented Landing System (ILS) at Jaitala side (14 END) of runway affects landing of flights Majority of landing and takeoff takes place from Wardha Road side (32 END)



OVER Rs 200 crore can be saved if Runway 14, which is rarely used at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, is put to use for landing and take-off, a cartographic study has pointed out. Presently, majority of flights are using the Runway 32, which the study says is incorrect Landing Direction consuming additional time and fuel worth over Rs 200 crore a year. The runway at Nagpur airport is 3.2 kms long. Its ends are named as 32 END (from Wardha Road side) and 14 END (Jaitala side). The study titled Incorrect Landing Direction at Nagpur Airport Costing Crores to Many, conducted by Sandeep Shirkhedkar, a Cartographer and Social Engineering Expert, stated that in Nagpur airport, most of the landings were happening from 32 END (Runway 32), which is causing additional delays in arrival of flights in the airport. Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad are closer to 14 END than the 32 END. Similarly, places like Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad are closer to 32 END.

However, most of the flights coming from all these cities are landing via 32 END as 14 END is rarely used. Annually 7,488 flights land and 2,860 flights takeoff from the incorrect runway END, claimed the study. It also stated that daily 5,196 passengers and yearly more than 18 lakh are affected by incorrect landing at the airport. On an average, 30 daily arrivals and 30 departures take place at Nagpur airport. Annually, there are 1,11,80 flights arriving at Nagpur departing the same day. The authorities are handling more than 10,400 passengers daily at the airport and the annual number is more than 35 lakh. According to Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA), which is a multinational information technology company providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry and has 400 members and 2,500 customers worldwide, Every minute counts during turnaround, especially at the landing stage. Delaying an aircrafts arrival or departure can significantly impact an airlines schedule and operations, leading to financial losses and reputational damage. In fact, airlines can incur considerable costs for each minute of delay.

For this study, we observed flight tracking logs of more than 100 flights and it revealed that incorrect landing attracts 10.2 minutes of delay, Sandeep Shirkhedkar told The Hitavada. At Nagpur, 3.9 minutes of taxi time is saved when the aircraft lands from 14 END. This also saves time for passengers and reduces the costs of airlines, said the Cartographer. He also said that the total delay because of incorrect landing was 14.1 minutes including for flight time and taxi time saving. As per authorities, wind condition plays a key role in landing and takeoff of flights at any airport. However, wind analysis of Nagpur city mentioned in the study, which was provided by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), suggests that wind condition at Nagpur is equally favourable for landing and takeoff from both the ends as wind speed never crosses the threshold level. Therefore, both runways can be used for landing and takeoff of flights. Whereas, the airport authority allows majority of flights to land from 32 END (from Wardha Road side). One of the major reasons for less landing from 14 END is absence of Instrumented Landing System (ILS) at this end, the study states.

The 32 END is equipped with this system and therefore the ATC allows flights to land from 32 END to reduce risk. ILS is a precision radio navigation system used to guide aircraft to a runway, particularly during low visibility or adverse weather conditions. A senior officer of MIHAN India Limited (MIL), that runs the Nagpur airport, confirmed that one side of the runway has no ILS system.

A state-of-the-art ILS shall be established as early as possible on 14 END in Nagpur airport. Till that time, with the available resources, system landing or visual landing shall be promoted from Jaitala side, appealed Shirkhedkar. The study further claimed that lack of median lightning is another reason for preferring 32 END for night landing. However, the authorities denied the claim. The study has been shared with the Chief Minister Office (CMO) and IndiGo to rectify the issue. The CMO has assured to take appropriate steps to solve the issue.
Shalarth ID Scam mounts to Rs 122 cr: SIT digs deeper into fake teachers network





Staff Reporter :

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has uncovered shocking financial details in the ongoing Shalarth ID Scam (teachers recruitment scam) linked to illegal teacher appointments. According to the SIT, the scam involves a financial turnover of over Rs 122 crore and this amount could increase during the further investigation. Since 2019, hundreds of teachers were illegally appointed using fake Shalarth IDs.

This scam is believed to have continued until 2025. Several officials, including many former Deputy Directors of Education, Education, are suspected to be involved. A police official said that out of 622 appointed teachers, only 75 were hired following proper procedures. The remaining 547 teachers were appointed using fake IDs. During questioning, it was revealed that each fake teacher was paid between Rs 20 and Rs 30 lakh for their job. On an average, if a fake teacher was paid Rs 25 lakh, the total came to 122 crore. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and In-charge of SIT, Sunita Meshram confirmed that the investigation is now focused not just on Deputy Directors, but also on education officers and the teachers themselves. More arrests are expected soon. The SIT has also found evidence against retired Deputy Director Satish Mendhe. A team went to Bhandara, on Friday, in an attempt to arrest him, but he was not found at his residence. The SIT officials are now reviewing more documents and interviewing suspects to identify all those who played a role in the fake recruitment network.

211 fake IDs created during Jamdars tenure

Vaishali Jamdar served as Deputy Director of Education in Nagpur between 2021 and 2023. Investigators discovered that 211 of the fake Shalarth IDs were created during her tenure. Jamdar was arrested on a production warrant from Aurangabad on Friday. She wasproduced in the court on Saturday. She has been remanded to police custody until May 26. Other arrested accused include Laxman Upasrao Mangam, who is in the SITs custody until Monday; and Chintaman Vanjari, who will remain in the police custody until May 29.
JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China stands ready to work with Indonesia and other developing countries to promote an equal and orderly multipolar world, and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.

Li made the remarks during his talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. 
Yunus to continue as Bangladeshs interim Govt chief





DHAKA :

MUHAMMAD Yunus will remain as the head of Bangladeshs interim Government, an advisor in his cabinet said on Saturday, two days after a key ally said he had mulled resignation. He (Yunus) didnt say he will leave. He said that while we face many obstacles in carrying out the work and responsibilities assigned to us, we are overcoming them, Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud told reporters after an unscheduled meeting of the advisory council. He (Yunus) is definitely staying, Mahmud said. He said none of the advisors were going anywhere as the responsibility entrusted to us is a significant one; we cannot The chief advisors decision to stay in office came two days after he told student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) leaders that he was mulling resignation as he felt the situation is such that he cannot work, citing difficulties in working amid the failure of political parties to find common ground for change.

Yunus reportedly expressed an identical desire to quit in a cabinet meeting earlier on Thursday, where his colleagues persuaded him not to relinquish. As many as 19 advisers, effectively ministers, joined the abruptly called closed-door meeting, which Yunus decided to convene following a scheduled meeting of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) at the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area in Dhaka. The chief advisors press wing later issued a statement from the advisory council, saying the two-hour long meeting included detailed discussions on three primary responsibilities entrusted to the interim government  elections, reforms, and justice. The Council discussed how unreasonable demands, deliberately provocative and jurisdictionally overreaching statements, and disruptive programmes have been continuously obstructing the normal functioning environment and creating confusion and suspicion among the public, it said. The statement said despite all obstacles, the interim government continued to fulfil its responsibilities by putting national interests above group interests.

However, if -- under the instigation of defeated forces or as part of a foreign conspiracy -- the performance of these responsibilities becomes impossible, the government will present all reasons to the public and then take the necessary steps with the people, the council said. It said the interim government upheld the public expectations of the July Uprising but if the governments autonomy, reform efforts, justice process, fair election plan, and normal operations are obstructed to the point of making its duties unmanageable, it will, with the people, take the necessary steps. The council said it believed that a broader unity was essential to maintain national stability, organise a free and fair elections, justice, and reform, and permanently prevent the return of authoritarianism in the country and the government would listen to the views of political parties and clarify its own position. Midway through the meeting, adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan told reporters that discussions were focused on the elections, Yunuss reform agenda, and the belated July Proclamation - a manifesto to mark last years student-led uprising that led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas Awami League.

NCP convenor Nahid Islam emerged from the meeting with Yunus. Islam had earlier said that he urged Yunus to stay strong for the sake of the countrys security, and future and to meet the expectations of the mass uprising, (and) I hope everyone will cooperate with him. Analysts saw the chief advisers resignation threat as a test of public backing and political support. Yunus is expected to meet leaders of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zias Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami later in the day, following his overnight call for talks amid the evolving political situation of recent days. Several senior BNP leaders, including Abdul Moyeen Khan and Salahuddin Ahmed said earlier that the party hoped Yunus would oversee an early general election and step down with dignity, rather than resign abruptly. The BNP has emerged as the key actor in the political arena after the ouster of the Awami League regime in August last year. Jamaat, which had appeared to align with the NCP as the BNP distanced itself from its former ally, said a fair election was the only way to restore public trust.

The government has said that elections will be held between December and June. Now, a specific roadmap needs to be announced within this period-not just elections, but also a roadmap for structural reforms in politics and state governance, said key Jamaat leader Syed Abdullah M Taher. However, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, a key adviser in Yunuss cabinet, said the interim government was not formed solely to hold elections but also to implement reforms and ensure justice. The development of Yunuss resignation came amid reports of discord between the military and the interim government over the possible timeline for holding the parliamentary elections and a policy issue related to Bangladeshs security affairs involving a proposed humanitarian corridor of aid channel to Myanmars rebel-held Rakhine state. Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman along with the navy and air force chiefs met Yunus three days ago and reportedly reiterated their call for election by December this year to allow an elected government to take charge and conveyed their reservation about the corridor issue.

The next day, Zaman held a senior officers meeting at Dhaka Cantonment and said he was unaware of several strategic decisions despite the militarys active role. The military also decided to be tough against rampant mob justice in discharging their law enforcement duties. Meanwhile, troops who were called out of their barracks with magistracy power to maintain law and order were seen intensifying their street patrols and security vigil. Several analysts called the meeting crucial to consolidate the military strength. During last years protests, the army avoided a crackdown, instead extended its hand for Hasinas safe exit to India. It also supported Yunus appointment as chief adviser, as demanded by the SAD, much of which later formed the NCP. Yunuss administration recently disbanded Hasinas Awami League, sending many of its senior leaders, including former ministers, to jail to face trial for charges like crimes against humanity.

Yunus has been facing calls from the political parties, including the BNP, to announce a date for the next elections. His reported threat to resign came a day after the party rallied thousands of supporters to stage a large-scale protest demanding an election at the earliest. This week, the party also demanded the removal of the remaining student representatives from the cabinet, while the NCP in response called for the ouster of two advisers, alleging that they were serving the BNPs purpose by staying in the government. The South Asian nation of some 170 million people has been in political turmoil since the ouster of the past regime but it escalated in the past several days with rival parties and trade unions or pressure groups protesting on the streets of the capital Dhaka with a string of competing demands.
ZUDPI CLOSURE





THE Supreme Court has finally settled a 45-year-long issue of Zudpi jungles (shrub forest) in Maharashtra by notifying those to be considered as forest lands thus bringing curtains on a complex problem that was hindering many development projects, especially in six districts of eastern Vidarbha. The top courts verdict now brings total clarity on the usage of over 86,000 hectares of land tracts which remained in legal tangle for decades despite expert panels appointed by the Maharashtra Government suggesting a strategy to convince the Centre to treat Zudpi lands as revenue lands.

By drawing a clear line on the usage of the lands, the apex court has put the ball in the State Governments court on conversion of lands already used for various non-forest purposes and at the same time also passed the onus on the Forest Department to take control of all such remaining lands and free it from encroachment, if any. While there are concerns over ongoing and recently-announced irrigation and infrastructure projects on such lands after the top court made an exception in case of the Zudpi jungle lands allotted by competent authorities up to December 12, 1996, the general sentiment around the verdict is about maintaining a fine balance between development and environment. The Maharashtra Government has also welcomed the verdict terming it as historic but it has an uphill task to complete in the next three months in convincing the Central Government on the need of such lands for development purposes while seeking its conversion.

It is still a tight-rope walk for the Government to comply with the conditions laid down by the Supreme Court. The landmark verdict is bound to bring up many such complications on the operational use of irrigation projects in Vidarbha. Five big projects are set to be affected by the ruling as they would need approval from the Forest Department after it gets control of Zudpi jungles from the State. However, it has also provided a golden conversion opportunity for the Forest Department which it must avail with the idea of balanced development. The Forest Department has its task cut out over removal of encroachments on Zudpi lands once it gets the jungle tracts under its authority. Interestingly, many of such land parcels are in big cities and towns of all the six districts including Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur, and Gadchiroli. Treating them as forest lands and monitoring their conservation is set to present a peculiar challenge for the Forest Department.

For, many such Zudpi lands had traditionally been grazing lands known as Gairan, Gur Chaaran, E-class lands as per Maharashtra Land Revenue Code. Observations of expert committees had clearly mentioned that Zudpi lands have a very poor potential of vegetative growth because soil strata does not support root systems of trees. Developing such lands as a forest ecosystem now entails critical thinking, deeper research, and a totally unique approach from the Forest Department. While the verdict by the bench of Chief Justice of India Mr. Justice Bhushan Gavai and Mr. Justice Augustine Masih must be welcomed for its vast importance in increasing green cover in Maharashtra, it is also imperative for the State, Centre and the Forest Department to keep in mind the importance of development projects in maintaining social ecology.
With over 8,000 featured products on display, the 4th China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair unleashes vast cooperation potential between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC).
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At the opposite end of the apartment is the king-sized bedroom with walk-in closet & and the full bath. Large entry/foyer, newly refinished/black stained parquet flooring and three (3) additional large closets throughout! **Assessment: $144/month through April 2028** Co-op amenities (additional fees and wait lists may apply) include 24-hour attended lobbies, 2 large private parks, childrens playroom (plus access to neighboring Hillman co-ops park and playroom), community room, and fully equipped fitness center.

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Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG  Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,682 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $450,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the companys stock worth $38,524,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,061 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the companys stock worth $9,457,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,419 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,244,463,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,395,208 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,928,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,197,996 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,386,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $161.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $178.52.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of PG opened at $165.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $389.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12 month low of $156.58 and a 12 month high of $180.43. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $164.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a $1.0568 dividend. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is an increase from Procter & Gambles previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. Procter & Gambles payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 35,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.68, for a total value of $6,078,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,829,817.68. The trade was a 61.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total value of $1,669,208.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,182 shares in the company, valued at $3,995,627.94. This represents a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,520 shares of company stock valued at $10,999,268 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

(Free Report)

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.

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Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT  Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,480 shares of the aerospace companys stock after buying an additional 123 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLCs holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $4,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LMT. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 74.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Lockheed Martin

In other news, insider Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. sold 3,213 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $442.42, for a total value of $1,421,495.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $884,840. This represents a 61.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Harry Edward Paul III sold 707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $442.61, for a total value of $312,925.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,278 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,008,265.58. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,133 shares of company stock valued at $3,155,916 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lockheed Martin from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $575.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Lockheed Martin from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $550.00 to $480.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Lockheed Martin from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Saturday, May 3rd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Lockheed Martin from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $541.80.

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Lockheed Martin Trading Down 0.2%

LMT opened at $469.27 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $461.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $476.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Lockheed Martin Co. has a one year low of $418.88 and a one year high of $618.95.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $6.34 by $0.94. The business had revenue of $17.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.83 billion. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 101.47% and a net margin of 7.51%. Analysts predict that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 27.15 EPS for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Lockheed Martins payout ratio is 57.02%.

Lockheed Martin Profile

(Free Report)

Lockheed Martin Corporation, a security and aerospace company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services worldwide. The company operates through Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space segments.

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Aurdan Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB  Free Report) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 88,029 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $4,210,000. U.S. Bancorp accounts for about 1.6% of Aurdan Capital Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 5,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $37.32 per share, with a total value of $186,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,800. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on USB shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James restated an outperform rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down previously from $57.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $50.89.

View Our Latest Stock Report on USB

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $42.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $66.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.83. U.S. Bancorp has a 12-month low of $35.18 and a 12-month high of $53.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.92 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Equities analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. U.S. Bancorps dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.50%.

U.S. Bancorp Company Profile

(Free Report)

U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, provides various financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional organizations, governmental entities, and other financial institutions in the United States. It operates through Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking; Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; and Treasury and Corporate Support segments.

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Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE:BPT  Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the oil and gas companys stock.

BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of BPT opened at $0.64 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $0.66. BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust has a 52-week low of $0.40 and a 52-week high of $2.61.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust stock. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE:BPT  Free Report) by 116.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,960 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after purchasing an additional 31,139 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd owned 0.27% of BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 5.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust

BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust operates as a grantor trust in the United States. It is involved in holding overriding royalty interest in the Prudhoe Bay oil field located on the North Slope of Alaska. The Prudhoe Bay field extends approximately 12 miles by 27 miles and contains approximately 150,000 gross productive acres.

Further Reading

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Shares of Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL  Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of Hold from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 3,375 ($45.69).

Separately, Shore Capital reissued a buy rating on shares of Bunzl in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th.

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Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bunzl

Bunzl Stock Performance

Shares of BNZL opened at GBX 2,376 ($32.16) on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of 7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45. Bunzl has a 12-month low of GBX 2,218 ($30.03) and a 12-month high of GBX 3,732 ($50.52). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 123.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firms 50 day moving average is GBX 2,654.65 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 3,116.53.

Bunzl (LON:BNZL  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported GBX 194.30 ($2.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Bunzl had a return on equity of 16.82% and a net margin of 4.20%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bunzl will post 213.3413462 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bunzl Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of GBX 53.80 ($0.73) per share. This is a positive change from Bunzls previous dividend of $20.10. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. Bunzls dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Bunzl news, insider Richard Howes purchased 8,479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 2,338 ($31.65) per share, with a total value of 198,239.02 ($268,362.01). Also, insider Daniela Barone Soares purchased 431 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 2,307 ($31.23) per share, for a total transaction of 9,943.17 ($13,460.36). In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 12,910 shares of company stock valued at $32,966,219. Insiders own 0.84% of the companys stock.

Bunzl Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Bunzl plc operates as a distribution and services company in the North America, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company offers food packaging, films, labels, cleaning and hygiene supplies, and personal protection equipment to grocery stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores.

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Garde Capital Inc. cut its holdings in Trane Technologies plc (NYSE:TT  Free Report) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 781 shares of the companys stock after selling 82 shares during the quarter. Garde Capital Inc.s holdings in Trane Technologies were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TT. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Trane Technologies by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,194 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Trane Technologies by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 763 shares of the companys stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Trane Technologies by 1,314.3% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 99 shares of the companys stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in Trane Technologies by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,330 shares of the companys stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in Trane Technologies by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,609 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Trane Technologies Stock Down 0.1%

TT stock opened at $423.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.50 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.14. Trane Technologies plc has a 1-year low of $298.15 and a 1-year high of $433.60. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $366.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $375.01.

Trane Technologies Announces Dividend

Trane Technologies ( NYSE:TT Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. Trane Technologies had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.94%. The firms revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Trane Technologies plc will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Trane Technologiess dividend payout ratio is 31.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Trane Technologies

In other Trane Technologies news, insider Donald E. Simmons sold 3,571 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total value of $1,356,980.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,593 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,365,340. This represents a 49.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.38% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on TT. HSBC upgraded Trane Technologies from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $405.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Trane Technologies from $415.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Trane Technologies from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Trane Technologies from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Trane Technologies from $334.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $427.47.

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About Trane Technologies

(Free Report)

Trane Technologies plc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, sells, and services of solutions for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, custom, and custom and transport refrigeration in Ireland and internationally. It offers air conditioners, exchangers, and handlers; airside and terminal devices; air sourced heat pumps, auxiliary power units; chillers; coils and condensers; gensets; dehumidifiers; ductless; furnaces; home automation products; humidifiers; indoor air quality assessments and related products; large and light commercial unitary products; refrigerant reclamation products; thermostats/controls; transport heater products; variable refrigerant flow products; and water source heat pumps.

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Brick & Kyle Associates cut its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW  Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,230 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Illinois Tool Works makes up 2.1% of Brick & Kyle Associates portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Brick & Kyle Associates holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $4,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ITW. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,930 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,504,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at $314,000. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,739 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael M. Larsen sold 41,472 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.25, for a total transaction of $11,249,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,502 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $13,698,667.50. This trade represents a 45.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher A. Oherlihy sold 48,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.36, for a total value of $13,293,565.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,120,802.68. This trade represents a 46.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the companys stock.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE ITW opened at $242.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.90. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $214.66 and a twelve month high of $279.13. The stock has a market cap of $70.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.12.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.04. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 95.39%. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. The firms revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Illinois Tool Workss dividend payout ratio is 52.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ITW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $257.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $252.00 to $249.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $302.00 to $284.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $253.42.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ITW

Illinois Tool Works Profile

(Free Report)

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products.

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Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund (NYSEAMERICAN:EAD  Get Free Report) shares crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $6.78 and traded as low as $6.70. Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund shares last traded at $6.76, with a volume of 151,497 shares changing hands.

Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund Trading Up 0.6%

The businesss fifty day moving average is $6.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.78.

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Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.0536 per share. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Funds previous monthly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EAD. Sit Investment Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 1,251,181 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $8,621,000 after acquiring an additional 481,101 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 1,504,521 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $10,361,000 after acquiring an additional 225,391 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 859,463 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $5,922,000 after acquiring an additional 165,118 shares during the period. Rareview Capital LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund by 44.2% during the 1st quarter. Rareview Capital LLC now owns 347,402 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $2,376,000 after acquiring an additional 106,520 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $506,000.

(Get Free Report)

Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC. It is co-managed by Wells Capital Management Incorporated. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in below investment grade debt securities, high-yield debt securities, loans and preferred stocks rated Ba or lower by Moody's Investors Service, Inc or BB or lower by Standard & Poor's Ratings Group.

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BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with Ahmad Muzani, secretary general of the Great Indonesia Movement Party and chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly, in Beijing on Sunday.

The two sides expressed their willingness to work together to implement the important consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries, strengthen inter-party and political dialogue, deepen the sharing of experience in governance, foster pragmatic cooperation in all sectors, and advance the progress of China-Indonesia relations. 
PYONGYANG, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Law enforcement authorities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have detained three people responsible for a recent failed warship launch for legal investigation, the official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday.

The investigation group informed the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea of its work on Saturday, said the report.

According to the investigation data confirmed by the group, Kang Jong Chol, chief engineer of the Chongjin Shipyard, Han Kyong Hak, head of the hull construction workshop, and Kim Yong Hak, deputy manager for administrative affairs, were detained.

"There is no additional identified damage to the warship and the field rehabilitation promotion team is pushing ahead with the rehabilitation plan as scheduled," said the report.

Authorities have launched a full investigation after the newly built 5,000-ton destroyer suffered a "serious accident" during the launch at the Chongjin Shipyard on Wednesday. Hong Kil Ho, manager of the Chongjin Shipyard, was summoned by law enforcement on Thursday. 
The BJP suffered a significant setback today in the Pandaveswar Assembly constituency, as over 30 of its supporter families joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) at the local party office in West Burdwan district.

This mass defection has further weakened the BJPs prospects in Pandaveswar, a seat the saffron party had been eyeing for victory in the 2026 Assembly elections.

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The families, hailing from the Rasikdanga area of Gogla Panchayat under the DurgapurFaridpur block, officially joined the TMC at the party office in Madhaipur. Satadip Ghatak, the DurgapurFaridpur block president of the TMC, welcomed them by handing over the party flag.

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Bapi Bagdi and Bijan Bagdi, former active BJP supporters and workers, stated that despite years of dedication to the BJP, they received neither recognition nor assistance. In contrast, the TMC remains actively engaged with the local population throughout the year. Impressed by Mamata Banerjees leadership and the functioning of the TMC, they decided to join the party en masse.

Goutam Ghosh, TMCs Gogla Anchal President, said that this move would further strengthen the party in the Pandaveswar Assembly area.

So far, both the local BJP leadership and former MLA Jitendra Tiwari have remained silent on the defection of their supporters in Pandaveswar.
Three COVID-19 positive cases including a 20-year-old woman and an adolescent boy have been reported in West Bengal at a time when India has recorded a slight spike in the number of cases in nine states over the past week.

Sources in the state health department said that two COVID-affected cases were reported in the Mograhat area of South 24-Parganas recently. Their nasal swab samples were tested positive through RT-PCR tests conducted at the state-run Diamond Harbour Medical College and Hospital.

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Earlier, during the first week of this month a woman was tested COVID positive and admitted to a premier private hospital in the Alipore area, sources said. She was rushed to the hospital showing symptoms of breathing trouble and other chronic ailments and treated in an isolation ward of the hospital for one week and then she was discharged.

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Showing common flu-like symptoms three COVID cases were reported during routine surveillance programmes. All of them are at home and there is nothing to panic about the viral disease, Narayan Swarup Nigam, principal secretary in charge of the state health department, told The Statesman on Saturday.

With slight rise in the number of novel coronavirus cases in states like Kerala, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Sikkim the Delhi government on Friday has issued an advisory sensitising people about the viral disease.

There has been an increase COVID cases in several southeast Asian countries also besides the nine states in India though experts say numbers in India remain low with neither worrying trends nor any new variants of concern yet.

The countrys count of active Covid-19 cases rose from 93 on 12 May to 257 on 19 May, according to union health ministry data, with case counts rising in the nine states.

The surge in cases has also been recorded in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand in recent weeks largely because of various successors of omicron, the Covid-19 variant that swept across the world during the pandemic in 2021-2022.

Experts felt that there is no evidence to suggest that the virus has evolved to cause more severe illness despite modest hike in cases in India. The zero active cases in several states may reflect a lack of testing rather than an absence of infections, according to them.

The variant in Hong Kong is NB.1.8.1, which is a combination of XDV and JN.1. XDV has evolved from XBB, and JN.1 has evolved from BA.2. All are derivatives of omicron variants such as XBB or JN.1 that have widely circulated in India in the past, one of the experts said.
The southwest monsoons arrived in Kerala eight days ahead of schedule, but its early onset over Bengal remains uncertain, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday.

Marking one of the earliest monsoon arrivals in the last 16 years, Kerala witnessed the official onset of rains on 25 May. However, the IMD clarified that an early onset in Kerala does not necessarily indicate a similar trend for Bengal. The early arrival of monsoon in Kerala doesnt guarantee that it will reach Bengal ahead of time, said H R Biswas, director of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore, Kolkata. He added that a potential low-pressure system is developing over the Bay of Bengal, and the department is closely monitoring its evolution.

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According to the IMD, a low-pressure area is likely to form by Tuesday over the central and northern Bay of Bengal. If it intensifies, parts of South Bengal, including Kolkata, could witness heavy rainfall next week. The normal onset date for monsoon in South Bengal is 10 June, while north Bengal typically receives rainfall earlier. In 2024, Kerala had seen a slightly early onset on 30 May. Notably, the earliest recorded monsoon entry into Kerala was on 11 May, 1918, while the latest was on 18 June, 1972. Between 2010 and 2023, the monsoon reached Kerala on dates ranging from 29 May to 8 June, IMD data shows.

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This years early onset, 25 May, is second only to 2009, when the monsoon arrived on 23 May. Meanwhile, the IMD has forecast very heavy rainfall for southern Karnataka, Kerala, and parts of Goa over the weekend, accompanied by strong winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kmph. Rain is also expected in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh through 29 May. For Bengal, forecasters say a clearer picture will emerge after the low-pressure system develops, determining whether the rains will make an early appearance.
Struggling to run hi-tech machines at health centres due to shortage of manpower, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation is now considering recruiting technicians at public-private-partnership model to address the problem.

During the monthly meeting of the municipal corporation yesterday, councillor of ward 12, Minakshi Ganguly brought the issue before the House and said that the health centre in her ward had an expensive x-ray machine. However, even after one year of its installation, the machine could not be used to provide services due to lack of technicians. She also pointed out that if the machine remained unused for long, it could get damaged and urged to address the matter on a priority basis so that the citizens could be provided the service soon.

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Replying to the question, deputy mayor, Atin Ghosh informed that such facility is provided with the help of funds provided by the Fifth Pay Commission of the central government. Mr Ghosh, who is also the member-mayor-in-council for health reiterated that due to the OBC case being under sub judice, the recruitment process by the state government has been halted for now. However, to address the problem, the KMC has sent a proposal to the state health department to recruit technical manpower under the PPP model. Once approved, the civic body hopes to start the service at the health centres.

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Meanwhile, with monsoons round the corner, the civic body is aiming to complete road repair works within 31 July. Work on all roads would have to be finished by 29 July. I will come out on 1 August to check the situation and if one road is in poor condition, I will suspend the DG, said mayor Firhad Hakim, going stern on addressing the issue of waterlogging in the city particularly in the added areas.
Panic gripped the Kheranichoti area of Midnapore town on Saturday afternoon after a shocking incident where a man was doused with petrol and set on fire in front of his shop. The victim, identified as Surajit Sau, a local lottery ticket seller, sustained severe burn injuries and has been admitted to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) in critical condition.

According to preliminary investigations, the incident appears to have stemmed from a business rivalry. Sau had reportedly been involved in a dispute just two days ago with a fast-food vendor from the Indkuri area over the use of a pavement space for their respective stalls. Police had intervened in that matter and relocated the fast-food vendors stall away from Saus lottery kiosk, allegedly leading to mounting resentment.

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Eyewitnesses stated that around noon, two individuals approached Saus shop, poured petrol on him and his stall, and set him ablaze before fleeing the scene on a motorcycle. Locals rushed to douse the flames and transported the victim to the hospital.

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The police acted swiftly and arrested two suspectsAkash Mukhi and Omar Nath Pahikshaboth residents of the Abas area in the town. They are currently being interrogated, and police are investigating whether others may have been involved.

The incident has sparked outrage in the local community, with many expressing concern over the apparent escalation of street-level business rivalries into violent attacks. Authorities have assured a thorough investigation and strict action against those found guilty.
BOGOTA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and seven others injured on Saturday when a bus crashed on the Helicoidal Bridge along the La Linea highway, near the city of Calarca in Colombia's Quindio Department, according to local police.

The bus, which was carrying 26 passengers -- including engineering students from Alexander von Humboldt University and officials from the National Roads Institute -- reportedly suffered a mechanical failure before losing control and striking the guardrails, police commander Luis Fernando Atuesta told local media.

Emergency services responded immediately, and the injured were transported to nearby hospitals. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash and providing support to the victims' families.

Calarca Mayor Sebastian Ramos expressed his condolences and thanked rescue teams for their swift response. 
Fresh security concerns have emerged in Bengal, following multiple reports of drone sightings  now near the India-Bangladesh border in North 24-Parganas last night just a few days after seven drones were spotted over key areas of the city.

Residents of Katakhal, a village in Hasnabad police station limits, claimed on Friday night that they spotted drone-like objects entering Indian airspace from across the border. Eyewitnesses reported that at least three drones flew over the area, triggering panic among locals. A group of youths saw a drone flying over the Katakhal bridge and captured it on their mobile phones. Soon after, two more were seen entering from the Bangladesh side, said a local villager, adding that the incident led to widespread anxiety in the community. Police from Hasnabad and Hingalganj stations, along with personnel from the Border Security Force (BSF), rushed to the spot following the reports. Both police and BSF officials confirmed that the matter has been reported to higher authorities and is under investigation.

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The origin and purpose of the drones are yet to be verified. The incident follows heightened security tensions after Operation Sindoor, during which Pakistan reportedly attempted drone attacks on civilian and religious targets in India. Separately, drone sightings were also reported over central Kolkata two days earlier, prompting a high alert. At least 8-10 unidentified aerial objects were seen flying over Hastings, Vidyasagar Setu, and the Maidan area on Monday night.

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Reports of drone sightings over Kolkata have been received and are currently under investigation. Efforts are underway to ascertain the veracity of this event, said Wing Commander Himanshu Tiwari, CPRO, ministry of defence, Kolkata, earlier. Further information will be shared as facts are established. Both the state police and central defence authorities are probing the incidents amid concerns about aerial surveillance and potential threats.
Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee interacted with the Indian Diaspora in Japan and in particular the Indian community in Tokyo. He reiterated Indias firm stand against terrorism and that the strikes by the Indian defence forces were precise and targeted.

He said: During our interaction with the Indian community in Tokyo as part of the All-Party Parliamentary Delegation, I had the opportunity to present my views as a proud Indian. Indias response to the Pahalgam terror attack was guided by clarity, conviction, and a deep sense of responsibility. We waited for two weeks hoping for accountability and justice. But when that hope was betrayed, India responded with precision. Our air strikes were targeted, precise, and non-escalatory. Nine terror infrastructures were neutralised without a single civilian casualty. This reflects our national character: firm in resolve, honourable in action.

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Making a firm commitment to an united fight against enemy forces, Abhishek said: Political ideologies may differ, but when it comes to the nation, there is no Opposition or Treasury. We stand together in grief and in resolve. I urged the Indian diaspora to not only mourn the tragedy of the Pahalgam terror attack but to discuss it in their communities because awareness is the first step toward justice.

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No one chooses their neighbours. But we can choose to stand strong, stay united, and speak the truth, backed by proof. That is the India I believe in, and the India we all serve. Jai Hind!

Mr Banerjee further referred to the Indian diaspora as the countrys greatest asset.

You live India, you breathe India  I want you to be the nations foremost evangelistproponents of Indias message in the global fight against terrorism, as he received applause during his interaction with the Indian community in Japan

We wish to present certain images to expose the true face of Pakistan. To those residing outside Indiayou are our actual assets and global proponents. We urge you to raise awareness of this issue within your circles, through your networks, and via local influencers, in your own unique ways. Use your digital platforms to actively disseminate these images. Showcase how India is leading the global effort against terrorism by uniting nations. Within 24 hours of the Pahalgam attack, a terrorist group known as TRF (The Resistance Front) claimed responsibility. The TRF is a proxy organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is recognised as an UN-designated terrorist group. We are all aware of how Pakistan hastily attempted to dissociate Lashkar from the list. Moreover, after the air strikes, public domain images showed senior Pakistan army officials attending the funerals of the terrorists killed in the strikes. Footage does not lieits all in the open. I believe every Indian has a role to play in engaging communities and spreading this message. We are here to convey the truth, India refuses to bow down. We will not yield to fear. We have learnt to respond in a language that they understand.

He added: I belong to a political party in the Opposition. It is well documented that I have stated Pakistan must be dealt with in a language it understands. If terrorism is a rabid dog, Pakistan is its vile handler. We must first unite the world to tackle this wild handlerelse it will continue to breed more rabid dogs. We will ensure India remains responsible. All our responses and actions have been precise, calculated, and non-escalatory.

We granted Pakistan a two-day window to deliver justice against the perpetrators, yet waited patiently for 14 days before taking decisive action with the strikes on 7 May. This is India, firm in resolve and honourable in every action.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained the net buyers so far in May, buying Indian equities worth Rs 13,835 crore.

As per the data with the depositories, the week gone by saw heavy selling from them as they offloaded shares worth Rs 11,591 crore.

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Notably, on Friday, FIIs bought shares worth Rs 1,794.59 crore while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers at Rs 299.78 crore.

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The FII selling comes on the back of a choppy trade through the week. The week started with a reaction to last Fridays credit rating downgrade for the US by Moodys in the wake of the ballooning debt situation in the country.

Further, in 2025 so far, FIIs have sold domestic shares worth Rs 98,516 crore. They sold shares worth Rs 78,027 crore in January, Rs 34,574 crore in February, and Rs 3,973 crore in March. In April, they were net buyers at Rs 4,223 crore.

The FIIs were sellers seven times on a monthly basis in the financial year that ended on March 31, 2025. The highest exodus of flows happened in October and January when the FIIs sold shares worth Rs 94,017 crore and Rs 78,027 crore, respectively.

For this week, the Indian markets will also take cues from Wall Street. Market action will largely hinge on the behaviour of foreign institutional investors.

It is to be noted that the US President Donald Trump has reignited the tariff debate, this time threatening to impose 50 per cent tariffs on the European Union.
BJP MP from Chandni Chowk, Delhi and Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Praveen Khandelwal on Sunday hailed the country emerging as the fourth largest economy in the world, stating that the development is a direct reflection on Prime Minister Narendra Modis visionary leadership.

He said PM Modis unwavering commitment to economic reforms, digital transformation, and inclusive development has propelled India to global prominence. The achievement is a story of reform, resilience, and resurgence initiated by the PMs people-centric approach, fiscal prudence, and pro-business policies, that have made India the growth engine of the world.

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According to Khandelwal, under PMs dynamic governance, the country has not only weathered global economic uncertainties but has also laid a strong foundation for sustainable and resilient growth.

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He pointed out that initiatives like Make in India, Digital India, Startup India, Gati Shakti, and PLI schemes have not only revitalized key sectors but have also enhanced infrastructure, and attracted foreign investments.

The BJP MP said this achievement brings advantages and benefits for the country, increasing the global stature, and strengthens its negotiating power in international forums.

The CAIT secretary general also said it would boost investor confidence in India leading to increased FDI, capital inflows, and deeper integration with global value chains.

The 4th largest economy is better equipped to invest in world-class infrastructure, smart cities, logistics networks, and rural development and will Increase social spending allowing the government to invest more in education, healthcare, and welfare schemes, ensuring a better quality of life for all citizens, he added.

The MP also mentioned that the countrys rapid digital transformation and innovation-driven economy will continue to expand, driving breakthroughs in AI, fintech, space, and green technologies. As India continues to rise, it stands as a beacon of opportunity, stability, and progress in an uncertain global landscape, he said.
Twelve employees of South Koreas tech giant Samsung will travel to Central University of Jharkhand (CUJ) in August to receive training in Hindi language and Indian culture, as part of the expanded Samsung Global Experts programme. This development follows the successful 12-day official visit of CUJ Vice Chancellor Prof Kshiti Bhusan Das to South Korea and Japan, where he signed four MoUs with major universities.

The language and culture training will be conducted at CUJ under a renewed agreement with Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. The MoU, extended till 2030, now includes new provisions for joint academic programmes in management, computer science and social sciences. The initiative, according to university officials, aims to create deeper cross-cultural understanding and to prepare Korean professionals for long-term engagement with India.

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During the visit, Prof Das held detailed discussions with the heads of Hankuk University, Busan University of Foreign Studies, Kwangwoon University, and Dongguk University. The engagements culminated in formal agreements covering a wide range of collaborative activities including student exchange, joint research, industrial internships, and dual programmes.

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The partnership with Busan University of Foreign Studies, originally signed last year, will now be taken forward through internship support and joint academic programmes in mass communication, management and social sciences. With Kwangwoon University, academic collaboration will begin shortly in civil engineering, computer science and mass communication. Dongguk University also expressed interest in initiating academic exchange programmes with CUJ.

In addition to signing the MoUs, Prof Das delivered special lectures at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Busan University of Foreign Studies, and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan. In his addresses, he highlighted Indias rising economic and academic profile and underscored the significance of the Indian Knowledge System in creating a more harmonious global society. He spoke about Indias ancient contributions in philosophy, mathematics, Ayurveda, language sciences, and its emphasis on values-led education.

He called upon Korean and Japanese students to explore Indias academic institutions for higher studies and to become part of a deeper people-to-people engagement across Asia. Indias growing economic stature signals immense opportunities for foreign students. A developing state like Jharkhand can greatly benefit from such partnerships, he said.

Responding to a student query regarding India-Pakistan relations during a lecture, Prof Das clarified that India does not seek war but is determined to counter terrorism. This is not a conflict between two countries, but a fight against terrorism and those who sponsor it, he said.

The Vice Chancellor also met Indian professionals working in Korea, including a group led by Dr Nagendra Kaushik. As part of his cultural outreach, he distributed certificates to seven students of Hankuk University for their performance in a Hindi speech competition.

CUJs push for internationalisation reflects a broader trend among Indian universities to seek deeper collaboration with Asian institutions. Prof Das remarked that by engaging with culturally rich and academically advanced countries like South Korea and Japan, Indian universities can help shape a more interconnected and value-based global education system.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) President Devender Yadav, on Sunday, launched Nashe Ke Virudh Congress Ka Yudh  a campaign aimed at combating the growing substance abuse menace in the national capital.

The initiative seeks to free the city from drugs, intoxicants, illegal liquor, gambling, and crime  the issues that the Delhi Congress claims are devastating the lives of unemployed youth.

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Yadav kicked off the awareness campaign with a peace march under the slogan Aao Milkar Kare Shapath, Dilli Ko Banaye Nasha Mukth (Lets take a pledge together to make Delhi addiction-free). The march commenced at the Nile Pehlwan Farmhouse on Mangal Bazar Road in Swami Shradhanand Colony, Rohini district and was attended by a large number of Congress leaders and workers. It passed through Kalandar Colony, Bhalswa Dairy, and Durga Chowk via Rajiv Nagar before culminating at the Bhalswa Dairy police station.

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During the event, Yadav raised alarm over the citys worsening law and order situation, citing NDPS data. He said Delhi reports six rapes, two murders, 18 snatchings, three thefts, and five drug-related cases daily.

He criticised the BJP-led governments handling of the drug problem, pointing out that the apex committee of NCORD (National Coordination Committee on Drug Abuse Prevention) has not held a single meeting related to Delhi in the past six years. This shows the governments complete lack of seriousness in tackling the drug menace, he alleged.

According to an official document released by the party, Delhi recorded 107 murders, 168 attempted murders, 315 incidents of dacoity, 1,199 cases of snatching, 379 attacks on women, and 370 rapes between January and March 2025, based on police data.

Yadav further said that the crime rate has significantly increased over the past decade, blaming administrative inaction and police inefficiency for the unchecked rise in drug abuse, illegal liquor, and related crimes among the citys youth. He held both the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the current BJP administration responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation.

Despite the government spending nearly 12,000 crore on law enforcement agencies, crime in the Capital continues to rise. Crimes against women, in particular, have jumped by 137 per cent, placing Delhi at the top of the list and reinforcing its label as the Crime Capital of the country, he said.
A team of the foreigner cell of the North-West district police in Delhi made a significant breakthrough into illegal immigration by apprehending nine Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in the country, an official said on Sunday.

The illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were arrested after a sustained surveillance operation. Interestingly, the police recovered a smart phone from them with the banned application IMO.

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In a proactive and intelligence-driven operation, the successful raid was conducted on Friday May 23, under the jurisdiction of the Bharat Nagar police station in North West Delhi.

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According to the police, they received credible information about the presence of an illegal Bangladeshi national residing within Bharat Nagar and accordingly, a team cordoned off the targeted area and conducted a comprehensive verification drive, conducting checks across 50 footpaths and 100 lanes, as part of the combing operation.

After getting their hands on a suspect, the police interrogated him. He, initially, attempted to mislead the team but later admitted that he is a Bangladeshi national residing illegally in India.

Accordingly, eight other illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, including four minors, were located at a JJ colony in the Wazirpur area, who were apparently his family members. None of them had any valid travel documents, visas, or permits, thereby violating the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and other applicable immigration laws.

All the immigrants were taken into custody on the spot and transported to the Foreigners Cell for detention, interrogation, and documentation. It was revealed that the family had previously worked at a brick manufacturing unit in Mewat, Haryana.

They fled Mewat for fear of being apprehended by the Haryana Police. Since then, they have been frequently changing their locations and were in the process of securing a rented accommodation in an attempt to mix with the local population.

It was further revealed that they had illegally crossed into India through the Cooch Behar border, West Bengal.

All nine immigrants have been handed over to FRRO, RK Puram, New Delhi, for further deportation proceedings. They were identified as Saidul Islam, Nazma Begum, who is Islams wife, Nazmul Ali, Azina Begum, Apple Ali, and 4 minors aged below 18 years.

According to a senior police official, the operation is part of a broader initiative by the Delhi Police to crack down on illegal immigration, with the objective of safeguarding the security and demographic integrity of the region.

Meanwhile, the city police has urged all residents of the national capital to remain vigilant and promptly report any suspicious activities or unauthorized individuals residing in their locality.
Darjeeling MP Raju Bista on Saturday visited the newly-constructed Loop Bridge on national highway 717Apopularly known as the Snake Bridgenear Bagrakote in Kalimpong district to inspect reported structural damages. He was accompanied by officials from the national highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL).

Expressing serious concern, Bista has written to Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, seeking urgent intervention and an independent inquiry into the matter.

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It is extremely alarming that the Loop Bridge has developed structural issues even before its formal inauguration. This raises questions about the design and construction quality and poses a grave threat to public safety, especially with the monsoon approaching the Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills, Bista said.

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In his letter to the central minister, Bista has called for a thorough review of the detailed project report (DPR), design specifications, and overall construction qualitynot just of the bridge, but the entire adjoining road stretch. He also urged the Centre to initiate an independent probe into the performance of the executing agency to ensure accountability for any lapses.

Highlighting the geographical challenges of the region, Bista noted, Our Kalimpong-Darjeeling region falls under Seismic Zone IV and receives some of the heaviest rainfall in India, making it highly vulnerable to landslides. NH-717A is envisioned as a vital alternative to NH-10 and is crucial for uninterrupted connectivity to Kalimpong and Sikkim.

Given the strategic importance of the route, Bista has emphasised the need for immediate remedial measures and focused maintenance work.

He informed that NHIDCL is currently conducting a comprehensive review of the bridge design and surrounding slope stability. Their top structural engineers are on the job to implement necessary corrective steps to ensure the long-term safety and durability of the bridge, he said.

Assuring the public, Bista concluded: This road will not be inaugurated until all concerns related to structural integrity, design, and stability are addressed. Public safety and the sustainability of this critical infrastructure remain our highest priority.
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi clinched the coveted Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday for his gripping revenge thriller It Was Just an Accident.

This victory is nothing short of extraordinary, given that Panahi has been banned from leaving Iran for over 15 years, turning him into a symbol of artistic resistance and courage.

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The award was presented by none other than Cate Blanchett, who handed the prize to Panahi amid a standing ovation that echoed through the festivals grand hall. The audience was visibly moved, applauding not just the filmmaker but the spirit of defiance he embodies.

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Jafar Panahi himself appeared stunned, throwing his arms up and leaning back in his seat, soaking in the overwhelming applause before warmly thanking his team and the festival audience.

Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche, who has long been a vocal supporter of Panahi, shared the stage with him. Binoche recalled a poignant moment in 2010 when she held up Panahis name at Cannes as a tribute while he was still under house arrest in Iran.

The film springs from a feeling of resistance, survival, which is absolutely necessary today, she told reporters. Art will always win. What is human will always win.

Panahis journey to this triumphant moment reads like a thriller in itself. Three years ago, the director was imprisoned in Tehrans notorious Evin Prison, where he went on a hunger strike to protest his unjust detention.

His commitment to his craft and beliefs never wavered despite the obstacles: banned from travel since 2009 after attending the funeral of a student killed during the Green Movement protests, Panahi has been creating films clandestinely within Iran.

His inventive spirit led him to craft This Is Not a Film inside his living room, smuggling it out on a USB drive, and Taxi, which unfolds entirely inside a car. These projects captured the worlds attention and sympathy.

It Was Just an Accident, inspired by Panahis own experience in prison, explores the story of former inmates confronting the man who terrorized them behind bars. Its a tense, morally complex story about vengeance, justice, and survival  themes deeply entwined with Panahis personal struggles.

On stage, Panahis message was clear and powerful: Let us join forces. No one should dare tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do or what we should not do. The cinema is a society. Nobody is entitled to tell what we should or refrain from doing.
The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced that by-elections for five assembly constituencies in Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab, and West Bengal will be held on 19 June, with the counting of votes scheduled four days later on 23 June.

In a statement, the ECI said the last date to file nominations is 2 June. The seats due for polls include Kadi and Visavadar in Gujarat, Nilambur in Kerala, Ludhiana West in Punjab, and Kaliganj in West Bengal.

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While the Kadi (SC) seat fell vacant following the death of 68-year-old Karsanbhai Punjabhai Solanki, who succumbed to a prolonged battle with cancer, the Visavadar constituencys MLA Bhayani, Bhupendrabhai Gandubhai of the Aam Aadmi Party, had tendered his resignation and later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

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Nilamburs MLA PV Anwar resigned shortly after joining the Trinamool Congress in Kerala in January this year, which led to the seat falling vacant. Previously, he had contested the seat as a CPI(M) candidate.

Ludhiana West constituency in Punjab fell vacant following the death of Congress MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi, who died from an accidental injury while cleaning his pistol. As per the reports, while Congress and AAP have already named their candidates, the BJP is yet to declare its candidate.

Further, West Bengals Kaliganj seat fell vacant after TMC MLA Nasiruddin Ahamed died following cardiac arrest in February this year.

The ECI said that the Gazette notification for the by-elections will be issued on 26 May, and the last date for the scrutiny of nominations is 3 June. Further, candidates can withdraw their candidatures by 5 June. With the announcement of the dates, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force in the areas where the by-elections are slated to be held. The commission also stated that candidates with criminal antecedents are required to publish information about their criminal records in newspapers and on television on three occasions during the campaign period.

A political party that nominates candidates with criminal antecedents is also required to publish information about their criminal backgrounds on its website, as well as in newspapers and on television, on three occasions, the statement read.

The commission has also decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-election in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the poll is conducted smoothly with the help of these machines, the statement read.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives Puan Maharani in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 25, 2025. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here Sunday that China has always taken Indonesia as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy.

China is willing to deepen all-round strategic cooperation with Indonesia and firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns, Li made the remarks during his talks with Speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives Puan Maharani.

He noted that under the strategic guidance of the presidents of the two countries, China-Indonesia relations have witnessed continuous and robust development.

Facing the current volatile international situation, the two countries, Li said, should unite and cooperate more closely, which is not only a practical need for promoting their respective causes of modernization, but also conducive to promoting peace and development in the region and the world at large.

China is also ready to join Indonesia in carrying forward their traditional friendship, and consolidating cooperation in the "five pillars" of politics, economy, people-to-people and cultural exchange, maritime affairs and security, so as to bring greater benefits to the people of the two nations.

The Chinese side is willing to work with Indonesia to strengthen friendly exchanges between their legislative bodies and inter-party cooperation, and enhance policy communication and the sharing of governance experiences, said Li, calling on both sides to make greater achievements from their cause of friendship.

Li urged the two sides to ensure the implementation of landmark and important projects such as the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, facilitate two-way trade and investment, and jointly create a fair and favorable business environment.

The two sides should expand cooperation in emerging fields such as the digital economy, green development and artificial intelligence, enabling higher-level mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, Li noted.

He said that China is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with Indonesia within multilateral mechanisms, including the United Nations, jointly uphold the basic norms governing international relations, and safeguard the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core.

Li also called on the two countries to oppose unilateralism, protectionism and power politics, carry forward the Bandung Spirit of solidarity, friendship and cooperation, and inject stability and certainty into the cause of global peace and development.

For her part, Puan said exchanges between legislative bodies play a vital role in enhancing bilateral relations and deepening the friendship between the peoples of Indonesia and China.

She reaffirmed the firm commitment of Indonesia's House of Representatives to the one-China principle, expressing the hope that the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference this year would serve as a key opportunity to build on past achievements and strive for new progress.

The speaker also called for strengthening exchanges between the legislatures of the two countries and expanding cooperation in trade, economy, education, tourism, among other mutually beneficial sectors, to elevate bilateral relations to new heights for the better benefit of the two peoples.

Indonesia appreciates China's support for ASEAN's centrality status and is willing to strengthen regional cooperation to promote peace and prosperity across the region, Puan said.

She also stressed Indonesia's long-standing position of upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, advocating for the peaceful resolution of differences.

Indonesia stands ready to enhance communication and coordination with China on multilateral affairs, jointly address uncertainties in the international landscape, uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries, she added. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives Puan Maharani in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 25, 2025. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)
In a major breakthrough in the ongoing war against organized crime, the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of the Punjab Police, in a joint intelligence-led operation with the Ferozepur Police, arrested three key associates of the Ashish Chopra Gang.

The trio is accused of involvement in the recent sensational double murder of Rishabh and Shalu, a case linked to escalating gang rivalry between the Ashish Chopra Gang and the Nata Gang.

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The arrested individuals have been identified as Manpreet Singh alias Mannu, resident of Ferozepur; Ramandeep Singh, resident of Ferozepur, and Sonu, resident of Faridkot. According to the police, the arrests were made following a series of meticulously planned operations based on actionable intelligence.

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When the police raided a hideout in Sri Muktsar Sahib, Ramandeep and Sonu opened fire at the raiding team in a bid to flee. However, they were swiftly overpowered and taken into custody.

In a separate incident, Manpreet Singh alias Mannu was intercepted by police in Ferozepur. In a desperate attempt to evade arrest, he opened fire on the police party. In the retaliatory action by law enforcement, he sustained a bullet injury and was apprehended.

The police have confirmed the recovery of three pistols, seven live cartridges, and four empty shells from the accused. Further investigations have revealed that Manpreet Mannu was the primary shooter in the double murder case, and his arrest has also led to the resolution of another pending murder case in Ferozepur.

Sharing details on Tuesday in a social media post on X, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said: In an intelligence-based operation, Anti-Gangster Task Force (#AGTF) Punjab in a joint operation with Ferozepur Police arrests three associates of Ashish Chopra Gang who were recently involved in sensational double murder of Rishabh & Shalu due to Gang rivalry between Nata Gang & Ashish Chopra Gang at #Ferozepur.

Details of arrested accused: 1. Manpreet Singh @ Mannu r/o Ferozepur 2. Ramandeep Singh r/o Ferozepur 3. Sonu r/o Faridkot. Acting on a specific input when police party raided the hideout of Ramandeep & Sonu in Sri Muktsar Sahib, they tried to flee and fired at Police party. In another input, Police team tried to stop the Manpreet Mannu at Ferozepur, but in a bid to escape arrest, he opened fire at the police party, in the retaliatory fire he received a bullet injury.

The arrest of these accused has further led to cracking of another murder case at Ferozepur. Manpreet Mannu was the main shooter in this incident. Recovery: Three pistols along with 07 live cartridges and 04 empty shell. Their arrest marks another significant step in the ongoing crackdown on inter-rivalry crime. Further investigation is underway to identify other associates and establish backward and forward linkages, further wrote the DGP.
In a moving visit to the Military Hospital here on Sunday, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh met soldiers injured in the recent conflict with Pakistan along the International Border and Line of Control (LoC).

Many of them, despite suffering serious injuries, expressed fierce determination to return to the frontlines. According to the Minister, the morale of these soldiers was not just highit was inspiring.

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Dr Jitendra Singh shared that the soldiers, most of whom belonged to the Indian Army and the Border Security Force (BSF), conveyed a heartfelt message for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They said they are ready to go back and fight the enemy till the last breath, he told reporters after the visit. Their courage and spirit are truly humbling. The nation is eternally indebted to them.

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What stood out during the visit, the Minister said, was the unwavering willpower of the jawans, many of whom have already begun recovering and are preparing to return to duty. Their injuries were varied, but their resolve was the sameto serve the country without hesitation, he added.

The Minister gave a fruit basket to each of the injured.

Dr Jitendra Singh also praised the role of the medical team at the hospital, led by Brigadier Dr Fayaz Ahmad. The precision and promptness with which the team acted saved several lives. Their efforts ensured that many of these bravehearts are now even fit to get back to the field, he said.

The Minister emphasised that the medical personnel not only treated physical wounds but also uplifted the soldiers morale, helping them regain strength and confidence.

Reaffirming the governments commitment to the armed forces, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the episode is a reminder of the grit and determination that drives Indias uniformed personnel. He called the experience both emotional and reassuring, especially seeing the soldiers eagerness to return to their posts so soon after sustaining injuries.

Dr Jitendra Singhs visit comes at a time of heightened vigilance along border areas, and his remarks are likely to resonate with the public, which continues to stand in solidarity with the armed forces.

As the soldiers recover and prepare to return, the message from the Military Hospital in Jammu is loud and clear: Indias defenders remain undeterred.

The Minister also held a wide-ranging interaction with members of the civil society, engaging with a cross-section of eminent citizens to discuss the evolving socio-political climate and the way forward for the region.

The meeting was attended by professionals from diverse fields, including leading doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, representatives of the judiciary, industrial chambers, and members of the media, including radio and electronic platforms. The initiative was aimed at reaching out to influential citizens who are not always part of conventional political dialogues, but whose voices and opinions hold sway across different segments of society.

Members of the business community raised concerns about the perceptual impact following recent incidents like the one in Pahalgam, which they said had triggered apprehensions outside the region. They underscored the need for a collaborative effort to rebuild confidence in the regions economic and tourism prospects, advocating for a united front to reassure investors and visitors alike.

Dr Jitendra Singh appreciated the candid feedback and assured the gathering that such engagements would continue to ensure that voices beyond traditional political frameworks are heard and factored into policymaking.
Jharkhand has reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 in 2025, with noted filmmaker and Jharkhand Film Development Corporation Limited (JFDCL) member Lal Vijay Shahdeo testing positive. Mr. Shahdeo announced his diagnosis via a Facebook post on Sunday, stating that he is among 257 people currently infected with COVID-19 across India.

According to his statement, Mr. Shahdeos health deteriorated mid-flight on 22 May while returning to Ranchi from Mumbai. He reportedly lost consciousness during the journey and was immediately admitted to a private hospital upon landing.

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The Ranchi district health administration has taken cognisance of the case. Civil Surgeon Dr. Prabhat confirmed that a medical team has been constituted to trace all potential contacts and monitor the situation closely. He also verified that prompt isolation protocols were followed upon the patients arrival.

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All government and private hospitals in Ranchi have been instructed to remain on alert. The state Health Department has directed facilities to closely monitor individuals exhibiting flu-like symptoms and to isolate suspected cases wherever necessary. While officials have urged calm, the health machinery has been placed on high vigilance.

State Health Minister Dr. Irfan Ansari, responding to media queries, described the situation as one requiring caution but not alarm. The Health Department is fully prepared and monitoring the situation, he said.

Dr. Ansari advised citizens to wear masks in crowded areas and adopt preventive practices that also help reduce the risk of other respiratory infections. He added that the state is awaiting updated COVID-19 guidelines from the Centre and will act promptly upon receiving them. Citizens were urged to rely only on verified information and not to spread or believe in rumours.

At the national level, the Union Ministry of Health has reported 275 active COVID-19 cases as of 25 May 2025. Most of the infections are reported to be mild and manageable at home. However, the resurgence has prompted health authorities to reinforce the need for continued vigilance.

Jharkhands first case this year is a reminder that while the intensity of the pandemic has subsided, the virus continues to circulate. Public health officials stress the importance of timely testing, responsible behaviour, and adherence to official advisories. The administration remains alert, and citizens are advised to stay informed and exercise caution.
The container vessel MSC Elsa3 that had reported listing around 38 nautical miles off the Kochi coast sank into the depths of the Arabian Sea on Sunday morning.

The Ministry of Defence on Sunday noon officially confirmed the sinking of Liberian-flagged cargo ship MSC Elsa 3 off the Kochi coast earlier in the day, due to flooding.

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The vessel went down with 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous cargo and 12 containing calcium carbide. It was also loaded with 84.44 MT of diesel and 367.1 MT of furnace oil.

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The ship is reported to have capsized due to extremely rough seas following the onset of the southwest monsoon

The vessel that was transporting containers with hazardous cargo had listed approximately 26 degrees to the starboard side by Saturday afternoon. The incident was reported to the Indian Coast Guard at 1.25 PM, following which three ships  INS Sujata of the Indian Navy, ICGS Arnvesh, and ICGS Saksham  were deployed to assist in salvage operations.

There were 24 crew members aboard the vessel. Of these, 21 were rescued by the Navy and Coast Guard on Saturday evening. As the vessel began sinking, the Navy rescued the remaining three  the captain, chief engineer, and second engineer  on Sunday morning.

The 21 crew members rescued earlier have been shifted to the Coast Guard headquarters in Kochi, while the captain and two engineers are being taken to the Kochi Naval Base.

Sources said the vessel was carrying 148 containers, some of which may drift toward the Kerala coast due to the influence of the monsoon currents. The containers are believed to contain marine gasoline and very low sulfur fuel.

Reports say more containers fell into the sea during the early hours of the day. These containers are drifting at a speed of approximately one kilometre per hour and are expected to reach the Kerala coast, particularly between Alappuzha and Ernakulam, within two days.

Authorities have issued a public advisory warning residents not to approach or touch any containers that wash ashore as they may contain hazardous materials. While there is no official confirmation of the exact contents, sources indicate that the cargo includes sulphur.

While the listing of a Liberian container vessel 38 nautical miles off the Kerala coast poses a danger to other ships and fishing boats near the international shipping channel, experts point out that a possible bunker spill could threaten the marine ecosystem in the entire Alappuzha region

The Kerala government swung into action following the sinking of the Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3, deploying Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) to tackle the threat of drifting cargo containers and a potential coastal oil spill.

In a high-level meeting chaired by the chief secretary, the Factories and Boilers Department and the Pollution Control Board have been directed to constitute the RRTs.District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs), police, and other agencies will extend all necessary support for emergency operations and public safety

Shekhar Kuriakose, Member Secretary, Disaster Management Authority said on Sunday that Containers containing hazardous fuel that fell into the sea after the cargo ship MSC Elsa-3 capsized in the Arabian Sea near the Kochi coast are likely to reach the coast on Sunday afternoon. The containers are most likely to reach the Kochi, Alappuzha coast on Sunday afternoon, those in coastal areas should be vigilant. The residents in coastal areas do not approach or touch any containers that wash ashore, as they may contain hazardous materials, he said .The public is advised to call 112 if they notice objects floating towards the coast.
The Ministry of Ayush and the World Health Organization (WHO) have signed an agreement to transform the global standing of traditional medicine systems. The agreement marks the beginning of work on a dedicated traditional medicine module under the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI), the ministry said in a statement.

Speaking about the significance of the agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Mann Ki Baat, stated that an MoU was signed in the presence of WHO Director General and his friend Tulsi Bhai (Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus). Along with this agreement, work has started on a dedicated traditional medicine module under the International Classification of Health Interventions. This initiative will help in making Ayush reach the maximum number of people across the world in a scientific manner, Modi said.

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The WHO Director-General said in a post on X, Pleased to sign an agreement for a $3 million contribution from #India to @WHOs work on traditional medicine and the International Classification of Health Interventions, with @moAyush Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha. We welcome s continued commitment to #HealthForAll.

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The ICHI, complementing WHOs International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), documents the treatments and health interventions administered. A statement from the ministry stated that the inclusion of a traditional medicine module  covering therapies from Ayurveda, Yoga, Siddha, and Unani systems, such as Panchakarma, Yoga therapy, Unani regimens, and Siddha procedures  will now be recognised in globally standardised terms.

It also highlighted benefits such as transparent billing and fair pricing for Ayush services, smoother integration of Ayush treatments into health insurance coverage, enhanced hospital management, clinical documentation, and health research, and greater global accessibility to Ayush interventions.
Afan, 23, the sole accused in the Venjaramoodu mass murder case, attempted suicide at Poojappura Central Jail on Sunday. He reportedly tried to hang himself in the prison using a dhoti left out to dry. He was rushed to the Government Medical College Hospital, where he remains on ventilator support in the intensive care unit.

The incident occurred soon after the police filed the first chargesheet in the mass murder case on Friday.

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In a shocking incident, the 23-year-old on February 24 killed his brother, grandmother, girlfriend, uncle, and aunt and also attempted to hack his mother to death with a machete and a hammer, at three different places at Venjaramoodu in Keralas Thiruvananthapuram.

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The victims were identified as Afans 13-year-old brother Afsan, his grandmother Salma Beevi (91), his uncle Abdul Latheef, his aunt Shahida, and his girlfriend Farsana. Police said all the victims bore fatal injuries from a hammer and sharp weapons, with the killings carried out in a similarly brutal fashion.His mother Shemi, survived the attack with severe injuries.

According to the police, the accused first murdered his grandmother at her Pangode home. He then reached the house of his paternal uncle Abdul Latheef (58) at SN Puram near Koonanvenga, some 16 km from Pangode, and murdered him and his wife Shahida Beevi (54).

Afan then returned home at Perumala near Pullampara, and attacked his mother, killed brother Afzan (14) and girlfriend Farshana (19). After committing the murders, he left the hammer at the house, took a bath, changed his clothes, and then went to the police station to surrender, according to the authorities.
Underscoring Indias unwavering commitment to national security and its firm stance against terrorism, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday hailed the commitment and valour of the countrys armed forces.

India is proud of its armed forces  their bravery, courage, and unwavering resolve, he said in a press release.

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Addressing a platinum jubilee celebration of Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jamshedpur, Birla said any country or terrorist organization trying to spread terror in India will face serious consequences. India has not only strengthened its internal security apparatus but has also sent a clear and resolute message to the world in this regard, he added.

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He also observed that a sense of collective interest should guide all countrymen on matters of national security.

Birla paid tributes to the land of Jharkhand  a region that gave India both Bhagwan Birsa Munda and Jamshedji Tata.

Bhagwan Birsa Munda ignited a long and brave struggle for tribal dignity and self-respect, he noted, highlighting how Jamshedji Tatas early vision laid the foundation for Indias industrial awakening long before Independence.

Hailing Indias remarkable progress in achieving self-reliance in the defence sector, Birla noted that a country once heavily reliant on imports has now emerged as a rising force in the manufacturing  and even exporting  of defence equipment.

He emphasized that this significant transformation, fuelled by innovation and robust policy support, has unlocked new opportunities for Indian MSMEs and industries to play a direct and meaningful role in strengthening national security.

He said under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has embraced a clear and ambitious goal of Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence production.

Birla further highlighted that the backbone of the nations growing military strength is firmly supported by the dedication and capabilities of its industrial sector.

Emphasising that Indias vision for 2047  when it marks 100 years of independence  is to become a developed nation, and to realize it, the country must work collectively and harness the forces of technology, competition, and skill development which are central to this mission.

He opined that the countrys greatest strength lies in its young and skilled population.

Observing that in a rapidly changing global economy where competition extends beyond goods and services to talent and innovation, Birla said that Indian youth are emerging as global leaders.

Many Indians now head multinational corporations across sectors, which is a testament to Indias intellectual and entrepreneurial prowess, the Lok Sabha Speaker observed.

Underlining that Indias educational landscape is also evolving, Birla mentioned that with the introduction of the New Education Policy, institutions like IITs and AIIMS are being reshaped into global research and innovation centres.

Birla encouraged all stakeholders to make efforts to tap vast opportunities in sectors such as information technology, green energy, defence technology, and advanced manufacturing.

He also gave a clarion call to invest in youth skilling, innovation, and global collaboration, and to ensure India becomes a beacon of sustainable and inclusive growth.

He also commended the Singhbhum Chamber of Industry and Commerce, saying the founders of the chamber envisioned it as a platform where business leaders, entrepreneurs, and industrialists could collaborate, exchange ideas, and tackle emerging challenges.

Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth, former chief minister and Union Minister Arjun Munda, and MP Bidyut Baran Mahato and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is leading an all-party delegation to the US and some other nations post Operation Sindoor, has made it clear Pakistan cant take India for granted and kill Indians without facing consequences.

Operation Sindoor, he said, marks a new normal in Indias approach to combating terrorism in response to Pakistans continued terrorist activities.

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There has now got to be a new normal. No one sitting in Pakistan is going to be allowed to believe that they can just walk across the border and kill our citizens with impunity. There will be a price to pay, and that price has been going up systematically, Mr Tharoor said as the delegation led by him arrived in the US.

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Tharoor said that India conveyed a clear message to Pakistan to stop hostilities, but the neighbouring country chose to respond with indiscriminate shelling, killing 19 civilians and injuring 59, including Carmelite nuns and Sikhs worshipping in a gurdwara.

It was officially conveyed to Pakistan to stop that act. There is a regular hotline between the two directors general of military operations. The message conveyed that this was the intent, that it was pointed out that no military targets, no civilian targets, and no governmental targets had been hit, not even by accident. And that the message therefore had been delivered exactly and precisely to the terrorists and their handlers, he said.

Nonetheless, Pakistan chose to respond and respond, Im sorry to say, with indiscriminate shelling across the border on the very first day and night, which sadly killed 19 civilians and injured grievously 59 others, including Carmelite nuns in a convent, Sikhs worshipping in a gurdwara. And others who happened to simply be in the line of fire because they lived in districts adjoining the Pakistani border, he said.

However, after this incident, Mr Tharoor said, India retaliated by hitting 11 Pakistani military targets, including a well-known air base near Pakistans military headquarters.

When this happened, India had no choice but to retaliate in kind. The matters got worse the next day as the Pakistanis followed up artillery shelling with a serious invasion of drones and missiles. Indias air defences were able to hold them off, but in turn India returned the compliment and on the night of 10th May, India hit 11 Pakistani military targets, including a rather well-known air base thats just 1.5 kilometres away from military headquarters of Pakistan and Rawalpindi, he said.

Mr Tharoor said that after this attack by India, Pakistans Director General of Military Operations called the Indian side and asked for cessation of offensives- something that India always supported.

The delegation led by him will visit the US, Guyana, Panama, Brazil, and Colombia. It comprises Mr Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Mr Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), Mr G M Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Mr Shashank Mani Tripathi, Mr Tejaswi Surya, Mr Bhubaneswar K Lata (all from BJP), Mr Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena) and Former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

The delegation will project Indias national consensus and firm stance on combating terrorism in all its forms.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the latest episode of Mann Ki Baat on Sunday, urged Indians across the globe to actively participate in the International Day of Yoga (IDY) celebrations and to find creative ways to mark the occasion.

He encouraged people to embrace yoga for a vibrant and healthy lifestyle. From forming yoga chains to practicing at iconic landmarks, citizens are transforming IDY into a dynamic and inclusive movement, the Prime Minister said.

Yoga will change the way you live your life, Modi asserted, sharing his strong belief in this ancient Indian practice.

He acknowledged the growing popularity and enthusiasm for Yoga Day celebrations both in India and around the world.

Since the inception of Yoga Day on 21 June 2015, the attraction towards it has been continuously rising. This time too, the zeal and enthusiasm among people across the world regarding Yoga Day is clearly visible, he stated.

In his address, the Prime Minister lauded the efforts of Andhra Pradesh, where the *YogAndhra Abhiyan* has been launched to promote a strong yoga culture in the state. The campaign aspires to build a pool of 10 lakh regular yoga practitioners, exemplifying how states can lead the wellness revolution from the front.

He also expressed his excitement about participating in this years IDY celebrations in Visakhapatnam, emphasizing the importance of yoga in both personal well-being and national development.

The Prime Minister further praised the positive role of corporations in advancing the countrys health movement by providing dedicated spaces and designated hours for yoga in workplaces.

To commemorate a decade of Yoga Day celebrations, the Ministry of Ayush has curated 10 Signature Events aimed at expanding the reach and relevance of yoga across diverse social and professional settings, according to an official statement.

The Ministry noted that Yoga Sangam, one of the flagship events, has already garnered significant attention, with over 6,000 organizations registered to host activitiesmaking it one of the largest community-driven wellness initiatives in the countrys history.

Meanwhile, Samyoga another key initiative for this yearaims to integrate evidence-based yoga practices into mainstream healthcare systems, including Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy, and Sowa-Rigpa.

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Rajasthan has urged the Centre to ensure the state receives its full earmarked share of water from the Pong dam. Besides the desert state, Punjab and Haryana are the other partner states.

The issue figured in the presentation made by Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma at the NITI Aayog Governing Councils meeting in New Delhi on Saturday.

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Sharma said that the earth-filled embankment dam along the Beas river in Himachal Pradesh has a maximum gauge of 1,400 ft. However, since the commissioning of the dam 51 years ago, its water level has never been allowed to touch the 1,400 ft mark, not even in a good monsoon season.

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Therefore, the Chief Minister said, Rajasthan and the other partner states are getting less water than their earmarked quota, in proportion to the availability of water in the dam.

Sharma said that the Centre should take due decision to fill water in the dam at the earliest.

He also pleaded in the governing council to soon issue approval for the lining of the 51.5 kilometre Ferozepur feeder.

He said Rajasthan also requires early drafting of a plan for evacuation to generate an additional 44 gigawatts of solar energy. This is essential to attain the target of producing 115 gigawatts of energy in the state.

The CM also shared with NITI Aayog highlights of his governments efforts in various sectors, including industrialisation, water supply, and tourism.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa (at podium) delivers a speech during his inauguration at the National Assembly in Quito, Ecuador, May 24, 2025. Noboa was sworn in Saturday for his first full term during a ceremony at the National Assembly in Quito. The 37-year-old businessman, who won the reelection in April, had just completed an initial 18-month term after winning snap elections in late 2023. His new term will run through 2029. (Ecuador's National Assembly/Handout via Xinhua)

QUITO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa was sworn in Saturday for his first full term during a ceremony at the National Assembly in Quito.

The 37-year-old businessman, who won the reelection in April, had just completed an initial 18-month term after winning snap elections in late 2023. His new term will run through 2029.

Noboa pledged to bring a new approach to governance. "We came to break cycles," he said, emphasizing the need for lasting change.

"There will be no truce with crime," he said, vowing to continue crackdowns on drug trafficking, illegal weapons and smuggling.

He reaffirmed his hardline security stance under the "internal armed conflict" declared during his first term.

The president also outlined plans to spur economic growth through reforms, investment and job creation, while highlighting housing, education, energy diversification and public works as key pillars of his administration.

Vice President Maria Jose Pinto also took the oath of office during the session. 

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa (R, front) and his wife greet the audience at the presidential palace in Quito, Ecuador, May 24, 2025.

Noboa was sworn in Saturday for his first full term during a ceremony at the National Assembly in Quito.

The 37-year-old businessman, who won the reelection in April, had just completed an initial 18-month term after winning snap elections in late 2023. His new term will run through 2029. (Ecuador's presidential palace/Handout via Xinhua)

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa (R-C) receives the presidential sash from President of Ecuador's National Assembly Niels Olsen during the inauguration of Noboa at the National Assembly in Quito, Ecuador, May 24, 2025.

Noboa was sworn in Saturday for his first full term during a ceremony at the National Assembly in Quito.

The 37-year-old businessman, who won the reelection in April, had just completed an initial 18-month term after winning snap elections in late 2023. His new term will run through 2029. (Ecuador's National Assembly/Handout via Xinhua)

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa (R-C) and President of Ecuador's National Assembly Niels Olsen greet the audience during Noboa's inauguration at the National Assembly in Quito, Ecuador, May 24, 2025.

Noboa was sworn in Saturday for his first full term during a ceremony at the National Assembly in Quito.

The 37-year-old businessman, who won the reelection in April, had just completed an initial 18-month term after winning snap elections in late 2023. His new term will run through 2029. (Ecuador's National Assembly/Handout via Xinhua)
An all-party delegation led by Bharatiya Janata Partys Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday left for a six-nation visit as part of Indias diplomatic outreach on Operation Sindoor with a brief to further expose Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and foster international solidarity against terror.

The delegation will visit the UK, France, Germany, the EU, Italy, and Denmark. It comprises Daggubati Purandeshwari and Samit Bhattacharya from the BJP, Priyanka Chaturvedi from Shiv Sena(UBT), Amar Singh and Ghulam Ali Khatana from the Congress, former MP MJ Akbar, and former diplomat Pankaj Saran.

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India believes in peace and harmony but will respond firmly to cross-border attacks, Mr Prasad said before his departure, asserting there should be zero tolerance against terrorism and there should be a global alliance against it.

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Together, we will say only two things effectively, we believe in peace and harmony, but if there is a terrorist attack on Indians from across the border, then there will be Operation Sindoor. The security of every Indian citizen is the responsibility of the government, and today terrorism is a cancer which is troubling the whole world, a big centre of which is Pakistan, Mr Prasad said.

Also talking to the media, Ms Purandeshwari said that India will no longer tolerate the decades-long terrorism it has faced.

Three of the seven multi-party delegations led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Baijayant Panda, and Nationalist Congress Party(SP) MP Supriya Sule had on Saturday embarked for their respective destinations while the delegation led by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi left for a five-nation visit as part of Indias diplomatic outreach on Operation Sindoor on Thursday.

The delegations led by Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha and by Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde had left for their respective delegations on Wednesday.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has asserted that there was a lot of international understanding for Indias decision to launch Operation Sindoor to destroy terrorist bases in Pakistan in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam attack.

 This was a horrific, particularly brutal terrorist attack because it was meant to create a fear psychosis and destroy the tourism economy of Kashmir, which is the mainstay. And it also meant, in a way, to sow religious discord, the manner in which it was done. So what we were responding to was terrorism, he said in an interaction at the German Council on Foreign Relations during his visit to the European nation.

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Mr Jaishankar recalled that the UN Security Council had, three days after the Pahalgam attack, issued a statement saying that the people who did it should be brought to justice, they should be held accountable. And that is exactly what we did on the 7th of May (the day India launched Operation Sindoor). So, we targeted terrorist headquarters and terrorist centers. He said.

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Mr Jaishankar disagreed with a suggestion that it was a conflict between India and Pakistan in Kashmir, saying it was a response to a terrorist attack. And a terrorist attack which is part of a pattern which has not only targeted the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, but other parts of India as well. So, its very important to clarify, because when you project it as a conflict, youre really putting the perpetrator and the victim, without meaning to, I understand, at the same level, he added.

Indias campaign, he said, is against terrorists. Now, the terrorists in this case happened to be located in the country next door, because that country next door has for many, many years used terrorism as a kind of a tool in its attempts to pressurize us or call it what you will. So, in a way Im laboring the point. But Im doing it because, when it comes to terrorism, I think today, theres virtually no country which would say, I approve of what is done. Or no country which would say, I dont condemn what was done. And if I were to say, I have the right to defend myself, my people, I have the right to secure my country, I think most, much of the world would agree with me, he added.

Mr Jaishankar was happy to point out that Germany was among the first nations to condemn the Pahalgam attack. We are very encouraged both by the very early condemnation of the terrorist attack, as well as the very clear message which we got on the 7th of May, and again today from (German) Minister Wadephul, that Germany recognizes Indias right to defend itself against terrorism, he added.
In a world increasingly shaped by geopolitical flashpoints, the recent sovereignty transfer of the Chagos Islands from the United Kingdom to Mauritius may appear, on the surface, to be a noble act of decolonisation. Yet beneath this veneer lies a troubling compromise ~ one that satisfies neither many of the displaced Chagossians nor meets the ethical standards expected of modern liberal democracies. At the heart of this deal is Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago and home to a highly strategic UK-US military base. For nearly five decades, this remote atoll in the Indian Ocean has functioned as a linchpin for Western military operations, particularly those spanning Asia.

With the lease-back arrangement now formalised for the next 99 years at an annual cost exceeding 100 million, the UK has chosen a security calculus over moral restitution. Supporters of the agreement argue that it ensures regional stability and safeguards allied interests against emerging powers, particularly China. However, to frame this as a mere security issue is to ignore the deep and unresolved human cost associated with the original forcible displacement of the Chagossian people. That injustice ~ sanctioned under colonial pretenses in the late 1960s ~ remains an open wound. While the agreement includes a trust fund for Chagossians, it falls short of granting them the right to return, let alone to reclaim a life they were stripped of by imperial design. Mauritius hails the agreement as the final act in its decolonisation journey. Politically, this may be true. The symbolic reclamation of territory is a diplomatic victory for Port Louis and provides long-overdue validation in the international arena.

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Yet Mauritius, too, is complicit in sidelining Chagossian voices in exchange for sovereign paperwork and a base it cannot inhabit. The displaced Chagossians remain the most disenfranchised stakeholders in this saga. Stranded between national identities and generations of bureaucratic indifference, their dreams of returning home have been buried under layers of realpolitik. For many, especially those born on Diego Garcia, the island is not a security asset or a strategic node ~ it is simply home.

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The refusal to allow resettlement, even under limited and supervised conditions, casts a long shadow over claims of justice. This deal exemplifies a troubling modern paradox: the readiness of powerful nations to reframe colonial legacies as strategic necessities while continuing to silence those whose lives were most deeply affected. In doing so, the UK and its allies may have secured their military perch, but at the cost of moral authority. Ultimately, no sum of money or diplomatic handshakes can substitute for the right of return. Until the displaced are allowed to go home, the Chagos issue remains not a triumph of decolonisation, but a careful rearrangement of power ~ with its original victims still waiting outside the gates.
The recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, has brought the issue of cross-border terrorism back into sharp focus. Pakistans role in supporting and financing terrorist groups has been a longstanding concern for India, and the international community needs to take notice. In a significant diplomatic initiative, India has dispatched multi-party delegations to various countries, including key players like the UAE, Japan, South Korea, and Russia, as well as to Europe, Africa and the Americas.

These delegations, led by prominent MPs from across the political spectrum, are presenting evidence of Pakistans continued support for terrorism and countering Pakistani disinformation globally. The effort is crucial in isolating Pakistan on the terror front and showcasing Indias restraint and legitimacy. By sharing hard evidence, including visual and forensic proof, of Pakistans involvement in terrorism, India aims to build a strong international consensus against Pakistans nefarious activities. The decision to pause the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan is a significant move, demonstrating Indias resolve to protect its national interests. The treaty, signed in 1960, has been a point of contention between the two countries, and Indias decision to revisit its terms is a testament to the changing circumstances and security concerns. The bipartisan nature of the delegations is noteworthy, reflecting a unified Indian stance on the issue of terrorism.

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By working together, Indias political leaders can present a strong, cohesive front against Pakistans aggression. This diplomatic pushback is not just about countering Pakistans narrative; its also about highlighting Indias commitment to combating terrorism and promoting regional stability. As the international community grapples with the complex issue of terrorism, Indias efforts serve as a model for effective counter-terrorism strategies. The success of this initiative will depend on the effectiveness of the delegations in conveying Indias message and building international support. It is essential for the international community to recognise the threat posed by Pakistans support for terrorism and take concrete actions to address it. Ultimately, Indias diplomatic efforts will help to build a stronger international consensus against terrorism and promote a more stable and secure region. By standing up to Pakistans aggression and presenting a united front, India is sending a strong message that it will not be intimidated by terrorism. As the world watches, Indias diplomatic pushback against Pakistans terror narrative will be closely monitored.

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The outcome will have significant implications for regional stability and global security. Indias efforts to combat terrorism and promote peace and tranquility in the region deserve international support and recognition. Indias diplomatic initiative is a significant step in countering Pakistans terror narrative. By presenting hard evidence and building international consensus, India must effectively isolate Pakistan and promote a more secure region. The world needs to take notice of Pakistans support for terrorism and endorse Indias efforts to combat this menace. No longer can global players afford to stand by, or adopt transactional postures in dealing with an existential crisis for the region, and ultimately the world.
Italian Futurism was an art movement led by the charismatic poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. It was known for futurists love for disruption. It rejected the past and celebrated speed. The movement called for the destruction of museums, libraries and feminism. It became associated with fascism. Marinettis Futurist Political Party was actually absorbed into Benito Mussolinis Fascist Party. The big tech industry and the Silicon Valley moguls are ushering in techno-fascism which stands for conformity in thought and values and loss of historical memory.

They also harbour a patriarchal outlook which is reminiscent of the early celebrants of Eurofascism from the 1930s. What is worrying is how technology, today, is being treated with messianic reverence. And big-tech czars have become natural allies of authoritarian leaders. The Silicon Valley moguls, traditionally perceived as liberal strongholds, have surged into MAGAs orbit. American journalist Michael Malone invented the term techno-fascism.

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He warned in the 1990s, forget digital utopia. We could be headed for technofascism. Variously described as Silicon Valley techno-libertarians, post-liberal right and neo-monarchists, the neoreactionary movement is shaping President Donald Trumps agenda. What the world is witnessing today is what George Orwell had written in his celebrated book 1984: if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever. The worldview of technofascists is outright decadent. A few years ago, Peter Thiel, a close associate of Vice President J D Vance, supported the idea of pre-drugs version of the Olympics, called Enhanced Games. In 2009, he lamented women being given voting rights which dealt a blow to libertarianism.

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To the techno-fascists, techno-utopianism is a tool for self-aggrandisement and to play god. Techno-fascists are protagonists of dark enlightenment which is all the rage in the white supremacist circles. The selfstyled internet philosophers trace modern-day problems to the end of Middle Ages. They believe that Enlightenments humanism, democracy and quest for equality are responsible for decay of Western civilisation. In his pivotal 2009 essay for the Cato Institute, Thiel asserted, I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.

He argued that the increase in welfare beneficiaries and the expansion of the franchise to women have undermined the libertarian cause. He went on to propose solution: create a world devoid of historical nation-states, em  phasizing a corporate rather than democratic structure of governance. To the ideologues of techno-fascism, technology is a space for colonial reproduction.

It is hardly surprising that large technology companies should become allies of authoritarian governments. In the history of humanity, dominant technologies have served to control nature and to foster an idea of what society, work, and relationships should be like. The way big tech bros have gravitated towards Trump mar  ks a dangerous new phase in the concentration of their power. Todays fascism is internationalist by design and overtly structured around a theory of victory. Elon Musk and other high-tech bros are often good at selling dystopian dreams.

And they are in the right company of Trump who is equally good at selling lies, abuses and misogyny. In 2016, Musk claimed his driverless car was only two years away. It continues to remain a sci-fi movie magic. His car is still a road to nowhere. Earlier, the governments depended on domain experts and think tanks for advice on foreign policy. Today, Trump depends on MAGA oligarchs intellectuals. Trump believes they read the tea leaves of technological determinism with perfect clarity.

They dont prescribe; they merely translate the gospel of inevitability. Some believe, big tech bros have come together be  cause of their fear that the American left has overrea  ched culturally, and that the election of Trump reflects the cultural mood of the country as a whole. They have joined hands to pronounce the death of woke-ness. They also see themselves as Friedrich Nietzsches ubermensch (the ideal superior man of the future). As disruptors, they resent any barrier in their path. It is not difficult to understand the metapolitics of tech giants.

By buying social media platforms, the super -rich want to become political gatekeepers. We are witnessing what Nietzsche had called chaos of mod ernity (weakness of truth, death of god and reversal of values). Elon Musk has moved to the inner circle of American power by channelling his inner Trump. Thiel and his intellectual guru Curtis Yarvin believe universities, media organisations, bureaucracies and non-governmental organisations have failed to sustain popular trust. Yarvin is a follower of the 19th century British polemicist Thomas Carlyle who argued that monarchy was inherently better than democracy. Both blame progressive political correctness for ruining tech, education and governance culture.

They believe Trump is an agent who will reverse American decline. After 100 days of Trumps second stint in power, Americans have begun to realise that they are in the belly of the beast. A world in which eccentric billionaires control their public spheres is a very dangerous world to live in. The left criticizes the big tech bros as alt-right who are bent on undoing the efforts of egalitarian liberal humanism. Some see then as a version of what Karl Polanyi called the double movement. Quinn Slobodian, author of Hayeks Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ and the Capitalism of the Far Right, describes the conservative movement as new fusionism.

It refers to how libertarians and neoliberals have made race and intelligence an intellectual hobbyhorse, laying the foundation for todays nativist right. It is rooted in three aspects ~ hard wired human nature, hard borders and hard money. They have forged sordid allia  nces with biologists, evolutionary psychologists, and ethno nationalists, spouting pseudoscience about the link between race and IQ. Trump doesnt forget, nor does he forgive. The broligarchs have bent over backward to praise the king. But Trumps tariffs havent spared them.

Only Elon Musk seems to have extracted his pound of flesh. That prompted Le Mondes Anne Deysine to assume that tech magnets could turn against the president. The same big tech monarchs who lined up in the first row during Trumps inauguration this January had been harsh on him in his first term. Musk clashed with Trump for withdrawing from the Paris Accords. Jeff Bezos sued him for his alleged personal vendetta and Mark Zuckerberg found him to be too dangerous for Facebook. The broligarchs romance with MAGA may not be over but their love has whizzed past its sell by date.

(The writer comments on global affair)
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of the largest political party in Bangladesh, has urged Bangladeshs Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to remove two students from his Cabinet.

BNP also demanded to remove National Security Adviser from the interim government, a senior BNP leader said on Saturday evening.

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus met BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and National Citizen Party (NCP) separately. BNP also demanded an election roadmap immediately.

Earlier in the day, Yunus hold a meeting with his Advisory Council (Cabinet).

BNP has demanded the resignation of two student advisors (Asif Mahmud and Mahfuz Alam) for allegedly undermining the impartiality of the interim government. The party has also demanded the resignation of the National Security Advisor (Khalilur Rahman).

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We have demanded their resignations in a written statement. The impartiality of this government is being undermined due to the security advisor and the two student advisors, BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed told the reporters after meeting with Chief Adviser.

Meanwhile, an unscheduled meeting of the Advisory Council was held today, dispelling rumors of Yunuss resignation or departure from the country amid political unrest, following the National Economic Council meeting.

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Yunus, the Chief Adviser of Bangladeshs interim government, will not resign, nor is he leaving the country amid political unrest.

The meeting discussed the three primary responsibilitieselections, reforms, and justiceassigned to the interim government.

The interim government will listen to the statements of political parties in this regard and clarify the governments position, the Advisory Council said in a statement after the meeting.

The meeting was held at the Planning Commission in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area of the capital under the Chairmanship of Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.

The meeting discussed in detail how the normal working environment is being disrupted and doubts and suspicions are being created in the public mind by making various unreasonable demands, motivated and extra-judicial statements and programmes in the discharge of these responsibilities, the statement said.
Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel will arrive here on a three-day visit tonight in what will be the first top-level visit to India from a neighbouring nation following 

Operation Sindoor

.

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This will be Dr. Khaleels third visit to India in 2025, following his visits earlier in January and March, and is in continuation of intensified high-level political exchanges between India and the Maldives.

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On Monday, Dr Khaleel will lead Maldives at the 2nd India-Maldives High Level Core Group (HLCG) meeting to oversee progress in the implementation of the India-Maldives Vision Document on Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership, adopted by the leadership of the two countries during the state visit of Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu to India in October 2024.

During the visit, he will also hold bilateral discussions with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The Maldives is Indias key maritime neighbour and an important partner in Indias Neighbourhood First policy and Vision MAHASAGAR, i.e., Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions. The visit is aimed at strengthening the Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership between the two countries.
A power struggle between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the countrys legal system escalated when he appointed Maj.-Gen. David Zini as the next director of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) on Thursday evening.

The appointment came one day after the High Court of Justice and Attorney General ruled Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in the appointment.

Maj.-Gen. Zini has served in many [Israel Defense Forces] operational positions and commands, including: A fighter in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, commander of the IDF Golani Brigade Battalion 51, Commander of the Egoz Unit, Commander of the Alexandroni Brigade, founder of the Commando Brigade, and Commander of the Training Command and the General Staff Corps, the Prime Ministers Office said in a statement.

Shortly after the announcement, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said she had not been informed and that Netanyahu violated legal guidance.

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There is a serious concern that he acted when he was in a conflict of interest, and the appointment process is flawed, she said.

Legal petitions challenging the appointment are expected to be filed.

On Wednesday night, the High Court ruled against the governments controversial dismissal of Shin Bet director Ronen Bar.

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The government failed to provide a factual basis for removing the Shin Bet chief, wrote Court President Justice Isaac Amit in a sharply worded majority opinion. At best, it rested on a thin and shaky foundation. At worst, it was arbitrary.

The ruling further stressed that the Shin Bets independence is vital for maintaining Israels democratic institutions and that Bars dismissal represented a neglect of basic concepts concerning the Shin Bet and the position of its director as an apolitical and independent state official who owes, first and foremost, a duty of loyalty to the public.

Though Bar had already announced his resignation effective June 15 and the government technically withdrew its decision to fire him, the court ruled that the matter was of such public importance that it warranted a binding legal interpretation regardless.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara responded swiftly, informing Netanyahu that due to the courts finding of a conflict of interest  arising from active Shin Bet investigations into the prime ministers close associates and their relationship with Qatar  he was barred from appointing Bars successor until new legal guidelines were established.

The court found that the prime minister acted in a conflict of interest, Baharav-Miara wrote. Therefore, he must refrain from any steps concerning the appointment of a new Shin Bet director until legal instructions are established to ensure the process is conducted properly. These will be formulated in the coming days.

But Netanyahu lashed out at the decision, calling it disgraceful and accusing the court of overreach.

This ruling harms Israeli democracy and national security, the Prime Minister declared, insisting that he would move forward with appointing a new Shin Bet head regardless of the attorney generals directive.

Netanyahu and Bar have been blaming each other over what was known before Hamas October 7 attack and whether it could have been prevented, as well as the Qatargate scandal. Bar claims that Netanyahus decision to dismiss him was influenced by a conflict of interest related to the ongoing investigation. The government argues that Bar should have resigned after the agency completed its internal investigation in March.

The Shin Bet, Israels domestic intelligence service, is responsible for counterterrorism, counterintelligence, internal security, VIP protection, and cybersecurity. The only Shin Bet director to ever leave before the end of his five-year term was Carmi Gillon, who resigned in the aftermath of the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa meets with Huai Jinpeng, Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy and China's education minister, at the presidential palace in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, May 23, 2025. Huai Jinpeng attended the inauguration of President Noboa here on Saturday. (Photo by Ricardo Landeta/Xinhua)

QUITO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Huai Jinpeng, Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy and China's education minister, on Saturday attended the inauguration of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa in Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

During talks with Noboa at the presidential palace on Friday, Huai conveyed Xi's warm greetings to and best wishes for Noboa.

Noting that China and Ecuador are good friends and good partners, Huai said that bilateral relations have achieved steady growth with fruitful cooperation across various fields since the two countries established diplomatic ties 45 years ago.

China has always viewed the development of China-Ecuador relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, Huai said, adding that China is ready to work with the Ecuadorian side to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and promote the comprehensive strategic partnership for more tangible outcomes, so as to better benefit the two peoples.

Noboa thanked Xi for sending a special envoy to attend his inauguration and asked Huai to convey his cordial greetings to the Chinese president.

Noboa reaffirmed Ecuador's firm commitment to the one-China principle and said that his administration looks forward to strengthening practical cooperation with China in more areas and continuously deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. 
IIT Roorkee, which started as Roorkee College in 1847, was the first engineering college in Asia. After about a century, the college was elevated to the University of Roorkee, the first engineering university of independent India, on November 25, 1949, and to an IIT on September 21, 2001
HAVE YOU RECEIVED calls or emails about being the winner of a lottery or the beneficiary in some unknown persons will? I know of a lady who got a call about a windfall. She rang up her son, an editor with THE WEEK, to tell him the good news. His answer: Amma, in a world where no one gives us a cup of coffee for free, who would bequeath millions to you or me? Simple logic.

With lakhs of Indians being swindled of their hard-earned money, this cover story was waiting to be done. The scale of the crime can be understood from just one figurethe Enforcement Directorate has recovered Rs4,725 crore for 14.47 lakh people between January 2021 and March 31, 2025.

One of the five pillars of a safe cyberspace, as highlighted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is an aware citizenry. When people are aware, then cyber criminals cannot go too far, Shah told Namrata Biji Ahuja, chief of bureau in Delhi. The minister is hitting the nail on the head when he calls for awareness. Then there is greed. In my experience, a deal that is too good to be true is almost always exactly that.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah | Getty Images

And it is not just about money. Shah mentions an instance where his wife showed him a viral video where he is seen talking in Bhojpuri. I was amazed to see myself speaking languages I dont know, the minister said. For the full interview with the minister, please turn to Page 22.

In international coverage, our columnist Anita Pratap looks at German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and how he intends to thwart US President Donald Trump from diminishing Europe into a sideshow.

Our coverage of Indias cross-border woes continues. Major General Gajinder Singh, who had commanded a mountain division on the Line of Actual Control, writes about the China-Pakistan relationship. A relationship that they describe thus: Higher than the mountains, deeper than the sea, sweeter than honey and harder than steel. So much poetry to sugarcoat a marriage aimed at containing India.

Chief of Bureau (Chennai) Lakshmi Subramanian sat down with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for a freewheeling interview where he speaks frankly about the BJP, social schemes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, linguistic freedom and federal rights.

This week, in @leisure, Deputy News Editor Navin J. Antony brings out the influence of Silicon Valley on Hollywood. On behalf of THE WEEKs readers, I congratulate Banu Mushtaq for creating history by becoming the first author writing in Kannada to win the International Booker Prize with her short story anthology, Heart Lamp. She was the star of last weeks @leisure.

Ill stop with Senior Correspondent Nirmal Jovials Untold Story on the hunt for the missing Buddha of Kochi. It is an open-ended story of how an excavation for the Water Metro project yielded artefacts that could be linked to the oldest colonial church in India, and how the hunt for the church has now become the quest for a marble Buddha who reportedly is in Britain.

One thing Nirmal missed is that the new Water Metro station in Fort Kochi stands on the site of a coaling station. It was demolished two years ago. According to my sources, the coal shed aka karippura was the biggest east of Suez. Between the Horn of Africa and colonies in the Far East, there is a lot of blue water. So, the steamers called at Kochi for fuel before rounding the cape and slipping into the Strait of Malacca.
After decades of turbulence, the people of Kashmir were beginning to find their footing amid peace, slowly gaining a stake in stability and its rewards. Last year witnessed a record-breaking tourism boom, with 2.3 crore visitors flocking to the region. This resurgence offered the local people not just economic opportunities, but also a rare chance to reclaim a semblance of normalcy.

But this fragile equilibrium was shattered by the Pahalgam terrorist strike, one that pierced the heart of Kashmirs feel-good story of the past three years. Tourists, once full of curiosity and enthusiasm, were now rushing out of the valley, cancelling bookings en masse. The shadow of uncertainty loomed large, and in this climate, a reversal of fortunes seemed inevitable. This must not be allowed to happen.

The tragic event in Pahalgam has cast a long shadow over the valleys future, with reports indicating that 60-90 per cent of tourist bookings across Kashmir have been cancelled. A hotel association has reported 13 lakh cancellations for August alone. While tourism may not be a primary yardstick in most states, it is of immense importance to Jammu & Kashmir, since tourism is its largest industry, contributing approximately 8.5 per cent of the territorys income.

Anchored Shikaras on Dal Lake | AP

The significance of tourism for Kashmir becomes even clearer when one examines the numbers. Between 2021 and 2024, tourist arrivals in the Jammu region grew by 90 per cent, but Kashmir saw an astounding 425 per cent increase, soaring from 6.7 lakh to 35 lakh visitors. This surge represented a massive vote of confidence from Indians across the country, as well as from foreign tourists, whose numbers jumped from just 1,614 in 2021 to 43,654 in 2024. Tourism has become both an economic lifeline and a critical bridge for fostering people-to-people connections, helping to integrate those who feel alienated.

Given this context, the government must act swiftly to ensure that Kashmir does not lose its place on Indias tourist mapnot even for one season. The livelihoods of countless Kashmiris hang in the balance, and beyond the economic stakes, this is a test of national resolve. We cannot allow the terrorists to undo years of progress. The 2025 tourist season is not lost yet. With the Amarnath Yatra still weeks away and the school summer break on the horizon, there is time to rebuild confidence and salvage what looked to be a promising year for the valley.

Encouragingly, Kashmiris themselves have unequivocally condemned the attack, reaffirming where their sympathies and aspirations lie. In the heart of Srinagar, the city came to a standstill in a profound shutdown, the kind that speaks louder than slogans or speeches. Across Pahalgam and other towns, spontaneous protest marches were taken out, embodying the collective anguish of a people grappling with yet another tragedy. At the iconic Jama Masjid in Srinagar, worshippers gathered for Friday prayers wearing black armbandsa symbol of solidarity in grief and defiance in despair. Newspapers, typically brimming with political stories, chose instead to present blackened front pages, an eloquent statement of sorrow and rage.

Amid this mournful tableau, tales emerged from Pahalgam that offer a potent glimpse into the humanity that persists in Kashmir. Visitors from across India, who narrowly escaped harm during the unrest, recounted acts of selflessness and couragelocal Kashmiris risking their own safety to guide them away from danger. Among those who tragically lost their lives was a pony operator, Syed Adil Hussain Shah, whose ordinary occupation turned extraordinary in the face of calamity, as he helped strangers reach safety before succumbing to the violence when he tried to snatch a terrorists Kalashnikov. In the harrowing aftermath of the terror attack which claimed her fathers life, Arathi Menon from Kochi discovered brothers in two Kashmiris, Musafir and Sameer, who stood by her through the darkest hours. From taking her and her six-year-old twins to safety, to helping her locate her fathers body, to navigating the mortuary formalities, they guided her every step of the way.

Kashmir grieves, but it also protects, even in the midst of its darkest hours. The government must seize this moment, enhancing security arrangements without indulging in measures that inconvenience ordinary citizens. By striking the right balance, confidence can be restored, tourists will return, and Kashmirs story of revival can continue unabated.

editor@theweek.in
Indias three major private telecom players, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi), might come together in a rare feat to combat telecom scams, fraud, and cybercrime.

According to Airtel, Indias second-largest telecom carrier by market share, it recently approached Jio and Vi with a call to action to unite the telecom section against such malicious scams and fraud.

Airtel informed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that it urged the leading carriers to be part of a joint initiative. India saw more than 1.7 million cybercrime complaints in the first three quarters of 2024, amounting to 11,000 crore in losses, cited the telecom giant.

From phishing links, digital arrest scams, fake loan offers and payment pages, identity theft, and more, India has recently seen a marked surge in cybercrime. Airtel, last week, sent its customers this message: Airtel is now The Safe Network. Our fraud detection solution blocks scam links before they open, so you stay protected.

Moreover, for many users, Airtel has been appending scam disclaimers ahead of suspected messages for the past month. But the Sunil Mittal-led operator looks to do more. given the recent alarming rise in phishing attempts and malicious URL-based scams targeting unsuspecting individuals, it became evident that more coordinated industry action was needed. These sophisticated fraud schemes often exploit the gaps in coordination between service providers, it said in letters to TRAI Chairman Anil Kumar Lahotia and Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal.

This initiative would bring together all TSPs to collaboratively detect, prevent, and mitigate telecom fraud and scams across our networks through real-time fraud intelligence sharing and cross-network coordination, Airtel added.

If Jio and Vi join this initiative, all three have a herculean task of combating unsolicited commercial communications (UCC)that deliver the most scamswithout disrupting the enterprise services that legitimately run through the telecom networks. This could mean setting up a centralised data-sharing platformand that invites further privacy issues. But that is a concern for another day. Right now, it lies on Ambani-led Jio and Vodafone Idea to accept Airtels offer for a joint task force against telecommunications-based cybercrime.
Persecuted Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, known for films such as The White Balloon, Taxi, and The Circle, had his triumphant moment at Cannes 2025 when he was awarded the event's topmost prize, the prestigious Palme d'Or, for his film It Was Just An Accident.

Panahi, who was banned from filmmaking and imprisoned by his own country in the recent past, has seemingly made, through the film, yet another politically charged work that's a response to the autocratic Iranian regime and its deplorable methods.

While receiving the award, handed to him by Juliette Binoche and Cate Blanchett, Panahi urged fellow Iranians to unite in the name of freedom from oppressive systems and put aside differences to concentrate on sorting out the bigger problem. "What's most important now is our country and the freedom of our country," he added, calling everyone to "join forces" and resist those who "tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do, or what we should not do."

Panahi received the award from Juliette Binoche and Cate Blanchett. The former, the Jury President of this year's edition of the festival, said this on the decision to give Panahi the prize: "Art mobilises the creative energy of the most precious, most alive part of us. A force that transforms darkness into forgiveness, hope and new life."

It's been 15 years since Panahi last made an appearance at a film festival following a lengthy travel ban. The 64-year-old, who was sentenced to a six-year prison for protesting the arrest of two Iranian filmmakers who criticised the government, had completed seven months of the sentence before being released in 2023. He was previously arrested in 2010 for the same reasons.

It Was Just an Accident was based on his ordeals in prison and conversations with fellow inmates. In the film, five Iranians kidnap a one-legged man who they believe was the man who tortured them in detention and make plans to exact their vengeance on him.

"Before going to jail and before getting to know the people that I met there - and hearing their stories, their backgrounds - the issues I dealt with in my films were totally different," said the director in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter. "It's really in this context (...) with this new commitment that I had felt in prison, that I had the idea, the inspiration for this story."
In a landmark move set to elevate the global profile of traditional medicine, the Ministry of AYUSH has signed a significant agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO). The agreement, inked on Saturday, initiates the creation of a dedicated Traditional Medicine module within the WHOs International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI).

According to the AYUSH Ministry, this collaboration will facilitate the international standardisation of therapies from Indias traditional medicine systemsAyurveda, Yoga, Siddha, and Unani.

The ICHI, designed to complement the WHOs International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), documents healthcare procedures and interventions. The addition of a traditional medicine module will enable recognition of therapies like Panchakarma, Yoga therapy, Unani treatments, and Siddha practices in globally accepted formats.

During the 122nd episode of Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised the significance of this development. Something important has happened in the field of Ayurveda An MoU was signed in the presence of the WHO Director-General and my friend Tulsi Bhai on Saturday, said Modi. He also added that this initiative will help AYUSH systems reach a broader global audience through a scientific approach.

The new module is expected to bring numerous benefits, including transparent billing practices, equitable pricing for AYUSH services, smoother inclusion of traditional treatments in health insurance plans, and improved clinical documentation, hospital administration, and research.

Welcoming the agreement, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X, Pleased to sign an agreement for a $3 million contribution from India to WHOs work on traditional medicine and the International Classification of Health Interventions. We appreciate Indias commitment to #HealthForAll.

This recent development aligns with Indias broader vision of integrating its rich heritage of traditional healing practices into the global healthcare mainstream, underpinned by scientific standards. With the combined strength of ICD-11 and the new ICHI module, AYUSH systems are positioned to become an evidence-based, internationally recognised component of modern healthcaremarking a pivotal shift toward accessible, affordable, and trusted global health solutions.
With the Southwest monsoon arriving early in Kerala, the Health department has issued a warning to districts for possible spike in dengue and leptospirosis cases. Health Minister Veena George advised the hospitals to remain vigilant.

The minister in a statement said that the health facilities should ensure that there is availability of medicines in all hospitals. The health facilities and hospitals should also be prepared to deal with the flooding issues as well due to the heavy rains, George said in a statement.

Kerala has reported over 3,500 leptospirosis cases and 226 deaths in 2024.

Health tips to keep the disease at bay

1. Drink boiled water to prevent waterborne diseases.

2. Necessary precautions should be taken to avoid mosquito bites and ensure the surroundings are clean without waterlogging.

3. Personal protective gear like gumboots and gloves should be used to prevent leptospirosis.

4. People entering stagnant water should wash their limbs thoroughly with soap.

5. Sanitary workers and those who come in contact with water should take the leptospirosis preventive drug, doxycycline.

6. Children should not play or bathe in stagnant water.

7. Those relying on foods from outside should take care to prevent diseases like diarrhoea, jaundice and typhoid.

8. Since there is a chance of spreading the disease, those affected by jaundice should not be the ones preparing food.

9. Maintain hygiene. Wash hands with soap before eating and after using the toilet.

10. Those with persisting symptoms including fever, cold, body aches and fatigue should seek immediate medical attention.
The sinking of the Liberian vessel MSC ELSA 3 off the Kochi coast on Sunday, releasing hazardous materials into the sea, poses a serious threat not only to the marine ecosystem but also to human health if proper precautions are not taken.

Raising concerns along the Kerala coastline, the leaked fuel is drifting at approximately three km/hour. The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) and the state government have issued a warning and advised fishermen to avoid venturing into the sea.

Update :Liberian container vessel MSC ELSA 3 sank off Kochi today. A coordinated response by @IndiaCoastGuard and @indiannavy ensured safe rescue of all 24 crew members.

ICG rescued 21 personnel; 3 senior crew were evacuated by #INSSujata in a prompt daring naval operation. https://t.co/DL7GYWigSr pic.twitter.com/58BL0DZZ5Q  PRO Defence Kochi (@DefencePROkochi) May 25, 2025

Also read | Liberian ship MSC ELSA 3 sinks off Kochi; Coast Guard on high alert amid pollution concerns

The ship was carrying 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous materials such as calcium carbide. The Coast Guard confirmed that the vessel was also carrying Marine Gas Oil and Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oilboth have disastrous effects on marine life.

What is calcium carbide?

Calcium carbide, also known as calcium acetylide, is a chemical compound that appears as a colourless crystalline solid. It is used for various purposes including as a fruit ripening agent, deoxidizer, to remove sulphur from iron and is also used in lamps, automobiles and so on.

What happens when calcium carbide mixes with water?

Calcium carbide when mixed with water produces acetylene (a flammable gas in producing various industrial chemicals) and calcium hydroxide. The reaction releases heat which is enough to ignite the acetylene gas. Therefore it is dangerous if not handled carefully.

How dangerous is it for the marine life?

The calcium hydroxide released when combined with water increases its alkalinity. It disturbs the aquatic ecosystems' pH level affecting the health, reproduction and survival of aquatic species. Additionally, the acetylene gas could degrade the water quality and cause serious environmental issues, especially when used for farming.

How is human health affected?

The release of calcium carbide into the sea can severely impact marine life, including fish and mussels. Consuming these contaminated organisms can pose serious health risks to humans, as calcium carbide contains toxic compounds like arsenic and phosphorous hydride.

Furthermore, if the affected seawater enters the drinking water supply, it could lead to significant health hazards, including respiratory issues, gastrointestinal disturbances and potential long-term damage to organs. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor and mitigate such contamination to protect both environmental and public health.
The iconic Taj Mahal will soon get an added layer of protection as authorities are installing an anti-drone system at this 17th century monument in Agra to counter any potential aerial threats.

The move comes days after the military confrontation between India and Pakistan and Islamabad firing hundreds of drones at Indian military stations and religious places, including the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

An anti-drone system will be installed at the Taj Mahal complex. The system will have a range of 7-8 kilometers but will be primarily effective within a 200-meter radius from the main dome of the monument, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Taj Security) Syed Arib Ahmad said.

The system will automatically jam the signal of any drone entering the area, rendering it inoperable, he added.

A dedicated security team will be formed and given training on operating the new system. The team will trace the origin point of the drone and secure the area where it is brought down.

The Taj Mahal is currently guarded by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Uttar Pradesh Police. The new system is expected to be installed in the next few days.

Though India successfully neutralised almost all the aerial threats during the military confrontation with Pakistan, the conflict highlighted the growing need for anti-drone measures at sensitive locations.

India launched precision air strikes on nine terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam attack last month. In response, Pakistan Army fired hundreds of drones and a few missiles at Indian bases and key places, sparking a stronger retaliation from Indian armed forces.
In a strong message to Bangladesh, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said that those who threaten India on the 'chicken neck corridor', should note that they have two such narrow strips of land which are "far more vulnerable".

Sarmas remarks came amid reports that China is assisting Bangladesh in reviving a World War II airbase at Lalmonirhat located close to the Indian border near Siliguri.

The Siliguri Corridor also known as Indias Chickens Neck is narrow passage, roughly 20-22 km wide, that connects the northeast with mainland India. The revival of Lalmonirhat airbase is seen as a security threat to the Siliguri Corridor.

"To those who habitually threaten India on the 'Chicken Neck Corridor', should note these facts as well: Bangladesh has two of its own 'chicken necks'. Both are far more vulnerable. First is the 80 km North Bangladesh Corridor- from Dakhin Dinajpur to South West Garo Hills. Any disruption here, can completely isolate the entire Rangpur division from rest of Bangladesh," Sharma said in a post on X.

"Second is the 28 km Chittagong Corridor, from South Tripura till the Bay of Bengal. This corridor, smaller than India's chicken neck, is the only link between Bangladesh's economic capital and political capital," he also said.

Earlier in March, Muhammad Yunus, the chief of the interim government, had invited China to collaborate economically with Dhaka, leveraging Bangladesh as the "only guardian of the ocean" for India's Northeast.

"The seven states of India, the eastern part of India, are called the Seven Sisters. They are a landlocked region... and have not way to reach out to the ocean," he had said.

His remarks drew sharp reactions from Indian politicians especially the chief ministers of various Northeastern states.
CAPE TOWN, May 25 (Xinhua) -- South Africa marked Africa Day on Sunday with a strong call for unity, regional integration and cultural solidarity across the continent.

At the national celebration held at Freedom Park in Pretoria, a designated heritage site, Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Peace Mabe called for more efforts to achieve inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Africa Day, celebrated annually on May 25, commemorates the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, now known as the African Union (AU).

In her speech, Mabe emphasized Africa's immense economic and cultural potential, calling on African nations to strengthen ties through trade, linguistic unity, and historical solidarity.

"With a population of more than 1.5 billion people, we have the markets to trade amongst ourselves first before expanding elsewhere," Mabe said.

Mabe also reflected on the continent's shared struggle against colonialism and apartheid. "Our common history of fighting colonialism and apartheid also brings us together," she said.

The aim of Africa Day is to celebrate unity, peace and cultural diversity in Africa. Meanwhile, civil society groups, human rights organizations and trade unions took part in the Africa Day Solidarity Walk in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The walk spanned from Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown to Constitution Hill in Braamfontein, symbolizing the ongoing journey toward justice, freedom and pan-African cooperation. 
As the NDA government at the Centre completes its first year of third tenure, it called all its chief ministers to discuss new priorities and strategic goals.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Chief Ministers Conclave in New Delhi, where 20 Chief Ministers and 18 Deputy Chief Ministers from 20 states gathered.

The conclave culminated in the adoption of two key resolutionsone commending the success of Operation Sindoor, and another endorsing caste enumeration to further inclusive development.

Prime Minister Modi called on NDA governments to accelerate their development agendas and ensure that the benefits of a double-engine government are felt by citizens. He emphasised the need for closer collaboration across sectors such as sanitation, health, agriculture, youth development and technology, urging states to align their efforts for greater impact.

In a social media post following the conclave, Modi said the gathering included in-depth discussions and valuable presentations from various states, showcasing innovative practices in areas like water conservation, grievance redressal, womens empowerment, education, and sports. He described the exchange of ideas as both enriching and encouraging.

One of the major resolutions passed lauded Operation Sindoor, conducted in response to the April 22 terror attack. The operation was praised for its strategic precision and successful outcome, attributed to Indias indigenous defence technologies and the exemplary bravery of the armed forces.

Moved by Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and seconded by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the resolution stated that the operation had boosted national morale and sent a strong message to those sponsoring terrorism. Prime Minister Modi underscored that the mission highlighted the growing strength of Indias homegrown defence capability.

The second resolution, moved by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini, endorsed caste enumeration as a tool to inform targeted development. BJP President J.P. Nadda, addressing the conclave, clarified that the NDA does not engage in caste-based politics, but believes in using data to support the upliftment of marginalised communities. He said the enumeration would help identify and integrate those historically left behind in various sectors of society.

Nadda also praised Prime Minister Modis leadership in initiating the move and noted that all NDA leaders unanimously supported the resolution. He stressed that the goal is to bring the deprived and excluded into the mainstream, not to divide society along caste lines.

Another highlight of the conclave was the presentation by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on cultural and youth engagement initiatives such as the Bastar Olympics and Bastar Pandum.

The conclave concluded with a renewed collective commitment by NDA leaders to drive inclusive growth, uphold national security, and deliver citizen-centric governance.

The conclave was organised by the good governance cell of the BJP.
A photograph where the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, posing with tainted YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra has gone viral online. Jyoti was arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan.

The image was shared by several X handles with captions slamming the Congress MP from Rae Bareli for posing with the alleged "spy vlogger".

However, a reverse image search brings up the original photo published from 2017, showing former Congress leader Aditi Singh wearing the same sari and standing next to Rahul. Everything else in the image is the same, including the person in the background.

The original image was shared by Aditi herself in 2017. Aditi, who was a former Congress lawmaker from Rae Bareli, joined the BJP in 2021. She is currently the BJP MLA from Rae Bareli Sadar.

The photo had appeared on publications like The Times of India on May 7, 2018. Back then reports claimed that Rahul Gandhi and Aditi Singh are set to tie the knot. However, the rumours were later debunked and Aditi revealed that Rahul is like a brother to her.

Another photo of Rahul from the Bharat Jodo Yatra was also morphed with a woman's faced replaced with vlogger Jyoti. The original photo was shared by Rahul on September 18, 2018, with the caption: These are not just photos; they represent emotions  of every citizen of the country  their hope, their unity, their strength, and their love.

An X user, Atul Kushwaha, took to X, posting, Jyoti Malhotra from Haryana, caught spying for Pakistan, seen with Rahul Gandhi! What a strange coincidence that every anti-national is seen with Rahul Gandhi! Is Rahul Gandhi the mastermind behind the unrest in the country". The user claims he is a national social media member of the BJP OBC Morcha.

BJP leader Dr Ajay Alok also shared the morphed images, asking, How is it that every traitor or accused in anti-national activities is found in a photo with Shri @RahulGandhi? What is this relationship called? By the way, this is Madam Jyoti Malhotra  do you know who she is?

Jyoti, 33, was allegedly in touch with Pakistani YouTubers like Zeeshan Hussain, with who she collaborated to paint a positive image of Pakistan through her channel Travel with JO. Zeeshan even goes on to introduce Jyoti as an ambassador of Pakistan to his viewers.

On her YouTube bio, Jyoti describes herself as a 'nomadic Leo girl wanderer', 'Haryanvi+Punjabi' and 'purane khyalo ki modern ladki' (a modern girl with a traditional outlook).

A Hisar court on Thursday extended Jyoti's police custody by four days. Police said the ISI was developing her as an asset and are looking into her visits to Pakistan, China and Bangladesh. Since November 2023, the woman was in touch with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a staffer at the Pakistani High Commission, who was expelled by India recently. She allegedly contacted Danish even during the time of Operation Sindoor from May 7 to 10.
The operation to salvage the Liberian-flagged container ship that tilted off the Kochi coast continues on Sunday morning. More containers said to be carrying hazardous cargo have since fallen onto the sea from the vessel.

Authorities have since evacuated the captain and workers of the ship MSC ELSA 3, which is currently 38 nautical miles off the Kochi coast. According to the Indian Navy officials and the Coast Guard, who are carrying out the rescue operations, all crew members onboard have been rescued, except the captain and two others. While the captain is from Russia, 20 others are from the Philippines, two from Ukraine and one from Georgia.

Another vessel has been brought to the site to help salvage the containers and help tow the ship to the shore. The officials believe they can salvage the ship by rectifying the list, the reason why the captain and three other crew members opted to stay on the ship.

A #Liberia-flagged container vessel, MSC ELSA 3, reported tilting of its ship soon after departing #Vizhinjam port and 38 miles from #Kochi, seeking urgent assistance. #IndianCoastGuard is coordinating conduct of Rescue operations while maintaining ships in area and aircraft pic.twitter.com/Nfq4CPRy40  Mohd Asad Ullah Khan (@mauksoftwarez) May 24, 2025

Though it is believed that only very few containers have fallen into the sea, Kerala State Disaster Management Authorities (KSDMA) have warned that the drifting cargo may wash up on Kochi and Alappuzha shores likely by Sunday afternoon. It is speculated that the containers held Sulphur-based products but the authorities have not yet specified the exact nature of the cargo. The KSDMA member has warned people along the coast and fishermen were asked not to touch the containers. The authorities are also monitoring the chances of oil slick developing in certain areas.

It was on Saturday afternoon that the authorities got a distress call from the management of the ship seeking help, as their ship had developed a list (tilt) of 26 degrees. Despite the inclement weather, One Indian Navy ship, two Coast Guard ships and one Dornier aircraft were pressed into the operation.
Lebanon is planning to disarm Palestinian armed groups operating within its territory, marking a major step towards bringing all militias and weapons in the country under state control.

The move follows the weakening of Iran-backed militias across the region after their confrontation with Israel, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Palestinian factions such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committeea governmental body that serves as a liaison between the state and Palestinian refugeesconvened on May 23 to launch a formal disarmament process. The meeting, attended by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, established the framework for disarmament to proceed according to a specific timetable. The committee also pledged to enhance the economic and social rights of Palestinian refugees, long marginalised within Lebanon.

Lebanons 12 Palestinian refugee camps are home to approximately two lakh people, according to UNRWA, although nearly five lakh remain registered. The camps are outside the control of Lebanese authorities, and internal security is managed by Palestinian factions. These include President Mahmoud Abbass Fatah movement, the Islamist group Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Islamist and leftist militias.

Since the 1969 Cairo Agreement, jurisdiction over the camps has rested with the Palestine Liberation Organization, rather than the Lebanese security forces. Over the decades, the camps have evolved into densely populated neighbourhoods with deeply entrenched political and militant structures. Subsequently, armed militias have grown, often acting autonomously and fighting with one another, leading to civilian casualties and wider instability.

The disarmament move got a push following an agreement between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. During Abbass recent visit to Beirut, both leaders announced that Palestinian factions would refrain from using Lebanese territory to launch attacks against Israel. Crucially, they also agreed that weapons in the camps would come under the exclusive authority of the Lebanese state.

The latest push shows that Lebanon clearly wants to challenge Hezbollahs dominance and reassert state sovereignty. Hezbollah has long outmatched the official Lebanese army in strength and territorial control, especially in the countrys south. After the Hamas attacks against Israel in October 2023 and Israels massive retaliation in Gaza, Hezbollah joined the fight on behalf of the Palestinians. It triggered a devastating retaliation from Israel, killing over 4,000 Lebanese. The move sparked widespread public discontent and eroded Hezbollahs domestic support, particularly among the Lebanese Shia population.

President Abbas lands in Beirut to begin talks on disarming Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.



Let Beirut be the first crack. Gaza must follow.

No more flags, factions, and firearms in the name of a cause theyve only disfigured. pic.twitter.com/4GVGvxGURY  Hamza (@HowidyHamza) May 21, 2025

Moreover, Hezbollah suffered crippling losses under sustained Israeli attacks and was forced to agree to a US-backed ceasefire. Under its terms, Hezbollah agreed to withdraw north of the Litani River while Israel pulled back from southern Lebanon. Since then, the Lebanese army has reclaimed areas and dismantled Hezbollah's infrastructure, aided by United Nations peacekeepers.

The same agreement includes a provision for Lebanon to dismantle all non-state militiasmost notably Hezbollah and armed Palestinian factions. While Lebanese authorities have made significant strides in recent months, Deputy US Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus recently emphasised that more remains to be done. Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum, she noted that Lebanese authorities have done more in the last six months than they probably have in the last 15 years, but added, We in the United States have called for the full disarmament of Hezbollah in the whole country.

However, disarming Hezbollah will not be easy. It still enjoys substantial political influence, strong ties with Iran and a loyal base among segments of the population. It may try to delay or obstruct the disarmament of Palestinian groups to avoid setting a precedent that could be used to justify dismantling its own military wing. At the same time, overt opposition to Palestinian disarmament could isolate Hezbollah further within Lebanon, potentially drawing it into a conflict it wishes to avoid.

Palestinian groups, for their part, have reacted cautiously. A spokesperson for Palestinian Islamic Jihad expressed scepticism about the motives behind the disarmament push, questioning whether it was intended to appease the United States and undermine the Palestinian right of return to what is now Israel. Hamas has said that it does not have armed camps in Lebanon and voiced support for maintaining peaceful relations with the Lebanese state.

Another major problem is the fact that the Palestinian factions are not a monolith. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and smaller groups like al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah and Fatah al-Intifada have different ideologies, loyalties and foreign patrons. Some of them have relied on Hezbollah or Syria for support, while others are facing their own leadership problems.

The ouster of the Assad regime in Syria has also hurt the regional support networks that once shielded Palestinian militants. In April, Syrias new authorities arrested two senior members of Islamic Jihad, signalling a possible strategic shift away from Iran and towards improved ties with the West.

Within Lebanon, the path to disarmament will not be straightforward. The armed groups have been embedded in camp life for generations, recruiting, training, and providing a semblance of order in areas the Lebanese state has long neglected. Any serious attempt to remove their weapons must therefore be managed delicately, with attention to both security concerns and refugee welfare.

Encouragingly, diplomatic efforts involving regional powers such as Turkey and Qatar have offered mediation support. The head of the joint Lebanese-Palestinian camp monitoring committee, Ramez Dimashkieh, stated that while a detailed mechanism for disarmament has yet to be finalised, there is consensus that the Lebanese army and security services will oversee the process.

As Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said at the May 23 meeting, Lebanon has entered a new phaseone where dialogue replaces gunfire, and unity replaces division. We owe it to our people, and to our future, to bring peace back within our borders.
Tom Barrack, the United States Ambassador to Turkiye, announced on May 23 that he has assumed the role of special envoy to Syria, as the Trump administration moves decisively to lift long-standing sanctions on the war-torn country.

In a statement posted on X, Barrack said he would support Secretary of State Marco Rubio in implementing President Donald Trumps recent commitment to unwind punitive measures against Syria. "As President Trumps representative in Turkiye, I am proud to take on the role of US Special Envoy for Syria and assist Secretary Rubio in realising the Presidents vision," Barrack wrote.

Barrack, a private equity investor and long-time Trump confidant who chaired the 2016 Presidential Inaugural Committee, was expected to take on the Syria envoy post. His appointment signals a significant policy shift, reflecting Washingtons recognition of Turkiyes increased regional influence in the aftermath of Syrian President Bashar al-Assads ousting by rebel forces last year.

President Trump met Syrias interim President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia on May 14, urging the normalisation of diplomatic ties with Israel. Barrack later attended a high-level US-Turkish meeting in Washington, where sanctions relief and counter-terrorism strategies were on the agenda.

Lifting sanctions, Barrack argued, would enable humanitarian agencies to re-enter Syria and encourage foreign trade and investment critical to the countrys reconstruction. "Ending sanctions will safeguard our main goal, the enduring defeat of Islamic State, and give Syrians a genuine chance to rebuild," he said.

On May 24, Barrack met President al-Sharaa and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Istanbul. "Todays discussions with President al-Sharaa marked the beginning of a bold new chapter for Syria," Barrack stated, highlighting the recent waiver of Caesar Act sanctions for 180 days and the Treasurys introduction of General Licence 25.

Barrack reaffirmed US support for Syrias post-war recovery and emphasised Trumps wider aims: from counter-terrorism to regional diplomacy and improved conditions in detention centres in north-east Syria. He praised the Syrian leaderships early steps towards achieving these goals.

Both sides pledged to continue discussions and explore private-sector investment opportunities, with potential backing from Turkiye, the Gulf states, Europe and the US. Barrack concluded the meeting by declaring it historic, symbolising a decisive break from the past and the launch of a new, open Syria free from sanctions.
Countries across the Middle East will likely observe Eid Al Adha on June 6 in most Islamic countries as the Dhul Hijjah crescent Moon will likely be sighted on Tuesday, according to reports. The sighting of the moon will determine the exact date of Eid al-Adha and the beginning of this year's Hajj rituals.

Eid al Adha is the second holiest festival of Muslims and is celebrated on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah. Arafat Day is observed on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah and Eid al Adha on the 10th day of the month, depending on the sighting of the moon.

The first day of the the new Hijri month will be on Wednesday and the Arafat Day will then fall on June 5, Gulf News quoted the International Astronomical Centre (IAC). The director added that the crescent moon can be seen on that day using a telescope from Central and Western Asia, most parts of Africa, and Europe, and can also be seen with the naked eye from large parts of the Americas.

Meanwhile, the authorities of Saudi Arabia called on all Muslims in the Kingdom to sight the Dhul Hijjah Moon on Tuesday. "The Supreme Court hopes anyone seeing the moon by the naked eye or the telescope to notify the nearest court and register a testimony or contact the nearest centre to help him reach the nearest court," Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other South Asian nations, the crescent moon of Dhul Hijjah will likely be sighted on May 28. If not, then the month of Dhul Hijjah will begin on May 29 and accordingly, the Eid al Adha, celebrated on 10th day of the month which is June 7.
Former Bangladesh President Mohammad Abdul Hamid fled to Thailand via Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the wee hours of May 8. Now reports reveal the details of Hamid's mysterious escape from the Muhammad Yunus regime.

A CCTV footage from the airport shows Hamid arriving at the VIP terminal at 12.46 am, according to Bangladesh newspaper The Daily Star. A security personnel recognised the former President and immediately got in touch with his line manager.

Meanwhile, two other personnel who were reportedly from a "specialised intelligence agency" let the car move forward to the drop-off spot at the terminal, according to sources quoted by the outlet.

As he exited the vehicle, Hamid was seen wearing a lungi and sandals while leaning on a cane as he got out around 12.51 am. He was then transferred to a wheelchair. Accompanying him was his lawyer son Riad Ahmed who was seen carrying two suitcases, according to the report.

Later, Riad Ahmed took to social media, saying his father was so frail that he could not stand for more than two minutes or sit for over two hours. Explaining why Hamid was wearing a lungi, he said his father lost a lot of weight and hence his pants no longer fit him.

Hamid then proceeded to the VIP lounge. By 2.21 am, the former president headed towards Gate No. 33 without undergoing security checks. The airport's executive director Group Captain S.M. Ragib Samad told the Daily Star that Gate No. 33 is exclusively meant for "secure airport personnel" while others have to go to the second floor for security checks.

It should be noted that only the sitting president is exempt from mandatory security checks. Even interim leader Yunus has to undergo this process before proceeding to the Gates.

From Gate No. 33, he was transported in a car to the Thai Airways flight TG340 and taken inside the plane along with his wheelchair.

Later, a verified GD entry revealed after Hamid's the terminal-in-charge alerted the immigration police officer-in-charge who was identified as Additional Superintendent of Immigration Police Tahsina Arif.

She then contacted multiple officials, including an assistant director of the National Security Intelligence (NSI), a Grade-1 general staff officer of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the additional deputy inspector general and the deputy inspector general of the immigration police. The NSI assistant director then obtained clearance from his higher officials.

Tahsina, who has been removed from her post, said Hamid was not on the no-fly list and that her superiors asked her to let the former president pass through, according to The Daily Star.

Hamid, who was a former Awami League parliamentarian, is named a co-accused in a murder case wherein protesters were shot dead in July-August 2024. Ousted PM Sheikh Hasina's party Awami League was recently banned by the interim government under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Pakistan considers India as an existential threat and hence seeks economic and military backing from China to modernise its nuclear arsenal, reveals a report released by the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The agency is part of the US Department of Defense.

The World Threat Assessment report released on Sunday said India, on the other hand, regards China as its primary adversary while Pakistan is viewed as more of an "ancillary security problem" even despite the recent conflict in May.

The report said Pakistan "almost certainly procures WMD (weapons of mass destruction) applicable goods from foreign suppliers and intermediaries", adding that these goods and technology to support Pakistans WMD programs are "very likely" acquired China or transported via Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, and the UAE.

But it pointed out that the terrorist attacks targeting Chinese citizens working for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has sparked tensions between the two sides. At least seven Chinese workers were killed in Pakistan last year.

Pakistan's military will continue to focus on skirmishes with its neighbouring countries besides the insurgency by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Balochistan militants, said the report. Recently, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed that TTP and the Balochistan Liberation Army are Indian proxies. However, India has dismissed these allegations, pointing out how Islamabad is trying to divert global attention from its own support for terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Talking about India, the US intel report said the country is focusing on bilateral defence ties in the Indian Ocean region to counter China. India will continue its economic and defence ties with Russia in a bid to offset the deepning relations between Moscow and Beijing.
On the fifth floor of a grey, nondescript building in Cambodia, Sharvan hunches over a computer, sending WhatsApp messages to strangers, spinning lies about fake investments and watching as victims lose their lifes savings. The windows are sealed. Multiple screens buzz with activity under fluorescent lights that never go off. Just a year ago, the 24-year-old from Rajasthan had dreamed of joining the Army, like his elder brother. Today, his hands tremblenot from gun drills but from the fear of the next electric shock. He has become a slavenot to a factory or a field but to a shadowy empire of cyber fraud, run by Chinese agents and bolstered by trafficked youth from across South Asia, especially India.

In the last three years, as many as 3,764 Indians have returned from Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Laossome as victims and others as willing criminals. Dubai has emerged as a hotspot, where stolen funds are quickly converted to cryptocurrency via wallet transfers. These transactions are particularly difficult to trace.

Sharvan and others are trained to create fake social media profiles to scout for victims, often posing as financial advisers or attractive strangers offering insider investment tips. Those who show interest are added to WhatsApp groups filled with those posing as successful investors. Our job was to make it look real, with charts, screenshots and testimonials. Everything was fake. We used trading apps that mimicked real platforms. We would first let them earn a little. They could even withdraw money to build trust, said Sharvan. Then came the bait.

We would tell them to invest Rs5 lakh or even Rs20 lakh, promising huge returns. Once the money was transferred, we blocked them, he said. We had daily targets, no breaks, no compensation. We were machines. We worked on the fifth floor and slept on the fourth. Guards never let us leave. If we disobeyed, they would send us to the black room for electric shocks. Sharvan was sold to six or seven companies.

Most Indian workers are from southern states and speak better Englishthey are promoted faster. Those from the north struggle more. Sharvans father, a farmer, spent Rs50,000 to send him to Dubai after an agent promised him a job. Once there, he was forced to pay another Rs80,000 for legal papers to move to Thailand and Cambodia. Sharvan travelled to Cambodia on a business visa. They took away my passport once I landed. I had to pay $5,000 to leave. But no one could afford it.

Road to freedom: A batch of indians trapped in Myawaddy cyber fraud centre, Myanmar, at a local police station awaiting their return to India | PTI

On April 12, Sharvan returned home, after Cambodian authorities, under pressure from the Indian government, helped connect trapped Indians to embassy officials. Sharvans ordeal is part of a global cybercrime crisis, and India is the first among many to recognise and act against cyber trafficking.

Working overnight to bring back Indians is the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), leading the countrys response to cyber crime and serving as a central point for law enforcement agencies. It helps prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute cyber cases. Union Home Minister Amit Shah places very high priority on bringing Indians back from these scam compounds and preventing new ones from reaching there, said Rajesh Kumar, CEO of I4C. We leverage Indias diplomatic clout and bring in the support of partner countries to ensure action. State agencies have been proactive in identifying recruitment agents and influencing families to get their loved ones back.

A centre for cyber fraud operations in Cambodia.

The I4C, which began as a scheme within the Cyber and Information Security Division of the home ministry in 2018, has become a national nerve centre for combating the rising tide of cyber fraud across the country. The I4C has cross-sectoral visibility of cybercrimes, stringing together key componentscitizens, telecom service providers, banking institutions and network service providers. It also aids law enforcement agencies in tracking and investigating cyber fraudsters and their networks through multi-state coordination, cyber-forensic capabilities and the latest software tools.

In the last three years, as many as 3,764 Indians have returned from Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Laossome as victims and others as willing criminals. Large numbers returned in March and April this year. Most of them are from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Their return is helping to expose more cyber fraud modules within the country.

In March, the Goa Police arrested Nulaxi Talaniti, a Kazakhstan national of Chinese origin, for involvement in an international trafficking ring running cyber slavery call centres across Southeast Asia. After the I4C helped bring Rakesh Murgaonkar (name changed), 24, back from Thailand, details emerged on how the entire network operates. Murgaonkar, a resident of Goa, had been chatting on Instagram when he came across a job offer from an Indian agent, Adithya Ramchandran, who had connections with the Chinese. They offered him a job in Thailand with a monthly salary of Rs60,000. Murgaonkar left Goa on January 14 and landed in Thailand the following day. He was then taken to a company in Mae Sot, on the border with Myanmar, to work at a call centre contacting potential victims. The victims were lured to invest in fake trading companies or were honey-trapped to commit financial fraud, said Rahul Gupta, superintendent of police, cyber crime, Goa.

An investigation revealed that Murgaonkar had met several Chinese agents during his two-month stay in Mae Sot, and one of them had even visited India in March. After several foreign numbers running digital arrest scams were blocked, the cyber fraudsters found it harder to operate. They have been trying to set up a base in India. The Kazakh national, Nulaxi, came to India to set up a SIM box facility (a device to connect to VoIP gateways using a pool of SIM cards) with Ramchandran. He set up a SIM box in Bengaluru, which we recovered. He was arrested from the Delhi airport when he tried to flee the country, said Gupta. The SIM box was intended for use in digital arrest scams.

One of the work stations at the Cambodia centre.

A key component of the I4C infrastructure is the Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC), which coordinates real-time responses to online financial crimes. A lesser-known fact is that the I4C draws strength from officers and military experts who have served in anti-Naxal operations and at the higher reaches of the Line of Actual Control with China, where cyber attacks constantly accompany aggressive postures from adversaries. Amit Shah conducts regular meetings with top officials to devise detailed plans for a cyber-secure nation.

The total value of cyber frauds reported nationwide, which was at Rs2,254 crore in October 2024, dropped to Rs1,314 crore by April 2025. High-value frauds (greater than Rs50 lakh) also saw a drastic decline, from Rs1,065 crore in October 2024 to Rs402 crore in April 2025. This decline is the result of the cooperation of over 200 representatives from banks, telecom companies, payment aggregators and state police units at the I4C, monitoring over 150 real-time dashboards. The dashboards continuously analyse complaints, flag high-risk activity and trace overlapping jurisdictions.

The I4C is a unique organisation within Indias federal framework, said Rajesh Kumar. Crime and police are state subjects but this is a farsighted initiative of the Union home ministry, which is dedicated to strengthening law enforcement agencies in states and Union territories as well as other wings of the criminal justice system in all possible ways.

The I4C, for instance, has been working with the Rajasthan Police to lead a data-driven crackdown on cyber gangs operating from the Mewat region of the state. This area has been responsible for 76 per cent of all cyber frauds originating from Rajasthans primary hotspotDeeg districtat the time. At the heart of this effort was Pratibimb, a software tool developed by the I4C to help law enforcement agencies track mobile numbers used in criminal activity, allowing police to pinpoint the precise locations of cyber criminal clusters. We set up a war room that tracked these digital locations and guided police teams to the villages where cyber gangs were operating from remote, carefully chosen hideouts, said Rahul Prakash, inspector general of police, Bharatpur Range.

Cheat alert: A SIM box used for cyber fraud recovered by Goa Police following the arrest of a Kazakh national of Chinese origin.

The gangs used fake social media profilesoften featuring photos of womento extort victims, while also engaging in scams such as selling counterfeit goods and offering fake hotel bookings on Instagram. During the raids, special police teams cordoned off identified areas, seizing mobile phones, lap tops and digital storage devices. The digital evidence, including chats, videos and transaction records, helped register over 600 FIRs. More than 2,000 people were arrested.

Prakash described the socio-economic profile of those arrested as mostly young men, including school dropouts and individuals in their 20s, who had acquired cyber skills through peer-to-peer learning. Despite minimal formal education, many gang members earned between Rs25 lakh and Rs2 crore per month. We called it Operation Anti-Virus and it underscored how centrally supported intelligence tools like Pratibimb can empower state law enforcement agencies to address rapidly evolving forms of digital crime, he said. It also showed how cooperative mechanisms between the Centre and states are essential for tackling cyber crime in Indias rural and semi-urban regions.

One of the most powerful tools in this mission is the high-value fraud alert system at the I4C. When a large deduction is reported, an automatic alarm triggers a rapid response protocol. Bank officials, telecom providers and law enforcement agencies, all stationed on-site, begin a countdown to intercept the transfer. This is supported by machine-to-machine information sharing, which allows seamless coordination without alerting the fraudster. As soon as the alarm goes off, the goal is to hold the money before it vanishes, said an official. Uttar Pradesh director general of police Prashant Kumar said the I4C had helped tackle cyber scams in the state. We have been able to launch swift crackdowns on cyber criminals in collaboration with the I4C.

The ever-evolving threats of cyber crime require continuous training and upgradation of state police forces. According to cyber crime trends analysed daily by the CFMC, investment scams top the list in most states, followed by trading app scams, part-time job scams, KYC frauds, courier scams, digital arrest threats, instant loan apps, FedEx frauds, mystery box scams and matrimonial frauds.

The victim often does not realise they have been duped. Fraudsters may return small profits or even show inflated balances to build trust. This can continue for days, months or years. But once we receive an alert, we focus on the last few days of the transaction. These are the golden minutes, especially when the final, substantial deduction can still be stopped, said an I4C official. Investment scams primarily target individuals in the 2540 age group, while digital impersonation and lure-based scams mainly target senior citizens, as they are more vulnerable to them.

On May 19, Shah announced a system that automatically converts cyber financial complaints worth 010 lakh and above registered on the 1930 helpline or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal into FIRs. This e-zero FIR initiative has been launched as a pilot project in Delhi.

However, despite the governments best efforts, some frauds still lead to successful cash-outs, particularly abroad. Dubai has emerged as a hotspot, where stolen funds are quickly converted to cryptocurrency via wallet transfers. These transactions are particularly difficult to trace.

The telecom sector plays a crucial role in these operations. Fraudsters often initiate contact with victims through WhatsApp, SMS or fake links, which are used to steal personal information. Said a telecom service provider at the CFMC: The first point of contact is usually telecom services, which makes it critical for us to build a database of suspect numbers. Once identified, state law enforcement agencies can block these numbers but tracking disposable SIM cards remains a challenge. To tackle this issue, the government is working on new guidelines that require SIM card point-of-sale locations to be documented.

Meanwhile, the RBI is urging all banks to set up cyber monitoring units and integrate with the CFMC ecosystem. Smaller banks are sometimes used to park stolen funds. We are nudging them to come on board, said an official. More than 500 banks and cooperatives have integrated so far. But the goal is larger: to reduce response times, onboard more private players and bring every state and Union territory into a unified defence mechanism.

This defence mechanism is being bolstered by the cyber commandos. Selected from various state police forces, cyber commandos are being trained to confront and neutralise the menace of cyber crime. The first batch is ready and their deployment came recently when the National Testing Agency sought I4Cs help during the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) earlier this year.

Helping youngsters from the threat of cyber fraud or being lured into becoming cyber scamsters themselves is a dual effort by the I4C and state governments. Aiding this effort is the I4Cs suspect registry, developed with banks and financial intermediaries, to create a national database of cyber criminals posing potential risks. The number currently stands at 80,198 individuals. While legal proceedings will take their course on a case-by-case basis, many are coming forward to confess and share their experiences.

Karri Praveen Kumar from Visakhapatnam is one of the first to share publicly details about the cyber crime racket run by Chinese handlers in Myanmars border towns. Lured by a job advertisement on Facebook last November, the engineering student thought it was a legitimate opportunity to support his struggling family. I had lost my father and we took a Rs60,000 bank loan for my travel, he said. Praveen flew to Bangkok, where he was kept for three days before being driven to a remote town on the Myanmar border.

There are thousands of Indians under 30, working for companies running global cyber scams, he said. Our job was to create fake Facebook profiles and chat with Indian immigrants in the US, luring them to invest through fraudulent apps. I did not get a single customer in two months, which angered my bosses. His escape was made possible by a friend in Hyderabad who alerted the state government, which sought I4Cs help.

Now back home, Praveen said he was done with his attempts to go abroad. I have deleted all the apps. I wont go on Facebook again. I am planning to pursue an MBA. His story mirrors that of Mohammed Arbaaz, 26, from Telangana, who left India last December and was rescued in March. I was just browsing job links on Facebook, he said. When I landed in Bangkok, I saw Indians, Ethiopians, Sri Lankansall working under Chinese bosses for nameless companies creating fake apps and digital identities.

But there are also several youngsters whose lure for easy money prompted them to take a risk despite warnings from friends and family. Raman Kumar, 27, returned to India in April with help from the Indian embassy in Thailand. The Ludhiana native had a decent job as an accountant in Dubai but things changed when a friend told him about a $12,000-a-month job in Thailand. Though his brother warned it might be fake, he took the risk. From Thailand, he was taken to Myawaddy in Myanmar, close to the border with Thailand, where a Chinese-run company called Hong Shang forced him into romance scams targeting recent Indian immigrants to the US.

Myawaddy, a region controlled by scammers, has two large compoundsKK Farm and Apollo Farmowned by Chinese nationals. These compounds house multiple scam groups, with electricity and internet facility reportedly supplied from Thailand. After gaining trust, we would ask them to invest more, promising returns and a personal meeting. Once the money was sent, we blocked them, he said.

Rahul Pawan, 22, from Punjab, followed a similar path. Coming from a farming family, he left for Thailand in October 2023, spending Rs3.5 lakh to reach Bangkok via Dubai. From there, he was taken to Myanmar. Fluent in English and good with tech, Pawan would chat on dating apps and slowly familiarise the victims with crypto apps. The company earned $10,000$12,000 per day, he said. His office had nearly 80 Indians. Only 25 have returned so far.

The pipeline may still be active but there is light at the end of the tunnel as Amit Shah has pressed agencies to crack down on cyber frauds and trafficking networks luring Indians to Dubai, Bangkok and the border towns in Myanmar and Cambodia. As the crackdown continues, Pawan, now working at a call centre in Mohali, remains cautious. I am scared of WhatsApp. I dont trust anyone, he said. But I want to warn others: never fall for dating apps or investment offers from strangers.
Exclusive interview/ Amit Shah, Union home minister

Union Home Minister Amit Shah began his political journey at the age of 13, when he took part in the 1977 general election campaign by putting up posters for Maniben Patel, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh candidate and daughter of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. A rare politician with nearly half a century of experience, he has led the robust approach under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in tackling Indias internal security challenges notching up key wins such as bringing left-wing extremism, once termed the biggest threat to internal security, to its knees; integrating northeast insurgent groups into the mainstream; overseeing the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir amid efforts to dismantle the terror ecosystem; and initiating reforms in the criminal justice system through three new lawsthe Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.

We are in the process of developing an AI software for mule accounts. It is being done in coordination with the RBI, which will automatically detect mule accounts and enable action against them. This will prevent cyber crimes to a great extent. Modi ji spoke about digital arrests in Mann ki Baat and created awareness among people.... The I4C streamed various videos on cyber crime awareness in cinema halls. Our agencies are well equipped to track down such criminals by using AI such as face recognition apps. One of the major steps to create a secure environment for women is creating a national-level database of sexual offenders. It is a searchable registry of 20.37 lakh offenders involved in rape, molestation, stalking, child abuse, etc. It also includes the name, address, photograph and fingerprint details of offenders. We have set the goal to establish a special branch of trained cyber commandos to tackle cyber security threats across the country. Cyber patrolling by them will make cyber space even safer.

Shah, 60, is spearheading Prime Minister Modis national security first approach to establish a new pillar of internal security within the Union home ministryIndias first cyber shieldto protect several families defrauded in cyber space, as rapid digitisation brings new vulnerabilities.

He is acutely aware that the common man is falling prey to cyber criminals each day. One day, my wife pointed out that I was speaking Bhojpuri in a speech widely circulated on social media. I was amazed to see myself speaking languages I dont know. The common man will not know what is real or fake, as technology is evolving rapidly. We are prepared to meet these challenges with the new cyber infrastructure being built for a safe digital India, says Shah, in an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, referring to the menace of deepfake videos.

Shahs grasp of internal security has led him to initiate a unified national response connecting citizens, law enforcement agencies and experts under a single framework. At the core of this strategy is a mechanism to help states track cyber fraud and bring relief to the common man. He recognises that a key concern for the common man today is defeating cyber fraudsters and adversaries while embracing technology and innovation. From UPI transactions and Aadhaar-linked services to online education and health care, the digital economy now touches every aspect of Indian life, he says.

Shah acknowledges that many cyber crimes have transnational dimensions. He is working actively with global law enforcement agencies, cyber security organisations and intelligence networks to trace the origins of attacks and impose consequences. The objective is deterrenceensuring that India is no longer seen as an easy or anonymous target. We are reinforcing national sovereignty in the virtual world, says Shah, ensuring that cyber crime is addressed not merely as a technical or policing issue, but as a direct threat to Indias internal and economic security.

As criminals and hostile countries exploit cyber space to defraud citizens, steal intellectual property, compromise networks and endanger critical infrastructure, the challenges are immensebut the home minister remains confident. We are building the framework for a safer, more resilient and truly sovereign digital future, he says. Excerpts from the interview:

Plan of action: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Q You have often spoken about a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the challenge of cyber crime. Could you please explain the new strategy devised under your guidance?

A Before 2014, our strategies were scattered and myopic. However, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, our strategy to take on cyber crime has been redesigned to make for a comprehensive and integrated cyber shield. We are now not only defending but also thinking ahead of criminals and busting their conspiracies with precision.

This strategy is based on five pillars. The first pillar is about equipping our state forces and agencies with cutting-edge technological infrastructure. Regardless of what technology cyber criminals use, they find us outfitted to respond effectively. The second pillar is cooperation among Central and state agencies on the domestic front and also with the global agencies. We all know that cyber crime has no political boundaries; therefore, seamless synergy under the agenda of a common battle among agencies allows us, with the winning edge, to deal body blows to both domestic and international crime syndicates.

The third pillar of this strategy is an aware citizenry. When people are aware, then cyber criminals cannot go too far. We have undertaken nationwide campaigns to create public awareness. People can call the cyber helpline at 1930 or lodge a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in. The fourth pillar is the preparedness of our agencies to tackle the menace with research and development initiatives. The fifth pillar is a legal framework that empowers our investigating agencies with up-to-date provisions for prosecuting new-age crime.

All systems go: Amit Shah at the first Foundation Day celebrations of I4c on september 10, 2024.

Q The world has witnessed an all-pervasive threat to cyber security. You have reiterated the need to take a coordinated approach to tackle this challenge. How is the home ministry building more cooperation?

A Cyber security threats are a global menace. Therefore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has envisioned and fostered adequate collaborations that are necessary to thwart them. Today Bharat is in active collaboration with organisations like Interpol, G7, the UN and BRICS. We have also signed cyber security agreements with many countries, including America, Australia and Germany. Similarly, collaborations with the UN, SCO and BRICS have been fostered, bolstering our cyber security. Several rounds of India-US joint meetings have been held to promote new strategies and cooperation.

CBI and Interpol are working together on cross-border cyber crime. Presently, CBI is also a part of the G7s 24x7 network, which is ensuring the safe exchange of data. On January 17, 2025, an MoU was signed between the USAs C3 (Cyber Crimes Centre) and Indias I4C (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre). The I4C is also cooperating with the law enforcement agencies of other countries through the Bharatpol portal and G8 24x7 network. Joint action plans are being developed on cyber fraud, cyber terrorism and data security. It is a platform that facilitates swift and seamless coordination between Indian and foreign agencies.

Q How does I4C ensure enforcement of laws and timely action?

A Pursuing Prime Minister Narendra Modi jis vision for a cyber-secure nation, we carried out a six-month-long brainstorming session with the officials to build the I4C, a holistic mechanism to initiate nationwide coordination to battle cyber crime. It serves as a nodal agency for coordinating all cyber-crime-related matters between law enforcement agencies, states, Union territories and other stakeholders. It provides a centralised platform for complaints through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. It also facilitates capacity building, training, research & innovation and awareness creation.

After closely studying the nature of cyber crimes, we created seven verticals. The National Cybercrime Threat Analytical Unit is the vertical of the I4C that does not exist in the public eye, but it analyses all kinds of cyber crime threats that may occur, whether it is hacking, cryptocurrency, mule accounts or theft from anyones bank account. Another vertical is the cyber crime reporting portal, which registers complaints on cyber crimes and takes prompt action. The third vertical is the National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory (NCFL). The national cyber crime training centre provides nationwide training to our agencies. On the other hand, the joint cyber crime investigation task force is set up to ensure operational cooperation in parallel investigations across states and Union territories. The cyber crime ecosystem management unit is a conglomerate of all concerned agencies like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the National Stock Exchange and more than 1,500 banks. The cyber crime research and innovation centre conducts research on the new developments and techniques in cyber crime prevention. For the first time in India, a nationwide, organised offensive strategy against cyber crime was launched in 2020.

Ready and steady: Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre, New Delhi | Sanjay Ahlawat

Q What steps are being taken to secure women and children from the menace of cyber crime?

A The security of women and children is one of the priorities of the Modi government. We have taken an all-pervasive approach to achieve it. One of the major steps to create a secure environment for women is creating a national-level database of sexual offenders. It is a searchable registry of 20.37 lakh offenders involved in rape, molestation, stalking, child abuse, etc. It also includes the name, address, photograph and fingerprint details of offenders. This list gives easy access to track down and identify offenders, creating a security shield for women.

The Rs2,840 crore Safe City project is being implemented in eight cities to develop a safe environment for women, children and the elderly in public spaces. To ensure justice to victims of sexual offences, the Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO) has been launched. It tracks police investigations every two months. There has been a surge in the ITSSO compliance rate in the last seven years, from 43 per cent in 2018 to 57 per cent in 2025, which is a clear demonstration of its efficacy. Through the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, as many as 70 lakh cyber tipline reports have been shared with concerned states and Union territories.

To prevent women from falling into the trap of international fraud, the National Database of Offenders of Foreign Origin (NDOFO) raises awareness about issues like marital disputes, visa fraud, illegal immigration, Nigerian lottery scams and other cyber crimes.

Through the Cyber Dost initiative, we are constantly promoting cyber crime awareness with cyber security tips. Intensifying cyber security for women, we aim to create 5,000 cyber commandos in the next five years, who will make our cyber space safer for women through cyber patrolling. To accelerate awareness, the first Wednesday of every month is celebrated as Cyber Awareness Day.

Command and control: Amit Shah reviews the functioning of the I4c, New Delhi.

Q Due to the sharp rise in the number of internet users, concerns about safety of citizens have moved into the digital domain. How big is the challenge?

A Bharat has widened its bandwidth substantially to tackle cyber crimes in the last five years. The Cyber Crime Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in), launched in January 2020, has registered 56 lakh complaints and 1.53 lakh FIRs. Today you can block an amount in the bank in just 60 seconds by calling the helpline number 1930 because there are 419 banks and financial intermediaries connected to it. Our agencies have recovered Rs4,725 crore belonging to 14.47 lakh people. Under the 1930 helpline, the complainant is responded to in the language of the state in which the call originates.

We are training more than one lakh police officers on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform called CyTrain. Approximately 81,000 certificates have been issued till now. We are creating cyber crime forensic training labs in 33 states and Union territories.

As many as 827 apps and 3,266 website links were blocked on I4Cs recommendation. We have also completed the implementation of the Modernisation of Police Forces Scheme. The National Cyber Forensic Laboratory at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) Hyderabad, has been dedicated to the nation. Similarly, seven JCCTs (Joint Cyber crime Coordination Teams) have been appointed for cyber crime hotspots. Cyber crime forensic training labs are there in 33 states and Union territories.

Q What is the progress in bringing major online service providers and law enforcement agencies on a common platform in the Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre?

A This unit has set new milestones in cyber crime mitigation through special action on high-value fraud cases and against mule accounts. Another major achievement of this unit is the reduction in time taken in taking action. It has also thwarted numerous attempts at cyber fraud by launching a series of actions on hotspots like mule accounts, cheque withdrawals and ATM hotspots.

Q How do we ensure accountability of banks and the telecom industry?

A We are in the process of developing an AI software for mule accounts. It is being done in coordination with the RBI, which will automatically detect mule accounts and enable action against them. This will prevent cyber crimes to a great extent. In it, representatives of major banks, financial intermediaries, payment aggregators, IT intermediaries and law enforcement agencies of states/Union territories are working together for prompt action and seamless coordination to tackle cyber crimes.

Q Fraudulent mobile numbers are prevalent. How do we plug such gaps?

A It is indeed a serious threat, and we have blocked a huge number of mobiles and IMEI numbers through the Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre.

Q Could you please elaborate on the role played by the NCIIPC (National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre) in tackling cyber attacks on critical infrastructure?

A Under the leadership of Modi ji, the NCIIPC has been developed as a nodal agency of the country. Its scope is ensuring the protection of Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) from cyber attacks, cyber terrorism, cyber warfare, etc., formulating security strategies and establishing coordination among various government departments and organisations.

Its responsibilities are identifying CII, developing security standards and policies for them, organising training and awareness programmes, enhancing international cooperation and issuing alerts and advisories in collaboration with organisations like CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team). Apart from that, it encourages research and innovation and development methodologies for security audits and assessments.

Q You spoke about preparing around 5,000 cyber commandos in five years.

A The goal is to establish a special branch of trained cyber commandos to tackle cyber security threats across the country. As of now, 247 candidates have completed phase-1 training from institutions like NFSU (National Forensic Sciences University), RRU (Rashtriya Raksha University) Gandhinagar, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras and IIIT Kottayam.

We have set a target to train 406 commandos by the end of 2025. After evaluation by NFSU, 1,038 candidates have been declared eligible for training. We are also developing the Cyber Commando Platform, which is an integrated operating platform to serve as the central hub for task allocation, communication and coordination.

Q What are the key cyber security threats faced by the country?

A There are two dimensions to it. On a broader scale, the major threat from cyber crime is to our data and our critical infrastructure. On an individual level, they boil down to key cyber crime threats such as defrauding people with fake promises of part-time jobs and instant loans. Investment scams, sextortion and digital arrests are also major threats. Similarly, there are also inputs about cyber crimes being committed by making people download fake mobile apps by impersonating a government official, bank employee, telecom employee or official of the electricity department or by adding people to WhatsApp groups. However, we are well-equipped to tackle these challenges with the necessary commandos, human and technological infrastructure.

Q You have also been a victim of deepfake scam. Do you think a specific approach is needed to curb this menace?

A We are constantly studying AI and its misuse. If needed, changes in the existing laws are to be made. But we have to be patient in doing so because AI is still evolving and evolving very fast. What we know today may become obsolete tomorrow. It requires much attention, and all its aspects are to be studied before taking any step. Hasty decisions may end up aiding the criminals.

Q What should citizens do in case of cyber crimes?

A The first step should be calling 1930 or reporting at www.cybercrime.gov.in. They should inform the nearest cyber police station. In cases of financial fraud, inform the bank first and then report. In cases of hacking of social media accounts, report it to the complaint department of the platform and then call 1930.

Q One of the most prevalent cyber threats is digital arrests. However, awareness plays a crucial role in preventing such crimes. How has the awareness drive carried out by the government panned out?

A Awareness is certainly the key to preventing such crimes. Modi ji spoke about digital arrests in Mann ki Baat and created awareness among people. We have worked extensively on it. Modi ji gave the mantra of Stop, Think and Take Action, and a special programme was broadcast on radio. Even the I4C streamed various videos on cyber crime awareness in cinema halls across the nation. Our agencies are well equipped to track down such criminals by using AI such as face recognition apps.

Q Cryptocurrency has been a major threat to both Indias security and economy. Can you explain the strategy to tackle it?

A Under the vision of Modi ji to secure our economy and our cyber space, we have launched many initiatives against crypto. As many as 6,000 police personnel have been trained in cryptocurrency investigation by March 2025. We are now ready with the draft proposal for establishing a Cryptocurrency Centre of Excellence under I4C. Similarly, we have procured forensic analysis tools for cryptocurrency investigation. A web page and complete grievance redressal system are ready for registration of complaints related to Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. The SOP for search and seizure of VDAs is now ready and will be presented soon. A lab with 20 computers and a capacity of 40 people is being established in I4C for cryptocurrency training.

Q Under the criminal laws, there are dedicated provisions for tackling offences including electronic communication and digital activities. Do you think state police forces are equipped to handle such complaints?

A The three new laws will prove to be a game-changer in the arena of defence against cyber crime because they provide for trying habitual offenders under the sections meant for organised crime. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita defines organised crimes in such a manner that even cyber crimes occurring under various geographies or jurisdictions and perpetrated by habitual offenders can be covered under it, enabling strict action against organised cyber criminals. The new laws keep our criminal justice system up-to-date by including provisions to automatically incorporate all technological advancements over the next 100 years. Whether it is the crime scene investigation or trial, the use of technology is ubiquitous.

There are provisions for strict penalties for hacking, data theft, personal information theft, cyber bullying, phishing and other online frauds. Offenders can face up to 10 years of imprisonment and hefty fines. Now all state police forces are being trained and equipped to comply with these mandatory changes.

Q Cyber forensic investigations and use of technology can bolster the capacity of state police forces. How will you ensure that capacity building goes hand in hand with digital revolution in the country?

A The Modi government has made all-out efforts to build capacity nationwide to tackle the new age challenge. The National Cyber Crime Training Centre (NCTC) provides basic and advanced hands-on training to police officers and CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) personnel in the fields of digital forensics and cyber crime investigation. Apart from the police, the judiciary is also being trained on cyber crimes, cyber laws and emerging technologies. Over two lakh employees from various ministries and departments, teachers and students, senior citizens and volunteers from NCC, NSS and NYKS (Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan) have been provided training.

Q The Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) has been established to make the justice delivery system faster and more effective. Use of technology is key to bringing relief to the common man. Where are we today?

A Under the CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems), almost every police station in India has been connected. It holds 34 crore records related to crime and criminalsmaking it one of the largest crime databases.

The e-Court, which is a system that brings 22,000 courts online, helps courts manage cases, schedules, records and judgments digitally, improving transparency and efficiency. Similarly, the e-Prisons, a digital management system for prisons, stores information about over 2 crore prisoners. This system is running in 1,361 jails across India, making prisoner management easier for authorities. The e-Prosecution is a digital platform for managing court prosecution records. It holds 1.93 crore case records. It is currently used in 751 prosecution districts across all 36 states and Union territories. Prosecution records include FIRs, draft chargesheets, orders & judgments and cause lists. The NAFIS (National Automated Fingerprint Identification System) is a nationwide digital fingerprint database. It has 1.13 crore fingerprint records. So far, 7,500 chance prints have been matched trough NAFIS since its launch in August 2022 and helped in identifying criminals. The i-MoT (Integrated Minitoring of Terrorism), which is a special tool to track cases under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), holds 24,000 records related to terrorism and unlawful activities. The NIDAAN (National Integrated Database on Arrested Narco-offenders) portal, a database that tracks narcotics offenders, currently has data on over 8.26 lakh offenders. The Cri-MAC (Crime Multi Agency Centre), a national alert system that shares crime-related information between different agencies, has generated 21,20,437 alerts so far to quickly track and act on criminal activities.

The e-Forensics is a digital forensic database. It contains over 40 lakh forensic records, including evidence, reports and test resultsused to support criminal investigations. It receives requests from police for the forensic examinations of samples and maintains records of reports generated on these forensic examinations by Central, state and regional forensic science laboratories.

Q After the completion of the ICJS, the home ministry has moved ahead with the implementation of ICJS-2. What are the new additions in the second phase?

A On February 21, 2022, ICJS-2 was approved with a focus on data exchange, single-point data entry and secure online paperless transactions. Modi ji has envisioned a cyber space secured by the whole-of-government approach. Under this system, once a case is registered in a police station, it will provide information to all the concerned wings. For example, if a case is registered against a drug dealer in a police station, it will also inform the NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau) immediately. This will make way for seamless coordination among agencies.

Phase 2 will be made available through a dedicated and secure cloud-based infrastructure with high-speed connectivity. Under this project, several steps are being taken to identify cyber crime suspects. In September 2024, a suspect registry was launched in collaboration with banks and financial institutions to identify cyber criminals. So far, 47 banks and financial institutions have joined the initiative, and over 8.64 lakh suspect data entries have been recorded. Furthermore, 21.54 lakh mule accounts have been shared with institutions, which has helped banks decline transactions worth Rs3,191 crore across the country. The Samanvaya portal assists coordination in interstate cyber crime investigations, intelligence sharing and providing technical-legal support by law enforcement agencies. On the other hand, the Sahayog portal automates the process of issuing notices to intermediaries by states and Union territories.

Q What is the role of NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid)? How many agencies are going to share information and how many are using it?

A NATGRID is a robust technological platform aimed at combating terrorism and enhancing national security. To ensure data security and privacy, NATGRID encrypts information and provides access to authorised users as per their mandate. A standard operating procedure has been issued for operations on NATGRID. It enables timely access to information, thereby enhancing the efficiency of law enforcement agencies (LEAs). Currently, NATGRID is being used by 11 authorised Central agencies and all 36 state and police forces. The process to expand its reach to the district level is underway.

Q Is there a need for cyber patrolling?

A As I have told you, we have set the goal to establish a special branch of trained cyber commandos to tackle cyber security threats across the country. Cyber patrolling by them will make cyber space even safer.

Q Indian diaspora is falling victim to cyber crimes. If the victim is an Indian national and money trail is in India, can Indian authorities register case and take action?

A If a person of Indian origin is an Indian citizen, and the cyber fraud occurred in India with the money trail also within India, then the complaint must be registered on the portal through someone located in India. After that, appropriate action can be taken.

Q Are we in the process of setting up a centralised Network Operating Centre for real-time monitoring of cyber hygiene of cyber assets in the Central government?

A The ministry of electronics and information technology is working on establishing a centralised Security Operation Centre (SOC) through NIC (National Informatics Centre).

Q Under the new criminal laws, there are dedicated provisions for tackling offences, including electronic communication and digital activities. Have they helped in tackling cyber crimes?

A The provisions of the BNSS are cutting-edge in nature. This is the reason it is highly efficient in tackling new-age crimes like cyber crime. We have made investigation and conviction faster and easier by making electronic evidence admissible in the court through the BNSS. Voice logs and digital voicemails have been given the same legal acceptability as documents, enabling faster and more authentic presentation of evidence in courts. We have made audio-video recording, videography of forensic evidence and digital recording mandatory during police interrogations. This has increased transparency and accountability in investigations.

The e-FIR introduced by BNSS offers a revolutionary method for reporting crimes against women, enabling prompt reporting of sensitive crimes. Now, everything from FIRs to case diaries, charge sheets and judgments will be fully digitised. All police stations and courts will maintain a register containing e-mail addresses, phone numbers or other such contact details.

Q Has the government developed a procedure to return the money to cyber fraud victims after the money is recovered from criminals?

A Through the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS), money seized is returned to the victim following due legal process under BNSS 2023. Agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can seize properties of accused persons in cyber crime-related cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Recently, the ED seized properties worth Rs20.69 crore connected to cyber crime. So far, Rs4,725 crore has been recovered for 14.47 lakh people.

Q The NCFL has been set up in Delhi under I4C. Will it assist states?

A The National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory is mandated to assist states and Union territories in cyber forensic investigations. It provides technical support and forensic analysis to law enforcement agencies across India, helping them address cyber crime challenges and enhance their investigative capabilities. It organises training courses for law enforcement agencies under states, Union territories and Central investigation agencies. If any state requests training for its agencies, they are provided with regular training. In the Basic Course provided by the NCFL, around 1,215 LEAs have been trained, and in the advanced course, around 440 LEAs have been trained till March 31, 2025. The trainees belong to all the states and Union territories. As of March 31, NCFL has conducted cyber forensic examinations of approximately 11,974 devices to assist the LEAs.

Q Apart from government agencies, private players like social media platforms, banks and internet service providers play a key role in cyber security which are sometimes located in foreign countries. How does the government ensure coordination in such matters?

A Under the Indian laws, any social media intermediary operating in India is bound to provide relevant data to the law enforcement agencies of India. Apart from this, I4C is also cooperating with the law enforcement agencies of foreign countries through the Bharatpol portal and G8 24x7 network. Indias leadership of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) is central to our strategy for combating transnational cyber crimes, particularly financial fraud and darknet markets.
GAZA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 34 Palestinians, including a journalist and an official of the Civil Defense in Gaza, were killed on Sunday in Israeli attacks across Gaza, said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense.

Ten people, including journalist Hassan Abu Warda, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on homes and gatherings in Jabalia and Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, and 14 people were killed in Israeli attacks on homes, a gathering, and a motorcycle in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Basal told Xinhua.

In central Gaza, five people were killed in an Israeli attack on a tent housing displaced people in the city of Deir al-Balah. Ashraf Abu Nar, director of operations at the Civil Defense, and his wife were killed in an Israeli bombing at his home. And a pregnant woman was killed in an Israeli attack on a tent in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Basal said.

One person was killed by Israeli drones targeting a gathering of Palestinians in the al-Karama neighborhood, north of Gaza City, and another was killed in an Israeli attack on a vehicle in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, west of the city, Basal said.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday that two of its Palestinian staff members were killed in Israeli attacks on their homes in Khan Younis on Saturday.

Also on Sunday, Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said its members carried out a complex operation targeting an army force that had taken refuge inside a house east of the town of Al-Qarara, east of Khan Younis.

The Israeli army said in a statement that a tank commander from its 52nd Battalion was seriously wounded during a clash with Hamas in northern Gaza.

Israel halted the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, following the expiration of the first phase of a January ceasefire agreement with Hamas. It resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18, which have so far killed 3,785 people and injured 10,756, Gaza-based health authorities said Sunday.

According to a statement issued Sunday by the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, the number of journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023 has risen to 220. 
Colombo, May 25 (PTI) Political parties in Sri Lanka have not yet nominated their members elected to the 338 local councils, as the June 2 deadline for their inaugural sessions approaches.

Sri Lanka held local council elections on May 6.

The parties were told on May 15 to nominate all members by May 22, but the lists have not been completed, Saman Sri Rathnayaka, the Director General of the election commission, said.

The councils are to meet for their inaugural sessions on June 2.

Rathnayaka said by May 23 steps have been taken to gazette the names of those elected first past the post, which comprises 60 per cent of members. About 40 per cent are elected by parties under the cumulative votes polled by each party in each council.

Individuals whose names are not published by June 2 will be ineligible to participate in the June 2 sessions.

Out of the 338 local councils which went to polls, the ruling National Peoples Power (NPP), came first in 265.

Rathnayaka said in 178 of the 338 councils, no political party could get a majority.
Kathmandu, May 25 (PTI) A 62-year-old Indian national died on Sunday after collapsing near a washroom at a cable car station in Nepals Chitwan district, officials said.

The incident occurred around 8:30 am at the Manakamana Cable Car Station in Kurintar, about 200 km south of Kathmandu.

The man, identified as Mannu Prasad Bhatt, was declared dead at a local hospital, according to Ujjwal Serchan, Deputy General Manager of the cable car station.

Bhatt, accompanied by his wife and son-in-law, was on his way for a 'darshan' at the Manakamana Devi temple in Gorkha district when the incident occurred.

Preliminary investigations suggest that Bhatt's death may have been caused by cardiac arrest, possibly linked to his recent descent from the high-altitude Mustang region in northwest Nepal.

He had just arrived at the cable car station after offering prayers at Muktinath, a revered Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage site in Mustang district, Serchan said.
Quito, May 24 (AP) Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa was officially sworn in on Saturday following his reelection for another four-year term early this year.

Noboa, 37, who wore a presidential sash over his chest, was sworn in alongside his Vice President Maria Jose Pinto and their terms will run until May 2029.

The young president, who has become known for his fight against a surge of armed group violence in the South American country, pledged in his inauguration speech to continue to tackle corruption, drug trafficking and violent crime. He also swore to implement reforms and said he would lay a solid foundation for job creation and investment" by working with Ecuador's private sector.

We are at the doorstep of four years of progress, he said.

The ceremony in the capital, Quito, was attended by U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, and many other international guests and delegates.

Noboa was first elected as president in November 2023 aged 35, with little political experience. He unexpectedly entered the race and was elected to complete the term of his predecessor, Guillermo Lasso, who had dissolved the Assembly and stepped down to avoid impeachment.

Noboa was re-elected on April 13 in a run-off against left-wing candidate Luisa Gonzalez, who has made repeated allegations of electoral fraud. Her Citizen Revolution party, lead by former president Rafael Correa, boycotted Saturday's ceremony, even though Gonzalez claims were rejected by Ecuador's electoral authority and both national and international observers.

Violence and high unemployment levels remain the biggest challenges facing the president and his National Democratic Action (ADN) party, which also was able to hold the majority in the country's congress through a number of political alliances.

Maintaining that majority will be crucial for Noboa in pushing through his agenda, including a crime-fighting bill marked as urgent for its economic implications. The proposal has already drawn criticism from the opposition.

Juan Francisco Camino, a professor at the Equinoctial Technological University, said Noboa's tight majority could easily shift the balance.

Just one lost vote from his allies could paralyse his plans," Camino said in an interview.

Asked whether Noboa might change his governing approach in this new term, Camino predicted continuity, especially with the government's focus on using state power to fight crime, which he said sells legitimacy.

Ecuador is one of the most dangerous countries in the region, with around 8,000 violent deaths by the end of 2024 and crime continuing to rise in 2025. Camino stressed that Noboa must look beyond security and focus on rebuilding Ecuador's social fabric, especially in areas like jobs, healthcare, and education.

Others said it was important to focus on root causes of violence, like lack of opportunities which often pushes young people to join criminal groups. Only 33 per cent of Ecuadorians had full-time jobs as of late last year, with the rest working in the informal economy. (AP) RHL
Kathmandu, May 25 (PTI) As many as two million people from 450,000 households may be affected this year by monsoon-related disasters in Nepal, according to an official forecast on Sunday.

The forecast was made in the proposed Monsoon Preparedness and Response National Action Plan, prepared by analysing all the related factors based on the data released by the Department of Meteorology.

"We have estimated that around two million people would be affected in the coming monsoon. All seven provinces of the country would be affected, so sector-wide responsibilities have been delegated for the preparedness," said National Disaster Risk Response and Management Authority (NDRRMA) spokesperson Ram Bahadur KC. He added that 450,000 households might also be affected.

KC said that that the action plan was charted out with the estimation that 10 per cent of the affected people might require rescue and relief works.

The national action plan would be presented in the meeting of the executive committee of the NDRRMA on May 28, he said, adding that it would come into effect after its endorsement.

The proposed plan has put forth the actions, including monthly monitoring, evaluation and review of the disaster, KC said.

The department has recently made public the weather forecasts for the coming monsoon in Nepal, according to which the country would receive extreme rainfall with lower minimum and higher maximum temperatures.

On the basis of the forecasts, the NDRRMA has prepared the disaster response national action plan considering recommendations of different stakeholders and organisations.

Last year, floods and landslides killed around 250 people in Nepal including over 50 death reported in Kathmandu valley.
Ljubljana (Slovenia), May 25 (PTI) An all-party delegation led by DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi arrived in Slovenia as part of Indias diplomatic outreach to reinforce its firm stance against cross-border terrorism.

The delegation was received by the Indian Ambassador to Slovenia Amit Narang.

"'Taking Bharats message to the world. The all-Party delegation led Honble MP Smt. @KanimozhiDMK arrived in Slovenia. Warmly welcomed by Amb @Amit_Narang and Embassy officials," the Indian embassy here said in a post on X.

The delegation arrived in Slovenia after concluding its visit to Russia, where it held wide-ranging discussions to brief the stakeholders in tried and tested friend Russia on Operation Sindoor.

The group, which includes Rajiv Rai of SP, Mian Altaf Ahmad of NC, Capt Brijesh Chowta of BJP, Prem Chand Gupta of RJD, and Ambassador Jawed Ashraf, is also scheduled to travel to Greece, Latvia and Spain.

It is one of the seven multi-party delegations India has tasked to visit 33 global capitals to reach out to the international community to emphasise Pakistan's links to terrorism and assert that the recent conflict was triggered by the Pahalgam terror strike and not Operation Sindoor as alleged by Islamabad.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the April 22 Pahalgam attack, which claimed 26 lives.

India carried out precision strikes as part of Operation Sindoor on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7, following which Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions.

The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10.
Doha, May 24 (PTI) An all-party parliamentary delegation led by NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule arrived in Qatar late Saturday as part of the governments outreach with the international community on the fight against terror and on the significance of Operation Sindoor.

Apart from Sule, the working president of the NCP-SP, the delegation comprises BJP leaders Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Anurag Thakur and V Muraleedharan, Congress leaders Manish Tewari and Anand Sharma, TDP leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, AAP leader Vikramjeet Singh Sawhney, and former diplomat Syed Akbaruddin. It will also travel to South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt.

Taking Indias strong message against terrorism to the world! A warm welcome to the multi-party delegation led by @Supriya_sule to Qatar. Ambassador @vipulifs received the delegation. @MEAIndia, the Indian Embassy in Doha said on X.

The post was shared by Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. Qatar is considered to wield influence in the West Asian region and has a role as a mediator in regional conflicts.

The Sule-led group will then travel to South Africa, which holds the current G-20 Presidency and then head to Ethiopia, which is also the home to the African Union. The delegation will visit Egypt, an influential country in the Arab world.

The delegation is one of the seven multi-party delegations India has tasked to visit 33 global capitals to reach out to the international community to emphasise Pakistan's links to terrorism and assert that the recent conflict was triggered by the Pahalgam terror strike and not Operation Sindoor as alleged by Islamabad.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the April 22 Pahalgam attack, which claimed 26 lives.

India carried out precision strikes as part of Operation Sindoor on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7, following which Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions.

The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10.
A newly released poll conducted by co/efficient shows Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik in a near tie with Democratic incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul in a hypothetical race for New York governor in 2026. The survey of likely voters indicates Hochul leading Stefanik 43% to 42%, with 15% of voters undecided.

The same poll highlights President Donald Trumps favorability in New York, where he holds a 44% favorability rating, surpassing Hochuls net approval rating of -17%. Only 23% of respondents believe Hochul deserves re-election, while nearly two-thirds prefer a new governor, underscoring her vulnerability.

Stefanik, a staunch Trump ally representing New Yorks 21st Congressional District, has not officially declared her candidacy but has expressed strong interest.

Unlike Kathy Hochul, who was defeated after one term in Congress, we have a record of winning  not just Republicans but winning independents and a fair percentage of Democrats, Stefanik told the New York Post.

Her favorability stands at 34%, with 32% unfavorable and 34% unsure or unaware of her, according to the poll.

A separate Siena College poll conducted last month reinforces Stefaniks strength among Republican voters, showing her with 35% support in a potential GOP primary, compared to 22% for Rep. Mike Lawler and 11% for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

No Republicans have formally entered the gubernatorial race, but Stefaniks senior adviser, Alex DeGrasse, told Breitbart News that she is a shoe-in for the nomination if she runs, citing her popularity among New York Republicans.

Hochuls campaign dismissed Stefaniks potential candidacy, labeling her an extremist and staunch Trump loyalist. Spokesperson Jen Goodman said, We welcome the opportunity to contrast Gov. Hochuls record of putting money back in New Yorkers pockets, supporting our kids, and keeping communities safe with Stefaniks out-of-touch, divisive and dangerous record.

The poll also reflects broader dissatisfaction with Hochuls leadership. A Siena College survey from April reported Hochuls favorability at 44%, with 48% of voters preferring another candidate in 2026. Her approval rating remains slightly positive, but her re-election prospects face challenges, particularly as New York has seen a shift toward Republican candidates in recent elections.

Stefaniks potential run follows her withdrawal as Trumps nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in March 2025, a decision made to maintain the GOPs slim House majority. She has since been named chairwoman of House Republican Leadership. Her campaign has been bolstered by endorsements from major donors and encouragement from Trump, who posted on Truth Social, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik is GREAT!!!

New York has not elected a Republican governor since George Patakis tenure ended in 2007. The 2022 gubernatorial race, where Hochul defeated Republican Lee Zeldin by 6 points, was the states closest in decades.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The Lakewood community is once again plunged into mourning with the heartbreaking news that Refoel Faham zl, one of the initial survivors of Friday mornings horrific car crash, has tragically succumbed to his injuries.

Refoel zl had been critically injured in the devastating accident that occurred on Hope Chapel Road near New Central Avenue. Hatzolah paramedics rushed him to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery and received intensive medical care for over 18 hours. Despite the valiant efforts of the medical team, Refoel was niftar shortly before the onset of Shabbos.

The accident, which unfolded early Friday morning, involved a Toyota Sienna carrying five bochurim. Preliminary reports indicate the vehicle struck a deer, causing the driver to lose control. The minivan veered off the road and crashed into a tree, igniting a fire that engulfed the vehicle.

Two of the bochurimDovid Yitzchok Handler zl and Chaim Zelig Berl zlwere tragically niftar at the scene.

The petirah of Refoel zl brings the toll from this devastating tragedy to three.

Please continue davening for the refuah sheleima of Meir Moshe Aharon ben Devorah Naomi.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
GENEVA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Five skiers have been found dead by rescuers on a glacier in Switzerland's ski resort Zermatt region, local police said on Sunday.

The Valais cantonal police said in a press release that a report was received on Saturday afternoon of abandoned skis noticed by two skiers at the foot of the Rimpfischhorn summit which is about 4,000 meters high.

An aerial survey and ground searches were carried out, discovering the bodies of five people on the Adler glacier near the mountain, the police said.

The identification of the victims is still ongoing. Local authorities have launched an investigation into the accident, the police added. 
Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war.

Hours earlier, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russias Defense Ministry said each side exchanged 303 soldiers, following the release of 307 combatants and civilians each on Saturday, and 390 on Friday  the biggest total swap of the war.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Sundays exchange, saying on X that 303 Ukrainian defenders are home. He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.

Nataliya Borovyk, the sister of released Ukrainian soldier Ihor Ulesov, was overwhelmed when she learned of her brothers return.

My uncle had to calm me down and put me in a taxi so I could get here, she told The Associated Press. A moment like that stays with you forever.

Borovyk said the family had been waiting anxiously for news, and that she had hoped her brother might be released in the first part of the exchange on Friday.

We were worried about all the guys. He wasnt there on Friday, but I was here  I at least greeted them, I stood there until the very end and waited, (hoping) maybe he would appear after all.

In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month  the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks  Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks.

Largest aerial attack of the war

The scale of the onslaught was stunning  Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraines Air Force.

In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes.

For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century,

Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia  a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialized in ways to deter Russia.

These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities, Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sundays targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

Americas silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help.

Russias Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Sleepless night

Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service.

A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault lasted all night.

Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.

In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the buildings walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.

The scale of Russias use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion.

A village engulfed in smoke and rubble

In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears.

The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, its just terrible, said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraines most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren hadnt joined them for the weekend.

I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us, Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here its the ground floor.

She said, No, mum, Im not coming. And thank God she didnt come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the childrens rooms were, Fedorenko said.

Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. They burned to death, he said. I want to bury them, but Im not allowed yet.

No halt in fighting

The POW exchange was the latest of scores of swaps since the war began but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians.

Still, it has not halted the fighting. Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.

Russias Defense Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the North group of Russian forces as saying Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in the Kursk region, which Putin visited days ago.

The troops continue to advance forward every day, Yakimkin said, adding that Russian forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraines northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk.

Speaking on Russian state TV on Sunday, a Russian serviceman said that Putin was reportedly flying over the Kursk region in a helicopter when the area came under intense Ukrainian drone attack during his visit.

Putins helicopter was virtually at the epicenter of repelling a large-scale attack by the enemys drones, said Yuri Dashkin, described as commander of a Russian air defense division. He added that Russian air defense units shot down 46 drones during the incident.

(AP)
One program distributes laptops in rural Iowa. Another helped people get back online after Hurricane Helene washed away computers and phones in western North Carolina. Programs in Oregon and rural Alabama teach older people, including some who have never touched a computer, how to navigate in an increasingly digital world.

It all came crashing down this month when President Donald Trump  on his own digital platform, Truth Social  announced his intention to end the Digital Equity Act, a federal grant program meant to help bridge the digital divide. He branded it as RACIST and ILLEGAL and said it amounts to woke handouts based on race. He said it was an ILLEGAL $2.5 BILLION DOLLAR giveaway, though the program was actually funded with $2.75 billion.

The name seemed innocuous enough when the program was approved by Congress in 2021 as part of a $65 billion investment meant to bring internet access to every home and business in the United States. The broadband program itself was a key component of the $1 trillion infrastructure law pushed through by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden.

The Digital Equity Act was intended to fill gaps and cover unmet needs that surfaced during the massive broadband rollout. It gave states and tribes flexibility to deliver high-speed internet access to families that could not afford it, computers to kids who did not have them, telehealth access to older adults in rural areas, and training and job skills to veterans.

Whether Trump has the legal authority to end the program remains unknown. But for now the Republican administration can simply stop spending the money.

I just felt my heart break for what we were finally, finally in this country, going to address, the digital divide, said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a nonprofit that was awarded  but has not received  a $25.7 million grant to work with groups across the country to help provide access to technology. The digital divide is not just physical access to the internet, it is being able to use that to do what you need to do.

The word equity

While the name of the program likely got it targeted  the Trump administration has been aggressively scrubbing the government of programs that promote diversity, equity or inclusion  the Digital Equity Act was supposed to be broader in scope.

Though Trump called it racist, the words race or racial appear just twice in the laws text: once, alongside color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability, in a passage stating that no groups should be excluded from funding, and later, in a list of covered populations, along with older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, English learners, people with low literacy levels and rural Americans.

Digital Equity passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the acts chief proponent, in a statement. And thats because my Republican colleagues have heard the same stories as I have  like kids in rural communities forced to drive to McDonalds parking lots for Wi-Fi to do their homework.

It is insane  absolutely nuts  that Trump is blocking resources to help make sure kids in rural school districts can get hot spots or laptops, all because he doesnt like the word equity!

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which administers the program, declined to comment. Its not entirely clear how much of the $2.75 billion has been awarded, though last March the NTIA announced the allocation of $811 million to states, territories and tribes.

More confident

On a recent morning in Portland, Oregon, Brandon Dorn was among those taking a keyboard basics class offered by Free Geek, a nonprofit that provides free courses to help people learn to use computers. The class was offered at a low-income housing building to make it accessible for residents.

Dorn and the others were given laptops and shown the different functions of keys: control, shift and caps lock, how to copy and paste. They played a typing game that taught finger and key placement on a color-coded keyboard.

Dorn, 63, said the classes helped because in this day and age, everything has to go through the computer. He said it helped him feel more confident and less dependent on his children or grandchildren to do things such as making appointments online.

Folks my age, we didnt get this luxury because we were too busy working, raising the family, he said. So this is a great way to help us help ourselves.

Juan Muro, Free Geeks executive director, said participants get the tools and skills they need to access things like online banking, job applications, online education programs and telehealth. He said Trumps move to end funding has put nonprofits such as Free Geek in a precarious position, forcing them to make up the difference through their own fundraising and beg for money to just provide individuals with essential stuff.

Sara Nichols works for the Land of Sky Regional Council, a multicounty planning and development organization in western North Carolina. On the Friday before Trumps inauguration in January, the organization received notice that it was approved for a grant. But like other groups The Associated Press contacted, it has not seen any money.

Land of Sky had spent a lot of resources helping people recover from last years storms. The award notice, Nichols said, came as incredible news.

But between this and the state losing, getting their letters terminated, we feel just like stuck. What are we going to do? How are we going to move forward? How are we going to let our communities continue to fall behind?

Filling unmet needs

More than one-fifth of Americans do not have broadband internet access at home, according to the Pew Research Center. In rural communities, the number jumps to 27 percent.

Beyond giving people access to technology and fast internet, many programs funded by the Digital Equity Act sought to provide digital navigators  human helpers to guide people new to the online world.

In the United States we do not have a consistent source of funding to help individuals get online, understand how to be safe online and how to use that technology to accomplish all the things that are required now as part of life that are online, said Siefer of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance.

This includes everything from providing families with internet hot spots so they can get online at home to helping seniors avoid online scams.

Health, workforce, education, jobs, everything, right? Siefer said. This law was going to be the start for the U.S. to figure out this issue. Its a new issue in the big scheme of things, because now technology is no longer a nice-to-have. You have to have the internet and you have to know how to use the technology just to survive, let alone to thrive today.

Siefer said the word equity in the name probably prompted Trump to target the program for elimination.

But it means that he didnt actually look at what this program does, she said. Because who doesnt want grandma to be safe online? Who doesnt want a veteran to be able to talk to their doctor rather than get in a car and drive two hours? Who doesnt want students to be able to do their homework?

(AP)
Hatzolah of Central Jersey expressed gratitude to local and county partners, including Bikur Cholim, Chai Lifeline, Msaskm, Jackson EMS, and others, for their professional and compassionate response to a tragic motor vehicle accident in Jackson Township on Friday.

The coordinated efforts of multiple agencies provided critical support during the heartbreaking incident. Hatzolah emphasized the importance of unified emergency response and their commitment to serving the community alongside these partners.

Read the full letter below:
A moving visit took place today at the United Hatzalah headquarters, when the founder of the Hatzalah organization in the United States, Rabbi Hershel Weber, arrived for a special tour with his sons Naftali and Meir. He was greeted by Eli Beer, President and Founder of United Hatzalah, and Lazer Hyman  VP and Head of Volunteers and Operations.

During the visit, Eli Beer shared with Rabbi Weber the story of United Hatzalahs establishment, referring to the parallels between the path Rabbi Weber pioneered in New York in 1966 and the challenges faced during United Hatzalahs early days in Israel. When you established Hatzalah in the US, they warned you not to do it because of the ambulance monopoly  yet you chose to go against the current. Today, its impossible to imagine a Jewish community without Hatzalah, Beer said. We in Israel also received warnings, but today its unimaginable how we managed without United Hatzalah. Since establishing the organization, weve responded to more than 7 million emergency calls, and your inspiration contributed to the establishment of dozens of additional organizations.

During the emotional meeting, Eli Beer shared with Rabbi Weber the moving stories of how United Hatzalah volunteers saved many lives during the war that broke out on Simchat Torah 5783 (October 2023). Beer told Rabbi Weber, All these lives saved are thanks to you and the enormous enterprise you established almost 60 years ago. Rabbi Weber burst into tears of emotion when he heard this from Eli Beer and asked to hear more about the tremendous life-saving operation in Israel. Rabbi Weber expressed deep emotion at seeing the extensive activities and innovative technologies used by United Hatzalah, especially the advanced professional technologies of the national dispatch center.

Later in the visit, VP Lazer Hyman presented the Koach Hatzalah (Power of Rescue) unit which was established for Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) volunteers in United Hatzalah. The project coordinator Bentzi Spitzer elaborated on the activities currently being developed to allow all Haredi volunteers to continue saving lives while meticulously maintaining their religious standards.

At the conclusion of the special and moving visit, United Hatzalah President Eli Beer presented Rabbi Weber with a special token of appreciation  a silver ambulance model with his name, in recognition of his groundbreaking contribution to saving lives throughout the Jewish world.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Leading halachic authorities, hundreds of kashrus supervisors, and representatives of major kosher certification bodies from across Eretz Yisroel and the world gathered in Yerushalayim recently for OU Koshers annual International Kashrus Conference.

The event served as a forum for discussing some of the most complex and urgent issues facing the global kosher industry  from halachic challenges in industrial kashrus to questions of policy and practice  and highlighted the growing need for collaboration across diverse communities and hashgachos.

Participants included notable figures from across the Charedi spectrum, among them Rav Asher Weiss, a foremost halachic authority, Rav Dovid Cohen (Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chevron), Rabbi Dovid Feinstein (Yeshivas Beis Yehuda), Rishon LeZion Rabbi David Yosef and Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber, and Rav Yaakov Shapira (Rosh Yeshiva of Mercaz HaRav and member of the Chief Rabbinate Council).

In his remarks, Rav Asher Weiss noted the importance of distinguishing between abstract halachic principles and their implementation in complex, industrial contexts  a challenge, he said, that requires experience and reliability on the ground. Several speakers echoed this concern, pointing to the increasing globalization of the food industry and the need for consistent, high-level oversight at every stage of production.

A key theme that emerged was the crucial infrastructure behind modern kashrus  and the interdependence it creates between communities, organizations, and hashgachos worldwide. Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, and Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO and Executive Rabbinic Coordinator of OU Kosher, lead the OUs kashrus division, and both spoke about the scope of contemporary certification and the importance of maintaining halachic autonomy in the face of commercial pressures, as well as the diversity of the gathering.

There are very few venues where representatives from such a wide range of hashgachos sit at the same table to discuss standards, policy, and halacha, said Rabbi Moshe Elefant. It reflects the reality that no single organization can operate in isolation  especially when so many kosher products depend on shared ingredients and overlapping systems. Even though OU Kosher is among the largest certifiers in the world, we are still constantly seeking advice and direction from Gedolei Haposkim.

Rabbi Gavriel Pappenheim, Executive Director of the Badatz-Eidah HaChareidis kashrus committee recognized the tremendous influence of OU Kosher No organization benefits the public like the OU, which is the largest kashrus body in the world. He went on to say, The OU has paved the way for other kashrus organizations to enter raw ingredient production factories around the world.

A panel discussion featuring senior figures from Israels largest kashrus agencies highlighted these shared values  and differences  among organizations. Participants included Rabbi Gavriel Pappenheim (Executive Director of Badatz-Eidah HaChareidis Kashrus), Rav Tzvi Vebber (posek for Sheeris), and Rav Yosef Efrati, each of whom addressed current industry challenges and praised the opportunity for open dialogue. The discussion was moderated by Rabbi Rafael Menat, Rabbi of the Osem food corporation.

Rav Dovid Cohen spoke about the broader significance of kashrus in Jewish life, saying its impact extends far beyond the technical fulfillment of mitzvos: Strengthening kashrus strengthens Yiddishkeit, he said.

A Q&A session with Rav Mordechai Gross, a halachic authority for the OU, focused on the day-to-day realities facing mashgichim in the field, such as balancing work responsibilities with religious obligations like davening with a minyan.

Throughout the conference, the discussions emphasized that kosher certification today operates on a truly global scale. With that reach comes a responsibility to uphold halachic integrity while working across vastly different systems and communities  a task that, participants agreed, requires both technical expertise and deep rabbinic consultation.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The suspect in Wednesday nights fatal shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., allegedly authored a manifesto calling for violent attacks against individuals and institutions connected to Israel, declaring nonviolent protest insufficient and urging supporters to escalate for Gaza.

Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, is accused of killing two Israeli embassy staff members as they exited an American Jewish Committee (AJC) Young Diplomats event around 9:00 p.m. Rodriguez shouted Free, free Palestine as he was arrested. Authorities have not yet officially confirmed a motive, but a manifesto shared online under Rodriguezs name appears to outline a premeditated justification for violence.

The document, titled Escalate For Gaza, Bring The War Home, was posted to a now-suspended account on X, and has been linked to Rodriguez by the ADL Center on Extremism with what it calls a high degree of certainty. The manifesto urges supporters to abandon what it terms ineffective forms of protest in favor of armed action, calling Israels military operations genocide and declaring that its abettors have forfeited their humanity.

The action would have been morally justified taken 11 years ago during Protective Edge, the manifesto states, referring to Israels 2014 military campaign in Gaza. But now, in 2025, it feels like the only sane thing to do. The text concludes with the signature, Free Palestine, Elias Rodriguez.

The post also praises Aaron Bushnell, a U.S. Airman who died in 2024 after self-immolating outside the Israeli embassy in protest of U.S. support for Israel, and calls such acts moral demonstrations of resistance.

Rodriguezs alleged social media activity, archived before the account was suspended, included multiple statements celebrating anti-Israel violence and sharing posts praising Hezbollah and Hamas. One post read, Dont blame me, I voted for Hamas, while another declared Death to Israel.

Law enforcement officials are investigating the manifesto as part of a broader probe into Rodriguezs motivations and potential affiliations. Though Rodriguez has not been formally linked to any terror organization, his online presence indicates ties to extreme anti-Zionist rhetoric and groups with histories of militant protest.

According to the ADL, Rodriguez had previous associations with the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), participating in multiple protests from 2017 to 2018 in Chicago. Both groups have sought to distance themselves from the attack. In a statement, PSL wrote: We reject any attempt to associate the PSL with the DC shootingWe have nothing to do with this shooting and do not support it.

Nevertheless, radical groups online have openly praised the attack. Masar Badil, a transnational anti-Israel organization, called the shooting a natural consequence of Israeli policy in Gaza. Others, including the Bronx Anti-War Coalition, described the act as the highest expression of anti-Zionism, and posted, We need more Elias Rodriguez in the world.

Meanwhile, white supremacist and far-right forums also reacted with grotesque approval, with some praising the attack as enemies killing each other, and others using the suspects identity to spread anti-immigrant hate  despite no evidence Rodriguez is an immigrant.

The attack comes amid a steep rise in antisemitic violence and threats in the United States. According to the ADL, 1,702 antisemitic incidents have already been recorded in 2024, including more than 600 related to anti-Israel demonstrations. This marks the eighth violent plot or attack targeting Jews or pro-Israel figures since July 2024.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Terrorists from a Hamas terror cell who fired last week at IDF soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip, seriously injuring a tank commander, were eliminated within minutes by the 401st Brigade combat team, the IDF spokesperson said on Sunday.

The forces of the 401st Brigade combat team, under the command of the 162nd Division, are operating in the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Gideons Chariots, the IDF spokesperson said.

Last week, a tank commander from Battalion 52 was seriously injured during a clash with Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip. The soldiers returned fire and eliminated several terrorists from the squad in just four minutes.

Shortly afterward, an Air Force aircraft, in cooperation with the 401st Brigades firepower, carried out an airstrike and eliminated the remaining members of the cell.

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(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
In an unusual and serious incident, an IDF soldier was seriously injured on Motzei Shabbos in a fight with another soldier in the northern Gaza Strip.

The soldier was evacuated from Gaza by helicopter to the hospital.

A preliminary investigation of the incident revealed that it occurred as soldiers from the Nahal Brigades 931st Battalion were resting in their compound in the Beit Lahiya area. A fight developed between two soldiers, and one soldier hit the other with a weapon and then beat him with a hot water kettle.

The brigade commander interrogated the soldier and suspended him from combat service.

A military investigation was launched into the serious incident.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Democrats chairman Yair Golan on Motzei Shabbos tried to backtrack on the outrageous statements he made last week about IDF soldiers killing babies as a hobby.

Speaking in an interview with Channel 12, Golan said: Of course, Israel doesnt kill babies as a hobby. Israel has not committed war crimes in Gaza.

He excused himself by saying that his statements were directed at the government, claiming that the goal of the war in Gaza is political.

He then claimed that there is no purpose of the war in Gaza, falsely stating that Hamas has already been militarily defeated.

The interviewer asked Golan about the harsh statements he himself made following the October 7 assault, when he advocated for starving the residents of Gaza. Golan claimed that those statements are no longer relevant.

What was right then is not right today, he claimed. At the beginning of the war, I believed it was necessary to apply far more massive pressure on Hamas.

He did not explain why these steps are no longer necessary or relevant.

Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced on Friday that due to Golans blood libel against Israel, he ordered the IDF to bar him from wearing the IDF uniform and entering military bases. Katz added that he will support the advancement of legislation in the Knesset that will authorize the revocation of military ranks from reserve officers for libelous statements against the IDF.

In the interview, Golan expressed defiance to Katzs order, claiming that the defense minister lacks the authority to deny me access to IDF bases.

When I need to enter bases, Ill present my qualifications as a general and I assume theyll me in, he said.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Over the past weekend, Jerusalem District Police officers carried out an operation to locate illegal infiltrators throughout the city of Jerusalem, including prosecuting those who assist them  drivers, employers, and hosts.

In one instance, patrol officers in Beit Hakerem noticed a Chareidi man who aroused their suspicion as he walked through the neighborhood. When the officers called out to him, the suspect began to flee, and the officers chased after him until he was apprehended.

A search of his belongings revealed a flashlight, a veil, a kosher phone, and tear gas. A more in-depth examination revealed that he was a resident of the Palestinian town of Hizma in his 20s and was in Israel illegally.

The police also discovered burglary tools the suspect had hidden along his escape route.

The suspect was transferred to the Moriah station for questioning, and his arrest was later extended by the court.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
WINDHOEK, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Namibia on Sunday commemorated Africa Day 2025, marking the 62nd anniversary of the African Union.

"Since its inception in 1963, the then Organization of the African Unity, now known as the African Union (AU), has been dedicated to advocating for reparations and justice for historical crimes committed against Africans and people of African descent," Namibian Vice President Lucia Witbooi said in a statement issued in Windhoek, the country's capital.

"May 25 embodies the spirit of resilience, solidarity, and unity among Africans in their historic resolve to realize their inalienable right to self-determination and to free themselves from the yoke of colonialism," she said.

According to Witbooi, this year's theme, "Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations," is particularly fitting and relevant as Africans pursue dignity, destiny, economic freedom, and independence.

Citing the AU's participation in the 2001 United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, where the Durban Declaration and Program of Action acknowledged the tragedies of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, Witbooi said it is necessary for victims to have access to justice.

In a direct reference to Namibia's pursuit of reparatory justice, Witbooi confirmed ongoing discussions and negotiations with Germany regarding the genocide committed in Namibia from 1904 to 1908.

"These negotiations are ongoing and aim to achieve a comprehensive resolution that adequately addresses Namibia's rightful claim for reparations and meets the needs of the affected communities," she said, adding that by adopting this year's theme, "we, as Africans, acknowledge the significance of inclusive dialogue and cooperation in advancing restorative justice."

The vice president also highlighted Agenda 2063, the continent's development blueprint. "We are now in the Second 10-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063, which is a manifestation of the collective will and determination of the African people to shape their destiny and reaffirm the African dream of unity, dignity, and prosperity for all. This is in line with the objectives of the AU theme for this year," she noted. 
The Trump administration last week asked Israel to postpone the full-scale ground operation in Gaza in order to exhaust negotiations for a hostage deal, two sources familiar with the details told i24NEWS [Hebrew] on Sunday.

According to the report, the request was twofold: to postpone the full operation in the Strip and to allow the continuation of negotiations that began in Qatar in parallel with the operation currently underway.

Israel has made it clear that the IDF will not withdraw from areas in Gaza it has conquered  even as part of a deal. In addition, the question of a pause within the framework of negotiations will also be more complicated.

From the moment the operation begins, we will operate with great force and will not stop until all goals are achieved  including a voluntary emigration plan for the residents of Gaza, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz stated last week.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said last Wednesday that Israel is prepared for a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages. However, Hamas has continued to insist on US guarantees for the end of the war, spurring Netanyahu to order the return of the Israeli delegation from Qatar on Thursday.

Israel insists that the Witkoff outline, which includes the release of 10 hostages and a 60-day ceasefire, is the only option on the table.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
A firestorm of criticism has erupted over the 2025 Harvard Yearbooks depiction of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, which it described simply as War Breaks Out in Gaza. The entry, part of a timeline for the 2023-2024 academic year, has been condemned by Harvard Chabad and alumnus Shabbos Kestenbaum as a gross misrepresentation of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

The yearbook page, appearing under the Special Events section on page 38, features a photo of a campus statue surrounded by anti-Israel protest paraphernalia alongside the caption: October 2023: War Breaks Out in Gaza. The description omits any mention of the Hamas-led assault that killed 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers and saw over 250 people, including 12 Americans, taken hostage. The attack has been widely recognized as the largest terror attack in Israels history and the deadliest attack targeting Jews since the Holocaust.

Harvard Chabad slammed the yearbooks phrasing as Holocaust-like denial and fake history, comparing it to describing the September 11, 2001, attacks as War breaks out in Afghanistan.

It must be fake history that the genocidal attack on the Jewish people took place, leading to the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Chabad said.

Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard alumnus and vocal advocate against antisemitism on campus, went further, urging employers to probe Harvard graduates from the classes of 2024 to 2028 before hiring them.

Please ask them what they were doing on campus the last two years, he advised. Go through their social media. If they celebrated the abduction of 12 American citizens and the murder of more than 45, perhaps look elsewhere for employees.

He warned that if these graduates represent Americas future leaders, no wonder America has such a dearth of leadership.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Issuer Direct (NYSE:ISDR  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Issuer Direct Stock Performance

The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $9.36. Issuer Direct has a 1-year low of $7.61 and a 1-year high of $12.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $35.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 0.77.

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Issuer Direct Corporation operates as a communications and compliance company, provides solutions for both public relations and investor relations professionals in the United States and internationally. The company provides press release distribution, media databases, media monitoring, and newsrooms through media advantage platform; ACCESSWIRE, a news dissemination and media outreach service; and Webcaster Platform, a cloud-based webcast, webinar, and virtual meeting platform that delivers live and on-demand streaming of events to audiences of various sizes, as well as allows customers to create, produce, and deliver events.

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Shares of Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD  Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of Hold from the ten analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,302.11.

MTD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $1,530.00 to $1,350.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Mettler-Toledo International from $1,369.00 to $1,034.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $1,400.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Mettler-Toledo International from an underperform rating to a hold rating and dropped their target price for the company from $1,200.00 to $1,110.00 in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

Institutional Trading of Mettler-Toledo International

In other Mettler-Toledo International news, insider Christian Magloth sold 790 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,313.69, for a total transaction of $1,037,815.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 734 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $964,248.46. This trade represents a 51.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 221,799 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $332,634,000 after acquiring an additional 28,478 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 367.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 215 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 34,370 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $42,058,000 after acquiring an additional 5,234 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 773.3% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,336 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $6,530,000 after acquiring an additional 4,725 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Mettler-Toledo International by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 198,852 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $243,331,000 after acquiring an additional 10,830 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.07% of the companys stock.

Mettler-Toledo International Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:MTD opened at $1,115.43 on Tuesday. Mettler-Toledo International has a 52 week low of $946.69 and a 52 week high of $1,546.93. The companys 50 day moving average is $1,099.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,210.80. The company has a market cap of $23.18 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:MTD  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $8.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $7.90 by $0.29. Mettler-Toledo International had a net margin of 22.29% and a negative return on equity of 591.54%. The company had revenue of $883.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $876.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.89 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mettler-Toledo International will post 42.71 EPS for the current year.

Mettler-Toledo International Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Mettler-Toledo International Inc manufactures and supplies precision instruments and services in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through five segments: U.S. Operations, Swiss Operations, Western European Operations, Chinese Operations, and Other. The companys laboratory instruments include laboratory balances, liquid pipetting solutions, automated laboratory reactors, real-time analytics, titrators, pH meters, process analytics sensors and analyzer technologies, physical value analyzers, density and refractometry, thermal analysis systems, and other analytical instruments; and LabX, a laboratory software platform to manage and analyze data generated from its instruments.

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Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) have been given an average rating of Moderate Buy by the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $266.20.

JPM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and issued a $295.00 target price (up previously from $260.00) on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Securities lifted their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. KGI Securities initiated coverage on JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Sunday, April 13th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $285.00 target price (up previously from $255.00) on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th.

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock opened at $260.77 on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a one year low of $190.88 and a one year high of $280.25. The company has a market cap of $724.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.88. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $243.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $248.33.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $4.63 by $0.44. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 20.96%. The firm had revenue of $45.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.44 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 EPS for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s payout ratio is 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $308,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,127 shares of the companys stock, valued at $12,130,438.84. The trade was a 2.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 6,608 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.71, for a total value of $1,755,811.68. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 36,520 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,703,729.20. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,594 shares of company stock valued at $23,991,061 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $471,000. Disciplined Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $217,000. LGT Group Foundation boosted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 525,801 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $126,040,000 after acquiring an additional 14,300 shares in the last quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 43,732 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $10,483,000 after acquiring an additional 4,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile

(Get Free Report

JPMorgan Chase & Co is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of financial and investment banking services. It focuses on investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. It operates through the following segments: Consumer and Community Banking (CCB), Commercial and Investment Bank (CIB), Asset and Wealth Management (AWM), and Corporate.

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Nordstrom, Costco Wholesale, and Berkshire Hathaway are the three Apparel stocks to watch today, according to MarketBeats stock screener tool. Apparel stocks are the inventory of clothing items and related accessories that manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers hold for sale. Effective management of these stocks helps businesses meet consumer demand, minimize markdowns and optimize turnover. These companies had the highest dollar trading volume of any Apparel stocks within the last several days.

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Nordstrom (JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion retailer, provides apparels, shoes, beauty, accessories, and home goods for women, men, young adults, and children. It offers a range of brand-name and private-label merchandise through various channels, such as Nordstrom branded stores and online at Nordstrom.com; Nordstrom.ca; Nordstrom stores; Nordstrom Rack stores; Nordstrom Locals; ASOS; Nordstromrack.com; mobile application; and clearance stores under the Last Chance name.

NYSE JWN traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $24.68. 50,669,665 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,994,274. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 2.36. Nordstrom has a 12 month low of $19.45 and a 12 month high of $24.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65.

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Costco Wholesale (COST)

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $1.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $1,023.96. The stock had a trading volume of 626,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,043,734. The stock has a market cap of $454.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.03, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $968.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $970.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $788.20 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24.

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Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance, freight rail transportation, and utility businesses worldwide. The company provides property, casualty, life, accident, and health insurance and reinsurance; and operates railroad systems in North America. It also generates, transmits, stores, and distributes electricity from natural gas, coal, wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, and geothermal sources; operates natural gas distribution and storage facilities, interstate pipelines, liquefied natural gas facilities, and compressor and meter stations; and holds interest in coal mining assets.

Shares of NYSE BRK.B traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $506.46. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,197,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,294,381. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 10.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.88. Berkshire Hathaway has a 1-year low of $401.58 and a 1-year high of $542.07. The firms fifty day moving average price is $520.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $487.74.

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Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO  Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.62.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FRO. Kepler Capital Markets set a $12.49 price target on Frontline in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Frontline from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

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Frontline Trading Up 6.9%

NYSE:FRO opened at $18.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $16.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.37. Frontline has a 12-month low of $12.40 and a 12-month high of $29.39.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 23rd. The shipping company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.18. Frontline had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 25.64%. The firm had revenue of $427.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $252.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Frontline will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Frontlines dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,547,556 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $81,538,000 after buying an additional 54,471 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Frontline during the 1st quarter worth $45,026,000. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Frontline during the 4th quarter worth $41,447,000. Hartree Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Hartree Partners LP now owns 1,472,220 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $21,851,000 after buying an additional 411,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,378,037 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $19,554,000 after buying an additional 297,437 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.70% of the companys stock.

About Frontline

(Get Free Report

Frontline plc, a shipping company, engages in the seaborne transportation of crude oil and oil products worldwide. It owns and operates oil and product tankers. As of December 31, 2022, the company operated a fleet of 70 vessels. It is also involved in the charter, purchase, and sale of vessels. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in Limassol, Cyprus.

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Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (BATS:GOVT  Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,165,909 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $49,773,000. iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF comprises about 3.0% of Heck Capital Advisors LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Heck Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.19% of iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOVT. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 423,933,669 shares of the companys stock worth $9,741,996,000 after purchasing an additional 47,213,558 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF by 343.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 49,365,745 shares of the companys stock worth $1,134,425,000 after purchasing an additional 38,232,721 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,088,596 shares of the companys stock worth $461,636,000 after purchasing an additional 7,266,546 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 113,104,408 shares of the companys stock worth $2,599,139,000 after purchasing an additional 5,340,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 33,236,595 shares of the companys stock worth $747,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,437,105 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF Stock Up 0.2%

BATS:GOVT opened at $22.60 on Friday. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $22.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.71.

iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF Cuts Dividend

iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF Profile

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.0613 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd.

(Free Report)

The iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the ICE U.S. Treasury Core Bond index. The fund tracks a market-weighted index of fixed-rate nonconvertible U.S. Treasury securities with a remaining maturity of one year or more. GOVT was launched on Feb 14, 2012 and is managed by BlackRock.

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Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Free Report) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 4,899 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Pfizer were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PFE. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Pfizer in the 4th quarter worth about $509,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 1,282.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 666,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $17,677,000 after buying an additional 618,117 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 50,390 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,337,000 after buying an additional 4,183 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 76,250 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $2,023,000 after buying an additional 7,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curated Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 45,337 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 9,236 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Pfizer Stock Up 1.3%

Pfizer stock opened at $23.33 on Friday. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.92 and a twelve month high of $31.54. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $23.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

Pfizer ( NYSE:PFE Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $13.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 12.62%. The companys revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Pfizers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 124.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a neutral rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on Pfizer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim restated a buy rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Pfizer to a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a neutral rating and set a $25.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Pfizer in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $29.17.

Read Our Latest Analysis on PFE

Pfizer Company Profile

(Free Report)

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, Zavzpret, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Abrysvo, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands.

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Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C  Free Report) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,800 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Core Alternative Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the companys stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citigroup news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total transaction of $301,504.42. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,048 shares of the companys stock, valued at $890,656.48. This represents a 25.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the companys stock.

Citigroup Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $73.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.26. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The business had revenue of $21.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $21.34 billion. Research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Citigroups dividend payout ratio is currently 35.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

C has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Citigroup from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Saturday. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and set a $77.00 target price (down from $83.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $84.00 to $79.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $83.97.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on C

About Citigroup

(Free Report)

Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions.

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ABUJA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian guests and their Chinese friends had a refreshing time at the 2025 Tea for Harmony and Yaji Cultural Salon, a cultural event organized to exhibit China's tea art in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, on Saturday.

The event, themed "Tea in Nature's Whisper: Aroma of Picturesque Jiangnan," was held at the China Cultural Center, in collaboration with the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center, represented by a delegation of tea brewing experts and Yue opera and pipa music performers.

Evaluating the thousands-of-year-old daily-life tea art of the Chinese people and the Song Dynasty-style Diancha, which emphasizes the tea whisking culture, the cultural exhibition highlighted harmony, purity, tranquility and respect as the philosophy of China's tea culture, bringing excitement to the Nigerian audience.

"The ethos of China's tea ceremony, such as 'harmony is precious' and 'making friends through tea,' resonates profoundly with Nigeria's cultural values, acting as a spiritual bridge between our two great civilizations," said Yu Dunhai, the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria. "The tea fragrance crossing thousands of miles shows that a small tea leaf not only nourishes the body, but also warms the soul, becoming a 'green envoy' that promotes economic and trade cooperation, and cultural exchanges between China and Nigeria."

Yu said that the tea trade between China and Nigeria was thriving and enhancing trade relations between the two countries, with the introduction of Hainan Baisha tea to the Nigerian market in 2024. He noted that from the sweet tea stalls on the streets of Lagos in Nigeria's southwest region to the mint tea found in the historic city of Kano in the country's north, tea is not just a beverage but an important social bond.

The event, attended by people from all walks of life in Nigeria, including foreign diplomats, government officials, academia, high school students, Nigerian artists, the media and enthusiasts of Chinese tea culture, also exhibited calligraphy, painting and photo displays showcasing Zhejiang's culture and tourism.

"Today is the first time that I have seen a country celebrating one of the most precious beverages, one of the most precious medicinal beverages, that is used globally. I believe tea has now become universal. It is in every country, in every culture, and people enjoy taking tea," said Mukhtar Yawale, permanent secretary of Nigeria's Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, while expressing enthusiasm over the array of Chinese tea at the event.

Yawale lauded China for promoting harmony through its tea culture in consonance with advancing shared humanity, noting that the popularity of tea in homes, markets and corporate spaces speaks to its role as a unifying social lubricant.

"Our ministry is committed to fostering creative enterprises around tea, promoting local adaptations, supporting tea-related festivals, and exploring partnerships that enhance Nigeria's participation in the global tea economy," he added. 
Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:IJR  Free Report) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,275 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after buying an additional 2,577 shares during the quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLCs holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF were worth $7,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IJR. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 22,059 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,615 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,066,508 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $3,694,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,941 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 15,347 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co grew its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 664,801 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $76,598,000 after purchasing an additional 9,553 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Stock Performance

IJR opened at $103.99 on Friday. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $101.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.90. iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has a twelve month low of $89.22 and a twelve month high of $128.61. The firm has a market cap of $76.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 1.08.

About iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, formerly iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index Fund, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poors SmallCap 600 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of publicly traded securities in the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market.

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United Advisor Group LLC cut its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM  Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,667 shares of the technology companys stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. United Advisor Group LLCs holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IBM. JBR Co Financial Management Inc lifted its position in International Business Machines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 6,390 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. lifted its position in International Business Machines by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 3,972 shares of the technology companys stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,351 shares of the technology companys stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 1,431 shares of the technology companys stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Capital LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 1,870 shares of the technology companys stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup restated an outperform rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set an outperform rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. KGI Securities set a $242.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $237.00 to $233.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $249.06.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IBM opened at $258.79 on Friday. The companys 50 day moving average price is $245.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.36. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $163.53 and a 12-month high of $269.28. The firm has a market cap of $240.52 billion, a PE ratio of 40.37, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.18. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $14.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. The businesss revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $1.68 per share. This is a positive change from International Business Machiness previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. International Business Machiness dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. This trade represents a 37.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

International Business Machines Company Profile

(Free Report)

International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. The company operates through Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing segments. The Software segment offers a hybrid cloud and AI platforms that allows clients to realize their digital and AI transformations across the applications, data, and environments in which they operate.

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Aurdan Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,154 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DDD Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. DDD Partners LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,594 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. now owns 5,143 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In other news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 6,608 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.71, for a total transaction of $1,755,811.68. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 36,520 shares in the company, valued at $9,703,729.20. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $308,650.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,130,438.84. This trade represents a 2.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,594 shares of company stock worth $23,991,061. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE JPM opened at $260.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $724.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a one year low of $190.88 and a one year high of $280.25. The firms fifty day moving average is $243.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.33.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $4.63 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $45.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.62 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 20.96% and a return on equity of 16.99%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.44 earnings per share. Analysts expect that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JPM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $273.00 to $265.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $285.00 price objective (up from $255.00) on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and issued a $295.00 price objective (up from $260.00) on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $277.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $266.20.

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile

(Free Report)

JPMorgan Chase & Co is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of financial and investment banking services. It focuses on investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. It operates through the following segments: Consumer and Community Banking (CCB), Commercial and Investment Bank (CIB), Asset and Wealth Management (AWM), and Corporate.

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Invst LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,670 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Invst LLCs holdings in Bank of America were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $6,243,000,000 after buying an additional 2,033,229 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $5,381,126,000 after buying an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a buy rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a moderate buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3%

BAC stock opened at $43.20 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.60. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $33.07 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $325.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.95%.

About Bank of America

(Free Report)

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.

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US President Donald Trumps threatened 50% tariff on EU imports would effectively halt trade between the United States and European Union, a government minister has warned.

Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne said it was really important for EU member states and the European Commission to remain calm and measured in response to President Trumps warning and not react to every single utterance of provocation.

In April, Mr Trump announced a 20% tariff on EU goods being sold into the US. He later reduced that to 10% until July 8 to allow for time for talks with Brussels on a potential agreement.

However, on Friday Mr Trump claimed the talks were going nowhere and said he was recommending that the 50% tariff rate comes into effect on June 1.

The president also announced he would be imposing a 25% tariff on all Apple iPhones manufactured outside the US. He warned that tariffs were also coming for other foreign manufactured smartphones.

Mr Byrne said the EU was in a position of strength in the negotiations with the US as he urged the European Commission to stand firm and secure a good deal with the US on trade.

The Fianna Fail minister said the presidents threat was clearly very concerning.

I think it would be very damaging for everybody, he told RTE Radio Ones This Week programme. I think it wouldnt just be a 50% tariff, I think it would effectively stop trade if that were the case, because I dont think people would be willing to buy goods at a 50% tariff and, of course, there would be EU retaliatory measures.

But, in the meantime, I think its really important to note that President Trump hasnt actually implemented this, and there are talks going on between the European Union and the US.

I think its really, really important that we stay calm, we stay measured, we dont react to every single utterance of provocation.

And I think that that has served us well up to now and, in fact, has served other countries well, who have also got in the crosshairs (of President Trump).

Its just so important for us, and its important for the entire European Union as well. I think we are there with a really united approach  were bigger in population than the US, were a very important trading partner to the US, their systems could not work, their supply of goods could not work without whats coming in from the European Union, and vice versa, to some extent as well.

So I think we have a position of strength. We have to use that in the negotiations but ultimately know that trade at low or no tariffs benefits everybody.

Mr Byrne rejects claims from the US administration that EU proposals on a trade deal were not of the quality of measures suggested by other international trading partners.

The European Commission, which acts on behalf of all of us, is engaged on trade issues all the time, theyre experts at trade, he said.

Theyre dealing obviously with changes in the temperature, to say the least, in the US administrations approach, based on what President Trump has tweeted. That presents a difficulty, I think, for anybody.

But I think that the Commission is doing a good job. They have to stand firm for us. But they know the importance of free traded goods, and they also know that this is critical for America.

We saw the whole issue with China in recent weeks, where crippling tariffs were put in, which basically was stopping trading in total between the two countries, and they were reduced.

So I think that we need a bit of strategic patience.

The minister added: We just have to deal with what were faced with, and this is what were faced with. There is an unpredictability in the relationship. Theres no question about that.

Its in all our interests to make that as predictable as possible. So, we dont want to add fuel to the fire. We want to have low or no tariffs.

And I think, ultimately, America would want that too, because they know how dependent they are for semiconductors, for pharma, and they cant change that overnight simply with a tariff instrument. Its not possible to do that.
This morning a patriotic AI angel inspires our peek at pop culture, community reporting and top headlines for our beloved broke-ass denizens who didn't have enough cash to make it out of town.

Check TKC news gathering . . .

Downtown Celebration Guide

Celebration at the Station returning to Union Station grounds for free concert honoring Memorial Day Event organizers say they will play through the rain, but if lightning strikes, they'll have to cancel.

Harsh Times For Local Charities

Bishop Sullivan Center struggles to fill food bags after government cutbacks | Opinion Bishop Sullivan Center in Kansas City faces food shortages amid government cutbacks, highlighting challenges for food pantries that combat hunger.

Rock Chalk Democracy?!?

Former chief justice says Supreme Court election in Kansas is a 'really bad idea' A former Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission member and former chief justice Lawton Nuss both say direct election of justices is a bad idea.

Show-Me MAGA To Rescue

FEMA: Trump approves Missouri disaster declarations for March tornadoes U.S. President Donald Trump has approved disaster declarations for multiple tornadoes from March 14-15 in the state of Missouri, according to two Missouri U.S. Congressmen.

Local Elite Good Time Help

Heart Ball Every year, the American Heart Association's Kansas City Heart Ball brings together community leaders, medical professionals and philanthropists for an evening dedicated to advancing heart health.

Tech Worship Debunked

Will AI become God? That's the wrong question. Tech pioneer Jaron Lanier argues for a different way to think about AI.

MAGA Court Fight Cont'd

How Trump's clash with the courts is brewing into an 'all-out war' Frustrated by judicial rulings during his second term, President Trump and allies have lashed out at the courts in a growing pressure campaign.

Civil Unrest Postscript

The world witnessed George Floyd's murder. 5 years later, what has changed? Five years after George Floyd's death sparked worldwide protests over police brutality and racism, NPR's Michel Martin reflects on Morning Edition's return to Minneapolis to examine what has changed.

Vlad Attacks Again

Russia hits Ukraine with massive drone, missile barrage amid prisoner exchange Russian drones and missiles again bombarded cities across Ukraine on Saturday night into Sunday morning despite an ongoing prisoner exchange.

Holy Land Struggles For Peace

Israel may change tack to allow aid groups in Gaza to stay in charge of non-food aid Israel appears to be changing tack as pressure mounts to get more aid into Gaza, and may let aid groups operating in the battered enclave take charge of non-food assistance.

American Pope Questioned

Can Pope Leo remain a U.S. citizen now that he's a foreign head of state? Pope Leo XIV's election as the first American to lead the Catholic Church elevated him to the rare position of being a U.S. citizen who is also a foreign head of state.

Local Diversity STILL Celebrated

Island Fest 816 celebrates Polynesian culture in Kansas City metro A festival celebrating the culture and heritage of the Pacific Islands drew crowds of people to the Independence Square on Saturday.

Camp Out Explored

Retreat Centers Serve as Oases from Stressful Times The heartland has many retreat centersQuite a few are created by - or connected to - faith communities but all are welcome.

Start Of Summer Forecast

Rain chances now through Tuesday Much cooler air will also remain through Tuesday

ZZ Top "Waitin' for the Bus"/Jesus Just Left Chicago is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
LUSAKA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Sunday commemorated Africa Day, with President Hakainde Hichilema calling for a recommitment to Pan-African solidarity.

The Zambian president said it is important for Africa to recommit to the spirit of Pan-Africanism, which binds the continent as one.

"To achieve this, we must silence the guns and invest in peace. Instability anywhere on the continent is instability everywhere. Africa cannot afford to be divided by conflict when the dream of unity and prosperity is within reach," he said.

Hichilema called on African leaders to prioritize inclusive growth rooted in transparency, prudent fiscal management and a commitment to ensuring development that delivers jobs and opportunities for all Africans.

Zambia, he said, will continue advocating for peace, security and stability, as well as economic diplomacy to drive intra-Africa trade and global cooperation.

He said Zambia will continue to advocate for a more equitable international financial architecture that does not reinforce historical inequalities but enables Africa to define its own path to sustainable development.

Africa Day, celebrated annually on May 25, commemorates the founding of the Organization of African Unity in 1963, now known as the African Union. The day serves to celebrate Africa's unity, peace and rich cultural diversity. 
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Vietnam on Sunday for the first leg of a tour of Southeast Asia, where he will pitch his country as a reliable alternative partner to the United States and China.

During his six-day trip -- which includes stops in Indonesia and Singapore -- Macron will underscore his respect for the sovereignty of Asian countries "caught between the United States and China", a presidential aide said during a pre-tour briefing.

The French president is due to meet Vietnam's top leadership on Monday in the capital Hanoi and key energy sector players on Tuesday.

Macron is hoping to showcase France's expertise in civil nuclear power in Vietnam and Indonesia, which are keen to embrace this form of energy, although other countries including Russia are also in the running for deals.

"The major challenges of the century... can only be met in cooperation with our partners," Macron wrote on social media after landing in Hanoi.

"I've come here to strengthen our ties in key areas: defence, innovation, energy transition and cultural exchanges. Everywhere I go, I'll be saying one simple thing: France is a power of peace and balance," he said.

"It is a reliable partner that believes in dialogue and cooperation. When some choose to withdraw, France chooses to build bridges."

- Counterweight -

France's willingness "to engage assertively in Indo-Pacific geopolitics offers Vietnam a useful counterweight to China's growing influence", said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

In Indonesia, Macron will hold talks with the secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Kao Kim Hourn, on Wednesday.

Macron's aide said the president is "defending the idea of international trade rules -- we don't want a jungle where the law of the strongest prevails".

The aide added that Macron's message is aimed at both Washington, which is exerting "extremely strong pressure" via US President Donald Trump's tariffs, and Beijing, which is becoming increasingly aggressive on both trade and territorial disputes, notably in the South China Sea.

Before his departure, Macron held talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, calling for "fair competition" between both countries.

And in Singapore on Friday, Macron will give the opening speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's largest forum on security and defence.

He is expected to press that Russia's war in Ukraine is destabilising Asia by "making North Korean soldiers fight on European soil against Ukrainians and by supporting North Korea's ballistic and nuclear programmes", the presidential aide said.

Macron is also keen to counter the view of a European and Western "double standard" between the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza.

"We fully understand the sensitivities of Muslim communities in the region," the aide said, adding that Macron is "particularly committed" to achieving peace in the Middle East.

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KABUL, May 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of 230 Afghan nationals released from Pakistani prisons have returned home, reported the state-run Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA) on Sunday.

After returning to their homeland, all former detainees received necessary assistance at the crossing points from the Afghan authorities and have been transported to their home provinces, the state-owned media outlet added.

Earlier on Tuesday, more than 400 Afghan nationals after released from Pakistan jails were repatriated to Afghanistan.

Nearly 4,000 Afghan nationals who were set free from Pakistani prisons were repatriated to their homeland over the past couple of months. 
Bereavement

The death sadly occurred on Friday, May 16, of Mrs. Margaret Walsh (nee: Doyle), Brookmount, Coxtown, Dunmore East, Co. Waterford. Predeceased by her loving husband Michael Walsh, sister Dinah ORegan, partner Michael Morrissey and nephew Ringo ORegan, she is survived by her loving sons, daughter, son-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, great- grandchildren, nephews, niece, extended family, relatives, neighbours and friends. Margaret will be sadly missed by all her relatives, extended family neighbours and friends. Requiem Mass took place on Monday, May 19, in the Holy Cross Church, Killea at 1pm followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. Condolences are extended to Margaret's family, relatives and friends. May she rest in peace.

Cemetery Clean-up

Volunteers are needed for the cleaning up of the cemetery, on Monday, June 2, in preparation for the Cemetery Mass in Ballygunner ins June. We are inviting volunteers to help with a cemetery clean-up, which will begin at 10am and be finished by 1pm. Bags will be provided and all are welcome. Many hands make light work. For enquiries, please contact pastoralworkerjbm@gmail.com

The St Mary's Cemetery, Ballygunner, annual cemetery Mass will be held on Thursday, June 19, at 7.30pm. All are welcome to join us as we remember and pray for our loved ones.

Senior Line

Senior Line Irelands national telephone service for older people is open every day this Summer from 10am to 10pm. Freephone 1800 80 45 91 and your call will be answered by another person who will listen, keep your company discuss a problem and support you towards a resolution if possible. No problem is too big or too small.

Communications Ministry

St Joseph & Benildus Church is seeking help with IT support at weekend Masses, website updates and occasional tasks and training will be provided. Please contact pastoralworkerjbm@gmail.com or call the parish office.

Cuppa Agus Comhra

Cuppa Agus Comhra provides a chance to chat 'as gaeilge', every Thursday from 11am to 12noon, facilitated by Angeline. Whether you are 'liofa' or would just like to practice your 'cupla focal', beidh failte romhat. Please contact the parish office to book at 051 348077 or parishofficejbm@gmail.com

Mobility Class

A physiotherapist-led class to improve strength, balance and mobility. Ideal for seniors, rehab and anyone with mobility concerns. Every Tuesday from 12noon to 1pm at Havenwoods Studios, 1 Grange Lawn Waterford (X91YD2R). To register call 083 1258002 or email mobilityclassgrange@gmail.com

Flower Arranging Workshop

A flower arranging workshop is going to take place for clients of the Solas Cancer Support Centre, who have not yet had the opportunity to avail of such workshops. It will provide a peaceful creative space for participants to express themselves and will help promote well being through hands-on activity. It will take place on Monday, June 23, from 11am to 12.30pm. To sign up call 051 304604 or email info@solascentre.ie

Car Boot Sale

Waterford Cheshire, John's Hill, Waterford, Car Boot Sale will take place on Sunday, June 8, from 10am to 2pm. You must be set up by 9.30am and to book a space text 086 8801860.

Ardkeen Library

There's a Little Library Bag for every child starting school in 2025, Pick up their free Little Library Book Bag at your local library.

Ballybricken Church

The cemetery Mass at Ballybricken Church will take place on Wednesday, May 28, at 7pm.

Bealtaine Closing

Come join us at Ardkeen Library for our Bealtaine closing celebrations on Tuesday, May 27, at 3.30pm. Enjoy a cuppa, some sweet treats, and a performance by our Bealtaine Choir.

Creative Spark

Unleash your creative spark and join author and illustrator, Aoife Dooley, for a fantastic free workshop at Ardkeen Library on Saturday, June 7, at 2pm for children aged 6 to 10. Booking is essential on 051 849755.

Dance Yourself Free

Come and join us for our Cruinniu na nOg Disco in Central Library on Saturday, June 7, from 2.30pm to 3.30pm. Perfect for kids aged 9 to 12 years. Get energised with some joyful dance and movement. The event is free but booking is essential on 051 849975 or email centralLibrary@waterfordcouncil.ie

Bingo Fundraiser

The annual Farronshoneen Centre Bingo Fundraiser, in aid of this year's Farronshoneen Summer Programme, will take place on Tuesday, June 10, in the Forum Bingo, The Glen. Doors will open at 7pm and eyes down at 8pm. Tickets are 10, of which 5 goes directly to the centre. These have to be brought directly from us in advance of the event as they cannot be purchased on the night. There will also be a raffle on the night with all proceeds coming to us. Thanking you in advance. If you would like to buy a ticket please contact one of the following: Rita 083 0106257; Nina 086 7816269; Jason 083 1194756 or Louise 086 8589869. The organsiers of the fundraiser are also looking for some spot prizes for the bingo and raffle event. The local businesses have always been very generous but with the current cost of living and charities requiring sponsorship regularly they've had to scale back on their donations. If you work somewhere that would be willing to donate a spot prize we would be very grateful. Thanks, from All the leaders in Farronshoneen.
Irelands farming industry must find ways to reduce the level of unsociable working hours and define better career pathways for progression if the sector is to attract and retain workers into the future, a nationwide survey of farm workers has found.

According to the 2025 survey of FRS Co-Ops 1,200 farm operators across Ireland, the majority of people who work on farms do so because they enjoy working outdoors and working with animals.

However, less than 13% of farm operators said working on a farm provides opportunities to progress in their career.

When asked what the farming industry needs to do to attract new talent, over 50% of farm workers cited the need for higher wages. This was followed by reducing the number of unsociable hours of work on farms and defining clearer pathways for career progression.

The findings come at a time when Irelands farming industry is increasingly reliant on external labour support, with 9 out of 10 farms now using external labour to various degrees throughout the year.

Over 80% of farm workers who responded to the FRS Co-Op survey said Irish farms are better prepared for the increased workloads during the spring calving season following the expansion on farms after the end of EU milk quotas.

The FRS Co-Op survey also reveals that just over 50% of its farm operators do not own their own farm. Of this cohort, almost 80% said they would like to manage their own farm in the future, suggesting there is potential to attract new entrants to the farming sector.
With a bumper tour of Ireland already underway, Waterfords Tadhg Williams has announced one final show to round off This Tour is a Nixer - a hometown show in a Waterford city institution, the back of Geoffs Cafe Bar.

2024 saw Tadhg release his debut EP, sell out shows in Waterford and Dublin to celebrate, and earn support slots with the likes of Kingfishr and Hermitage Green.

2025 has continued that momentum, with support slots alongside The Coronas and Toucan, and an eight-date tour of Ireland, proving Williams as an artist on the rise.

This is the biggest tour Ive done. I feel like everything is going in the right direction and Ive put this whole tour together myself with the help of friends and other artists I love and admire Tadgh said.

Obviously Ive had a few shows in Waterford over the years but this one feels special. After seven years living in Dublin, Ill be moving home to Waterford soon, and that kind of lines up with this show.

"Also, the first song I ever released, My Fathers Clouds, is quite literally about being with friends out the back of Geoffs. So having the chance to play that song in that space feels very poetic!

Upon release in late 2024, his debut EP This Record is a Nixer was hailed as a showcase of Williams honest lyricism and tender portrayal of its challenging subject matter.

The title track, Nixer, noted Williams as a luminary in the contemporary folk music landscape by Pure M Magazine; while the history graduates wartime epic Frank Edwards was noted by Hot Press Magazine as one of their Songs of the Year for 2024.

This was amongst airplay across Ireland and the UK, notably receiving support from the BBC, RTE, Today FM, and locally via WLRfm and Beat 102 103.

The free show at Geoff's takes place on Saturday July 5.
The future development of Bonmahon is reliant on vital investment into wastewater treatment in the area.

Cllr Catherine Burke raised the issue at a meeting of the Comeragh district council last week, saying that there are currently three septic plants in Bonmahon that are overflowing. Consequently, no new housing can be built in the area.

She added that during the upcoming tourist season the issue is aggravated.

The ongoing absence of proper wastewater infrastructure in Bonmahon poses a serious environmental and public health risk particularly during peak tourist seasons Cllr Burke said.

The lack of basic services is also a significant barrier to rural development and has contributed to rural decline in the area preventing new housing, new businesses and tourism investment.

This is urgent. The river is polluted with human waste.

Cllr Burke called on the council to write to Uisce Eireann and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage calling for the urgent inclusion of Bonmahon in Uisce Eireanns capital investment plan.

The motion was supported by fellow councillors in the district, including from Cllr Liam Brazil who expressed concern over Uisce Eireann's lack of investment into the region to date:

Uisce Eireann are a faceless group of people. You cant meet them, you cant see them and theyre accountable to nobody" Cllr Brazil said.

"If we want to keep our schools, GAA clubs, pubs and shops we have to go with the times and Uisce Eireann are holding back the smaller villages here.
After the procedure, almost every patient (all but two) reported her pain had lessened significantly six to 12 months later; most (73 per cent) reported the pain had disappeared completely, as reported by Villalba and her co-author, associate professor Theresa Larkin, in the journal Venous and Lymphatic Disorders. Women who once struggled to sit, work, exercise and have intercourse, [and who] experienced immense pain, have been given back their lives and their freedom, Villalba said. The study also found: The womens pelvic pain had not returned at a median follow-up of five years.

Of the 31 women who still experienced pelvic pain after stenting, their median pain score had dropped to below three out of 10.

Twelve patients became pregnant and gave birth after receiving their stents (some had multiple pregnancies).

There were no stent-related pregnancy complications, and no recurrence or pain or worsening of pain during or after their pregnancies. In 2020, a succession of gynaecologists told 17-year-old Lilli Staff that her debilitating pelvic pain was normal. Two years later, and more than 80 kilometres from her home near Wollongong, a Sydney gynaecologist diagnosed her with stage 4 endometriosis (the most severe form of the condition) and polycystic ovary syndrome.

I had lesions everywhere, said Staff, now 22. Surgery to remove her endometriosis lesions offered some relief, but her pain soon escalated. I had an excruciating pain in my pelvis, through my back and left leg. I would lose feeling in my leg and have to drag it around like a dead weight, she said. Lilli Staffs iliac vein had narrowed from almost 15 millimetres to 3 millimetres, obstructing bloodflow through her pelvis. Credit: Louise Kennerley Staff was diagnosed via ultrasound with May-Thurner syndrome: her left iliac vein had been compressed by an artery in the pelvis.

Staff was referred to a vascular surgeon in Melbourne, who said she needed a stent, but he would not perform the procedure. He said I was too young, and I may want to be pregnant in the future, but I was welcome to find another vascular surgeon who would do it, Staff said. The evidence base for stenting to treat chronic pelvic pain is still emerging. The practice relies on small studies, such as Villalba and Larkins, without large randomised controlled trial data. The lack of large-scale trials and research investment is a familiar scenario for pelvic pain treatment overall. Stenting was approved only in the 1990s for patients with coronary heart disease, who are typically decades older than these women. We dont have 50 years of data on stenting, and we are giving them a permanent implant that they have to look after for the rest of their lives, so we need to do this carefully and follow up with patients forever, Villalba said.

For Staff, the first surgeons refusal was heartbreaking. Loading I was 20 years old and couldnt go to university. I was at home in bed every day. I was alive but not living. Then her mother found Villalba. [Villalba] said I would be on blood thinners for the rest of my life, but I couldnt keep living like this, Staff said.

A normal-sized vein is 14 to 16 millimetres wide. Staffs iliac veins had narrowed to 3.5 millimetres, with extensive scar tissue. Villalba inserted a stent 15 centimetres long and 16 millimetres wide. I pretty much felt better immediately, Staff said. Roughly 18 months later, she has graduated, and her quality of life has improved immeasurably. Villalba said it was unbelievably disturbing that a lot of these patients have had many, many years of pain and have been completely dismissed. Associate Professor Laurencia Villalba, vascular surgeon and honorary fellow at the University of Wollongong. Credit: Michael Gray She recalled a patient whose husband left her because he didnt believe that she experienced severe pain for hours after intercourse.

It is not uncommon for me to hear women who have been told, It is all in your head, or You need to learn to live with the pain, when doctors cant find a reason for the pain, she said. Loading Ideally, chronic pelvic pain patients would be managed by a multidisciplinary team that may include pain, gynaecology, colorectal, gastroenterology and urology specialists, physiotherapists and psychologists. This is not available for many, said Dr Jason Chow, a gynaecologist, pain specialist and clinical lead at the Royal Hospital for Womens pain service. Were all in these siloed specialities, and pain is often multifactorial, Chow said. We really need to take a holistic approach to a patients pain.

Identifying the patients who may benefit from stenting was key, said Villalba, who first refers patients to explore potential gynaecological causes of the pain. Not everyone with blocked pelvic veins experiences pain, and stenting is not always appropriate for those who do, Villalba said. Loading Patients were asked to keep a pain diary for six weeks and are encouraged to trigger their pain by performing certain activities such as walking up several flights of stairs, repetitive exercise for more than 30 minutes or having intercourse. [Pelvic pain linked to vein obstruction] is not random, Villalba said. It is influenced by gravity and exercise.
What right have you to tear down our heroes?

Ben Roberts-Smith arrives at the Federal Court in Sydney on Friday, May 2. Credit: Sam Mooy

What went on over there, stays over there.

Since the first public challenges to Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smiths reputation in 2017, those words, this retaliatory refrain, has been unrelenting and unchanged. All in the face of profound evidence revealing Australias most decorated living soldier is a war criminal.

After last weeks 245-page rejection of Roberts-Smiths Federal Court appeal and Justice Anthony Besankos 726-page ruling in 2023, the keen eyes of four judges have now found to a civil court standard that Roberts-Smith murdered four captives in Afghanistan.

Under the Geneva Convention and Australias own laws of armed conflict, executing detainees is unlawful. But there are rules and there are norms, and the norms according to the its war apologists are based on an insiders take no prisoners realpolitik.

Within the Defence diaspora, online debate runs hot and loud. The I stand with Ben brigade is undeterred by the court rulings.

Brigadier Adrian dHage, former head of Defence public relations who was awarded a Military Cross for his service in Vietnam, is taking them on. And hes far from alone among soldiers with combat experience disavowing the so-called realists justification for murder.
KABUL, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan interim government's Ministry of Industry and Commerce is considering a trade transaction with Russia in local currencies, the afghani and ruble, according to the spokesman for the ministry, Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad.

"The use of local currencies in trade was seriously discussed during the Kazan Forum. The talks continue in this regard and the final decision would be held after utterly weighing the interests of the people of Afghanistan," the state-run Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA) quoted Jawad on Sunday as saying.

Abdul Nasir Reshtia, a local economic expert, told the state-owned media outlet RTA that the transactions would benefit Afghanistan's national currency to remain stable. 
Moscow/Chernihiv, Ukraine: Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 307 service personnel on the second day of an extended prisoner swap set to be the largest in the three-year war.

US President Donald Trump has suggested the swap could herald a new phase in stop-start efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv. There should be 1000 prisoners released on each side over three days.

Saturdays swap was announced by Russias defence ministry and separately by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a post on social media platform Telegram.

Olena and her husband Oleksandr Negyr embrace after his release from a Russian prison after 22 months. Credit: Getty Images

Tomorrow we expect more, Zelensky wrote. Our goal is to return each and every one of us from Russian captivity.
KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Greater regional and deeper cooperation were discussed by officials participating in the 25th ASEAN Economic Community Council (AECC) meeting, Malaysia's Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry said here on Sunday.

In his remarks as chair of the meeting, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the current economic environment calls for collaboration and commitment to advancing common interests among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"At the same time, we also internally need to look into ways to increase intra-ASEAN trade so as to reduce our dependencies towards external partners," he said.

He added that ASEAN's response in addressing the recent shifts in economic posture by the United States has so far been measured, seeking dialogue rather than escalation, while keeping the grouping's interests at the forefront. "The current economic environment that we're in calls not for retreat, but for renewed resolve," he said.

Zafrul also highlighted the progress made under the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025, which serves as the strategic roadmap for building a highly integrated and cohesive ASEAN economy.

"Through the Blueprint, ASEAN has made significant strides in areas such as trade liberalization, investment facilitation, MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) development, digital transformation, and sustainable economic initiatives," he said.

The 25th AECC meeting is being held in conjunction with the 46th ASEAN Summit, under Malaysia's 2025 chairmanship, themed "Inclusivity and Sustainability." 
TOKYO, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 60 percent of Japanese believe rice prices will decline following the appointment of Shinjiro Koizumi as farm minister, according to a Kyodo News poll.

The change comes after former minister Taku Eto resigned for saying he never buys rice as his supporters have sent him enough, a remark that sparked public outrage amid record-high rice prices.

Rice prices have doubled over the past year despite government efforts to stabilize supply. Koizumi plans to lower prices to the 2,000-yen (about 14 U.S. dollars) range by selling stockpiled rice directly to retailers.

The Kyodo survey also showed support for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Cabinet rose to 31.7 percent, though 52.6 percent still disapprove.

In the upcoming upper house election, 28.6 percent plan to vote for the ruling party, while 14.3 percent support the Democratic Party for the People and 13.6 percent back the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, according to the poll. 
BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday extended condolences to General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee To Lam and Vietnamese President Luong Cuong over the death of former Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong.

In his message, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, expressed profound condolences and extended sincere sympathies to Tran Duc Luong's family on behalf of the CPC, the Chinese government and the Chinese people.

Xi hailed Comrade Tran Duc Luong as an outstanding party and state leader of Vietnam who made important contributions to the country's development and its cause of Doi Moi (reform).

As an old friend of the Chinese people, Comrade Tran Duc Luong made unremitting efforts to promote the development of relations between the two parties and the two countries, Xi said.

Xi expressed his belief that under the strong leadership of the CPV Central Committee headed by Comrade To Lam, the party, government and people of Vietnam will surely turn their grief into strength and continue to achieve new accomplishments in the cause of socialist construction.



(Source: Xinhua)

Editor: Wang Shasha
This photo taken on May 15, 2025 shows a helicopter deployed to guide Banteng into a funnel trap in Stung Treng province, Cambodia. A total of 16 critically endangered Banteng in Cambodia were guided onto a truck by helicopter for the first time and relocated into a wildlife sanctuary successfully, conservationist groups said on Saturday. (J C Eames/Rising Phoenix/Handout via Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A total of 16 critically endangered Banteng in Cambodia were guided onto a truck by helicopter for the first time and relocated into a wildlife sanctuary successfully, conservationist groups said on Saturday.

Banteng is a species of wild cattle recently listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

Conservation groups Rising Phoenix and Siem Pang Conservation said in a press release that following the discovery of the Banteng herds, the conservationists had used a helicopter to guide the wild cattle through a mass-capture funnel trap onto a truck before relocating them to Siem Pang Wildlife Sanctuary from May 12 to May 15.

"A total of 16 Banteng were captured during the four-day operation, including one adult bull, eight adult females, five juveniles and two calves," the press release said.

All captured Banteng were transported within three hours of capture and released into Siem Pang Wildlife Sanctuary in Siem Pang district of Stung Treng province, where they will be monitored and protected, it added.

"This operation marks a significant achievement in wildlife conservation in Cambodia and Southeast Asia, representing the first ever mass-capture using a helicopter and the first time Banteng have been caught and translocated using this method," the press release said.

The success of the approach demonstrates the effectiveness of collaborative efforts in protecting endangered species, it said, adding that importantly it opens the way for further such operations to relocate Banteng trapped in isolated forest patches elsewhere in the country. 

This photo taken on May 13, 2025 shows a herd of Banteng in Stung Treng province, Cambodia.

A total of 16 critically endangered Banteng in Cambodia were guided onto a truck by helicopter for the first time and relocated into a wildlife sanctuary successfully, conservationist groups said on Saturday. (J C Eames/Rising Phoenix/Handout via Xinhua)

This file photo taken on April 2, 2024 shows an adult Banteng in Stung Treng province, Cambodia.

A total of 16 critically endangered Banteng in Cambodia were guided onto a truck by helicopter for the first time and relocated into a wildlife sanctuary successfully, conservationist groups said on Saturday. (J C Eames/Rising Phoenix/Handout via Xinhua)
A server at the Rock Rest Lodge in Colorado is being recognized for her courage after she said she wrestled away a firearm from an assault suspect.
Photo London marked its 10th anniversary on May 15-18, 2025 by gathering the worlds leading galleries and artists to present the best of photography and explore the mediums future possibilities.

There were thousands of photographs on display from over 130 exhibitors and 400 artists. Many of the predominantly landscape, portrait and abstract images were beautifully presented and technically inventive, but one would hardly guess the world was in political and economic turmoil. The eruption of fascism, genocide and war and the massive opposition to these developments were barely mentioned.

Since Photo London was founded 10 years ago, photography, previously the poor relation of the art world, has become firmly entrenched in the mainstream. Photographs have become profitable assets for the auction houses and commercial galleries who compete to sell them off as investments and conversation pieces for the walls of the wealthy.

In 2022, Surrealist artist Man Rays 1924 photo Le Violon dIngres sold for a record-breaking $12.4 million. The images of Cindy Sherman, overlooked for decades and only in 2021 at the age of 67 accepted as a client by mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth, fetch millions.

At Photo London 2025 the room displaying Lee Millers World War II photographs, some of which have only recently been discovered, stood out as a rare example of an artists ability to cognise life and produce images able to stand the test of time. The bustling atmosphere in the room following on from the 2023 film Leecurrently the highest grossing Sky UK original film and a planned Tate Britain major retrospective this Octoberare proof of the huge interest in her work.

Lee Miller Archives Booth, Press Pack, courtesy of London Photo 2025 [Photo by LeeMillerArchives]

Millers images from the front lines are a singular and haunting record of the warranging from the London Blitz to the liberation of Paris, and later the Nazi concentration camps. She captured wars devastation. Her work as a Vogue photojournalist blends raw reportage with a deeply personal visual sensibilityinfluenced by her earlier years as a fashion model and participant in the Surrealist movement.

Millers extraordinary life developed in the tumultuous years after World War I, amid Hitlers ascension to power in Germany, the betrayal of revolutionary struggles in Spain and France, and the eruption of World War II.

Miller eventually joined the US 83rd Infantry in 1944 and was one of a handful of women accredited to accompany Allied forces, giving her frontline access rare for any photojournalist.

Female war correspondents (Lee Miller second from right) U.S. Army Center of Military History [Photo by U.S. Army Official Photograph / CC BY-SA 4.0

In August 1944 Miller found herself, illegally, as the only correspondent covering the siege of St Malo. She witnessed the terrible effects of newly introduced napalm bombing of one of the last remaining Nazi strongholds, which deprived the occupants of air and vaporised their bodies. Her photo Fall of the Citadel, which freezes in mid-air the huge cloud of smoke from bombers, is framed by building rooftops and a partly raised flag, emphasizing the scale of the attack. The Rolleiflex Miller used did not have a telephoto lens, so she had to get as close as it looks in the picture700 yards away.

Fall of the Citadel, Aerial bombardment St Malo France 1944 [Photo by LeeMillerArchives]

At the 44th Evacuation Hospital Miller produced photographs of surgeons and nurses working over wounded soldiers in tent operating rooms. For an hour or so I watched lives and limbs being saved, by skill, devotion and endurance. Grave faces and tired feet passed up and down the tent isles. We discussed whether doubling the staff of doctors and nurses would relieve them of workit seemed not, as everyone by his own volition would still do double his duty, she recalled.

In Surgeon and Anaesthetist (1944) operating lights and intravenous drips are shown as geometric forms above two masked medics looking after an injured soldier. The composition uses the diagonal lines of the tent roof and medical apparatus to lead the eye toward the patient. Millers tonal choicesthe glaring surgical light against deep shadowsheighten the drama and tension.

Surgeon and anaesthetist at 44th Evacuation Hospital Normandy, France, 1944 [Photo by LeeMillerArchives]

In 1945 Miller witnessed the fall of the Nazi regime. In a previously unseen photo soldiers are seen posing at a hotel in Berchtesgaden, Germany. She described how, The left-hand smoke plume on the mountain behind them is Hitlers house burning; the right-hand smoke plume is a forest fire or something... At the time the SS were still about.

Miller was among the first to discover the horrors of Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps. Her photographs are graphic. One shows emaciated inmates on bunks, the frame dominated by their gaunt, hollowed faces and protruding ribs. To accompany another image of skeletal bodies outside a crematorium, Miller pleaded to Vogue, I IMPLORE YOU TO BELIEVE THIS IS TRUE, fearing readers would doubt the reality.

She wrote graphically, Dachau had everything youll ever hear or close your ears to about a concentration camp. The great dusty spaces that had been trampled by so many thousands of condemned feetfeet which ached and shuffled and stamped away the cold and shifted to relieve the pain and finally became useless except to walk them to the death chamber.

Soon after the war most of Millers graphic images were locked away. The Lee Miller Archives Kerry Negahban explains, The British press didnt want to put those images in, because it was a victory, and it was felt the public had enough of seeing horrors. Whereas Lees point was people are still living these horrors, and you should know this  everyone should know this.

For decades Millers wartime work was little seen (even Miller herself was reticent to discuss it), but since the 1980s her full story has gradually been brought to light. Art historians now regard her as among the most original and ambitious photographic artists of the 20th century, helping to blur the line between art and reportage, with an aesthetic that was at once surreal, compassionate, and unflinching.

Millers ability to approach war and conflict, seeking not only the spectacle of battle but the human stories within it, was in contrast to the limited offerings elsewhere at London Photo 2025.

The war in Ukraine was addressed by a Voices from the Frontline panel brought together by Fiona Shields (The Guardians head of photography), which concluded there was a need to go beyond cliched war images and show everyday life under siege and the practices of resilience amongst civilians rather than just fronts and missiles to spur empathy and action in the international community.

Photographer Jesse Glazzard and creative producer Eugenia Skvarska do address the effect of the war on the military but only as it concerns LGBTQ+ Ukrainian soldiers. Skvarska says it is important to document these stories not just as tales of queer identity, but as integral parts of Ukraines national narrative in its fight against Russian imperialism.

This all ends up as propaganda for the Ukrainian state. It leaves out the growing opposition to the US/NATO proxy war which has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of young men and maimed countless others. The reactionary and crisis-ridden Zelensky regime fears this growing anti-war sentiment and responds with brutal state repression against its political opponentsincluding the imprisonment of Bogdan Syrotiuk of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists, who opposed the war based on internationalist socialist principlesand the banning of the World Socialist Web Site. Tens of thousands of men of military recruitment age have fled the country.

On the genocide in Gaza, the only images on display were Adam Rouhanas Before Freedom series, shot over several years, portraying the resilience of Palestinian life with images of the occupationa boy cycles past the 8-metre-high separation walla symbol of Palestinian resistance.

From the series Before Freedom (2022 ongoing) [Photo by courtesy of the studio of Adam Rouhana]

Rouhana explains, In the news media, Palestinians were often portrayed as masked and violent or as disposable and lifeless: a faceless, miserable people. But thats not what I see when I am there. Instead, what I photograph is unconditional communal love, a rootedness and sense of historical belonging in the land, and a daily generosity and collective spirit.

Yes, we Palestinians are being slaughtered and occupied, and are actively resisting that, but thats not the entirety of our existence...

The words of Leon Trotsky, writing in June 1938, shortly before the outbreak of World War II and his assassination on August 20, 1940, more than ever serve as a guide for artists:

To find a solution to this impasse [the decay of capitalist society] through art itself is impossible. It is a crisis which concerns all culture, beginning at its economic base and ending in the highest spheres of ideology. Art can neither escape the crisis nor partition itself off. Art cannot save itself. It will rot away inevitablyas Grecian art rotted beneath the ruins of a culture founded on slaveryunless present-day society is able to rebuild itself. This task is essentially revolutionary in character. For these reasons the function of art in our epoch is determined by its relation to the revolution. (Art and Politics in Our Epoch)
VIENTIANE, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Lao government targets growth in agricultural production to boost the economy, and the Lao people are pinning their hopes on the China-Laos Railway to play a vital role in driving agricultural export by providing a faster and more efficient means of transportation.

Since its launch, the China-Laos Railway has become a highly efficient route for exporting agricultural products from Laos to China.

So far in 2025, the railway has transported 172,410 tons of agricultural goods, a 40.18 percent increase compared to the same period last year. In 2024, the volume of Lao agricultural products, such as fruits, cassava, rubber, and rice, shipped to major Chinese cities like Kunming, Chongqing, and Guangzhou grew by 79 percent compared to 2023, helping Lao products reach international markets, according to a report from the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd.

Anousone, a 38-year-old office worker who grows fruits on his small farm during his free time to sell online as a side hustle, expressed strong optimism about the China-Laos Railway's impact on Lao agriculture and the country's economy.

He believes the railway is making it easier and more cost-efficient to transport agricultural products to China, and that faster transportation also benefits farmers by ensuring fresher products.

"I hope that as the railway continues to develop, it will help Lao products reach even more global markets, boosting exports and strengthening the economy," Anousone told Xinhua on Sunday.

He views the railway as a key tool for long-term growth and is confident that it will enable Lao farmers to become more competitive, ultimately leading to an improved economy and higher-quality products.

To boost agricultural exports and support the growth of the Lao economy, the railway has made the transportation of Lao agricultural products a top priority. It offers full support to operators upon request, regardless of shipment size.

Malivanh, a resident of Lao capital Vientiane, believes that the country's fertile land produces high-quality agricultural products, which she expects to be competitive in global markets.

With the China-Laos Railway offering faster and more reliable transportation, Malivanh sees it as a key solution to the country's logistical challenges, enabling Lao products to reach international markets more efficiently.

Malivanh is confident that the railway will enhance Laos' competitiveness and create more economic opportunities for local farmers.

The Lao government aims for a 4.3 percent growth in agriculture by 2025, targeting a 22.4 percent contribution to the country's gross domestic product. 
Left to Right: 'The Secret Agent,' 'The Phoenician Scheme,' 'Honey Don't.' - Credit: Victor Juca/Mubi, TPS Productions/Focus Features; Focus Features

13 Best Movies at Cannes 2025

Is this the most political Cannes festival since 1968? asked a headline in a Hollywood Reporter article, shortly before the 2025 film fests halfway mark. Its a legit question. Historians may remember that 68 was the year that protests rocked the Croisette, filmmakers occupied the Palais, four jury members resigned, and the official competition was eventually shut down by organizers. Nothing of that magnitude happened at this years Cannes, which concluded yesterday  though there was a five-hour blackout right before the closing ceremony that, it was suggested by local media, might not have been accidental per se.

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But you could feel a sense of instability and unease in the air, made all the more potent by a certain authoritarian presidents threat to level 100-percent tariffs on movies produced outside of the U.S. Throw in Robert De Niro trolling the POTUS by name at his honorary Palme dOr speech during the opening nights ceremonies, and close to a dozen films playing throughout the main fests lineups (and Cannes-adjacent festivals) that directly took aim at both past and present fascist regimes, political strife, and the overall sense of IRL doomscrolling that is our collective reality right now, and it was hard not to wonder if the answer to that query was, to quote the title of one of the more incendiary films in the 2025 edition, YES!

Cinema continues to be a passport, an empathy machine, a way of bridging the gap between cultures and regions, a way of letting you walk kilometers in other peoples shoes a million times over. That was readily apparent to those of us stuck in the bubble of cinephilia that Cannes offered, especially since that bubble was anything but impermeable to everything happening elsewhere in the world. And while the bakers dozen of movies that wed argue were the best that this Cannes had to offer werent all explicitly political, they all served to underline that fact that the movies continue to be both an urgent reflection and a necessary refraction of the world around us. Here are our picks for the highlights of this years festival.

(And some quick shout-outs to: The Chronology of Water, Heads or Tails, The Mastermind, The Plague, The Sound of Falling, Two Prosecutors, and Urchin.)

Adams Sake

The opening night movie of Semaine de la Critique  a side festival that, like Directors Fortnight, runs parallel to Cannes yet has also been folded into the main event; its complicated  Belgian filmmaker Laura Wandels medical procedural takes what might have been an E.R. subplot involving a doctor (Lea Drucker) and a single mother (Happenings Anamaria Vartolomei), going head to head over the care of the latters son (Jules Desart) after a court ruling, and uses it to examine how institutional protocols can both protect and cause irreparable harm. Like Wandels previous film Playground (2021), this dual character study knows how to dig into a hot-button social issue and peel back the layers in a way that seems intimate instead of dogmatic. And its also the perfect showcase for both actors, especially Drucker; paired with her turn in the competition entry Dossier 137, this years festival makes a strong case for the Cesar winner being one of the best French actors currently working.

Eddington

Eddington





The 2025 festival certainly had its share of Cannes-troversies (if we never get roped into another heated discussion about Julia Ducournaus hot mess Alpha ever again, it will be too soon). Ari Asters fever dream of an Op-Ed on American carnage circa right-fucking-now had the honor, however, of being the single most divisive film in this years edition. Which, frankly, fits Asters crackpot vision of a nation fatally at odds with itself  a macro-narrative boiled down to a showdown between a sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and a mayor (Pedro Pascal) in a small, fictional town in New Mexico. Here, all progressivism is performative, all red-pilled right wingers are one red cap away from going full MAGA, all painful personal experiences are ripe for political exploitation, all both-sides misanthropy is dialed up to 11. What starts as a broad parody soon reveals itself to be a paranoid conspiracy thriller eerily attuned to our countrys center-cannot-hold bad vibes. Were still processing the overabundant all of it. We cant wait to see it again.

Honey Dont!

Honey Dont!





An 11th hour addition to the festivals Midnight Selection (a far better place for it than the special screenings or competition lineups, to be honest), the sophomore entry in Ethan Coen and Tricia Cookes self-proclaimed lesbian B-movie trilogy centers around one Honey ODonoghue (Margaret Qualley)  a crime-solving, wisecracking gumshoe trying to figure out who left a burnt corpse in the New Mexico desert. The case soon turns out to be anything but open and shut, and ends up involving a popular local preacher (Chris Evans), mobsters, missing teens, and a mysterious French femme fatale (Lera Abova). Unlike the duos seven-car pile-up Drive-Away Dolls (2024), this still somewhat messy attempt to mix Coen-esque mayhem with Sapphic erotica shakes the ingredients into a far more satisfying cocktail; youll likely be talking about the sex scene between Honey and Aubrey Plazas tough-talking cop for a while. What really earns it a place here is the way Qualley turns this private investigator into an update of an old noir staple thats equal parts screwball and hardboiled. Its some of the best work shes ever done, and wed gladly watch a whole other trilogy just devoted to this sultry, take-no-shit sleuth.

It Was Just an Accident

It Was Just an Accident





Even if Jafar Panahis extraordinary revenge parable hadnt won the Palme dOr (and made him one of the very few filmmakers to take home the top prizes at Berlin, Venice and Cannes), it would still be considered a major victory: This was the first time in over 20 years that the politically persecuted Panahi had walked the red carpet at the festival. Seriously, youd have thought Mick Jagger had entered the building when the Iranian writer-director walked into the Lumiere for the movies premiere. The overall premise is simple: A man (Ebrahim Azizi) finds his family trip interrupted when his car breaks down. A mechanic (Vahid Mobasseri) thinks he recognizes him as the person who tortured him for years in prison. He abducts the traveler, and then proceeds to round up several other former inmates to confirm that he is indeed the culprit. It plays at times like a nailbiting thriller, an elliptical road movie, and a sort of backstage farce revolving around a payback killing instead a theatrical production. Every moment of it attests to the work of a master, however, right down to one sublime gut punch of a final shot. The win was more than deserved.

My Fathers Shadow

Set in 1993 Nigeria, Akinola Davies Jr.s drama follows two preteen brothers (Godwin Egbo, Chibuike Marvellous Egbo) who go on a rare trip from rural Nigeria to Lagos with their father (Sope Dirisu) as he tries to collect backpay. Over the course of a day, they get to know him in a way that opens their eyes regarding their dads long absences from home. The turmoil surrounding the presidential election of MKO Abiola, however, is about to come to a full boil. Partially a memory film of sorts  even if you didnt know that the director wrote it with his brother, or that one of the boys shares his first name, it feels achingly personal  and partially one of those films that frames historical upheavals through the eyes of children, this is the sort of discovery that reminds you why Cannes Un Certain Regard section devoted to new filmmakers is such a vital part of the fest.

Orwell: 2+2=5

Orwell: 2+2=5

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Raoul Peck returns to the festival with a look at George Orwells transformation from a cog in Britiains colonialist machinery (he served on the police force in Burma in the 1920s) to political critic, essayist and world-renowned author of Animal Farm and 1984. Had the filmmaker merely delivered a documentary on the writers radicalization and warnings about power, corruption, and lies this would still make for essential viewing. But he goes several giant steps further, borrowing the expansive design of Exterminate All the Brutes (2021) and connecting the dots between those two dystopian novels, the 20th centurys totalitarian regimes, and the ways in which history tends to repeat itself. Like, say, in contemporary America. Its a virtual firehose of doubleplusbad information on how fascism insidiously takes hold, collapsing the gap between then and now in a way thats damn near overwhelming. You would not call the outlook good. You would recognize this dour primer as absolutely vital at this particular moment in time.

Nouvelle Vague

Nouvelle Vague





Anyone could technically craft a behind-the-scenes recreation of the making of Jean-Luc Godards gamechanging debut feature Breathless. Only Richard Linklater could turn it into a glorious hang-out movie, in which you get to ride shotgun with the critic-turned-cineaste-in-sunglasses as he and his fellow band of film-mad outsiders make history 24 frames per second. The way Linklater identifies everyone from 1960s Cahiers du Cinema legends (Chabrol, Rivette, Truffaut, Rohmer) to deep-cut scenesters, then gathers all of the players together feels a little like hes making The Avengers for the hardcore Letterboxd crowd  heres all your favorite superheroes of the French New Wave, assembled for one great big collective adventure. Guillaume Marbecks take on Godard as a quote-spouting enfant terrible is priceless; Zoey Deutch chronicling Jean Sebergs conversion from skeptic to true believer is sublime; Aubry Dullins Jean-Paul Belmondo is one big, goofy grin of a tribute. (Our vote for MVP: Matthieu Penchinats comic interpretation of Breathless cinematographer Raoul Cotard.) Pure bliss.

The Phoenician Scheme

The Phoenician Scheme





Wes Anderson scores big with this mix of corporate-espionage thriller, slapstick comedy, and father-daughter family drama, centered around Anatole Zsa Zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro), international business-magnate of mystery. Hes trying to make sure his dream project involving a multinational transport system becomes a reality before hes assassinated by rivals; if he can also mend fences with his estranged daughter (Mia Threapleton), who wants nothing to do with her dad and yearns to become a nun, thats simply a bonus. Its got all the usual hallmarks of an Anderson project, from an all-star ensemble cast to the meticulously composed imagery thats made him a film-nerd idol. But this new film gels in a genuinely satisfying way that several of his recent works havent. And it gifts us with a real discovery in Threapleton, whose deadpan reactions, comic timing and chemistry with Del Toro make this feel like theres a heart beating underneath it all.

The Secret Agent

The Secret Agent





Set in Brazil circa 1977  a time of great mischief  Kleber Mendonca Filhos portrait of a fugitive (Narcos Wagner Moura, who won the Best Actor prize) feels like its setting you up for a paranoid political thriller. It soon adopts a kitchen-sink approach that incorporates everything from outre horror-movie sketches (watch out for that hairy, dismembered killer leg!) to musings about the joys of remembering old movie theaters. You can tell this is the same filmmaker who made the pointed, character-driven drama Aquarius (2016), and co-directed the modern exploitation-cinema nugget Bacurau (2019), as well as the person who penned the elegiac love letter to Brazilian cinema, Pictures of Ghosts (2023). Yet the scope and ambitiousness of this extended period piece feels new for him, and a cryptic aside around the halfway mark soon turns into a revelation about what Filho has been chasing all along: the passage of time, and how it never really heals any or all wounds.

Sentimental Value

Sentimental Value

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The closest thing to a consensus pick for the best movie at the festival  you could practically hear the whoops of joy across the pond when this won the Grand Prix  Joachim Triers family drama continues his winning streak after the highly praised The Worst Person in the World (2021) hit his creative reset button. It also reminded many of us why we initially fell in love with the Norwegian filmmakers work in the first place, dating back to his gobsmacking first feature Reprise (2006). Once again working with his longtime cowriter Eskil Vogt and his TWPITW star Renate Reinsve, Trier carefully constructs a morality tale around a once-prominent movie director (Stellan Skarsgard) hoping to make a comeback with a new project. He offers the role based on his daughter to his actual daughter, an anxiety-prone stage actor (Reinsve) with a grudge against dad. Then he decides to cast an American movie star (Elle Fanning) instead, and film the whole thing in their actual family house. Fanning wore a Joachim Trier Summer t-shirt during the movies photocall. That season cant come soon enough.

Sirat

Sirat





One of the early breakout sensations of the festival, Oliver Laxes woozy, epic thriller plops a concerned father (Sergi Lopez) into the middle of the Moroccan desert, as he tries to find his missing daughter amidst the nomadic hipsters frequenting underground trance-music concerts. You initially brace yourself for a riff on The Searchers, redone for the 21st-century rave-scene set. Then things take an extremely lysergic, extra-dark turn, and suddenly everything plunges into pure nightmare territory. No movie made better use of music and sound design as a way of immersing viewers into a world that somehow simultaneously utopian and dystopian, and youll want to see this in a theater with the best speaker get-up possible. A trip, in too many ways to count.

A Useful Ghost

A Useful Ghost





Because who doesnt love a Thai movie about possessed household appliances and horny ghosts fucking everybody in sight? The winner of the big prize at this years Semaine de la Critique, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachokes unclassifiable, truly wackadoo mix of comedy and supernatural shenanigans starts with a factory accident that traps the spirit of a dead worker into a vacuum cleaner. It ends with a moving meditation on memory, grief, and the lengths one will go to keep a deceased loved one from going gently into the night. In between all of this is a number of hilarious vignettes involving randy machinery, some sideways class commentary, a haunting (in more ways than one) performance from Thai actor Davika Hoorne, and a shit-ton of paranormal sex. No notes.

YES

YES





Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid has always cast a critical eye on his countrys political stances and social policies  see: Policeman, Aheds Knee, Synonyms his whole filmography, really. His latest will not win him any friends among the more conservative side of the tracks back home. A songwriter (Ariel Bronz) and his wife (Efrat Dor) enjoy every hedonistic pleasure thats available to the nations military, media and right-wing elite. When hes asked to write an anthem extolling the nations moral superiority, he takes the gig. Soon, the combination of that commission and reconnecting with an old musical partner/friend-with-benefits (Naama Preis) begets a serious crisis of faith. Its an angry scream-into-the-void of a movie, and one that rages against the normalization of daily atrocities and escalating death tolls blaring out from peoples phones. Not even the gonzo early scenes of sex, drugs, and dance battles with a gaggle of army generals can temper the sting.

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Today is the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of 8,586m Kangchenjunga, the worlds third-highest mountain.

Located on the border of Nepal and Sikkim, India, Kangchenjunga means the Five Treasures of the Great Snow, referencing its five prominent peaks and cultural significance in Sikkim, where it is considered sacred. Kangchenjunga drew early mountaineers because of its height and extreme technical challenges. Before its first ascent in 1955, 13 expeditions targeted the peak.

The Kangchenjunga Massif from the southwest. Photo: Gunter Seyfferth

Early exploration and reconnaissance

The climbing history of Kangchenjunga begins with exploration rather than summit bids. In 1899, British mountaineer Douglas Freshfield became the first European to circumnavigate the mountain, mapping its glaciers and ridges. Freshfield described the Northwest Face as a formidable barrier, seemingly designed to repel climbers with its ice and snow defenses. His observations laid the groundwork for future attempts, suggesting potential routes via the Southwest Face and the Kangchenjunga Glacier.

The first summit attempt

The first serious attempt to climb Kangchenjunga came in 1905, led by controversial British mountaineer and occultist Aleister Crowley, who later styled himself "the wickedest man in the world." The expedition also included Jules Jacot-Guillarmod, Charles Reymond, and Alexis Pache of Switzerland, along with Alcesti C. Rigo de Righi (an Italian hotelier from Darjeeling), and four Sherpas.

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The expedition approached from the Nepal side, targeting Kangchenjungas Southwest Face via the Yalung Glacier, a route suggested by Freshfield. Crowley, who had previously attempted K2 in 1902, led with a mixture of ambition and recklessness.

Kangchenjunga from Gangtok, Sikkim. Photo: Johannes Bahrdt

The team established Camp 7 at approximately 6,300m. However, the expedition unraveled because of Crowley's leadership and dangerous conditions. On September 1, an avalanche struck and swept the climbers away, killing Pache and three Sherpas (The Himalayan Database does not list the names of the Sherpas.) De Righi was partially buried, and the survivors called for help. Crowley reportedly remained in his tent, later claiming the "Demon of Kangchenjunga" had been appeased by the deaths. Earlier in the expedition, one porter died in a fall.

The avalanche ended the 1905 attempt, and Crowleys reputation suffered.

Kellas reconnaissance

Between 1907 and 1921, Scottish chemist and mountaineer Alexander Mitchell Kellas made six visits to the Kangchenjunga region, climbing in alpine style with Sherpa and Lepcha porters. Kellas, a pioneer of high-altitude physiology, believed peaks like Kangchenjunga could be climbed without supplemental oxygen.

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In the spring of 1910, Kellas made a solo reconnaissance trip on the northeast side of Kangchenjunga and explored near Kirat Chuli. Kellas studied the Zemu Gap, Simvu Saddle, and Kangchenjunga Glacier, making several first ascents of peaks over 6,000m, including 7,128m Pauhunri (1911) and 6,965m Langpo (1910).

Kellas work provided critical knowledge of the terrain and Sherpa capabilities, though he never attempted Kangchenjungas summit. Tragically, Kellas died in 1921 during an Everest reconnaissance expedition, but his contributions shaped Himalayan mountaineering.

From left to right, Jules Jacot-Guillarmod, Charles Adolphe Reymond, and Alcesti C. Rigo De Righi at Kangchenjunga Base Camp in 1905. Photo: Jules Jacot-Guillarmod

Interwar attempts

After Crowleys failed attempt, Kangchenjunga saw no major expeditions until after World War I, when mountaineering interest in the Himalaya surged. In the autumn of 1920, British climber Harold Raeburn, accompanied by Ferdie Crawford, scouted the southwest side of Kangchenjunga and reached 6,400m.

Solo attempt and death

Edgar Francis Farmer was a young man from the Standard Oil Company of New York who dreamed of climbing Kangchenjunga. In May 1929, he set out on a solo attempt to reach the summit by the Southwest Face. The decision led to his death.

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Thanks to detailed reporting in The Himalayan Journal and the American Alpine Journal, Farmer's climb was well covered. Farmer wasnt an experienced Himalayan climber; his only mountaineering background was in the Rockies. Still, he was determined and had studied climbing books. He kept his ambitious plan secret, not sharing it with officials or experienced climbers in Darjeeling who might have warned him against it.

Farmer set out on May 6, with skilled Sherpa and Bhutia porters, claiming he would explore the Guicha La region. Farmer led his team across the Kang La into Nepal, and camped on the Yalung Glacier near Kangchenjungas Southwest Face. On May 26, with three porters, he tackled the icefall toward the Talung Saddle. Though personally well-equipped, his porters lacked proper gear.

With melting snow making the climb risky, the head porter, Lobsang, urged Farmer to turn back. However, the American, promising to stop by noon, continued alone into the mist despite the porters pleas.

Camp 4 on Kangchenjunga in 1905. Photo: Cordada

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By 5 pm, the porters saw Farmer climbing higher, but the mist soon hid him. The porters signaled by torch, hoping he would return. The next morning, they spotted Farmer up a steep slope, moving oddly, possibly snowblind. He then vanished at approximately 6,000m.

Out of food, the porters waited until May 28 before descending. On May 30, they reached Tseram, traded a coat for food, and sent a porter to Darjeeling. The porter reported the tragedy on June 6.

Farmer had arrived in Darjeeling earlier that year and met G.H. Wood-Johnson, an experienced Himalayan climber. Wood-Johnson helped Farmer hire skilled porters, including Lobsang, a veteran of Everest expeditions. Lobsangs detailed account to the Indian Police matched the porters story, describing how Farmer misled them about his real plans.

Farmers obsession with reaching the summit of Kangchenjunga clouded his judgment.

Porters on the Northeast Spur between Camps 7 and 8, during the 1929 German expedition. Photo: Alpine Journal

German attempt

In the summer of 1929, German climber Paul Bauer led a well-organized German-Austrian-British expedition targeting the Northeast Spur from the Sikkim side. Bauers team first made a reconnaissance of the East-Southeast Ridge, but then focused on the Northeast Spur-North Ridge route. The party reached 7,400m, where a five-day storm stopped them. The long and exposed Northeast Spur proved technically challenging and avalanche-prone, ultimately forcing a retreat.

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In the spring of 1930, an international expedition led by Swiss mountaineer Gunter Oskar Dyhrenfurth attempted the Northwest Face via the Kangchenjunga Glacier from Nepal. The team, including German, British, Swiss, and Austrian climbers, aimed to follow Freshfields suggested route. They established Base Camp near Pangpema, but faced disaster when a massive ice avalanche killed Chettan Sherpa, one of their strongest high-altitude porters, and nearly wiped out the team. The expedition abandoned the climb at 6,400m, but completed a circuit of Kangchenjunga, ascending three lower peaks.

Years later, other climbers found Chettan Sherpas remains and G.O. Dyhrenfurths ice axe. According to a letter written by Dyhrenfurths son, Norman Dyhrenfurth, on November 27, 1987, and sent to The Himalayan Database, Chettan Sherpa was crushed by a huge ice avalanche on May 8, 1930. After more than an hour of artificial respiration, he was buried near Camp 2.

"My fathers old ice-axe was indeed placed on his grave. Perhaps a recent avalanche brought his remains to the surface and broke the ice axe as well. What a strong coincidence, Norman Dyhrenfurth wrote.

Kangchenjunga's Northeast Face and Spur in 1929. Photo: Alpine Journal

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Bauer returned in 1931 with a large German team of 10 climbers. They followed the same Northeast Spur. Despite persistent bad weather, they reached 7,940m, but a dangerous snow slope between the Spur and the North Ridge proved impassable. The expedition suffered losses when climber Hermann Schaller and Sherpa Pasang died in a fall, and Sirdar Lobsang and porter Babu Lall succumbed to illness. Bauers determination earned respect, but Kangchenjunga remained unclimbed.

Further reconnaissance

George Frey of Switzerland and Gilmour C. Lewis of the UK made a reconnaissance from the southeast to the southwest side of Kangchenjunga in the autumn of 1951. This was followed by John Kempes (UK) reconnaissance in the spring of 1953, also with C. Lewis, of Kangchenjungas Southwest Face.

Kempe returned in the spring of 1954 with seven other climbers (two of them Sherpas), again scouting the Southwest Face.

All attempts and reconnaissance of Kangchenjunga between 1905 and 1954 were carried out without supplemental oxygen.

Charles Evans. Photo: Himalayan Club

The 1955 British Kangchenjunga Expedition

By the 1950s, Kangchenjunga had gained a fearsome reputation, with 11 people dead and no summits. After the successful first ascents of Everest (1953) and K2 (1954), Kangchenjunga became the highest unclimbed peak, drawing intense interest.

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In 1955, a British expedition led by Charles Evans, deputy leader of the 1953 Everest expedition, achieved the first confirmed ascent. The teams success was a mountaineering landmark, often considered a greater achievement than Everest because of Kangchenjungas technical difficulty and remoteness.

The Great Shelf on Kangchenjunga. 1955. Photo: Tony Streather Collection

The expedition included experienced mountaineers and Sherpas, carefully selected for their skills and Himalayan experience: Charles Evans (leader, 36, a seasoned Himalayan climber, calm and strategic, who negotiated access with Sikkims authorities), Norman Hardie (deputy leader, 30, a New Zealand engineer and expert ice climber, responsible for oxygen equipment), George Band (26, a Cambridge graduate and Everest 1953 veteran, in charge of food logistics), Joe Brown (24, a British working-class rock climbing prodigy with no prior Himalayan experience but exceptional technical skills), John Clegg (29, expedition doctor and alpine climber), John Jackson (34, a Himalayan veteran who had been on the 1954 Kangchenjunga reconnaissance), Tom McKinnon (42, expedition photographer with extensive Himalayan experience), John Neil Mather (28, an ice and snow specialist from the Alps), and Tony Streather (29, an army captain with broad mountaineering experience, including the 1953 K2 attempt, responsible for porters).

The team also included Dawa Tenzing, Sirdar, 45, a highly respected Sherpa leader, known as the King of the Sherpas for his stamina and character. Additional Sherpas included Ang Temba, Ang Noru, Tashi, Urkien, Ila Tenzing, and Pemi Dorje, who played critical roles carrying supplies and establishing camps.

Kangchenjunga Base Camp in 1955. Photo: Tony Streather

The route

The expedition, including over 300 porters and 26 climbing Sherpas, approached from Darjeeling, a 10-day trek along the Sikkim border and through Nepal to the Yalung Valley.

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The team initially attempted a route reconnoitered by John Kempe in 1954 (Kempes Buttress) but found it impractical because of the very unstable lower icefall.

"We could find no safe route from the top of Kempes Buttress to the Plateau," Evans noted in the American Alpine Journal.

Instead, they chose the Southwest Face via the Yalung Glacier, the same route attempted by Crowley in 1905. This route ascended snow and ice slopes west of the Western Buttress, crossing what they called The Hump to the upper icefall and reaching the Great Shelf, a large ice terrace at 7,300m. From there, it followed the Gangway, a snow slope leading to the summit ridge, avoiding the dangerous "Sickle" formation.

The 1955 first ascent route. Photo: Culturademontania

Kangchenjungas first ascent

The expedition began with Evans, Hardie, and two Sherpas reaching 7,150m, establishing Camp 4 and identifying the route to the Great Shelf. By May 13, the team reached the Great Shelf and established Camp 5 at 7,710m. This camp was under a vertical ice cliff, higher than any previous Kangchenjunga attempt.

George Band at the summit of Kangchenjunga. Photo: Royal Geographic Society and Alpine Club of Great Britain

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On May 15, Jackson and McKinnon led Sherpa teams to stock Camp 5, battling deep snow and an avalanche that scattered supplies. Jackson suffered snow blindness, but continued, guided by Sherpas.

The team regrouped at Base Camp, where Evans announced the summit plan: Joe Brown and George Band would lead the first summit attempt, supported by Evans, Mather, Dawa Tenzing, Ang Temba, Ang Noru, and Tashi.

The Sherpa team from the 1955 Kangchenjunga expedition. Photo: Himalayan Club

Hardie, Streather, Urkien, and Ila Tenzing formed a second summit team and planned to follow a day behind. On May 24, they established Camp 6 at 8,200m on a precarious snow ledge. It was the final camp before the summit.

Crossing a crevasse in 1955. Photo: Himalayan Club

On May 25, Brown and Band set out from Camp 6 at 8,200m. They navigated the Gangway, facing soft snow and avalanche debris. Brown led a challenging six-meter rock climb up a crack with a slight overhang, rated very difficult at sea level but grueling at 8,500m.

On May 25 at 2:45 pm, Band and Brown topped out. Respecting Sikkims religious sensitivities and as Evans had promised the Sikkimese prime minister, they stopped just short of the true summit. Clouds obscured most of the view, but they glimpsed Makalu, Lhotse, and Everest 130km away. After an hour, they descended, discarding empty oxygen tanks and reaching Camp 6 as darkness fell. On May 26, at noon, Hardie and Streather also reached the summit.

In the upper icefall in 1955. Photo: Expeditions-unlimited

Supplemental oxygen was a key component in the expeditions strategy, reflecting the growing acceptance of its necessity at extreme altitudes. The team used oxygen for climbing and sleeping above Camp 3 (6,700m). Sherpas used oxygen only for carries above Camp 5 (7,700m). George Band and Joe Brown carried 1,600 liters of oxygen each for their summit push, while Hardie and Streather carried 2,400 liters each. However, leaks reduced Hardie and Streathers supply, forcing Streather to descend without oxygen. The oxygen systems posed challenges, including mask leaks that fogged goggles, contributing to Jacksons snow blindness during a carry to Camp 5.

A snowstorm. Photo: Tony Streather Collection

Sherpa contributions

Sherpas were integral to the expeditions success, carrying heavy loads, establishing camps, and breaking trail in deep snow. Dawa Tenzing, the sirdar, was praised for his leadership and stamina. He had also previously outperformed others on Everest in 1953.

Sherpas like Ang Temba, Ang Noru, and Tashi supported the summit teams, carrying vital supplies to Camp 6. However, the expedition was marred by the death of Pemi Dorje, Dawa Tenzings brother-in-law, who died of a stroke at Base Camp on May 26, after an exhausting carry to Camp 5.

George Band under the summit of Kangchenjunga in 1955. Photo: Expeditions-unlimited

The 1955 British expedition achieved the first ascent of Kangchenjunga through meticulous planning, skilled climbing, and Sherpa support, navigating the Southwest Face with supplemental oxygen. The climb was a historic success, proving that even the Demon of Kangchenjunga could be tamed through perseverance and respect for the mountains cultural significance.

The second ascent of Kangchenjunga did not occur until the spring of 1977, when Prem Chand Dogra and Nima Dorje Sherpa, members of the Indian Army Expedition led by Narinder Kumar, carried out the ascent via the East Spur-North Ridge route.

Subsequent ascents included a 1979 climb by Doug Scott, Pete Boardman, and Joe Tasker, who made the first Kangchenjunga ascent without oxygen or high-altitude porters, via a new route.






Northern Neck, Virginia

The northernmost of Virginia's three peninsulas, the Northern Neck is a tranquil escape on the Chesapeake Bay.

The Tides Inn offers a serene experience with activities like bird-watching and oystering.

Head to Willabys for riverfront dining, Adrift for creative, locally sourced meals, and Merroir for oysters directly from the farm.

Explore the natural beauty at Hughlett Point, go hiking at Belle Isle State Park, or take a boat tour with Sweet Sea Charters.

Though there's not much in the way of nightlife on the Northern Neck, Camp provides live music and a social atmosphere.









Nestled between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers on the Chesapeake Bay lies a Virginia escape that offers tranquility in spades. To cross the bridge to the peninsula known as the Northern Neck is to leave behind modern life for a place seemingly unmoored by its demands.

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The birthplace of George Washington, James Madison, and James Monroe, the Northern Neck is steeped in history. And, at times, it can feel stuck there, too. The regions 1,100 miles of shoreline outnumber its roads and traffic lights combined. And, its density of roughly 50 people per square mile is less than half of one percent of areas upstream on the Potomac. On Northern Neck time, there's no rush, and the sooner you embrace the regions slower pace of life, the sooner you'll benefit from its effects.

It's this relaxed atmosphere that lured chef Devin Rose back to the area in 2018 to open his dream restaurant, Adrift. After growing up in his fathers Northern Neck restaurants, Rose left to further his culinary training, then returned to bring the food he loves to the place he loves. Few have better insight into the areas secrets and places to eat.

Here's our guide to the Northern Neck region in Virginia.

Best Places to Stay

The Tides Inn Aerial view of the hotel and marina at The Tides Inn. Aerial view of the hotel and marina at The Tides Inn.

The Tides Inn

Arguably the jewel of the Northern Neck, The Tides Inn underwent a restoration in 2021 that created a living shoreline with a boardwalk around the property. What theyve done over the past few years is pretty amazing, said Rose. Ashore, understated elegance, a spectacular setting, and earnest hospitality conspire to ensure guests unwind in luxury. The inn evokes such a sense of serenity that it tempts one never to leave their Adirondack chair perched above the water. For more active guests, a full-time ecologist, horticulturist, and artist offer experiences like oystering, bird-watching cruises, and pinot and painting art classes.

The Oyster Bed at Merroir

Vacation rentals line the Northern Necks shores, many with beautiful views and private boat docks. But if youre someone who plans travel around food, the place to book is just over the bridge in the Middle Peninsula. The restaurant Merroir is so alluring that some people spend a whole day there, alternating between oysters, beers, and more oysters. Fortunately, The Oyster Bed, a three-bedroom rental home with excellent guest reviews, is just steps away. As a bonus, guests enjoy access to Merroirs boat docks.

Best Places to Eat

Wayne E. Chinnock/The Tides Inn Al fresco dining tables at The Tides Inn. Al fresco dining tables at The Tides Inn.

The Local or Chesapeake Doughnut Company

Rose suggests starting the day at The Local in Irvington, mingling with locals over custom-blended Blanchards coffee and a breakfast sandwich or avocado toast. In the next town over, White Stones Chesapeake Doughnut Co. also serves Blanchards coffee, along with classic and creative doughnut flavors and tasty sandwiches on homemade biscuits or buns made from doughnut dough.

Lees Restaurant

Lees Restaurant, located in Kilmarnock, has been run by the same family for 80 years. Its like stepping back in time, says Rose. And I mean that in the best possible way. The waitresses call you honey while refilling your sweet or unsweet tea. Order some delicious fried pickle fries, fried spicy green beans, or fried seafood. And at an old-school place like this, wedges of homemade pie for dessert are a must.

Willabys

Throwing parties in college is how William Barnhardt discovered his love of hospitality, and he has run Willabys ever sincefor more than three decades. Sit inside or out at the riverfront pub, which even boasts its own beach. Choose from comforts like Mas Oyster Stew and seafood sandwiches, and keep an eye out for the live music schedule. And dont leave without an order (or two) of the signature chargrilled oysters.

Miss Mary Seafood

If you prefer to cook, Miss Mary Seafood makes it easy. Seafood runs in the blood of co-owners Tony Ferguson and Lisa Carol, who source from an unrivaled network of local fishermen to offer what Rose calls the freshest seafood in town. They know how to cook it, too, and are happy to advise. Shes a personality, said Rose. She would do anything for her customers.

Old Farm Truck Market

It doesnt get more local than this White Stone shop, which sells produce from its nearby farm and other farms that share its sustainable, beyond organic practices. Rose says the awesome staff can help you build a meal from some of the same ingredients he uses at his own restaurant. Or, you can leave the cooking to the shop. For its rotating array of prepared foods, like soups, salads, quiches, hand pies, and stews, the market relies on French Culinary Institute graduate Joe Merolli, whose resume includes NYC's Le Bernardin.

Adrift

Rose's restaurant, Adrift, is the must-get reservation on the Northern Neck. Here, Rose serves whatever inspires him from the local ingredients he brings in each week. Fresh is essential is the mantra he learned while working at The Inn at Little Washington, and it now forms his own cooking philosophy: fin to scale, nose to tail, roots to leaf. On a mission to elevate the palates of locals and visitors, Rose knows some diners move faster than others. So, if raw oysters with kimchi-apple sorbet are not your thing, there are options for more conventional tastes, like Italian Night on Tuesdays and Burger Night on Wednesdays.

Merroir

It's no hyperbole to say cousins Travis and Ryan Croxton single-handedly revived Virginia oystering, a once-bustling industry that was nearly extinct when the Croxtons launched Rappahannock Oyster Co. in 2005. Their oysters are now served at top spots around the country, but theres nowhere better to enjoy them than the restaurant at their oyster farm. At Merroir, diners can gaze at the river while enjoying seafood plucked from it. Watch the sunset here, said Rose. Its a beautiful location.

Salt & Meadow

The Tides Inns renovations also transformed its time-worn dining room into Salt & Meadow, a dazzling restaurant that opened in 2024 with a new look and culinary approach. Wall-to-wall windows and a fresh color scheme of blue hues are designed to bring the outside in for a coastal vibe. New executive chef Kyle Perkins stresses local sourcing and fresh ingredients, including the addition of the propertys own farm. I love what Kyle is bringing to the community, said Rose. Even better, you dont have to be an inn guest to enjoy Salt & Meadows beautiful setting while enjoying a drink at the bar or a meal in the restaurant.

Best Things to Do

Sarah Hauser/Virginia Tourism Corporation Kayaking during sunset in Belle Isle State Park. Kayaking during sunset in Belle Isle State Park.

Hughlett Point Natural Area Preserve

Serene enough for a threatened insect speciesthat could be the marketing pitch for this 104-acre natural area preserve on the Chesapeake Bay. The northeastern beach tiger beetles inability to endure human disturbance has wiped it out everywhere except three remote corners of the U.S., one of which is Hughlett Point. The states method to protect the beetle from humans is its parking lot, which fits just 11 cars. When the lot is full, the preserve is full. After a short hike through a loblolly pine forest to the beach, there's a feeling of near-complete detachment from the rest of the world. I cant put it into words, said Rose. Go and youll understand.

Belle Isle State Park

For those who prefer more activity, Belle Isle State Parks hiking trails, fishing, and bike and kayak rentals await. With seven miles of shoreline, the 892-acre park has plenty of space to explore tidal wetlands interspersed with farmland and upland forests.

Sweet Sea Charters

The Northern Neck is surrounded by so much water, it would be a shame not to spend time on it. Thats where Sweet Sea Charters comes in. When shes not mentoring aspiring female sailors, Morgan Fraczkowski is escorting guests around waterways on Sweet Aria, her 33-foot Endeavour. Guests can choose a package experience or design a custom tour that might begin with a pickup from a coastal Airbnb or marina, and then include sightseeing, waterfront barhopping, or dolphin-watching. To top it off, the yacht serves Boat Boxes with food prepared by Rose himself.

Windmill Point

For Rose, nothing feels more like the Northern Neck than the drive down Route 695 to its eastern tip, Windmill Point. The road transitions from pine trees to bayberries to marshland until reaching a small beach. Rose says the drive itself is worthwhile, but if you go during the summer, theres a tiki bar to reward those who find it.

Camp

Though theres not much nightlife on the Northern Neck, Camp may be the closest thing. On weekends from the spring through fall, the private event venue opens to the public. Huddle around fire pits under the stars while enjoying live music, food, and drinks.

Best Time to Visit

David Lipshaw/Virginia Tourism Corporation Colonial Beach is located at the northern tip of Virginia's Northern Neck and is one of the few remaining small seaport towns on the Potomac River. Colonial Beach is located at the northern tip of Virginia's Northern Neck and is one of the few remaining small seaport towns on the Potomac River.

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While the Northern Neck never feels crowded, summer is its busiest time. Late spring and early fall offer optimal tranquility. Early November brings the nearby Urbanna Oyster Festival. While 50,000 people swarm Urbanna for the festival, the Northern Neck is a good base away from the festival crowds, just short trip across the Rappahannock.

How to Get There

Remote escapes, by definition, are hard to reach, but the Northern Neck is accessible from a few cities. Richmond is roughly 76 miles west and Norfolk 88 miles south. Theres also water everywhere for those who travel by boat. But once on land, youll need a car. Theres no public transportation, not even taxis or ride-share apps.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  An investigation is underway after one person was killed and two others were injured in a shooting Saturday night in Kansas City.

According to Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forte, at about 9:30 p.m., officers with the Kansas City Police Department were called to the area of 55th and Troost Avenue on reports of a shooting.

Initial investigations revealed that the shooting took place in a nearby business parking lot and that all three victims had been taken to a hospital before officers arrived.

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Police investigating after man shot, killed inside car Friday afternoon

One of the victims, a man, reportedly died after arriving at the hospital. The other two victims, a man and a woman, were said to have sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

At this time, no suspects are in custody.

If you or anyone you know has information, Sheriff Forte says to call the TIPS Hotline anonymously at (816) 474-8477.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned to FOX4 News for the latest updates and information.

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Medics transported a person to the hospital after being ejected from a vehicle in Butler County.

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Officers and medics responded around 1:50 p.m. to State Routes 4 and 129 on reports of a crash, according to our news partner, WCPO, in Cincinnati.

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Butler County dispatchers told WCPO that three vehicles were involved, and a person was ejected.

The persons condition is currently unknown.

The crash remains under investigation.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A man is dead and another woman was taken to the hospital after a shooting in Marianna, Arkansas, on Friday.

The Arkansas State Police are investigating a deadly shooting that occurred near the intersection of Mississippi and Alabama streets in Marianna.

A 36-year-old man from Forrest City, Arkansas, was pronounced dead and a 39-year-old woman was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

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Well update this story as more information becomes available.

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  One woman is dead and another is injured after a grandmother shot her daughter in Tampa Sunday morning.

Deputy Chief Joseph Maurer of the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office said they received a call about a burglary in progress at around 4:41 a.m. The home was occupied by a grandmother, daughter, grandchild and a roommate.

VIDEO: Terrifying moment truck explodes in suburban neighborhood

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As deputies were arriving on the scene, the grandmother, identified as 46-year-old Rosamond Brookins, shot her daughter in the hand. Shortly after, the roommate exited the house with the child, and both were taken to safety.

Two teams of deputies made entry into the home, one of which rescued the injured victim, the suspects daughter, who Maurer said appeared to be under the influence of a narcotic.

She was transported for medical treatment and is now in stable condition.

A second team of deputies located Brookins barricaded in a back room of the house. The door was locked, and she ignored multiple commands from deputies to open the door.

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When deputies breached the door, they found Brookins lying on the floor with a gun in her hand. She ignored commands to drop the weapon and began to raise the firearm, at which point she was shot and killed by one of the deputies.

Maurer identified the officer involved as Deputy Joshua Thomas, who has been with HSCO for ten months and was previously with the Temple Terrace Police Department for six years. He has no prior use of deadly force.

While he was unable to comment on the motive, Maurer added that the suspect and her daughter lived together, and that Brookins was asked to leave on Friday.

Maurer said this was a domestic violence situation and encouraged anyone suffering from similar abuse to reach out for help.

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Domestic violence is the monster in everyones home, he said. We cannot police in your homes.

As is typical with deputy-involved incidents, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will conduct the investigation.

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VALLETTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Malta will officially recognize Palestine as a state, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced on Sunday.

His statement ends more than four decades of deliberation on the issue.

Although Malta hosts a Palestinian ambassador and has long offered implicit recognition, recognizing Palestine as a state will mark the Malta's first formal diplomatic recognition of Palestine.

Addressing Labour Party supporters in Mosta, Abela linked the recognition with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, strongly condemning Israeli military actions that caused massive civilian casualties. 
Two suspects were arrested for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from an Ulta Beauty store in San Bernardino County.

The suspects were identified as Kailey Calderon, 26, and Michael Flood, 27, according to the Rialto Police Department.

On May 14, the pair entered an Ulta Beauty store in Rialto and began ransacking store shelves. They grabbed a large amount of merchandise before fleeing the store in a getaway car.

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Store security said the duo escaped with around $10,000 worth of items.

Officers began investigating and later identified Calderon and Flood as the suspected thieves. A search warrant was served at Calderons home where police found over $12,000 worth of stolen cosmetics and high-end beauty products.

Over $12,000 worth of stolen cosmetics and high-end beauty products were found at the female suspects home during a police search. (Rialto Police Department) Kailey Calderon, 26, of Moreno Valley, was arrested for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars worth of beauty products from an Ulta Beauty store in Rialto on May 14, 2025. (Rialto Police Department) Over $12,000 worth of stolen cosmetics and high-end beauty products were found at the female suspects home during a police search. (Rialto Police Department) Kailey Calderon, 26, of Moreno Valley, was arrested after police found over $12,000 worth of stolen beauty products that were taken from an Ulta Beauty store in Rialto on May 14, 2025. (Rialto Police Department)

Photos of the arrest showed a notable collection of high-end makeup and skincare products that were found in several large tote bags.

Calderon was arrested for burglary, grand theft and the intent to sell stolen merchandise. Days later, Flood was also located and taken into custody by the Riverside County Sheriffs Department.

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Detectives believe the pair is also responsible for additional thefts at Ulta Beauty stores across Riverside County.

The Rialto Police Department has zero tolerance for thieves and remains committed to holding thieves accountable, the department said. We would like to thank the Riverside County Sheriffs Department for their assistance in this case.

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A 21-year-old South Carolina man is in jail following a recent shooting where two people were targeted and a woman was hit by gunfire, according to the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office.

Holly Hill resident Killah Scott was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of armed robbery and one count of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, the sheriffs office said in a news release.

The charges stem from a shooting that was reported at about 5 p.m. Thursday, according to the release.

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The man who reported the shooting said he and a woman drove to a location to meet someone in the Bonita Lane area of Holly Hill when a man, later identified as Scott, shot at them, the sheriffs office said. There was no word if Scott was the person who the man and woman were planning on meeting.

The man who called law enforcement drove away from the gunman before meeting with deputies near Holly Hill Elementary School, according to the release. Thats less than 4 miles from where the shooting was reported.

The woman was shot, the sheriffs office said. Information on her condition was not available, but she was shot in the chest, according to an arrest warrant.

No other injuries were reported.

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Scott was arrested later Thursday, according to the release. An assault style rifle was used in the shooting, according to an arrest warrant.

My investigators were able to locate and take this individual into custody before the day was out, Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said in the release. This is just another senseless act that defies any logic at all.

Information about a motive for the shooting, or if Scott knew the victims prior to the gunfire, was not available.

If convicted on an attempted murder charge, Scott faces a maximum punishment of 30 years in prison, the sheriffs office said.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The El Paso County Sheriffs Office is teaming up with County constables to locate and arrest individuals with active criminal warrants, the Sheriffs Office said.

The effort is being spearheaded by Sheriff Oscar Ugarte in response to the high number of outstanding criminal warrants across the County, the Sheriffs Office said.

On Wednesday, May 21, the coordinated operation resulted in the arrest of 21 individuals with outstanding criminal warrants, the Sheriffs Office said.

Courtesy of the El Paso County Sheriffs Office Courtesy of the El Paso County Sheriffs Office Courtesy of the El Paso County Sheriffs Office Courtesy of the El Paso County Sheriffs Office Courtesy of the El Paso County Sheriffs Office

People who were arrested are facing a range of charges including: assault/family violence; theft; possession of a controlled substance; DWI; indecent assault; and criminal mischief, among others.

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Were joining forces to make El Paso County safer for everyone, Ugarte said. By working together, we can more effectively track down individuals with outstanding warrants and send a clear message that accountability matters. Were grateful to our constables for their partnership and shared commitment to public safety.

Participating in the warrant round-up were the offices of Constable Frank Almada, Precinct 1; Constable Hector Bernal, Precinct 3; Constable Luis Louie Aguilar, Precinct 4; and Constable Javier Garcia, Precinct 6.

The Sheriffs Office and participating constables offices will continue this coordinated enforcement effort over the coming weeks and months, the Sheriffs Office said.

The public is encouraged to resolve any outstanding warrants to avoid arrest.

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Seattle police arrested 23 people as protestors clashed with officers in Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill on Saturday.

Police working to keep two different groups apart, witnessed multiple people inside one group throw items at the opposing group around 1:30 PM Saturday, Seattle Police said in a post on the SPD Blotter. Officers immediately moved to arrest the people responsible, and while taking the individuals into custody, were assaulted by more protesters, resulting in even more arrests. In total, officers arrested 11 during the initial scuffle.

SPD officials reported that some of the protesters were throwing items at officers, including water bottles. Some also knocked down fencing, police said.

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They gave orders to the protesters to back away from officers and to stop throwing things at police.

Arrests continued through the day, one officer hurt

Police said over the course of the afternoon, they arrested 12 more people for assault and obstruction.

One juvenile was also arrested for obstruction but later released.

Washington State Patrol troopers were called out to the scene to provide officers with a brief opportunity to rest, the post said.

One officer was hurt during the protest. They were treated at the hospital and released.

Participants reportedly planned the event to condemn sex trafficking and abortion, and to defend the sanctity of the nuclear family.

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Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protestors group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a statement Saturday.

Seattle is proud of our reputation as a welcoming, inclusive city for LGBTQ+ communities, and we stand with our trans neighbors when they face bigotry and injustice, Harrell said. Todays far-right rally was held here for this very reason  to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our citys values, in the heart of Seattles most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood.
CHICAGO  A 24-year-old man was critically injured in a drive-by shooting overnight in North Lawndale on the citys West Side.

88-year-old pedestrian dies after being hit by car that had crashed with another car in Garfield Ridge: CPD

According to Chicago police, the man was standing outside around 12:30 a.m. Sunday in the 1800 block of South Karlov Avenue when he was shot at by someone from a white SUV.

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Police say the man was hit once in the chest and taken to an area hospital, where hes listed in critical condition.

Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines

Nobody is in custody, police say, and Area Four detectives are investigating.

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Three peregrine falcon chicks from the Cathedral of Learning were banded by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Carla and Ecco, two peregrine falcons, live at the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland and are the stars of the National Aviarys Peregrine FalconCam.

The duo had three chicks this year and viewers have gotten to enjoy watching them hatch and grow. In the next important step of their lives, they have been banded.

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The chicks received a small, lightweight band that has an ID number on it. It is placed on their leg and helps scientists study and keep track of them.

The peregrine falcon is a species of particular interest to researchers because it was formerly endangered in Pennsylvania due to the use of pesticides, the National Aviary said.

The Peregrine Falcon was removed from our states threatened and endangered species list in 2021 after more than 40 years, said Pennsylvania Game Commission Endangered Bird Biologist Patricia Barber, and yet we continue banding at the Cathedral of Learning nest for the immense educational value it provides. This is a species Oakland residents can see soar overhead; a species that has also grown a large digital following thanks to the National Aviary Peregrine FalconCam. The more information we can track and share, the more invested in the well-being of all birds these audiences become.

Barber had to climb up the Cathedral of Learnings steep ledge to get the chicks from the nest.

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What another important day for the birding community! says National Aviary Ornithologist Robert Mulvihill. We (at the National Aviary) are greatly moved by this additional opportunity to orchestrate the banding of three additional Peregrine Falcon chicks. Banding is so vital to the continued plight of the Peregrine Falcon species. The data we receive from this banding will help us continue to track the birds movements, survival rate, mating history, and other aspects of biology that make our job that much easier. After two successful seasons, I am personally so excited to see what the next year of the National Aviary Peregrine FalconCam brings!

The first two chicks hatched on the same day on April 24. The third hatched on April 27.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Cathedral of Learning peregrine falcon pair welcome 2 hatchlings on same day

This marks the second brood for Carla and Ecco, who have been a duo since May 2023.

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Peregrine falcons have stayed at the Cathedral of Learning since 2002.

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Darren Clark achieved a lifelong goal when he bought a home in a Henry County neighborhood.

It means a great deal to own this and leave something for my family, Clark told Channel 2s Michael Doudna.

However, over the past few years, hes watched as the neighborhood has changed from a majority of neighbors being homeowners to being renters.

Id say at least 60 percent of the homes around here are owned by corporations, Clark said.

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Its a growing trend. According to a study by Georgia State University professor Taylor Shelton, three corporations own nearly 38,000 homes in the Atlanta metro area.

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This is unlike anything weve ever seen before in America when it comes to the single-family rental market, Shelton said.

Shelton says many of the homes are what would be considered starter homes, and some counties have been more impacted than others.

For example, corporate landlords own more than 12,000 homes in Paulding and Henry County, accounting for 11.2% and 9.9% of all single-family homes in the counties.

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For Paulding, corporate landlords own more than half of all rental units, while in Henry County, that number is nearly 30%.

Shelton says that when corporations control a large market share, it allows corporations to potentially control prices, include junk fees, and neglect maintenance.

So that means these companies are able to get away with a lot more than they would otherwise because there is no competition. They have essentially crowded out their competitors, Shelton said.

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Other studies back up those statements. A recent Georgia Tech study found large landlords were 4 to 5 times more likely to have code complaints than their smaller counterparts.

For those like Clark, they want to see changes to give people a leg up over corporations.

Its going to be a hard hill to climb to be able to dig out of these corporations owning so many properties. They are going to keep snatching them up, Clark said.

Senator Jon Ossoff has launched an investigation into these corporations but does not have a timeline for any legislation.

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Humans have been cooking and consuming meat for 780,000 years and began domesticating cows more than 10,000 years ago. Each country's relationship with cows is different. While some groups have always used them for meat, places like Japan actually considered it a sin to eat meat (devout Buddhists thought so, anyway) and spent thousands of years using the mammals for labor instead of food.

Those days are gone. As the world has gotten richer, we've started to consume more and more meat. In fact, global meat consumption has been rising steadily since the 1960s. So, who's fueling our obsession with this delicious ingredient? It turns out, just three countries produce 52% of all meat. The first two, the United States and Brazil, are predictable, but the third, China, is surprising.

Both the United States and Brazil have strong cowboy cultures and their BBQ styles are renowned around the world. As the birthplace of hamburgers and brisket, the United States clearly loves a good steak. Brazil is famous for its juicy churrasco, which cooks large skewers of meat over an open fire. China, on the other hand, is better known for dishes like Peking duck and dim sum than it is for its steak. And yet, the unexpected third place winner actually consumes so much beef that it has to supplement its production with imported meat. If its traditional dishes aren't as beef-heavy, it's because the country developed its strong taste for the meat fairly recently as income has risen and tastes have become more Westernized.

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Read more: 7 Costco Meats You Should Buy And 5 You Should Avoid

How Much Beef Each Country Produces

Raw prime beef - Mitriakova Valeriia/Shutterstock

These three countries not only produce more beef than any other, they dominate the market by a large margin. The United States is responsible for 20% of beef production around the world, which comes out to 12.29 million metric tons of meat. Brazil isn't too far behind, with 11.85 million tons and 19% of production. These numbers make one wonder if Brazil could someday overtake the United States in terms of its meat production, though this seems unlikely given that American beef is becoming so alarmingly large, butchers and consumers are having to adapt to the huge portions. Still, Brazil is probably not worrying too much about it, given that it's the top producer for other highly coveted goods like coffee.

China lags behind both of these countries somewhat, producing 7.79 million tons of beef, which represents 13% of global production. While not as large as the first two countries, these numbers are still impressive, especially when you consider that the entire European Union (the fourth largest beef producer) only makes 6.63 million tons and counts for 11% worldwide production. India holds fifth place, with 3.18 million tons of beef. If India lags behind other large nations, it may partly be because many Hindus and Buddhists don't consume meat. The origin of beef makes a difference in taste, so it's good to know that the two top-producing countries pride themselves in their beef quality, leading the way in global production.

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KIEV, May 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people, including three children, were killed and dozens of others injured across Ukraine in a combined missile-drone attack launched by Russia early Sunday, authorities said.

Four people were killed and 23 others were injured in the Kiev region, with most casualties reported in villages surrounding the capital, the National Police said in a Telegram post.

In the capital, which came under attack for the second consecutive night, 11 others were injured and residential buildings were damaged, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The State Service for Emergencies said three children were killed in the northern Zhytomyr region, four fatalities were reported in the western Khmelnytskyi region and one in the southern Mykolaiv region.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the attacks involved 56 cruise missiles, nine ballistic missiles, four guided missiles and 298 combat drones. The air defense had downed 45 cruise missiles and 266 drones. 
MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN)  Three Mustang drivers from Nashville have been charged after they allegedly flew past authorities Saturday night in Mt. Juliet.

The Mt. Juliet Police Department posted about the incident shortly after 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 24, saying three Mustangs drove past an officer on Interstate 40 while reaching speeds of up to 120 mph.

2 arrested while making DoorDash delivery in Mt. Juliet

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Authorities said the Nashville driversidentified as an 18-year-old and two 21-year-old menwere all charged with reckless driving.

We are grateful to have officers readily available to respond quickly to calls and assist fellow officers. That readiness leads to greater success in stopping those who engage in dangerous activity, the MJPD stated.

CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee

The police department added that those who choose to put others at risk will be held accountable.

No additional details have been released about this incident, including the names of the people who were charged.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Missouri lawmakers will likely be going back to Jefferson City for a special session in less than a month to try to keep the Chiefs and the Royals in their state in the next decade.

Kansas Republican Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins joins us to tell us what leaders in his state are trying to do to take one or both teams.

See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri

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The agreement that the Kansas Legislature passed in June of 2024 ends June 30, 2025. The language of the bill passed says that state leaders could extend the STAR Bond package, but Hawkins says at least at this time, they dont plan on extending it.

Business owners and residents in downtown Kansas City, Missouri have spoken out about crime in the last month. Downtown Council Vice President Sean OByrne joins us to explain how theyre trying to take security into their own hands.

OByrne confirmed that his entity wants three armed security guards to roam Grand from 6th Street on the north to 14th Street on the south from 2 p.m. to midnight. Hes also in support of a modular jail the city could build in about six months.

FOX4s also following the federal investigation into the murders of two Israeli Embassy employees who were shot and killed after an event at the Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday night. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were soon identified as the victims.

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Milgrim grew up in Prairie Village, Kansas. She began working for the embassy in 2023.

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DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA)  Second chances were on full display Friday at Danville Area Community College.

Wilburn Carr III went from the big house to the big stage. Chef Will as hes called earned his diploma from DACC at 69-years young at Friday nights commencement.

NFL player, Danville native Trent Sherfield hosts charity basketball game at high school

Its never too late, you know, I had people who believed in me, Carr said.

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Carr served time in prison in Chicago for seven years until 2019. Since getting out, hes rediscovered his passion for the culinary arts, and on Friday, he graduated with a diploma in hand.

They kept persuading me, I said Well, let me try it,' Carr said. Ive nothing else to lose.'

After battling his own trials and tribulations Carr said its never too late to find your calling.

I did everything I was supposed to do, and I made it through, he said.

He wouldnt hurt a fly: Family of Danville stabbing victim speaks out

Carr spent time behind bars before rediscovering his passion for cooking at Danville Area Community College. He started seeking his degree in culinary arts a year and a half ago.

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I never, ever in three semesters turned in a homework assignment by pushing send. I wrote it out, old school, because when I went to school we didnt have computers, Carr said. One class I had, I turned in 13 pages, handwritten notes.

And Friday, after posting a 4.0 GPA, he walked the stage at 69-years old. Proof that unlike items in the kitchen, dreams have no expiration date.

Dont let your past life determine what your future is going to be, Carr said. Thats unacceptable to me now.

Carr said hes planning on starting his own business doing small-time catering moving forward.

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Virginia Connolly accepts a folded flag during ceremony honoring her father John Connolly at Arlington National Cemetery in March 2025. (Photo by Tracey Attlee/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)

More than 80 years after he died in the attack on Pearl Harbor, John Connolly was finally laid to rest  not as an unknown in a mass grave, but as a naval officer in Arlington National Cemetery.

When the Navy first called to tell his daughter, Virginia Harbison, that her fathers remains had been identified, she hung up. At 91, living in assisted care in Texas, she could hardly believe it.

John Connolly in his dress whites. (Courtesy of the U.S. Navy)

It was her son, Bill Ingram, who called her back to share the news again.

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She was silent for so long that he had to ask if she was all right.

Bill, she said, I hadnt thought about that for 60 years.

She has lived the full life her father never had the chance to. In March, Ingram pushed his mother in her wheelchair to her fathers gravesite for the burial.

They fold the flag in this very tight, nice triangle, and then with white gloves, the commanding officer comes and takes it and kneels down and hands it to my mother, said Ingram, who lives in San Francisco. It was incredible.

On Dec. 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 429 service members aboard the USS Oklahoma died.

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Horrifyingly, men trapped below deck after the ship capsized could be heard tapping out SOS in Morse code as the air supply dwindled. Though 32 men were rescued, the rest were tragically not reached in time.

After the war ended, the remains were recovered and buried in the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, too water damaged and commingled to be identified individually. There they remained for years until modern science caught up with historical tragedy.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) disinterred the USS Oklahoma remains in 2015 to send to a DNA laboratory. Carrie LeGarde, a forensic archaeologist with the agency and project lead for the Oklahoma Project, said her team started the process by testing small pieces of bone for maternal line DNA. Overall, they inventoried 13,000 bones and took 4,900 DNA samples.

For Connolly, identification was complicated.

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We had several sequences that had multiple individuals, and that was actually the case with John Connolly, and part of why his identification occurred later in the project, she said.

Since John Connolly was older than most of the men aboard the USS Oklahoma as one of the few officers on the ship and scheduled to retire just three weeks after the bombing, the team at DPAA relied on dental evidence in addition to DNA testing to confirm his identity.

Connolly was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1893 and joined the Navy in 1912. He served during World War I and was eventually promoted to a chief warrant officer.

In 1941, his wife, Mary Connolly, and their two daughters, 8-year-old Virginia and 6-year-old Helen were eagerly awaiting his return and retirement in Long Beach, California, when the Navy informed them he had died.

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Mary Connolly never remarried.

She was very sad all her life because she married at age 30 or 31 and her husband was away in the service but was killed right before he was supposed to retire, Ingram said.

Connollys memory has been passed down through the generations.

Weve taken my family to Hawaii, and we went to the memorial and found the marker for his name, Ingram said.

Everything changed last year when Ingram got a call from the Navy.

In a 200-page report, the Navy detailed the historical background, identification process and scientific evidence.

With the research that was involved, both with historical research and medical research, theres a lot of folks at DPAA that are involved, Navy POW/MIA branch head Richard Jenkins said. We as a service will explain that to the family, with the hopes of them feeling comfortable with the findings and showing them that its not just any set of remains, its actually going to be that person.

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Theres a story that runs in Ingrams family about his grandfather: A couple of years after World War II, a young man knocked on the family home and introduced himself to Virginia and Mary Connolly. He had been on the USS Oklahoma with John Connolly, he said, and when the ship was hit, Connolly pushed open a hatch and forced him out. Connolly had saved his life.

In 1944, the Navy re-commissioned one of their ships as the USS John Connolly. Though his story was a tragic one  an officer who never returned home whose remains were left unknown  history has granted him a second chance at closure. Over eight decades later, he got the heros burial he deserved.

They did everything. They had a band. They played Taps. They fired the guns, Ingram said, referring to the three-volley salute for Connolly.

A final sendoff at last.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Nearly eight years later, police are still searching for leads in a cold case homicide in which a boy was gunned down on the East Side.

According to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers, officers responded to reports of gunshots being fired at a BP gas station in Columbus Eastmoor neighborhood. Police arrived about 2 a.m. on June 29, 2017, and found a juvenile who had been shot several times.

Makeovers planned for these three Ohio State residence halls

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The 17-year-old boy was taken to Grant Medical Center, then about an hour later, police found 16-year-old Marquelis Barnes also suffering from several gunshot wounds in the front yard of a residence near the gas station. Find a previous report in the video player above.

Barnes was pronounced dead at 3:06 a.m., and investigators revealed that the two shooting victims were part of an altercation with another group of males. The fight allegedly took place in the gas station parking lot, at the intersection of East Main Street and James Road, before at least one of them took multiple shots at the two teenagers.

Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward for any information leading to the arrest or indictment of the person(s) responsible for this crime. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477) or visit www.stopcrime.org and submit your tip.

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MINNEAPOLIS  Nine minutes and 29 seconds was enough time for 46 cars to pass 38th Street and Chicago Avenue.

In the same 9 minutes and 29 seconds, 18 customers went in and out of the convenience store on the corner. Six patrons bought beverages or snacks from the coffee shop across the street. Four people signed up for a guided tour of the neighborhood in front of the gas station. Four visiting Chicagoans took pictures of the flowers, stuffed animals, potted plants, posters and other ephemera that form a makeshift memorial.

For 9 minutes and 29 seconds on May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee and the weight of his body against George Floyds neck at this very intersection. As Floyd called for his mother in his final words, Chauvin killed him in the street as people watched. Two officers held the unarmed, handcuffed Black man down. A third monitored the crowd that was stunned by what it witnessed.

Unity Foods, formerly named Cup Foods, at the site in Minneapolis where George Floyd was killed five years ago, as seen on May 8. (Andrea Ellen Reed for NBC News)

Thats a long time to kill a man, said Mattie Atta, who spent a few minutes surveying the area before she left, shaking her head. In less than 10 minutes, Floyds young daughter was left fatherless. The deadly series of events began because her dad was suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill. He was 46 years old.

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What followed five years ago was an uprising that resulted in burned buildings and cars, and looting throughout Minneapolis, but was largely peaceful in parts of the country. Floyds murder prompted outraged responses from politicians, businesses, schools and other institutions nationwide, with vows to deal with Americas deep-seated racial injustices. Companies pledged more than $66 billion for racial equity initiatives. Cries for police reform were thrust into the forefront.

A protester carries a U.S. flag upside down as he walks past a burning building in Minneapolis in 2020. (Julio Cortez / AP file)

Now, five years later, many of those same lawmakers, companies and institutions have pulled back from those commitments. Donald Trumps return to the White House this year marked the end of many widespread initiatives announced in Floyds name, some of which were already winding down, forgotten or being purposefully abandoned.

Five years later in this previously nondescript area of Minneapolis, hardly anyone could agree on whether things have gotten better here. Or worse.

Thats a challenging question, said Andrea Jenkins, council member of Ward 8, where the tragedy occurred.

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Samar Moseley, who drives a city bus in Minneapolis, said everything about the city has been exposed since George Floyd.

Samar Moseley, a local recording artist and bus driver, at George Floyd Square on May 8. (Andrea Ellen Reed for NBC News)

Before the murder, the neighborhood was a distressed community. Gang members frequented the area and used the convenience store, Cup Foods  changed to Unity Foods in 2023  as a meeting post, community members told NBC News. Crime and drugs were prevalent at times. And the relationship between Black men and the police was atrocious, they said. But after those 9 minutes and 29 seconds, Minneapolis police officers strained relationship with Black citizens intensified. Protests led to casualties, weeks of rampant looting and a police station being set afire. More than 300 officers quit in the aftermath.

It was a little tough for all of us, said Charles Adams, the North Minneapolis police inspector who has been in law enforcement in the area for 40 years. Adams is Black. He said he was so bothered by the video of the murder that he could not watch it all. We were catching more flak from white folks than Blacks. Black people actually were my support mechanism. They were upset for sure, but they treated me the same. White people were giving me the finger while wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts.

Inspector Charles Adams, head of the Minneapolis Police Department's 4th Precinct, outside the precinct on Plymouth Avenue on May 9. (Andrea Ellen Reed for NBC News)

That one incident put us back to the 1960s, Adams said. After Floyds killing, the Department of Justices Civil Rights Division launched lawsuits and oversight in several cities across the U.S., including Minneapolis, in response to calls for reform.

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The relationship with police has always been a problem, Moseley said. Its easing up some, but theres still tension.

He said he was so distraught about Floyds murder and the contentious relationship with police that he was inspired to write the song Black Tears, which spoke to the trauma brought on by the murder at a place he frequented.

What we felt after George Floyd was real pain, and this song was a way for me to get out some of what we all were feeling, Moseley said. It was like therapy for me. He said the pain has subsided some over five years, but not the anxiety. Even while driving the bus, when a police car rides behind him, tension rises in him, he said.

Its crazy that I can be on my job and I feel uncomfortable when that happens, he said. But there are so many cases of someone doing nothing and ending up dead or in a battle with cops. Its part of my PTSD. I think the whole city is still suffering from PTSD after George Floyd.

A wooden altar on the Minneapolis street where George Floyd was killed, pictured May 9. His family requested that it be placed there so that no one could step foot on the space where he died. (Andrea Ellen Reed for NBC News)

After the uproar around Floyds death settled, the intersection, now George Floyd Plaza, transitioned from a rallying spot for protests that lasted months into a popular a location for visitors curious to see where a man lost his life, or to pay homage to Floyd. Its a cool place and most people get along, Moseley said. But I think its kind of misunderstood because its a dangerous city, too.

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Gang presence has decreased in the area, while crime, still a concern, has leveled off this year after an uptick in homicides and carjackings in 2024.

But earlier this month, Trumps Justice Department dismissed lawsuits and ended the oversight programs for local police departments across the country, including in Minneapolis, ending investigations into patterns of unconstitutional behavior, such as discrimination against Black people.

Life before and after George Floyd

Jenkins, the council member, identifies the arc of her life in two segments: Before George Floyd and after George Floyd.

There have been a number of changes, and yet it feels like things are very much the same, she said.

City Council member Andrea Jenkins in Minneapolis on May 8. (Andrea Ellen Reed for NBC News)

Before Floyds murder, she was known as the first Black, openly transgender woman elected to public office in America. Elected in 2018, she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a year earlier. But that did not stop Jenkins from tending to her neighborhood on foot, shopping at Cup Foods, frequenting local businesses and greeting her constituents on the street. After Floyd was killed, she found herself in the center of a political and social maelstrom that led to a decline in her health, she said. Because the president of the city council was out of town on May 25, 2020, and unreachable, Jenkins, the vice president, was thrust onto the response leadership team.

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During the protests, she took calls every two hours nightly  1 a.m., 3 a.m., 5 a.m.  with members of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Hennepin County Sheriffs Department, Minnesota State Patrol, the FBI and other agencies. Because of construction, siren-blaring ambulances headed to the local hospital were rerouted through her neighborhood, adding to the noise.

It was so chaotic, Jenkins recalled. Not only the calls and the traffic, but there were helicopters whirling above. There was gunfire. And this happened virtually all night.

Five years later, Jenkins said she routinely stays up until 4 a.m.

My sleep habits have been deeply challenged. Its part of my PTSD, she said. Even though it got quiet after a while, I still havent been able to get back to my old sleeping pattern.

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Before Floyds death, she did not move about the community on a motorized scooter as she does now. I do have multiple sclerosis, but its exacerbated by the stress, Jenkins said. Its all added up.

Artificial flowers rest atop a bench at the Peoples' Way gas station in George Floyd Square on May 9. (Andrea Ellen Reed for NBC News)

She is in her last term on the city council. Jenkins wants to retire to focus on her health, leaving a legacy of having led her community through a torturous time. She helped create a crisis response team that deploys violence interrupters, or specialists who work to defuse conflicts, in situations where people experience mental health issues. Its an alternative to police officers showing up with guns, Jenkins said. Additionally, theres now a Department of Neighborhood Safety  a network that includes the Minnesota Police Department, fire and emergency management services, 911 operators and the violence interrupters  that works to prevent and react to crime.

The biggest transformation, however, may have been in attitude. Some community members have argued in favor of dismantling the Floyd memorial next to Unity Foods. Others in the community have fought back by standing up for it in unison and patrolling against vandals.

There is a stronger sense of community that has grown, particularly at this intersection, Jenkins said. A lot of people had been just floating through life. But I think now many have found a sense of purpose in coming together and protecting the square.

Reflection and connection

Building trust within a community that already had severe distrust in the police was daunting  and is ongoing. That was not enough to sway veteran officer Adams daughter, Britteny, from joining the force. She found an organization under intense scrutiny.

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But last year, Minneapolis experienced its first increase in recruits in five years  76 new hires, a 133% surge. Adams said about 40 of those new hires are Black.

Im surprised, he said. But the good news is that they say they want to be a part of the change.

Six months ago, C. Terrence Anderson opened Bichota, a coffee shop less than 50 feet from the site of Floyds murder. It was an intentional location.

C. Terrence Anderson, owner of Bichota, a coffee shop at George Floyd Square, on May 8. He says "bichota" means finding the joy and confidence in yourself to succeed in places where you're not meant to succeed. (Andrea Ellen Reed for NBC News)

Every neighborhood deserves to have places to gather and just be and find peace and joy and all this connection with their community, Anderson, 37, said. I wasnt deterred by the location. In fact, I found more purpose being here in this context. His business is part of the revitalization project that is underway to bring more commerce and amenities to the area. At 7 a.m. on weekday mornings, he meets with other business owners at the gas station on the corner to discuss how to strengthen their corridor with jobs, housing and cultural preservation. A cultural healing center is planned, as well as efforts for a formal memorial to Floyd.

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My mothers Puerto Rican, and Bichota means, essentially, the joy and confidence that you find in succeeding in a place youre not meant to succeed, Anderson said. Thats the ethos behind this space.

For Anderson, who moved to Minneapolis from Los Angeles 10 years ago, this is all in line with his mission.

I feel like even though you look out our windows and you can see our tragedy, I think what people feel in here is joy, peace and connection, he said. In other words, were saying you shouldnt stop living. In fact, we should learn from what happened across the street to find a future thats different and better.

The Say Their Names Cemetery, blocks away from George Floyd Square, in Minneapolis on May 9. (Andrea Ellen Reed for NBC News)

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The all-out war being waged by President Trump against so many American institutions and bedrock principles is sickening to watch.

In February, after Elon Musk took his chain saw to Americas most consequential foreign aid agency, I predicted that children would die as a result.

This month, PBS reported that a Nigerian mother of twins lost one of her babies to starvation, thanks to the dismantling of USAID. A former USAID chief nutritionist estimated that the cuts to food assistance could result in about a million children not receiving treatment for severe food nutrition and potentially 163,500 deaths. So much for rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.

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The picture of the worlds richest man killing the worlds poorest children is not a pretty one, Bill Gates told the Financial Times.

Every day brings a new horror as President Trump takes a blow torch to the Constitution.

He blackmails universities and corporations to force them to end efforts to diversify their student bodies and work forces. He makes life as hellish as possible for immigrants, legal and otherwise. He wants to kill off birthright citizenship. Suspend habeas corpus. Ditch due process. Accept "gifts" from foreign governments. Erase the line that separates church and state.

On Thursday, he ratcheted up his battle against Harvard University, announcing that it would no longer be permitted to enroll foreign students in what the New York Times described as a major escalation of the administrations efforts to pressure the elite school to fall in line with the presidents agenda.

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The estimated 7,000 foreign students currently enrolled at Harvard, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem declared, would immediately have to transfer to other universities or lose their legal status.

While some Americans are positively reveling in the cruelty and chaos spewing from the White House, and many companies are knuckling under to Trump, those of us who oppose the descent into lawless bullying search for heroes and signs of hope anywhere we can find it.

Thankfully, Harvard is fighting back. With its $53-billion endowment, the school is uniquely suited to the task. Thursday, it filed a lawsuit challenging the termination of the schools participation in the government's student visa program. In April, it sued the administration over its revocation of $2.2 billion in research grants.

In January, Costcos board of directors unanimously reaffirmed the companys commitment to its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. In February, 97% of Apples shareholders voted against a proposal to abolish the company's DEI initiatives. Executives at Delta Airlines have declared that diversity initiatives are a critical part of the companys business strategy. Ben & Jerrys, the Vermont-based ice cream maker known for its progressive politics, said it would not be intimidated or bullied into abandoning its commitment to racial and social justice.

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Recently, I found a ray of hope in an unlikely place: Madison, Wis., where I was attending the law school graduation of my step-granddaughter, Kenna.

I happened to drive past a Penzeys Spices store and pulled over to take a look. In an effort to counter some of the despair the second Trump term has caused, I have taken refuge in cooking, which yanks me out of my head and distracts me from all the bad news.

When I can no longer stomach the headlines, I zone out with my favorite online chefs: Notorious Foodie, a home cook who ends each of his videos by throwing a towel at the camera (I highly recommend his lasagne), and Chef Reactions, who offers a split-screen snarky commentary of trashy cooking videos (think Sandra Lees infamous Kwanzaa cake).

At the checkout counter with my herbes de Provence, pumpkin pie spice and ground Turkish sumac berries, the cashier gave me a little blue spice packet with a bleeding red heart labeled Resist! Keep America Alive. On the back: "Season Liberally."

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I did not realize that I had stumbled into what is probably Ground Zero of the business worlds Trump resistance. Based in Wisconsin  the state that can take credit for bringing Musk to his knees, the companys founder and owner, Bill Penzey, has always been vocally liberal, and the outrages of the Trump era have given him an abundance of material.

On his website, in newsletters and Facebook posts, Penzey combines his politics with specials on various spices. In 2017, on the second anniversary of Trumps infamous slander of Mexican immigrants, Penzey offered his customers free bottles of Mexican vanilla. It seems a good day to apologize to the people of Mexico and Latin America, he wrote on Facebook.

On the Penzeys Spices website, next to the typical About Us tab, he has added another, About Republicans.

Weve arrived at the point where theres no way to respect the nonsense the Republican Party is promoting and have any hope of overcoming the problems we as a nation and we as a planet face, Penzey writes. Given the choice between saving America and planet Earth or saving the feelings of Republican voters, we are choosing to side with saving our country and our world.

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I reached out to Penzey, but he declined to chat with me.

Im content with just doing what we do, he wrote. Somehow talking to people about it all and having them try to sum it up never quite clicks. Sorry.

Oh dont be.

Just keep doing what you do, Mr. Penzey, and lets hope that democracy prevails.

@rabcarian.bsky.social @rabcarian



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ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  After over 60 years of operation, an Abilene church is holding its final worship service.

Woodlawn Church of Christ, the church at North 10th Street, held its final services on Saturday, May 24, and Sunday, May 25. The churchs building was donated to the Christian Service Center.

KTAB/KRBC spoke with volunteer Wayland Schroeder, whos been there for 40 years, and he shared his thoughts on the churchs final days.

I came to Woodlawn in 1982, 83, somewhere in there. So Ive been here about 40 years From that standpoint, we ran out of old people, said Schroeder.

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Schoreder added that the event was intended to celebrate and make it more of a reunion than anything.

We will celebrate and make it a reunion-type thing, and bring people back to us and let them come and see what has happened and celebrate the years of God and all the things Hes done, not only at Woodlawn but in the missions and in the world that weve sent our ministries beyond, Schroeder said.

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Chinese director Bi Gan (2nd L) and cast members of the Chinese film Resurrection pose upon their arrival at the red carpet of the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025. Chinese director Bi Gan won on Saturday the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his epic fiction feature Resurrection, known in Chinese as Kuang Ye Shi Dai. Festival organizers introduced Resurrection as a work that showcases the continued evolution of Bi's creativity, while staying true to the sensory and poetic qualities that define his unique cinematic style. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

CANNES, France, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese director Bi Gan won on Saturday the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his epic fiction feature Resurrection, known in Chinese as Kuang Ye Shi Dai.

Introducing the first award of the evening, Jury President Juliette Binoche described Resurrection as 'an exceptional movie.'"

In his acceptance speech, Bi thanked the Festival and his cast. He also expressed his gratitude for all those who have constantly contributed to the development of cinema.

Resurrection, directed by the 35-year-old Bi Gan, premiered late Thursday night. He used this two-hour and forty-minute film to show his love for cinema, starting the movie with a silent movie style.

Festival organizers introduced Resurrection as a work that showcases the continued evolution of Bi's creativity, while staying true to the sensory and poetic qualities that define his unique cinematic style.

For French film critic Gerard Marion, Resurrection was like a universe. "It's something that I rarely saw in cinema, especially by a Chinese director," he told Xinhua.

Bi took the audience to a "very particular universe where we should just let the sound, image, motion and decor take us there," Marion said.

In his review, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, called Bi Gan's Resurrection "bold and ambitious, visually amazing, trippy and woozy in its embrace of hallucination and the heightened meaning of the unreal and the dreamlike."

Bi first attended Cannes in 2015 with his debut feature film. The Festival said that he has since established himself as a major player in shaping and defining the new generation of Chinese arthouse cinema.

In the press conference after the closing ceremony, Jury President Juliette Binoche said that all members of the Jury agreed to award Bi Gan with the Special Award, because Resurrection "is like a UFO, an amazing invention."

For her, Resurrection was so different. "Visually, it really moved me. I found it extraordinary. This film allows for dreams, subtexts that we feel and that are real. It's full of poetry and allows us to feel something within ourselves," she said.

For his part, Bi explained why he created Resurrection. "There should be a film about the cinema that can comfort people in this world full of changes," he said.

During the closing ceremony, all the awards of the Competition section were announced. Iranian director Jafar Panahi's film A Simple Accident was crowned the Palme d'Or.

The Grand Prix was given to the film Sentimental Value directed by Joachim Trier. The Jury Prize was shared by two movies, Sirat directed by Oliver Laxe, and Sound of Falling directed by Mascha Schilinski.

Brazilian movie The Secret Agent (Portuguese: O Agente Secreto) was the big winner of the night, taking home Best Director (Kleber Mendonca Filho) and Best Performance by an Actor (Wagner Moura).

The Jury gave Best Performance by an Actress to Nadia Melliti for her role in The Little Sister (French: La Petite Derniere). Belgium's famous Dardenne brothers won Best Screenplay for Young Mothers (French: Jeunes Meres). This year, a total of 22 feature films were selected to compete for the Festival's highest honor, the Palme d'Or. The 78th Cannes Film Festival ran from May 13 to 24. 

Cast members of the Chinese film Resurrection pose upon their arrival at the red carpet of the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025.

Chinese director Bi Gan won on Saturday the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his epic fiction feature Resurrection, known in Chinese as Kuang Ye Shi Dai.

Festival organizers introduced Resurrection as a work that showcases the continued evolution of Bi's creativity, while staying true to the sensory and poetic qualities that define his unique cinematic style. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Chinese director Bi Gan (3rd R) and cast members of the Chinese film Resurrection pose upon their arrival at the red carpet of the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025.

Chinese director Bi Gan won on Saturday the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his epic fiction feature Resurrection, known in Chinese as Kuang Ye Shi Dai.

Festival organizers introduced Resurrection as a work that showcases the continued evolution of Bi's creativity, while staying true to the sensory and poetic qualities that define his unique cinematic style. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Chinese director Bi Gan (5th R) and cast members of the Chinese film Resurrection pose upon their arrival at the red carpet of the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025.

Chinese director Bi Gan won on Saturday the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his epic fiction feature Resurrection, known in Chinese as Kuang Ye Shi Dai.

Festival organizers introduced Resurrection as a work that showcases the continued evolution of Bi's creativity, while staying true to the sensory and poetic qualities that define his unique cinematic style. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Chinese director Bi Gan arrives for a photocall during the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025.

Chinese director Bi Gan won on Saturday the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his epic fiction feature Resurrection, known in Chinese as Kuang Ye Shi Dai.

Festival organizers introduced Resurrection as a work that showcases the continued evolution of Bi's creativity, while staying true to the sensory and poetic qualities that define his unique cinematic style. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Chinese director Bi Gan walk at the red carpet of the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025.

Chinese director Bi Gan won on Saturday the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his epic fiction feature Resurrection, known in Chinese as Kuang Ye Shi Dai.

Festival organizers introduced Resurrection as a work that showcases the continued evolution of Bi's creativity, while staying true to the sensory and poetic qualities that define his unique cinematic style. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Chinese director Bi Gan poses for a photocall during the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025.

Chinese director Bi Gan won on Saturday the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his epic fiction feature Resurrection, known in Chinese as Kuang Ye Shi Dai.

Festival organizers introduced Resurrection as a work that showcases the continued evolution of Bi's creativity, while staying true to the sensory and poetic qualities that define his unique cinematic style. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Chinese director Bi Gan (5th R) and cast members of the Chinese film Resurrection pose upon their arrival at the red carpet of the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025.

Chinese director Bi Gan won on Saturday the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his epic fiction feature Resurrection, known in Chinese as Kuang Ye Shi Dai.

Festival organizers introduced Resurrection as a work that showcases the continued evolution of Bi's creativity, while staying true to the sensory and poetic qualities that define his unique cinematic style. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Chinese director Bi Gan poses for a photocall during the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025.

Chinese director Bi Gan won on Saturday the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his epic fiction feature Resurrection, known in Chinese as Kuang Ye Shi Dai.

Festival organizers introduced Resurrection as a work that showcases the continued evolution of Bi's creativity, while staying true to the sensory and poetic qualities that define his unique cinematic style. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  An accused murderer, who was free on bond and wearing an ankle monitor but still armed with a rifle, was taken into custody Saturday night as a result of precision policing public safety work by Nashville detectives, according to officials.

The Metro Nashville Police Department said the Specialized Investigations Division TITANS detectives saw a black Dodge Challenger commit multiple traffic offenses before pulling into a gas station at 26th Avenue North and Clarksville Pike and sitting for an unusually long time on Saturday, May 24.

Authorities said they tried to approach the vehicle, but it sped away on Clarksville Pike toward Buchanan Street.

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CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee

After law enforcement used a spike strip to deflate the tires, the driver  identified as 21-year-old Rico Ransom  reportedly headed to Heiman Street and stopped. Officials said detectives ordered him out of the Challenger, but he took off again and tossed an AR-style firearm through the window.

According to police, Ransom kept driving to Britt Place, where he ran into a wood line. However, detectives quickly apprehended him.

Authorities said Ransom was charged with two counts of felony evading, felony gun possession, and driving on a revoked license. A judicial commissioner set his bond at $28,000.

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MAY 2021: Nashville teen charged with criminal homicide for crime he committed at age 15

Law enforcement said Ransom is due in Criminal Court on June 5 on a first-degree murder indictment in connection with the November 2019 shooting of 18-year-old Steven Shelton on 26th Avenue North. Ransom was arrested in May 2021, at the age of 17, for that shooting.

In addition, Ransom was reportedly charged with attempted criminal homicide at age 14 after a 17-year-old was shot during a fight outside of Pearl Cohn High School in February 2018.

No additional details have been released about Saturday nights arrest.

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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 WKRN News 2.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating an Adams Morgan bar break-in as a hate crime.

The Sinners & Saints DC bar, self-described as a QTBIPOC safe space, sustained property damage including a slur targeting the Queer community spray painted on the wall.

Man charged with murder after admitting to shooting other man in Herndon, police say

Police received reports of a break-in on Saturday at 12:35 p.m. from the restaurant above the bar, saying they saw that the bars front glass door was broken.

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According to a police report, a burglar had broken the glass to enter the building and stolen an undisclosed amount of alcohol before leaving.

(Sinners & Saints DC)

A police report stated the suspect may have left through the back door since it was found open, which the bar normally keeps locked.

The incident is being classified as a second-degree burglary with a hate bias against sexual orientation. Police estimate the damage to be roughly $1,000.



MPD was unable to gather any surveillance footage of the burglar because the location does not have any cameras.

The bar issued a statement addressing the incident in an Instagram post, stating,

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Last night, our bar the only QTBIPOC bar in DC was broken into and hate crimed during DC Black Pride time meant for celebration, resilience, and joy  and on the eve of World Pride 2025. We are heartbroken, but we are not broken.

This space exists to protect and celebrate Queer and Trans BIPOC communities, and this attack only strengthens our resolve. We will NOT be silenced. We will NOT be intimidated. We will NOT back down.

To those who tried to harm us: hate fuels our defiance. To our community: we see you, we love you, and we will continue fighting for you.

Sinners and Saints is resistance. We will rebuild. We will STAY OPEN. And we will keep our doors and hearts wide open for all those who need refuge.

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Stand with us. Share this. Show up. We keep us safe.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | DC, Virginia, Maryland News, Weather, Traffic, Sports Live.
In dry western Kansas, the sound of artificial rain spraying from center pivot irrigation sprinklers fills the spaces between the small towns.

Irrigation has turned this region into a productive agricultural powerhouse, churning out millions of bushels of grain.

Heath Koehn farms with his dad near Montezuma over the Ogallala aquifer that supplies farmers with irrigation and communities with drinking water. He knows that changes are coming to the way they farm.

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Changes are going to have to be made with that aquifer. Its like adapt or die, Koehn said.

A lot of farmers in the area feel the same way. The underground water supply that used to be plentiful is running dry fast. Some areas might only have a couple of decades left at current pumping rates.

In order to maintain life in western Kansas, farmers are contemplating pivoting to crops that use less water.

Koehn decided for the first time to grow something hes never grown before: canola. He grew this instead of wheat due to wheat prices being so low.

Ive got some limited irrigation. I wanted to diversify and not just have all my eggs in one basket, Koehn said.

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That change might sound minor, but its a herculean task. The major systems that make up the complicated agriculture web are all built around irrigated commodity crops like corn, wheat and soybeans.

Growing anything else is rare because it comes with more risk and no guaranteed crop insurance or local buyers.

Koehns farm is an example of southwest Kansas farmers looking to the future and trying new crops to save water and prepare for western Kansas to become more parched.

What can we do?

The main problem lies within the crops that farmers grow. Traditional crops like corn and soybeans require a lot of water. The Kansas Geological Survey, which monitors the underground water in the state, estimates that 70% of the aquifer will be gone in 50 years.

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Statewide, the amount of water pumped from underground and sprayed onto crops averages out to more than 2 billion gallons per day.

But Kansas State University has studied different crops that require less water and could be viable options in western Kansas.

Logan Simon, agronomist for K-State Research and Extension, said the western Kansas environment requires greater creativity from those in agriculture.

All of the crops that were looking at here are going to be providing some sort of benefit in the form of a reduction in the water required, Simon said.

Earlier this year, Simon hosted alternative-crop schools around western Kansas, offering information on what options farmers have. The standout choices are canola, cotton, camelina and cowpeas, which include black-eyed peas.

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These crops not only require less water, but they can be harvested with equipment farmers already have and fit the same uses. Almost all commodities grown in western Kansas are for cattle feed or biofuels.

The idea is not necessarily to replace all of these things, but provide alternatives to just build a more robust system, Simon said.

A canola crushing plant opened last year in northwest Kansas giving a new market to farmers.

Canola compared to a crop like corn needs about 40% less water.

Not only does this save dwindling water supplies but it diversifies how farmers make their money. Instead of just one industry like livestock feed, a farmer can sell their products to multiple industries. The crops can be used for human consumption, biofuels or making textiles.

The problem with alternative crops

Alternative crops sound like they can solve all the water problems on the frontier. But so far, farmers arent giving up their acres of corn and wheat for peas and canola.

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Thats because farming at the end of the day is a business. Farmers need to plant what will turn a profit.

Imagine that you just couldnt make a salary this year, ag economist for Iowa State University Chad Hart said.

In the current agricultural system, commodity crops like corn and soybeans are the most economically efficient, despite their water inefficiencies. Farmers really dont have much of a choice if they want to make money.

You have to be willing to accept more risk to establish that alternative crop, because there arent these built in mechanisms that we usually have, Hart said.

The agriculture system is built to avoid risk. Crop insurance, government subsidies and bank loans are all built around corn and other traditional commodity crops, not the possible alternatives.

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Southwest Kansas is one of the most profitable regions in the state because of irrigated agriculture from the aquifer.

Corn profits can range to $160 per acre, while canola in a good year can hit $150 per acre.

But corn has a stable market and is heavily supported by crop insurance. With a crop like corn, a farmer in southwest Kansas might lose more water, but at least they can guarantee some income if theres a drought or hailstorm. And they know that the local feedlots, grain elevators and ethanol plants will gladly buy their corn.

The same cannot be said for a cowpeas or canola.

Just because you grow it doesnt mean youll have customers, Hart said. Farmers have to spend more time thinking about how to market that crop.

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And local communities do not want to stop irrigating altogether. Irrigation brings in more money to farms, and to all the things the farm touches. The local grain elevators, the feedlots, the truck drivers and the meatpacking plants.

How did we get here

Congress first authorized federal crop insurance in the 1930s to help agriculture recover from the Dust Bowl.

It started as a way to compensate farmers if a natural disaster struck and ruined their crop yields, which farmers still need today.

But it also makes it harder for farmers to practice water-efficient farming. For example, if for whatever reason an irrigated crop fails, farmers arent allowed to stop irrigating the failed crop because they need to prove they werent at fault for the crop failure. These Good farming practices are standards that guide crop insurance payments.

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And crop insurance and subsidies are no small thing.

In 2025, government payments are projected to make up 23% of the total net farm income, a significant increase from 8-9% annually between 2022 and 2024.

According to Iowa State Research Extension, approximately 90% of acres growing corn and soybeans were insured using federal Revenue Protection programs.

Not only does this protect the farms physical crops, but also all but guarantees a farmer will be paid even if the price for these commodities dip.

In 2024, the U.S. paid farmers over $2 billion to grow corn through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program.

Times are changing

But farmers dont want to only depend on crop insurance, they want to grow successful crops.

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Alex Millershaski, a farmer in Gray County, has seen a massive change over the years when it comes to how much water his land can produce.

We used to have twenty-something wells on the farm, and were only pumping four now, Millershaski said.

Millershaski is still skeptical of growing alternative crops, but having less water available is making him consider trying something different.

He has seen some neighbors try canola and cotton. And he thinks next year he will give canola a try in place of his usual wheat crop.

Canola doubled in acres planted last year in Kansas to 3,000. And while cotton is expected to see a decline across the U.S., Kansas is expected to see almost a 13% increase.

Processors in western Kansas, like 21st Century Bean, make cowpeas more viable. They buy and process wholesale beans for human consumption.

All those factors make Millershaski open to look at the options.

Do you want to try something different? And its sometimes just that simple, Millershaski said.

Calen Moore covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can email him at cmoore@hppr.org . This story was originally published by KMUW.
On a recent chilly morning, the Lake County Sheriffs new Marine 1 boat was bobbing lightly with the water along a dock at the East Chicago Marina.

Then, Lake County Sheriff Marine Unit Sgt. Scott Shelhart turned on the boats shore balance technology and the boat became still  like a buoy. The boat will be fully integrated into the sheriffs marine unit this summer, said Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez.

The capabilities of this boat exceed what weve had, Shelhart said. Our goal is lifesaving and protection.

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As the Memorial Day weekend holiday kicks off the summer season, the Lake County Sheriff, Porter County Sheriff, U.S. Coast Guard and Department of Natural Resources are tasked with protecting the roughly 26-mile Lake Michigan shoreline from the Illinois state line through Porter County.

This summer, the Lake County Sheriff will have three boats available to assist in water emergencies like a stalled boat or a drowning on Lake Michigan, Martinez said. Last summer, the marine unit began testing its new boat out on the water, but this will be the first summer the new 44-foot boat will be utilized, he said.

With three boats, Martinez said the department will be able to conduct boat safety checks, patrol the water and respond to emergencies.

Having this new boat, along with our older boat and another smaller boat, it allows us to cover more areas of Lake Michigan, Martinez said. It will limit the response time and allow us to have an additional boat out there as well.

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The new boat has updated technology that helps with navigating difficult waters, said Lake County Sheriffs Department Special Operations Commander James Stahl.

This boat really allows us to get to our destination much more quickly, said Lake County Sheriffs Department Chief of Police Vince Balbo.

The U.S. Coast Guard has to patrol all of Lake Michigan, Stahl said, so depending where its boats are stationed the closest Coast Guard boat could be in Michigan or Wisconsin. But, having three Lake County Sheriffs boats for water rescues will improve water safety responses, he said.

The U.S. Coast Guards Northwest Indiana station is in Michigan City, said spokesman Lt. Joe Neff, and its stations in Chicago and St. Joseph, Michigan support Michigan City if needed. The Michigan City station has one 29-foot boat, he said, and it is only staffed during peak hours.

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The most common calls on Lake Michigan are for boat maintenance and a person in the water, Neff said.

When a call comes in about an emergency on Lake Michigan, Stahl said the Lake County dispatch center receives the call, which triggers a response from the departments marine unit. Then, the aviation unit is deployed, he said.

The U.S. Coast Guards command station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, listens to a radio frequency, Channel 16, to list for emergency calls on Lake Michigan, Neff said. The dispatcher can then dispatch its station or request assistance from counties to respond to the emergency, he said.

There have been instances where commercial boats have responded to a boat maintenance call after hearing the information on Channel 16, Neff said.

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In some cases, the U.S. Coast Guard doesnt respond because the county marine units have already responded and handled the situation, Neff said. But, typically, Neff said the Coast Guard does respond to calls.

Most of the time there is a response action that is being taken, and then we work with the county and the other agencies out there to effect the quickest response for that case, Neff said.

The Lake County Sheriffs Department has been very helpful in assisting Porter County with calls on the shoreline, said Sgt. Benjamin McFalls, the public information officer for the Porter County Sheriffs Department.

The Porter County Sheriffs Department has a marine unit that patrols the countys nearly 10 miles of shoreline, McFalls said.

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The department recently acquired a 2007 27-foot Boston Whaler Challenger patrol boat to help with lakefront responses, McFalls said in an email. The Porter County Sheriffs Department bought the boat from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Lake County helped Porter County prepare to acquire the patrol boat.

The funds to purchase the boat were provided by generous donations from private businesses, McFalls said. The staffing for the patrols will be done by off-duty (officers) being paid mostly from a grant obtained through the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The patrols will focus on the busiest days when boaters are on the water.

Emergency calls are responded by the United States Coast Guard, Indiana DNR, Lake County Marine Unit and fire agencies with boats, McFalls said. The Porter County department and other police and fire agencies respond from the ground.

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Representatives from the cities of Gary and Portage were unable to comment on their role in protecting the shoreline.

The LaPorte Sheriffs Department also helps when needed, and Porter County officials will help across county lines, if needed.

We will assist with manpower, drones, ATVs, or whatever else is needed, McFalls said. It is imperative for all public safety agencies along the shoreline to work with each other to provide the best possible protection to citizens who may need assistance.

The DNR responds to any bodies of water owned by the state of Indiana, said Conservation Officer Terri Millefoglie.

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DNR officers work with local marine units and the U.S. Coast Guard to respond to calls on Indianas portion of Lake Michigan and inland state lakes.

Calls from the Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton are also directed to the DNR, Millefoglie said. The national park has a separate  but similar  team that responds to its calls.

Theyre just on the national level, and we help their agents with anything they would need, Millefoglie said. We all work together.

Because the Indiana lakeshore is such a vast area, Millefoglie said its important to have communication between the different agencies.

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Since were so spread out, the more we have, the better we can provide assistance to our citizens, she added. Theres not very many of us in all those entities, so when we come together, its helpful.

The Lake County Sheriffs Department also stations crews on ATVs at Gary and Whiting beaches to offer patrol support, Martinez said. The department also has two jet skis that can be used for some water emergencies, Stahl said.

The Lake County Sheriffs Department has an aviation unit and drones that can help locate boats or people in the water during an emergency, he said. The department has eight drone pilots, Balbo said, and they have helped with locating boats and people in the water ahead of the aviation unit arriving.

Im very proud of the technology and the equipment that we have for our officers and the training that they have, Martinez said. We have the resources, we have the training and the equipment to ensure the safety of not just the beachgoers of Lake County but also visitors that come here.

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To stay safe this summer season, boaters should ensure their boats have safety equipment, like flares and life jackets, and gasoline, Stahl said. Swimmers should pay attention to water conditions before going for a swim, he said.

The DNR also gives people basic water safety tips to try and decrease incidents, especially during the summer when theyre most common.

Basic water safety tips include: discussing the dangers of water with your family; telling someone where you are going and when you will return; going with a buddy; staying away from flooded or fast-moving waterways; wearing a life jacket; keeping a watchful eye on children; and avoiding alcohol.

The DNR also recommends boating safely by assessing water levels, reducing speed in unfamiliar areas and designating a sober boat operator. Life jackets worn should be U.S. Coast Guard-approved, according to the DNR.

The National Weather Service also has a webpage  weather.gov/marine/lotmz  where people can check lake conditions before getting in the water.

Most incidents we have occur in the summertime, so please do what you can to stay safe, Millefoglie said.

akukulka@chicagotribune.com

mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
LinkedIns chief economic opportunity officer, Aneesh Raman, said artificial intelligence is increasingly threatening the types of jobs that historically have served as stepping stones for young workers who are just beginning their careers. He likened the disruption to the decline of manufacturing in the 1980s.

As millions of students get ready to graduate this spring, their prospects for landing that first job that helps launch their careers is looking dimmer.

In addition to an economy thats slowing amid tariff-induced uncertainty, artificial intelligence is threatening entry-level work that traditionally has served as stepping stones, according to LinkedIns chief economic opportunity officer, Aneesh Raman, who likened the shift to the decline of manufacturing in the 1980s.

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Now it is our office workers who are staring down the same kind of technological and economic disruption, he wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed. Breaking first is the bottom rung of the career ladder.

For example, AI tools are doing the types of simple coding and debugging tasks that junior software developers did to gain experience. AI is also doing work that young employees in the legal and retail sectors once did. And Wall Street firms are reportedly considering steep cuts to entry-level hiring.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for college graduates has been rising faster than for other workers in past few years, Raman pointed out, though there isnt definitive evidence yet that AI is the cause of the weak job market.

To be sure, businesses arent doing away with entry-level work altogether, as executives still seek fresh ideas from young workers, he added. AI has also freed up some junior employees to take on more advanced work earlier in their careers.

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But changes rippling through certain sectors today are likely heading for others in the future, with office jobs due to feel the biggest impact, Raman predicted.

While the technology sector is feeling the first waves of change, reflecting A.I.s mass adoption in this field, the erosion of traditional entry-level tasks is expected to play out in fields like finance, travel, food and professional services, too, he said.

To fix entry-level work, Raman called for colleges to incorporate AI across their curricula and for companies to give junior roles higher-level tasks.

There are some signs that companies are adapting to the new AI landscape. Jasper.ai CEO Timothy Young told Fortunes Diane Brady recently that the commoditization of intelligence means hiring the smartest people is less important than developing staff to have management skills.

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There is a lot of power in the junior employees, but you cant leverage them the same way that you would in the past, he said, noting that he looks for curiosity and resilience when hiring.

Indeed CEO Chris Hyams said at Fortunes Workplace Innovation Summit in Dana Point, Calif. on Monday that AI cant completely replace a job.

But Indeeds findings show that for about two-thirds of all jobs, 50% or more of those skills are things that todays generative AI can do reasonably well, or very well.

Still, language-learning app Duolingo and fintech app Klarna have recently walked back aggressive stances on replacing humans with AI.

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Some studies have also shown AI isnt panning out as much as hoped, so far. An IBM survey found that 3 in 4 AI initiatives fail to deliver their promised ROI. And a National Bureau of Economic Research study of workers in AI-exposed industries found that the technology had next to no impact on earnings or hours worked.

It seems its a much smaller and much slower transition than you might imagine if you had just studied the technologys potential in a vacuum, University of Chicago economics professor Anders Humlum, one of the NBER study authors, previously told Fortune.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
With the news that the royal family of Qatar is gifting a $400 million airliner to the Trump administration to use as a new Air Force One, it has become clear to me that if Donald Trump were a country, hed be Qatar.

Trump and Qatar have the same fundamental moral flexibility. Trump is for raising taxes on the rich and lowering taxes on the rich; starting a trade war with China and declaring peace with China. In Qatars case, leaders fund the taking of American hostages and they facilitate their release; they fund global terrorism while they host a huge American military base.

Theres not much substance in Mar-a-Lago or the Qatari royal palace. Trumps wealth has always been more appearance than reality, filing for bankruptcy three times as often as he files for divorce. Qatar is the same kind of nation  300,000 people on a speck of land. It is about as much of a nation as Cincinnati (population 311,097).

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Contractors are key. In the real estate business, the subs do all the work and then Trump stiffs them. Qatar imported 2 million contractors and is famous for abusing their human rights.

Inherited titles decide who rules the Qatari kingdom. Inherited wealth decides who rules the Trump empire.

They both hired Pam Bondi as a lobbyist, though Trump pays her less and has given her a better title. Of course, it was Bondi who said this gifted plane deal was kosher.

Neither Trump nor Qatar produce products that are all that good for you, and theyre more than a little unstable. Trumps most recent gushers of wealth come from influence-fueled cryptocurrency and the stock of a money-losing social media site. Either could disappear tomorrow. If you depend on Qatars natural gas bounty, your supply rests on one of the worlds most heavily-armed powder kegs, featuring nuclear rivalry, terrorist intrigue, bloody religious schism and the scars of empires long dead.

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Both have a national news channel that defends the indefensible and can turn its editorial views on a dime. Qatars Al Jazeera acts as the press agent for Hamas, hosting a cavalcade of Oct. 7 Israeli massacre enthusiasts. Fox News delivers the views of Trumps press secretary defending the presidents ethical compass with little question or rebuttal. Each TV channel is family-owned by a billionaire.

If you look at the glossy photos of Trump Tower and Qatars palaces, theres more than a hint of a common design aesthetic: a dash of Bronx Mafia don, a little Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and gold  a whole lotta gold.

No doubt that sensibility will show up in the interiors of the airliner Qatar wants to gift the Trump administration. The idea is so shady that even a few Republicans and Trump-friendly influencers are aghast.

That will last until the Democrats reclaim the sense of propriety they lost when they looked the other way as the Clinton Foundation raised millions in foreign boodle while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state and, coincidentally, meeting with the donors in her official capacity. Nothing rallies Republicans like liberal hypocrisy and perfectly justified talk of a third Trump impeachment.

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Reportedly, matters are being arranged so the airplane can be transferred to the nonprofit(!) Trump presidential library whenever Donald decides to leave office. Once it is back in private hands, it can be repainted with the flag flown by Qatari royals and the Trump family alike  a golden dollar sign surrounded a bilious gray cloud.

No longer will Trump fly Air Force One. Air Shady will soon take off.

David Mastio is a national columnist for McClatchy and the Kansas City Star.
With the death of Alan Yentob, the BBCs erstwhile creative director and broadcasting titan, the corporation has lost the man who has done more than virtually anyone else in the post-war era to define it in the public imagination, for good and for ill alike.

For nearly six decades, Yentob was a seismic figure within and without the confines of Broadcasting House, a man whose vision reshaped its cultural output. He was that rare behind-the-scenes impresario who was also a household name, and his willingness to put himself on camera suggested that he saw himself as being as much a star as the figures he interviewed throughout his career, from Orson Welles to David Bowie.

Yentobs time with the BBC was a career of dizzying highs and lows, of glittering brilliance tainted by hubris. In addition to the arts documentary shows Arena and Imagine, he was directly responsible for many of the corporations most iconic and memorable programmes during his tenure as BBC controller, firstly of BBC Two from 1987 to 1993 and then BBC One from 1993 and 1996. In retrospect, the high watermark of his career was as an executive, rather than as a presenter.

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During this period, he commissioned programmes such as Pride and Prejudice (the series which made Colin Firth a heartthrob), Middlemarch, The Office and Absolutely Fabulous (the latter of which paid him appropriately backhanded homage by calling the character of a Moroccan houseboy Yentob). He furthered the reach of Have I Got News For You, which began in 1990 but only really achieved critical mass under Yentobs enthusiastic patronage. That he would occasionally become one of its satirical targets was merely a price that he willingly paid to see it become the BBCs most popular and longest-running televised comedy panel show.

Alan Yentob with Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders - BBC

Yet the difficulty with Yentob was that he was vain and inclined to believe that he was a genius in his own right rather than a man who was at his best when allowing other, more talented individuals to thrive. The difficulties really began in 2004 when he was given the all-encompassing post of BBC creative director, which allowed him to do more or less as he wished. Anyone watching him closely might have expected that a fall was coming, and it duly did. The only surprise in retrospect is that it took over a decade to arrive.

He had joined the BBC in 1968 as a trainee, the only non-Oxbridge graduate in his cohort, and quickly ascended the corporations ranks, a testament to his charisma and relentless drive. By the time he became controller of BBC Two in 1987, he had already established himself as the most influential figure in British television, and many of the shows that he commissioned there are justly regarded as classics. (Without him, for instance, its fair to say there would be no Wallace and Gromit.) These years were nothing short of a cultural renaissance for the channel; at a time when many might have asked what BBC Two stood for, he transformed it into a crucible of televisual innovation, which more than held its own against its rival Channel 4.

Alan Yentob with Russell T Davies for Imagine... Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me - Tanya Hudson

Some, not least Yentob himself, might have whispered that he was the most significant figure at the corporation since the days of Sir John Reith. When his flagship arts show Arena was at its peak, such self-congratulation did not seem wholly absurd. The show managed to look at both high and low culture with the same blend of seriousness and commitment, suggesting that punk rock and Orson Welles alike were worthy of intellectual assessment.

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This not only influenced broadsheet newspapers cultural supplements but also led to Yentob himself fronting Imagine, a show that was dogged by controversy in 2007 when it was revealed that other journalists had conducted some of the interviews, with shots of Yentob frowning and looking quizzical dropped in. This was known as Noddygate, on account of the number of shots of the presenter nodding and looking sage. While a staff investigation reportedly found that none of that footage had been broadcast, this made Yentob a marked man in the estimation of junior colleagues, who were all too aware that other, less venerable figures had lost their jobs for rather less.

Alan Yentob for Red Nose Day in 1995 - Comic Relief

All the same, Yentob was a serious contender for the role of director-general. He later said, with a typical combination of apparent self-deprecation and considerable self-regard that, Im really glad I didnt get it. Id probably have been sacked. I think I could have run the BBC, but obviously I would have run it in my way.

Despite his self-consciously cerebral mien, there was also something of the overgrown child about Yentob, a sense that he was giddily enjoying his power and influence. It was little surprise, with this in mind, that he launched CBBC and CBeebies, cementing the BBCs role as a nurturer of young minds. It was ironic, then, that his legacy was irrevocably marred by his involvement with Kids Company, the charity that he served as chairman for and which collapsed ignominiously in 2015 due to accusations of financial mismanagement. Yentob was accused of trying to influence the BBCs coverage of the scandal. His meddling was described by MPs as unwise at best, deliberately intimidating at worst, and he resigned from his much-prized creative director role in December 2015. (An internal BBC inquiry concluded that he did not affect its reporting.)

Alan Yentob with Rod Stewart for an episode of Imagine - BBC

Yentobs penchant for self-promotion and name-droppingClive James once quipped he had heard the executive was in the Red Sea, in conversation with the Dalai Lama allowed him to become a whipping boy for all those who disliked the modern BBC. He was seen as overpaid (in 2013, it was revealed his annual salary was more than 330,000), out of touch and, in the inimitable words of the Daily Mail, a profligate luvvie.

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Yet it is hard to view his ultimate legacy as purely a tainted one. Yentob made some of the most memorable and successful television of the last few decades. It is this that should ultimately stand as his lasting memorial.

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Tributes from across the UKs arts and cultural landscape have been paid to long-serving BBC producer Alan Yentob, following his death aged 78.

Yentobs wife Philippa Walker paid tribute to her husband, calling him curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body and added that he was the kindest of men.

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And the BBC has reported director-general Tim Davies tribute. Davie remembered Yentob as a cultural force and creative visionary.

Davie said: To work with Alan was to be inspired and encouraged to think bigger. He had a rare gift for identifying talent and lifting others up  a mentor and champion to so many across the worlds of television, film and theatre.

Above all, Alan was a true original. His passion wasnt performative  it was personal. He believed in the power of culture to enrich, challenge and connect us.

Jeremy Clarkson, who Yentob had to sack from Top Gear following the presenters altercation with a producer on the set of the hit motoring show, remembered his colleague, saying on X:

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Alan Yentob is the guy who called to end my career at Top Gear. He knew what had really gone on though and two days later, we had dinner. Great man. Loved and understood television. My love to Philippa.

Veteran news correspondent John Simpson wrote on the same platform:

Very sad to hear that my good friend Alan Yentob has died. He was such good company, and a wonderful interviewer and documentary-maker. I shall miss him greatly.

Piers Morgan remembered him, writing: RIP Alan Yentob, a giant of British television, a superb interviewer, and a great character  always brimming with charm, intelligence and mischief.

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Yentob was a significant figure in British culture, both on screen  where he presented dozens of programmes profiling subjects from David Bowie to Beyonce, Orson Welles to Mel Brooks  and off, where his roles included channel commissioner for BBC One and BBC Two, as well as the BBCs creative director and head of music and arts.

His memorable 1975 Omnibus feature saw him accompanying David Bowie on a tour to the US, The programme called Cracked Actor, saw Bowie, then under the influence of drugs, give a revealing interview in the back of a limousine where he talked about his creativity but also the mental cost of his high profile. It was heralded as a new frontier in profile-making.

Yentobs prodigious career saw him become controller of BBC Two in 1988, making him one of the youngest channel controllers in the corporations history. He presided over a golden era for arts coverage across the organisation.

He went on to become controller of the flagship TV channel BBC One from 1993 to 1997, before he worked as televisions director of programmes. He subsequently worked as the corporations creative director for more than a decade. He was awarded a CBE in 2024 for services to the arts and media.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  After being on the run for two days, an exotic bird was successfully brought back to a Washington zoo late Friday night.

According to the Cougar Mountain Zoo, Alice the East African crowned crane, originally escaped from the Issaquah facility Wednesday afternoon. She was first seen traveling south along a nearby roadway.

Teenager missing after disappearing in Long Beach, Wash. waters

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Over the following two days, zoo team members reported seeing Alice at Lake Sammamish State Park, located across the freeway from the facility.

Alice spotted at a home She was spotted at a home near Peregrine Point, just north of Lake Sammamish State Park Boat Launch, on May 22, 2025. (Courtesy: Cougar Mountain Zoo)

Alice seen on a property on a property on Lake Sammamish on May 22, 2025. (Courtesy: Cougar Mountain Zoo)

At one point, they even observed her hanging out with a group of Great Blue herons. As a result, they focused their search efforts on the park.

Then around 9 p.m. Friday, the zoo said a resident from a home along the waterfront spotted Alice in her yard and reached out to their team.

Washington expands species of roadkill that drivers can take home to eat

Just before midnight, Alice was successfully retrieved and returned back home from Wonderland.

Alice the East African crowned crane returns to the Cougar Mountain Zoo in one of their vehicles on May 23, 2025. (Courtesy: Cougar Mountain Zoo)

Were incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from our amazing community, the zoo said in a statement on social media. Your sightings and positivity helped us stay focused in the right area and wait for the perfect opportunity.

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They added that Alice will now be closely monitored and her mate, Hatter, is happy to have her back by his side.

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Quick facts about aliens

Has extraterrestrial life been discovered?: Not yet!

Where are scientists looking for aliens?: Water-rich bodies in our solar system, like Jupiter's moon Europa, and Earth-like exoplanets  planets outside our solar system

How many planets in the Milky Way have the right conditions for life? An estimated 300 million

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E.T., Stitch, Chewbacca, Groot  humans have a lot of ideas about what aliens might look like. But what is the science behind extraterrestrial life? Is it possible that humans will ever experience "first contact" with an alien species?

Many scientists hope so. They're looking for extraterrestrial life on planets with conditions that look like Earth's . A life-friendly planet would probably have water, for example. And for water to be a liquid, the planet must be the perfect distance from its sun for that water not to freeze or turn into a gas.

There's no evidence yet for life on other planets, but as scientists discover more and more planets outside our solar system, they're hopeful that some of these worlds will be "just right" for life to exist or evolve there.

5 fast facts about aliens

Scientists have been listening for alien signals with special radio receivers since 1992. They haven't picked up any yet!

Mars might have once hosted life  most likely tiny things like bacteria  but scientists can't say for sure.

Jupiter's moon Europa has an ocean, and it might have hydrothermal vents, or cracks in the seafloor where hot water seeps through. Scientists think life on Earth may have evolved in hydrothermal vents.

The " Goldilocks zone " is the space around a star where temperatures allow liquid water to exist. Many scientists think planets in the Goldilocks zone are those most likely to host life.

The oldest known life on Earth is 4.2 billion years old .

Everything you need to know about aliens

Are aliens real?

Sci-fi aliens like Baby Yoda are fun to imagine, but scientists are serious about extraterrestrial life. There are some 100 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy and at least 2 trillion galaxies in the universe we can study. If most of those stars have at least one planet around them, there could be up to 20 billion trillion extraterrestrial worlds out there.

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Given those numbers, it would be shocking if only a single planet  Earth  had life. But our closest neighbors in the solar system, Mars and Venus, don't seem to have any life. Some moons of Saturn and Jupiter have water, so they could have life  most likely tiny creatures the size of germs. If Earthlings ever meet aliens face-to-face, they'll probably need a microscope to say hi.

Until scientists find some firm proof, such as a communication signal from an alien world or fossilized microbes from Mars, Earth remains the only planet where life is known to exist.

What might aliens look like?

What aliens would look like would depend on where they came from. For example, on the icy moons in our solar system (Jupiter's Ganymede and Europa, and Saturn's Enceladus), life could thrive around hydrothermal vents in the oceans under the ice . This life might look like the weird creatures of the deep ocean seen on Earth. There could be primitive microbes, like Earth's single-celled Archaea. There might be relatively simple creatures with many cells in their body, sort of like Earth's tube worms, which live off chemicals from the vent fluid.

Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago, and we think the first life existed by about 4.2 billion years ago. But life on Earth started simple and stayed that way for a long time. The first microbes that produced carbon evolved at least 3.7 billion years ago . (Carbon is an element that is a part of all known life.) But the kind of cells that gave rise to animals, plants and other complex life-forms didn't evolve until between 2.7 billion and 1.8 billion years ago . Life-forms made of many cells didn't show up until 600 million years ago. And modern humans came on the scene only around 300,000 years ago.

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That means that, if other planets with life are like Earth, the time period in which they might host intelligent life (or even something as cuddly as a koala) is pretty brief. But there's a good chance that human life might overlap with microbial life on another planet.

Scientists do think that life on other planets would be driven by the same processes as it is on Earth, namely evolution. Changes to the environment drive living things to change, leading to new and more complex species. So a planet out in space that is like Earth and has been through many changes in its surface, rocks and climate would probably have complex life, too. In that case, aliens might face similar challenges and needs as here on Earth, and thus might evolve similar features. Eyes, for example, have evolved independently dozens of times on Earth, and they might evolve in life on other planets, too.

Superpowerful telescopes are allowing researchers to detect planets beyond our solar system that might host life. This image shows some exoplanets that might be similar to Earth (from left to right): Kepler-22b, Kepler-69c, Kepler-452b, Kepler-62f and Kepler-186f. Earth is on the far right. | Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

Where might aliens live?

Some scientists still hold out hope that life exists elsewhere in our solar system. If it does, it's probably on one of the these moons:

Ganymede: Jupiter's largest moon is bigger than Mercury and hides a giant ocean under its icy surface.

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Europa: Another moon of Jupiter with an ice-bound ocean, Europa has liquid water, heat generated by the pull of Jupiter's gravity, and chemicals that are the building blocks of life.

Enceladus: This Saturn moon spews water vapor that contains carbon compounds from its surface. One of these compounds, hydrogen cyanide , is important for the origin of life.

Titan: This moon of Saturn is very cold, but it does have carbon-rich liquid on its surface. Any life found on Titan would have to thrive in conditions not seen on Earth.

Triton: Neptune's moon Triton is very, very cold, but it might have an ocean under its surface layer of ice . It also has geological activity in the form of geysers that erupt when the sun heats the nitrogen ice on the planet's surface.

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And our next-door neighbor, Mars, may have hosted life in the past, because it used to have liquid water and an atmosphere. Today, any life would have to persist in deep pools of water below the Red Planet's surface.

Outside the solar system, scientists are continually discovering new exoplanets. They can learn things about these planets' atmospheres by studying the types of light waves they see using superpowerful telescopes. One promising exoplanet for life is called K2-18b . This world is too far for humans to visit, but the light from the planet has reached Earth. This light tells us the planet has an ocean. Scientists think they've detected some chemicals in K2-18b's atmosphere that could be made by marine life, but they don't know for sure.

How are scientists looking for aliens?

Scientists look for aliens in a few different ways.

First, they listen for alien signals. This is called "passive SETI," for "search for extraterrestrial intelligence." If aliens are smart like we are, their technology might send signals into the cosmos. On Earth, for example, all of the radio waves from our phones, satellites and TV station communications "leak" into space , and these leaking radio waves could be picked up if anyone were listening. So Earthlings use telescopes designed to pick up radio waves from space, hoping to find extraterrestrial signals.

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That only works for tech-savvy aliens, though. Scientists also use light to look at the kinds of molecules that are present on far-off planets and moons. On Earth, some molecules are usually or always made by living things, so if those molecules are found elsewhere, they could be a sign of life. This kind of research lets scientists look for hints of life on exoplanets that are too far away to reach with a spacecraft.

Scientists also send spacecraft to the nearby places where life might exist. The Mars rovers, for example, collect rock samples that could contain evidence of fossilized ancient Martian microbes. (They haven't found any yet, but you never know!) NASA is planning to send a drone with propellers, called Dragonfly , to Saturn's moon Titan in 2028. Dragonfly would reach Titan by 2034 and search for chemicals tied to life. The European Space Agency would like to send a mission to Enceladus , also to search for signs of past or present life.

NASA's Kepler space telescope before it launched into orbit, trailing Earth around the sun. The telescope is one of the key tools astronomers use to discover exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system. | Credit: NASA/KSC

Are UFOs aliens?

Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are things in the sky that aren't explained. The first modern UFO sighting goes back to 1947, when a U.S. fighter pilot reported seeing flying saucers in Washington. Not every UFO sighting can be explained, but many turn out to be events with an Earthly origin. For example, the famous "UFO crash" from Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 was actually debris from an experimental military balloon that was supposed to pick up sound waves from atomic bomb tests in the Soviet Union.

More recently, strange videos have shown seemingly quick-moving, hovering objects . These "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAPs) don't have an official explanation. However, they could be normal objects that seem to be moving quickly due to optical illusions, or things that aren't what they appear to be. The pilot who took the videos might have been seeing drones, weather balloons or even birds .

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Any alien civilization with the kind of technology to build spacecraft has to be an enormous distance away, given that the closest exoplanet that has the right conditions for life is Proxima Centauri B, which is 24 trillion miles away. Proxima Centauri B isn't very close, and it might not have an atmosphere. So it might not have life at all, much less life that could travel to us. And we would need some seriously advanced way to get there: With current Earth technology, it would take 6,300 years for a spacecraft to travel from Earth to Proxima Centauri B.

In other words, no, UFOs probably aren't aliens. An alien civilization could send a spacecraft to our planet, but it would mean the aliens who sent it in the first place  and their kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, great-great-grandkids and so on  would probably be long dead before the craft reached us. So it's a lot more likely that UFO sightings are cases of mistaken identity.

Alien pictures

Image 1 of 4

A golden record interposed with an image of Voyager spacecraft, a black-and-gray object with antennas

The Golden Record

When NASA launched the Voyager spacecraft in 1977, they included these Golden Records, which contain images and sounds from Earth. These include greetings in 55 languages, music and pictures of life on Earth. The idea is that if aliens ever encountered them, they would understand what human culture was like.

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Image 2 of 4

A satellite image of a Martian landscape with a path and fan of sediment cut into the surface

Ancient Mars water

Landscapes like this one suggest Mars once had a wet surface. Here, a track cut by water in Jezero Crater ends in a fan of sediment that has likely been chemically changed by water.

Image 3 of 4

A white moon with gray crevices across its face

Jupiter's moon Europa

Jupiter's moon Europa might harbor life beneath its icy surface. This moon has a deep ocean beneath a shell of ice, and perhaps hydrothermal vents where life could evolve.

Image 4 of 4

A drawing of a rocky landscape with a red-orange sun setting in the background.

Alien world?

This artist's conception shows the exoplanet Kepler-1649c. This planet is similar to Earth in size and temperature and is in its star's habitable zone, the distance where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface.
VALLETTA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The first Duanwu Cup dragon boat friendship race in Malta was held Saturday in the historic eastern Maltese city of Birgu to mark the traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Festival.

Also known as the Duanwu Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, it falls on May 31.

The event was jointly organized by the China Cultural Centre in Malta, the Birgu Regatta Club, the Maltese-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and the Chinese Community Association in Malta.

Dubbed the Duanwu Cup, the event brought together dragon boat enthusiasts from both China and Malta to compete on the sparkling waters off the coast of Birgu. The race also attracted a lively crowd. As the rhythmic beats of a Chinese drum echoed along the waterfront, rowers paddled in unison, cheered on by enthusiastic spectators lining the shore.

"We sincerely hope this becomes a yearly event, because it's important to be exposed to different cultures," said Audrey Randich, assistant secretary of the Birgu Regatta Club. She expressed hope that more boats would join future editions, adding, "It's always good to bring cultures together."

Ian Mizzi, president of the Maltese-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, described the event as both "exciting and meaningful." He had heard about dragon boat races before, but witnessing the spirit behind the tradition in person was truly special, he said.

Yuan Yuan, director of the China Cultural Centre in Malta, emphasized the broader significance of the event. "This race is not only a sporting exchange between dragon boat lovers from China and Malta, but also a new platform for cultural interaction," she said, adding, "It opens up further opportunities for cooperation in culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges." 
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A 31-year-old man from El Salvador who federal prosecutors said is a gang member was arrested in Columbus and pleaded guilty to illegally coming back to the United States.

A release from the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Kelly Norris, said Milton Guevara-Cruz pleaded guilty to coming back to the U.S. as a felon. ICE agents found him in Columbus on March 11, leading to his most recent arrest.

8-year-old homicide at Columbus gas station remains unsolved

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Court documents said the El Salvadoran is believed to be a member of the 18th Street gang as part of its Tyni Locos Surenos clique. Guevara-Cruz has been arrested three times in El Salvador for criminal activity related to the gang, per court documents.

He has been forcibly removed from the United States three times, including a 2019 incident where he was convicted of illegal reentry in New Mexico federal court. The maximum prison sentence for a federal conviction of illegally reentering the United States is 10 years in prison.

Guevara-Cruzs sentencing date will be set during a later court hearing.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Along the banks of the Rio Grande River lies Starr County, Texas, a key to understanding the political realignment that sent Donald Trump back to the White House. Both the most Hispanic county in the nation and one of the poorest, Starr was also once one of the most resoundingly Democratic; Barack Obama won it by 73 points in 2012. In 2020, the county swung harder rightward than any other county in the U.S., by 55 points. And in 2024, it voted Republican for the first time in 132 years: Trump was on top by 16 points.

Two years before, on the eve of the 2022 midterm elections, I decided to pay Starr County a visit. As someone whos worked in professional politics for more than two decades, most recently as a pollster studying realignment, I expected to see a pitched two-party fight in this newly minted political battleground.

[Read: The strategist who predicted Trumps multiracial coalition]

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In Rio Grande City, the county seat, I instead found a politics more parochial than anywhere else Ive visited in America: Elections for the school board capture the publics attention far more than elections for governor or Congress. And this parochialism is a big part of the reason Starr Countys politics shifted so far so fast.

Politics throughout much of the country used to be like Starr Countys, a patchwork of localized traditions only tangentially connected to voters ideological leanings. In many cases defined by ethnicity and religion, these ancestral local party attachments produced quirky and random resultsa Democratic West Virginia, a Republican Vermont. And although Hispanics had been a solidly Democratic group until recently, the one-party nature of Democratic rule along the Rio Grande Valley was an outlierespecially in relation to other Texas regions with large concentrations of Hispanic residents, who were always a competitive voting bloc.

The realignments of recent yearsthe midwestern white working class toward Trumps GOP and the suburbs toward the Democratscan be understood as the process of ideological and education sorting coming for groups that were the most out of place in the new political realm: rich suburban Republicans and culturally conservative working-class Democrats. In 2020 and 2024, this realignment came for the nonwhite voters once at the center of Barack Obamas coalition, especially working-class Hispanics, and most especially those in the rural outskirts of the Rio Grande Valley.

Starr Countys tradition of machine politics, manifest in an unusually strong preoccupation with local elections, marked a place ripe for a sudden political shift. Not unlike the Democratic majorities in the big cities of mid-century, which continue at some level into the present day, political dominance in the region was built not through allegiance to liberal ideals but through political machines that delivered tangible benefits and shaped the political identity of new immigrant groups. This is evident in polling today showing that nonwhite Democrats are much more moderate and conservative than their white counterparts. For a time, ideological differences were subsumed to the work of advancing group interests through machine politics. But in an era of declining party organization and an emptying out of majority-minority cities in favor of more integrated suburbs, the tide of ideological voting could be held at bay for only so long. Once it poured in, America shifted into a new era of politics, from one forged by social connections at the neighborhood level to todays cultural and ideological polarization, where you vote Republican if you have conservative cultural beliefs, regardless of race.

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For Black voters, voting for Democrats as an act of group solidarity didnt require urban machines like Tammany Hall. A Republican Party that was viewed as leading the backlash to civil rights was summarily dismissedand those who strayed were subject to social sanction. In South Texas, the rationale revolved around class; the Democrats were viewed simply as the party that would do right by the poor.

As these old partisan ties begin to weaken, its worth remembering that something similar has happened before, when the white working classs status as the bulwark of the old Democratic Party began to unravel in the 1960s. That was also a time of rapid social change, when a politics once focused on meeting the material needs of the working class instead started to revolve around questions more abstract: of war and peace, of race and sex. And on key points, the working classmeaning the white working class early on and a more diverse group todaywas not on board with the Democrats growing cultural liberalism.

The realignment of the working class, which helped Trump win in 2016, would not stop with white voters. In 2020 and 2024, the realignment came for nonwhite voters. A basic tenet of the Democratic Partythat of being a group-interest-based coalitionwas abandoned as the partys ideologically moderate and conservative nonwhite adherents began to peel off in a mass re-sorting of the electorate. The Democratic analyst David Shor estimates that Democrats went from winning 81 percent of Hispanic moderates in 2016 to just 58 percent in 2024. And these voters were now voting exactly how you would expect them to, given their ideologies: conservatives for the party on the right, moderates split closer to either party.

This explanation for political realignment should concern Democrats deeply, because it cant be fixed by better messaging or more concerted outreach. The voters moving away from the Democrats are ideologically moderate to conservative. Their loyalty to the Democratic Party was formed in a time of deep racial and inter-ethnic rivalry, when throwing in with one locally dominant political party could help a once-marginalized group secure political power. The system worked well when local politics was relatively insulated from ideological divides at the national level. But this wouldnt last foreverand national polarization now rules everything around us.

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[Roge Karma: Americas class politics have turned upside down]

Starr County was one of the last holdouts from ideological sorting, and I could feel the tension between new and old-school politics when I visited. The early- voting centers I visited in the Rio Grande Valleys urban areas were plastered with signs for congressional races that were competitive for the first time in generations. But the farther I ventured out into rural areasplaces such as Starr Countythe less voters seemed to care about national races. Here, the focus was close to home, and the smiling faces of school-board and county-office candidates covered nearly every available public surface.

From his officea clubhouse on the main drag in Rio Grande CityRoss Barrera led the nascent county Republican organization. When we met, I asked him why local elections here seemed to garner such outsized attention.

His answer helped me solve a piece of the puzzle of Starr Countys sudden political shift.

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Rio Grande City is run not so much by parties, Barrera explained, but by rival factions with a strong resemblance to the machines of old. School-board elections are officially nonpartisan, but the voting is organized around competing candidate slates. The slates are like parallel political parties, but able to endorse across party lines for partisan races. These factional operations are far more sophisticated than the formal party structures. Candidates for the statehouse in Austin will simply pay these slates to serve as their get-out-the-vote operation, forgoing traditional campaign activity.

Why do the slates matter so much? In many of the poorest counties in the nation, with little private industry, the No. 1 employer is the local school district. And whoever wins the school-board elections decides who gets the relatively well-paying patronage jobs that come with those seats. That means the school-board races are uniquely high-stakes; incumbents will go to extreme lengths to safeguard their power.

The area outside the county courthouse where people were already casting their ballots was abuzz with activity from the candidate slates. Each had its own tent where volunteers were cooking up chicken dishes for voters passing by. Which tent a voter went to and spent time at signaled their loyalty. Confrontations between the two camps were not uncommon.

In the Rio Grande Valley, whom you vote for is a secret, but the list of who voted is scrutinized by political bosses doling out jobs. The same goes for primary elections, when your choice to pull a Democratic or Republican ballot is public. In 2018, all but 13 voters countywide who participated in the primary pulled a Democratic ballot. One Republican told me he was once handed a Democratic ballot in the primaryand was refused a Republican ballot when he requested one. Because all of the local officials were Democrats and general elections were frequently uncontested, people saw no point voting in the Republican primary.

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Elections in this part of the state had not been free in the fullest sense of the word, unfolding in an atmosphere of persistent surveillance. After the 2012 elections in the nearby town of Donna, several area campaign workers, known locally as politiqueras, pleaded guilty for bribing voters with cash and dime bags of cocaine. South Texas has a long history of this kind of activity, going back to the notorious political boss George Parr, who, in 1948, manufactured the votes that put Lyndon B. Johnson in the Senate.

Although national politics was something of an afterthought, the regions default was enduring loyalty to a Democratic Party known simply as a tribune for the regions poor. Republicans, meanwhile, were dismissed as the party of the white person and the rich, something Barrera called our own form of racism. As McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos, a Republican elected in 2021, explained it to me, at the dinner table growing up, he would hear about the necessity of voting for the Democrats as the party of the poor. His response: We dont have to be poor.

Something seemed to break in 2020. That pandemic year, candidates had to improvise new ways to reach voters. Barrera recalls locals reactions when a Trump traina caravan of cars and trucks flying Trump flagsone day drove down the main county highway. People emerged quietly from their homes to witness the spectacle. And then, much to Barreras surprise, they started applauding.

[From the September 2018 issue: The next populist revolution will be Latino]

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This small display was an early warning of the political sea change that would take Trump from winning 19 percent of the countys vote in 2016 to 58 percent in 2024. Although Trump made gains across the country with Hispanic voters, a shift of this magnitude signals something much bigger than changes in policy or positioning; its a preference cascade that comes about when social norms dictating group loyalty to a single party start to crumble. The Republican Party did not somehow persuade people to switch their votes with new policy positions. In areas where political machines long reigned supreme, like Starr County and the South Bronx, Republicans needed to switch votes by showing voters that their neighbors were switching as well. Two previous cycles of working-class shifts, combined with Trump campaigning in urban areas and in media popular with young nonwhite men, appeared to do the trick.

Beyond South Texas, the Democratic Party in Americas old industrial cities was built by political machines that delivered tangible benefits to working-class and immigrant voters, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood. One day in the life of George Washington Plunkitt, the famed Tammany Hall district leader in New York, revealed the work it took to secure votes: At 2 a.m., he aroused from sleep to bail out a saloon keeper; at 6 a.m., he awakened to the sound of fire trucks and rose to give assistance and arrange housing for those affected; at 8:30 a.m., he went to the courthouse and secured the release of several drunks; at 9 a.m., he paid the rent for a poor family about to be evicted; at 11 a.m., he met with four men seeking employment and succeeded in each case; at 3 p.m., he attended the funerals of constituents; at 7 p.m., he presided over a district meeting; at 8 p.m., he attended a church fair and took the men out for a drink after; at 9 p.m., he was back at the office, attending to various constituent matters; at 10:30 p.m., he attended a Jewish wedding.

Today, machine politics are not held in high esteem. But they did have a way of finding overlooked voting blocs and putting them under protection. Other such examples of political organization and advocacy are remembered more fondly, such as the migration of Black voters into the Democratic Party following the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which cemented a more than 9-to-1 Democratic advantage in many Black neighborhoods. But more recently, this political solidarity has been held together by social forcesthe expectation by other Black Americans that their friends and neighbors will support Democratsthan by an ideological affinity for the party, as documented in the political scientists Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Lairds book, Steadfast Democrats.

In an era of nationalized politics and growing polarization, the social basis for Democratic majorities is looking more and more tenuous. Yes, the particular appeal with which Trump was able to attract Hispanics and young Black men may last for only an election cycle or two, but the fact that those communities are realigning to a party that matches their views on issues, particularly on cultural issues such as gender, means that many are likely to stick around.

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A populist shift in the form of Donald Trumps larger-than-life persona was enough to make many nonwhite voters shed decades-long partisan loyalties. Absent a big change in how these voters perceive the Democratic Party, they arent going back.

Article originally published at The Atlantic
Francisco Ayala and his wife have canceled the cruise they planned to take to see the Northern Lights this year. The reasons are complicated.

Ayala is a natural-born US citizen, and his wife is a naturalized citizen. But given reports of people  even with legal status  being detained and questioned at US borders, Ayala said taking a trip out of the country for fun doesnt seem worth the potential risk.

Ayala also sees another problem: the economy. The writing is on the wall  The moment I saw the market volatility, Im like, Yep, this is not going to be good.

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Travel advisers are seeing the impact of that uncertainty. More than 80% of the 460 advisers surveyed recently by TravelAge West were very or somewhat concerned about the impact of a possible economic downturn on their business, and more than half were very concerned about the impact of government policies.

Their clients top concern was economic uncertainty, followed by worries about the treatment of Americans abroad, safety and security, fears of cost increases due to tariffs, immigration and border policies, and travel restrictions.

You cant just take one angle and say, Oh, the economy is having an issue. So lets find something less expensive, said Beci Mahnken, CEO of MEI-Travel. Other clients say, I dont want to travel to the United States, or I dont want to travel outside the United States.  Its like a rock tunnel, going and going.

One shaft of light at the end of that tunnel could be savings on last-minute summer trips as travelers increasingly take a wait-and-see stance with their plans.

Hitting a brick wall

Mahnken first saw signs of trouble in early April, when US stocks plunged over fears of a chaotic trade war.

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Mahnken and her travel agency staff started getting phone calls from clients, calling to cancel vacations they had booked or seeking refundable trips. She said they were fearful because their 401(k)s and other investments had taken a dive. That uncertainty, she says, made them pause on discretionary spending like a summer trip.

Until that moment, Mahnken said, the frenzy of heightened revenge travel activity that started after pandemic restrictions lifted had not slowed over the course of four years.

We were still on this incredible high, Mahnken said. And then  it almost hit a brick wall.

Flight analytics firm Cirium has observed a sharp drop in summer bookings to popular destinations in Europe. Here, people sunbathe on the beach at a seaside resort west of Amsterdam. - Ramon van Flymen/AFP/Getty Images

Flight analytics firm Cirium pulled flight booking data from online travel agencies from the end of January through early May, when people typically book summer trips. That data, which Cirium shared with CNN, indicates that bookings for travel in June, July and August are down nearly 10% when looking at flights from major US airports to favorite European destinations, compared to the same period last year.

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Flights booked in the opposite direction from Europe to the US are down 12% in the same period. That substantial drop is unusual, according to Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium.

We dont often see it as wholesale as this and over such a short period of time. Really, that Q1 booking is really quite substantially lower since the beginning of the year, said Bowen.

Data on US travelers booking summer trips to Asia is a bit more mixed, with increased bookings to destinations like Hong Kong and Tokyo, but decreases in flights booked to other major cities in the region.

Domestic travel in the US also seems to be down by about 5%, using the same search parameters.

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Potentially people are waiting to see, Bowen said.

The drop hasnt been steady. Mahnken said once the stock market stabilized, her clients started feeling a little bit more comfortable with spending more. But its what Mahnken calls a bouncing ball that could change again tomorrow.

Mahnken, who has been in the travel industry since before 9/11, remembers how travelers behaved after terrorist attacks, during the 2008 recession and post-Covid. But the challenge this time, she says, is a combination of those experiences, including economic unpredictability and geopolitical forces.

Taking different types of trips

Deloittes 2025 summer travel survey shows Americans still plan to travel this season. In fact, Deloitte data released on May 20 shows a 5% increase in Americans planning to take leisure trips this summer, but they may be taking cheaper trips than ones planned just months ago.

Traffic jams the highway as the exodus of holiday travelers begins for Memorial Day weekend in Chicago. People may opt for less expensive vacations and road trips with this summer's uncertainties. - Scott Olson/Getty Images

That could mean more road trips, rather than dealing with flights that would have to be canceled in case the whole trip is scrapped, Mahnken said.

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Thats especially true for anyone concerned about their job stability, or people worried they might have to scale back on discretionary spending if markets take another tumble.

We have people (who) are tending to now book closer in, rather than booking farther out, because  they feel more comfortable with their situation over the next four to six months, as opposed to the next eight to 12, which is a normal booking window for big vacations, she said.

For Ayala, this environment means being strategic about which trips are worth taking.

I actually dont believe that were going to have a full-blown recession, Ayala said. But we are definitely going to have a slowing down of the economy, at least  If you can save yourself a hassle and save yourself the money, this would be the year to do it.

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He and his wife canceled their cruise to Alaska, departing from a Canadian port, after seeing several European nations issue warnings to their citizens about potential problems entering the United States.

Travel experts say they're seeing Americans pull back on big trips such as viewing the Northern Lights in Alaska. - Hasan Akbas/Anadolu/Getty Images

But they still plan to attend two weddings in Mexico this year because they are important family events.

Still, Ayala said he fears being profiled coming back from those trips just because of his name, even if there is no malice on the side of the border agent. He said he feels that on paper, agents could see a Hispanic name and become overzealous in questioning him.

I do dread the return. I do think that there is a non-zero chance that I will have to call my employer and say, Hey, guess what? Im not coming into work because I couldnt get back, he said. But it is an important life event. This one is worth the risk, whereas just traveling for pleasure is not.

Last-minute deals

The difference in the way people are booking summer travel, and where theyre going, could create opportunities for people looking for a last-minute deal.

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Tiffany Funk, co-founder of point.me, a travel points optimization site, said people with loyalty points should use them, because theyre worth more now than they will be in the future. Funk said people can be surprised at how much farther points will take them internationally than on domestic trips.

But she said there are some interesting trends domestically, partly because some Canadians have canceled their trips.

Theres actually some deals to be had in places like New England and the coast of Maine, where typically you would have had to book in some cases years ago, in order to secure availability there. But were seeing some good deals there, Funk said.

Last-minute vacations to coastal Maine, with a crowd gathering here on top of Cadillac Mountain, could offer savings this year. - Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald/Getty Images

Florida, you have the Gulf Coast, where you can get some pretty decent pricing on very popular family-friendly destinations that are usually just horrifically expensive for summer vacations, she said.

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Mahnken said as cruise lines continue to launch megaships that were in production long before the current economic turbulence, they will need to fill rooms. She also points out the unusual number of theme park discounts out this season.

I am seeing a lot of cruise lines do incredibly good sales for their closer-in [dates], she said. Theme parks  were seeing them put out a lot of marketing and a lot of monetary offers during whats usually a high-season time.

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Andrew Norfolk, who has died aged 60, was the dogged investigative journalist who braved accusations of racism and the hostility of officialdom to uncover the widespread existence of Asian grooming gangs in the north of England.

The first intimation of one of the most dismaying British public scandals of the century so far was a report by Norfolk that appeared on the front page of The Times on January 5 2011, under the headline: Revealed: conspiracy of silence on UK sex gangs.

He disclosed that for more than a decade child protection experts had been cataloguing repeated instances of groups of men, mostly of Pakistani origin, befriending and grooming vulnerable under-age girls, usually white, whom they met in the street.

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No research has been carried out into why such a high proportion of the offenders belong to one minority ethnicity, Norfolk wrote, and with the exception of one town there is scant evidence of work being undertaken in British Pakistani communities to confront the problem.

He quoted the view of DCI Alan Edwards of West Mercia Police that a damaging taboo was preventing police forces, local authorities and charities from acknowledging the scale of the problem. As Edwards put it: To stop this type of crime you need to start talking about it, but everyones been too scared to address the ethnicity factor. No one wants to stand up and say that Pakistani guys in some parts of the country are recruiting young white girls and passing them around their relatives for sex.

The report provoked a national outcry and the rapid announcement by the Coalition government of an inquiry. It was one of the great scoops of the decade. And yet, for many years beforehand Norfolk had talked himself out of pursuing the story.

Shortly after being appointed North-East correspondent of The Times in 2003, he had reported on the concerns raised by Ann Cryer, the Labour MP for Keighley in West Yorkshire, about groups of Pakistani men hanging around outside schools and targeting teenage girls for sex. Although the parents of several girls complained that the police and social services were ignoring pleas to take action, Norfolk decided not to investigate in depth.

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Liberal angst kicked instinctively into top gear, he recalled. If Im honest, I didnt want the story to be true because it made me deeply uncomfortable [It] was always going to be the far Rights fantasy story come true.

Over the next half a dozen years, however, regular prodding of my conscience came from reading frequent reports of gangs of men preying on girls aged between 11 and 15, using the same modus operandi and inevitably [with] Muslim names.

He decided to investigate but received no co-operation from the police, or from the larger childrens charities such as Barnardos. Eventually two small organisations that worked with children put him in touch with people whose daughters had been groomed and forced to have sex with several older men.

His stories caused a sensation, and in 2012 he was promoted to chief investigative reporter. He continued to delve into the grooming scandal, focusing on Rotherham, where he found that one girl living in a childrens home had been taken to Greater Manchester and raped by 50 men in one night, while a 13-year-old girl found naked in a flat with seven men had been arrested for being drunk and disorderly with no action taken against the men.

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Norfolk had to hold his nerve when one trial collapsed and colleagues at The Times began to question the wisdom of pursuing the story. But in 2012 he produced evidence culled from confidential documents that laid bare a decade in which senior council officials and police officers knew exactly what was happening to hundreds of girls in the town, and often the names of the men committing the offences, yet invariably chose to look the other way.

In 2014 he was happy to observe that there had been a steady transformation, for the better, in the stance adopted towards child sexual exploitation by police forces, local authorities, the Crown Prosecution Service and the judiciary. The inquiry report published that year by Prof Alexis Jay, which identified more than 1,400 young victims in Rotherham, led to several police misconduct investigations and the resignation of the chief executive of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.

Norfolk received the Orwell Prize for his work investigating Asian grooming gangs - David Bebber/Times Newspapers Ltd

Norfolk always took care to point out that most grooming of young girls in Britain was carried out online by white men, but nevertheless endured a torrent of accusations of racism for focusing on Asian perpetrators. He regretted that, inevitably, aspects of his reports fuelled racist rhetoric from the far Right.

There have been many days, Norfolk once admitted, when I secretly longed for it all to come to an end. It was just too bleak, the details of the crimes too grotesque, too calculated to make one utterly despair of human nature. He was reluctant to accept praise for his dedication. It was always the girls and their families who kept me going They are the closest this tale will ever come to having heroes or heroines.

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Andrew Mark Norfolk was born in Canterbury on January 8 1965, the son of David Norfolk, a teacher and Methodist lay preacher, and his wife Olive, nee Bellerby. The family later moved to Harrogate when David Norfolk was appointed headmaster of the Methodist school Ashville College, where Andrew excelled academically and as a sportsman. He read English at Durham University and became a trainee at the Scarborough Evening News before joining the Yorkshire Post in 1995.

The most modest and mild-mannered of journalists, Norfolk only secured a job at The Times after his brother applied on his behalf, attaching copies of his outstanding reports into corruption at Doncaster Council. Norfolk loathed living in London, however, and after two years insisted on being transferred to Leeds in 2002.

Among other stories he investigated at The Times were allegations of abuse at more than 100 boarding schools, corruption at the trade union Unite and links between British banks and Islamist extremists. In 2014 he received the Orwell Prize and was named Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards. Latterly rheumatoid arthritis obliged him to walk with a stick, and he retired in 2024.

Earlier this year Norfolk criticised Elon Musk for claiming that the mainstream media had been silent on the grooming gang scandal: It just seems that Elon Musk, whose relationship with the truth seems so loose clicks his fingers, shoots his mouth off and the whole British establishment responds. I find it surprising that man wields that much power.

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When Musk accused Sir Keir Starmer of complicity in a cover-up, Norfolk reiterated that it was Starmer, as Director of Public Prosecutions, who had changed the rules to make more prosecutions possible. That happened and there was a huge increase in convictions.

He also rejected recent calls for another inquiry into the scandal: These girls are being exploited all over again. Now for politicians to jump on the bandwagon again when theyve been silent for so many years just strikes me as a bit shameful.

Andrew Norfolk was a dedicated smoker and lifelong Tottenham Hotspur fan with a tattoo of the club crest on his ankle. He is survived by his sister and two brothers.

Andrew Norfolk, born January 8 1965, died May 8 2025

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Who are the rich? Are we talking about the plutocrat jetting between London, New York and Monaco who makes it onto the annual rich lists?

Or are we thinking about the City banker whose annual bonus of 500,000 is enough to buy outright an average family home in the South East? Or are we in fact discussing the head of a state secondary school on 150,000?

For all of Keir Starmers promises during last years election campaign not to increase taxes on his cherished working people, Labour seems rather confused as to who the non-working types deserving of tax hikes in fact are.

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In her now notorious memo from March, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has dreamt up various wheezes for gouging yet more money from the affluent.

Perhaps her most insidious proposal is to freeze the threshold for paying the 45pc additional rate of income tax at its current level of 125,140 even beyond 2028  to when it is already frozen.

The additional rate, initially set at 50pc and levied on all income above 150,000, was introduced by Rachel Reevess predecessor as Labour chancellor, Alistair Darling, in the 2009 Budget.

Rates above 40pc had been scrapped by Nigel Lawson in his 1988 Budget  a consensus developed over the next 20 years that any return to the days of confiscatory taxation would be an act of self-harm.

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It would be both damaging to the economy and, in the case of Labour, politically lethal. It would sound a klaxon announcing the party of the workers had returned to its vindictive, wealth destroying old ways.

This all changed with the financial crisis of 2008. Overpaid bankers had got us all into this mess and it was time for them to pay something back  they were deserving of some collective punishment. This was at least part of the justification for the new additional rate.

The tax came into force in April 2010, just a month before David Cameron became the first Conservative prime minister in 13 years. George Osborne reduced the rate to 45pc in his 2012 Budget, but the threshold remained stubbornly stuck at 150,000.

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwartengs ill-starred attempt to scrap it in 2022 has probably ensured that it will remain with us for all time  or at least until we have a truly bold prime minister with an impregnable majority.

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To make amends for the Truss/Kwarteng audacity, Jeremy Hunt lowered the rates starting point from April 2023 to the current level of 125,140. Not raising a threshold for 13 years, then lowering it, has had the inevitable result of drawing more and more people into the tax.

In 2010, around 236,000, or about 0.7pc, of all taxpayers paid it. They were indeed the legendary 1pc. By the 2022-23 tax year, this had risen to 590,000  the percentage had more than doubled to 1.7pc.

Hunts manoeuvre ballooned this number to 950,000 in 2023-24 and last year to over 1.1 million  or in excess of 3pc of taxpayers. Those being levied the charge have more than quadrupled both in percentage terms and in total payers over 15 years.

And this is where our teachers come in. At least 3,367 state school teachers are paid more than 100,000. The pay packages of 775 heads of schools with academy status exceeded 150,000 in 2022-23.

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A tax that had been designed to punish those who had grown rich from pre-2008 financial market exuberance now hits even some of those labouring in rough comps. If Rayner has her way and the thresholds remain frozen, around one in six income taxpayers will be paying the rate by 2034. It will be a charge  to borrow Tony Blairs phrase  on the many, not the few.

People HMRC itself does not regard as among the rich  it defines the wealthy as those earning over 200,000  are being hit by a tax designed to whack the stonking rich. Our approach is in striking contrast to that of many of our competitors.

The top US marginal rate of federal income tax of 37pc is levelled on earnings of above $609,351, or 452,000. The American picture is complicated by state income taxes charged additionally. Marginal rates range from zero in Florida and eight other states to 13.3pc in California.

It is not just the relatively laissez faire United States that is less punitive than us. In Germany, its top rate of 45pc is only levied on those earning 277,826, or 235,000, and above. For married couples, the threshold is 555,652, or 467,000. So even legendarily social democratic modern Germany is less adamant about clobbering the well off than we are.

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Excessively taxing the rich is bad economics. It drives the wealthy out of your country and often reduces rather than raises tax take. Osborne found that by cutting the 50p rate to 45p, in its first month the Treasury raised an extra 1.3bn  he argued it raised an additional 8bn over the first year.

But most of those now hit by the 45pc rate are not able to easily flit across borders and set themselves up in a more tax-friendly jurisdiction. The number of those being penalised will keep growing every year.

Whatever Reeves may be saying now, dont expect Labour to raise the threshold after 2028. If avowedly tax-cutting Tory chancellors did not do so in 14 years, why would self-proclaimed socialists?

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[Attached video: Fox 8 coverage of the 2023 Firefighters Memorial Ride]

CLEVELAND (WJW)  The annual Firefighters Memorial Ride was held Sunday morning in Northeast Ohio, honoring and remembering local firefighters and the more than 300 firefighters lost during the collapse of the World Trade Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Buggin out! Midges are back in Northeast Ohio

The 21st annual ceremony took place at the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial before a processional ride through Cleveland, Bratenahl, Euclid, Richmond Heights, Willoughby Hills, Gates Mills, Huntington Valley, Moreland Hills, Solon , Orange and Bedford Heights.

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This year, three Northeast Ohio firefighters who died in 2024 were honored:

Cleveland Fire Firefighter Shawn P. Calvey- Last Alarm July 30, 2024

Painesville Fire Lt. Amanda Karduck- Last Alarm June 26, 2024

Madison Fire Lt. Alan Van Kramer- Last Alarm January 6, 2024

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
This photo taken on May 24, 2025 shows a view of the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States. A U.S. federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of foreign students studying and working in the country. In a nationwide injunction issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California ruled that the government cannot revoke international students' legal status without conducting individualized reviews and following existing federal regulations. U.S. Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, effectively barring the institution from enrolling new international students. (Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua)

SAN FRANCISCO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Donald Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), effectively barring the institution from enrolling new international students.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced the decision. "Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country," Noem said in a statement. "Enrolling international students is a privilege -- not a right -- and that privilege has been revoked due to Harvard's repeated failure to comply with federal law."

DHS said that in addition to barring enrollment of future international students, "existing foreign students must transfer to lose their legal status."

In response, Harvard issued a statement calling the administration's action unlawful and harmful.

"We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard's ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University -- and this nation -- immeasurably," the statement said. "We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission."

The administration in April froze 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in federal grants to Harvard, after the university rejected demands that it eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and evaluate international students for ideological concerns.

As of the fall 2023 semester, international students made up over 27 percent of Harvard's student body, according to university data. 

This photo taken on May 24, 2025 shows a view of the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States.

A U.S. federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of foreign students studying and working in the country.

In a nationwide injunction issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California ruled that the government cannot revoke international students' legal status without conducting individualized reviews and following existing federal regulations.

U.S. Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, effectively barring the institution from enrolling new international students. (Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua)

This photo taken on May 24, 2025 shows a view of the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States.

A U.S. federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of foreign students studying and working in the country.

In a nationwide injunction issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California ruled that the government cannot revoke international students' legal status without conducting individualized reviews and following existing federal regulations.

U.S. Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, effectively barring the institution from enrolling new international students. (Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua)

This photo taken on May 24, 2025 shows a view of the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States.

A U.S. federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of foreign students studying and working in the country.

In a nationwide injunction issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California ruled that the government cannot revoke international students' legal status without conducting individualized reviews and following existing federal regulations.

U.S. Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, effectively barring the institution from enrolling new international students. (Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua)

This photo taken on May 24, 2025 shows a view of the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States.

A U.S. federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of foreign students studying and working in the country.

In a nationwide injunction issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California ruled that the government cannot revoke international students' legal status without conducting individualized reviews and following existing federal regulations.

U.S. Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, effectively barring the institution from enrolling new international students. (Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua)

This photo taken on May 24, 2025 shows a view of the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States.

A U.S. federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of foreign students studying and working in the country.

In a nationwide injunction issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California ruled that the government cannot revoke international students' legal status without conducting individualized reviews and following existing federal regulations.

U.S. Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, effectively barring the institution from enrolling new international students. (Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua)

This photo taken on May 24, 2025 shows a view of the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States.

A U.S. federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of foreign students studying and working in the country.

In a nationwide injunction issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California ruled that the government cannot revoke international students' legal status without conducting individualized reviews and following existing federal regulations.

U.S. Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, effectively barring the institution from enrolling new international students. (Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  The Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack Sunday that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens.

Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

___

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
May 24A 911 caller reported a presumed electrical fire at their neighbor's home early Saturday morning as smoke billowed from the swamp cooler. Firefighters who responded found much more than flames  the bodies of Stephen and Marcia Bockemeier, 76 and 77, and their 48-year-old son Erik were pulled from the Northeast Albuquerque house, all shot to death.

Less than two hours later, according to police, officers found the couple's other son Andrew Bockemeier, a former attorney, had shot himself at the entrance of the State Bar of New Mexico headquarters. A note was found at the scene, along with a gun that police say was matched to the bullet casings where the 35-year-old's parents and brother were killed.

Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said no suspects are believed to be outstanding.

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"Essentially, it appears, at this point in the investigation, that an adult killed his family members," he said. "Apparently there are two elderly parents and they have three sons."

Gallegos would not detail the contents of the note found with Andrew Bockemeier. He said he did not know how the fire was set at the family's home in the 2800 block of Georgia NE, near Louisiana and Candelaria. The motive for the apparent murder-suicide is unclear.

Court records show Andrew Bockemeier, who graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2020, had his license suspended in 2024 for failing to comply "with some or all of the annual license renewal requirements." For some time, Andrew Bockemeier worked as an attorney for the law firm Walz and Associates.

His father Stephen had been an assistant pastor at Albuquerque Revival Church.

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Albuquerque Fire Rescue spokesperson Lt. Jason Fejer said, in a news release Saturday afternoon, that the investigation into what started the fire at the Bockemeier home was "active and ongoing."

Fejer said AFR responded around 6 a.m. to reports of an electrical fire and found the home partly ablaze. He said the fire was brought under control quickly and firefighters found a person dead inside the house.

"After removing the first victim ... two more victims were located inside the residence," Fejer said.

Gallegos said at 7:53 a.m. officers were called to the parking lot of the State Bar headquarters  tucked into an office complex south of Jefferson and Paseo del Norte. He said a 911 caller had reported someone who appeared to be unconscious on the property.

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Officers found Andrew Bockemeier dead in front of the entrance. Nearby, a gun and note were recovered.

"Detectives were able to  when they went into the scene at the house  tentatively match the bullet casings to the same gun," Gallegos said. "At this point, it does appear the same gun was used in both incidents."
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -The Archbishop of Buenos Aires used his pulpit on Sunday to voice criticism of Argentine President Javier Milei's policies addressing poverty and support for pensioners.

At the Te Deum religious ceremony for the anniversary of the May Revolution of 1810, where Milei, a libertarian, and his cabinet were present, Archbishop Jorge Garcia Cuerva told the congregation that in Argentina "fraternity, tolerance, and respect are dying."

"Our country is bleeding. So many brothers and sisters suffer marginalization and exclusion," said Garcia Cuerva, who heads the archdiocese of Buenos Aires, the former home base of Pope Francis.

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He called for support for the poor, young people who are victims of drug trafficking and pensioners.

"Retirees deserve a dignified life with access to medicine and food, a wound that has remained open and bleeding for years, but as a society we must heal it soon," Garcia Cuerva said.

Milei has implemented sweeping public spending cuts since taking office at the end of 2023 in a bid to control the country's years-long economic crisis. Pensioners, who have been badly hit by the cuts, protest in the streets every Wednesday and often face police repression.

Garcia Cuerva also referred to the "constant aggression" on social media and called for a "stop to hate."

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"We have crossed all boundaries. Disqualification, constant aggression, mistreatment, and defamation seem to be commonplace," the archbishop said.

During Garcia Cuerva's comments, Milei was seen listening with a stern expression.

Milei's government frequently uses social media to refer to politicians, economists and journalists who question its policies as "baboons," "degenerates," "underachievers," and "mongoloids."

(Reporting by Lucila Sigal, writing by Cassandra Garrison; editing by Clelia Oziel)
MARIANNA, Ark.  Arkansas State Police are investigating a deadly shooting that happened in Marianna on Friday.

State police said the shooting happened near the intersection of Mississippi and Alabama streets.

Authorities said the shooting left 36-year-old Kendrick Williams of Forrest City dead and a woman with non-life-threatening injuries.

No suspect information has been released at this time.

State police officials said an investigation into the shooting was requested by ASP Highway Patrol Troop D and the Marianna Police Department.

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ASP officials said the investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

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We may have had a brief break from the rain this evening, but more is on the way, and thats why the Flood Watch has now expanded into portions of central and western Arkansas. Through Monday evening, an additional 3 to 5 inches of rain is possible across central Arkansas, with 5 to 7 inches not out of the question for parts of the north and northeast. While the severe threat remains low, some storms could still bring gusty winds and heavy downpours.

Tonight and into early Sunday morning, storms developing in Oklahoma will push into western Arkansas. On and off showers and thunderstorms are expected throughout Sunday and into Memorial Day, with brief dry periods possible in between.

The Arkansas Storm Team will continue to monitor the forecast as we head into the rest of the Memorial Day weekend.

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72 years ago the U.S. Army carried out its first and only nuclear artillery test.

The military actually made an atomic artillery shell, loaded it into a 280mm cannon and fired it. And it worked.

Task & Purpose has covered many of the dangerous, strategically questionable and outright bizarre Cold War-era nuclear weapon designs and programs. The nuclear cannon used in Operation Upshot-Knothole wasnt quite as risky as the Davy Crockett  at the very least the range that the atomic cannon had was greater than the smaller Davy Crockett. The May 25, 1953 test came at a time when there was a wider attempt to add atomic weapons into more conventional military weapons.

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Operation Upshot-Knothole was a series of tests carried out between March 17-June 4, 1953. They were intended to test nuclear devices for possible inclusion, in the U.S. arsenal, to improve military tactics, equipment, and training, and to study civil defense needs, the Defense Nuclear Agency wrote. Most of the tests involved air dropping or static, ground-based atomic detonations, according to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The artillery portion of the test, codenamed Shot Grable, took place towards the end of Operation Upshot-Knothole.

Technically overseen by the Atomic Energy Commission, Operation Upshot-Knothole featured a large U.S. military presence. Thousands of troops, alongside military scientists and observers, were there to help stage the tests and carry out their own training as part of the Desert Rock exercises.

For Shot Grable, the Artillery Test Unit from Fort Sill carried out operations on the cannon. According to the Nevada National Security Site, two 280mm cannons were brought in, and roads had to be paved for them to be put into place, given the weight of each artillery piece. Additionally, 2,600 troops were on hand for exercises coinciding with the test. The atomic shell was given the designation of W9, while the special cannons made for it were called the M65, later nicknamed Atomic Annie.

At 8:30 a.m., May 25, 1953, they fired the cannon. The nuclear shell flew 6.25 miles, detonating a few hundred feet above ground with a yield of 15 kilotons. The blast was as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Soldiers in trenches and foxholes watched as the mushroom cloud rose over the Nevada grounds. Teams tried to get closer to inspect the impact of the blast but couldnt get closer than 0.9 miles from the epicenter of the detonation.

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Although the May 25, 1953 test would be the only time the nuclear artillery shells would actually be fired, the U.S. military liked the test so much it manufactured several more of the artillery pieces themselves.

Only one cannon would fire a single round during Operation Upshot-Knothole, but the battlefield applicability of such a weapon was clear. Even just one of these could take out a large enemy position. And presumably one salvo would be enough. And the Army seemed to agree on the effectiveness. Nearly two dozen atomic cannons were made, but only were fielded for a few years.

Despite the success of Shot Grable, the atomic artillery approach would soon end up obsolete, like several other early Cold War weapons ideas. Smaller, more compact artillery designs as well as the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles meant the need for relatively closer range nuclear strike capabilities diminished.

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MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT)  The Morgan County Sheriffs Office said authorities are responding to an overturned vehicle on Saturday.

According to MCSO, deputies and EMS/VFD are responding to an incident on the 1000 block of Gum Springs Road near Falkville.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency told News 19 that its a single-vehicle crash.

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May 24Mostly sunny conditions are in the forecast for the Memorial Day weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

Saturday's forecast calls for mostly sunny skies, with the temperature reaching around 72 and winds blowing 8 to 14 mph, gusting up to 23 mph. Saturday evening should be clear, with a low around 53.

[Get the latest weathercast from FOX45 News]

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The sun should continue to shine into Sunday with a high near 75. Sunday night is expected to be mostly cloudy with a low around 57.

Memorial Day on Monday is predicted to be mostly sunny with a high near 77 and an overnight low around 59.

Rain could move into the area early Tuesday, with showers starting around 2 a.m. and continuing in the forecast through at least Thursday.
Baton Rouge honors fallen heroes with flags, ceremony, six-mile march

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)  The Baton Rouge community came together to honor the lives of Louisianas fallen service members during Memorial Day weekend.

The event, which included the placement of over 11,000 American flags, a six-mile commemorative march, and a ceremony at the Louisiana State Capitol, drew hundreds of families, veterans, and local leaders in a powerful display of patriotism and remembrance.

The day began with the reading of names, one by one, of Louisiana service members who gave their lives from 9/11 to the present day. Each name was met with a respectful pause, the sound of a bell, and the unwavering attention of those in attendance.

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Memorial Day 2025: Events in, near Baton Rouge

For them, its their child being remembered  their brother, their father, their mother, their sister, said Natalie Truax of the Blue Star Mothers of Louisiana. And that means the world to them, because their loved one died for our country. They died for our freedom, and people tend to forget that.

One Gold Star family member shared, I have a hole in my heart that wont be closed until the day I go to heaven.

At the top of the hill near the State Capitol, a sea of red, white, and blue stretched across the grounds, each flag symbolizing a life lost in service.

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Those 11,000 flags represent lives, said Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser. We live our lives free every day because of the men and women that those flags represent.

The flags were carried to the State Capitol by military personnel, veterans, and families  a six-mile journey that served as a living tribute to the courage and sacrifice of those who served.

Were just a heartbeat away, a breath awaywhere any military family could be in that same predicament, Truax said. Its important to be there for our Gold Stars. To give them a sense of community, a sense of support.

As bagpipes played and tears were shed, the day served as a heartfelt reminder that Memorial Day is a day of reflection and gratitude for those who gave their all.

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The flag display will remain at the State Capitol through May 31. The public is invited to help respectfully remove the flags next Saturday at 9 a.m.

What stores, restaurants are open for Memorial Day 2025?

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BAZETTA, Ohio (WKBN)  Bazetta firefighters rescued a dog from a house fire on Saturday.

According to Bazetta Professional Firefighters Local 3703 on Facebook, crews were called to a mobile home on Larry Lane around 11 a.m. When they got there, they found smoke and heavy fire conditions in the home.

Though the family made it out, their dog, Tiberus, was still inside. Firefighters quickly put out the flames and rescued him from the home, also placing him on oxygen before he was taken to the vet.

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Howland, Champion, Johnston and Cortland fire departments as well as the Youngstown Air Reserve Station assisted.

Courtesy: Bazetta Professional Firefighters Local 3703 Courtesy: Bazetta Professional Firefighters Local 3703 Courtesy: Bazetta Professional Firefighters Local 3703 Courtesy: Bazetta Professional Firefighters Local 3703

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WASHINGTON, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Scores of staffers at the White House National Security Council (NSC) were abruptly dismissed Friday in a move by the administration of Donald Trump to downsize the coordinating body, The Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

It was not immediately clear how deep the cuts would be or if the dismissals on Friday afternoon would reflect their totality, the report said.

Most NSC staffers are assigned to the White House from various federal agencies and are expected to return to their original departments, including the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies, it added.

The cuts were made under President Trump's new national security adviser, Marco Rubio, who is also serving as secretary of state, said The Post.

Since Michael Waltz was removed from his position as national security adviser following a series of missteps, Trump administration officials have signaled that a major scale-down of the NSC was imminent. Some have argued that the NSC had become bloated under previous administrations, the report added. 
NEW BERN, N.C. (WNCT)  On May 23, at approximately 11:15 p.m., New Bern police received a ShotSpotter alert indicating gunfire near Queen Anne Lane. Officers responded and recovered several shell casings, but no victims were found at the scene.

Two minutes later, at 11:17 p.m., a 911 call reported a shooting near McKinley Avenue and

Charles Street. Police and EMS arrived to find 18-year-old Khalil Grant, a New Bern resident,

suffering from a gunshot wound. He was immediately transported to CarolinaEast Medical Center for treatment.

Detectives are investigating a possible connection between the two incidents. They believe the

McKinley Avenue shooting was a targeted attack and are actively seeking additional evidence and witness accounts.

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The Washington Post got ripped for alleged anti-semitism in an embarrassing social media firestorm.

In an article titled, For U.S. Jews, D.C. museum killings deepen resolve  and fear, the paper unwrapped the aftermath following the deaths of Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.

The paper then posted the article on social media with its subtitle, The killings of two Israeli Embassy staffers amplify the confusion felt since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks about where Jews belong.

Israel's embassy to the United States posted a photo of the two victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. / Anadolu via Getty Images

The phrase where Jews belong ignited fiery pushback online.

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Where Jews belong? Jews belong where anyone and everyone else belongs, you vile f--ks, commentator Joanne Mason wrote to her more than 30,000 followers on X.

"Where Jews belong?" Jews belong where anyone and everyone else belongs, you vile fucks. https://t.co/YdzbNrtHje  Joanne Mason (@JoanneMason11) May 24, 2025

Another commentator on X added, The fact that this rag is still allowed to exist  both online and in print  is proof-positive that freedom of the press exists  no matter how repugnant.

Erin Molanan Australian TV presenter turned host of 69 X Minutes, a news show reportedly inspired by Elon Musk that airs on Xpiled on with her own rebuke of the newspaper.

You absolute, depraved, sadistic scumbags @washingtonpost," Molan posted on X.

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The Daily Beast has reached out to a Washington Post spokesperson for comment.

More expressed their outrage against the framing of the article.

A commentator added on X, Where Jews belong? This statement is emblematic of antisemitism and your tone deafness!

Victims Lischinsky and Milgrim were days away from getting engaged, The New York Times reported, and were killed after attending a Young Diplomats Reception hosted by the American Jewish Committee.

Shooter Elias Rodriguez, 31, shouted free, free Palestine! before police took him into custody. He has been charged with murder, Reuters reported.

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Blowback over the article marked the latest fumble for the news outlet as questions over its coverage and direction have intensified under Bezos thumb, The New Yorker reported.

President Donald Trump's Inauguration Day guests included Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. / Pool / Getty Images

Following Bezos cozying up to President Donald Trump and announcing a shift in the papers opinions to focus on individual liberties and free markets, several veteran staffers have exited the paper with feelings that it has lost its teeth.

Columnist Ruth Marcus turned in her walking papers in March after an upcoming column criticizing Bezos was canned.

It breaks my heart to conclude that I must leave, she wrote in a resignation letter, NPR reported. Jeffs announcement that the opinion section will henceforth not publish views that deviate from the pillars of individual liberties and free markets threatens to break the trust of readers that columnists are writing what they believe, not what the owner has deemed acceptable.
Battered and bruised by a week of revelations about his health, Joe Biden took comfort in a familiar routine and attended evening mass on Saturday.

His slimmed-down motorcade  just two black SUVs  drove up just as the bells at St Josephs on the Brandywine, near his Delaware home, finished tolling.

Just as he has done for decades, as senator, vice president and president, he attended five oclock mass, arriving with just his security detail.

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He wore a blue blazer and slip-on trainers for his visit, walking past gravestones on his way to the church entrance, offering a cheque for the collection and a hug to a church official.

Joe Biden attends mass at the St Joseph on the Brandywine church near his home in Greenville - Toby Canham for The Telegraph

Afterwards he emerged with his sister Valerie, and spent 20 minutes greeting and talking with parishioners, who said he appeared strong and was finding comfort in his faith.

Mgr John Hopkins said: Hes been part of this community for what... 40, 50 years. This is a place where he can be at peace.

A week earlier Mr Biden, 82, revealed that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

During the past week, a book was also published that contains extraordinary allegations that he had struggled to recognise friends or aides at times during his four years in office, while his top officials battled to keep him in power.

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The details threaten to derail post-presidential plans to build his legacy with a library and to cash in with a memoir and lucrative speaking engagements.

Donors are reportedly lukewarm on supporting his library and a slew of strategists told The Telegraph that Mr Biden has become a political liability ahead of crucial midterm elections next year.

Joe Biden speaks to parishioners with his sister Valerie after attending a service - Toby Canham for The Telegraph

In the meantime, he has been adjusting to civilian life by returning to a routine well-known to residents around his home in Greenville, an upmarket neighbourhood outside Wilmington, where he built a family home in the 1990s on four acres of land.

He has become a regular sight at the railway station, travelling back and forth to Washington, DC. He has posed for selfies at a nearby cafe, shopped at a drugstore, collected takeout from his favourite diner and browsed the rails at a menswear store where he is famous for rarely making purchases.

President Biden yesterday visited caffe Brewhaha in Greenville, suburb of Willmington, Delaware.



Source of photo: Brewhaha pic.twitter.com/YHLbq150PA  Biden Activities Tracker (@BidenActivities) May 7, 2025

He visited a JoS A Bank store about three weeks ago, according to Johnnie Morrison, the stores manager. Mr Morrison said staff had gotten used to seeing Secret Service agents turn up minutes before the former president.

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Mr Biden browsed the shirts, suits, socks and underpants before leaving empty-handed.

Mr Morrison said: Its what he always does. Its like a habit.

Its like he does it to get out of the house and get a bit of peace and quiet.

He did the same while he was president. His press pool, waiting outside on a bus, often reported that he had visited the store and left without having bought anything.

Mr Morrison added that the man who visited the store bore little resemblance to the old man he saw on television.

He said: Im not seeing that doddery old man. Im seeing a very sharp individual.

Mr Biden has been described as a local hero of Greenville, Delaware

Residents have closed ranks around one of their own. But Mr Bidens mental acuity and fitness for office have been under intense scrutiny.

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Original Sin, by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, was published last week and it claims to lay out exactly who knew what about Mr Bidens growing frailty, as well as the truth about the former presidents delayed decision to drop out of the election last year.

It revealed that Mr Biden did not recognise George Clooney, someone he had known for decades, at a fundraiser that the actor was throwing in the then presidents honour.

And staff even discussed the possibility that Mr Biden might have to use a wheelchair during a second term.

The book said: Given Bidens age, [his physician Dr Kevin] OConnor also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery.

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The former president is now seen as a liability in his own party.

A slew of strategists and donors told The Telegraph that he should stay out of the limelight as Democrats prepare for midterm elections next year.

One strategist said: The best thing he can do is stay home and let a new generation move forward.

This has put a dent in Mr Bidens plans to raise money for a library, which some now fear may not open in his lifetime.

For now, it means that he is spending more time in Greenville, where he remains a beloved figure, even among those who wish he had admitted his shortcomings earlier and never run for re-election.

The former presidents son, who died in 2015, is buried in Greenville - Toby Canham for The Telegraph

Hes a local hero, said Peggy Barker, a retired marketing executive, who described running into Mr Biden at restaurants for decades.

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But she said she felt sadness for a man whose health was clearly in decline.

She stopped to talk outside a Walgreens drugstore, which is about a seven-minute drive from Mr Bidens home and where he is often seen.

A cashier said: He was in a couple of weeks ago.

Another member of staff said he was a regular.

She said: Hell buy anything, a pack of paper plates, a drink, just normal stuff like anyone would buy. Its like he does it to feel normal.

He returned to political life last month, giving a speech in Chicago, during which he accused the Trump administration of taking a hatchet to the social security system.

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Prior to Original Sins publication, he conducted a handful of prebuttal interviews

He told ABCs The View: They are wrong. Theres nothing to sustain that.

Yet, most of his time has been spent with family.

Mr Biden has been spending more time in Greenville recently - Toby Canham for The Telegraph

On Thursday, the former president travelled to Connecticut for the graduation of one of his grandchildren.

His staff laid out some details of his post-presidential life, describing how he has been taking the train back and forth to Washington for meetings.

Evidence of his travel can be found easily enough at Wilmingtons Joseph R Biden Jr railway station.

A member of train cleaning staff waiting to board the next Amtrak service south said: Look, look, I have a selfie.

Amtrak Joe

He scrolled through the images on his phone to show Mr Biden  nicknamed Amtrak Joe because he would ride the train back and forth to Delaware every day when he was a senator  all smiles in a navy suit.

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In a video, dated March 31, he walks down the platform surrounded by Secret Service agents, carrying his own briefcase.

To me he looked great, said the Amtrak worker, who declined to give his name for fear of getting into trouble.

However, he spent most of the past weekend, which included Memorial Day, at home.

None of his regular Greenville haunts reported a sighting.

He was last seen in Brewhaha, a coffee shop, two weeks ago.

And staff at the Charcoal Pit, where he has dined for decades, said he had picked up a takeaway on the Wednesday before last  his usual is a cheesesteak sandwich and its famous black and white triple malted shake.

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Chris, a 17-year-old student, sitting with a friend in one of the diners booths beneath a photograph of Mr Biden with the restaurants manager said: I just dont understand how he could have had cancer for so long.

And then he voiced the question that is on everybodys mind: Were the Bidens keeping his illness a secret?

That may be why he dropped out, he said, before returning his attention to the sort of giant sandwiches for which the place is famous.

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As Imam Plemon El-Amin stood on stage at Morehouse College in front of hundreds of people, donning graduation regalia his uncle Dennis Hubert never got to wear, all he could think was that Hubert would never be forgotten  even 95 years after he was killed.

Hubert, an 18-year-old African American divinity student at Morehouse College, was lynched in June 1930 by a mob of seven White men on the playground of a segregated Atlanta school. Last Sunday, the historically Black all-male college where Hubert was a rising sophomore awarded him a posthumous Bachelor of Arts degree in religion.

At the commencement ceremony, Morehouse President David Thomas called Hubert a son of Morehouse, a martyr of justice, and what history now sees as the Trayvon Martin of the 1930s in Atlanta.

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El-Amin, who never met Hubert, says the moment reminded him of an Islamic saying: There are three things a person leaves behind after their death  their charity, knowledge and family members who pray for them.

Many prayers were said in his name, El-Amin said about the ceremony, where the 75-year-old accepted the posthumous degree on his uncles behalf. Many people remembered him and were informed about his life and his legacy, and so the knowledge was there, as well as the charity of him sacrificing his life so that we would be more conscious of the value of young life and the value of human life, but also the value of justice.

El-Amins family has had a long tradition of a connection with Morehouse, he said, with multiple generations graduating from the institution. Ten men in his family graduated from Morehouse and seven women graduated from its sister school, Spelman College.

I was proud of Morehouse to give Dennis the honor, and Im quite appreciative, El-Amin said. The whole Hubert family is really appreciative of that.

David Thomas, Morehouse College's president, speaks onstage during the 2025 Morehouse College Commencement Ceremony on May 18. - Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Huberts family had well-established roots in the community: his father was a prominent preacher and his mother was the principal of the elementary school where Hubert was killed, according to El-Amin.

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For one of their promising children, who (was) a rising sophomore at the Morehouse College to be murdered just in cold blood  at that time, 1930, is saying that there (were) no human rights given to the people of Georgia, El-Amin said.

Hubert was one of at least 38 lynching victims killed in Fulton County between 1877 and 1950, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. In Georgia, nearly 600 African Americans were lynched in that period  the second highest number of lynchings in any state.

When we begin to address this history, when we begin to try to create remedies for the harm and suffering that terror violence and lynching violence created, I think we lay a path down that will help us move forward, which is why I was so pleased that Morehouse decided to award a degree posthumously to Dennis Hubert, said Bryan Stevenson, the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative.

Like many lynching victims, Hubert was a young man with a bright future ahead of him. When he was killed, the student had been the driver for John Hope, the first Black president of Morehouse.

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This is a recognition of Dennis as not only a human being, but also as someone that had made his mark and was beginning to make his mark at Morehouse, and was not able to make his full mark here in the city or in life, but that people have a high regard for him, El-Amin said.

Young students killing shook the community

Less than 15 minutes after Hubert arrived at the Crogman School for Negroes that fateful evening on June 15, 1930, several White men attacked Hubert, falsely accusing him of insulting a White woman.

What do you want of me? I have done nothing, Hubert told the mob before one of the men shot him point-blank in the back of the head in front of two dozen witnesses.

Huberts killing sent shockwaves across the community, and the men were soon indicted in connection with his killing  accountability that was rare during that period, according to the Fulton County Remembrance Coalition. The defense argued the killing was justifiable homicide because of the alleged insult.

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The African American community was pushing for justice, and they did get some things that were first in terms of justice between Black and White folk, El-Amin said.

Two days after the men were denied bail, the home of Dennis Huberts father, Rev. G. J. Hubert, was burned to the ground, according to the coalition. When a Black Baptist church held a fundraiser to rebuild the home and support prosecution of the men, a White mob bombed it with tear gas.

Days later, Dennis Huberts cousin, Rev. Charles R. Hubert, escaped an attempt on his life, and the Spelman College chapel was attacked, according to the coalition.

The men were acquitted of murder charges, and only two were convicted of lesser offenses, according to the coalition. One man received a sentence of 12 to 15 years for voluntary manslaughter, while another who confessed to firing the fatal shot received a sentence of just two years.

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El-Amins mother, who was 12 when her brother was killed, scarcely spoke about Hubert because of the pain his loss had wrought. He was probably her protector and her person that she looked up to, El-Amin said.

But when she grew older and El-Amin became her caretaker, his mother would often call him Dennis, which was quite moving for El-Amin.

Though Hubert died 20 years before his nephew was born, the tragedy scarred the family for generations. Growing up as the only son in his family, El-Amin said his mother worried about him because she couldnt bear to lose another family member.

Other family members moved out of Atlanta to escape the trauma. They were among more than six million Black people who fled the South to escape racial terrorism between 1916 and 1970, according to the coalition.

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While Huberts death traumatized El-Amins family, he says hes comforted by his faith. Life doesnt stop with death and  God rewards those who are oppressed and those who are unjustly murdered, he said.

Morehouse graduates applaud the honor

Part of the tragedy of Huberts lynching was a lack of awareness surrounding his story among Morehouse graduates until only recently, several alumni said.

Graduates participate in the 141st Morehouse College Commencement Ceremony at Morehouse College in Atlanta on May 18. - Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Michael Tyler, a 1977 Morehouse graduate, said he doesnt believe that any of my classmates, or anybody during our generation, was aware of what had transpired with Dennis Hubert. A few years ago, Tyler learned of Huberts story when he visited an exhibit memorializing him at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.

Sean Jones, a 1998 graduate who serves as president of the Atlanta branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, discovered that piece of his schools history in 2021, then called for a discussion of it at the next alumni meeting. As a board member of the Fulton County Remembrance Coalition, Jones constantly advocated for the college to formally recognize Hubert and educate both students and alumni about his story.

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Its personal, its painful, and  oftentimes its a scary thing, because some persons have nightmares about it once they hear this kind of history, Jones said. But it is something that must be discussed, must be highlighted.

Sean Jones, center, and Michael Tyler, right, along with other Morehouse graduates, attend an event honoring Dennis Hubert. - Courtesy Sean Jones

The lack of awareness about the tragedy  even among Morehouse graduates  made the colleges tribute that much more meaningful, Tyler and Jones said.

It was extraordinarily significant and compelling, and something that I am exceedingly proud of my alma mater for doing  telling a story that had not been told in the public domain as it needed to be, Tyler said.

With the long-overdue recognition, (Huberts) memory will continue to inspire a new generation of Morehouse Men to serve with courage, speak truth to power, and uphold the ideals of equity and moral leadership in their respective callings, a Morehouse College spokesperson said in a statement.

Remembering the young student

Morehouse had approached El-Amin about the decision to award Hubert a degree a year and a half ago and initially planned to recognize Hubert last year, he said. Morehouses faculty and students had nominated Hubert for the honorary degree, according to the college president.

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We remember the son who should have become a man here. We remember the voice that would have preached liberation. We remember the dreamer who was never given the chance to dream aloud, Thomas said at the ceremony.

El-Amin believes the schools decision to honor Dennis was influenced by the work of the Fulton County Remembrance Coalition and the Equal Justice Initiative to memorialize Hubert along with other lynching victims.

The organizations in 2021 collected soil from the site of Huberts killing  now the Crogman School Lofts apartment complex  and placed a marker there in his honor in 2022. A group of Morehouse students who attended the 2022 commemoration joined hands, encircled the memorial marker and sang the Dear Old Morehouse hymn in Huberts honor, Tyler recalled.

In 2021, the Equal Justice Initiative and Fulton County Remembrance Coalition collected soil from the site of Huberts killing and placed a marker there in his honor in 2022. - Courtesy Sean Jones

Ninety-five years later, people are conscious of his life, which means hes still alive, though not here with us physically or in body, but his life, his will, and he is providing inspiration for those of us left behind, El-Amin said.

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Such memorials may help educate future generations and prevent the return of past injustices, community members said. Theyre especially important today when theres such a hostility in some spaces to learning the history of struggle and violence against Black people, Stevenson, of the Equal Justice Initiative, said.

We can see that those very, very terrible times are not that far away and can easily come back, El-Amin said.

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ST. PAUL, Minn., May 25 (UPI) -- A new rapid blood test for newborns could potentially detect genetic mutations linked to thousands of rare diseases all at once, greatly improving on current inefficient detection methods, according to a study to be presented Monday.

The new test developed by Australian scientists has proven highly accurate in identifying gene mutations associated with many rare, inherited diseases, all from just a minimally invasive blood sample taken from infants and children, the authors say.

The study, being unveiled at the European Human Genetics Conference in Milan, Italy, demonstrated that a single, untargeted test capable of analyzing 8,000 human proteins at once was able to correctly identify 83% of people with confirmed rare, inherited diseases.

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The "proteomics" test was also able to differentiate between parental carriers of the mutations, who only have one copy of the defective gene, and the affected child, who carries two copies.

Those encouraging results are raising hopes for a new era in which screening infants and children for suspected inherited rare diseases can be accomplished quickly and efficiently for the first time, and that testing can be extended to many more of the estimated 300 million people worldwide affected by these genetic mutations.

Testing for suspected inherited diseases has traditionally been a time-consuming, costly and sometimes painful process that required different procedures for different suspected mutations. But that paradigm could be about to change, the study's lead author says.

Daniella Hock, a senior postdoctoral researcher at the University of Melbourne, told UPI that if the test is implemented in clinical labs, "it can potentially replace multiple functional tests. This can potentially reduce the diagnostic time for patients and families and healthcare costs.

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"The test only requires only 1 milliliter of blood from infants, and results can be achieved in less than three days for urgent cases," she said.

One area in which the new proteomics test could have immediate benefits is in the battle against mitochondrial diseases, which are defined by the Cleveland Clinic as a group of genetic conditions that affect how mitochondria in human cells produce energy. Mitochondrial diseases render cells unable to produce enough energy, which can lead to life-threatening complications.

About 1 in 5,000 people worldwide have a mitochondrial disorder. Examples of such illnesses are Leigh's syndrome, which primarily affects the nervous system; Kearns-Sayre syndrome, which primarily affects the eyes and heart; and Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, which can cause a sufferer to quickly and unexpectedly lose their vision.

Hock said the current "gold standard" for screening for these rare maladies starts with genetic testing -- either whole exome or whole genome sequencing -- that currently provides a diagnosis to about half of patients.

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"The remaining half often endure years of functional testing trying to identify which genetic change, that is, genetic variant, is causing the disease," she said, adding that more than 7,000 types of disease caused by mutations exist in more than 5,000 known genes.

Some of these current tests are invasive, requiring skeletal muscle or liver biopsies, and are often targeted to a single disease or a few diseases.

"If we take the example of mitochondrial disease, which is a type of rare disease that can be caused by over 350 different genes, the current clinical test to confirm mitochondrial disease is called respiratory chain enzymology," she said. "This enzyme test typically requires a skeletal muscle or skin biopsy and has a turnaround time of a few weeks."

The new proteomic test, which sequences proteins rather than genes, can reduce invasiveness and time to a diagnosis compared to other kinds of current clinical functional tests, its developers say.

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"For about half of the individuals where DNA sequencing results are inconclusive, typically due to the identification of variants of uncertain significance, this single test can potentially be used to provide functional evidence to these genetic variants," Hock said.

Study co-author David Thorburn, one of Australia's foremost experts on genetics and co-group leader for brain and mitochondrial research at Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, said the current process for determining if a child has one of the many possible genetic variances is a daunting one.

While there are many hundreds of different functional tests tailored to specific genes, "relatively few of these are available in clinical labs, so it is often a matter of contacting researchers who work on that gene, of which there may only be one or a handful internationally to see if they can assist," he told UPI in emailed comments.

"That often requires paperwork like material transfer agreements to be put in place, shipping costs of hundreds or even thousands of dollars if dry ice shipment is needed and frequently a timeframe of months to multiple years depending on whether they have a student or staff to do testing in a research context, where the rigor of the test may be variable," he added.

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Thorburn said the new proteomics test, however, "provides a single pipeline that can potentially provide that evidence for about half the known rare disease genes and we are working hard to move it into a clinical test in Melbourne at our Victorian Clinical Genetics Services and working with expert clinical labs in the U.K., U.S.A. and elsewhere to support them doing that."

Having the test available clinically "could allow hundreds of families each year in Australia alone to get confirmed genetic diagnoses, so potentially thousands per year in the U.S.," he said. "For urgent cases, [for example], kids in ICU this can be done in as few as three days from sample receipt."

For those many thousands of patients, the new test could mean their "diagnostic odyssey is ended, unnecessary investigations are no longer needed, targeted therapies may be available, patients may qualify for a clinical trial and parents can be offered reproductive options," he said.
NEW YORK (PIX11)  The Rent Guidelines Board is meeting on Tuesday for a rare revote on rent increase ranges for nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments.

It comes after the board approved preliminary guidelines last month that would allow rent hikes of up to 4.75% for one-year leases and up to 7.75% for two-year leases.

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Mayor Eric Adams has said the upper end of the guideline range is too much of a burden for tenants.

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The board will finalize how much landlords can charge rent-stabilized tenants with a vote in October 2025.

The board, created by Adams, approved rent increases for rent-stabilized apartments last year. Landlords were allowed to raise the price of rent by 2.75% on one-year leases and 5.25% on two-year leases starting on Oct. 1.

Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
ETOWAH COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT)  The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said a Boaz woman was killed in a single-vehicle wreck on Wednesday.

According to ALEA, the accident happened on Whitesboro Road just east of Sardis in Etowah County.

Huntsville man killed in rollover wreck on Highway 67 in Morgan County, road closed

Troopers said 40-year-old Lisa O. Fitts was killed when the vehicle she was a passenger in left the road, hitting a culvert. After the initial impact, the vehicle overturned and hit a house.

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The driver was injured and airlifted to Huntsville Hospital for treatment.

ALEA is continuing to investigate the wreck.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
In February 2025, Alnur Mussayev, a former Soviet and Kazakh security official, claimed in a Facebook post that U.S. President Donald Trump was recruited in 1987 by the KGB, the intelligence agency of the Soviet Union, and assigned the code name "Krasnov."

In May 2025, Mussayev made another post furthering his allegations  that agents "affectionately called him [Trump] Danila Krasnov among themselves."

Neither of Mussayev's posts stated state whether he personally recruited Trump or simply knew about the recruitment, nor did it state whether Trump actively participated in espionage or was just a potential asset.

Trump did visit Moscow in 1987, but there is no clear evidence suggesting he was actively recruited by the KGB during that trip or at any other time.

Mussayev's allegations that Trump was recruited by the KGB at that time don't line up with Mussayev's documented career path. Several biographies of him on Russian-language websites suggest that at the time Trump was supposedly recruited, Mussayev was working in the Soviet Union's Ministry of Internal Affairs, not the KGB.

Trump's pro-Russia stance (compared with other U.S. presidents) has fed into past allegations that he is a Russian asset  for instance, the 2021 book "American Kompromat" featured an interview with a former KGB spy who also claimed the agency recruited Trump as an asset. Again, however, there is no clear evidence supporting this claim.

Throughout 2025, a rumor circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump was recruited as an "asset" by Russian intelligence in the late 1980s and given the codename "Danila Krasnov," following allegations from a former Soviet and Kazakh security official, Alnur Mussayev.

The claim initially spread on TikTok, Facebook and X in February 2025, where one account published a thread in response to the rumor, purporting to tie together evidence to support it (archived, archived, archived, archived, archived).

(@anthony7andrews / X)

That user wrote: "Now that it's been reveals that Trump has been a Russian asset for 40 years named Krasnov by the FSB, I will write a simple thread of various pieces of information that solidifies the truth of everything I've written." At the time of publishing this article, the thread had been viewed more than 10 million times.

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The claim gained traction when the news website The Daily Beast published a now-deleted story (archived), titled, "Former Intelligence Officer Claims KGB Recruited Trump," using only Mussayev's Facebook post as a source. The article described Mussayev's allegations as "unfounded." We contacted The Daily Beast to ask why the story was deleted and will update this story if we receive a response.

We also reached out to Mussayev for comment on the story and will update if he responds.

Meanwhile, Snopes readers wrote in and asked us whether the rumor that Trump was recruited to be a Russian asset was true. Here's what to know:

The allegations don't line up with official records

The allegations originated from a Facebook post that Mussayev published on Feb. 20, 2025 (archived). The post alleged that in 1987, the KGB recruited a "40-year-old businessman from the USA, Donald Trump, nicknamed 'Krasnov.'" (Mussayev said without providing evidence that KGB agents "affectionately called him Danila Krasnov among themselves" in another Facebook post made in May 2025).

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Mussayev claimed he was serving in the KGB's Moscow-based Sixth Directorate at the time, and it was "the most important direction" of the department's work to recruit businessmen from "capitalist countries."

His post didn't specify whether Trump participated in any spying, only that he was recruited. In an earlier post (archived) from July 18, 2018, he described Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin as follows:

Based on my experience of operational work at the KGB-KNB, I can say for sure that Trump belongs to the category of perfectly recruited people. I have no doubt that Russia has a compromise on the President of the United States, that for many years the Kremlin promoted Trump to the position of President of the main world power.

Trump did visit Moscow in 1987, reportedly to look at possible locations for luxury hotels. However, several Russian-language websites (of unknown trustworthiness) with short biographies of Mussayev revealed a discrepancy: While Mussayev claimed he worked in the Sixth Directorate of the KGB in 1987, those online biographies, including one from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, placed him in Kazakh KGB counterintelligence from 1979 until 1986, when he moved to the Soviet Union's Ministry of Internal Affairs.

It is absolutely possible that the public timeline of Mussayev's work history was established by the KGB as a cover for more covert activities. At face value, however, information on Mussayev's background does not completely align with what he claims.

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Other sources corroborated that the Sixth Directorate's main focus was not foreign intelligence. The journalist and author W. Thomas Smith Jr.'s book "Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency" states that the directorate was responsible for "enforcing financial and trade laws, as well as guarding against economic espionage," in line with the counterintelligence descriptions present in the online biographies. Meanwhile, the First Chief Directorate was the KGB's main espionage arm.

Previous accusations against Trump

Trump's relatively pro-Russian positions compared with those of other U.S. presidents have led to past allegations that he is or was a Russian asset in some way.

For instance, the controversial, flamboyant and untrustworthy Steele Dossier, released just before Trump took office in 2017, claimed Russia had incriminating tapes of Trump engaging in sexual activity with prostitutes in Moscow, among other scandalous accusations. CNN reported that the dossier's main source, Igor Danchenko, was mainly relaying "rumor and speculation," and in 2022 he was acquitted of charges of lying to the FBI about the dossier's sources.

In the 2021 book "American Kompromat," journalist Craig Unger interviewed a former KGB spy, Yuri Shvets, who also alleged that Trump was compromised by Russia. Snopes previously covered that claim. The British newspaper The Guardian reported that Shvets had said Trump was "cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years."

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Shvets claimed Trump first appeared on the Russians' radar in 1977, when he was the target of a spying operation  10 years before the recruitment alleged by Mussayev took place. Shvets said the KGB later went on a "charm offensive" when Trump visited Moscow and St. Petersburg for the first time in 1987  the same year specified by Mussayev. Shvets told The Guardian that Trump proved so willing to spread anti-Western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow. We aren't aware of any evidence corroborating these claims.

The Mueller report documented the official findings of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as allegations of conspiracy or coordination between Trump's presidential campaign and the Kremlin. That investigation  which found that the Russian government did interfere in the 2016 presidential election "in sweeping and systemic fashion" and that there were "links" between Trump campaign officials and individuals with ties to the Russian government  did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government.

Sources:

Cohen, Marshall. "The Steele Dossier: A Reckoning | CNN Politics." CNN, 18 Nov. 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/18/politics/steele-dossier-reckoning/index.html.

"Donald Trump's Russian Spy Connection: Social Media Explodes with 'Evidence' about #Krasnov. Is It Just Another Wild Conspiracy Theory?" The Economic Times, 23 Feb. 2025. The Economic Times - The Times of India, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/donald-trumps-russian-spy-connection-social-media-explodes-with-evidence-about-krasnov-is-it-just-another-wild-conspiracy-theory/articleshow/118504492.cms?from=mdr.

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Former Intelligence Officer Alnur Mussayev Claims KGB Recruited Donald Trump Under Codename 'Krasnov.' 21 Feb. 2025, https://web.archive.org/web/20250221153932/https://www.thedailybeast.com/former-intelligence-officer-alnur-mussayev-claims-kgb-recruited-donald-trump-under-codename-krasnov/.

Kazakh Ex-Security Chief's False 'Trump KGB Recruitment Story' Gains Media Traction - The Times Of Central Asia. 24 Feb. 2025, https://timesca.com/kazakh-ex-security-chiefs-false-trump-kgb-recruitment-story-gains-media-traction/.

Luczkiw, Stash. "'Trump Recruited as Moscow Asset,' Says Ex-KGB Spy Chief." Kyiv Post, 22 Feb. 2025, https://www.kyivpost.com/post/47630.

Muller, Robert. Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election. U.S. Department of Justice, Mar. 2019, https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl?inline=.

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No Label Defined. https://entities.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PBJvCWC3XXtyfvww8DjpQMP.html. Accessed 24 Feb. 2025.

Palma, Bethania. "Did Ex-KGB Spy Say Russia Cultivated Trump as an 'Asset' for 40 Years?" Snopes, 2 Feb. 2021, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kgb-spy-russia/.

Polantz, Katelyn. "How the FBI Attempted to Verify a Salacious Allegation in the Steele Dossier | CNN Politics." CNN, 9 Dec. 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/09/politics/fbi-steele-dossier/index.html.

Smith, David. "'The Perfect Target': Russia Cultivated Trump as Asset for 40 Years  Ex-KGB Spy." The Guardian, 29 Jan. 2021. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/29/trump-russia-asset-claims-former-kgb-spy-new-book.

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Smith, W. Thomas, and W. Thomas Smith. Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency. Infobase Publishing, 2003.

"The Daily Beast Publishes, Then Deletes Story Alleging Trump Was Recruited by Soviet Spies." Yahoo News, 22 Feb. 2025, https://www.yahoo.com/news/daily-beast-publishes-then-deletes-234051086.html.

Trump-Russia Steele Dossier Source Acquitted of Lying to FBI. 18 Oct. 2022. www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63305382.

Unger, Craig. American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery. Penguin, 2021.

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Web Page Template. https://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/kgb.html. Accessed 24 Feb. 2025.

"Who Is Alnur Mussayev? The Former USSR KGB Officer at the Center of Explosive Donald Trump 'Russian Spy' Allegations." The Economic Times, 23 Feb. 2025. The Economic Times - The Times of India, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/who-is-alnur-mussayev-the-former-ussr-kgb-officer-at-the-center-of-explosive-donald-trump-russian-spy-allegations/articleshow/118489046.cms?from=mdr.

", ." Lenta.RU, https://lenta.ru/lib/14190507/. Accessed 24 Feb. 2025.

   | . https://centrasia.org/person2.php?st=1130843514. Accessed 24 Feb. 2025.
Friedman originally said the company wouldn't be affected by tariffs on Chinese goods, but it expected uncertainty as the situation remains dynamic. Earnings were released on "Liberation Day," when President Donald Trump announced his tariffs, and management followed that up with an explanation about how it's well diversified with suppliers and doesn't think it's at any disadvantage compared with similar companies.

RH's results for the fiscal 2025 fourth quarter (ended Feb. 1) were mixed, with a 10% year-over-year increase in revenue and a 9% increase in operating income. Demand, which measures the dollar value of orders placed, increased 17%, and for the RH brand, it was up 21%. That indicates a strong brand with potential, and it's an impressive feat considering the pressured economy. However, RH came in below Wall Street's expectations for earnings per share by $0.33, which sent its stock plummeting.

It released 42 new collections over the past few months, and CEO Gary Friedman said that the company is developing a new concept that will expand its market opportunity, coming up for release toward the end of the year.

RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) operates a varied omnichannel business that includes a limited number of freestanding galleries in upscale neighborhoods, a strong digital presence, and offers several luxury experiences involving restaurants, yachts, jets, and a guesthouse. It's looking to become a top luxury brand rather than a simple furniture seller. Despite the pressure in the economy right now, it's launching new design concepts and opening new galleries.

Jennifer Saibil (RH): RH is an upscale furniture retailer. That's not necessarily a great business to be in when the real estate industry is tanking and consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending.

Are these stocks truly good buys now? Here's what three Fool.com contributors think about these companies' prospects.

Finding stocks with enormous growth potential that are trading at reasonable valuations is one way to access potentially monster gains in the stock market. Promising consumer brands like RH (NYSE: RH), Cava Group (NYSE: CAVA), and e-commerce specialist Coupang (NYSE: CPNG) are trading at prices that Wall Street analysts see as attractive buying opportunities for investors.

This e-commerce company is delivering solid growth and expanding into new businesses.

One restaurant chain continues to report impressive growth that could lead to tremendous gains for investors.

At least one retailer is reporting strong demand for its products despite pressure in the industry.

Story Continues

But these are all short-term factors. RH has a strong brand, resilient clientele, and large market opportunity. The average Wall Street analyst price target for the stock over the next 12 to 18 months is 20% higher than it is today, but Barclays analyst Seth Sigman sees it reaching $436, or 116% more than its current price.

If conditions improve enough for RH to keep reporting progress and the market climbs on economic optimism, there's a chance that could happen. But even if it doesn't reach that price in the near term, it has a robust long-term outlook.

Is Cava Group the next Chipotle?

John Ballard (Cava Group): If an investor had put $10,000 in Chipotle stock 15 years ago, those shares would be worth $180,000 today. Those investors caught an up-and-coming restaurant brand before it went mainstream. Cava may provide new investors with a similar opportunity.

Cava is carving itself a profitable niche focusing on a Mediterranean-based menu, and it is growing revenue at rates that could send the stock soaring over the next decade. It just reported another strong quarter, with revenue up 28% year over year.

Importantly, its favorable restaurant-level economics are already producing a stellar profit margin of 13.7%. This is already above Chipotle's margin and explains why the stock soared last year. Investors are giving Cava a lot of credit for strong traffic trends and a profitable formula for future expansion.

That strategy involves using technology to personalize customer communications, increase automation to make its restaurants easier to run, and deliver quality food while maintaining consistency across every location.

Wall Street is bullish and rightly so. The consensus rating is currently an overweight buy recommendation with an average price target of $116, implying 36% upside from the current $85 share price. Some analysts have even higher targets on the shares.

However, I wouldn't buy the stock expecting it to hit the consensus target in the near term. The stock appears fully valued at the moment, trading at nearly 10 times sales. The high valuation at the previous peak explains why the stock fell to start the year. For perspective, Chipotle shares trade at 6 times sales, although it's not growing nearly as fast as Cava.

But I recently took advantage of the dip to start a small position, which I plan to gradually add to as Cava continues to grow. Investors who dollar-cost average into the stock should earn a great return over time.

Coupang is the latest e-commerce winner

Jeremy Bowman (Coupang): E-commerce stocks like Amazon, MercadoLibre, and Sea Limited have all delivered strong returns, but there's another global e-commerce stock that investors should take a closer look at. Coupang, a U.S-headquartered company becoming the e-commerce leader in South Korea, is delivering impressive growth as it builds out a network of competitive advantages.

In the first quarter, revenue ticked up 11% year over year, or 21% on a currency-neutral basis, to $7.9 billion, and margins improved with the gross margin rising 217 basis points to 29.3%. Operating income rose from $114 million to $154 million.

Besides e-commerce, Coupang is finding success with new categories it calls Developing Offerings like International, Eats, Play, Fintech, and Farfetch, which rose 67%, or 78% on a currency-neutral basis. It also announced a $1 billion stock repurchase authorization, showing that the company believes its shares are undervalued.

The company is starting to get some attention from Wall Street, and one analyst sees the stock having 31% upside. Barclays analyst Jiong Shao raised his price target on Coupang from $35 to $36 following the earnings report and reiterated his overweight rating on the stock.

Looking ahead, the stock appears to have significant upside. If margins continue to improve and the tailwinds build in its developing offerings, Coupang should have a bright future.

Should you invest $1,000 in RH right now?

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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Jennifer Saibil has positions in MercadoLibre. Jeremy Bowman has positions in Amazon, Cava Group, MercadoLibre, and RH. John Ballard has positions in Cava Group, Coupang, and MercadoLibre. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, MercadoLibre, and Sea Limited. The Motley Fool recommends Barclays Plc, Cava Group, Coupang, and RH. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

3 Monster Growth Stocks That Could Soar 31% to 116%, According to Wall Street was originally published by The Motley Fool
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

Fisherman carrying a crate of spider crabs ashore in Hastings, England. | Credit: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

Keir Starmer hailed a "new era" in relations with Europe this week after the UK and Brussels agreed a post-Brexit "reset". Under the deal, announced at a summit in London with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, the EU will lift checks on food produce crossing the Channel in return for the UK committing to abide by EU food standards.

As part of a new security pact, British defence firms will be able to participate in joint EU procurement programmes. Britons will be able to use border e-gates at more EU airports. The two sides also agreed, in principle, to establish a new youth exchange scheme and work towards a joint electricity market.

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The PM said the deal was a "win-win" that would deliver cheaper food and electricity bills and boost the economy by 9 billion a year by 2040. But he faced claims that he had "surrendered" to Brussels by agreeing to let EU fleets enjoy their current level of access to British waters until 2038. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called the deal a "total sell-out".

What a "stitch-up", said The Sun. Starmer has betrayed our fishing industry, brought part of our economy back under EU jurisdiction, and opened our borders to millions of workers, while agreeing to pay for the privilege. And all for what? The lifting of "vindictive checks" on our food exports, some possible contracts for our arms industry and the promise of shorter passport queues. The fisheries deal is particularly egregious, said The Daily Telegraph. The UK was due to regain full control of its waters in 2026. But it has now agreed to give EU boats access for 12 more years, more than double its original offer.

Ignore the talk of Brexit betrayal, said The Economist. This deal doesn't take us back into the single market or customs union. It just removes some of the trade frictions created by Brexit while sensibly opening the way to more defence cooperation. Starmer may have conceded more than he wished on fisheries, but given that we export around 70% of our catch to the EU, the deal will also bring benefits to our fishing industry. "As for being a rule-taker, that is merely the price that countries wishing to sell into the EU market must pay."
The traffic over this Bank Holiday weekend will be as bad as ever. The potholes will puncture tens of thousands of tyres, traffic will back up along the A-Roads towards the coast, and there will be the traditional lane closures on all the major motorways.

Driving around the UK has always been challenging, to put it mildly, and anyone who tries to get any distance across the country has to be ready to navigate a whole series of obstacles.

The trouble is that it is getting much worse. From delivery drivers and cyclists to fines, Britains roads are becoming unusable  and that needs to be fixed before the whole country grinds to a complete halt.

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It would be easy to dismiss the residents of the leafy West London district of Fulham who are objecting to a new 24-hour McDonalds as typically prosperous, selfish Lib Dem-voting Nimbys. If it was an organic, artisan bakery  although obviously not hyper-capitalist Gails  they would probably be delighted. And yet, this time they may have a point.

A 24-hour fast food restaurant quickly becomes a magnet for delivery bikers who clog up the roads, wobbling haphazardly along streets they hardly know, staring into their phones as they try and find their way to a destination they have clearly never heard of.

It turns quiet residential streets into death traps for anyone trying to drive to collect their kids from school, or pop out to the supermarket.

With an estimated 240,000 food and delivery drivers in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics, and with the real number likely to be far higher, given that they are not exactly famous for registering with the tax authorities, the guys with the big backpacks now effectively own many streets. They have squeezed out all the other vehicles trying to get around.

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That is just one way that the roads have become impossible. There are learner drivers who have little clue what they are actually doing, and are now a danger not just to themselves, but to anyone else driving a car along the same road.

Given that it is now virtually impossible to book a driving test  with average wait times of at least 22 weeks  many of them never actually become proper, experienced drivers. They are stuck in learner hell forever. And then of course there are the cyclists, who seem to have decided collectively that traffic signals and bus lanes only apply to four-wheeled modes of transport.

The days when you could drive confidently through a green light are long gone; a cyclist may well be whizzing in the opposite direction. Sure, they may well be committing numerous offences as they brazenly ignore traffic rules. But in city centres where the police no longer bother to stop shoplifting, we can hardly expect them to punish cyclists. The law is routinely ignored.

Perhaps worst of all, many councils have worked out that the only way they can possibly pay for all the asylum seekers they are obliged to house is to squeeze as much money as possible out of motorists. Junction 17 to 18 of the M25 collects more than 500,000 a year in fines, while the A1 in Great Ponton makes more than 600,000.

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Box junctions have turned into cash registers, and parking spaces are gold mines to be ruthlessly exploited. What started as a sensible way of controlling bad driving, and rationing scarce parking space, has turned into a tax. It goes up every year, and the motorist has no option but to pay up, especially as fines double if you do not settle them immediately.

In reality, this is crazy. Driving is essential to the nations life, and to its economy. People need to get out and about to see friends, visit their families, and to go to a restaurant or shopping. Businesses need to make deliveries, to stock warehouses, and ship raw materials into their factories.

There is almost no form of economic or social activity that does not involve a car or a van at some point in the process. The UK is fast turning into a country where it is no longer possible to get from A to B  and that needs to be fixed before the nation grinds to a complete halt.

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The leader of a bid to disrupt the 500m sale of The Telegraph to a consortium led by RedBird Capital Partners has vowed to fight to the very end.

Dovid Efune, the publisher of The New York Sun website, made an appearance on Sky News on Sunday to insist that his British bid for The Telegraph is alive and well, and not going anywhere.

Mr Efune has secured financial backing from the hedge fund manager Jeremy Hosking and Nadhim Zahawi, the former cabinet minister. They are attempting to contrast their Britishness with RedBird, an American private equity firm which is seeking to acquire The Telegraph alongside British minority investors.

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Mr Efune faces a steep challenge. On Friday RedBird announced an agreement in principle to take majority ownership of The Telegraph from IMI, the UAEs media investment arm.

The British-born publisher said: Whats been announced is an agreement in principle. And if the history of The Telegraphs ownership saga teaches us anything, its that the ownership of The Telegraph and, frankly, any other crown jewel of British public life, will not be determined by means of a press release.

The British public will yet have their say via their elected representatives, The Telegraphs staff and The Telegraphs readers will have their say, as will the rest of the British press.

RedBird IMI, a joint venture between RedBird and the UAE, majority funded by the Gulf state, was blocked from taking full control of The Telegraph last year following an outcry over press freedom.

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Now, RedBirds founder Gerry Cardinale is working to make RedBird the controlling shareholder, with IMI expected to retain a passive stake of up to 15pc.

Mr Efune said: There are quite a lot of questions surrounding RedBird themselves, obviously  where does their capital come from?

RedBirds founder Gerry Cardinale is working to make RedBird the controlling shareholder - Griselda San Martin/Bloomberg

Mr Cardinale, who also controls AC Milan and is set to become a major shareholder in the Hollywood studio Paramount, has said none of the money that RedBird will use to acquire The Telegraph will be drawn from sovereign sources.

Mr Efune added: I suspect that because of all of these questions that surround it, there will need to be a public interest intervention, likely an in-depth investigation, which means the saga of The Telegraph could take another year to resolve.

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Enders Analysis, a media industry research firm, said last week that Mr Cardinales status as a newcomer to news publishing meant the regulatory process could be smooth and complete by September. The potential involvement of Lord Rothermere, the owner of The Daily Mail, as a minority shareholder alongside RedBird could complicate matters.

But it is unclear how in practice Mr Efune hopes to disrupt the sale. IMI has publicly endorsed RedBirds planned takeover of The Telegraph, saying it will secure its future and enable it to thrive for years to come.

Mr Efune, who prior to acquiring the defunct New York Sun and reviving it as a subscription website was the publisher of Algemeiner, a Jewish community newspaper, has shown great persistence in his pursuit of The Telegraph, however. He emerged as the winner of an auction back in early October last year, but has struggled since to raise the necessary funds.

Even now, by his own account Mr Efunes consortium has only the bulk of the capital, although he has said he remains in talks with potential backers.

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His 11th-hour appeal for more time has come wrapped in the Union flag.

He said: At the end of the day, I expect that most Britons would want to see The Telegraph in British hands should there be a choice  and there is a choice, a clear choice, and we are 100pc committed to seeing it through.

The approach won rhetorical support this weekend from Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative donor and publisher. In a post on X he said Mr Efune was seeking British investors for an alternative to foreign ownership  I wish him well.

Mr Efune has not said whether he envisages the UAE retaining a stake and has not always been so focused on securing British finance. He initially sought to raise funding from American hedge funds. They all declined to invest in his proposed deal after he was named preferred bidder.

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In November it was reported that Sir Mohamed Mansour, the Egyptian-born billionaire and former Conservative party treasurer, was in advanced discussions to bankroll the bid.

Last year Sir Mohamed Mansour was reportedly in advanced discussions to bankroll the bid - Paul Grover

A former minister under the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, Sir Mohamed ruled out participating, following questions from The Telegraph. They covered topics including the regulatory scrutiny his political past and business interest might face.

Mr Efune then turned to Leon Black, the billionaire former boss of the Wall Street giant Apollo Global Management.

Mr Black pulled out of detailed discussions to back the bid after The Telegraph asked questions about potential regulatory scrutiny of his regrettable relationship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, and legal problems related to it.

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These incidents appear to have frustrated Mr Efune, who on Friday complained that the turbulent undertaking of raising finance had faced unwanted interference.

One possible tactic for Mr Efunes consortium is a legal challenge against the Governments handling of The Telegraph if and when it decides to approve the RedBird takeover. Mr Hosking is said by those who have worked directly with him to have an unusually strong appetite for litigation.

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Krystal Emersons son can no longer attend Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School in person. An internal investigation found that staff had improperly restrained and secluded the then-second grader on at least 5 of 18 occasions during the 2023-24 school year. (Troy Bennett / Maine Morning Star)

Krystal Emerson never imagined her son would spend his days at school being forcibly moved against his will by school staff and shut in an empty room.

But during the 2023-24 school year at Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School, thats what happened  at least 18 times, according to Emerson and school district incident reports reviewed by the Maine Morning Star. Staff members put the 7-year-old boy in holds, forced him into empty rooms and did not let him out until he calmed down or his parents picked him up.

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It broke him, and it broke me, Emerson said.

The trauma became so severe that her son, now a third grader, no longer attends school in person, she said.

What happened to Emersons son is not an isolated case. Across Maine, schools use restraint and seclusion on students more than 10,000 times each year, according to Maine Department of Education data  with some districts resorting to the emergency tactics regularly while others have changed policies and taken other steps so that such interventions are only used as a last resort.

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In recent years, Maine as a whole has made an effort to reduce restraint and seclusion in schools, particularly for students with disabilities, with the U.S. Department of Education citing staff and student injuries and the resulting trauma for students as the reasons to curtail their use. The department has also condemned and discouraged these practices for years under multiple presidential administrations. Rare cases have resulted in serious injuries to students and even death.

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A 2021 state law limits restraint and seclusion to emergencies. But as Maine educators report more challenging student behavior in the years since pandemic school closures, there have been calls to allow school staff to restrain and seclude children more often. A newly proposed bill would broaden the circumstances under which school staff could restrain or seclude students, igniting debate among educators, parents and lawmakers about how to manage student behavior without inflicting harm.

The Maine Education Association and the Maine School Management Association, representing teachers and administrators statewide, both support the proposal, citing increased reports of disruptive and violent student behavior  something educators nationwide have also reported in recent years.

The Gardiner-area school system, Maine School Administrative District (MSAD) 11, has led the push for that proposal. Victoria Duguay, principal of River View Community School in Gardiner, and MSAD 11 Superintendent Patricia Hopkins shared stories with lawmakers of students who hit and spit at adults, scream in hallways, throw chairs and destroy other students schoolwork.

Under the 2021 state law, school staff can only restrain students (immobilize them and move them against their will) or seclude them (isolate them in a room that they cant leave) if their behavior poses an imminent danger of serious physical injury  requiring medical intervention beyond first aid, according to the Maine Department of Education regulations that govern restraint and seclusion.

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Staff are being hit, theyre being bit, but it doesnt meet the threshold of serious imminent danger, because a 5-year-old isnt going to [cause] an injury that requires medical care, Hopkins said during an April 23 public hearing.

This extreme behavior, when it happens in a public place at school, traumatizes other students who witness it, Duguay said. The school sometimes has to close off access to common spaces  the gym or cafeteria  if a student acts out in a hallway through which students would need to pass.

Under the legislation MSAD 11 is supporting, staff would be able to move students against their will to a seclusion room or another quiet space without it counting as a restraint, which districts have to record, document, and report to the state.

But some educators who have pursued alternative training dont agree that loosening restraint and seclusion requirements is the answer.

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The consequences of passing this bill will only inflict more trauma on students, said Audrey Bartholomew, associate professor and coordinator of special education programs at the University of New England, who trains special education teachers. Additionally, the behavior will keep happening, because restraint and seclusion is not an appropriate response to challenging behavior, and it will in no way help students remediate their behavior. These should not be referred to as strategies, treatments or solutions.

Inside the three-hour restraint and seclusion of a 7-year-old

In October 2023, Emersons son started a behavior plan to help with concentration and self-regulation. The plan, which Emerson shared with the Maine Morning Star, highlighted the mothers concerns about her sons anger, dysregulation, anxiety and ADHD, and noted Emersons finding that occupational therapy had helped her son better regulate.

One week after the plan was put into place, the boy arrived at Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School already agitated, hit another student with a Pete the Cat stuffed animal and tried to leave the classroom, setting off a series of escalating interventions in which staff physically restrained him, relocated him against his will, and ultimately placed him in a small room where he stayed until his father arrived, according to incident reports shared with the Maine Morning Star.

The reports, which staff or administrators are required to write, offer an inside look at the behavior leading up to the restraint, how the situation escalated as staff restrained and secluded the boy, and how it continued for three hours, ending when Seth Emerson picked his son up from a seclusion room.

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When the second grader initially tried to leave his classroom, two educators cornered the boy in a hallway nook, according to the report written by the schools assistant principal. When he tried to push past them, they placed a mat between themselves and the child to block him from hitting them, and initiated the first of several physical holds. Each time he was released, he briefly calmed down but didnt follow directions to sit still or stay in a designated spot, prompting a cycle: he would attempt to flee, staff would block him, the boy would resist, and staff would restrain him again, the report says.

About an hour in, while hiding in a locker, he asked to go home. A staff member moved him to a classroom, where he hid under a desk, retrieved rocks from his backpack, and threw them at staff, the report said. While the report described the projectiles as rocks, Emerson said her son had pebbles in his backpack.

Two hours in, staff called his parents. Even after he calmed down, they placed him in a seclusion room  referred to as a quiet room in the report  where they continued telling him to sit in a specific spot. When his father arrived, the boy walked out on his own, calm and cooperative.

Incidents like that continued for several more months for reasons that Emerson said did not warrant these measures: After he pulled books off shelves, punched a door, or refused to accompany staff to a quiet room, staff would put him in a physical hold or placed him in a room alone, according to a complaint Emerson filed with the district.

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I never condoned any of the behavior, whether he was throwing a book or whether he was yelling or running out of the classroom, she said. But he was not getting any education whatsoever last year. He was literally just going to school and being restrained and secluded.

Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School, pictured here, is far from the only school restraining and secluding children, practices that Maine law said should be used only in emergency situations. Across Maine, schools have used restraint and seclusion on students more than 22,000 times per year, according to Maine Department of Education data. (Photo by Troy Bennett / Maine Morning Star)

Frequent seclusions push an educator to quit

Its not only students and their families who feel the trauma from restraints and seclusion. The educators who are told to put their hands on children feel it, too, several current and former teachers and education technicians told the Maine Morning Star.

Ashley Rose took a job as an ed tech at SeDoMoCha Elementary School in Dover-Foxcroft in August while working toward a degree in special education. But after months of witnessing staff placing students in empty rooms as they screamed and cried to be let out, she changed course.

In March, Rose switched her major, deciding she no longer wanted to become a teacher. On April 28, she resigned, writing to Superintendent Stacy Shorey that she had repeatedly raised concerns with supervisors about the schools frequent use of seclusion, the lack of staff training on student behavior, and the absence of alternatives  without seeing meaningful change.

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SeDoMoCha Elementary School has quiet rooms located within special education classrooms  which Rose described as 10-by-6-foot rooms with no windows. Some have benches and one light, while others are entirely empty, she said. All the doors have windows in them so staff can monitor students.

In her 10 years of working in special education, she has never seen such frequent use of quiet rooms, Rose said.

In December, Rose found herself participating in her first seclusion. The student she was working with wasnt physically aggressive, just loud, and Roses plan had been to escort her into the special education classroom  not the quiet room  to help her calm down.

The student went with her voluntarily but was crying, she said. When they got to the classroom, another staff member who had worked at the school longer said it was part of that students behavior plan to go to the quiet room.

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That wasnt my plan, Rose said. That room scares me just looking at it as an adult.

As the student became more agitated, Rose said her own anxiety rose. If the student didnt calm down, the other employee told Rose she had to shut the door. Rose complied, and then her colleague told her to hold the door shut with her foot to keep the student inside, she said.

Inside the room, the student began having what appeared to be an anxiety attack and threatened to break the window. She calmed down after about 20 minutes, and Rose let her out. Rose said she was not directed to file an incident report, nor was she told if someone else in the district did, despite the requirement in state law that districts document every seclusion.

Over the holiday break that followed, Rose said she had trouble sleeping. All I can think about is the student I put in that room, she said. School should be their safe place, and these students were not feeling safe.

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Shorey, the superintendent, said staff members are required to report every incident, but she did not know about the particular incident Rose described. Special Education Director Sue Terrill said its possible that a staff member other than Rose wrote a report, but the district was unable to locate any documentation of that event.

The district trains employees in safety care  crisis management and prevention practices  Terrill said. It is open to other trainings, too, she said, including one that Rose brought to Terrills attention in February offered by the Maine nonprofit Lives in the Balance, which other districts have used to dramatically reduce their reliance on restraint and seclusion.

Quiet rooms present a gray area

Rose said she saw staff members keep students in seclusion rooms even when they were calm, using those same rooms for a variety of reasons beyond seclusion, which is banned or strictly regulated in at least seven states, according to the MOST Policy Initiative, a Missouri nonprofit. Maine came close to banning the rooms in 2021, but the final version of the law was amended to allow their use in emergencies.

Rose said she saw staff place students in quiet rooms to calm down after acting out, and then not allow them to exit for 20 minutes after they calmed down. If the seclusion happened at the end of the school day, sometimes the student would be expected to return to the quiet room the next day, she said.

Terrill recalled Rose raising this as an issue but denied keeping students in the rooms after they calmed down and no longer met the legal threshold for confinement.

But the district does use these rooms as timeout spaces, either by student choice or by staff direction, Terrill confirmed. Often, Terrill said, staff members are positioned outside the rooms, as they would be in a seclusion incident, but the student is typically free to leave the room, which is not the case in a seclusion.

Sometimes, the door is open, or a student can choose to shut the door with a staff member standing outside, she said.

It can be the same room used if the student was in seclusion, she said. But if theyre taking a break because of something that happened, and thats being used as a break space, the student might continue to work in there until theyre ready to go back to the classroom.

Like RSU 68 in Dover-Foxcroft, districts across Maine also use seclusion rooms as quiet spaces, according to Ben Jones, a former Disability Rights Maine attorney who now works for Lives in the Balance.

I think its actually more the rare case that the school is like, Were going to build this room and were going to call it the seclusion room, and its going to be used just for seclusion, he said.

If a student has voluntarily shut themselves in the seclusion room with a staff member outside and is free to go at any time, it would not count as seclusion under Maine law, he said. But if staff members ask students to stay in there to complete their work, as Rose described, whether it would count as a seclusion that districts are required to report to the state is open to interpretation, Jones said.

The overall thing is, the kid is not learning, not in the classroom, in something that could easily turn into seclusion, he said. Its inappropriate at best and potentially illegal if its an unrecorded seclusion.

When are students and staff in imminent danger?

Education technicians like Rose  aides who often work with students one-on-one or in small groups  are often the ones handling student outbursts or potential violence, said Greg Kavanaugh, who spent 13 years working as an ed tech and special education teacher in Biddeford, Portland, and Yarmouth.

Ed techs are among the lowest-paid professionals in education, and often the least trained  including on behavior management techniques.

Theyre having to make good decisions about when to restrain, when to seclude, and their judgment is going to be really hard because theyre so stressed, overwhelmed, underpaid, Kavanaugh said. That just leads to more mistakes, more lapses in judgment.

In his experience, Kavanaugh said, restraint and seclusion were consistently treated as last-resort measures  used only in extreme situations.

Staff received training on managing student behavior, they debriefed after restraints and seclusions, and they held regular conversations with parents, he said, which disability rights advocates recommend as best practices.

But working in a functional life skills program with students with moderate to severe disabilities, Kavanaugh said, deciding whether to restrain or seclude a child was never easy despite clear protocols in place. Even when a student threw a laptop across the room or hit him, he had to determine whether the behavior posed an imminent danger of serious injury that would require medical intervention beyond first aid  the standard in Maine law  and only intervene physically if it did. He also had to keep calm if students hit him, he said, because that still did not meet the legal standard.

Every time he did restrain or seclude a child, it stayed with him long after. He said he often questioned whether it had been the right call, thought about how families would respond, and considered the lasting effects the practice might have on the student  and on himself.

Anytime there was a hold, a restraint or a seclusion, youre taking that home, and youre thinking about that kid when youre at home, trying to move on with your day, he said. Im a pretty strong-willed person, but there are plenty of times I would quietly be in tears, or going home and having an extra glass of wine, because Im just not processing it well in the aftermath.

Other students in the classroom witnessing these incidents are also traumatized, Kavanaugh said.

You see the terror on their classmates faces, and you feel bad for the kid in a certain way because this is going to hurt their relationships, he said.

But talking to parents afterward would always make him feel better, Kavanaugh said, because parents of students with disabilities are often dealing with similar behavior challenges at home.

Krystal Emerson testified during an April 23 hearing against legislation that would weaken the states law restricting the use of restraint and seclusion. (Eesha Pendharkar/Maine Morning Star)

District response to a parental complaint

Emerson, the parent in Ellsworth, complained to the school board, Superintendent Amy Boles, and the Maine Department of Education in August 2024, alleging that staff members had not met the legal threshold for using restraint and seclusion so often on her son.

Boles wrote back in October, saying in cases where Emersons son was hitting, scratching, and kicking staff, it is my conclusion that active behavior like this toward another person does create an imminent danger that the other person could be sufficiently injured that he or she may need more than routine first aid.

The incident may not in fact have caused an injury requiring that level of care, but a reasonable and prudent person could reasonably conclude that this could occur, Boles wrote in her letter, reviewed by Maine Morning Star.

But the investigation the district launched in response to Emersons complaint found that staff had improperly restrained and secluded her son in at least five of the 18 incidents to which his mother objected. Some incident reports were also vaguely written, Boles wrote, which was the case for the three-hour incident in October 2023  making it difficult to determine whether restraints and seclusion were warranted.

Nonetheless, Boles concluded in her letter to Emerson that all staff need training on the proper use of restraint and seclusion, and she agreed the district should rely on the practice less often.

Boles declined to comment on the investigation or specific incidents, but said district staff have undergone an initial training with Lives in the Balance, and followup trainings are planned.

Behavior is an issue across the board. I mean, its skyrocketing everywhere. Its not just Ellsworth, she said. But were working really hard to try to be preventative before it gets to that extreme state, trying to teach staff day-to-day strategies to prevent the behavior before it escalates.

Emerson said her son is still visibly shaken every time he passes by the school, or even when someone mentions the word school around him.

On April 23, she testified at a public hearing, telling Maine lawmakers restraint and seclusion in public schools must stop. The day before, her son had said he was still afraid to go to school in person.

His world has become so small since these events, he rarely leaves our home, she said. Everyone continues about their day, and yet Im left to pick up the pieces.

The series was produced as a project for the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Health Journalisms National Fellowship Fund for Reporting on Child Well-being.

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Maine Morning Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maine Morning Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lauren McCauley for questions: info@mainemorningstar.com.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  An explosion from inside a burning car rattled a Lebanon neighborhood early Saturday, killing one person and scattering debris into yards and streets, the Lebanon Fire District said.

Three cars were on fire, including two that were fully engulfed, by the time firefighters got to the scene near 700 W. Grant Street around 9:20 a.m. Two of the cars were near a house, and crews worked to keep the flames from extending into the house.

West Linn woman, 81, in white VW Jetta still missing

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As more fire crews arrived, the remains of one person who had been living inside one of the cars was discovered. That persons identity has not been released at this time.

The blaze was under control in about 20 minutes, authorities said, but the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries from the explosion, officials said.

No further information is available at this time.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
A Cal Poly English professor facing suspension over two Pro-Palestine protests last year testified Tuesday at a tense hearing on campus.

Shanae Aurora Martinez, who uses they/them pronouns, joined a January 2024 protest outside the Cal Poly Recreation Center that ended in a violent clash between police and demonstrators. Then, in May 2024, Martinez was present at another Pro-Palestine protest at the California Boulevard entrance to campus, where they communicated with police officers and protesters during the demonstration and resulting arrests.

The university alleged that Martinezs behavior at the protests created an unsafe environment and violated the California Education Code of Conduct for unprofessional conduct, according to a Feb. 14 notice of pending disciplinary action mailed to Martinez.

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The letter recommended that Martinez be suspended for two quarters without pay for their conduct.

Associate vice provost for academic personnel Simone Aloisio represented the university during the hearing, which was held in a biology classroom in the Fisher Science Building on campus.

During these protests, Dr. Martinezs conduct escalated tensions in the manner that had the potential to cause significant harm to others, he said in his opening statement.

Martinez, however, said they were defending their students right to protest safely on campus, and therefore fulfilling their duties as a faculty member.

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Martinez was hired in 2019 as part of the College of Liberal Arts diversity, equity and inclusion cluster hire.

Their scholarship is intertwined with their activism, they said, so supporting and defending students at a protest aligned with their work as a community-engaged scholar.

I am here today not only to defend myself against these accusations that I do not respect my colleagues, I do not care about community, that I am somehow the mastermind of these protests  but rather to defend free speech in this highly repressive political context, especially when that speech calls out genocide, Martinez said in their opening statement.

A three-person Faculty Hearing Committee reviewed the case on Tuesday, and the members must recommend an outcome for Martinezs case within 14 days of the hearing. President Jeffrey Armstrong will then make the final decision.

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The committee included Cal Poly professors Samantha Gill, Gregory Schwartz and Pasha Tabatabai, with Crow White as the alternate member.

The classroom filled with Martinezs family, friends, colleagues and students. Meanwhile, six police officers were stationed outside of the classroom in the hallway.

Cal Poly English Department professor Shanae Martinez faces a two-quarter suspension without pay for their participation in Pro-Palestine protests on campus.

Did Martinez violate campus codes at January protest?

Aloisio kicked off his presentation with video footage of the January protest.

On Jan. 23, 2024, about 25 people gathered outside the Rec Center to protest defense companies recruiting at Cal Polys Winter Career Fair. The demonstrators urged the university to take a stance against Israels military tactics in Gaza, which they called genocide.

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Aloisio showed police body camera footage of about seven protesters carrying 5-foot-tall plywood shields, which they used to push the metal barricades into police officers guarding the Rec Center.

Other protesters, including Martinez, then joined the shield bearers to push on the barricades.

The police report said the protesters pushed the barricades first. Martinez, however, said the police officers were the first to pick up the barricades and march them into the crowd in an apparent attempt to push the demonstrators back.

Martinez pushed on the barricades to defend the area the students were protesting in and protect them from the police, they said.

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It felt very volatile. I wasnt going to stand back and see them get run over, Martinez said.

A San Luis Obispo police officer strikes a protester at Cal Poly on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, after a demonstration turned violent when the university said activists tried to force their way into a career fair at the Rec Center.

When everyone dropped the barricades, officers started arresting protesters. Police did not issue a dispersal order, but they told protesters approaching the Rec Center that they would be arrested if they entered the building.

Martinez watched police tackle and arrest a student, so the professor followed the officers into the Rec Center to protect the student.

I was afraid they were going to do something to the student, Martinez said.

Officers told Martinez to step back, informing them that they were interfering with the arrest. Martinez countered, telling the officers they were interfering with their job as a professor, video footage showed.

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Meanwhile, outside of the Recreation Center, one officer threw another protester to the ground and punched them in the stomach three times, video footage showed. That same officer pushed another demonstrator down the stairs while the group retreated. The officer did not violate the San Luis Obispo Police Departments policy, so he did not face disciplinary action, San Luis Obispo Police Chief Rick Scott told The Tribune soon after the protest.

Aloisio said Martinezs decision to push the barricades endangered people in the area.

This action not only undermines the role of law enforcement in maintaining order, but it poses a risk of harm to both officers and other individuals in the facility, Aloisio said. Physical confrontation, regardless of intent, has the potential to escalate situations beyond control, endangering the safety of everyone involved, including protesters and bystanders.

Martinezs faculty representative, San Jose State State University professor Sang Hea Kil, disagreed. She said Martinez intended to protect the protesters from the police, who were behaving aggressively and responsible for creating an unsafe environment.

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She was concerned students would be harmed by the barricades, and so applied force to the barriers, not to act in violence, but to act in defense of her students, Kil said.

Martinez was not arrested at the protest, but on March 4, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorneys Office charged them with battery of a police officer.

Instead of going to jail or paying a fine, Martinez is set to receive diversion for the battery charge  meaning they will be placed on probation, perform community service and eventually have the charge dismissed, they said.

The second witness was Maren Hufton, Cal Polys associate vice president of civil rights, employee and labor compliance.

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The university appointed her to conduct a neutral, impartial and objective investigation of Martinezs behavior at the two protests, she said.

Hufton reviewed Cal Poly Police Department reports, police body camera and cell phone footage of both protests, and interviewed Martinez before informing the university that she believed Martinez violated the California Education Code of Conduct, the Campus Civility Statement, Cal Polys Statement on Commitment to Community and the Faculty Code of Ethics.

Hufton did not interview a list of witnesses Martinez provided to her. The list included two people who saw the January protest and two who saw the May protest.

Though students had a right to protest, it was clear that students did not have a right to push metal barricades into peace officers. They did not have a right to enter a private event, she said.

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Additionally, shouting at officers that students have a right to protest risked injury through escalation and confrontation, she said.

Hufton said university rules would have allowed Martinez to attend the protests if they had kept a distance from the barricades, followed officer instructions and properly informed protesters of lawful activity.

Cal Poly ... did not hire Dr. Martinez and does not pay Dr. Martinez to impede the work of peace officers who are trying to bring calm to a chaotic situation, Hufton said.

Kil, however, said that Martinez upheld the four morality codes Hufton cited by advocating for student protesters.

Cal Poly student Eman Castillo Hernandez also testified at the hearing. He participated in the January protest, but he did not organize the demonstration or see Martinez while he was there.

Still, he defended Martinezs actions  explaining that protest organizers often ask professors to serve as peace liaisons between themselves and the police.

Me and other students trust more the faculty than we do the police, and for very good reason. A lot of us are students of color, and weve had negative experiences with the police, he said. Faculty like Dr. Shanae are essential to student movements in that they help keep us safe, they help prevent the twisting of narratives, like whats happening right now.

Political science professor Martin Battle attended the January protest to serve as a police liaison. Both he and Martinez entered the Rec Center to watch over protesters who had been arrested, then went to the San Luis Obispo County Jail afterward to help the students connect with lawyers and organize a bail fund, he said.

In the end, she seemed to be doing the thing that I was doing: Making sure the students were protected  which is what I think our role as academics are, Battle said.

Cal Poly student Samir Ibrahim yells at officers outside the Cal Poly Rec Center after they told pro-Palestine protesters to leave following a clash between police and pro-Palestine demonstrators on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024.

What happened at the May protest?

During the Pro-Palestine protest on May 23, 2024, demonstrators chained themselves to wooden barricades set up in the crosswalk of California Boulevard and Campus Way. Eventually, police arrested eight protesters without incident.

Martinez mistakenly told protesters that they could legally walk back and fourth across the crosswalk after police told them to disperse  advice that Martinez thought was true at the time.

During the California Faculty Association Strike in May, the members were permitted to walk in the crosswalk, Martinez said, so they thought the Pro-Palestine protesters could do the same.

In her testimony, Hufton said Martinez put students at risk of arrest by telling them they could walk in the crosswalk, which violated a professors role as an intellectual guide and counselor, Hufton said.

Cal Poly professor Brianna Ronan witnessed the May protest and testified at the hearing on Tuesday.

Like Martinez, she communicated with police, protesters and administrators at the scene.

Ronan said she didnt understand why the university moved to discipline Martinez for the May protest, as Martinez was out there supporting students  just like she was.

Police detain a pro-Palestine protester who chained himself to a barricade blocking the California Boulevard and Campus Way intersection near Cal Poly on May 23, 2024, while sheriffs deputies in riot helmets form a perimeter.

Should professor face two-quarter suspension without pay?

In the disciplinary letter, then-Cal Poly provost Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore recommended that the university suspend Martinez for two quarters without pay.





We have two separate instances of similar conduct which shows a pattern, therefore two quarters is an appropriate sanction, Hufton said in her testimony.







When asked by the committee, Hufton could not explain why the provost recommended a two-quarter suspension without pay instead of another sanction, nor could she share what precedent or policy supported the sanction.

Kil argued that the sanction did not match the charges.

The sort of unpaid suspension theyre proposing should be reserved for the most serious infractions with malicious intent, not a professor doing her best in a tense situation, Kil said.

If the university moves forward with the sanction, Martinez would lose eight of the 12 paychecks they earn annually, which amounts to about $60,000, they said, as well as progress toward tenure.





This will mean I cannot pay my rent, I cannot pay for my transportation to work. I will lapse in my insurance. I will lapse in my student loan debt, they said. This will have enormous consequences for me financially, in addition to disrupting the ongoing projects I have with students.



Most of all, Martinez worried that suspension would discourage faculty from supporting student activism.



Its going to set a dangerous precedent for repressing free speech, or at least the ways in which we support our students outside of the classroom as whole people, not just as students, Martinez said.





Sheriffs deputies in riot helmets assemble as backup while detain eight pro-Palestine protesters who blocked the intersection at California Boulevard and Campus Way near Cal Poly on May 23, 2024.

Witness walked out of hearing

After Huftons testimony, Kil said she thought Hufton appeared to be an advocate for the university  which would conflict with her role as an impartial fact-finder and degrade the fairness of the hearing.

Hufton, however, maintained that she attended as a witness to testify about her investigation.

Hufton sat at a table with Aloisio, and the pair often whispered to each other throughout the day. All other witnesses, however, sat in the audience, waited in the hallway, or appeared via Zoom or on video.

Later, during a tense moment, a professor who witnessed the January protest walked out of the hearing.

Kil shared that some witnesses declined to testify due to concerns about retaliation. Aloisio objected to this comment, calling it speculation.

Cal Poly art and design professor Elizabeth Folk then stood up, and said, That is why I declined to serve as a witness.

She picked up her bag and walked out of the room.

On Thursday, Folk told The Tribune that she declined to to serve as a witness at Martinezs hearing because of the hostile campus climate the university created after canceling the 2024 Social Justice Teach In, which was scheduled to include a series of discussions and events called Justice for Palestine.

Meanwhile, years of watching the university mishandle student, faculty and staff disciplinary procedures also deterred her from testifying, she said.

I was not confident that I would be treated with fairness and respect, Folk told The Tribune.

What happens next?

The committee must submit a written decision to Armstrong within 14 days of the hearing, according to the California Faculty Associations Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Then, President Jeffrey Armstrong must make a final decision within 15 days of receiving the committees recommendation.

If Armstrongs decision conflicts with the Faculty Hearing Committee, Martinez can file an appeal with the CSU Office of the Chancellor requesting arbitration.

If Armstrong and the committee agree, then the decision is binding and cannot be appealed, the Collective Bargaining Agreement said.
OTTAWA  Mark Carney was elected prime minister of Canada less than a month ago, but some Liberal members of parliament are already talking about how to fire him.

It's not personal, they insist.

When Liberal lawmakers gather Sunday  a day before Canadas new Parliament opens  their first order of business will be to vote on whether to give themselves the power to remove Carney as leader at any time, if they choose.

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It's not as cutthroat as it sounds.

Liberal MPs fully back Carney, for now  after all, theyre still in power because he managed to convince Canadians that he has the chops to transform the economy.

But the future is to be determined, said one MP, granted anonymity to speak frankly. We dont know what it will be like in a year, or two years, from now.

Liberals had no way to dislodge former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he overstayed his welcome. Now, as the House reboots, many in the party are determined that history will not repeat itself. Trudeaus reluctance to resign left scars on reelected lawmakers, many of whom want to rebalance power between caucus and the Prime Ministers Office  long seen as controlling and insular during nine-plus years in office.

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During their first caucus meeting since last month's election, the lawmakers will vote on whether to adopt measures in Canadas Reform Act, including the ability to remove their leader.

Quebec Liberal MP Sophie Chatel told POLITICO that making Carney subject to the new rules would be "a powerful symbolic gesture"  one that shows "confidence in his ability" to keep caucus on side.

It would also signal a departure from the previous leadership, she added, and a renewed commitment to strengthening the relationship with caucus.

After every federal election, and before Parliament opens, each party caucus must vote on whether to adopt certain rules under the act. By law, its the first order of business at the first caucus meeting. Lawmakers can vote to give themselves the power to remove the party leader, eject a caucus chair or turf an MP from caucus.

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Carney has acknowledged the upcoming vote but declined to comment on the substance.

I observed that this will happen, Carney said last week. There'll be these votes."

POLITICO spoke to several MPs who have been debating the vote, all of whom were granted anonymity because they werent authorized to discuss internal caucus matters.

Some want a secret ballot out of concerns that the Prime Ministers Office and his Cabinet could attempt to influence votes, especially by pressuring rookie MPs, which was not uncommon under Trudeau.

The Reform Act was the brainchild of Conservative MP Michael Chong, designed to empower MPs and reduce the power of party leaders. But the rules only apply if a caucus votes to adopt them.

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The Conservative Party used the act in 2022 to oust then-Leader Erin OToole, who was eventually succeeded by current Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Although the law came into effect in 2015, it has never been adopted by the Liberals, partly because it was a Conservative initiative. And Trudeaus office ensured there was never lively discussion around the vote, even deploying senior Cabinet ministers to distract MPs from debating it, one Liberal MP told POLITICO.

Liberal MPs had to wait for Trudeau to resign on his own. Following the partys comeback win, they are seeking future sureties.

One MP called the Reform Act a mechanism that reminds the leader that theyre there because of caucus.

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Another described it as a safeguard. A third said it was generally a good idea, given caucus experience of being under the thumb of Trudeau and his inner circle.

The vote may come down to whether there's a secret ballot. As one MP explained, no one wants to be seen holding a knife behind the back of the prime minister.

Clarification: This article has been updated to reflect that Mark Carney was elected prime minister of Canada less than a month ago.

He was first sworn in as prime minister March 14 after winning the Liberal leadership race.
Three people were killed in a car accident in the western German city of Koblenz, police said on Sunday.

Six other passengers in the vehicle were injured and taken to hospital, a fire department spokesman told dpa.

Later, officials said a 53-year-old man and two women aged 47 and 65 were killed. The other six people were between the ages of 20 and 66 and were not seriously injured.

The vehicle involved was a nine-seater minibus.

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The group was returning from a family celebration in the state of Hesse when the accident occurred in the early hours of the morning.

There were no indications that the 22-year-old driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, police said, asking the public not to engage in speculation.

"It is a very, very terrible accident," a Koblenz police spokesman said.

In a statement posted on X on Sunday evening, the Albanian Foreign Ministry wrote that the victims were Albanian nationals.

The cause of the accident is still unclear and the identities of some of the people in the minibus have yet to be confirmed. The police spokesman said in the morning that foreign nationals were among the victims.

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Initial findings indicated that the minibus had veered off A48 motorway and overturned. No other vehicle was involved. However, another vehicle drove over debris shortly after the accident.

The motorway has since reopened, after being closed for several hours.
Rising prices and financial pressure are pushing many to the brink. Across the country, people are juggling credit card debt, rising living costs and a nonstop stream of advice about what to do with their money. The result is growing confusion, mounting stress and falling financial confidence.

A recent study by BadCredit.org found that 90% of Americans report gaps in financial knowledge, and 52% feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of advice. The issue isnt that people dont want to learn, its overload.

Erica Sandberg, consumer finance expert at BadCredit.org, pointed out that language is part of the problem, with terms like financial literacy feeling inaccessible to many.

Not knowing how to manage money or use credit effectively doesnt mean youre illiterate, she said. Just that you dont have the information or tools yet.

Read More: 3 Signs Youve Made It Financially, According to Financial Influencer Genesis Hinckley

Find Out: Mark Cuban Says Trump's Executive Order To Lower Medication Costs Has a 'Real Shot' -- Here's Why

The study backs this up, with 60% of respondents saying they would engage more with programs using financial confidence over financial literacy, favoring simpler, more actionable language.

For people who feel overwhelmed and unsure where to start, here are five ways to help build financial clarity and confidence.

Focus on One Area First

Instead of trying to tackle everything at once, start with the area that causes the most stress  whether thats credit card debt, budgeting or saving  to reduce the pressure. Breaking down the bigger picture into smaller, manageable chunks makes it easier to make a start and then stay focused.

Look for Professional Help When Needed

Forty-nine percent of Americans turn to family or friends for financial guidance, with only 37% consulting financial professionals, per BadCredit.org. While it can definitely be useful to get support and advice from loved ones, expert guidance can add clarity to complex financial situations.

Read Next: Im a Financial Advisor  My Wealthiest Clients All Do These 3 Things

Reframe Mistakes as Learning Tools

Everyone makes mistakes, said Sandberg. So dont be too hard on yourself when you make them  just assess what you did and make a commitment to change.

What matters most is what happens after something goes wrong. Recognizing the issue, understanding what led to it and using that insight to move forward with a clearer plan is what builds lasting financial confidence.

Prioritize Debt Reduction With a Clear Strategy

One of the fastest ways to reduce financial stress is taking control of debt with a consistent, realistic plan. U.S. household debt rose by 167 billion to $18.20 trillion in Q1 2025, according to the Federal Reserve of New York, and for many, its a major source of anxiety.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  A vehicle has crashed into the Choices In Community Living building on Needmore Road on Sunday afternoon.

According to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch, the crash happened at approximately 3 p.m. They said there were no injuries, just structural damage.

Photo of the crash by Matt Channels, WDTN. Photo of the crash by Matt Channels, WDTN.

Our 2 NEWS photographer went to the scene.

We will update this story when more information is 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 WDTN.com.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  A Cave Springs man accused of placing a spy camera in a bathroom at a Springdale winery claims his prosecution violates his rights and has filed multiple demands in court.

Richard Copeland, 55, was arrested on April 29 for one count of video voyeurism.

Richard Copeland, 55 (Courtesy: Washington County Detention Center)

In a 14-page filing submitted on May 23 and titled Emergency Preemptive Demand to Dismiss, Copeland argues that the case should either be dropped or delayed.

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He claims the local court does not have jurisdiction and demands this inferior court to rightfully cease all proceedings until the highest court in the nation [U.S. Supreme Court] issues its rulings.

Copeland repeatedly refers to himself as a sovereign living man and said he wants to represent himself in court. He objected to being assigned legal counsel during his first appearance, saying it violated his rights.

He also argued that he has not been formally charged and that the arraignment process has been unfairly delayed.

Copelands filing details a list of demands, including:

All charges, warrants, and release conditions be dismissed

Evidence from searches be thrown out

The case and all court actions be declared invalid

No further prosecution unless a common law grand jury is used

His right to represent himself be confirmed

Unlawful court actions be removed from the record

$5 million in damages, paid in gold and silver

Return of all property seized during the investigation

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In the filing, Copeland also writes:

A coerced appearance, in the absence of charges, magnifies the due process violations already inherent in this prosecution.

The involvement of an unchartered federal agency with no constitutional foundation  such as the FBI  in a state criminal investigation, absent a common law grand jury, is constitutionally impermissible.

The government has knowingly allowed  and in fact facilitated  trial by media rather than trial by jury,

Calling the case a public crucifixion, Copeland said he has suffered irreparable harm, including the loss of his job, his home and his reputation in the community. He also said that his sister in California learned about his arrest from the evening news a day later.

Judge grants mental evaluation for Amber Waterman, court proceedings suspended

Case background

On April 12, deputies from the Washington County Sheriffs Office responded to a report of suspicious activity at Sassafras Springs Vineyard and Winery.

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The business owner reported that a customer had discovered a hidden camera, disguised as an ink pen, inside the womens restroom. A search warrant was issued, and authorities confirmed that the camera had secretly recorded seven women.

Surveillance footage showed a man, identified as Copeland, entering both of the winerys womens restrooms shortly before the first victim was filmed. On April 29, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Copelands home and vehicle.

There, they found multiple electronic devices, including other hidden cameras and videos of additional women being filmed in restrooms without their knowledge. An instruction manual for the spy pen camera was also recovered from his vehicle.

Copeland was formerly employed by Washington Regional Medical Center. Copeland also claims on LinkedIn to be the CEO of local Facebook groups WhatsHappening NWA and WhatsHappeningBentonville.com.

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Copeland was released on May 2 after posting a $150,000 bond. His next court date is scheduled for May 28 in Washington County Court. The court has not yet responded to his filing.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Recently released statistics from the CDC are shedding a light on drug overdose deaths in the nation. Ohio had one of the biggest declines in predicted deaths last year compared to 2023.

The numbers really speak for itself, Hanad Duale, president of recovery support organization the UNIK Foundation, said. These numbers are extremely encouraging for us as clinicians.

There are several organizations in central Ohio leading the charge in prevention, including UNIK Foundation and This Must Be The Place. Both nonprofits received the fourth round of state opioid and stimulant grant funds, which has helped them provide much needed resources to prevent and decrease opioid overdoses. The organizations said the new numbers are encouraging but theres still a lot of work that needs to be done.

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Parents face charges after unlicensed, underage teen hits police cruiser

Nothing makes me more proud than to say Im from Columbus, Ohio, the state that is leading the way in overdose prevention, William Perry, director of outreach operations at This Must Be The Place, said.

According to the data released by the CDC, all but two states saw declines in overdose deaths last year with some of the biggest in Ohio and other states that have been hard-hit in the nations decades-long overdose epidemic.

Every morning that I wake up, I cannot help but think how I am blessed to have made it on the other side of this and that Im able to give back in the very neighborhoods and streets that I know are in so much need because I lived there, William Perry, director of outreach operations at This Must Be The Place, said.

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Nationwide, there were 30,000 fewer deaths in 2024 than the year before, the largest one-year decline ever recorded. Ohio emerged as a leading state with a more than 35% decline. Local organizations leading the charge in prevention attribute a lot of this to the continued investment at the state level.

Whats really important and what Ohio has done is remove the bipartisan element to overdose prevention and just say, no, we will not stand for this anymore,' Perry said. We will not stand for our residents dying.

Bill would ban certain people from buying land in Ohio

Local organizations said the only way out of the opioid epidemic is everyone working together.

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By tackling mental health and substance abuse, we keep families together, and that reduces the overall burden on the taxpayer, Duale said. That reduces the overall burden on schools, on teachers.

But as funding dwindles, organizations say theres a lot of uncertainty about how this will impact the work theyre doing in the community.

When people think of the loss of federal funding, they think of that as like a nationwide problem, Perry said. But in the cutbacks of the NARCAN distribution funds, those are funds that come directly to the states.

Therefore, the states dont have money or are going to have diminished amounts of money to purchase this very expensive medicine.

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Access is the key thing here, Duale said. Access leads to prevention and prevention hopefully would decrease the numbers.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg became the first U.S. official to react to Russia's overnight large-scale attack on Ukraine on May 25, calling for the end to hostilities.

"The indiscriminate killing of women and children at night in their homes is a clear violation of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols designed to protect innocents. These attacks are shameful," Kellogg said on X without explicitly naming Russia. "Stop the killing. Ceasefire now."

This is Kyiv. The indiscriminate killing of women and children at night in their homes is a clear violation of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols designed to protect innocents. These attacks are shameful. Stop the killing. Ceasefire now. pic.twitter.com/89XRWZcP21  Keith Kellogg (@generalkellogg) May 25, 2025

Russia launched 69 missiles and 298 drones overnight on May 25, according to Ukraine's Air Force. The attack killed 12 people, including three children, and injured more than 60, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

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Trump has not yet publicly commented on the overnight attacks on May 25.

Following the attack, President Volodymyr Zelensky called for stronger sanctions on Russia and added that "Americas silence, and the silence of others around the world, only encourages (Russian President Vladimir) Putin."

Trump on May 8 said the U.S. would join partners in imposing "further sanctions" if Russia does not agree to an unconditional ceasefire. Despite numerous threats, Trump has never followed through on imposing additional sanctions against Russia.

European leaders have urged the U.S. to impose additional sanctions on Russia to pressure it toward a ceasefire, with EU leaders threatening and subsequently adopting additional sanctions in response to Russia's ceasefire rejections.

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Following a two-hour phone call with Putin on May 19, Trump refused to adopt additional sanctions on Moscow, despite Putin again rejecting a 30-day ceasefire.

On May 20 Axios reported that European leaders reportedly seemed "surprised" that Trump was "relatively content" with what he heard from Putin, following a call with European leaders after Trump's conversation with Putin.

When asked about potential sanctions against Russia, the U.S. president said he did not think it was a good idea, adding that he believes Putin wants a deal.

The New York Times reported on May 20, citing a White House official, that Trump refuses to impose sanctions on Russia as it may hinder future business and trade opportunities with Moscow.

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Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhii Kyslytsia said in an interview aired on May 24 on Ukraine's national telethon that Russia's negotiating team in Istanbul has repeatedly stated that "an unconditional ceasefire is categorically unacceptable."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on May 24 cast doubt on the Vatican as a possible venue for future peace talks with Ukraine.

"Imagine the Vatican as a venue for negotiations," Lavrov reportedly said during a speech at the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow. It would be a bit inelegant for Orthodox countries to use a Catholic platform to discuss issues on how to remove the root causes (of the war)."

Read also: Editorial: Russia just said it doesnt want peace in Ukraine. This is what you need to do





Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
JESSUP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  A local tradition that traces its roots half way across the world to the 12th century, the annual celebration of Saint Ubaldo Day pays homage to local Italian heritage.

The Race of the Saints has been happening for decades in Jessup.

Year after year, the spectacle draws thousands of people along the streets to watch, and this year was no different.

The celebration of Saint Ubaldo Baldassini, also known as Saint Ubaldo Day. Jessup natives look forward to it every year. The celebration traces its roots to the boroughs sister city in Italy, where the tradition began nearly 800 years ago.

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A lot of people here in Jessup came from Gubbio, Italy, where the festival originated. And when they came here in 1909, they brought the festival with them, Jessup resident Greg Santarelli said.

Santarelli has been running in the Race of the Saints for the last 25 years. His great-grandparents are from Gubbio.

Each year, the families of Saint Ubaldo, Saint Anthony, and Saint George run through the hilly streets of Jessup carrying six-foot-tall 500-pound statues of their respective saints.

Making a buzz in Hunlock Creek at Honeybee Festival

While this isnt his first rodeo, Santarelli says taking part in such a historic tradition never gets old.

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Just excitement, and gratitude for being a part of it. It really is a gift to be a part of, Santarelli stated.

The boroughs sister city held its celebration earlier this month. This year, many locals, including Santarelli, traveled there to experience it firsthand.

It was great. It was great to be there, to see it again, and to be part of it, Linda Anelli from Dunmore told 28/22 News.

You go and meet somebody, and they have the same last name as people youve known here your whole life. So it was really, really, it was a really excellent experience to kind of see all of that happen, Jessup resident Rick Scopelliti said.

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While the scale of the celebration in Jessup is much smaller than the one in Gubbio, the passion of the participants and the spirit of the saints are just as strong.

Viva Sant Ubaldo, viva Sant Giorgio, viva Sant Antonio! Santarelli exclaimed.

After the race, a procession with all artifacts used on Saturday made its way back to the Saint Ubaldo Society Cultural Center.

Those artifacts will remain there until Saint Ubaldo Day next year.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to 28/22 News.
George Floyd's family reflected on his legacy and called again for police reform during a press conference on Sunday to mark the five-year anniversary of Floyds death.

The press conference took place outside the Houston, Texas cemetery where Floyd is buried and followed a private memorial that was held there by the family.

I feel like it took nine minutes and 29 seconds to change the world, but it takes for us to be the change that we want to see, said Floyds niece Brooke Williams, who also called on the community to engage politically and vote for local officials who support police reform and social justice efforts.

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Floyds death, which was ruled a homicide, sparked widespread backlash after a video went viral of then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyds neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds on May 25, 2020.

Derek Chauvin was ultimately convicted on multiple charges stemming from Floyd's death and was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in prison. Three other officers who participated in the incident were also found guilty of related charges and sentenced to prison.

My uncle changed the world, Floyds great niece, Arianna Delane, said on Sunday, reflecting on the international movement that was sparked after his death, which included protests and calls for police reform and accountability.

PHOTO: Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, second from left, raises his fist, May 25, 2025 in Houston George Floyd's sisters, LeTonya and Zsa Zsa Floyd, and other members of the Floyd family in Houston. (Ashley Landis/AP)

Justice Department moves to drop police reform agreements with Louisville, Minneapolis

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The protests in 2020 also refocused the national spotlight on other Black men and women who died following or during police-involved incidents. The backlash led the U.S. Department of Justice to launch several probes into police departments across the country to investigate alleged misconduct.

The five-year anniversary of Floyds death came days after the U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday that it is moving to drop police reform agreements, known as consent decrees, that the Biden-era department reached with the cities of Louisville, Kentucky and Minneapolis.

The agreements, which had yet to be certified by federal judges when Trump took office in January, were born out of probes launched after the 2020 police killings of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the latter of whom was shot and killed on March 13, 2020 during a botched raid by Louisville police officers. The consent decrees were intended to address Justice Department findings of alleged systemic unconstitutional policing and civil rights violations.

In announcing the decision, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon on Wednesday claimed that Biden administration officials relied on "faulty legal theories" and "cherry-picked" statistics in order to accuse departments of widespread misconduct. She further claimed that consent decrees can increase bureaucracy for police, which she said makes recruiting and retaining officers more difficult.

PHOTO: Zsa Zsa Floyd, George Floyd's eldest sister, sheds a tear during a memorial service to mark the 5th anniversary of his death, in Pearland, Texas, May 25, 2025. (Callaghan O'hare/Reuters)

5 years after George Floyd's death, Minneapolis police work to rebuild trust and a 'decimated' force

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Attorney Ben Crump, who represents the families of Floyd and Taylor, also spoke during the Sunday press conference, criticizing the Trump administration for what he said was backing away from enforcing police reform on the federal level. He also called out the Justice Department for what he described as efforts to minimize and roll back the incremental progress that was made after Floyd was killed.

"Their efforts to try to make the world unsee what we saw on this day five years ago will not be judged kindly by history," Crump said.

Gianna Floyd, George Floyds 11-year-old daughter, reflected on her fathers legacy in an interview with ABC station KTRK in Houston, saying that his death has defined her lifes purpose.

"I want to help people," she said, adding that her fathers memory still lives with her and that she knows that she is "going to see [him] again one day."

'Changed the world': George Floyd's family reflects on his legacy five years after his death originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
JOHNSTOWN, Pa.  Charges against six Conemaugh Valley High School students were dropped Friday, a day after they illegally entered the high school building around 4 a.m. for a senior prank and were caught by police, officials said.

Conemaugh Valley Superintendent Shane Hazenstab said in a statement that the mission of the district is to promote a culture of growth, learning and success for staff, students and the community, and because of that the district did not want the legal charges against the students to be pursued.

Based on our investigation related to (Thursdays) incident, and in consultation with the (Cambria County) district attorneys office, we feel that our mission statement can be best supported in this case through our internal discipline program, he said.

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According to a police affidavit, the students entered the high school early Thursday morning through a door that was left ajar to carry out a senior prank  spreading plastic wrap throughout the building. They set off an entry alarm and a motion detector in the library, triggering law enforcement to respond.

Paul Deffenbaugh, East Taylor Township police chief, wrote in the affidavit that he arrived at the school around 4:19 a.m. and found several vehicles parked sporadically in the rear lot and several people inside the building.

When the people inside saw police, they walked out of the building, and under the direction of an administrator who also arrived at the scene, police arrested the students. Johnstown police assisted with transport for processing.

Each of the six was initially charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and criminal mischief.

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Cambria County District Attorney Greg Neugebauer worked with the district to ensure the appropriate level of justice was handed down.

He said in a statement that his office discussed the matter with the district and police and was informed of the available internal disciplinary options, and said those remedies are appropriate in light of all of the unique facts and circumstances of this case.

Neugebauer said school safety is taken very seriously in order to protect children, and in doing so the intent of any person or people who cause security breaches, including pranks, must be considered.

It is important to emphasize that this event occurred because a public building was broken into in the middle of the night, Hazenstab said. That behavior is what incited the responses, reactions and outcry that followed.

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He added that its imperative to highlight the fact that such behavior will always elicit a reaction and result in consequences.

It is our hope that we all can learn from this incident as we work to maintain a school culture that promotes growth, learning and success, Hazenstab concluded.

He also expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the district attorneys office and local police.
CHARLESTOWN, R.I. (WPRI)  A restaurant in Charlestown held an event Saturday night to raise money for employees of Matunuck Oyster Bar, which was heavily damaged after a fire earlier this week.

BACKGROUND: Matunuck Oyster Bar may be total loss after fire

We just want to help out in any way that we can because, at the end of the day, restaurant community is family, Jill Fonnemann, who organized this event, told 12 News. We laugh together, we cry together, we mourn together and like I said, this is the least that we could do.

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Fonnemann said she has also hired some of the employees from Matunuck Oyster Bar.

All of the money generated from the event at The Charlestown Rathskeller will go to the Matunuck Oyster Bar Employee Relief Fund, which is overseen by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association.

Those who attended enjoyed live music, food and drinks. The event went from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m.

As of Sunday evening, over $3,000 was raised from donations and ticket sales, according to Fonnemann.

A separate GoFundMe fundraiser was also created to raise money for rebuilding efforts and to help the employees who have been affected.

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READ MORE: They need us: Fundraisers launched for Matunuck Oyster Bar

The Office of the State Fire Marshal said Thursday the fires cause appears to have been accidental, but an investigation remains underway.

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Elijah Travis Mackey was charged with first-degree murder after police claim he fatally shot a customer following a dispute over a drive-thru order at a Kissimmee, Fla., Checkers location on May 21

After the customer, Wesley Robertson, complained about his order and insulted Mackey, the Checkers employee shot him in the chest, police said

The actions of this one employee do not reflect the values of the thousands of our hardworking employees across the country," a spokesperson for Checkers said







A Checkers employee in Florida has been charged with first-degree murder after being accused of shooting a customer during a drive-thru altercation.

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The incident allegedly occurred on the evening of Wednesday, May 21, at a Checkers drive-thru in Kissimmee, Fla., after a customer, who police identified as Wesley Robertson, began complaining about his order, per an arrest affidavit viewed by PEOPLE.

At around 10:10 p.m. local time, Checkers employee Elijah Travis Mackey, 23, engaged in a verbal dispute with Robertson over his drive-thru order at the fast food spot, per the Osceola County Sheriff's Office (OCSO). The dispute later escalated, ending with Mackey allegedly fatally shooting Robertson.

An eyewitness told authorities that Robertson began complaining about his order to a female employee at the drive-thru food pickup window and requested to speak with a manager several times, per the affidavit.

While the customer was still at the window, a male Checkers employee, later identified as Mackey, came around the side of the restaurant and began arguing with Robertson, who then insulted him, calling him either a bitch or p----, according to the bystander.

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The employee then allegedly pulled a small handgun out of his waistband and shot the customer in the chest, authorities said.

Google Maps Checkers in Kissimmee, Fla. on West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway Checkers in Kissimmee, Fla. on West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway

A second eyewitness provided a similar account, stating that they saw Robertson ask employees to speak to the manager.

The customer was possibly asking for mayonnaise packets when Mackey came outside and stated, Oh, I am p----, and shot the customer in the chest, the witness told detectives.

Footage from the Checkers location shows Mackey climbing out of the drive-thru window and walking to the front of the business, where the victim was, according to the affidavit. Footage also showed Robertson falling to the ground.

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Robertson was subsequently transported to a nearby hospital, Osceola Regional Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries, police said.

Mackey, meanwhile, fled the scene on foot, according to both witnesses. Authorities later found him hiding under a stairwell at a nearby hotel.

As he was being handcuffed, Mackey allegedly told deputies, I have a gun on me, and a weapon was later recovered on his person, per the affidavit.

During his arrest, the Kissimmee native also appeared to inquire about Robertsons status, allegedly asking deputies, Is dude okay? several times, the affidavit said.

Osceola County Sheriff's Office Elijah Travis Mackey Elijah Travis Mackey

On Thursday, May 22, the day after the incident, the OCSO's Homicide Unit obtained an arrest warrant for Mackey.

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Mackey was subsequently charged with first-degree premeditated murder and booked into the Osceola County Jail. He then made his first appearance in court on Friday, May 23.

Mackey currently remains behind bars. It is not clear if he has legal representation to comment on his behalf.

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.

In a statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Checkers said, We are shocked and saddened by the incident that occurred last night at our restaurant in Kissimmee, Florida.

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The actions of this one employee do not reflect the values of the thousands of our hardworking employees across the country, the spokesperson continued. We are working closely with the police in their investigation, and we are sending our thoughts and prayers to the guest's family."

Read the original article on People
On Thursday, May 22, BofA Securities initiated coverage of Corporacion American Airports SA (NYSE:CAAP) and gave the stock a Buy rating with a price target of $24.70. The firms analyst highlighted various reasons for this positive stance. Key reasons include the companys plans for expansion and potential for growth in travel markets that are poised for recovery, especially Argentina.

Argentinas economy is expected to improve under President Javier Milei, which could lead to a favorable renegotiation of Corporacion American Airports SAs (NYSE:CAAP) airport concession in the country. This could possibly result in an increase in the companys Argentine concessions contractual internal rate of return from about 13% to 16.5%.

BofA Gives Buy Rating to Corporacion America Airports (CAAP)

An airline passenger going through the security process at an airport managed by the company.

Corporacion American Airports SA (NYSE:CAAP) also has strong growth plans, including notable expansions in Tuscany and Armenia, which are part of a strategic plan that is expected to help the company grow its operational footprint and revenue. BofA Securities believes that Corporacion American Airports SA (NYSE:CAAP) could win new airport concessions in Montenegro and Angola, which are seen as more likely opportunities. Brazil and Nigeria are also possible rewarding prospects but these markets could present more challenges.

Corporacion America Airports SA (NYSE:CAAP) is one of the worlds biggest private airport operators. The corporation acquires, develops, and operates airport concessions. It currently operates 53 airports across Latin America and Europe.

While we acknowledge the potential of CAAP as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CAAP and that has a 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 11 Stocks That Will Bounce Back According To Analysts and 11 Best Stocks Under $15 to Buy According to Hedge Funds.

Disclosure: None.
A massive wall of dust enshrouded the city of Chicago recently, forcing a ground stop at the Midwestern hubs airports and stunning the citys more than 2.6 million residents.

But, while sudden dust storms can be dangerous, the lesser known harms lie in the windswept particles themselves  with the Chicago dust storm likely to contain lead, farm chemicals and particles that aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma. Im sure people will have some health issues after it, said Karin Ardon-Dryer, an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, said of Saturdays event.

Carried by strong winds and an approaching thunderstorm, the ominous Illinois cloud brought near-zero visibility to highways in just a matter of minutes. People received emergency warnings on their phones from the local National Weather Service office. Local forecasters had anticipated the blowing dust days earlier.

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We definitely had awareness that there was a possibility of some blowing dust. But, the fact that it got into downtown Chicago is what really surprised us, Eric Lenning, the meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Services Chicago office, told The Independent.

Its kind of unprecedented. At least, in our generation, if not earlier, he said, noting that the Midway Airport had dropped to a quarter mile of visibility with a wind gust of 60 miles per hour.

A historic dust storm hit Illinois last weekend. The haboob may have sent lead, pesticides and other worrying toxins into downtown Chicago skies (NWS Chicago)

Haboobs, another term for intense dust storms, can occur anywhere in the U.S., but are most common in the Southwest. Dusty El Paso, Texas, has seen 10 just this year, according to Inside Climate News. So far 2025 is only trailing the Dust Bowl years of 1935 and 1936.

Last Saturdays storm started near Bloomington, Illinois, before traveling northeastward. It was the first such storm of this magnitude to hit the Windy City since the Dust Bowl, in the early-to-mid-1930s  the first in 91 years.

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With dust storms come particulate matter, known as PM.10 and PM2.5. PM2.5 are the same polluting particles in wildfire smoke, that have been tied to increased emergency department visits.

The storm caused near-zero visibility conditions on interstates in Indiana and Illinois. It also resulted in a ground stop at Chicago airports (INDOT/NWS Chicago/X)

In addition to the expected impacts on the respiratory system and for people with conditions like asthma, there are cardiovascular and pulmonary effects.

Like other blowing dust, the composition of the Illinois dust could include heavy metals. Lead exposure is another concern, according to U.C. Merced researcher Estrella Herrera. Exposure can result in reproductive issues, high blood pressure, hypertension, nerve disorders, muscle and joint pain, and memory and concentration problems in adults. In children, it can lead to hearing problems, slowed growth, headaches, learning and behavioral difficulties, lowered IQ, and damage to the brain and nervous system.

Theres lead. It looks like its everywhere in Chicago. So, that can be picked up and we can breathe it. It not only goes to the lungs but also goes to the  veins. It can travel the whole body, she said.

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Pesticides used in agricultural practices are also concerning. In 2019, there was a high complaint of the misuse of pesticides in Illinois, she noted. It decreased last year, but is still there.

This was an unprecedented event for downtown Chicago. The eastern U.S. and Midwest are generally not arid enough for these storms (AP)

Those pesticides, carried in the dust, could cause skin irritation, neurological and respiratory problems, and increase the risk of cancer and other chronic conditions.

The solution to reducing exposure lies at Illinois farms.

In a place like Illinois where the source of the dust is agricultural  trends in dust can be very strongly controlled by changing farming practices, Stuart Evans, an assistant professor at the University of Buffalo said. If you change how you till the soil or when you till the soil or whether you have a windbreak or whether you use a land cover to hold the soil down. There are lots of human choices that go into affecting how much dust there is in the eastern part of the U.S.

Theres lead. It looks like its everywhere in Chicago. So, that can be picked up and we can breathe it.

Estrella Herrera, a researcher at U.C. Merced

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But, farms arent the only way communities may be threatened.

Kevin Perry, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Utah affectionately known as Dr. Dust, knows that well. Hes experienced 10 dust storms on the western states Great Salt Lake, that he said felt like youre getting sandblasted.

Perrys studied the toxic dust coming from Utahs lakebed. Its full of cancer-causing arsenic, mercury, and a dozen other metals. Exposure can lead to a severe medical response, and people should stay inside if they can, he pointed out.

If those metals make it to the surrounding communities frequently and at high enough concentrations, then it could lead to a rise in the rate of certain types of cancer. Skin cancer, lung cancer, and bladder cancer are the most commonly associated with arsenic, Perry said.

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As the lake continues to dry up due to climate change, certain parts are getting even dustier. The frequency of local dust storms is expected to increase. The most recent storm was at the end of last month, according to ABC 4.

People living around Utahs Great Salt Lake frequently have to deal with toxic dust storms. They could become even more frequent due to climate change (Kevin Perry/The Independent)

Most of the time, people will notice a dust storm, but Id say a lot of the time that theyre completely unaware that dust events are happening, he added.

Climate change is making the droughts that can contribute to the formation of dust storms longer and more severe. Ardon-Dryer said modeling work shows theres a very strong link between dust storms and climate change, and this year is expected to be a particularly dry summer for the West.

Climate exchange has contributed to a process known as desertification, according to David Lerach, an associate professor at the University of Northern Colorado. Earths major drylands have been trending toward becoming even dryer.

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As a result, these regions are more prone to future dust storms, he noted. However, individual dust storms occur on relatively small scales and only when multiple ingredients line up, including strong wind events.

The future of dust in the U.S. remains unclear. What is certain, Merced assistant professor Yemi Adebiyi told The Independent, is that it can be everywhere. Dust travels across oceans and continents, reaching from China to the Pacific Northwest and from the Sahara Desert to Texas.

What is happening in one place has connections to what is happening everywhere else  even if you cant see it, he said.
CHICAGO  Chicago Public Schools is laying off over 500 tutors two weeks before the end of the school year, WBEZ reported.

In 2021, as part of its strategy to boost math and literacy test scores after students returned to school post-pandemic, the district hired tutors using $25 million in federal funding.

But CPS is facing a $529 million budget deficit and data that will soon be released shows students did not improve as much as the district hoped they would with the tutors.

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Now, over 530 literacy and math tutors received pink slips last week notifying them that their last day would be May 30.

This year, more than 200 schools had math and literacy tutors. Next year, only 55 middle schools will get math tutors.

The district says its refocusing the program in response to key lessons learned and to align with district resources.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
Beijing is supplying "special chemicals, gunpowder, and components" to 20 Russian military-industrial manufacturing facilities, head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service Oleh Ivashchenko said in an interview partially released on May 25.

"We have confirmed data on 20 Russian factories," told Ukrinform in a snippet of a yet-to-be-released interview.

China has strengthened ties with Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, becoming Moscow's leading supplier of dual-use goods that bolster Russia's defense industry.

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Ivashchenko told Ukrinform that as of early 2025, 80% of critical electronic components used in Russian drones were of Chinese origin. Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service has also recorded at least five instances of China providing equipment and spare parts to service Russia's military aviation industry.

While China has positioned itself as a potential mediator in the war, it has simultaneously criticized the U.S. and its allies for "exacerbating" the war by supplying weapons to Ukraine. NATO has labeled China a "decisive enabler" of Russia's aggression.

President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on April 17 that China is supplying weapons to the Russian military. His statement marks Kyiv's first confirmation that Beijing supports Russia's war effort by providing weapons.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow for Victory Day celebrations earlier this month, the two countries agreed to "strengthen coordination in order to decisively counter Washington's course of 'dual containment' of Russia and China."

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The two countries also vowed to "contribute to the establishment of peace in Ukraine," while addressing the "root causes" of the war  alluding to maximalist phrasing regularly used by Russia to justify its full-scale invasion.

Kyiv on April 22 presented Beijing with evidence that Chinese citizens and companies have participated in Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, which China dismissed as "groundless accusations and political manipulations."

Read also: Putin remains confident in Russias ultimate victory in Ukraine, US intelligence reports













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This is an adapted excerpt from the May 21 episode of All In with Chris Hayes.

Last Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would lift Israels blockade on Gaza and allow a basic amount of food for the population to ensure that a hunger crisis does not develop, though it seems a bit late for that. Food security experts warn that Gazans remain at critical risk of famine. Since March, an estimated 2 million Palestinians have been penned up behind a total Israeli blockade.

Netanyahu said this just hours after Israeli forces launched new extensive ground operations in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians have died in that offensive. On Wednesday, at least 82 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike, including several women and a week-old infant, according to Gazas Health Ministry and area hospitals. (The Israeli military has repeatedly said it does everything possible to limit civilian casualties in Gaza.)

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As the Israeli military carries out Netanyahus order to take full control of the region, residents of Khan Younis, Gazas second-largest city, were forcibly displaced. People of all ages filled the streets, weakened by starvation and malnutrition, leaving with whatever they could still carry.

Doctors Without Borders called Israels aid announcement a smokescreen, writing: The Israeli authorities decision to allow a ridiculously inadequate amount of aid into Gaza after months of an air-tight siege signals their intention to avoid the accusation of starving people in Gaza, while in fact keeping them barely surviving.

After days of delay, the United Nations confirmed aid deliveries were reaching warehouses inside Gaza, but officials said the shipment was only a fraction of what was needed. Experts say it would take at least 500 aid trucks a day to stave off total famine. Earlier this month, a U.N. study concluded that 1 in 5 Gazans face starvation.

As countries such as Canada, France and the United Kingdom speak out against the siege and blockade in Gaza, threatening concrete actions against Israel if it does not stop its new offensive, there has barely been a peep about it from the U.S. government.

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Donald Trump recently returned home from a Mideast tour that didnt include Israel. Administration insiders have told reporters that Trump is tired of the war and frustrated with Netanyahu, with one telling The Washington Post that Trumps people are letting Israel know, We will abandon you if you do not end this war.

Notwithstanding those reports, the United States seems pretty checked out on the largest current humanitarian crisis in the world today. The Trump administration has not publicly criticized Israels renewed offensive. And without action, as Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who is part of a small group of American politicians who have been openly calling for an end to the bombardment and an immediate flood of aid, has said, the U.S. is complicit in the ongoing starvation in Gaza.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
CHICAGO  The City of Chicago observed Memorial Day on Saturday during an annual Wreath Laying Ceremony at Daley Plaza and a subsequent parade along State Street.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois honored fallen service members and their loved ones during a ceremony that included Gold Star families and representatives of the U.S. Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.

How one Des Plaines man honors veterans despite terminal cancer diagnosis

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Our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters who served deserve our unending gratitude, the mayor said. A debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid.

Durbin said Memorial Day is the day we remember and honor the more than one million Americans who have given their lives in military service.

It is a time for reflection, for us to consider the enormity of their sacrifice, Durbin said.

Master Sgt. Adam Shaw, U.S. Army (retired), emceed the ceremony, while Maj. Deanna De Love, U.S. Army (retired), sang the national anthem and the 484th Army Band performed Taps.

The keynote address was delivered by Major General William J. Walker, U.S. Army (retired), a Chicago native whose decorated military and public service career spans more than 30 years. Walker, who made history as the 38th Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives and the first African American to hold the role, also served as grand marshal of the parade.

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Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines

Additionally, James Terry Blue Sr., a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was honored with this years Major General John A. Logan Patriot Award. The award is named after Logan, who was from southern Illinois and helped establish Memorial Day after the Civil War.

Also, two Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) students received the Cadets of the Year Award: C/LTC Ximena Torres of Farragut Career Academy IB World School and C/Capt. Andy Jara of Marine Leadership Academy.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
Journalist Stanislav Aseyev has drawn attention to the plight of civilians who have been held in Russian captivity for eight years, pointing out that not one of them was among those released during the recent thousand-for-thousand prisoner exchange.

Source: Stanislav Aseyev, a journalist and writer who was formerly held in the Izolyatsia prison in the temporarily occupied city of Donetsk, on Facebook

Quote: "The final stage of the large-scale prisoner exchange has taken place  and not one of the civilians who have been held for EIGHT years is among them. EIGHT YEARS. The list of hostages I handed to President Zelenskyy back in January 2020 has remained just that  a list."

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Details: Aseyev said most of these people are being held in Penal Colony No. 32, a strict regime facility in the Russian-occupied city of Makiivka, Donetsk Oblast, where they were transferred after being imprisoned in Izolyatsia and other detention facilities.

He pointed out that some of them had assisted Ukrainian intelligence services at a time when "most people didnt care about what was happening in Donbas".

Quote: "I don't know if there is anyone else in the 11-year history of this war who has been imprisoned longer. And I dont want to compare the suffering of prisoners  thats impossible from both an objective and a moral standpoint.

But the length of captivity is an objective measure, and if the state is bringing back civilians (and it is), it is completely unacceptable to ignore those who have been held the longest."

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Details: Asieiev also stressed that to Russia, these people mean nothing.

"These people in Penal Colony No. 32 mean nothing to Russia," he stated. "So the real question is  do they mean anything to their own state?"

Background:

On 25 May, Ukraine and Russia conducted the third phase of a thousand-for-thousand prisoner exchange. Another 303 Ukrainian defenders have returned home.

Colonel Denys "Redis" Prokopenko, Commander of the Azov National Guard Brigade, has stated that not a single Azov fighter was included in the recent three-day prisoner exchange with Russia. He said he does not believe the Ukrainian authorities are interested in bringing them back.

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Jonah Zuehls is exactly the kind of young person the United States government should be looking to put on its payroll  smart, ambitious, and inclined toward public service. And up until recently, thats exactly where he always thought he was going to land. Last summer, when the 21-year-old health science and molecular biology student at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay met virology researchers who had worked on a Covid vaccine, he was so inspired by how their work had helped humankind, he decided he wanted to follow in their footsteps. Over the winter break, Zuehls began lining up full-time contract opportunities at government-run labs in Maryland and Montana as an applicant to a prestigious National Institutes of Health postbaccalaureate program. He was excited to spend the next year or two serving the public. But not long after Jan. 20, when the Biden administration gave way to the Trump administration, recruitment for those positions was abruptly put on pause.

Zuehls initially regretted not having listened to the four professors who had advised him to simply apply straight to graduate school and pursue a Ph.D. But then he heard other students across the U.S. whod been accepted into those grad programs were suddenly having their offers rescinded too, after federal funding to their colleges was pulled. He reached out to two biotech companies to see if they had any open roles, only to learn they had either paused or delayed any hiring as they waited to learn the fate of their NIH grants. Suddenly, everywhere he looked, doors were slamming shut. I cant enter the private sector. I cant go to university. I cant do the postbac. What do I do? Zuehls says. Do you just go work at McDonalds?

Almost four months after Zuehls first offer was rescinded, he was able to accept an offer to work on HIV research at an NIH lab in Maryland, when recruitment for some of these programs partially resumed. But he remains shaken by the experience. More than anything, hes been trying to understand why the country so many young people want to serve no longer seems to place as much worth on that service. You go to school for a career where youre supposed to be helping people and then find its not valued, he says. Nothing about it makes sense.

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Interviews with 10 students and new graduates across the U.S. offer a glimpse of how theyve been grappling with the fallout from the Trump administrations unprecedented slashing of the federal government. Spearheaded by Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, the haphazard cuts to public agencies have resulted in more than 280,000 federal workers and contractors being laid off from 27 agencies, according to a tracking report by one outplacement firm. But the axe has also fallen on aspiring attorneys, scientists, data managers, and others who had federal internships canceled or offers of employment rescinded amid hiring freezes, leaving them stung and confused. As theyve scrambled to plot their next steps, many of these students have not only lost postgraduate opportunities, but their very faith in the public service as a viable career path.

Kristin Comrie, a 35-year-old completing her master of science degree in healthcare informatics at the University of Central Florida, says work in the public sector is obviously a lot less secure. Comrie was deeply frustrated when even her unpaid internship at the Department of Veterans Affairs was scrapped as of Jan. 21, just weeks before she was set to start. In a way, it was a valuable experience  but not in a positive way, because now I would think twice about joining the public sector, Comrie says. It just didnt even occur to me that something so sweeping like that could impact even an internship.

Prior to the DOGE cuts, it seemed more students were feeling drawn to government work. A report from May 2024 by Handshake, a recruiting platform for college students, found almost 7.5 percent of applications submitted by graduates through the platform were for government jobs, up two percent from the previous year. (In November 2024, 1.87 percent of the entire U.S. civilian workforce were federal government employees, per the Pew Research Center.) For three-quarters of all those surveyed, their main career concern was job security, a benefit often associated with government work. Im extremely thankful to be in a secure position where I dont have to worry about being laid off, one student who had landed an offer to work for a federal agency told the surveyors.

For Andrew Nettels, 25, a third-year law student at George Washington University, this promise of stability was a major reason he was eager to begin a Department of Justice role hed secured as part of the highly competitive Attorney Generals Honors Program  a job offer that was subsequently revoked when the program was canceled as part of the hiring freeze. I wasnt applying to a job, per se. I was applying for a vocation, Nettles says. I had the long-term in mind.

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The government is also desperately in need of younger workers like Nettels given that a significant portion of its employees is nearing retirement age. A January report from the Pew Research Center found that more than 28 percent of federal workers were over 55, compared to 23.6 percent of the overall workforce. Fewer than nine percent were under 30, compared with 22.7 percent of all workers. The government has a gray-hair problem, says Zachary McDaniel, a 30-year-old completing a masters in taxation law at the University of California, Irvine, who was due to begin a salaried graduate position hed secured at the Internal Revenue Service before it was abruptly canceled. You want the next generation of really, really smart, motivated people to be in there. You want to have the best and brightest. I think it truly is the governments loss that theyve essentially terminated an entire class.

The Biden administration had been taking steps to remedy the age demographics. In January 2023, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released guidance on growing the number of early-career programs in the federal government, with agencies instructed to increase their numbers of interns, fellows, apprentices, and early-career hires. The administration had wanted to hire at least 35,000 interns alone in 2023, and job postings on Handshake from federal employers subsequently jumped 22 percent from the previous year. OPM director Kiran Ahuja had said the recruiting efforts would allow federal agencies to boost their talent pipelines and better serve the American people, in part by better reflecting the age diversity of the country. (The comments by Ahuja, who subsequently announced she was stepping down from her role in May due to what an agency spokesperson said were health and family reasons, have since been scrubbed from the internet.)

Now, though, many federal agencies have disappeared from recruiting events on college campuses, according to Shawn VanDerziel, the executive director of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which represents 17,000 members who work in career services on campuses or who recruit new graduates. These career-guidance professionals are now advising students who might be thinking about federal work to wait until the government is more stable. Currently, its reputation as an employer is just not what it used to be, and it may not recover for some time to come, according to VanDerziel. The federal government will really need to be rethinking recruitment strategies whenever it is ready to bring in new recruits because of the impressions that this is leaving in the eyes of new graduates, he says. They are really going to need to plan carefully if they are going to appeal to Generation Z.

The perception that government work is generally more stable than the private sector was not the only material benefit attracting aspiring federal workers. The competitiveness of many graduate program roles and internships in the federal government meant they naturally bestowed a certain degree of prestige on young workers, opening doors that might eventually lead them to higher-paying roles in the private sector. Many interviewed by Rolling Stone said they also expected to develop significantly more experience in public service by virtue of being handed more to do than they would be in a corporate job. When you go into Big Law, youre not really given a lot of responsibility, and Im someone that does enjoy being given responsibility and starting to work right away, says Malen Nousari, a 29-year-old University of Miami law student set to graduate in May. So I knew that working at the IRS, not only would I feel good about the work Im doing, but I also would get the experience that Im looking for.

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The daughter of immigrants from Argentina, Nousari had welcomed the opportunity to give back to the country that had taken her family in. I was ecstatic. I mean, I cried, she says of learning in August that shed been accepted into a role as an attorney with the IRS in Fort Lauderdale. Well, I cried on both sides  when I got it and when I lost it.

Many of the students who spoke with Rolling Stone had similarly personal stories about why they wanted to enter the public sector. Neil Mahto, a 20-year-old sophomore at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, viewed the three-month paid internship hed secured at an NIH lab to research Alzheimers disease as a chance to combat the brain-related disorders that had affected his mother and grandmother. Angela Silva, a 34-year-old who graduated in December from the University of Floridas law school, came to appreciate the need for compassionate public servants during the lengthy period it took for her immigrant husband to win permanent residency. Another law student at the University of Oregon, who asked to remain anonymous so as not to jeopardize other government opportunities, was devastated when a paid internship offer from the Environmental Protection Agencys Office of Civil Rights was rescinded before the job began. Shed wanted to become an attorney since seeing the 2019 movie Dark Waters, which told the story of how a chemical manufacturer had dumped waste that contaminated communities in West Virginia. I felt like this was a long dream of mine, she says.

For Daniel Pintard, a biology and computer science student at Marymount University in Virginia, the opportunity to return this summer to a paid internship he completed last year at the National Library of Medicine was meant to be a homecoming of sorts. The 22-year-old couldnt recall another time hed found something so intellectually stimulating and rewarding  even comforting. It was really surprising to me that a government agency could feel like a place where theres a really strong sense of community and belonging  that you feel like youre kind of in the right place, Pintard said. To be a part of something thats bigger than you and that is very fundamentally important to the field that you really care about is one of the most satisfying feelings.

After finally learning their fates, though, Pintard and others who spoke with Rolling Stone said theyd felt a mix of feelings from disappointment to devastation, frustration to anxiety. More than anything was a sense of confusion about why the government would abandon so much talent. Ive talked about it with other law students, and everyones just in disbelief. They keep saying the same thing: It doesnt make sense, says Nousari, who adds that she needed time to grieve for her lost role. Anyone in these [graduate] programs is very qualified, at the top of the class, and is choosing to work. Youd think youd want more of those people in government. I think jaded is the sense Ive had talking to friends.

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On a practical level, the cancellations and rescissions have affected students in different ways. Some had structured their course schedules in their final semesters under the assumption that their job search was over. (Being thrown back into the job search, its been quite difficult to balance that, says Nettels, the George Washington University student.) Others had already graduated  like Silva in Florida, who was studying for the bar exam when she learned her role at the IRS was gone  meaning they no longer had access to their schools recruiting resources. It was like a double blow, Silva says. I lost my dream job, and now Im on my own trying to find new employment.

The news was particularly painful for Silva because shed turned down another position to accept the government role. I thought the IRS was more permanent, that its a safer position, Silva said. Joke was on me. (Silva ultimately was able to return to the position she had turned down at the University of Floridas Low Income Taxpayer Clinic.)



To try to find their way out of the mess, students have been frantically applying for other opportunities and reaching out to their college and professional networks. Many have shared candid posts on LinkedIn, some of which went viral and gave rise to potential leads. Nettels created a group chat for more than 100 other law students whod lost roles at the DOJ where they could share tips and strategize. He, like others, was also supported by trade groups, college career advisors, companies, and law firms that rallied to assist the affected students and steer them into new roles. Many of those who spoke with Rolling Stone had successfully found new opportunities, but some were still looking. Zuehls, the young scientist in Wisconsin, says hes been considering leaving the U.S. altogether to pursue a Ph.D. in Canada or Europe  somewhere he can feel more confident that the government wouldnt suddenly pull funding based on a whim or grievance.

All this instability has also shaken the confidence of graduates who have recently begun their hard-won government roles, only to find themselves now eyeing the exits. One 32-year-old attorney at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss a job she only began at the end of last year, described how she had gladly signed a contract that pledged her to three years of work with the agency, because shed fully expected to work there for twice as long. But confronted with cuts spearheaded by Musk, who has demonized workers like her, shes now considering accepting a package being offered as part of a second round of buyouts  a development she calls heartbreaking. She explains, Not to be dramatic, but I like this job and I dont want to quit. But things dont seem to be getting any better; in fact, they seem to be getting a lot worse.

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Im really struggling to find the word, because unprecedented just doesnt feel right, she adds when asked what the last few months have been like. It feels disorienting, unsettling, destabilizing, and just shocking. I feel frozen, and I think thats the point. Its hard to get your bearings.

While none of the students who spoke with Rolling Stone said they had voted for Trump, they described conversations with friends and loved ones who had done so and who were shocked to hear how they had been affected. Mahto, the Johns Hopkins student, says some of his roommates had voted for Trump and were now regretting their choice, while Pintard, the Marymount student, says a friend who had opted not to vote has since apologized for how his apathy led to Pintards predicament. Zuehls says hes depressed that some in his extended family who support Trump cant seem to see how the presidents actions had so profoundly hurt him.

What each student has been left with is a clear and direct understanding of just how much a persons fate can be affected by a single election. When you vote, you dont really understand how much of your life is impacted by politics, says the unnamed Oregon law student. We dont understand that everything that we have around us is politics.

McDaniel, the UC Irvine student, in particular, has a very strong sense of the road not taken. He and his girlfriend had already traveled to Salt Lake City to inspect potential apartments in anticipation of the IRS position hed expected to start there in June. He was looking forward to being closer to family and ski resorts. Instead, hes off to start a role hes managed to find in the private sector in San Jose.

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Still, as he read reports of senior IRS officials resigning in protest over a deal to share migrants data with federal immigration authorities, McDaniel couldnt help thinking he had dodged a bullet. Hed always assumed that a public sector role wouldnt require someone to compromise their values in a way one might have to in private industry, but that no longer seemed true. He had wanted to serve the public, not a president, but an election had changed everything. Its a Sliding Doors moment for the U.S., he says. Who knows what would have been different?

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)  Despite chilly temperatures and high winds near Lake Ontario, many folks from all across the region went to Ontario Beach Park in Charlotte to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend.

For the majority of the afternoon, all gazebos on the east side of the park were occupied with friends and families having cookouts, celebrations, and other get-togethers.

Kneiary Peterson, who lives in Rochester, was at the park with many friends and family members celebrating the holiday. She said theyve come together on Memorial Day weekend at the park for the past five years.

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Were having a cookout and trying to spend some time together, Peterson said. We always try to do this to keep the family close and keep the spirits high.

Memorial Day 2025: Parades and Ceremonies around Rochester

Oliver Van Loon visited the park with his friends late Saturday afternoon, maximizing their extra time together.

Weve just been wandering around Irondequoit, having a blast. Also, with Memorial Day on Monday, thinking about the soldiers that weve lost, Van Loon said.

Its only the beginning of a long weekend for many.

Sergeant Nick Ventrella with the Town of Gates Police Department shared a few safety and security tips for motorists and park visitors to keep in mind.

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Well see a lot more foot traffic walking down the roadways and side streets due to people gathering, Ventrella said. Its important for people to remember to slow down, and if theyve been drinking or using any kind of other drugs or alcohol, to remember to find a safe way home.

The Town of Gates Police Department and many other law enforcement agencies plan to have increased patrols due to the expected influx of people on roadways and sidewalks across the region.

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Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FCPT) has announced the acquisition of four Christian Brothers Automotive sites for $16.9 million via a sale-leaseback transaction. The properties are located across Ohio, Florida, and Nebraska and positioned in high-visibility retail corridors with favourable demographic profiles.

Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (FCPT) Expands Portfolio with $16.9M Auto Property Deal

A REIT Retail company representative discussing the portfolio growth with a tenant.

The California-based company, Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FCPT) is a real estate investment trust (REIT), engaged in the ownership and acquisition of high-quality, net-leased restaurant and retail properties.

The companys newly acquired sites are backed by a long-term lease from Christian Brothers Automotives corporate parent, which ensures predictable cash flows. The deal was closed at a capitalization rate in line with Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FCPT)s historical benchmarks, indicating a consistency in investment discipline amid tightening market conditions.

Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FCPT) does not issue formal acquisition guidance. However, the trust has previously indicated it remains committed to disciplined growth. The companys Q1 2025 earnings call has expressed concerns regarding the sustainability of high acquisition volumes because of elevated competition alongside strict quality filters.

Even so, with a portfolio now exceeding 1,000 properties, Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FCPT) continues to establish a strong footprint across high-demand U.S. retail sectors. From an equity standpoint, UBS analyst Michael Goldsmith reaffirmed a Buy rating for the company a few days before the acquisition, although lowering the price target to $30 from $33.

While we acknowledge the potential of FCPT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FCPT and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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DENVER (KDVR)  With Memorial Day considered the unofficial kick-off to summer, people will soon start to enjoy outdoor activities around the state, like rafting or tubing down the states many rivers. Since accidents happen, teams around the state are standing by, ready to save lives.

Things to do around Denver during Memorial Day Weekend

Colorado Search and Rescue is a volunteer organization that connects all individual search and rescue teams around the state, providing resources and education to keep you safe on the water.

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We call this the starting gates to the summer, said Nicole Lathrop with Chaffee County Search and Rescue North.

Memorial Day through Labor Day is the busiest time of the year for her team. Through help from CSAR, Lathrop said theyre able to stay ready with extra resources at their disposal.

Air resources or more team members for looking for someone whos lost, said Dawn Wilson with CSAR.

Anything a search and rescue team could need.

Lathrop said they encourage anyone heading out on the rivers to bring proper safety gear and consider hiring a guide if youre new to the area.

They will have somebody go down the river to show you where there are hazards like strainers or really bad rapids that maybe youre not comfortable with yet, she said.

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When accidents do happen, they have plenty of tools at their disposal to jump into action.

You can see the boat behind me, we have plenty of rope gear and all that, said Lathrop.

Including a new tool from CSAR, a video series called Trailblazers and Lifesavers.

To help people learn the safety of rock climbing or swift water without boring them or throwing it in their face, said Wilson.

Survey: Fort Logan among nations top Memorial Day burial sites

Essential education that they hope will prevent accidents before they even happen, and make that busy season a little less busy.

We want to put ourselves out of business, said Wilson.

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You can find those videos on CSARs social media pages and website. Because they are volunteer-based, Lathrop also encourages anyone wanting to help out to check out volunteer opportunities with their local search and rescue teams.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
COMANCHE COUNTY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  Two suspects involved in the investigation of a person on fire were arrested in Maine and taken to the Comanche County Jail on charges of murder and abuse of a corpse.

The Texas Rangers have reported that on May 15, 2025, the body of 41-year-old Marcio Maridell Anderson from Copperas Cove, Texas, was discovered in Comanche County. The Comanche County Sheriffs Office initially stated that the case involved a person on fire, prompting a multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency investigation.

Person on fire in Comanche County under investigation by Texas Rangers

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The Texas Rangers have identified two suspects from Killeen, Texas: 21-year-old Karina Gonzales Barreto and 21-year-old Avery Eugene Stemmons. The York Police Department in Maine was informed that Barreto and Stemmons might be in their jurisdiction. On May 20, while responding to a call, officers spotted two individuals on York Street who matched the descriptions of the suspects.

Courtesy of the York Police Department

Officers stopped and identified the suspects in the murder case, taking them into custody without incident. According to the York Police Department, officers recovered a firearm believed to have been involved in the murder.

US Marshals and Wells PD assisted on the scene with securing the suspects and evidence related to the crime of murder in Texas. The warrants were confirmed with Texas for Murder, Arson, and Abuse of a Corpse, and the suspects were placed into custody. Both suspects were transported to the York Police Station for processing and evidence collection before being transported to the York County Jail in Alfred as Fugitives from Justice, the York Police Department shared online.

Barreto and Stemmons were booked into the Comanche County Jail on May 22, facing charges of murder and abuse of a corpse without legal authority. The investigation is still ongoing.

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WEST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)  The West Haven Veterans Council, the citys Vietnam Veteran members and community leaders hosted a walk of honor ceremony to recognize and remember the citys veterans at Bradley Point Park on Saturday.

The event featured a flag raising, a wreath laying ceremony and 72 bricks were dedicated to West Haven veterans.

According to the city, more than 3,000 bricks were already installed to honor veterans that are living and deceased.

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This ceremony marks Phase 17 of the Brick Veterans Walk of Honor. The Veterans Council has been hosting annual campaigns to sell the bricks and dedicate them to the veterans since November 2006.

The bricks cost $75 and have charcoal lettering for personalized messages.

The Brick Veterans Walk of Honor has become one way for the community to show their appreciation and recognize those who served. It has also served as a reminder for the community to remember veterans and their sacrifices.

Its very important people take freedom for granted far too often and it reminds us of the sacrifices that Americans have always made and that people take things like this for granted too much and your freedom can be taken away, said Michael Dillman, a West Haven Veteran.

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Veterans Brick Campaign applications for 2026 are pending. For more information, you can reach out to the West Haven Mayors Office at 203-937-3510.

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All over the world, parcels of wild land have been set aside as sanctuaries for plants and animals and for people to enjoy nature. But even if that land remains untouched, changes to the developed areas around it can damage the ecosystem.

Supporters of a wildlife refuge in Portland, Oregon, are facing threats on both sides as they fight to preserve the hard-won wetland habitat from development that endangers their beloved birds, Willamette Week reported.

What's happening?

The Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, a 160-acre urban wetland, is a success story for conservation. Once a landfill known as the Sellwood Dump, it is now fully restored and boasts more than 100 species of birds (including bald eagles and other raptors), a number of mammals, and about 350 species of plants. It is a popular spot for birdwatchers.

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Unfortunately, two neighboring building projects could have potentially serious effects on the wildlife.

On the west of the refuge, at Oaks Amusement Park, a new drop tower ride has been approved that would tower over all surrounding structures at 135 feet, more than triple the previous zoning limit.

Meanwhile, on the east of the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, a seven-story, 243-unit apartment building called Sellwood Bluff has been proposed.

Why are these construction projects important?

The Oaks Amusement Park drop tower will include bright lights that could disturb the neighborhood. Worse, there is debate over whether its lights are likely to confuse migrating birds, especially at night. A biologist hired by the park says they won't. Mary Coolidge, campaign coordinator at Bird Alliance of Oregon, however, is "baffled" that the plan was approved and has major concerns about its effect on the birds, per Willamette Week.

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As for Sellwood Bluff, opponents note that the building will be far beyond the scale of anything else in the area. It, too, will be a problem for birds.

"Given that they're sitting next to a 160-acre wildlife refuge, it's inconceivable there wouldn't be bird strikes," said Damin Tarlow, principal for Trammell Crow Company in Portland, the company behind the project, per Willamette Week. "That's a major, major concern."

Though both projects are outside the geographical boundaries of the wildlife refuge, they could have a dramatic effect on the bird populations there, which could have knock-on effects on the whole ecosystem.

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What's being done about these changes?

Tarlow suggested investing in anti-bird-strike glass windows for Sellwood Bluff, and the Oaks Amusement Park's current lighting design is a toned-down version of its original plan.

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But defenders of the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge are still pushing for more bird-friendly designs. "Anything that affects Oaks Bottom," said Marianne Nelson, a member of the steering committee for Friends of Oaks Bottom, per Willamette Week, "we have our antennae up."

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A remote Indigenous community in Western Australia is in need of support after a series of floods has jeopardized reliable access to food and services, according to the country's ABC News.

What's happening?

In March 2024, a small party of Pila Nguru  also known in English as the Spinifex People  was en route from Kalgoorlie to their home in Tjuntjuntjara, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was meant to be a 10-hour drive, but roughly halfway in, they were struck by massive rains. This flooded the road and left them stuck for several days while their community feared for their safety.

Jon Lark, chief executive of the Paupiyala Tjarutja Aboriginal Corporation, which manages the Tjuntjuntjara community, told The Guardian at the time, "... they are elders and artists, and their family is very anxious to hear from them."

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The group was eventually rescued by helicopter, but the roads remained unusable for the next six months. The only alternate route is longer, and deliveries have consistently gotten stuck on the primary road, requiring their own rescue and repair. On one particular day, ABC reported back in October, five trucks were stranded due to these conditions.

It's an example that demonstrates the vulnerability of this remote Indigenous community  and so many other marginalized communities globally  to extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent and destructive as a result of rising temperatures.

Perhaps especially frustrating is that the flooding in Tjuntjuntjara is likely exacerbated by atmospheric pollution generated elsewhere.

Why is this concerning?

In 2000, the Spinifex People were the first group to obtain Native Title Determination in Western Australia under the Native Title Act of 1993, granting them rights to around 55,000 square kilometres  around 5.5 million hectares. But while their land rights have been secured for the past 25 years, consistent access to food and services has become unstable, in large part due to the impacts of severe floods.

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Unprecedented flooding in the region has caused the residents of Tjuntjuntjara to face a lack of resources, as deliveries are obstructed. They have also seen dramatic surges in food prices when goods are able to get through, as costs have increased due to difficult transport.

"We know that remote First Nations communities are vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, making them disproportionately impacted by food insecurity," a government spokesperson said, per ABC News.

Floodwaters have also cut off vital services to Tjuntjuntjara, such as law enforcement, plumbing repairs, and heating/ventilation/air conditioning work. These sorts of challenges to access all around the world could become further pronounced as extreme temperatures and weather heighten the potential for conflict, compromise water sources, and make functional HVAC systems key to comfort and health.

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What can be done about Indigenous food security?

The Australian federal government has pledged to subsidize 30 key products starting in July, according to ABC News. The effort is part of a 10-year strategy to improve food security for remote Aboriginal populations across the country.

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Lark told ABC News, "We can only hope that the  plans that we're implementing are going to have success."

The initiative also aims to build a nutrition workforce in vulnerable areas by training local staff. This strategy includes a plan to create dedicated governance, training, and support for remote stores. And it highlights the importance of investing in community preparedness worldwide, with increasingly more neighborhoods facing crop loss, food insecurity, impaired travel routes, and weakened infrastructure due to intensifying heat and floods.

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Warning that the absence of regulation has created a dangerous digital environment for the countrys youth, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling on Congress to take action on social media safeguards for children.

His remarks come as lawmakers work to push forward President Donald Trumps megabill  a sweeping legislative package with implications for immigration, defense and health care  but with limited attention to online safety or tech regulation.

It's the equivalent of putting our kids in cars with no seat belts, with no airbags, and having them drive on roads with no speed limits and no traffic lights, said Murthy, who served under former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press that aired on Sunday. And that is just morally unacceptable. I think Congress has so far failed in its responsibility to protect our kids.

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Efforts to establish rules for platforms popular among young people, like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, have long stalled amid industry lobbying and political gridlock.

A law requiring TikTok to sever ties with its Chinese-owned parent company or be banned in the United States took effect in January. However, Trump signed an executive order upon his return to office that delayed the laws enforcement by 75 days and granted the app a second reprieve last month. The president has praised the app for engaging young people with his presidential campaign.

Murthy raised concerns about the effect of technology on adolescent mental health, citing escalating loneliness, disappearing in-person friendships and a culture of self-comparison online.

For a solution, Murthy called on Congress to implement real safety standards for social media platforms, including issuing warning labels for them so that parents and kids are aware of the risks. Murthy also stressed the importance of increasing data transparency requirements for platforms, comparing the measure to the historical precedent of auto safety laws.

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Researchers routinely say they can't get the full data about the impact of these platforms on our kids' health from the companies, Murthy said. But just like we did for cars a few decades ago, we'll be putting safety standards that got us seat belts, airbags, crash testing and those have reduced the number of deaths.

Murthy recommended that parents wait until their children are at least in middle school before allowing them to have social media accounts. For children already using the platforms, he advised parents to establish tech-free zones in their households.

But it's not too late, Murthy said, referring to Congress. They need to step up and act now.
Rockville General Hospital is one of three hospitals in Connecticut owned by Prospect Medical Holdings. (Photo by Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror)

Connecticut officials reached a settlement with Prospect Medical Holdings clearing a path for the operator to permanently shutter all services aside from the emergency room and behavioral health at Rockville General Hospital in Vernon, according to an agreement published on May 23.

Rockville is one of three hospitals in Connecticut owned by Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy in January.

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The settlement signed on Friday between Prospect and the state of Connecticut concludes an ongoing state investigation into unauthorized service cuts at Rockville launched in October of last year. Prospect agreed that Connecticut will have a $300,000 claim included in the bankruptcy case as a result of the termination of services, subject to approval by the court.

The terms require Prospect to maintain emergency services at Rockville for three years and keep existing inpatient behavioral health services at or within 30 miles of their current location on the RGH campus. However, it doesnt require the operator to reopen services that were cut without state permission.

The agreement also grants Prospect permission from the states Office of Health Strategy, or OHS, to terminate Rockvilles status as a full-service acute care hospital and convert it into a satellite campus of Manchester Memorial Hospital, located 20 minutes away. Prospect must now also obtain permission for the consolidation from the Department of Public Health, which oversees hospital licensing, Wendy Fuchs, a spokesperson for OHS confirmed.

A spokesperson for the Department of Public Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday.

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In a Friday press release, OHS Commissioner Deidre Gifford said the agreement protects critical resources for patients and families in the area.

The agreement also holds the Prospect applicants accountable to the community, requiring public notice of past terminations and development of a strategic plan for the consolidated hospital. The plan must be developed with community input and presented to the community in a public forum, Giffords statement read.

The agreement requires Prospect to announce the consolidation of Rockville with Manchester Memorial publicly, create an interim strategic plan for services at Rockville and hold a community forum within 60 days.

Spokespeople with Prospect Medical Holdings and Eastern Connecticut Health Network, which owns Rockville General and Manchester Memorial, did not respond to a request for comment.

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In March, Suzanne Koenig, a bankruptcy-court appointed patient care ombuds reported that, during a visit to Rockville General, she found that surgical services, as well as the intensive care and medical-surgical units at the hospital had remained closed since March 2020. The company did not receive state permission to permanently close any of those services in advance of doing so.

State law defines a termination of services as the cessation of any services for a period greater than one hundred eighty days. Termination of services by a hospital without state approval can result in civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day.

The unauthorized cuts were the subject of an October 2023 investigation by the Connecticut Mirror.

When Prospect filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, state officials offered assurances that its three Connecticut hospitals would remain open and operating.

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Some people think bankruptcy means the lights go out and the partys over. Thats not true at all. These hospitals are very successful, Lamont said during a press conference in the days following the bankruptcy announcement.

Although Rockville General will technically remain operational, it will no longer be a stand-alone, full-service acute care hospital.

A spokesperson for Lamont did not return a request for comment.

Rep. Tammy Nuccio, R-Tolland, whose district contains Rockville General Hospital, said Friday that the state had failed her residents.

Profit over people. Thats what I think weve come to expect here unfortunately from OHS and the state when it comes to health care for residents that are not in large cities, Nuccio said.

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The agreement with the state will be binding for any future buyers of Prospects Connecticut hospitals.

Yale New Haven Health first reached a tentative agreement to purchase the three facilities from Prospect for $435 million in 2022. But the deal has been mired in complications since then, including lawsuits and, most recently, Prospects bankruptcy. In February, Yale said it would be impossible to close the deal.

An auction process for the Prospect-owned hospitals will take place through bankruptcy court.

In the states Friday announcement, OHS said the process is ongoing. In court documents, the sale hearing was tentatively scheduled for June 5, but no notice of hearing has been officially posted and spokespeople for Prospect and their lawyers have not responded to multiple requests regarding the auction timeline.

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This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Thanks to a recent blizzard of executive orders and late-night congressional maneuvers , the nations public lands have become the latest target in the giant sucking vortex of current American politics. The current administration is proposing that we the people sign away our invaluable citizen estate, ostensibly to create jobs, fuel prosperity, and significantly reduce our reliance on foreign nations. Before we do, its important to calculate the true cost of this massive land grab.

The federal government manages natural resources on the public lands across the nation as a kind of commons on behalf of all Americans. So regardless of where you live, you are part-owner of 640 million acres  roughly 28% of the country  protected as public lands . The vast majority of these holdings (about 95%) are managed by the Big Four agencies: the Bureau of Land Management (245 million acres), the U.S. Forest Service (193 million acres), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (95 million acres), and the National Park Service (85 million acres).

The evolution of this vast, shared domain commenced in the wake of the American Revolution, when the new nations territorial appetite proved insatiable. After just 70 years, the continental outline of the United States looked as it does today. For this ever-ambitious republic, the key to extending American sovereignty from sea to shining sea was control over the land itself.

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Read more: Contributor: Will Native tribes secure Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument?

To transfer public lands into private hands efficiently, Congress passed a series of laws : the Homestead Act, the General Mining Act, the Desert Land Act and the Timber and Stone Act, for example. While these efforts unleashed a white tide of settlement on federal and unprotected Native lands, privatization also wreaked ecological havoc.

Historian Vernon Parrington called this giveaway the Great Barbecue. Congress had rich gifts to bestow, he argued, in lands, tariffs, subsidies, favors of all sorts; and when influential citizens made their wishes known to the reigning statesmen, the sympathetic politicians were quick to turn the government into the fairy godmother the voters wanted it to be.

After the Civil War, the federal government continued to promote Western settlement and resource extraction with little oversight or regulation. But the commodification of the nations beavers, bison, whales, old-growth forests, salmon, elk, grizzlies, wolves and agricultural lands to supply an insatiable global market finally prompted a former Interior Department secretary to lament that Americans were a spendthrift people recklessly wasting [their] heritage and saddled with a government careless of the future.

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Read more: Trump downsized national monuments. Biden restored them. Project 2025 calls for reductions again

Federal management of the public lands thus came about as a consequence of the relentless pursuit of wealth that devastated so many ancient American ecosystems . As early scientist George Perkins Marsh argued, Man is everywhere a disturbing agent. Wherever he plants his foot, the harmonies of nature are turned to discords.

By 1900, the myth of inexhaustibly gave way to the reality of diminished forests, waterways and wildlife populations. Unfettered capitalism, it turned out, caused real environmental harm.

At this critical juncture, Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as the nations 26th president. An early and avid advocate for protecting wild places and wildlife, Roosevelt embraced the Progressive idea that the federal government was the best steward of the nations natural resources and the best guardian against their rampant capitalist exploitation. His setting aside of Americas public lands adhered to the philosophy of  the greatest good of the greatest number .

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Read more: Confusion clouds the fate of two new California monuments

To manage the growing federal wildlife reserve system, Roosevelt consolidated several agencies into the Bureau of Biological Survey in 1905, which merged into the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1940. Also in 1905, Roosevelt transferred the countrys forest reserves into the newly minted Forest Service. Altogether, during his tenure in the White House, Roosevelt set aside nearly 230 million acres as national parks and monuments, bird and game preserves, and national forests. As the public's lands.

We are not building this country of ours for a day, he avowed. It is to last through the ages.

By 1916, the nations growing national parks system  aka Americas best idea  got its own management agency, the National Park Service, to control poaching and vandalism. And in 1934, during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, as homesteaders busted out, the federal government began to sunset the program by withdrawing land from the public domain and consolidating it, in 1946, under the Bureau of Land Management.

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The truth is that private resource users had proved poor stewards of the nation's grazing lands, forests, rivers and open spaces. The price for their economic success was, too often, ecological ruin. And because wilderness, parks, monuments, preserves, habitats, estuaries and ecosystems exist within a political system that enshrines private property and landholder rights, environmental protection needed both law and land to succeed. The public's lands had to be managed for the people. All the people.

Read more: Treasured California dairies to close. Point Reyes locals say its conservation gone mad

One concept essential to understanding our public lands is this: Designations are not created from federally seized private lands. When a president establishes a national monument or Congress classifies an area as wilderness, these actions only change management practices on already existing federal lands. This is perhaps the most common misconception and one that erroneously fuels opposition .

Each public lands designation carries with it unique management protocols. Understanding how restrictive the regulations are (or are not) provides insight into their role and function. Most prioritize multiple use  the greatest good for the greatest number  and even the most limiting, such as wilderness or national park policies, still allow for camping, hunting, fishing and, in some limited cases, grazing and even mining.

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The Trump administrations desire to sell off public lands and reduce national monuments echo an earlier Sagebrush Rebellion ideology: If the federal government relinquishes its control over the public domain, state and local economies will flourish. According to such logic, states lose revenue because they can neither tax nor sell these acres. More significantly, divesting the federal government of its public lands would remove protections against exploitation. Think drill, baby, drill. And mine everywhere.

Read more: Love stories, rock slides, 50 pounds of dirty frankfurters. Yosemite post office, now 100, has seen it all

Here in the 21st century, we cannot cling to unregulated 19th century economies without risking the ecological destruction that accompanies them. Scientists have coined the term "Anthropocene" to describe the time period, roughly since the Industrial Revolution, when human activities have increasingly defined the physical environments of the Earth. Even now, at the vanguard of climate change on a planet whipsawed by increasingly violent and destructive environmental crises, public lands hold the extraordinary promise of modeling a sustainable future for the nation and the world.

The quintessential Western writer Wallace Stegner calls humans the most efficient and ruthless environment-busters in history. But he also marveled at our capacity to save what [we] might destroy. Our parks, monuments, seashores, battlefields, forests, preserves and open ranges are not partisan. They are fundamentally American.

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For Stegner, for all of us, the public lands  our lands  are truly the nations geography of hope.

Sara Dant, author of Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West," is an award-winning historian and professor emeritus at Utahs Weber State University.



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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
May 25The Albuquerque City Council approved a pilot program to give police officers gas procurement cards  a move they hope could improve emergency response times for residents west of the Rio Grande.

The program aims to lessen the burden on officers crossing the river and facing traffic and potentially responding slowly to calls because they were getting gas at city fueling stations that are few and far between. Councilor Louie Sanchez, a former police officer, sponsored the resolution.

He said the West Side, which includes his district, lacks facilities for police officers to fill up at city fueling stations.

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"What (police officers) told me is that if they have a person that's in custody in their car and they're running low on fuel, now what?" said Sanchez, who's also running for mayor. "Now they have to deal with it."

According to data provided alongside the city's 2026 proposed budget, Albuquerque Police Department officers have taken about 9 minutes and 10 seconds on average to respond to the most serious calls over the last year. For lower-priority calls, the response times average between 14 and 21 minutes.

"They're not answering calls while they're fueling up," said Councilor Dan Lewis, who represents the northwest corner of the city. "And if they did answer a call, or did get a call, it'd be at least a 15-20 minute drive to get back over to their area."

Information presented alongside the resolution shows that there are five fueling stations in the city: one near the Big I, one just north of Downtown, one by the Eastside Animal Shelter, one at the Albuquerque International Sunport and one at the Double Eagle II Airport.

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The Northwest Area Command Police Substation at 10401 Cibola Loop NW is several miles from all five locations.

The resolution passed with unanimous support on Monday, but only received partial support and some pushback from the APD Chief Harold Medina. Medina worried that gas cards could be misused and asked the council to limit the scope of the pilot program so that few officers would have access to the gas cards.

"Our biggest concern is we don't have a system that tracks the card," Medina said.

Medina also added that the city had a similar program in the 1990s but had discontinued it at the turn of the century. He said it was canceled because officers put high-grade fuel in their cars, raising costs.

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An APD spokesperson also told the Journal that Medina would've preferred to have time to work out vehicle and fuel accountability issues before the resolution passed, but said the department will make it work. The council was unmoved by Medina's critique.

"There's no doubt that it keeps our officers closer within the district responding to calls," Lewis said. "If all the chief could come up with is that there's risk involved  I don't even want to entertain that argument."

The program will last for 12 months and is set to begin in late May or June. During that timeframe, gas cards for private stations would be given out to officers in the southwest and northwest command areas, which cover everything west of the Rio Grande.

An APD spokesperson said the department did not yet have data about how many officers would be eligible for the pilot program.

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The resolution also calls on APD to provide the council with quarterly reports on the plan's efficacy and a full evaluation at the end of the pilot period. APD and the city's Finance Department are responsible for establishing guidelines and monitoring the program.

The council also amended the resolution, calling on the administration to draft a report analyzing the costs and benefits of a fueling station in the northwest corner of Albuquerque.

One question the reports may answer is if the program raises the city's fuel purchasing costs. A city spokesperson said that, with hundreds of police cars, buses and fleet vehicles, the city can negotiate a lower price for fuel than the average consumer. But a policy analysis for Sanchez downplayed the possibility of that, saying the cards were likely to be used in rare situations on an as-needed basis.

"We all fuel in our neighborhoods," Sanchez said. "Why can't the officers fuel in their neighborhoods?"
Three years after suing to block Microsoft from buying one of the biggest names in video games, the U.S. government is finally giving up.

Most Read from Fast Company



The Federal Trade Commission announced plans Thursday to drop a Biden-era case against Microsoft over its $69 billion acquisition of game-maker Activision Blizzard, a decision the regulator said now best serves the public interest.

In 2022, the FTC first announced that it would try to kill Microsofts planned acquisition of the gaming giant, which makes hit games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. The following year, after the FTC failed to secure a preliminary injunction to stop it, Microsoft actually finalized the massive deal, but the regulator vowed to continue appealing that decision.

Earlier this month, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower courts order denying the injunction, ruling that the FTCs claims that the deal would limit competition in the gaming industry were weak. The acquisition was destined for intense scrutiny from day one, both for its size and its potential to totally reshape the landscape for one of techs hottest sectors.

Microsoft swooped in during turbulent times

When Microsoft announced its plan to buy Activision Blizzard in January 2022, the smaller company had been rocked by allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. The claims relating to harassment, which Activision Blizzard strongly denied, were never substantiated and were subsequently withdrawn by Californias Civil Rights Department. The lawsuit was settled in December 2023. Longtime Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick left the company in 2023 after the Microsoft deal was completed

Microsoft also had to clear major regulatory hurdles in the U.K., resolving antitrust concerns there over its cloud gaming services before getting the green light to close the deal. That bit of regulatory maneuvering resulted in an unusual arrangement to offload cloud streaming rights for its games to competitor Ubisoft in order to appease the Competition and Markets Authority, the U.K.s powerful trust buster. (This portion of the deal isnt great news for anyone whos wrestled with Ubisofts awkward online gaming service over the years.)

A boost to Microsofts online gaming road map

By bringing Activision Blizzard under its wing, Microsoft can also bring the companys many hit titles into the popular Xbox Game Pass service, which gives players unlimited access to games for a monthly subscription fee.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  The Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office made 43 arrests on Thursday in what was a two-day operation to remove illicit drugs and illegal firearms from the streets of Tampa.

Over the course of the operation, deputies conducted 188 traffic stops and recovered a wide variety of narcotics, including fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA.

Among the items seized were:

130.6 grams of fentanyl

3.3 grams of cocaine

79.1 grams of cannabis

1 gram of MDMA

2.1 grams of oxycodone pills

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Sheriff Chad Chronister emphasized the departments tireless commitment to proactively upholding and enforcing the law.

Credit: Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office

Our mission is simpleprotect the people of Hillsborough County, said Sheriff Chronister. When individuals threaten the safety of our community through reckless driving, gun crimes, or the trafficking of deadly narcotics like fentanyl, our deputies act swiftly and decisively. These operations send a clear message: safety in our neighborhoods will never be compromised.

Among those arrested were the following high-profile cases:

Dexter Myers, 58, was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant related to violating his status as a registered sex offender

Maxie Eddins, 49, and Jenna Clary, 32, were arrested after leading deputies on a high-speed pursuit. Clary was allegedly carrying over 127 grams of fentanyl, according to HCSO.

Nicolas French, 31, is a documented MPR gang member who deputies say was found in possession of cannabis resin and various drug paraphernalia. He has an extensive criminal history and has previously served six years in a Florida state prison.

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These arrests reflect our commitment to protecting families and ensuring the safety of every community we serve, Sheriff Chronister added. Through teamwork, intelligence-driven enforcement, and relentless follow-through, were building a safer Hillsborough Countyone operation at a time.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
An Italian tourist was tortured by a crypto investor who allegedly dangled him from the fifth floor of a Manhattan townhouse to steal his Bitcoin passwords.

Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, 28, told police he had been held captive in a $30,000 per month, eight-bedroom home for the past three weeks where he was beaten and electrocuted.

The Italian eventually handed over his passwords after his captors threatened to kill him and his family. He managed to escape while the mens back were turned and alert the police.

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John Woeltz, 37, known as the crypto king of Kentucky with an estimated worth of $100 million, has been arrested for the alleged torture.

He faces four charges, including assault and unlawful imprisonment. He denies all of the offences.

The arrest comes as after a wave of cryptocurrency-linked kidnappings by criminals desperate to cash in on the coveted digital gold, including two men in France who were found with severed fingers, and a broker who escaped from his captors in Spain.

Daring escape

Michael Mattson, an assistant district attorney, told a Manhattan court that the victim was abducted on May 6 when he went to Mr Woeltzs Soho flat after travelling from Italy to New York City.

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It is not clear why Mr Carturan went to the apartment or what his relationship to the accused is.

When he got there Mr Woeltz allegedly snatched the Italian mans electronic devices and passport before demanding that he turn over his Bitcoin password.

When he refused, the victim told officers he was bound by the wrists with electrical wire and tortured.

At one point, the captors carried the victim to the top flight of stairs of the apartment in the compound and hung the victim over the ledge, after threatening to kill the victim if [he] did not provide the defendant with the victims Bitcoin password.

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Prosecutors also alleged that the victim was urinated on and forced to take crack cocaine during the ordeal. They also cut his leg.

Sources told the New York Post that Mr Carturan was fitted with an AirTag that tracked his movements. But he made a daring escape on Friday just after 9.30am, as he ran out of the townhouse in the Nolita neighbourhood of Manhattan and toward a traffic agent nearby.

Police found cocaine, a saw, chicken wire, body armour, night vision goggles, ammunition and Polaroid photos of the victim with a gun pointed to his head during a search of the townhouse.

The victim was taken to a hospital and treated for injuries that Mr Mattson said were consistent with his descriptions of being bound and assaulted.

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On Saturday, Mr Woeltz, who is being held without bail, was ordered to surrender his passport as prosecutors said he had the means to flee, including a private jet and a helicopter. He is due back in Manhattan criminal court next week.

John Woeltz has been refused bail

A second man, who has only been named as an un-apprehended male, is also alleged to have taken part.

An Italian woman, identified as Beatrice Folchi, Mr Woeltzs assistant, was reportedly arrested and charged in the case. But, she told the New York Post on Saturday that she had not been arrested.

Beatrice Folchi denies she was ever arrested in connection with the kidnap and torture

It is the third reported case of kidnappings targeting those linked to cryptocurrency fortunes.

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In early May, the pregnant daughter and grandson of a cryptocurrency boss escaped abduction in Paris in broad daylight by a group of hooded individuals who sought to drag the mother and son into a delivery van.

Pierre Noizat, the French cryptocurrency boss, later praised his heroic son-in-law and a neighbour armed with a fire extinguisher for thwarting the attempted kidnapping.

A 60-year-old Frenchman had a finger chopped off by attackers who demanded his crypto-millionaire son pay a ransom. Le Parisien reported that the attackers had demanded a ransom of 5-7 million (4-6 million), which was not paid.

After being held for more than two days, armed police freed him from a house south of Paris.

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Cryptocurrency investor John Woeltz has been charged after police claim he kidnapped and tortured an Italian tourist for more than two weeks inside an upscale New York City apartment

The 37-year-old is charged with two counts of second-degree assault and one charge each of kidnapping, imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm

Woeltz is being held without bail







A cryptocurrency investor has been charged after police claim he kidnapped and tortured an Italian tourist for more than two weeks in New York City.

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John Woeltz, 37, was arrested on Friday, May 23, per a statement from the New York Police Department (NYPD) obtained by PEOPLE, after the tourist, 28, escaped from an upscale N.Y.C. apartment that morning and told an on-duty traffic agent that he had been held against his will since May 6.

"The male [tourist] further stated he had been routinely assaulted during his captivity," the NYPD said. The victim was transported to NYC Health and Hospitals in stable condition.

On Saturday, May 24, Woeltz was charged with two counts of second-degree assault and one charge each of kidnapping, imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm.

The Associated Press reported that the victim was held captive for not giving up his Bitcoin password. The Manhattan District Attorneys Office told the outlet that Woeltz is being held without bail.

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PEOPLE reached out to the Manhattan District Attorneys Office and Woeltzs lawyer, Wayne Gosnell, for comment and additional information on Sunday, May 25, but did not immediately hear back.

Beatrice Folchi, 24, was also taken into custody in relation to the crime on May 24 and faces one count each of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree unlawful imprisonment, according to CBS News.

However, The New York Post reported that the Manhattan District Attorneys Office declined to prosecute Folchi, pending further investigation.

Folchi worked as Woeltzs assistant, police sources told the Post.

getty Manhattan District Attorney's Office Manhattan District Attorney's Office

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The victim told police he arrived in the U.S. from Italy on May 6 and went to Woeltzs rented home, police sources previously told WNBC.

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The victim said he and Woeltz had previously done business together, WABC reported, citing police sources.

Their relationship soured after a dispute and the victim went back to Italy, but Woeltz allegedly convinced him to return to Manhattan, where he was held against his will, per police sources.

The victim told police that Woeltz allegedly took the victim's passport and tortured him, per WNBCs police sources. The outlet also stated that police found Polaroid pictures of the victim tied up and being tortured.

Police reportedly recovered a gun and several torture devices, per WNBC and WABC.

Read the original article on People
A cryptocurrency investor has been arrested and charged in New York City after he allegedly tortured a man for weeks -- with reports claiming he was trying to obtain passwords related to cryptocurrency.

John Woeltz -- a 37-year-old Kentucky man -- was arrested Friday after a 28-year-old man allegedly escaped a house in the city's SoHo neighborhood. NYPD tells TMZ he told a police officer he'd been held captive and tortured for weeks.

According to reports ... Woeltz allegedly lured the man -- who is believed to have had prior business dealings with Woeltz -- to a house on May 6.

Fox 5 New York

Once there, the prosecutors claim Woeltz took his passport, tied him up with electric cords, and tortured him over the two weeks in an effort to get his Bitcoin password.

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Among the alleged torture methods ... the alleged victim was forced to take cocaine, hit with a pistol, subjected to tasering while his feet were underwater, threatened with an electric chainsaw and hung off a ledge inside the home. The alleged victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital.

Fox 5 New York

Woeltz was arrested while wearing a bathrobe -- he was seen later leaving the police precinct in a white T-shirt. A 24-year-old woman was also reportedly arrested in connection to the alleged crimes, though cops could not confirm it.

Fox 5 New York

According to NYPD, Woeltz was charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault, and criminal possession of a weapon.

He appeared in court Saturday where a judge ordered he would be held without bail, and his passport was confiscated.
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH)  Puerto Rican culture and heritage was celebrated in the Hartford on Saturday at the Miss Puerto Rico of Greater Hartford Pageant.

13 young girls competed to win the crown and represent their culture at the Theater for Performing Arts.

One former winner, Michelle Sanchez, who was named Miss Puerto Rico of Greater Hartford in 2022, shared her experience and what it meant to her.

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Puerto Rican Parades and Festivals 2025 lineup announced

It was amazing, Sanchez said. Diving into my culture and knowing where my grandparents came from, it was absolutely amazing, it was eye-opening, and being able to visit Puerto Rico too, after I won, it was an unreal experience.

The pageant was one of many events happening across the state in the coming months celebrating Puerto Rican culture.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com.
A popular restaurant near the University of South Carolina campus was on fire Saturday night.

California Dreaming, at 401 South Main Street with Greens Beverages, near Assembly Street, was the scene of a fire, according to Columbia Fire Department.

Members of the fire department responded to the restaurant just before 9:30 p.m., and quickly called for more help in the form of a 2nd Alarm after flames were seen shooting through a rear section of the roof and the buildings third floor, the fire department said.

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Both customers and employees were inside the restaurant when the fire started, according to the fire department. Everyone evacuated safely and there were no injuries, including the emergency responders, the fire department said.

Members of the Columbia Fire Department respond to a fire at a restaurant.

Firefighters established a water supply before they entered the burning building and traced the fire to the ventilation system of the restaurant, according to the fire department.

At 10:22 p.m., the fire department said the blaze had been brought under control, and by 11:11 p.m. officials confirmed the fire had been extinguished.

Information about what caused the fire in the restaurants ventilation system was not available, and officials did not say if the blaze remains under investigation.

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There was no word on the extent of the damage to the restaurant caused by the flames, smoke and water the firefighters used to quickly contain and limit the blaze.

Members of the Columbia Fire Department respond to a fire at a restaurant.

Prior to the fire, California Dreaming was scheduled to open at 11 a.m. Sunday, according to the its website. Calls to learn about the restaurants status were unanswered, but at about 10:30 a.m., restaurant officials used a Facebook post to announce theyd be open as scheduled.

Greetings from California Dreaming. Were open today, Sunday, 5/25 and feeling extra grateful.

There was a similar fire at the restaurant in June 2018, and it was soon again open for business after that incident caused minor damage.

California Dreaming is part of a restaurant chain. The chain operates six locations overall, with four in South Carolina and single restaurants in Georgia and Alabama, according to its website.
As promised, the second Trump administration has quickly rolled out a slew of policies and executive orders that the president says are all aimed at Making America Great Again. This takes on different forms, including Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency quickly laying off thousands of workers at various federal agencies, and President Donald Trump pausing all funding for Ukraine.

Trump says that, among others, there are three groups that are making America not-great: immigrants, people with disabilities, and people who are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

These administration efforts began at a time when many Americans expressed an overall rising sense of dissatisfaction with the state of the country and politics. Just 19% of Americans said in December 2024 that they think the country is heading in the right direction.

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This perspective is striking not only because it is so dark, but because it strongly resembles how Americans felt during a pivotal decade 100 years ago, when peoples dissatisfaction with the state of the country led to a series of discriminatory, hateful policies by the federal government.

Its a period of American history that I think offers something of a mirror of the current political situation in the U.S.

A registry room is seen at Ellis Island in New York Harbor in 1924. Associated Press

The Roaring 20s?

In the 1920s, the economy was good, the U.S. had won World War I, and a terrible pandemic ended.

But many Americans did not see it that way.

They entered the 1920s with a growing sense of paranoia and a feeling that they had been robbed of something. Winning World War I had come at a terrible cost. More than 116,000 American soldiers died and twice that number came home wounded.

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As the war came to a close, the U.S.  and the world  was in the throes of the flu pandemic that ultimately claimed tens of millions of lives, including about 675,000 in the U.S.

Other Americans were concerned about the possible rise of communism in the U.S., as well as the arrival of many immigrants. This led extremists to introduce and implement hate-based policies at the federal and state level that targeted nonwhite immigrants and disabled people.

Among the most significant results of that political moment was the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act, a restrictive immigration policy that, among other changes, prohibited immigration from Asia.

Another pivotal movement was the Supreme Courts 1927 Buck v. Bell decision, which affirmed that the state of Virginia had the right to sterilize intellectually and developmentally disabled people.

Discrimination against marginalized groups

The Johnson-Reed Act prompted a major shift in American immigration policy, based on the fear of something that former President Theodore Roosevelt and others called race suicide.

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The law introduced rigid restrictions keeping people out of the country who were not from Northern and Western Europe. The immigration quotas that it established would continue to be enforced into the 1960s.

The U.S. politicians who lobbied for this law were successful because they supported their effort by presenting evidence that showed purportedly scientific proof that almost all people in the world were biologically inferior to a group they called the Nordic Race  meaning people from Northern Europe  and their American descendants, who formed a group they called the American Race.

By restricting immigration from all other groups, these legislators believed they were counterbalancing a crushing period where war and pandemic had killed off what they saw as the countrys best people.

Different groups preyed on Americans grief about the war and pandemic and directed it against minority groups.

Ku Klux Klan members parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington on Aug. 8, 1925. Bettmann/Contributor

From Maine to California, a revived Ku Klux Klan attracted millions of followers with its belief that white people were superior to all others, and that Black people should remain enslaved. At the same time, a group of scientists, doctors and psychologists found enormous success in persuading the public that there were scientific reasons why hatred and discrimination needed to be incorporated into American government.

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Their proof was something called eugenics, a pseudoscience which argued that humans had to use advanced technology and medicine to get people with good traits to reproduce while stopping those with bad traits from having the opportunity to do so.

Harry Laughlin, a eugenicist based at a research laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, was one of this movements most vocal representatives.

Laughlin worked for several different eugenics research organizations, and this helped him become successful at creating propaganda supporting eugenics that influenced public policy. He then gained a spot as an expert eugenics adviser to Congress in the early 1920s. With his position, Laughlin then provided the pseudoscientific data that gave the supporters of Johnson-Reed the claims they needed to justify passing the measure.

Carrie Buck, left, pictured with her mother, Emma, was the first woman involuntarily sterilized under Virginia law in the 1920s. M.E. Grenander Special Collections and Archives, University at Albany

A push for sterilization

In Laughlins influential 1922 book Eugenic Sterilization in the United States, he detailed a road map for passing a law that would allow governments to sterilize disabled people.

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After so much death during World War I and the influenza pandemic, Laughlin found fertile ground for making a case that the U.S. needed to stop people who might be considered feeble-minded from passing down inferior traits.

In the mid-1920s, Laughlin and his allies pressed a court case against a teenage woman whom the state of Virginia had deemed an imbecile and incarcerated at a massive Virginia institution for the feeble-minded. This woman, Carrie Buck, was incarcerated after she gave birth to a child in 1924 who was conceived as a result of rape. If Buck, who was 18 years old at the time, had any hope of being released, the officials who ran the institution demanded she be sterilized first.

All across the country, states had begun legalizing forced sterilization. Now, this case of Buck v. Bell made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1927, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. issued the courts ruling, which had only one dissent. In it, he wrote that three generations of imbeciles is enough and extended the scope of a previous ruling that allowed the government to compel people to get vaccinated to include forced sterilization of disabled people.

Buck was forcibly sterilized in October 1927, shortly after the courts ruling.

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While it is unquestionable that sterilization and other discriminatory policies found common cause with Adolf Hitlers rising Nazi movement  which used the eugenic ideas of sterilization and mass extermination  they persisted, largely unchallenged, here in the U.S.

Some people, including myself, argue that the spirit of these discriminatory policies still exists in the U.S. today.

A familiar story

Following stalemated wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the American economy has been growing.

But sensing a grave decline, some white Americans have turned their sights on people with disabilities, immigrants, transgender and nonbinary people, and people of color as the source of their problems.

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Trump regularly encourages this kind of thinking. In January 2025, he blamed an air collision that occurred over the Potomac River and killed 67 people on disabled Federal Aviation Administration employees, implying that they did not possess the intelligence to do their jobs.

Trump falsely said the Jan. 1, 2025, New Orleans terror attack was caused by illegal immigration, even though a Texas-born man drove a car into a crowd of people, killing 14.

At a policy level, Trumps administration has made significant changes to the immigration system, including taking steps to remove legal protections for 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S. And he has launched an unprecedented challenge to birthright citizenship.

There are limits to what history can say about the current situation. But these similarities with the early 1920s suggest that, contrary to many claims about the unprecedented nature of the current times, the country has been here before.

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This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Alex Green, Harvard Kennedy School

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Alex Green does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is asking for the publics help in identifying a person of interest and the vehicle involved in a May 3 shooting incident in Southeast D.C.

Police say at 5:40 p.m., officers received reports of shots fired in the 4600 block of Hillside Road, SE.

Triple shooting leaves two dead, one hurt in Southeast DC

An initial investigation determined that the man had fired a gun before fleeing the scene in a black GMC truck.

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Police say no one was hurt, and shell casings were recovered from the scene.

MPD provided surveillance footage capturing the suspect and the truck.

Anyone who can identify this person of interest and/or this vehicle, or has knowledge of this incident, is asked to call police at (202) 727-9099 or text the Departments tip line at 50411.

MPD currently offers a reward of up to $1,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for a crime committed in the District of Columbia.

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FTX's creditors will receive a share of their lost funds starting May 30, 2025. BitGo and Kraken  two of the approved distribution agentsare emailing clients to confirm that funds transferred from FTX will be deposited into users' accounts by the end of the month.

This announcement occurred three years after FTX's downfall, when thousands of customers worldwide were locked out of their cash and crypto holdings.

In November 2022, FTX, the previous largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, collapsed after it became clear that its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, had secretly used billions of dollars in customer money to pay for losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

FTX filed for bankruptcy amid a liquidity shortfall before investigators found widespread fraud, mismanagement, and a lack of internal controls.

Bankman-Fried was eventually convicted of fraud and conspiracy, making the case one of the most prominent financial crimes in the annals of crypto.

How to access FTX funds

Creditors should log in to the FTX claims portal, complete KYC and tax requirements, and select a distribution service provider like BitGo or Kraken. Once these steps are completed, they can view their scheduled distribution amounts and receive payouts.

FTX creditors must complete all nine steps in the Customer Claims Portalincluding KYC, tax forms, and selecting a distributorto receive repayments.

The court-approved reorganization plan specifies that those with eligible claims over $50,000 will receive 72.5% of their claim in the first cash distribution. Customer payments for the remaining 27.5% and post-petition interest will occur in additional distribution rounds.

An FTX creditor, Sunil Kavuri, an FTX creditor activist, told TheStreet Roundtable that he is owed about $2 million from the now-defunct exchange and has been waiting on his payment since November 2022. Sadly, the FTX fraud forced Sunil to delay buying a family home.

FTX bankruptcy creditors: Here's how to claim your share of the $5B payout starting May 30 first appeared on TheStreet on May 23, 2025
Bedeviled by leaks to the media during his short tenure, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a series of restrictions on the press late Friday that include banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without a government escort  areas where the press has had access in past administrations as it covers the activities of the worlds most powerful military.

Newly restricted areas include his office and those of his top aides and all of the different locations across the mammoth building where the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Space Force maintain press offices.

The media will also be barred from offices of the Pentagons senior military leadership, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, without Hegseths approval and an escort from his aides. The staff of the Joint Chiefs has traditionally maintained a good relationship with the press.

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Hegseth, the former Fox News Channel personality, issued his order via a posting on X late on a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend. He said it was necessary for national security.

While the department remains committed to transparency, the department is equally obligated to protect (classified intelligence information) and sensitive information, the unauthorized disclosure of which could put the lives of U.S. service members in danger, wrote Hegseth.

The Pentagon Press Association expressed skepticism that operational concerns were at play  and linked the move to previous actions by Hegseths office that impede journalists and their coverage.

There is no way to sugarcoat it. Todays memo by Secretary Hegseth appears to be a direct attack on the freedom of the press and Americas right to know what its military is doing, it said in a statement Friday night. The Pentagon Press Association is extremely concerned by the decision to restrict movement of accredited journalists within the Pentagon through non-secured, unclassified hallways.

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Hegseth also said reporters will be required to sign a form to protect sensitive information and would be issued a new badge that more clearly identifies them as press. It was not clear whether signing the form would be a condition of continued access to the building.

Two months ago, the department was embarrassed by a leak to The New York Times that billionaire Elon Musk was to get a briefing on the U.S. militarys plans in case a war broke out with China. That briefing never took place, on President Donald Trumps orders, and Hegseth suspended two Pentagon officials as part of an investigation into how that news got out.

The Pentagon was also embarrassed when the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently included in a group chat on the Signal messaging app where Hegseth discussed plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen. Trumps former national security adviser, Mike Waltz, took responsibility for Goldberg being included and was shifted to another job.

The administration has taken several aggressive actions toward the press since Trump took over, including FCC investigations into ABC, CBS and NBC News. Restrictions imposed on The Associated Press access to certain White House events earlier this year led to a court battle that is ongoing.

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The White House has also increased access for conservative media that are friendly to the president. Nevertheless, a study released earlier this month found that Trump had more frequent exchanges with reporters during his first 100 days in office than any of his six predecessors.

Hegseth, however, has been far less available. He has yet to speak to the press in the Pentagon briefing room. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell has held only one Pentagon press briefing since Jan. 20. The Pentagon has taken other steps to make it more difficult for reporters, including taking office space away from eight media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and NBC.

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The latest episode of Rolling Stone Music Now dives deep into the Trump/Springsteen war of words - Credit: Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images

The America I love, the America Ive written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration, Bruce Springsteen declared from a Manchester, U.K. stage May 14. At the kick-off show of his newly rechristened Land of Hope and Dreams Tour with the E Street Band, Springsteen framed his criticism of Donald Trump in patriotism: The America that Ive sung to you about for 50 years is real, and regardless of its faults, is a great country with a great people. And we will survive this moment.

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As discussed in the latest episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Springsteens multiple onstage speeches, punctuated with on-message songs (Land of Hope and Dreams, Bob Dylans Chimes of Freedom) were arguably a masterclass in opposition messaging. His insistence on the existence of another, better version of the country should be instructive to many floundering Democrats  especially considering the extent to which his words captured Donald Trumps attention. To hear the whole episode, which breaks down the Trump/Springsteen war of words and much more, go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above.

Two days after Springsteens remarks, Trump took to Truth Social to call his critic a dried out prune of a rocker whose skin is all atrophied and warned him to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, with the ominous addendum, then well all see how it goes for him! The threats escalated at 1:34 a.m. May 19, the night before his scheduled call with Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? he wrote. I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter.

Trump also demanded investigations into Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Oprah Winfrey, and somehow even Bono  who, as Rolling Stones Andy Greene points out in the new episode, played no role in the election whatsoever. As discussed in the episode, Trump had it backwards: campaigns are actually required to pay fair market value for production costs to avoid undisclosed contributions. (When Rolling Stone asked the White House about the baseless threats this week, a spokesperson shot back, accountability for a class of people who act as if theyre above the law may be uncomfortable for Rolling Stone, but its refreshing to the American people.)

Of course, it wasnt just Springsteens eloquent framing of his opposition that irritated Trump  as his inclusion of Swift, Beyonce, and Winfrey in his threats suggests, he is a creature of fame and showbiz who is exquisitely sensitive to the power of celebrity. Hes won two elections, but still faces the irksome reality that pop culture is far from still fully MAGA-fied.

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The episode also ponders why musicians have been relatively quiet about the Trump Administration since January, suggesting a combination of an atmosphere of fear, a sense that 2017-style Resistance messaging failed, and the fact that its still more socially acceptable for younger acts to criticize Democrats from the left than to mention Trump. Still, artists including Neil Young and Eddie Vedder have offered support for Springsteens remarks, and MJ Lenderman covered Darkness on the Edge of Town in an apparent show of solidarity.

Download and subscribe to Rolling Stones weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out eight years worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, SZA, Questlove, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Kirk Hammett, Coco Jones, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stones critics and reporters.

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Editors note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.

The Croson Townhomes development has been proposed under Floridas Live Local Act affordable housing initiative at 6936 Old Hwy 441 in unincorporated Mount Dora, located south of East Crane Avenue in northwest Orange County.

The project on 1.8 acres would consist of 21 three-story units at a total square footage of 15,000 with 45 parking spaces, according to a Kimley-Horn conceptual plan.
(FOX40.COM)  The West Sacramento Police Department is asking for the publics help to find the owner of a diamond ring.

 Video Above: What happens when you call 911?

Police said the ring is in its property and evidence unit.

Police seek owner of Labradoodle rescued from Interstate I-5 in Northern California

We would love to reconnect this ring with its rightful owner, WSPD said on social media.

Anyone who thinks the ring may belong to them can call 916-617-4950 to provide proof of ownership.

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A third former personal assistant is set to testify on Tuesday at Sean Combs' sex-trafficking trial.

Ex-PAs have described heartrending instances of violence and coercion involving Combs' girlfriends.

They've also described cleaning up after "freak offs"  and what Combs kept in his cosmetics bag.

Sean "Diddy" Combs wasn't an easy boss, frightening away or burning out a small army of personal assistants over the decades.

At his sex-trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan, these ex-assistants are coming back to haunt him from the witness stand.

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So far, two former personal assistants have been called to testify by prosecutors. (A third, Capricorn Clark, is scheduled for Tuesday).

They told the jury that working as Combs' PA meant turning a blind eye to harrowing violence while meticulously managing every detail of his life, including making sure his toiletries all faced the same way and keeping his hotel suite stocked with applesauce, Jell-O, and Fiji water.

Even on good days, the pay was low, the days were long, and the workweek could stretch 100 hours long, the two former PAs told jurors. Complaining was frowned on, they said  "What rhymes with tired?" went a joke among the staff. The answer? "Fired."

But on the worst days, they testified, they were drawn into a world of chaos and illegality. Both described purchasing drugs for Combs or his friends.

Suge Knight and Combs nearly had a gun fight in 2008, a personal assistant testified. Robert Mora/Getty Images and George Napolitano/FilmMagic

Good days and rap wars

One former PA, David James, recounted chauffeuring Combs to a narrowly averted gunfight with his rival record executive Suge Knight.

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James said he realized he might die that night, at the wheel of his boss's car in the parking lot of an all-night Los Angeles diner.

Combs sat behind him in the black Escalade with three guns in his lap, James said on the stand. "Mother fucking drive," he recalled Combs ordering as they set out.

Both former PAs also described heartrending scenes of violence.

The other, George Kaplan, remembered the time in 2015 when he heard Combs' longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura screaming in the bedroom of Combs' private jet.

"Isn't anybody seeing this?" he recalled her crying, accompanied by the sound of crashing glassware.

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Kaplan told jurors that he turned in his seat and saw the rap mogul standing over a cowering Ventura while holding aloft a whisky rocks glass.

Combs' former personal assistant George Kaplan leaving the federal courthouse in Manhattan, where he testified at the rap mogul's sex-trafficking and racketeering trial. Brendan McDermid/REUTERS

No one on the jet  the Gulfstream was crowded with Combs' security guards and assistants  interceded or checked on Ventura afterward, he said.

Everyone turned away, Kaplan said, as the sound of more screams, more shattering glass, filled the cabin.

Many empty bottles

The two personal assistants also described Combs' many peccadillos  and the many, many physical messes he left behind.

Kaplan told jurors on Wednesday that he was tasked with cleaning up whatever Combs left behind at luxury hotel suites in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles.

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The jury has heard two weeks of testimony alleging that these hotel suites were crime scenes.

Ventura, the star prosecution witness, told jurors during the first week of testimony that throughout their decadelong relationship, Combs used violence and threats to force her to perform sex acts with male escorts, typically at hotels.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied all accusations of sexual abuse. He has insisted since his arrest that he engaged in only consensual sex with his accusers, who he has alleged have a financial incentive to implicate him.

A courtroom sketch from Combs' trial shows bottles of baby oil that were seized as evidence from Combs' Miami mansion. Jane Rosenberg/REUTERS

"Lots of empty bottles, empty Gatorade bottles, empty liquor bottles, and often baby oil," Kaplan testified, describing the items he said he "tidied" at such hotels as the Trump International in Manhattan and the Hotel Bel-Air in LA.

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Combs was a fastidious boss who liked things just so and threatened to fire him monthly during the year he worked for him, which was between 2014 and 2015, Kaplan said.

"Available, facing forward, and ready for use," he told jurors, describing how Combs expected to find the toothpaste, toiletries, and medications on his bathroom counter each morning.

Asked how often Combs would threaten to fire him from the $125,000-a-year job, Kaplan answered, "Maybe monthly."

Combs' former personal assistant David James outside federal court in Manhattan. John Lamparski/Getty Images

'Mr. Combs' kingdom'

James described his own harrowing tenure as Combs' right-hand man between May 2007 and May 2008.

"This is Mr. Combs' kingdom," James said the head of HR told him during his interview, gesturing toward a portrait of the rapper on the wall of his Manhattan headquarters.

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"We're all here to serve it," James said she told him.

He said his starting salary was $70,000.

"There were times I worked three weeks straight," he said.

"Advancing a hotel room" was a frequent assignment, James said. That meant making sure it was stocked with Combs' favorite items, from clothing changes to "applesauce, Jell-O, and Fiji water."

Combs' cosmetic bag went everywhere he went and held some 40 different products, James said.

"Everything from ointments to a razor," he testified.

"He had Just For Men in there," he added, referring to the men's hair color brand. Since his arrest nine months ago, Combs' hair has turned mostly gray.

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A separate "medicine bag" likewise went everywhere Combs traveled.

"There were probably 25 to 30 different pillboxes or pill bottles," James said. "Some were like Advil, Tylenol. He had water pills to help him lose weight. He had Viagra in there. He had some pills that helped increase his sperm count, for example."

Asked whether there were any other sorts of pills, James said, "He did have ecstasy and Percocets in there, as well."

Combs took Percocet, a prescription opioid painkiller, "throughout the day," James said.

The rapper would switch at night to taking ecstasy, the PA told jurors, referring to the psychedelic stimulant also known as MDMA. One of Combs' preferred ecstasy pills was stamped with the image of Barack Obama's face, James testified.

Combs' mother, center, and four of his children arriving at his sex-trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan. Jeenah Moon/REUTERS

'Diddy bopping' at the party

Once, at a New Year's Eve party thrown by Combs, James, who'd already been hitting the Ciroc vodka hard, went into Combs' med bag and popped an ecstasy pill, after which he was "feeling pretty good," he told the jury.

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"Normally, I'm very straightedge, don't normally have too much emotion, but this night I was, like dancing  they said I was Diddy bopping all around the party."

"Diddy bopping" was left to the jurors' imagination.

A few days later, Combs called him into his office. He was "reviewing footage from the party," James said.

"Yo, playboy," James said Combs told him. "Is that you dancing around the party?"

"Yes, sir," James answered. "And he kind of nodded his head and he said, 'OK, I want to keep this footage in case I ever need it.'"

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"It was so out of character for me that he thought it would be embarrassing if he released the footage of me to the public," James told the jury.

Prosecutors say Combs controlled Ventura by threatening to publicly release explicit sex videos.

Combs watching as his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, the star prosecution witness, testified against him. Christine Cornell

First thing Tuesday, Capricorn Clark is set to be Combs' third former personal assistant to testify against him, kicking off week three of the government's case.

Federal prosecutors are expected to ask her about a break-in at the rapper Kid Cudi's Hollywood Hills home in 2011  the one Kid Cudi said involved his Christmas gifts being unwrapped and rifled through and his dog being shut in the bathroom.

Clark was there and called to warn Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, that a jealousy-enraged Combs was inside the house, the rapper testified Thursday.

Clark may also describe Combs forcing her to take a lie detector test after she was robbed while carrying what another ex-assistant described to the jury as the rap tycoon's "jewelry suitcase or briefcase, if you will."

That assistant said from the stand last week that the heisted jewels were replaced by cubic zirconium replicas.

Combs' former personal assistant David James testifying at the rap executive's Manhattan sex-trafficking and racketeering trial. Jane Rosenberg/REUTERS

She couldn't get out

Perhaps James' most significant testimony was when he recalled something Ventura once said as they stood together smoking cigarettes one night on a dock outside Combs' Miami estate.

Ventura was then 21 or 22 and in the early months of her 11-year on-and-off relationship with Combs. James was in his 20s as well.

As they commiserated about what they agreed was their crazy lifestyle of long hours and jetting city to city, James asked Ventura why she didn't simply leave, he said.

"I can't get out," he testified that Ventura told him.

"Mr. Combs oversees so much of my life," James quoted her as saying. "He controls my music career, he pays for my apartment, he gives me an allowance."

James told the jury he believed her. "I just didn't think that she could easily leave," he said.

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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)A local no-kill dog shelter is hosting a special screening of DOG, directed by and starring Channing Tatum, to help support furry animals in the area.

DOG is a comedy about a former army ranger and his dog, Lulu, a Belgian Malinois, who embark on a road trip along the Pacific Coast to attend a friends funeral. The movie is one hour and 41 minutes, and rated PG-13.

According to their website, proceeds of the screening will go towards the Humane Society of Northwest Louisiana, which is powered solely by volunteers and donations. Adoptable dogs will be on screen before the movie.

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Bears Fest: 18+ bands, DJs, food and more

The screening will be hosted at the Robinson Film Center, 617 Texas Street, Shreveport, on June 13th at 7 p.m. Individuals can purchase tickets via the RFC website.

If you cannot attend and wish to donate to the Humane Society, visit:

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com.
A staffing meltdown inside the Bureau of Land Management has erupted into open rebellion, with career officials defying orders from a top Interior Department official tied to Elon Musks notorious DOGE operation.

Stephanie Holmes, a former member of the now-absent Musks Department of Government Efficiency, and current acting chief human capital officer at the Interior Department, issued a memo ordering staff to stop temporarily filling the hundreds of vacant rolesa move workers say would cripple the agency following the DOGE-inspired mass departures.

BLM Deputy Director Michael Nedd, a 30-year veteran of the department, hit reply all, telling his staff to ignore the email from HR, according to multiple sources who spoke to Politico. The work is too important, he is reported to have said.

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The BLM is responsible for managing 245 million acres of federal land in the U.S., plus all the timber, minerals, oil, and gas resources within them. It has traditionally been the arm of government conserving natural, historical, and cultural resources.

However, in April, BLM Secretary Doug Burgum handed control of the Interior to DOGE assistant Tyler Hassan, a former oil executive. Since then, approximately 2,300 employees have been made redundant and offices have been shut down across the country. At the same time, conservation focuses have been scrapped and renewed efforts for fossil fuel extraction have been made.

The latest showdown highlights the rising tensions between experienced government staff and the DOGE team, who have infiltrated numerous administrative bodies across the government. So far, the department has executed thousands of layoffs, rid the government of highly valued institutional knowledge, and scrambled to rehire some of its brazenly, and mistakenly, axed employees.

Elon Musk, the worlds richest person, has eased back from his role in the White House in recent weeks, but his AI chatbot is being used in DOGE activities, raising concern that government data could leak to his private companies. / Saul Loeb/Getty Images

The young team, most of whom are in their early to mid-twenties, have drawn outrage for gaining access to sensitive government systems and even crashing the Social Security website in a failed AI-led overhaul. One DOGE acolyte, a 19-year-old influencer known as Big Balls, is reportedly using Musks AI chatbot, Grok, to implement DOGE efficiencies.

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The current chaos presiding over the Interior Department is a direct consequence of this laissez-faire approach to government bureaucracy. With buyouts and retirements bleeding the department dry, its difficult to see how the BLM will be able to enact Trumps policy to accelerate fossil fuel development on public lands. Still, Burgum has defended the cuts this week, claiming the goal is to streamline the agency.

Were running out of people, said one exhausted staffer who wasnt buying it. Its a battle of HR versus [Deputy Director] Mike Nedd.
The Justice Departments (DOJ) reported probe into former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, is drawing accusations of political interference.

The U.S. attorneys office in Washington, D.C., has launched an investigation into the former governor over his testimony last year concerning his nursing home policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to multiple reports.

The move, which The Hill has reached out to confirm, comes after the Trump administration had bribery charges dropped against sitting Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent in the same race.

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The apparent actions have raised questions over whether the administration is putting its thumb on the scale in the mayoral race.

I think theres a lot of reasons for an average voter to look at the system right now and say its not working, and this would just be one more example of that, said Alix Fraser, the vice president of advocacy for the cross-partisan group Issue One, which works to educate and advocate on issues concerning U.S. democracy, elections and government.

The main issue apparently drawing DOJ scrutiny is far from new.

Cuomo, in his last year as governor in 2021, faced allegations that he intentionally underreported the number of deaths in nursing homes during the pandemic.

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Cuomo denied wrongdoing and argued that he and other governors were simply following federal guidance. But New York Attorney General Letitia James found his administration significantly miscounted the number of nursing home deaths. A Biden-era DOJ inspector general report later concluded that Cuomos policies were similar to that of other states, and that he and other Democratic governors states were politically targeted for investigations.

But a Republican-led report from a House subcommittee investigating the U.S. handling of the pandemic found in September that Cuomo committed wrongdoing, and Cuomo testified before the committee, defending his record.

The committee referred Cuomo to the DOJ for prosecution, accusing him of lying to the panel about his policies. Another GOP-led House panel sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi last month, reupping the request for Cuomo to be prosecuted.

Multiple outlets reported that a probe started a month ago, under the U.S. attorneys office in Washington, D.C., led at the time by Ed Martin.

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Cuomos campaign quickly alleged the move was a clear example of political motivation.

We have never been informed of any such matter, so why would someone leak it now? The answer is obvious: This is lawfare and election interference, plain and simplesomething President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against, Cuomos spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said.

He said Cuomo answered the committees questions to the best of his recollection, but from the beginning this was all transparently political.

The DOJ declined to comment on Cuomos accusation. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

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Experts said the investigation into Cuomo ahead of the primary next month comes off even more as questionable, given the DOJs ending of the case against Adams.

Several prosecutors resigned earlier this year rather than sign off on dropping the case against Adams after the DOJ argued that the case improperly interfered with Adamss reelection campaign and his ability to conduct his duties as mayor. The department also argued that the indictment, filed in September, was handed up too close to the election.

The acting U.S. attorney who resigned instead of agreeing to move forward with dropping the Adams case alleged a quid pro quo occurred  the case was dropped and Adams agreed to work with the Trump administration on its policy priorities.

Anyone who goes deeper in the story and says, You gave one mayor and the city a pass, essentially because he was willing to support your agenda, and another one youre going to go after, I think a lot of people will start to see the deeper story here, Issue Ones Fraser said.

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Meanwhile, the other mayoral candidates are trying to balance between criticizing the DOJs actions and arguing that Cuomo could be another mayor arguably under the Trump administrations thumb.

State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, who has placed second in most polling of the race, argued in a statement that Cuomos career has been defined by corruption and deceit but that Trump cant be trusted.

While I believe New Yorkers should reject the disgraced ex-Governor at the ballot box, the Trump administrations actions are dangerous, he said.

New Yorkers cant afford four more years of a compromised Mayor kissing Trumps ass, said Comptroller Brad Lander on X.

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Former state Assembly member Michael Blake told The Hill that the probe yields multiple reasons for concern, including Cuomos actions and the weaponizing from Trump.

Its impossible not to see the incredible irony here, he said, pointing to the case being dropped against Adams as the mayor pledges his support while a case is initiated against Cuomo.

Is Donald Trump effectively trying to hold power over the head of New York City through investigations? he added.

With the primary election on June 24, analysts said the probe could be politically helpful to Cuomos chances of clinching the nomination.

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What could be better for anyone running for public office in New York City in 2025 than to be attacked by Donald Trump? I think that is a gift to Andrew Cuomo in this mayoral race, and hes already using it in his political promotion, said Ester Fuchs, a professor of political science at Columbia University who previously served as an adviser for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Cuomo released an ad on Wednesday going after the Trump administration, tying his situation to prosecutions that the DOJ has pursued against other liberal-leaning politicians, like James and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.).

If Donald Trump doesnt want Andrew Cuomo as mayor, you do, the ad states.

Fuchs said the other candidates are spinning the best they can, but political motivation in the investigation is clear.

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Boris Heersink, an associate professor of political science at Fordham University, said the legitimacy of the election itself likely wont be in doubt, as Cuomo was the favorite before news of the probe broke and appears likely to win unless the race radically changes in the next month.

But he expressed concern about a wider consequence in the public reaction to instances of allegations of wrongdoing against politicians and accusations of political motivation, which was commonplace for Trump to argue as he faced multiple indictments during the 2024 presidential election.

If the sort of standard image that we get as voters is that any time a politician is prosecuted, they say this is political, and if you are of the same partisan persuasion as that politician, you believe that that becomes real messy, Heersink said.

If voters get used to these accusations being made, then distinguishing between actual instances of wrongdoing and those of politically motivated prosecutions becomes difficult, he said.

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It is a tricky situation to have this happen so often, where I think a lot of voters will just become numb to the entire concept of it, Heersink said. Once that happens, you also no longer can distinguish between the cases where someone actually committed crimes and should be held accountable and someone is using the justice system to punish political opponents.

And you get this sense that everybody has issues, that everybody is corrupt, that everybodys wrong, that everybody has these massive things, thats also not great, he said.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Dozens of Israeli students risk being thrown out of the US following Donald Trumps move to bar foreigners from enrolling at Harvard University.

Foreign students would lose their legal status if they did not transfer to another university, the department of homeland security (DHS) said last week.

The DHS previously threatened Harvard with the move if the university did not change its hiring, admissions and teaching practices to fight anti-Semitism.

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The department also claimed the university created an unsafe campus by failing to address the issue.

The state department, which is responsible for issuing visas, declined to say whether an exception would be made for Israeli students.

The administrations plan is currently on hold following a legal challenge by Harvard and a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the judge hearing the case.

There are 160 Israelis enrolled in academic programmes at Harvard. It is understood that around 80 are likely to be affected by a revocation of visas.

Trumps move could substantially harm the very Jewish students and scholars it purports to protect, says Rabbi Jason Rubenstein

Critics argued Mr Trumps move against the university, after he froze more than $2 billion (1.5 billion) of federal funding in April, would harm the Jewish students he claimed to be protecting.

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Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, head of Harvard Hillel, the universitys Jewish hub, said it meant veterans of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) could lose their visas as a result of the decision.

The current, escalating federal assault against Harvard  is neither focused nor measured, and stands to substantially harm the very Jewish students and scholars it purports to protect, he told Jewish Insider.

Barak Sella, an Israeli academic at Harvard, said the move would damage the entire higher education system and do little to tackle anti-Semitism on college campuses.

Never did any Jewish [organisation] ask to ban the ability to accept foreign students, especially when a lot of the anti-Semitism is perpetrated by American citizens, he said.

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Allison Burroughs, a judge in Boston, Massachusetts, issued the TRO against the governments move on Friday, saying Harvard had shown it would cause immediate and irreparable injury.

Donald Trump is bullying Americas oldest university into surrendering its academic independence, says Harvards president Alan Garber

The university had argued earlier in the week that Mr Trump had sought to erase a quarter of Harvards student body with the stroke of a pen.

Alan Garber, the president of Harvard, claimed in an open letter that the effort to bar international students was part of a series of measures by Mr Trump to bully Americas oldest university into surrendering its academic independence.

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said the Trump administration was holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, anti-Semitism and co-ordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.

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She continued: Harvard had plenty of opportunities to do the right thing. It refused.

They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Programme certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law.

Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.

A state department spokesman said: The Trump administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process.

We cannot preview future visa-related decisions, which are made on a case-by-case basis, based on the individual facts relevant to the case.

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The DHS has been approached for comment.

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Jason McDonald/Courtesy of B The Method; Getty Images; Chelsea Jia Feng/BI

Gen Zers and millennials are to thank for propping up one area of the market: health and wellness.

Younger Americans are spending significantly more in the category, BofA data shows.

That could give wellness stocks a boost and help the sector weather a recession, analysts said.

Gen Zers and millennials are spending big and helping insulate one area of the market from a recession: the wellness industry.

Bank of America analysts said that younger Americans look to be driving a long-term interest toward healthier lifestyle habits, something that could support the health and wellness sector to continue to grow even if the economy turns.

"We believe there is an ongoing generational shift toward healthy habits, which is supportive of wellness stocks. Younger demographics including Gen Z and millennials are increasingly prioritizing healthy ways of living and spending increased time and income on fitness, activity-based leisure, and wellness focused discretionary items," the bank wrote in a note last month.

As a whole, households appear to be pulling back on discretionary spending. Retail sales rose 0.2% in February, well below the 0.7% growth economists were expecting for the month. Still, spending at fitness centers climbed 7% year over year, according to Bank of America card data, the largest increase in 19 months.

On average, Gen Z households spend about 2.8 times the amount that baby boomers do on fitness, while millennials spend around three times as much, the bank said.

BAC Internal Data/Bank of America Global Research

Young people's affinity for health and wellness is also evident in alcohol spending, with more Gen Zers and millennials shifting away from drinking in recent years. Spending growth for nonalcoholic beer and seltzers has outpaced spending growth for the alcoholic version of those beverages for the past four years, BofA data found.

Nielsen/Bank of America Global Research

Interest in certain wellness trends has also increased. Google search volume for "cold plunge" and "red light therapy" soared throughout 2023 and 2024.

Google Trends/Bank of America Global Research

Here are the top three wellness stocks Bank of America said could benefit as Gen Z and millennials invest in their health:

Life Time Group Holdings (LTH)

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Current price: $28.91

Performance year-to-date: +29.12%

What the analysts say:

Life Time, a fitness chain, has seen strong growth among millennial and Gen Z users on its app. Monthly active users between the ages of 18 and 44 grew by 60% in 2024, according to Sensor Tower data cited by BofA.

The company has also performed well in past recessions. During the 2008 downturn, the company's profit margins rose, according to the bank's analysis.
(FOX40.COM)  A Northern California teen was sentenced for a drive-by shooting that injured two toddlers and their mother.

 Video Above: Violent crime statistics

An Oroville teen appeared in Butte County Juvenile Court on May 21 after he admitted to committing a drive-by shooting of a residence. The incident happened on D Street in south Oroville around 2:30 a.m. on March 28, 2024.

Man shot in face, woman kidnapped during Sacramento carjacking incident

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Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said the residence contained six adults, two toddlers, and one newborn who were sleeping at the time of the shooting. Two of the toddlers and their mother were hit by the gunfire while in one of the homes bedrooms. Another mother and her newborn baby were in a separate bedroom and were barely missed by bullets that pierced the residence. The bullets traveled over their bodies as they were sleeping, according to the DA.

When the Oroville Police Department arrived at the scene, they found a bloody two-year-old boy with a gunshot wound that entered and exited his back, barely missing his spine. Officers said his three-year-old brother had a bullet in his back left shoulder. The boys 20-year-old mother also had a gunshot wound that traveled through her arm. The children and their mother were taken to a local hospital where they were treated for their injuries and released later that day.

Law enforcement said a mother and newborn were barely missed by bullets as they slept in March 2024. Two other sleeping toddlers and mother were struck. /Butte County

Stockton police investigate violent kidnapping of woman

Oroville detectives reportedly located ten bullet holes inside the residence. Detectives also located numerous 9mm shell casings in the street in front of the residence.

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Following an investigation, Oroville detectives said they identified the shooter as an Oroville teen who was just weeks shy of his 18th birthday at the time of the shooting. The shooting was related to a recent string of retaliatory juvenile gang-related shootings throughout Oroville and the surrounding areas, according to law enforcement.

Graphic image below

A teen was sentenced for a drive-by shooting that injured two toddlers and a mother in Oroville, California. This image blurs a toddlers gunshot wound to minimize sensitive content./ Butte County

On December 2, 2024, the Butte County District Attorneys Office filed a juvenile petition to charge the shooter with assault with a semi-automatic firearm and enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury. On March 5, 2025, the shooter, now an adult, admitted to all charges against him.

The shooter, who tearfully expressed remorse to the victims family in the courtroom, was sentenced to four years in the Butte County Juvenile Hall, according to the DA. In California, his sentence was the maximum allowed for juveniles. If he had committed the crime a few weeks later, at age 18, he would have faced 25 years in prison.

During an emotional hearing, the toddler victims grandmother, who was in the home at the time of the shooting, addressed the court and expressed hope that the shooter would use his time in custody to rehabilitate and turn his life around.

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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 FOX40 News.
Elite Stuyvesant High School was accused of a cover up this week after hateful graffiti referencing the Holocaust was discovered in a restroom  by failing to immediately tell parents about the blatant antisemitism scrawled on toilet stalls, sources told The Post.

The top-ranked school put students and families on notice that starting Tuesday, it will restrict and guard the boys bathrooms.

Due to ongoing vandalism and graffiti, we will be locking the boys bathrooms and assigning a staff member to the 2nd and 7th floor  the only bathrooms that will be accessible to students, said the email sent by Dina Ingram, business manager and director of family engagement at the downtown Manhattan school.

Stuyvesant HS emailed students and families about graffiti, vandalism, and destruction of property in restrooms, but failed to mention the antisemitic drawings on a toilet stall. Helayne Seidman

Until further notice, students will be required to sign in prior to using the facilities.

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Ingram also warned, Vandalism and intentional destruction of school property will not be tolerated at Stuyvesant High School. Disciplinary action will be taken against any individual who engages in this type of behavior.

The missive failed to address the graffitis chilling content.

In one toilet stall, the crude drawing in black marker depicted a person behind a counter with a text bubble above their head reading, 6 mil pizzas? We can only do 271K, and a bespectacled, bearded man in a black hat saying: Oy vey, stop noticing!

Another stall was marked with the letters H.H., an apparent reference to heil Hitler. The drawings included a bear in military uniform and buildings seeming to represent a concentration camp with ghosts flying out.

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Karen Feldman, a city middle-school teacher and Holocaust educator, said 6 mil clearly refers to the six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its allies, and 271K is a number used by Holocaust deniers to minimize the murders.

Crude drawings on a boys restroom stall at Stuyvesant HS mock the 6 mil Jews murdered in World War II with reference to 271K, the number used by Holocaust deniers. Obtained by NY Post

Another stall marked with a bear in a military uniform with the letters H.H, referencing heil Hitler.

Using the 271,000 figure to deny the Holocaust dangerously distorts history and fuels antisemitism. Seeing this referenced in graffiti at Stuyvesant is shockingand a clear sign that our education system is failing, Feldman told The Post.

Its deeply disturbing to see Stuyvesant  one of the top public schools in the country failing to address antisemitism.

A Jewish student at the elite school who asked to remain anonymous blasted the schools initial response.

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I am disappointed that the school administration decries the destruction of school property but fails to address the blatant antisemitism depicted, he said. They have more sympathy for the bathroom wall than for their Jewish student population.

Only after outraged parents complained did Principal Seung Yu send an email to students.

I was informed of images in the bathroom that were not previously seen at the time of our initial response, Yu said in the email sent 10:16 p.m Friday.

Yus email acknowledged, Unfortunately, these new images include anti-Semitic content.

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I am deeply disappointed and angry that a young person in our school would choose to express such hateful sentiments  especially at a time when our world continues to observe the tragic consequences of hate and violence, he wrote. Hate is the highest form of cowardice and indignity.

Its not the first time antisemitism has reared its head at Stuyvesant. Last year, students told The Post that hatred has plagued the schools Jewish families for years.

The downtown Manhattan school is one of the citys largest, with 3,254 students, including 72% Asian-American, 17% white, 4% Hispanic, and 2% black. A breakdown by religion is not available.

Feldman, who contributed to a damning report on the handling of antisemitic incidents in NYC public schools, said officials are not following DOE protocols on discrimination when it comes to Jewish students.

Stuyvesant HS in downtown Manhattan is among several top city schools plagued by antisemitism, students say. Helayne Seidman

Administrators should promptly investigate and thoroughly document all reports of discrimination or harassment, Feldman said.

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The school should also notify the DOEs coordinator of compliance with New York States Dignity for All Students Act, support affected students, and report possible criminal offenses to law enforcement as well as discipline student offenders.

A Jewish parent was not satisfied with Yus response.

The principal seemingly tried to sweep this under the rug, but when it became apparent the parents and children knew and were upset, he sent the letter after 10 pm, she said.

The Department of Education said it has a zero tolerance policy against antisemitism, racism, and every other form of hate.

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We will both work with the NYPD and complete our own investigation to take quick and decisive action, including discipline, community engagement, and appropriate educational intervention to address this incident.

The DOE is investigating why Stuyvesant leaders did not immediately report the antisemitic incident as required, a spokesperson said.
WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (WTNH)  The New England Air museum hoses and an event titled Winged Victory on Saturday to commemorate Memorial Day.

The event highlighted the 43rd Infantry Division, which fought in the Pacific Theater in WWII.

I think its a great place for the people to visit and see the planes that we used to fly back in the old days, and its a lot of fun to be able to come in and look around, and maybe theres a few other of the old timers that are still around like me, who can tell you something about the planes that we flew, said 100-year-old veteran Robert J. Garabedian

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2025 Memorial Day events in Connecticut

The 43rd Infantry Division 169th Regiment Reenacted group teaches this part of Connecticut 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 WTNH.com.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has strongly condemned Russias latest large-scale attack on Ukraine, which occurred on the night of 24-25 May.

Source: Tsahkna on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: Tsahkna said these strikes are further proof that Moscow is not giving up its attempts to destroy Ukraine as a state.

Quote: "Another night of Russia demonstrating its ongoing aim to wipe Ukraine off the map with swarms of drones & missiles  including ballistic ones."

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More details: The foreign minister emphasised that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is not going to stop on his own and the only way to end this aggression is through maximum international pressure.

Quote: "Putin continues this until the pressure becomes unbearable. Its in our hands to make him stop."

Background:

Estonia is one of Ukraines most consistent partners in Europe and has been a strong advocate for tough sanctions against Russia and increased military aid for Kyiv.

Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has called for the "strongest international pressure" on Russia after the latest large-scale attack.

Following the attack, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova stated that Russia is mocking the international community and the US's efforts to achieve peace.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Following Russia's large-scale attack on the night of 24-25 May, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova stated that Russia is mocking the world and the United States attempts to achieve peace.

Source: Mathernova on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Mathernova noted that Russia had carried out a large-scale combined drone and missile strike for the second night in a row.

Quote: "The Russians are relentlessly stepping up the pressure. Stepping up the terror against civilians. The attacks are more intense and frequent. They laugh at the world!!! They mock the US and mock any diplomatic attempt at peace. Peace? What peace?

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How will the world react to Putins terror and clear provocation? To his mockery of any cease fire discussion?

I must admit, I ask that myself.

Putin is clearly after his stated goal, killing Ukrainians and forcing Ukraine into submission. Sadly, the only language he understands is the language of force."

Details: She agreed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who wrote in his Sunday post that the world may go on weekend break, but Putins terror does not.

Quote: "Now is the time to show we have the strength to resist, together with Ukraine!"

Background:

On the night of 24-25 May, Russian forces launched a combined attack on Ukraine using 367 aerial weapons. More than 310 of them were either destroyed or disappeared from radar (without causing adverse effects).

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following a new record-breaking Russian attack, has called for more sanctions against Russia.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has commented on another large-scale Russian missile attack on Ukraine, which took place on the night of 24-25 May.

Source: Kallas on X (Twitter) on Sunday, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The strikes resulted in civilian casualties, including children.

Quote from Kallas: "Last night's attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine. Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed. My thoughts are with the families today."

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Details: She stressed that the international community must step up efforts to stop Russian aggression.

"We need the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war," Kallas added.

Background:

Following Russia's large-scale air attack on the night of 24-25 May, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova stated that Russia is mocking the world and the United States attempts to achieve peace.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys called for a strong response to the overnight large-scale airstrike on Ukraine.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
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?
Melting sea ice is a global issue with far-reaching consequences.

As the Arctic and Antarctic are losing ice faster than expected, experts are noticing damaging ripple effects.

What is melting sea ice?

Sea ice forms on the surface of seawater that cools below freezing temperatures, often found in polar environments. It naturally forms in colder months and melts in warmer months.

However, rising temperatures across the globe have caused less ice to form and more ice to melt.

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For example, the Arctic has lost about 70% of its ice volume since the 1980s, according to The Economist. In 2023, Antarctic sea ice levels reached a 2,000-year low, the BBC reported.

Why does melting sea ice matter?

NASA has noted that ice covers 10% of the planet, but is "disappearing rapidly." Its data shows that Greenland and Iceland lose about 268 billion metric tons of ice each year.

The significant loss of ice in naturally icy environments highlights how rising global temperatures are throwing natural systems out of balance.

While warmer temperatures cause sea ice to melt, melting sea ice can also make temperatures rise even faster.

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Polar sea ice reflects sunlight to keep oceans cool, which helps cool the rest of the planet through sea currents. With less ice, the ocean absorbs more sunlight, which makes it less able to do its job.

When sea ice melts, it also raises water levels. NASA explained that floating sea ice starts as saltwater but eventually loses salt as it freezes, transforming into mostly or all freshwater.

Oceans contain saltwater. When freshwater ice melts into saltwater oceans, it changes the density of the water, leading to higher water levels. This sea level rise can lead to intense flooding during extreme weather events.

"Antarctica might seem remote, but changes around there can affect the global climate, and the melting ice sheets affect coastal communities around the world," warned Dr. Ariaan Purich, a climate scientist at Monash University, per The Guardian.

How climate awareness helps prevent melting sea ice

Human actions affect the planet in ways that speed up sea ice melt. For example, cutting down forests stops trees from absorbing heat-trapping gases. Meanwhile, if new buildings are constructed in those clearings, that will result in plenty of harmful pollution being released.

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These activities exacerbate already rising global temperatures, making it more difficult for sea ice to form.

Addressing the roots of the warming planet can be expensive, but it's much more cost-effective than ignoring it.

For example, a World Economic Forum report has suggested that the average company could lose about 7% of its earnings each year by 2035 due to climate change-related events, like supply chain disruptions from extreme weather.

Every step toward awareness and action can protect the natural environments and processes we all rely on, including polar ecosystems.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
The Federal Aviation Administration has rescinded its notice from Saturday evening warning of flights departing late from Orlando International Airport.

The FAA announced Saturday around 7 p.m. on its website that departures from the airport were delayed  first by at least 30 minutes and later by at least 15 minutes. But at 9:30 p.m. the notice was no longer on the site.

That alert replaced an earlier FAA announcement that departures heading to the airport from certain areas of the United States and Florida were grounded due to thunderstorms.

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FAA issued the ground stop at 5:59 p.m. and said it would continue continue until at least 7:15 p.m. but then replaced it with the alert about flights leaving Orlando.

The ground stop applied to departures heading to OIA from the Atlanta area; the Washington, D.C. area; the Houston area; and in Florida from the Jacksonville and Miami areas.

For more information about the status of flights at the Orlando airport click here
Goodyear Tire (GT) has signed a definitive agreement to sell the majority of its Goodyear Chemical business to Gemspring Capital Management. The transaction follows a previously announced strategic review of Goodyears Chemical business in connection with the Goodyear Forward transformation plan. Goodyear Chemical is a producer of synthetic rubber, offering a product portfolio in North America and serving the automotive aftermarket as well as the consumer and industrial end markets. Gemspring will pay Goodyear cash proceeds at closing of approximately $650M, subject to certain post-closing adjustments, for Goodyear Chemical facilities in Houston and Beaumont, Texas, and a related research office in Akron, Ohio. Additionally, the transaction provides for a long-term supply agreement. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by late 2025. Goodyear intends to use transaction proceeds to reduce leverage and fund initiatives in connection with the Goodyear Forward transformation plan. Goodyear will retain its Chemical facilities in Niagara Falls, New York, and Bayport, Texas, and its rights to the products produced at such facilities.

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Claim:

Video authentically shows Pope Leo XIV saying of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, "You flip flop faster than pages in the Bible."

Rating:

Rating: Fake

In May 2025, a video spread on social media that appeared to show Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost, criticizing U.S. Vice President JD Vance, saying, "You flip-flop faster than pages in the Bible."

One Threads post (archived) with the video reached over 14,600 reactions, 1,700 reposts, and 5,600 shares.

In the clip, the pope appeared to deliver a monologue accusing Vance of using religion for political gain and contradicting Christian values. Below is the full transcript of the video:

Vance, you flip-flop faster than pages in the Bible. You talk a big game about Christian values, but you support closing the border, deporting refugees, separating immigrant families, even building detention camps. You treat faith like a political tool. One day you use it to oppose same-sex marriage, the next you use it to justify expansionism. On Sunday you're on your knees in church, on Monday you're backing Trump's America First agenda. In the name of traditional family you support cutting aid for the poor, in the name of border security you support violent enforcement against the asylum-seeker. That's not defending values, that's wrapping cruelty in scripture. You say it's about protecting the country. But I remember Jesus talked about welcoming the stranger, receiving the foreigner. So who exactly do you believe in? The Jesus of Galilee or the talk radio Jesus back in Ohio? Because it sure isn't the one you claim to follow. At the end of the day you're not defending the faith, you're decorating your campaign with it. You've turned religion into a factory for manufacturing votes. Vance, if you're willing to repent, the church doors are still open.

The video spread across multiple social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.

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However, the video was not authentic, and the pope never made the remarks attributed to him. Google searches using combinations of terms such as "Pope Leo XIV," "JD Vance" and key phrases from the quote yielded no relevant results from credible sources. The quote also did not appear on the Vatican's official press websites or in any public remarks attributed to the pope by reputable news organizations.

The clip circulating the alleged remarks was a deepfake  digitally fabricated content created using artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate or entirely generate audio and video that appears to be real. It was based on real footage from a 2023 interview conducted before Leo XIV became pope, altered to include fabricated remarks.

Therefore, we have rated the video as fake.

Snopes contacted the Holy See Press Office for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.

How the deepfake was created

A watermark on the video, along with descriptions in social media posts reposting it, indicated that the original creator was TikTok user @frv13172kk1. We have reached out to the user for confirmation.

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As of this writing, however, the video no longer appeared on the account, suggesting it was likely removed or taken down. The account has posted numerous similar videos, many of which were labeled as AI-generated.

(TikTok user @frv13172kk1)

The deepfake likely originated from a Catholic News Service YouTube video titled, "Pope Leo on inclusion in the church," posted in early May 2025.

"In 2012, the future Pope Leo XIV spoke out against the mass media's promotion of 'abortion, euthanasia, and the homosexual lifestyle'. In 2023, after being named Cardinal by Pope Francis, CNS asked if his views had changed," the narrator in the video introduced the clip, which is transcribed below:

CNS Journalist: Your Eminence, if I could ask just one question. The last time we saw you was in 2012 at the Synode on the new evangelization. Your intervention there talked about the various cultural dimensions that menace the church, different interpretations of marriage etc. Have you, given Francis's leadership, experienced any change from 2012 until now?

Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Prevost): Given many things that have changed I would say there's been a development in the sense of the need for the church to open and to be welcoming. And on that level, I think Pope Francis made it very clear that he doesn't want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress, or whatever. Doctrine hasn't changed and people haven't said yet, you know, we're looking for that kind of change. But we are looking to be more welcoming and more open and to say all people are welcome in the church.

In September 2023, CNS shared a similar video, seemingly from the same interview, informing it showed "Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops" and his response "to problems with bishops or dioceses."

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Prevost made no reference to JD Vance or U.S. politics at any point in the clips.

Some TikTok posts reposting the video labeled it as "AI-generated." Additionally, the video also had telltale signs of being AI-generated, such as the pope's face overlapping and blending unnaturally into the microphone area, as shown in the image below:

(TikTok user @frv13172kk1/Snopes Illustration)

The Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector analyzed the audio featured in the clip and gave it an authenticity score of 1 out of 100, indicating the voice was "likely a deepfake."

(Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector)

This isn't the first time we've fact-checked a quote attributed to the newly elected pope.

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For instance, we debunked a fake Pope Leo XIV quote that read, "You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test you. And many are failing." We also addressed another fabricated quote claiming he once urged people to "be woke." Additionally, we investigated claims that Pope Leo XIV said "gender ideology" creates "genders that don't exist."

Sources:

- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsS5R6HHS-g. Accessed 22 May 2025.

Deepfake Voice Detector. https://www.hiya.com/products/deepfake-voice-detector. Accessed 22 May 2025.

Deng, Grace. "Breaking down Rumor Pope Leo XIV Once Said 'gender Ideology' Creates 'Genders That Don't Exist.'" Snopes, 13 May 2025, https://www.snopes.com//news/2025/05/13/pope-leo-xiv-gender-ideology/.

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PerryCook, Taija. "No Evidence Pope Leo XIV Said, 'You Cannot Follow Both Christ and the Cruelty of Kings.'" Snopes, 16 May 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/pope-leo-quote-about-kings/.

---. "No Evidence Pope Leo XIV Said, 'You Cannot Follow Both Christ and the Cruelty of Kings.'" Snopes, 16 May 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/pope-leo-quote-about-kings/.

Search. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/ricerca.html?date=2025&q=pope+leo+xiv+jd+vance. Accessed 22 May 2025.

Search - Vatican News. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/search.html. Accessed 22 May 2025.

Wrona, Aleksandra. "Pope Leo XIV Never Encouraged People to 'Be Woke.'" Snopes, 15 May 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/quote-pope-leo-xiv-woke/.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Memorial Day, celebrated this year on Monday, May 26, is a somber day to honor and reflect on servicemembers who paid the ultimate sacrifice for this country.

Here are some facts about the holiday, according to We Are Teachers.

The first Memorial Day was held in 1868, just three years after the end of the Civil War, which took the lives of 620,000 Americans or 2 percent of the population at the time.

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Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. Communities across the country would gather in the spring to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers.

According to some historical accounts, one of the first commemorations took place in Charleston, South Carolina and was organized and attended by formerly enslaved people. This event took place just a few weeks after the Confederate surrender in 1865.

The day became known as Memorial Day after World War II. It became an officially recognized federal holiday in 1971.

For many, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. But it is so much more than that.

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It is also a day of remembrance, reflection and quiet gratitude for those who have served our country.

In 2000, Congress passed what is known as the National Moment of Remembrance Act. It encourages all Americans to pause for one minute at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day to remember and honor the sacrifices of those who have died in service to the United States.

The flag is flown at half-staff from sunrise to noon on Memorial Day.

Memorial Day and Veterans Day are not the same. Memorial Day honors those who died while serving the nation. Veterans Day celebrates all who served. Additionally, a third holiday, Armed Forces Day, celebrates those who are currently serving.

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Some people wear poppies on Memorial Day. This tradition was inspired by the World War I poem In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by John McCrae.

More than 1.3 million American servicemembers have died in wars since the countrys founding.

Yes, it is a holiday so it is tempting to say, Happy Memorial Day, but keep in mind it is a day to honor and remember, not just a day off from work.

It may be more appropriate to wish people a meaningful Memorial Day.

Editors note: Information was provided by We Are Teachers, a community of educators who share ideas, resources and stories.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
LIBERTY HILL, Texas (KXAN)  A fallen police officer now has a permanent memorial marker in his honor.

The Austin Police Department on Saturday morning installed a memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in 2022.

APD honors fallen officer with public visitation, funeral

APD installed the granite memorial marker at the intersection of State Highway 29 and RM 1869 in Liberty Hill, the site where Martin died on Sept. 23, 2022.

APD installs memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill in 2022. (APD photo) APD installs memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill in 2022. (APD photo) APD installs memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill in 2022. (APD photo) APD installs memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill in 2022. (APD photo) APD installs memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill in 2022. (APD photo) APD installs memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill in 2022. (APD photo) APD installs memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill in 2022. (APD photo) APD installs memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill in 2022. (APD photo) APD installs memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill in 2022. (APD photo) APD installs memorial marker for Senior APD Officer Anthony Tony Martin, who died in a motorcycle crash in Liberty Hill in 2022. (APD photo)

Police said Martin was on his way home from a night shift when the crash happened.

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The installation was the 22nd marker placed as part of the Austin Police Officer Memorial Project, started by Sergeant Jason Huskins in April 2008.

The project places granite memorials at every location in Austin where an Austin Police Officer was killed in the line of duty, according to APD. The memorials are 5 feet 4 inches tall, 20 inches wide and 6 inches thick and are constructed of gray granite. Rockdale Memorial has donated all markers.

Martin had been with APD for over 16 years. Prior to that, he spent 20 years enlisted in the United States Air Force.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
This is the weekend we remember the Americans who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country.

People gathered at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton on Saturday to honor those who died in battle.

All of the headstones in the cemetery are decorated with an American flag.

James Walters served in the Navy Reserve. His brother answered the nations call and he gave it all.

Never, never, never ever forget to say a prayer for all of those who died in combat, Walters told Channel 2s Bryan Mims. I was three years old when my oldest brother was killed in Korea, 7 August, 1952.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Walters says whenever taps is played, he sheds a tear.

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The ceremonys speaker, Major General Dwayne Wilson of the Georgia National Guard, knows well what sacrifice looks like. To him, it looks like his father, who was killed in Vietnam.

So I watched my mom and my grandparents live lives in pain without him, Wilson said.

The ceremony was quiet and intimate.

The Sons of the American Revolution, dressed in period clothing, fired rifles in tribute.

After the ceremony, people quietly walked among the headstones and flags.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE)  Ahead of Memorial Day, a special tradition known as flags in took place at the East Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery, where thousands of American flags were placed to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice. 6 News spoke with American Legion leaders and volunteers who spent their morning paying tribute and sharing what Memorial Day truly means to them.

A sea of stars and stripes stretches across veterans graves, each one a symbol. Families of fallen service members led the way, placing flags at their loved ones graves first. Then friends and volunteers joined in, one by one, until every veteran had a flag standing proudly in front of their final resting place.

Multiple people injured in block party shooting, DAs office says

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Its a way to remember. If you no longer speak their name or you no longer come out and visit with them or place flags or anything like that, then theyre forgotten. And as long as were around and were able to, well never forget them, explained Michael Testerman the Second District Commander with American Legion Department of Tennessee.



Some used hammers and a screwdriver and others a drill, the tools clearing the way for each flag to stand tall.

A wise man once said, a man never truly dies until his name is spoken for the final time for the final time, and while they were doing the little talk before, we started placing the flags, the lady said, take a moment, say the name, and so thats what weve been doing, making sure that they are never forgotten, said Isaiah Stone a Boy Scout with Troop 27:17.



For some this is a tradition rooted in generations of military service. But for others its a new experience, but meaningful nonetheless.



All these people that are laying by these headstones right underneath this ground right here, theyre all people that brought this country to this place, to this freedom that we have today, said Johnathan Debrosky a retired army veteran for 20 years.



American Legion hoping each flag inspires a moment of reflection, a pause to honor those who gave everything.

Knoxville Police ask publics help identifying man who reportedly assaulted a woman

I love coming out here to visit my loved ones because theyre there with me all the time. But to be back in a physical presence of some kind, even though it may not be them, its kind of a closure, sort of a hug every once and a while, when you dont get to do that anymore. So, its wonderful to be out here and reflect and remember, explained Jenny Testerman, President of the American Legion Department of Tennessee.



This tradition is held twice every single year not only at the East Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery but at the Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery as well. American Legion Post Two and the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial Association will continue to pay tribute at the reading of the names in Worlds Fair Park starting at 6 a.m. on Memorial Day.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side.
Devastation struck farmers across South Korea after an unexpected spring frost wiped out newly blossomed crops.

What's happening?

An unprecedented spring frost fell upon South Korea, with temperatures falling to 22.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This led to new pear blossoms becoming frostbitten and dying.

The pistils of the flowers turned black, indicating the death of the blossoms. Lee Mi-suk, an orchardist who has spent over three decades growing pears, has never seen anything like this.

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"In over 30 years of growing pears, I've never seen the blossoms freeze and die off like this," Lee told JoongAng Daily. "What good is inspecting the pollen when there are no ovaries?"

Other crops in the region, including peaches and apples, also suffered due to the erratic weather. Hundreds of cases of cold-damaged crops were reported in nearby North Chungcheong.

"In the past, we believed that warmer weather and earlier flowering would boost crop productivity. But what we're seeing is the opposite  more frequent spring frost damage and worsening productivity," Jeong Su-jong, professor at Seoul National University, told JoongAng Daily.

The unseasonal cold was made worse by erratic weather patterns, including an unexpected warm spell in mid-March, which led to early blooming.

Why are erratic weather events important?

This unusual weather event, which resulted in the loss of so many crops, is yet another example of mass global warming disrupting typical seasonal patterns.

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This disruption in our ecosystem affects not only the lives of crops but also the habitats and food supplies of every animal, including humans.

Critical climate issues worldwide continue to rise, and environmentalists everywhere are looking for solutions to stop this widespread issue.

Do you worry about how much food you throw away? Definitely Sometimes Not really Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

What's being done about erratic weather events?

Efforts to address erratic weather events are increasingly focused on prevention and adaptation. Climate experts are pushing for a reduction in the creation of planet-warming gases, a reduction of waste to create smaller landfills, and better climate insurance to protect farmers from financial loss.

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.




By Hatem Khaled and Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) -The father of nine children killed in an Israeli military strike in Gaza over the weekend remains in intensive care, said a doctor on Sunday at the hospital treating him.

Hamdi Al-Najjar, himself a doctor, was at home in Khan Younis with his 10 children when an Israeli air strike occurred, killing all but one of them. He was rushed to the nearby Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza where he is being treated for his injuries.

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Abdul Aziz Al-Farra, a thoracic surgeon, said Najjar had undergone two operations to stop bleeding in his abdomen and chest and that he sustained other wounds including to his head.

"May God heal him and help him," Farra said, speaking by the bedside of an intubated and heavily bandaged Najjar.

The Israeli military has confirmed it conducted an air strike on Khan Younis on Friday but said it was targeting suspects in a structure that was close to Israeli soldiers.

The military is looking into claims that "uninvolved civilians" were killed, it said, adding that the military had evacuated civilians from the area before the operation began.

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According to medical officials in Gaza, the nine children were aged between one and 12 years old. The child that survived, a boy, is in a serious but stable condition, the hospital has said.

Najjar's wife, Alaa, also a doctor, was not at home at the time of the strike. She was treating Palestinians injured in Israel's more than 20-month war in Gaza against Hamas in the same hospital where her husband and son are receiving care.

"She went to her house and saw her children burned, may God help her," said Tahani Yahya Al-Najjar of her sister-in-law.

"With everything we are going through only God gives us strength."

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Tahani visited her brother in hospital on Sunday, whispering to him that she was there: "You are okay, this will pass."

On Saturday, Ali Al-Najjar said that he rushed to his brothers house after the strike, which had sparked a fire that threatened to collapse the home, and searched through the rubble. "We started pulling out charred bodies," he said.

In its statement about the air strike, the Israeli military said Khan Younis was a "dangerous war zone".

Practically all of Gaza's more than 2 million Palestinians have been displaced after more than 20 months of war.

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The war erupted when Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 more.

The retaliatory campaign, that Israel has said is aimed at uprooting Hamas and securing the release of the hostages, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, Gazan health officials say.

Most of them are civilians, including more than 16,500 children under the age of 18, according to Gaza's health ministry.

(Reporting by Hatem Khaled in Gaza and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv; Writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Alexander Cornwell; Editing by David Holmes)






Jeff Metcalf, father of Austin Metcalf  the Texas high schooler who was killed by another student at a track and field meet in April  is criticizing the school district for allowing his alleged killer, 18-year-old Karmelo Anthony, to graduate

The advocacy group Next Generation Action Network (NGAN) confirmed that while Anthony will receive his degree, he will not be allowed to participate in any graduation activities

Anthony is accused of stabbing Austin, 17, with a knife during a confrontation over seating, and has since claimed that he acted in self-defense







The father of the Texas high schooler who was killed by another student at a track and field meet in April is criticizing the school district for allowing his alleged killer to graduate, although school officials have said that the teen will not be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony.

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According to CBS News Texas, NBC 5 DFW and Dallas Morning News, the Frisco Independent School District (FISD)'s superintendent confirmed that 18-year-old Karmelo Anthony will not be participating in a graduation ceremony after he was accused of fatally stabbing Austin Metcalf, 17, at a track meet last month.

The advocacy group Next Generation Action Network (NGAN) confirmed to the outlets in a statement that Anthony, a student at Frisco Centennial High School, will receive his diploma and graduate from high school this year, as he has a 3.7 GPA and has completed graduation requirements.

He will not, however, be allowed to participate in any senior graduation activities.

Austin Metcalf/X Austin Metcalf. Austin Metcalf.

"We are proud to share that Karmelo Anthony will graduate and receive his high school diploma, and that his academic achievements will not be disrupted," Minister Dominique Alexander, president of NGAN, told the outlets. "As the largest social justice organization in North Texas, NGAN has worked diligently alongside the Anthony family's legal team to bring about this fair and student-focused resolution. This is a moment of dignity for Karmelo and a reminder of the power of advocacy done right."

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Alexander also told Dallas Morning News that the news of Anthony's graduation comes after the organization, Anthony's legal team and the school district had reached an "agreement" about the 18-year-old's education.

A FISD spokesperson declined to comment to Dallas Morning News and CBS News Texas, citing privacy laws. The district did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Saturday, May 24.

Austin Metcalf's father, Jeff Metcalf, has since spoken out about the decision to allow Anthony to receive his degree. The Daily Mail reported that Jeff has filed a complaint with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to contest the decision.

The father also told CBS News Texas that he went to the FISD administration building to speak with superintendent Mike Waldrip about allowing Anthony to graduate, but was not allowed in without an appointment.



Frisco Police Dept. Karmelo Anthony. Karmelo Anthony.

"I've been stonewalled. Sad, you know, I understand the protocol," Jeff told the outlet. "They said I have to make an appointment, which I did."

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The first-degree murder case surrounding Anthony  which stems from an April 2 incident in which he stabbed Austin during a confrontation over seating at a track and field meet between their high schools  has quickly become political.

KERA previously reported that a group called Protect White Americans protested against Austin's death and called it an act of racial violence, and Austin's father Jeff later spoke out against the protesters.



"You're trying to create more race divide than bridging the gap," he told the organization over the phone when they held a rally at David Kuykendall Stadium, where the stabbing occurred.

Tensions also arose later in April when Jeff went to the Dallas venue where the parents of Anthony were speaking publicly for the first time, and was asked to leave the premises.

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Alexander criticized Jeff at the press conference for deciding to attend the event, saying that his attendance was "a disrespect to the dignity of his son."

Alexander added: "He knew that it is inappropriate to be near the family, but he did it. Actions speak louder than words."

Waldrip has previously tried to quell "misinformation" about the case. In an earlier email sent to Centennial High School staff, students and families two weeks ago, he dispelled social media rumors that Anthony would be walking at graduation.

I want to be clear. No student who commits a serious criminal offense (Title V felony) is permitted to participate in the graduation ceremony," Waldrip wrote, per CBS News Texas.

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Authorities allege that on April 2, Anthony, then 17, stabbed 17-year-old Austin at a track meet at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco. Police previously said Anthony removed a knife from his backpack and stabbed Austin. In an interview with local media, Anthonys attorney said his client is claiming he acted in self-defense.

"I know that my client said it was self-defense. I don't have any reason to disbelieve that, but I need to develop facts, talk to people and figure out what's going on before I make any statements about what I think happened," Deric Walpole told NBC 5 DFW on April 4. "I don't have any reason to think it wasn't self-defense at this time."

According to an affidavit, Anthony told an officer, "I'm not alleged, I did it."

"He put his hands on me. I told him not to," Anthony told police, according to the affidavit, also asking "if what happened could be considered self-defense.

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An eyewitness told police, according to the affidavit, that the dispute began when Austin asked Anthony to move from under a tent that had been set up for his high school track team.

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.

"Touch me and see what happens, Anthony allegedly told Austin.

The eyewitness said Austin then touched Anthony, and Anthony responded by telling him to punch him and see what happens.

The affidavit claims that when Austin went to try and physically move Anthony, the now 18-year-old then pulled the knife and stabbed Austin.

Anthony was charged with first-degree murder and was released after his bond was reduced from $1 million to $250,000, per FOX 4.



Read the original article on People
FDLE seeks help a year later in solving Memorial Day murder

HIGH SPRINGS, Fla. (WFLA)  The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is seeking help in solving a murder that took place over Memorial Day weekend one year ago.

On May 25, 2024, Marco Mandujano was murdered at Ginnie Springs Park in Gilchrist County. With the first anniversary approaching, Mandujanos loved ones, along with FDLE, continue to search for answers.

Marco Mandujano with son (left) and girlfriend (right)

Credit: Florida Department of Law Enforcement

Mandujano was among the crowd that gathered at the park to celebrate the upcoming holiday last year.

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According to the FDLE, at 11:30 p.m., a fight broke out near the Devils Spring and the Tube Launch, and gunshots were fired.

Mandujano, an innocent bystander, was shot and killed while he and his friends were walking through the area.

The FDLE is asking the public for help in identifying the persons involved.

Anyone with information about the murder is asked to contact FDLE Special Agent Barry Kays at 386-462-9975 or email him at GFOTips@fdle.state.fl.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 WFLA.
General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) is a global producer and distributor of well-known packaged food brands. Its wide-ranging product lineup includes cereals, yogurt, soups, meal kits, snack and nutrition bars, ice cream, frozen pizzas, pet food, and more.

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General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has shown resilience during economic downturns. For example, in 2010, it posted record results, including increased net sales, higher gross margins, growth in operating profit across segments, and strong cash flow.

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Editors note: Federal Fallout is a Tribune-Democrat news series addressing the potential local impact of funding cuts.

SOMERSET, Pa.  In the coming months, a review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered by President Donald Trump should bring a streamlining of the organization amid ongoing federal downsizing and cost-cutting measures.

That may lead to greater responsibility for disaster response transferring to the state and local levels, area leaders said.

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Joel Landis, Somerset County Emergency Management Agency director, has paid close attention to this process to prepare for any potential adjustments.

In his opinion, he said, FEMA does need to be revamped, and there could be a benefit to removing layers of response. Landis noted a variety of concerns regarding the agencys efficiency and effectiveness, but added that diminishing response capacity will not help.

What we dont want to see is a reduction of capabilities on the local level, Landis said.

Joel Landis | Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director

Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director Joel Landis stands Thursday, May 22, 2025, near North Street Bridge, where a debris pile had gathered after flooding from a May 13 storm in Meyersdale Borough.

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A review of FEMA operations was launched in January when Trump issued an executive order creating a review council to assess the agency.

According to that order, the federal responses to storms such as Hurricane Helene and other recent disasters demonstrate the need to drastically improve the Federal Emergency Management Agencys efficacy, priorities and competence, including evaluating whether FEMAs bureaucracy in disaster response ultimately harms the agencys ability to successfully respond.

The order claimed that, despite having a $30 billion annual budget, the agency has managed to leave vulnerable Americans without the resources or support they need when they need it most.

It also alleges FEMA may foster political bias against Trump and his supporters, citing an incident in Florida during Hurricane Milton last October in which a FEMA responder allegedly told workers not to assist homes that displayed flags or yard signs for Trump, who was the Republican presidential candidate at the time.

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The responder has since claimed the organization had hostile encounters with residents at those homes, and a report released in April said there was no evidence that FEMA employees skipped Trump-supporting homes.

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Throughout the 2024 hurricane season, baseless rumors about FEMA also circulated on social media, such as claims of unequal aid distribution and the agency seizing evacuated peoples property.

The purpose of the council is to review FEMAs disaster response throughout the past four years; compare that to how local, state and private-sector teams handled disasters; gather information from stakeholders; and advise the president.

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It was written that the council had to hold its first public meeting 90 days from the orders publication Jan. 24, submit a report to Trump 180 days after that and be disbanded one year later. The team met for the first time Tuesday.

Since January, Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have called for FEMAs termination, and around 2,000 of 6,000 full-time emergency management workers have left the agency or plan to leave through early retirement and waves of terminations, according to published reports.

Impact on response

The potential changes to the federal response are concerning for Cambria County Department of Emergency Services and Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Thomas Davis.

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The lack of assistance from federal  I believe it would be a major impact on response and for the people, he said.

Davis has served with the 911 emergency communications system for 32 years, and has spent decades as a firefighter.

He said moving more disaster responsibilities to the state and local levels would put a burden on those capabilities. It could be possible, he added, but federal assistance is absolutely huge to achieve that.

Trump wrote in a March executive order that empowering local and state authorities is part of his goal.

Federal policy must rightly recognize that preparedness is most effectively owned and managed at the state, local and even individual levels, he wrote, supported by a competent, accessible and efficient federal government.

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In response to requests for input by the review council, the international nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council has responded to the presidents actions and comments.

Much has changed with regards to FEMA staffing, operations and capacity since the start of this administration, the group wrote. Most of those changes are to the detriment of the nations ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. As climate-influenced disasters continue to increase in frequency and severity, the administration has hobbled federal, state, and local efforts to prepare for and address the growing risks and vulnerabilities we now face.

Layers dont work

Landis said if FEMA is downsized or eliminated and the responsibilities and funding are turned over to the states, that could be a benefit. He added that his salary as EMA director is paid for through a FEMA Emergency Management Performance Grant.

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Joel Landis | Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director

Somerset County Emergency Management Agency Director Joel Landis carries a box of supplies on Thursday, May 22, 2025, at Meyersdale Volunteer Fire Department as disaster relief efforts continue after flooding from a May 13 storm hit Meyersdale Borough.

Landis has been a Somerset County employee for 26 years, in public safety for 28 years, and was on the third ambulance to respond to the tornado that tore through Salisbury in 1998.

He said multi-agency approaches to disasters, especially when it comes to recovery funding, are slow and tedious.

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Layers dont work when youre the disaster victim, he said.

He provided the example of flooding May 13 in southern Somerset County that hit eight communities, including Meyersdale and Garrett.

On that night, which brought evacuations in some of those communities, Landis said his team began requesting damage assessments because he knows how slow the process can be.

A week later, representatives from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the federal Small Business Administration toured the communities, surveying the damage to homes and businesses.

Its always a race to get the amount of damages submitted up so we can do the most amount of good, he said.

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Do this together

Despite that effort, Landis doesnt expect FEMA assistance will be triggered due to the large thresholds weather events have to reach. The agency annually sets dollar figures for the thresholds that are multiplied by the impacted population to determine if federal intervention is warranted.

For example, the statewide indicator for 2025 is $1.89, meaning the Pennsylvania threshold is around $25 million. The county threshold for 2025 is $4.72, which would mean Somerset Countys triggering point exceeds $330,000.

Davis said Pennsylvanias threshold is so high that its difficult to achieve even in devastating storms, such as those the region has experienced this spring. He and Landis also acknowledged a growing trend of severe storms impacting the two counties over the past few years.

Unlocking funding was partly why the Small Business Administration was in Somerset County following the flooding.

Landis said if the SBA provides a disaster declaration, that will be open funding that can help county flood victims.

Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Wednesday his administration would support a declaration.

Looking ahead, Davis said if the federal element is downsized or removed, that will lead to expanded cooperation on the local level.

One thing we have to start looking at to prepare for changes is relationships with volunteer and community-based groups, he said. Were going to have to do this together.
At a press conference Saturday afternoon, Laurel County Sheriff John Root shared that FEMA is now in the area to assist residents and business owners affected by the May 16 tornado.

Saturday's press conference was led by Sheriff Root and Regional Emergency Management Director Jerry Rains.

Donna Baker-McClure, Eastern Kentucky Field Representative for U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell; Dustin Heiser, Assistant Director of Operations with Kentucky Emergency Management; Laurel County Fiscal Court Magistrates Danny Smith and Jeff Book; Trooper Joseph Mallory with Kentucky State Police Post 11; and Jaimie Tomaw of Tomaw Law Office were also present.

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Tomaw is helping those impacted by guiding them through the legal process, such as obtaining and understanding documents.

"FEMA is in town," Sheriff Root stated as he began the press conference. "All you have to do is ask for identification to make sure youre dealing with FEMA representatives. They will provide their identification."

Sheriff Root shared that residents seeking assistance can apply online at https://www.disasterassistance.gov, through the FEMA app, or by calling 1-800-621-3362. In-person help is also available at several locations throughout the county.

The Laurel County Public Library, located at 120 College Park Drive, is open for FEMA assistance Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m.

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Additional Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) sites include:

 The Walmart Supercenter located at 1851 KY-192, which is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 The former Food Fair building located at 1812 North Main Street, which is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

 The London-Corbin Airport located at 405 Arrow Park Drive, which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 Wyan-Pine Elementary School located at 2330 Keavy Road, which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"You can also go there for assistance filling out your applications," Root said.

Questions related to shelter or housing assistance should be directed to the Disaster Survivor Call Center at 502-607-6665, which operates daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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"If you have any questions, you have anything that youre skeptical about or need some guidance, we have call takers that are on duty manning the phones and we will answer those questions," said Rains. "If we cant answer it, well call you back and get you an answer."

Volunteers and donations are also being welcomed.

"You can do that at the London-Corbin Airport. You can also do that at the staging area, the Wyan-Pine School," Root said. "If you have resources you want to bring in  equipment, help, whatever  please direct those questions there."

Rains added that anyone wanting to register as a volunteer or check on donation needs can visit the City of London or Laurel County Fiscal Court Facebook pages for sign-up links. The Emergency Operations Center can also be reached at 606-862-7904, operating daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"Thank you Laurel County and the City of London for all the support and all the help that weve had up to this point, and were now just moving down the road going on trying to get everybody back to normal," Rains said in closing.
LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56)  One week after an EF-4 tornado tore through southern Kentucky, theres finally a glimmer of hope for those affected.

Gov. Andy Beshear announced in a post on X on Friday night that there is some good news. FEMA Individual Assistance is now available for six counties, including Laurel, Pulaski, and Russell.

Individual assistance can cover a wide range of needs.

Pedestrian taken to hospital after being hit by car in downtown Lexington

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Individual assistance includes things like loss of personal property, damage to your home, displacement assistance, and serious needs assistance, for example. These are just some of the many different types of assistance that people may be eligible for, depending on their situation, which everybodys situation is unique, said FEMA Public Information Officer Daniel Bernardy.

Currently, two Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) are open in Pulaski and Laurel counties. These centers are staffed by representatives from FEMA, the American Red Cross, the Small Business Administration, and other state agencies. They are all working together to meet with storm victims face-to-face and connect them with resources tailored to their needs.

You really do have that face-to-face human connection, which will meet you with empathy. Well hear your story. And theres something about that thats different than just going online, Bernardy told FOX 56.

Like he said, victims dont have to physically come to the DRC in London or Somerset  they can also go to other DRCs still in place from previous disasters. They can go online to DisasterAssistance.gov, download the FEMA app, or call 800-621-FEMA (3362).

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This particular disaster recovery center could be here for a couple of weeks, or it could be for a couple of months. And it just depends. But one true thing is that FEMA will not make that decision alone. We do that with our county partners, said Bernardy.

According to the FEMA website, new DRCs were established in the following locations for Laurel and Pulaski counties.

Laurel County:

Pulaski County:

Both Disaster Recovery Centers will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays

After filling out the proper forms and providing all the necessary information, applicants will get a letter approving or denying their assistance. If you get a denial, Bernardy said not to lose hope. That denial could be reversed.

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Bernardy told FOX 56, Its not necessarily the end of the road. Read that letter through top to bottom, inside out. We might just be missing a document. We might not have your contact information correct. Something might be off. We can maybe turn that denial into an approval.

LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS:

Denial appeals can be filed at a DRC, online, by mail, or by fax.

Officials are urging everyone impacted by the tornado to apply for assistance, no matter how big or small the loss.

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There is help waiting; you just need to take the first step.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT)  Following Mays tornadoes that tore through Kentucky, FEMA is offering assistance to survivors.

The counties that were affected included Union, Caldwell, Laurel, Pulaski, Russell, and Trigg counties.

FEMA encourages every homeowner or renter who suffered damage or loss to apply.

FEMA can provide money to pay for a temporary place to live, home repairs and other needs not covered by insurance.

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Some ways people can apply is online at DisasterAssistance.gov., visiting any disaster recovery center, using the FEMA mobile app.

Officials also state FEMA works with every household on a case-by-case basis and one can call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW).
GREENWOOD, S.C. (WSPA)  The Greenwood County School District 50 announced the three finalists for their superintendent position.

Here are the finalists:

Sherri Forest

Sherri Forest initially served as Chief Academic Officer and Executive Director to the Superintendent for Atlanta Public Schools. She received her degree in Special Education from Argosy University, and her Master of Education and Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Florida. Forest has previously served as as a School Effectiveness Specialist with the Georgia Department of Education, Director of Continuous Improvement and Program Director for School Support and Turnaround for Atlanta Public Schools. Forest also previously held the position of Regional Associate Executive Director for the Florida Department of Education Region IV.

Shane Goodwin

Shane Goodwin earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Master of Arts in Teaching from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, as well as a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Winthrop University. Goodwin is currently completing his Doctorate of Philosophy in Educational Leadership from Shenandoah University. He currently serves as the Assistant Superintendent for Administration for the Frederick County Public Schools in Winchester, Virginia. Goodwin has served multiple school district in Virginia, including serving as Principal and Assistant Principal in Front Royal. Goodwin has also served as Principal of Ebinport Elementary and Sullivan Middle in Rock Hill.

Terrance Sanders

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Terrance Sanders is a South Carolina native, and currently serves as the Chief Academic Officer and Deputy Superintendent for the the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District in San Marcos, Texas. Sanders holds a Bachelor of Science from Clemson University, a Masters

degree from Winthrop University, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of

Southern Mississippi. Sanders has served in various roles in education, with more than 20 years of experience in the field.

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The finalists will be visiting the district on May 29 to tour schools and meet with staff. A Community Meet and Greet is planned to be held at the Genesis Education Center at 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to allow parents, staff, and community members an opportunity to meet with the finalists.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
DUBUQUE, Iowa  A Saturday fire at American Marine in Dubuque resulted in the total loss of one boat and other minor damages.

According to the Dubuque Fire Department, at approximately 11:08 a.m. on Saturday, the Dubuque Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call from a boat owner about their vessel being on fire at the American Marine.

Upon arrival, crews from the Dubuque Fire Department found heavy smoke and flames coming from a vessel at the marina. Crews were initiated and began an aggressive attack to knock down the fire.

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Fire crews worked with marina staff to ensure the safety of nearby vessels and prevent the fire from spreading. Crews were able to contain the fire to the original vessel and had extinguished the flames within 15 minutes of Dubuque FDs arrival.

Dubuque FD says the vessel was determined to be a total loss. One vessel sustained significant damage, and minor damages was reported by adjacent vessels and the covered marina. No injuries have been reported at this time.

The Dubuque Fire Department has opened an investigation into the cause of the fire.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  About 100 firefighters deployed to a large fire at a scrap metal yard Saturday afternoon, May 24 in Northeast El Paso.

The initial call came in just minutes after 3:30 p.m. along the 6400 block of Mohair Drive. It took about three hours to get the fire knocked down, an El Paso Fire spokesperson said.

The fire was knocked down by about 6:30 p.m.

One firefighter was injured and two civilians were transported with smoke inhalation. The injuries are described as minor.

According to El Paso Fire, the structure that caught on fire is a scrap metal business that has a lot of junk cars.

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The fire appears to have been started near some cars under a carport, the Fire spokesperson said

The fire was initially described as a Condition 2, but was upgraded to a Condition 4.

You could see smoke for miles around El Paso.

About 35 fire units participated in knocking the fire down. Crews are still on scene as of 6:30 p.m., looking for hotspots.

Investigators are on scene, looking into the cause.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
A bird sits on a security fence at the Chase County Detention Facility in 2021. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)

Jails are hard places made necessary by people like Ernest Hoefgen.

Few are likely to remember Hoefgen now, but back in September 1943 the 31-year-old escaped from the city jail at Cottonwood Falls. Hed been picked up for assault, according to newspaper accounts, and was using an alias. In reality, Hoefgen was an escapee from the Texas state prison at Huntsville, where he had been serving a life sentence for murder.

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Stick with me, because this is not a story about a murder that took place eight decades ago, but about due process in America in 2025. Ive been thinking a lot lately about the Constitutional guarantee of due process, which means everyone should have access to fair and adequate legal proceedings when the government threatens to deprive us of life, liberty or property. This is regardless of what Kristi Noem, director of Homeland Security, may say it and habeas corpus are.

Our thinking about courts and jails and their role in American society has been shaped by Hoefgen and other criminals like him. The reason In Cold Blood stays with us, apart from Truman Capotes writing, is that its a story of a farm family in western Kansas who were murdered in a sensational way. It leaves us asking, why?

Movies, books and television also tend to blur our thinking about who is a criminal and who is not. If youre in jail  or a detention center, as theyre likely called now  you must be a criminal, right? Well, no. There are plenty of people being processed in our jails right now who have committed no crime but who have violated relatively minor civil codes, comparable to getting a ticket from the city for the height of your grass. But unlike policing lawn care, theres a gold rush related to immigration enforcement. Theres a billion-dollar detention industry hungry to fill beds with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, and civil liberties are being eroded in the process.

ICE doesnt like to talk about how much it pays facilities, or to have any of its contractors talk about how much they make per day for each detainee. Apparently, the first rule of ICE club is dont talk about ICE club.

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But lets talk first about how jails are supposed to function.

In 1938, Hoefgen killed carpenter George Richet with a hatchet from Richets own toolbox. Hoefgen and a teenage girlfriend, Sylvia Phipps, were hitchhiking near Wichita Falls when the carpenter gave them a lift, according to the Associated Press. Hoefgen later told investigators he didnt know why he killed Richet, who still had $8 in cash when his body was found by railway workers. The case remained unsolved for two years.

Both Hoefgen and Phipps were later picked up on forgery charges at Scottsbluff, Nebraska, found guilty, and sentenced to prison. In 1940, Phipps told the matron at the womens reformatory she wanted to talk to investigators because she had witnessed the killing of Richet in Texas. When questioned, Hoefgen confessed.

We know all this about Hoefgen because of due process. The evidence against him was carefully detailed in court filings, he had advice from lawyers, and his court proceedings were open to the public and the press.

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Hoefgen was sent to Huntsville to serve his life sentence, but he escaped  twice. After the second escape, he ran back to his home state of Kansas, where he married a local girl named Pauline and got into trouble at Cottonwood Falls. After escaping from the city jail, he stole another car and picked up a hitchhiker, 18-year-old Kansas State University student Bruce Smoll. When Smoll became suspicious, according to a United Press story, Hoefgen shot him to death. Rabbit hunters found the body a month later in a cornfield near Peabody, about 40 miles southwest of Cottonwood Falls.

Based on a hunch from Smolls father that Hoefgen may have been involved in his sons death, and tips from Paulines parents, investigators found Hoefgen living in Denver and returned him to Marion County, where he was charged with Smolls murder.

Hoefgens story is full of odd details that, if you put them in a movie, would shatter the audiences suspension of disbelief. When he and Phipps were in the county jail at Gering, Nebraska, awaiting trial on the forgery charges, they allegedly hatched a ridiculous jailbreak plot by hiding notes to one another in bananas and tomatoes. My interest in Hoefgen is because his last murderous jail escape began in Cottonwood Falls.

The Chase County Detention Center at Cottonwood Falls has received attention lately as being the last and largest ICE-contracted jail facility in Kansas. The 148-bed facility was built to turn a profit for this central Kansas county of 2,500, and it has been mostly full since the mass deportations began under the Trump administration. Back in 2021 and again earlier this month, I wrote about my discomfort with a picturesque Kansas county profiting from the misery of ICE detentions. Four years ago, the rate paid per day of inmate detention was $62.

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Curious about how much Chase County is now receiving to house detainees, I filed a Kansas Open Records Act request for the facility contract. I was told to take a hike.

Due to being a federal contracted agency, Sheriff Jacob Welsh wrote in an email, there are contract restrictions which I am not allowed to disclose any information about the contract.

Requests, he said, were to be sent directly to ICE.

Welsh did not respond to a request to cite the KORA exemption he felt applied in the situation or to provide the language in the federal contract that forbade him from discussing the contract.

I did contact ICE for the contract but received an automated out-of-office reply from spokeswoman Yasmeen Pitts OKeefe. The email said she would respond when she returned Monday, May 21. As of Friday, I had not received a response from OKeefe or any other ICE representative.

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Max Kautsch, a First Amendment lawyer at Lawrence, told me that Welshs responses showed a lack of concern for open records and state law.

The sheriffs response violates the Kansas Open Records Act, Kautsch said, because he does not cite the specific provision of law authorizing denial of the request, which he must do under Kansas law.

There are legitimate exemptions to KORA that allow the use of federal law to deny requests, such as how public universities can deny some requests for student information under Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

If the sheriff insists on denying the request based on guidance hes received from the federal government, he must come clear to the public and cite that authority, as KORA requires, Kautsch said. He also would need to explain why he is unable to produce even a redacted version of the requested records.

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Welshs response raises concerns about open government.

These circumstances suggest, at a minimum, that the sheriff is indifferent to open records laws, attention to detail, or both, Kautsch said. That conclusion is bolstered by the fact that the inmate information portal on the sheriffs website says access to records held by the Chase County Jail is purportedly governed by the Kentucky Open Records Act. Their office is in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. If the sheriffs office cant be bothered to properly identity its own state law on its own website, perhaps it is to be expected that it wouldnt know how to respond to a KORA request, either.

Why Kentucky?

I dont know. Perhaps the template for the inmate portal was borrowed from the Muhlenberg County Detention Center.

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To get a better understanding of what ICE detainees at Chase County and elsewhere go through, I contacted Kansas City, Missouri, immigration attorney Michael Sharma-Crawford.

For years, Sharma-Crawford told me, Chase County was the only immigration detention facility for most of Kansas and Missouri. There are now more counties being contracted, he said, especially in Missouri. In Kansas, for-profit CoreCivic is attempting to repurpose a shuttered prison in Leavenworth for ICE detention, but it has faced legal challenges and has not yet opened.

The issue with the current wave of detainments, Sharma-Crawford said, is the speed at which deportations are being carried out and the difficulty in tracking cases through the system. Migrants are typically given a handful of documents upon their arrest containing the specifics against them. Without access to those papers, its difficult for an immigration attorney to evaluate a case, he said, or to track a migrants case online. In many instances, he said, jails meant to house criminal detainees are unprepared to deal with civil immigration cases.

He commended Chase County on being willing to fax immigration documents to attorneys, while allowing the detainees to keep the originals, and to facilitate attorney-client phone calls.

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Id take 12 Chase Counties compared to other facilities, Sharma-Crawford said.

Access to legal counsel is an important Sixth Amendment right, he said, and this is especially important when deportation may now occur three weeks or less from the time of arrest.

If youre from Mexico, you have to move quickly, he advised. If you dont know what your status is, you should talk to an immigration attorney.

He also suggested having important documents, like birth certificates, at the ready, and being prepared to seek a second legal opinion when necessary.

Sharma-Crawford said the immigration system was broken and that things were building to a chaotic crescendo. The administrations goal, he said, is to artificially clog the system and then claim it is impractical to give every detainee a hearing. But as late Justice Antonin Scalia said, due process applies to everyone.

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Its something average Americans should take to heart, no matter where they were born. Its something that is being lost among the current rhetoric about crime and immigration. The vast majority of ICE detainees, he said, are held on civil charges.

I dont defend people against criminal charges, Sharma-Crawford said.

If we dont protect the due process rights of migrants now, he said, we might be denying due process for everyday civil infractions tomorrow, such as allowing your grass to grow too high.

At some point, this leads to abbreviated trials and other erosions of due process, he said.

The prospect of CoreCivic opening a thousand-bed facility at Leavenworth terrifies him. The previous prison operated by CoreCivic in Leavenworth was described as a hell hole of abuse and mismanagement. The city of Leavenworth sued to stop the facility from being reopened as an ICE detention facility, but on Thursday a federal judge dismissed the case.

While Chase County did not provide answers to my questions about how lucrative its ICE contract was, a 2024 report by the American Immigration Council provides some clues. It estimated the average daily rate for detention to be $237 per person, with single adults spending an average of 55 days in detention. The rate for Chase County, of course, might differ. But with nobody willing to talk, who knows?

Communities such as Cottonwood Falls and Leavenworth must weigh the price of monetizing ICE detainment in the age of Trump against the fundamental American values of fairness and compassion. Leavenworth wouldnt directly share in the per-day rate as Chase County does, but there is the lure of jobs and economic development. It is a devils bargain, a Faustian pact, the civic equivalent of 30 pieces of silver.

Back in 1943, Hoefgen pleaded guilty in Marion County District Court to the murder of K-State student Smoll. He was sentenced to death.

Hoefgen was hanged shortly after 1 a.m. Friday, March 10, 1944, on a newly constructed gallows in a warehouse at the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing. His last meal had been fried chicken. He declined requests to speak to reporters and showed little emotion as he was led up the 13 fated steps, an eyewitness from the Associated Press reported. Hoefgen was the first person to be executed by Kansas since 1870.

The death penalty is currently legal in Kansas, but it hasnt been used since 1965. The most notorious murderers executed at the Lansing gallows were In Cold Blood killers Dick Hickok and Perry Smith.

While its easy to see the story of Hoefgen as that of a criminal who got what he deserved, its also a saga of Constitutional due process. He was repeatedly brought before the courts in the downward spiral of his life, afforded lawyers, treated humanely and even given fruit while in custody. Whether you agree with capital punishment or not, there was no abbreviation of justice.

County jails were typically places where criminal defendants were sent to await their trials or where those convicted of misdemeanor crimes served sentences of a year or less. They were not places for defendants in civil cases. Criminal cases can result in punishment that includes jail time, while civil cases typically involve settling disputes.

The migrants now being rushed through the deportation pipeline deserve the full protection of due process. If we deny them legal representation and access to courts by accelerating their cases through a broken system, we are betraying core American values. We risk turning justice into an unthinking machine run by idealogues and fueled by the monetization of detainment.

It is either due process for all, or due process for none.

Max McCoy is an award-winning author and journalist. Through its opinion section, the 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.
The growing concern on the right about race-related instruction follows massive protests and calls for action last year, in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd and the killing of other Black residents by police in other cities. | Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer

This story was originally reported by Alexis Wray, Eden Turner and Sabreen Dawud of The 19th. Meet Alexis, Eden and Sabreen and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.

Sunday is the fifth anniversary of George Floyds death, a time that many remember as a racial reckoning that heightened the worlds attention on police brutality and its deadly impact on Black people.

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Activists, leaders and community members believed five years ago that the country would point to this moment as the one that brought lasting change toward racial equity. Now, the majority of Americans say that moment has passed with its promise unfulfilled.

In a study published on May 7, the Pew Research Center found that in 2020, 52 percent of U.S. adults believed that an increased focus on racial issues across the country would lead to significant change in the years to come. In 2025, 72 percent of U.S. adults said that the focus on racial inequality did not lead to any changes that helped the Black community.

Furthermore, in 2025, 67 percent of Black Americans said they felt doubtful the United States would ever achieve racial equality; 65 percent felt similarly in 2020.

The 19th spoke with Black activists about the countrys progress toward equality since Floyds death and how they envision a more inclusive future.

You have to do things to actually show how you feel

Alaunna Thompson was attending a predominantly White high school in Montville, N.J., when Floyd died. His murder was a call for her to organize a protest in her local community, she said, describing her ongoing struggles with racism in school as the driver that pushed her to use her voice.

Alaunna Thompson (left) and Gabriel Broadman (right) at a George Floyd protest they both organized in Englewood, New Jersey on May 31, 2020. (Alaunna Thompson)

Protestors gathered at Mackay Park in Englewood, N.J., to demand justice after Floyds death. Following a route that led them around the city, participants stopped to deliver passionate speeches and craft signs that they would carry while organizing. Parents, teachers, students and Englewood residents all came out to support.

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It was a mix of us feeling some way about our school and on top of that, hearing all this stuff [about] Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd. It was back to back to back.

Arbery was a 25-year-old Black man who was shot and killed while on an afternoon jog in the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Georgia. Arberys death happened in February 2020, just months before Floyds.

Thompson remembers feeling sadness, anger and disbelief. With the stunting pain also came the realization that this time, something felt different.

I saw people talking about [Floyds] drug charges and the things he did, and I was just, like, Wow, this is really sad, and I felt angry about it. Honestly, I thought nothing would happen, she said. When Derek Chauvin got arrested and convicted in federal court of killing Floyd, that was a shock to me, Thompson said. Thats never really happened before.

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In Thompsons eyes, while Floyds murder did not put an end to racially motivated violence, it did shift our social understanding of how we discuss police brutality. Up until the day of Floyds death in 2020, she had never witnessed so much language that reflected how brutal police violence is.

People are more comfortable holding these police officers accountable now. I think versus the Trayvon Martin period, people were [thinking] these are not people who are going to get prosecuted because they are above the law, she said. Theyre also more comfortable saying that this person killed this person instead of it being police brutality. This is murder.

At just 17 years old, Martin was shot and killed while walking in Sanford, Florida. His killer, George Zimmerman, was the captain of Sanfords neighborhood watch and reported to police that he saw a suspicious person prior to shooting Martin. Zimmerman was later found not guilty in the trial.

Although Thompson does not feel there has been effective systemic change in the five years since Floyds life was taken, she does recognize the impact that he has had. Her place in history is what will continue to compel her to use her voice, she said.

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Its about history. Its not about two little kids from Englewood who may not make that much of a difference when it comes to the law, but it makes a difference when it comes to which side of history you were on.

Angela Ferrell-Zabala, the executive director of Moms Demand Action!, speaks at the Mothers Day of Action Rally held in Atlanta on May 13, 2023. (Courtesy Angela Ferrell-Zabala)

I hope many people hold onto  the possibility that lies ahead

Throughout her life, Angela Ferrell-Zabala has looked to the strength of her mother and grandmother to inspire her activism. At a young age, her family instilled in her the belief that she has a voice and the power to advocate against injustice in the world. As she grew older, she followed their lead in the work shes done for her community.

As a mother of four living in Washington, D.C., she wanted to do something about gun violence in the city. So she joined Moms Demand Action, a gun violence prevention advocacy group. Three years ago, she became its first executive director.

Ferrell-Zabala felt that Floyds murder was a continuation of violence against Black and Brown people that had become normalized. While she helped the people in her community, she had to remember to give herself grace to deal with the emotional turmoil she was also experiencing.

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In the moment, you just want to make sure everyones OK, she said. You want to wrap your arms around them, but then theres this point about What do I need?

Five years later, Ferrell-Zabala said that its a hard moment for the country  and a hard moment for Black folks in particular. Decades of pain and trauma are continuing to impact the Black community, and many in the community feel like no one cares about the struggles they are facing.

For instance, Ferrell-Zabala said that Black people are disproportionately impacted when it comes to gun violence, and communities say that solutions arent meeting their needs fast enough. With corporations and the federal government rolling back inclusive programs that civil rights leaders fought hard for, many people have lost hope.

Right now, it feels particularly difficult because theres this sense of, No one cares, no one gives a damn, she said. But I think what makes it harder [is that] now, its beyond not caring. It [feels] like intentional cruelty.

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Ferrell-Zabala told The 19th that the country has a long way to go when it comes to creating true equality, equity and justice. She looks to her grandmothers resilience as a reminder to keep working toward a better future. To move forward, she said that the Black community has to think about where they are and balance it with their radical visions of what could be.

Thats one of the things I hold onto, she said. I hope many people hold onto who we are, where we come from and the possibility that lies ahead.

Destine Riggins says she was the only photographer at the various West Jefferson, NC racial justice protests she attended and documented, such as this 2020 march. (Vicki Randolph)

Were the only thing protecting each other

Destine Riggins saved on her phone an album of pictures labeled Black Lives Matter March. She took these photos five years ago in West Jefferson, a town in the rural Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. She was the sole photographer there.

Riggins used to look at the photos and see impact, unity and change. Now, when she looks at them, Riggins said she feels like the whole world is against us again.

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I feel like were in a worse scenario right now than we were five years ago. With the current administration we have, police brutality is easy for them to slip under the rug or even for a policeman to get off, especially with [President Donald] Trump wanting to pardon officers, Riggins said.

Floyds murder immediately made Riggins think of Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland, a Black woman roughly handled and arrested by the police in Texas and then found dead in her cell a few days later by what the local police consider suicide. There was also Sonya Massey, who was shot and killed in her home by the police last summer.

Since the march, Riggins has watched the national conversation around race and policing shift, making her feel tired, heavy and more unsure than ever.

Each time we see these murders by the police it feels like another hit to the Black community. Another disappointment. Another reason to not like the cops. And another reason for a White man to be able to kill a Black man, Riggins said.

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Millions of people across the country have been protesting against the Trump administration through efforts like the Hands Off and 50501 movements. Many Black communities have decided on other forms of resistance and several people, like Riggins, are choosing to turn inward, by resting and leaning on their community for support.

There is no protection for Black people except us, were the only thing protecting each other and right now that feels kind of disintegrating. My biggest opinion is to lay low right now, Riggins said. I dont want to bring any extra attention to myself because I dont have time to try to fight a justice system that was never meant for me in the first place.

Protest leaders give speeches during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in West Jefferson, NC where Queue Wellington also worked as a leader in the local racial justice movement. (Destine Riggins)

Police brutality shouldnt just be personal to Black people

While Riggins took pictures, Queue Wellington helped lead the march in West Jefferson, where more than 300 people protested in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Growing up Black in a rural, White, conservative and poor region, Wellington constantly saw how white supremacy and police brutality negatively impacted everyone.

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White people love to cling to power, but that power is white supremacy. As this country continues to lean overtly more into fascism and acceptance of police brutality, then that means Black people will keep dying, White people will keep dying and everyone will keep dying  largely by the hands of the police or people in power, Wellington said.

After the summer of 2020, Wellington saw an increase in White people in their town attempting to unlearn anti-Black behavior, understand systemic issues and work in community with Black movements. Since then, they said those same people have faded away and that their actions were likely performative.

There was a wave of White people trying to become more conscious or get more informed on things, but where are they now? Wellington said. Black people have always had to juggle it all at the same time: work, bills, lives and oppression.

While Wellington feels that things arent better for Black Americans since the summer of racial reckoning, they do believe that at least more White people are grasping the reality of police brutality.

If we cant get a thousand White people to understand, maybe having one White person on board or seeing the reality of police brutality will change things or even create safer environments for Black folks, Wellington said.

Wellington thinks this understanding could even be found in places like the Appalachian Mountains, where Stuart Mast, a White man, died while in deputies custody in a similar way to Floyd.

Several community members are outraged by Masts death, and people who once backed the blue are now questioning the system that police brutality has created.

The fact that White people in my community are outraged over police violence feels oddly familiar. We should all be asking why folks are getting killed by the police. This murder has started to cause a divide between the police and White people here, Wellington said. Police brutality shouldnt just be personal to Black people, but to everyone because it affects everyone.

Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, participates in the Peoples March on January 18, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Cares JaRon)

Our joy has to be non-negotiable

In 2020, Monica Simpson and her community felt caught in the middle of challenging moments: Trump was finishing his first term and the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak.

As the executive director of SisterSong, a reproductive rights group based in Atlanta, Simpson joined other members to create mutual aid opportunities for those in need and help pregnant women get access to birth workers.

Then Floyd was murdered. When the news broke, Simpson was immediately reminded of the other Black men and boys who were murdered by White men, such as Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice  and the list keeps going, she said. But it felt like the world had to keep moving forward. Simpson had to continue doing the work for her community.

We were having to still hold our community in all the ways that we need to for the work that we do every single day, she said. We had to be on the frontlines at the same time.

At that time, the country saw what the media called a racial reckoning and Simpson felt that it took away from the grief the Black community was feeling after Floyds murder.

In 2025, with Trump back in power and making more changes to disenfranchise marginalized communities, Simpson feels that Black communities did as much as they could to restore what Trumps 2016 administration destroyed. Black-led advocacy organizations came together, despite their contradictory beliefs, to put forth the work necessary to help their communities and each other.

Overall, Simpson said the Black community knew a second Trump presidency would be detrimental. Ninety-two percent of Black women voted for Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election and mobilized their communities. During his first five months in office, Trump has made strides to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs and positions in the federal government, and many corporations have followed suit.

I think were in more danger now than we were before, Simpson told The 19th. Were in the same position of our rights, our bodies, our communities being under attack.

To create a more inclusive future, Simpson said that the Black community must continue to work together across religions, political values and identities because disrespectability politics  have kept us divided. The Black community has to come together to advocate for their needs, which includes educating each other, reclaiming their culture and embracing moments of joy.

We need all the Black joy as possible because our joy has to be non-negotiable at this time, she said. Thats a powerful and necessary part of how we make it through.
Five years after George Floyds death, Minnesota leaders speak out originally appeared on Bring Me The News.

Elected officials are speaking out on the fifth anniversary of George Floyds murder by a Minneapolis police officer. May 25 marks five years since Floyd died at the hands of former Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin.

Lorie Shaull via Flickr

In a statement, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called Floyds death a turning point in our nation. He also pointed to policing and public safety laws passed in the state in response to the murder.

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Minnesotans raised their voices, calling for justice and real, meaningful change to prevent a murder like this from ever happening again, Walz said.

In Minnesota, we heeded that call for change. Weve made key reforms to policing and public safety, including banning chokeholds and neck restraints, imposing a duty to intercede on officers who witness a colleague using excessive force and banning warrior-style training."

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan also issued a statement on Sunday.

Today is an important day to reflect on all that has and hasnt happened in the five years since George Floyd was murdered.



Today is also a day we must remember George for what he brought this world when he was alive. pic.twitter.com/hFe1U5p070  Peggy Flanagan (@peggyflanagan) May 25, 2025

To mark the occasion, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey reflected on the incident as a moment that shook our city and our country. Frey also called out efforts by the city to rebuild the system in the time since.

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We created stronger oversight, overhauled our use of force policy, changed how officers are trained and hired, and rethought how we respond to people in crisis. Weve made progress, but the work is far from over, Frey said.

Five years ago today, George Floyd was murdered by a former Minneapolis police officer. That moment shook our city and our country -- and it demanded that we change.  Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) May 25, 2025

Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter also crossed the river to visit the site of the murder at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in south Minneapolis. Now known as George Floyd Square, Carter joined community members in honoring Floyd.

Our collective grief and pain lingers. Yet, there's a calling to show up better for one anotherto listen more, to love more, Carter wrote on X. In honoring George Floyd's life, not just in words but in action, we refuse to settle for nothing less than justice and equality.

Humbled to share space with community at George Floyd Square to mark five years since his murder. In moments like these, we're reminded of how deeply we are all connected. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/FW9cZY1WjE  Mayor Melvin Carter (@MayorCarter) May 25, 2025

The Minnesota Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves and Lynx also issued statements.

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Today marks five years since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. We pause to reflect on the pain, the change, and the call for justice that began here and still echoes today. Our commitment to equality will never change. pic.twitter.com/9YW8UteGid  Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) May 25, 2025

This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on May 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
The iShares Core International Aggregate Bond ETF (IAGG) pulled in $1.9 billion on Thursday, increasing its total assets to $9.3 billion, according to data provided by FactSet. The massive inflows came as markets closed nearly flat, with the S&P 500 slipping just 0.04% amid continued worries over rising Treasury yields and deficit spending.

The iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF (EFV) attracted $1.3 billion, while the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) gained $872.7 million as the 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.16%, its highest since October 2023. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) pulled in $787.3 million despite market uncertainty.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) saw outflows of $1.4 billion. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF (EMXC) lost $501.3 million, while the Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF (VGIT) experienced outflows of just under $242 million.

International fixed-income ETFs led with $2.2 billion in inflows, while international equity ETFs gained $2.4 billion. U.S. fixed income collected $1.6 billion, and commodities ETFs added $502.2 million. Overall, ETFs attracted $8.6 billion following the House passage of a tax bill that could add nearly $4 trillion to the deficit.

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

ETF Daily Flows By Asset Class

Net Flows ($, mm) AUM ($, mm) % of AUM Alternatives 808.29 10,781.29 7.50% Asset Allocation 18.76 24,455.32 0.08% Commodities ETFs 502.21 209,751.44 0.24% Currency 630.42 144,158.48 0.44% International Equity 2,387.90 1,772,858.35 0.13% International Fixed Income 2,230.85 287,073.59 0.78% Inverse -30.99 15,173.46 -0.20% Leveraged -130.86 125,568.42 -0.10% US Equity 553.08 6,721,080.36 0.01% US Fixed Income 1,640.77 1,646,989.51 0.10% Total: 8,610.45 10,957,890.23 0.08%

Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data are believed to be accurate; however, transient market data are often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.
A scene in Minnesota after George Floyd died in the custody of Minneapolis police and residents erupted in anger. Floyd's death sparked a wave of protests across the country and renewed calls for police reform. (Photo by Tony Webster/Minnesota Reformer)

George Floyds death is a time that many remember as a racial reckoning that heightened the worlds attention on police brutality and its deadly impact on Black people.

Activists, leaders and community members believed five years ago that the country would point to this moment as the one that brought lasting change toward racial equity. Now, the majority of Americans say that moment has passed with its promise unfulfilled.

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In a study published on May 7, the Pew Research Center found that in 2020, 52 percent of U.S. adults believed that an increased focus on racial issues across the country would lead to significant change in the years to come. In 2025, 72 percent of U.S. adults said that the focus on racial inequality did not lead to any changes that helped the Black community.

This report was originally published by The 19th. The Illuminator is a founding member of the 19th News Network.

Furthermore, in 2025, 67% of Black Americans said they felt doubtful the United States would ever achieve racial equality; 65% felt similarly in 2020.

The 19th spoke with Black activists about the countrys progress toward equality since Floyds death and how they envision a more inclusive future.

You have to do things to actually show how you feel

Alaunna Thompson was attending a predominantly White high school in Montville, N.J., when Floyd died. His murder was a call for her to organize a protest in her local community, she said, describing her ongoing struggles with racism in school as the driver that pushed her to use her voice.

Alaunna Thompson, left, and Gabriel Broadman at a George Floyd protest they both organized in Englewood, N.J., on May 31, 2020. (Alaunna Thompson)

Protestors gathered at Mackay Park in Englewood, N.J., to demand justice after Floyds death. Following a route that led them around the city, participants stopped to deliver passionate speeches and craft signs that they would carry while organizing. Parents, teachers, students and Englewood residents all came out to support.

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It was a mix of us feeling some way about our school and on top of that, hearing all this stuff [about] Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd. It was back to back to back.

Arbery was a 25-year-old Black man who was shot and killed while on an afternoon jog in the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Georgia. Arberys death happened in February 2020, just months before Floyds.

Thompson remembers feeling sadness, anger and disbelief. With the stunting pain also came the realization that this time, something felt different.

I saw people talking about [Floyds] drug charges and the things he did, and I was just, like, Wow, this is really sad, and I felt angry about it. Honestly, I thought nothing would happen, she said. When Derek Chauvin got arrested and convicted in federal court of killing Floyd, that was a shock to me, Thompson said. Thats never really happened before.

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In Thompsons eyes, while Floyds murder did not put an end to racially motivated violence, it did shift our social understanding of how we discuss police brutality. Up until the day of Floyds death in 2020, she had never witnessed so much language that reflected how brutal police violence is.

People are more comfortable holding these police officers accountable now. I think versus the Trayvon Martin period, people were [thinking] these are not people who are going to get prosecuted because they are above the law, she said. Theyre also more comfortable saying that this person killed this person instead of it being police brutality. This is murder.

At just 17 years old, Martin was shot and killed while walking in Sanford, Florida. His killer, George Zimmerman, was the captain of Sanfords neighborhood watch and reported to police that he saw a suspicious person prior to shooting Martin. Zimmerman was later found not guilty in the trial.

Although Thompson does not feel there has been effective systemic change in the five years since Floyds life was taken, she does recognize the impact that he has had. Her place in history is what will continue to compel her to use her voice, she said.

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Its about history. Its not about two little kids from Englewood who may not make that much of a difference when it comes to the law, but it makes a difference when it comes to which side of history you were on.

Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action, speaks at the Mothers Day of Action Rally in Atlanta on May 13, 2023. (Courtesy Angela Ferrell-Zabala)

The possibility that lies ahead

Throughout her life, Angela Ferrell-Zabala has looked to the strength of her mother and grandmother to inspire her activism. At a young age, her family instilled in her the belief that she has a voice and the power to advocate against injustice in the world. As she grew older, she followed their lead in the work shes done for her community.

As a mother of four living in Washington, D.C., she wanted to do something about gun violence in the city. So she joined Moms Demand Action, a gun violence prevention advocacy group. Three years ago, she became its first executive director.

Ferrell-Zabala felt that Floyds murder was a continuation of violence against Black and Brown people that had become normalized. While she helped the people in her community, she had to remember to give herself grace to deal with the emotional turmoil she was also experiencing.

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In the moment, you just want to make sure everyones OK, she said. You want to wrap your arms around them, but then theres this point about What do I need?

Five years later, Ferrell-Zabala said that its a hard moment for the country  and a hard moment for Black folks in particular. Decades of pain and trauma are continuing to impact the Black community, and many in the community feel like no one cares about the struggles they are facing.

For instance, Ferrell-Zabala said that Black people are disproportionately impacted when it comes to gun violence, and communities say that solutions arent meeting their needs fast enough. With corporations and the federal government rolling back inclusive programs that civil rights leaders fought hard for, many people have lost hope.

Right now, it feels particularly difficult because theres this sense of, No one cares, no one gives a damn, she said. But I think what makes it harder [is that] now, its beyond not caring. It [feels] like intentional cruelty.

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Ferrell-Zabala told The 19th that the country has a long way to go when it comes to creating true equality, equity and justice. She looks to her grandmothers resilience as a reminder to keep working toward a better future. To move forward, she said that the Black community has to think about where they are and balance it with their radical visions of what could be.

Thats one of the things I hold onto, she said. I hope many people hold onto who we are, where we come from and the possibility that lies ahead.

Destine Riggins says she was the only photographer at the various West Jefferson, North Carolina, racial justice protests she attended and documented, such as this 2020 march. (Vicki Randolph)

Were the only thing protecting each other

Destine Riggins saved on her phone an album of pictures labeled Black Lives Matter March. She took these photos five years ago in West Jefferson, a town in the rural Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. She was the sole photographer there.

Riggins used to look at the photos and see impact, unity and change. Now, when she looks at them, Riggins said she feels like the whole world is against us again.

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I feel like were in a worse scenario right now than we were five years ago. With the current administration we have, police brutality is easy for them to slip under the rug or even for a policeman to get off, especially with [President Donald] Trump wanting to pardon officers, Riggins said.

Floyds murder immediately made Riggins think of Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland, a Black woman roughly handled and arrested by the police in Texas and then found dead in her cell a few days later by what the local police consider suicide. There was also Sonya Massey, who was shot and killed in her home by the police last summer.

Since the march, Riggins has watched the national conversation around race and policing shift, making her feel tired, heavy and more unsure than ever.

Each time we see these murders by the police it feels like another hit to the Black community. Another disappointment. Another reason to not like the cops. And another reason for a White man to be able to kill a Black man, Riggins said.

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Millions of people across the country have been protesting against the Trump administration through efforts like the Hands Off and 50501 movements. Many Black communities have decided on other forms of resistance and several people, like Riggins, are choosing to turn inward, by resting and leaning on their community for support.

There is no protection for Black people except us, were the only thing protecting each other and right now that feels kind of disintegrating. My biggest opinion is to lay low right now, Riggins said. I dont want to bring any extra attention to myself because I dont have time to try to fight a justice system that was never meant for me in the first place.

Protest leaders give speeches during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in West Jefferson, North Carolina, where Queue Wellington also worked as a leader in the local racial justice movement. (Destine Riggins)

Police brutality shouldnt just be personal to Black people

While Riggins took pictures, Queue Wellington helped lead the march in West Jefferson, where more than 300 people protested in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Growing up Black in a rural, White, conservative and poor region, Wellington constantly saw how white supremacy and police brutality negatively impacted everyone.

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White people love to cling to power, but that power is white supremacy. As this country continues to lean overtly more into fascism and acceptance of police brutality, then that means Black people will keep dying, White people will keep dying and everyone will keep dying  largely by the hands of the police or people in power, Wellington said.

After the summer of 2020, Wellington saw an increase in White people in their town attempting to unlearn anti-Black behavior, understand systemic issues and work in community with Black movements. Since then, they said those same people have faded away and that their actions were likely performative.

There was a wave of White people trying to become more conscious or get more informed on things, but where are they now? Wellington said. Black people have always had to juggle it all at the same time: work, bills, lives and oppression.

While Wellington feels that things arent better for Black Americans since the summer of racial reckoning, they do believe that at least more White people are grasping the reality of police brutality.

If we cant get a thousand White people to understand, maybe having one White person on board or seeing the reality of police brutality will change things or even create safer environments for Black folks, Wellington said.

Wellington thinks this understanding could even be found in places like the Appalachian Mountains, where Stuart Mast, a White man, died while in deputies custody in a similar way to Floyd.

Several community members are outraged by Masts death, and people who once backed the blue are now questioning the system that police brutality has created.

The fact that White people in my community are outraged over police violence feels oddly familiar. We should all be asking why folks are getting killed by the police. This murder has started to cause a divide between the police and White people here, Wellington said. Police brutality shouldnt just be personal to Black people, but to everyone because it affects everyone.

Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, participates in the Peoples March on Jan. 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Cares JaRon)

Our joy has to be non-negotiable

In 2020, Monica Simpson and her community felt caught in the middle of challenging moments: Trump was finishing his first term and the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak.

As the executive director of SisterSong, a reproductive rights group based in Atlanta, Simpson joined other members to create mutual aid opportunities for those in need and help pregnant women get access to birth workers.

Then Floyd was murdered. When the news broke, Simpson was immediately reminded of the other Black men and boys who were murdered by White men, such as Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice  and the list keeps going, she said. But it felt like the world had to keep moving forward. Simpson had to continue doing the work for her community.

We were having to still hold our community in all the ways that we need to for the work that we do every single day, she said. We had to be on the frontlines at the same time.

At that time, the country saw what the media called a racial reckoning and Simpson felt that it took away from the grief the Black community was feeling after Floyds murder.

In 2025, with Trump back in power and making more changes to disenfranchise marginalized communities, Simpson feels that Black communities did as much as they could to restore what Trumps 2016 administration destroyed. Black-led advocacy organizations came together, despite their contradictory beliefs, to put forth the work necessary to help their communities and each other.

Overall, Simpson said the Black community knew a second Trump presidency would be detrimental. Ninety-two percent of Black women voted for Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election and mobilized their communities. During his first five months in office, Trump has made strides to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs and positions in the federal government, and many corporations have followed suit.

I think were in more danger now than we were before, Simpson told The 19th. Were in the same position of our rights, our bodies, our communities being under attack.

To create a more inclusive future, Simpson said that the Black community must continue to work together across religions, political values and identities because disrespectability politics  have kept us divided. The Black community has to come together to advocate for their needs, which includes educating each other, reclaiming their culture and embracing moments of joy.

We need all the Black joy as possible because our joy has to be non-negotiable at this time, she said. Thats a powerful and necessary part of how we make it through.

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE

This story was originally reported by Alexis Wray, Eden Turner and Sabreen Dawud of The 19th. Meet Alexis, Eden and Sabreen and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  In May 2020, the death of George Floyd set off protests around the country. For more than 100 consecutive nights in Portland, they often ended with clashes between police and protesters.

Now five years later, a rally was held Saturday at Revolution Hall, the culmination of a whole nine days of action by a local racial justice coalition to remember Floyds life and legacy.

City, county leaders: Not enough resources to tackle Portland homeless crisis

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This rally was very different than others seen in Portland over the years. When asked why protests in Portland have become more quiet as of late, participant Karen Wells weighed in.

I think Portland is under a lot of stress, a lot of stress, she said. The threat of federal funding being withdrawn from a variety of agencies that provide support is dire on everyones mind. The reality of funding being pulled from the arts and theater communities that serve the Black and brown, Indigenous communities is a real problem.

A lot that has happened in the last five years

Rally organizers with the We Are The Bridge coalition also carried another message, bringing together over 30 local organizations to call for more accountability from city and business leaders to further address racial justice.

Cameron Whitten, Founder and CEO of racial justice nonprofit Brown Hope, stressed that issues affecting any city  such as economic uncertainty or violence  will continue to disproportionally affect BIPOC populations if nothing changes.

The We Are The Bridge rally outside Revolution Hall on May 24, 2025. (KOIN) The We Are The Bridge rally on May 24, 2025. (KOIN) The We Are The Bridge rally outside Revolution Hall on May 24, 2025. (KOIN) The We Are The Bridge rally outside Revolution Hall on May 24, 2025. (KOIN)

When the economy is lagging, guess whos losing their job first and guess whos getting evicted first? Were talking about Black, brown and Indigenous communities. When were talking about fentanyl or the opioid crises, guess whos most directly impacted? Black, brown and Indigenous communities, he noted. I just want to make sure that if folks say theyre an ally, if these leaders say that they believe in racial justice that they dont turn their backs when Black organizations are calling for change and action.

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Whitten further added its shocking that there still is a lack of conversation around continued issues impacting BIPOC individuals.

US Attorneys Office files to recover $6.7M stolen in scam against City of Portland

One of the main reactions Ive gotten as weve talked about holding We Are The Bridge are people saying theyre surprised its been five years, Whitten said. We shouldnt be talking about how much time its been. We should be talking about whats happening in our towns and what are we doing to actually live by our principles of racial liberation and racial equality.

After 90 minutes of speakers including faith leaders, elected officials, labor leaders and civil rights leaders, organizers said the march will stop at the Burnside Bridge where a moment of silence will be held for Floyd.

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This will recreate a moment which happened at the same location on the citys fifth night of protests on June 2, 2020, when thousands who marched across the Burnside Bridge stopped to lie face down on the ground for nine minutes of silence  the same amount of time as former officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyds neck.

Theres been a lot that has happened in the last five years, Whitten noted. I know myself and other Black leaders feel a level of distrust and feel a level of betrayal because we saw so much media attention. But we also saw elected leaders and allies taking action and speaking up loudly for racial justice and we have gone backwards in a way that has been so demoralizing.

He continued, So this, today, is an event for hope.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
SANTA ROSA BEACH, Florida  As waves lapped against the shoreline this spring, Walton County resident Sara James Day was discussing the fight over public beach access when a property manager told her she had to move.

You know youre on private property, he told Day.

No, were in the wet sand today, Day responded. She had walked directly to the shore through a public beach access parking lot.

Day then spent nearly 30 minutes arguing over how close to the water someone must be in Walton County to be on a public beach instead of private property.

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But the battle wasnt new. The fight over one Gulf countys sugar white sand has moved from the beaches to the courtroom and back to the halls of Floridas Capitol seven years after lawmakers tried to settle the issue.

Now the Legislature is reversing course, passing a bill to repeal a 2018 law governing the establishment of beach access.

Even if Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the bill, the fight over beach access is unlikely to end in Walton County  or anywhere else in Florida, where growing populations and eroding beaches create arguments over invisible lines in the sand in one of the nations most-visited states. And as summers heavy beach traffic arrives, tourists and locals alike may be left confused and aggravated in areas that rely on visitor dollars as an economic engine.

Two former state Senate presidents, Don Gaetz (R-Crestview) and Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples), voted against the reversal measure, SB 1622. Both predicted little will change.

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I believe the Hatfields and the McCoys will continue to fight in Walton County, said Gaetz, who previously represented the area in the state Senate.

Passidomo sponsored the Senate version of the 2018 legislation, HB 631, which she describes as good policy designed to help establish legal beach access. She said there will be more lawsuits once the law is repealed.

I think the county is going to pass an ordinance, then the property owners are going to file a suit, Paissdomo said. And theyll be back where they started.

The wider battle over access

Walton County isnt the only place where people are arguing even about where a visitor can stand. Thats because its not clear on the beaches or in state law where the public is or is not allowed.

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The Florida Constitution says beaches below the mean high water line are public land. Thats a relatively narrow strip of land on most beaches.

The Florida Supreme Court in 1974 expanded public access to the beach  in theory.

The states high court said access exists under the customary use doctrine from English common law. The court said access to dry sandy beaches must be based on recreational use that has been ancient, reasonable, without interruption and free from dispute.

Beach access advocates frequently argue the ruling established a public right to beach access.

But property rights lawyers claim  without success so far  that Floridas customary use doctrine is unconstitutional and doesnt represent established case law.

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In 2016, Walton County adopted a beach access ordinance based on customary use. Property owners sued, arguing access should be determined on a case-by-case basis for each individual parcel of property or a small group of lots.

After a federal court upheld the ordinance, current U.S. Ambassador to Israel and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was among the property owners clamoring for action. They said rude beachgoers were using their property to hold parties late into the night.

Passidomo sponsored the legislation in 2018 that rescinded Walton Countys ordinance and required local governments to seek judicial review on any property where customary use access is declared.

While she claims the bill was meant to protect beach access, critics argued the Legislature was siding with rich property owners at the publics expense.

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Then-Gov. Rick Scott, who was running for the U.S. Senate, faced a backlash after signing the bill. He blamed the Legislature for creating considerable confusion and issued an executive order he said would keep beaches open.

Some beach advocates said the opposite has happened, just as they predicted.

Not a day at the beach

In the Florida Panhandle, Walton County was tied up in a legal morass as they sought judicial review of more for public access on nearly 1,200 beachfront parcels and spent about $8 million in legal fees.

County Attorney Clay Adkinson said the county notices required by the 2018 law triggered opposition from many beachfront owners who in the past wouldnt have challenged public access.

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And beachfront owners have pushed to block public access in other areas since the law passed.

In Pinellas County, the tiny beachfront town of Redington Beach adopted an access ordinance in 2018 just prior to the new state law taking effect. Beachfront owners sued but lost in state courts.

They then sued and won in federal court but that was overturned when the town challenged the ruling before the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The town won at the district level again in 2024, but the landowners are appealing again.

In Franklin County, property owners on Alligator Point erected signs after 2020 saying their stretch of beach was private. By 2024, the signs had been damaged or removed.

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In 2022, the towns of Palm Beach and Ocean Ridge had put up no trespassing signs in response to the law, according to the Palm Beach County chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

The signs in Ocean Ridge clearly intimidated beach goers who were on a public beach access pathway to the ocean, the Surfrider chapter said on its website.

In Walton County last week, visitors to Santa Rosa Beach were greeted by signs warning against trespassing on private property even though they were walking through a public access that is about 30 feet wide.

Day seemed prepared when a community services officer arrived after the owners complaint. Her chair was much closer to the water than to any of the three-story homes.

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She pointed out lines on the sand that reflected the high tide line further away from the water than where she was sitting.

Im not going to debate whats wet sand, officer J. Guard told Day, insisting she move about 18 inches closer to the water in response to the property owners complaint.

Jakki Davis of Memphis, Tennessee, asked the officer what to do if a child in their group repeatedly wandered over the line.

Weve been coming here 26 years  this is sad, she told POLITICO. We didnt know you could own the beachfront.

A county confronts wave of concern

At a meeting that afternoon in DeFuniak Springs, County Attorney Adkinson, when asked by a county commissioner what will happen if the 2018 law is repealed, answered that nothing changes on their local beaches.

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Adkinson explained that the county has entered into settlements with landowners that wont change as a result of the Legislatures reversal. He said the legislation will have a profound effect on other cities and counties considering beach access ordinances, but not Walton County.

But he also said the bill is a huge assist that could resolve the beach disputes in the future. The bill establishes that public access is allowed in areas where beaches are widened with new sand.

This for us is not the first step in reestablishing and restoring public use rights across more of our beaches, he said. Weve already taken those first steps.

But other speakers said Walton County could be doing more now to protect tourists and vacationers even after the 2018 law is repealed.

How are we going to prevent the chaos from coming back? Commissioner Brad Drake asked. People [are] saying I can set my towel here? No you cant.

Dave Rauschkolb, a surfer who owns a beachfront restaurant in Walton County, called the problem almost unmanageable and said the county must stop homeowners from intimidating visitors.

They say, You cant sit here, you cant sit there, Rauschkold said. Well, those [beach visitors] folks are not going to come back. Theyre like, Were not coming to this beach any more.

Day told the commission that she was told by an officer, If youre not in the tide youre not in the public space.

Adkinson interjected that he didnt agree with the officers interpretation of where the public beach exists.

This isnt the first time Ive heard this, the county attorney said. And every time its been addressed as, Were sorry thats not what theyve been instructed to do.

Other commissioners said signs are needed to tell beachgoers clearly where they can be and where they cant be.

In the past we had like 20 feet from the wet sand that was public, Walton County Commissioner Donna Johns said. Why thats gone is beyond me.

Supporters and critics alike of the 2018 legislation say repealing it now will restore the status quo on beaches statewide that existed then, but not necessarily the peace.

These are already existing public rights, said Katie Bauman, Florida policy director for the Surfrider Foundation. The local ordinances were protecting that existing right.

I would say it makes it a little easier for the local governments to try to establish customary use, said J. David Breemer, a senior attorney in California with the Pacific Legal Foundation. But it certainly doesnt give them a blank check or easy path to do that.

His property rights law firm is backing property owners in Redington Beach and supported the 2018 law.

State Sen. Jay Trumbull, sponsor of the Senate legislation this year, said most messages he gets from residents of his district are about beach access. He recalled walking and fishing unimpeded along Walton Countys beaches as a boy. But his children cannot do that now.

What we are trying to accomplish is give people the opportunity to utilize Floridas most significant resource, our beaches, and allow those to be for everyone and not a select few, Trumbull said.
When Gov. Ron DeSantis recently said hed sign into law a ban on weather modification activities  such as spreading tiny particles into the air from aircraft to control sunlight  it raised long-standing controversies over geoengineering and chemtrails.

I think its kind of caricatured as kind of kooky, DeSantis said during a May 6 news conference in Miami. But if you look, there are movements, private businesses, and their view is: We can save you from global warming by injecting different things in the atmosphere, blocking the sun and doing all this stuff.

And that is something that were not going to do in Florida.  Were the Sunshine State. We want to have the nice sunshine.

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The coming ban on weather modification may have good intentions, weather experts said this week, but it conflates legitimate geoengineering research with conspiracy theories about chemtrails  an unsubstantiated belief that chemicals spewed into the air, and even the familiar white streaks or contrails airplanes leave behind in the sky, could dangerously alter the weather and rain down toxic chemicals on an unsuspecting public.

Plus, these experts wonder if a ban is even necessary.

Im not aware of anything going on in Florida and I cant think of any programs, Michael Splitt, an assistant professor of meteorology in the College of Aeronautics at the Florida Institute of Technology, said about geoengineering.

I just dont understand the priority, Splitt said about the legislation. People are worried about chemtrails. But polluted cities have a lot of particles already in the air. You drive in city traffic and you breathe in the exhaust fumes.

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Geoengineering  also known as climate engineering  refers to large-scale efforts to combat climate change. That includes proposals to suck carbon dioxide out of the sky so the atmosphere will trap less heat or to fire small reflective aluminum particles into the air to act as mirrors and deflect the suns rays away from Earth, according to a 2019 report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The bill sponsored by State Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami (SB56) would prohibit the injection, release, or dispersion by any means of a chemical, chemical compound, substance, or an apparatus into the atmosphere to affect the climate or sunlight. Anyone found guilty of the felony could face fines of up to $100,000 with all funds collected used for air pollution control. The bill also would require the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to set up a hotline for anyone to report chemtrails or geoengineering efforts.

Tennessee passed a similar law last year and other Republican-controlled legislatures  including Kentucky, Arizona and Iowa  have introduced bills to halt geoengineering and chemtrails.

Initially discovered during the first high-altitude flights in the 1920s, contrails are created when hot air from a planes engines condenses into ice crystals in the cold air. Their appearance and length of time in the sky depends on the temperature, humidity, wind speed and altitude, according to the National Weather Service. Some contrails last long enough for other planes to fly by creating crisscrossing lines.

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Garcia, who joined DeSantis at the press conference, suggested people are frightened by them.

Many complain constantly about Oh whats this Etch A Sketch in the sky? What is it thats going on above and beyond the clouds?, she said.

But the deeper concern goes beyond ice crystals, to the notion that government agencies are trying to poison the populace or affect weather patterns through geoengineering. Those people include U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, who on Oct. 3 posted on X: Yes they can control the weather. Its ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it cant be done.

A report titled Fact check: Debunking weather modification claims released later that month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rebutted such claims, stating that solar radiation modification methods have never moved beyond the research stage. So far, its nothing more than scientists and researchers running computer simulations.

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Still, some think the research should go no further. Mark Jacobson, director of atmosphere and energy program at Stanford University in California who holds a doctorate degree in atmospheric science, called geoengineering efforts to redirect sunlight a hare-brained scheme that can have drastic effects if they were implemented.

Its a horrible idea, Jacobson said this week. These particles will have unintended consequences by reducing sunlight and you are reducing photosynthesis that could lead to the loss of crops and mass starvation.

And it doesnt reduce one bit of greenhouse gas emissions  Its a waste of time and money. So in that sense I agree with the legislation.

But Garcias bill distracts people from actually solving the problem of climate change, Jacobson said. Instead, efforts should be made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on Earth rather than in the skies, he said.

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Garcia stands by her bill, which awaits DeSantis signature after it passed the House 82-28 and the Senate 28-9.

We have a right to know what is being introduced into our atmosphere, and what the potential ramifications are, Garcia said during the Miami news conference which was attended by bill supporter Marla Maples, President Donald Trumps second wife. They divorced in 1999.
When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently said hed sign into law a ban on weather modification activities  such as spreading tiny particles into the air from aircraft to control sunlight  it raised long-standing controversies over geoengineering and chemtrails.

I think its kind of caricatured as kind of kooky, DeSantis said during a May 6 news conference in Miami. But if you look, there are movements, private businesses, and their view is: We can save you from global warming by injecting different things in the atmosphere, blocking the sun and doing all this stuff.

And that is something that were not going to do in Florida.  Were the Sunshine State. We want to have the nice sunshine.

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The coming ban on weather modification may have good intentions, weather experts said this week, but it conflates legitimate geoengineering research with conspiracy theories about chemtrails  an unsubstantiated belief that chemicals spewed into the air, and even the familiar white streaks or contrails airplanes leave behind in the sky, could dangerously alter the weather and rain down toxic chemicals on an unsuspecting public.

Plus, these experts wonder if a ban is even necessary.

Im not aware of anything going on in Florida and I cant think of any programs, Michael Splitt, an assistant professor of meteorology in the College of Aeronautics at the Florida Institute of Technology, said about geoengineering.

I just dont understand the priority, Splitt said about the legislation. People are worried about chemtrails. But polluted cities have a lot of particles already in the air. You drive in city traffic and you breathe in the exhaust fumes.

Advertisement Advertisement

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Geoengineering  also known as climate engineering  refers to large-scale efforts to combat climate change. That includes proposals to suck carbon dioxide out of the sky so the atmosphere will trap less heat or to fire small reflective aluminum particles into the air to act as mirrors and deflect the suns rays away from Earth, according to a 2019 report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The bill sponsored by state Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami, would prohibit the injection, release, or dispersion by any means of a chemical, chemical compound, substance, or an apparatus into the atmosphere to affect the climate or sunlight. Anyone found guilty of the felony could face fines of up to $100,000 with all funds collected used for air pollution control. The bill also would require the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to set up a hotline for anyone to report chemtrails or geoengineering efforts.

Tennessee passed a similar law last year and other Republican-controlled legislatures  including Kentucky, Arizona and Iowa  have introduced bills to halt geoengineering and chemtrails.

Initially discovered during the first high-altitude flights in the 1920s, contrails are created when hot air from a planes engines condenses into ice crystals in the cold air. Their appearance and length of time in the sky depends on the temperature, humidity, wind speed and altitude, according to the National Weather Service. Some contrails last long enough for other planes to fly by creating crisscrossing lines.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

Garcia, who joined DeSantis at the press conference, suggested people are frightened by them.

Many complain constantly about Oh whats this Etch A Sketch in the sky? What is it thats going on above and beyond the clouds?, she said.

But the deeper concern goes beyond ice crystals, to the notion that government agencies are trying to poison the populace or affect weather patterns through geoengineering. Those people include U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, who on Oct. 3 posted on X: Yes they can control the weather. Its ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it cant be done.

A report titled Fact check: Debunking weather modification claims released later that month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rebutted such claims, stating that solar radiation modification methods have never moved beyond the research stage. So far, its nothing more than scientists and researchers running computer simulations.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

Still, some think the research should go no further. Mark Jacobson, director of atmosphere and energy program at Stanford University in California who holds a doctorate degree in atmospheric science, called geoengineering efforts to redirect sunlight a hare-brained scheme that can have drastic effects if they were implemented.

Its a horrible idea, Jacobson said this week. These particles will have unintended consequences by reducing sunlight and you are reducing photosynthesis that could lead to the loss of crops and mass starvation.

And it doesnt reduce one bit of greenhouse gas emissions  Its a waste of time and money. So in that sense I agree with the legislation.

But Garcias bill distracts people from actually solving the problem of climate change, Jacobson said. Instead, efforts should be made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on Earth rather than in the skies, he said.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

Garcia stands by her bill, which awaits DeSantis signature after it passed the House 82-28 and the Senate 28-9.

We have a right to know what is being introduced into our atmosphere, and what the potential ramifications are, Garcia said during the Miami news conference which was attended by bill supporter Marla Maples, President Donald Trumps second wife. They divorced in 1999.

_______
With unanimous approval from both chambers, Senator Carlos G. Smith (D-Orlando) and Representative Rita Harris (D-Orlando) introduced the newly signed Senate Bill 1514, which focuses on tackling Anaphylaxis in Public and Charter Schools.

The new bill was signed into law late Tuesday during the 2025 session.

The signing and forthcoming implementation of this law has been years in the making. When my son Lincoln was unable to attend before school care, due to a lack of training of personnel on the administration of epinephrine, I was determined to make a change that guaranteed his access to all school-sponsored events and ensured his safety and the safety of other kids with these serious reactions, said Sherry Isler, an Orange County mom who led the charge in support of the legislation and who testified before a Senate committee in April.

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Taking effect on July 1, 2025, the legislation requires all Florida K-8 public schools to be prepared to administer emergency epinephrine to students experiencing anaphylaxis during the school day or school-sponsored activities before and after school hours.

Isler continues, While the battle has been uphill, it is today that we celebrate this major victory for the health and safety of our students.

SB1514 offers training for school staff to help them identify and respond to allergic reactions and administer emergency epinephrine when needed. The bills signing was a wonderful victory celebrated by local moms and advocacy groups that have championed this important measure for years.

Its vital that we ensure our public schools understand the risk of anaphylaxis and have a plan should a child be exposed to a triggering allergen. The passage of this new law will save lives and give parents peace of mind that their child can safely participate in school activities with personnel who are ready and able to administer EpiPens in case of a medical emergency," said Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith.

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The Florida Department of Healths 2022-2023 Annual School Health Services Report states that around 76,000 students in Florida have life-threatening allergies. Moreover, 112,680 students with asthma may also be at risk of severe allergic reactions to allergens.

Smith continues, This would not have happened without the support of local moms like Sherry Isler, who spent years urging lawmakers to take action. The victory belongs to families like hers who made a real difference.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK)  In this edition of East Texas In Focus, KETKs Nolan Hoffman continued his conversation with the Chief of the Longview Police Department Anthony Boone about addressing homelessness in the city, along with training and hiring staff.

IN FOCUS: The future of Longview Police Department

Boone started the second part of his conversation with Nolan by discussing the departments training and hiring procedures. When Boone started as chief in the summer of 2022, the department had 25 vacancies but now they have only one open position.

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I think over the last couple of years, we have really attracted people that are tied to service and want to help and want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. That has really helped our staffing levels. I am very proud to have just one vacancy, Boone said.

For Boone, the Longview Police Departments hiring standards are different than other departments. That means their tests are more personal so they can make sure they get the right person for the job.

Our standards are a little bit different than the rest of the world. So, right off the bat, after somebody comes in and does their initial testing and theres a physical test and a written test, we give them a packet thats probably about 40 pages thick of basically their whole life story. So it gets very personal, very quick, Boone said. We also have psychological exams that are required through the state but we also go beyond that. We do polygraph examinations, a very in-depth background investigation, which goes much deeper than just a reference check for most other jobs. And so just the the length of the process, that alone eliminates some people from even wanting to go through it.

Boone said if around ten people show for one test only around one of those ten people will be hired. He also credited their training success to their new police academy which they started during the COVID-19 pandemic as a collaboration with Kilgore College.

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IN FOCUS: Preparing for the East Texas storm season

Then Nolan and Boones conversation turned to the subject of the unhoused population in Longview and the work Longview PD does with them every day.

Dealing with unhoused individuals, thats something that probably we deal with every day, Boone said. Sometimes we have people that end up either sleeping somewhere or theyre theyre at a location where that business owner may not want them. So that will create a what we call a criminal trespass call, where they want us to come out there and then remove that that person from the location.

According to Boone, some of these calls will be dealt with by patrol officers but they also have a Police Outreach Services Team (POST) that started in 2018. Boone said that in 2024 alone the two person team was able to place 95 unhoused people into housing or rehabilitation.

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Along with getting people into housing, theyve also been able to help people get back home after getting stuck in Longview.

Sometimes folks, theyve come to Longview for, maybe initially it was for a job, maybe it was along the way they followed somebody else and theyve just gotten stuck here, and weve had 41 individuals that were able to send back to wherever home was, Boone said. Now on that we dont just put somebody on a bus and send them to wherever, but we actually contact family on the other side and make sure that theres a family member, a friend, somebody thats willing and ready to receive them when they get get back to home.

IN FOCUS: Following the legacy of Pope Francis

Boone also discussed their ID program where they can help people whove lost their identification get new state ID documents.

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Sometimes weve learned that these individuals, theyre eligible to receive benefits, but theyve lost their ID along the way, Boone said. If we can prove who they are and we can help them get a state ID, thats the first step to then let them get their Social Security card again.

While Boone hopes their work is helping to decrease the homeless population in the area he also stressed that this is an issue all across the country.

I hope that helps decrease it in our area, but I do think that it will continue to be an issue. I think, until we figure out how to tackle mental health as a society and solve our drug abuse issues, I think we will continue to see some of these trends, Boone said. I do definitely believe its a much larger problem than just law enforcement. I just think law enforcements received the bulk of hey yall, yall take care of this. But this is definitely a community problem, this is as a society problem. And were all gonna have to put our heads together and may have to spend some money together to figure out how to to really make this work and truly help people.

In the full second half of their conversation in the video above, Nolan and Boone spoke about the departments community outreach efforts and Boones hopes for the city. To view the first half of their conversation, click here for last weeks episode of East Texas In Focus.

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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 KETK.com | FOX51.com.
Sue Bond isnt squeamish about partisan politics.

Her late husband, Dick Bond, spent four years as the Republican president of the Kansas Senate after all. But Bond, 89, doesnt think politics should determine who sits on the bench of the states high court.

Thats why shes speaking out against the Republican plan to switch from a merit-based system to a model where voters directly elect the seven justices of the Kansas Supreme Court  an effort Republicans believe could help bring to heel a court that has protected abortion access.

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I just think that judges should be nonpartisan because the people and the cases that appear before them are from people and problems of all walks of life, said Bond, a Prairie Village resident who spent eight years as a member of the Supreme Court Nominating Commission after being appointed by Gov. Bill Graves in 1996.

She doesnt want to see statewide judicial races devolve into partisan, money-fueled brawls like this springs Wisconsin contest, which drew more than $100 million in spending, including from super PACs run by billionaires Elon Musk and George Soros.

Under the language of the constitutional amendment that Kansans will be asked to vote on next August, justices would be allowed to make political contributions, take part in political campaigns and hold office in political parties. In theory, a justice could simultaneously lead the state Republican or Democratic party while sitting on the court.

Who picks Supreme Court justices?

Kansas used to directly elect its Supreme Court justices. But after a major scandal in the 1950s that saw a sitting governor lose his re-election bid and pull off a maneuver to get himself appointed to the high court, voters wanted a change.

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In 1958, they passed a constitutional amendment enshrining the current system, in which governors fill Supreme Court openings by selecting a candidate put forward by a nine-member nominating commission.

Kansas is one of the 14 states with a merit selection system, first adopted by Missouri in 1940. However, as Republicans are quick to point out, Kansas is the only nominating commission where attorneys make up a majority of members  five of the nine people who interview prospective justices and settle on three finalists.

Governors appoint one nominating commission member from each of the states four Congressional districts, and licensed attorneys from within each district vote to choose their representative on the commission.

Lawyers from across the state have the opportunity to select an at-large attorney member who serves as chair of the commission, which routinely evaluates dozens of applications to fill court vacancies.

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Bond said she was disgusted by the scare tactics GOP leaders employed to make their case for direct election this spring.

This whole business about its run by lawyers  its not true, Bond said.

The Republicans that are writing (the ballot question) are very clever, and they know the trick, and they know how to find that statement that, Oops, we dont want a whole bunch of lawyers. The same way they tried to do with the abortion issue, to find a trigger point for everyone that we dont want that, she said.

In her experience, Bond said, non-attorney members opinions are given just as much weight as their counterparts on the commission.

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They listened to me. I worked hard. I investigated the people, she said. And when I found information and I presented it at the meeting, people listened to me and respected me.

Bond recalled an instance when the other members of the commission were leaning towards one particular candidate. After she told them she had tried calling each of the candidates references multiple times without hearing back, they went in a different direction.

Justice for all

Sen. Kenny Titus, a Wamego Republican and attorney, said he votes for nominating commission members when given the opportunity. But he doesnt believe its an equitable system.

Its currently a political process as it stands now, and I think its disingenuous to say otherwise, Titus said.

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He said theres a political tilt to practicing lawyers in Kansas, adding that they carry that baggage with them onto a nominating commission that gives them undue influence over the judicial system.

Its just like any other election. They send out campaign letters, they talk a little bit about their values and what they believe in, but the real difference is that only a very small number of people get to see that, Titus said.

Kansas Supreme Court justices stand for retention votes every six years. Titus said the fact that no justice has ever been dumped by the voters demonstrates that its not enough of an accountability mechanism.

Rep. Dan Osman, an Overland Park Democrat and attorney, said it demonstrates that voters believe the system works. Direct election would turn off the most qualified candidates, he said.

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Factors of who is the best legal scholar no longer matter (with direct election), Osman said.

The best person might not be up for the task of campaigning.

Former Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss told The Star he more than likely would not have sought the job if it meant running for election.

The idea of going throughout the state either in person or through my intermediaries, or running ads in the media that basically tell people how Im going to vote on certain issues is a really bad idea, Nuss said.

He said justices are supposed to approach each case with an open mind  listen to the arguments, look at the facts, and base a decision on the merits  not what they promised somebody during a campaign.

Former Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court Lawton Nuss

Elections vs. appointments

Past legislation to move Kansas to a federal model where the governor nominates Supreme Court justices and the state Senate confirms has failed to advance, though Republicans successfully moved the states appeals court to that process several years ago.

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Before that switch, Lawton, then an attorney, applied three times to become an appellate judge. The first two times, he was passed over by the selection committee. The third time, he was a finalist but Gov. Graves didnt choose him.

He believed he could improve his chances by getting involved in more jury trials and writing more legal briefs. When he submitted his fourth application, this time to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, he made the short list and Graves appointed him.

It is a competition thats not based on money but based on merit, and that is ultimately whom I think Kansans want as justices on their Supreme Court, said Nuss, who retired in 2019.

During his time as chief justice, Nuss presided over the court in a number of major rulings, including one that struck down a state law banning abortions in the second trimester and two landmark school finance cases that brought hundreds of millions of additional dollars to the Kansas educational system.

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He said direct judicial elections are ripe for corruption.

My concern is that people who would not necessarily be qualified but who raise a lot of money tell people in Kansas what they stand for, Nuss said.

He likened it to Simone Biles raising money and presenting it to the International Olympic Committee to persuade them to name her the greatest female gymnast of all time.

A merit-based system just works better, he said.

She competes against many, many people and she comes out on top, so you know from that that she is the best, Nuss said.

Instead of Simone Biles saying  If anybody competes against me, they can raise money, too, and they can make that argument and say how wonderful they are and how well they will perform in the future.
Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russias Security Council and former president of the Russian Federation, who is known for making unrealistic threats, has suggested that a "buffer zone" proposed by the Russians could occupy nearly the entire territory of Ukraine.

Source: Medvedev on X (Twitter)

If military aid to the Banderite regime continues, the buffer zone could look like this: pic.twitter.com/0ueLOTeJaH  Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) May 25, 2025

Details: Medvedev posted a video showing almost all of Ukraine marked as a so-called "buffer zone".

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He captioned the video: "If military aid to the Banderite regime continues, the buffer zone could look like this".

Background:

Medvedev has previously threatened to capture Kyiv and Odesa, issued nuclear threats to the West, and said Russian tanks could appear in Berlin. Recently, he also suggested that Kyiv might never see 10 May after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to agree to a sham three-day ceasefire put forward by Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin.

On 22 May, Putin informed his government of his decision to create a "security buffer zone" along the border with Ukraine.

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With the end of World War II in Europe, letters from American families seeking information about their loved ones began arriving at town halls across the southern Netherlands. Postmarked from big cities and small towns, from those of privilege and those barely scraping by, each one contained a heartbreaking request similar to that of a young widow from Demopolis, Alabama:

My husband  was killed in Germany on his birthday, April 18, 1945, and is buried in the U.S. Military Cemetery at Margraten, Holland, near your town of Maastricht  He was my whole life to me  Since you live so near  I will be grateful all of the days of my life if you can get me a snapshot of his grave.

Oftentimes, the next of kin only knew the country where their loved one was buried, nothing more. The Dutch, though, knew this hallowed ground well. They had watched American quartermaster troops turn one of their fields into a cemetery in late 1944. They had watched the endless trucks full of bodies drive past their homes. Many of these young, heroic soldiers they did not know. Some, with whom they had shared their homes during the bitter cold winter of 1944-1945, they knew and loved.

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Wanting to express their boundless gratitude to the liberators, especially those who had given everything to end a brutal Nazi occupation and restore their freedom, the citizens of Limburg Province created a unique grave adoption program  an inspiring story I tell in my new book, Remember Us. A local volunteer was assigned to care for each of the 17,000 Americans memorialized at what today is known as the Netherlands American Cemetery, including 2nd Lt. Clyde J. Williamson Jr. from Fort Worth.

2nd Lt. Clyde J. Williamson Jr. of Fort Worth went missing in action after his B-17 bomber was shot down on a mission to bomb Berlin. He is listed on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery.

Williamson was born and raised in Fort Worth. He graduated from Paschal High School in 1942 and joined the Army Air Forces in December that year. He went to flight school in May 1943. After training, he became a copilot in a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and joined the 305th Bomb Group.

On March 18, 1945, Williamsons group was bombing Berlin. While over the target, the bomber took flak damage, and the crew bailed out. Five were taken prisoner, three were killed, and Williamson went missing in action. His father died after being notified that Clyde was unaccounted for. Clyde is listed among the 1,722 names on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery.

The Dutch adopters made every attempt to reach across the ocean, into American homes, to connect with their soldiers family members. When U.S. officials refused to provide them with next of kin addresses, Emilie Michiels van Kessenich, the wife of the mayor of Maastricht  and the woman who provided the widow from Alabama with a photo of her husbands grave  left her 11 young children to travel to the United States to meet with families who had loved ones buried overseas. Leave your boys with us, she promised them. We will watch over them like our own, forever.

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Today, all these years later, the Dutch adopters continue to fulfill that forever promise, watching over every American grave. There is even a waiting list containing a thousand names of those hoping to become an adopter.

Monday, May 26, marks the 80th Memorial Day since the end of World War II. The Dutch will be at the cemetery in force, placing flowers, saying prayers, and honoring each American. So will I. More than just a somber day of remembrance, this Memorial Day is an opportunity for each of us to search our hearts, just as the Dutch did 80 years ago, and ask: What can I do to honor each American who fought and died in World War II, and all conflicts since, to preserve our freedom?

For my part, I will be placing flowers on service members graves, supporting the Forever Promise Project to connect the next of kin of all American service members memorialized at the Netherlands American Cemetery with their Dutch adopters (ForeverPromise.org). I will give thanks for the Dutch adopters who for eight decades have set an inspiring example of the transcendent power of gratitude. Their actions remind us that grief is universal, that humanity knows no national or racial boundaries, and that we all want to be remembered, somehow, someway, by somebody.

Robert M. Edsel is the founder and chairman of the Monuments Men and Women Foundation and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Monuments Men. His new book, Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and A Forever Promise Forged in World War II, tells the story of the Dutch grave adoption program and the American heroes it honors. Find out more about the Forever Promise Project at ForeverPromise.org.
(Reuters) -Informatica is exploring a sale after attracting renewed takeover interest from suitors, including Salesforce, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Shares of Informatica had surged as much as 20% in afternoon trading after Bloomberg News first reported that the two companies are in discussion again. They were up 2.8% in extended trading.

The companies did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Informatica offers subscription-based data management services over cloud and helps automate tasks for its customers.

Salesforce and Informatica abandoned their advanced talks for a deal in April 2024 after failing to agree on the terms, Reuters reported.

If a deal is reached, it could be announced as soon as next week, Bloomberg News reported, adding that a final decision has not been made yet and other buyers may turn up, with Cloud Software Group also interested in a deal.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru and Milana Vinn in New York; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
A 59-year-old city worker was reported dead and two others were injured Saturday when a boat carrying raw sewage exploded on the Hudson River near West 138th Street.

NYPD received a 911 call about a person in the water at about 10:30 a.m., and responded to the scene along with the FDNY, according to police.

Just before 11:00 a.m., FDNY responded to an explosion on a boat carrying raw sewage in the Hudson River. Kevin RC Wilson /FreedomNewsTV

An unidentified 59-year-old man was reported dead this Saturday after a boating mishap on the Hudson River near West 138th Street. Robert Miller

Officials arrived at the scene to find a large explosion had ripped through the ships hull.

The blast forced a New York City Department of Environmental Protection worker into the water, where he became trapped between the vessel and the pier and died.

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Two other DEP employees who were working on the vessel were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment. One of the injured refused treatment.

The scene of the barge accident. Tomas E. Gaston

Their conditions were not immediately known.

The boat, which was docked at the time of the explosion, was carrying raw sewage from the city to a nearby treatment facility, law enforcement sources said.

The blast injured two people who were working on the vessel, according to reports.

Water rescue searched the waters after the explosion when reports of a worker who fell into the water between the vessel and the dock. Robert Miller

Investigative sources said a welding operation unfolding near the boat could be to blame for Saturdays blast.

They further noted that raw sewage is a significant source of highly flammable methane gas.

Those injured were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment. TOMAS E. GASTON

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FDNY officials said it was too early in their investigation to determine if the explosion was accidental.

The NYPDs Harbor Unit, Emergency Service Unit, and Aviation Units responded to the scene, along with officials from the DEP, the Office of Emergency Management, and the FDNY.

Medical examiners were also summoned to the scene Saturday.

In a statement, the DEP said the worker who died had 33 years on the job.

The entire DEP family is grieving today, said DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala in a statement. Our employee who lost his life  was a valued and experienced member of the Bureau of Wastewater Treatment, and his decades of service reflect his commitment to DEPs mission.
The Iowa Department of Insurance and Financial Services Stop the Scammers roadshow, in partnership with the Iowa Attorney Generals Office and AARP Iowa, will visit Burlington and Muscatine, according to a news release.

scam1280x720_80718C00-RHFKG_1551814743350.jpg

The educational campaign and roadshow seek to educate Iowans on scams impacting the state and how Iowans can best protect themselves from scammers in the digital age.

At this educational event, Iowa Department of Insurance and Financial Services representatives will help participants learn about common scam tactics and the information and resources Iowans can utilize to protect themselves and their hard-earned money from scammers.

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The Burlington session will be 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, at Catfish Bend Casino, 3001 Winegard Drive, Burlington. Register by Tuesday, May 27 to Nick Meyer at 563- 275-9935.

The Muscatine session will be 8:30 a.m. Thursday, May 29, at The Merrill Hotel, 119 W. Mississippi Drive, Muscatine. Register at 563-275-9935 or nmeyer@LS2group.com

The Stop the Scammers education campaign and roadshow is a series of 22 events held across the state of Iowa. The events are designed to educate Iowans on the common tactics utilized by scammers, how to protect yourself from being scammed, and provide free information and resources from state and local authorities. For more information, visit here.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Three years ago this month, brothers John and Sam Niblick, their mother Wendy Johnson-Niblick and friend/roommate Kashaun Clyburn endured the most terrifying experience of their lives.

Just before dawn on May 2, 2022, their family home on a quiet cul-de-sac in the gated community of Quail Lakes outside Clovis got raided and ripped through by federal agents and local law enforcement. The Niblick brothers and Clyburn spent hours in handcuffs, in Johns case so tightly the bruises on his wrists lasted for weeks, and accused of making bomb threats to out-of-state schools  a crime that carries a 10-year prison sentence for every charge.

The FBI agent told me there was already more than enough ample evidence to show that I was the criminal, John Niblick said. But I didnt understand how that could be possible.

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Niblick didnt understand because he was totally innocent. Rather, his family and Clyburn were themselves victims  either of a random act committed by a bombing suspect more than 2,000 miles away or the rash one of an overzealous federal agent.

When the Niblicks were startled awake that morning by red and blue flashing lights, followed by loud thumping and shouts of Police! Open the door!, it wasnt a complete surprise. About a month prior, they responded to the more normal knock of a Fresno County sheriffs deputy asking if they had any connection to a school in Wisconsin theyd never been to or heard of. The brothers werent certain what prompted the visit. They suspected one of their computers had gotten a virus and removed its hard drive.

Except this time, rather than one officer at their front door, it was a mass of FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents and sheriffs deputies with a search warrant and guns drawn. Clyburn, still asleep, had their bedroom door kicked in and awoke to the sight of multiple gun barrels.

I begged them not to shoot me, said the 25-year-old Clyburn, who befriended Sam Niblick at Sanger High over their shared love of video games. Ive never been more frightened.

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Thirty-year-old John Niblick, who is autistic and has muscular dystrophy, appears to have been the primary focus of Wisconsin-based FBI agent Corey Baumgardner, whose name appears on the warrant.

The questioning began innocently enough. Niblick recalls agents and deputies quizzing him about where he attends college and his choice of major before the more pointed inquiries about what social media groups he belongs to and the computer software on his laptop.

Niblick remained puzzled over why any of this was happening. Then the FBI agent in charge of the operation took out his cell phone and played Niblick several recordings of a digitally altered voice threatening administrators at schools in Wisconsin and New Jersey with detonating pipe bombs he planted on their campuses. Suddenly Niblick was being accused of making those calls, even though he had no connection to either school and had never visited those states.

(The FBI agent) kept saying, You made that call, and I know you made that call,  Niblick said. By that point I was so terrified that I started shaking. He said, Obviously you mustve done it because you started shaking when I played the recordings. But when I asked what you wanted to major in in college you werent shaking at all.

John Robert Niblick outlines the terrifying raid by FBI and Fresno County Sheriff deputies at his familys Quail Lakes home in 2022 for which turned out to be a mistake. Photographed Wednesday, May 21, 2025 in Clovis.

While the Niblick brothers and Clyburn were being interrogated separately, law enforcement ransacked every room in the house, rummaging through closets and dumping the contents of drawers onto the floor. Beds were torn apart and box springs slashed open.

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Following the homes inspection by an FBI bomb technician, 25 electronic items owned by the four household members  cell phones, laptops, tablets, computer towers, hard drives, a SIM card and a digital voice recorder  were boxed and seized.

Before departing, the FBI agent who tried to force John Niblick to confess to making the bomb threats issued a stern warning that he would return with enough evidence to convict him of these crimes. However Baumgardner didnt leave a business card, a common law enforcement practice, giving the frightened family no means to contact him for questions or updates about the impending charges.

Over the next six months, in multiple batches, each of 25 items confiscated during the raid were returned. Wendy Johnson-Niblick made multiple trips to the FBI field office in north Fresno to retrieve them.

Wendy Johnson-Niblick, left, listens as her son John Robert Niblick outlines the terrifying raid by FBI and Fresno County Sheriff deputies at their Quail Lakes home in 2022 for which turned out to be a mistake. Photographed Wednesday, May 21, 2025 in Clovis.

We kept waiting and waiting

The Niblicks and Clyburn were unsure of their legal rights, or how to proceed. They reached out to the ACLU and two local attorneys but were told that due to the lack of an arrest or any charges being filed nothing could be done for now.

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Once the criminal lawyer told me to wait and see, I just waited and saw, John Niblick said.

And we kept waiting and waiting and waiting, Wendy Johnson-Niblick added. Kept being afraid that one day (the FBI) might get back to us or say something. But after that, nothing. Just waiting.

As months of waiting morphed into years, the trauma from that morning never dissipated. All three young adults living in the house still get nightmares about being handcuffed and interrogated. Clyburn can no longer sleep with his door closed.

The Niblicks were so frightened about the looming charges they couldnt bear to call an FBI office and ask about the status of their case. If they were active suspects, the brothers reasoned, why would law enforcement tell them anything?

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When someone comes to your house and disrupts everything, its really hard to deal with, said Sam Niblick, 26. Especially when they say to your face that theyre going to be back to finish this. The entire time youre wondering what finish this means, and when finish this doesnt come youre not sure what to do.

Wendy Johnson-Niblick outlines the terrifying raid by FBI and Fresno County Sheriff deputies at her familys Quail Lakes home in 2022 for which turned out to be a mistake. Photographed Wednesday, May 21, 2025 in Clovis.

Finally cleared, 3 years later

Earlier this month, John Niblick sent an email informing me of the situation. He wrote: I dont want any other innocent family to have to undergo the terror and emotional duress that we were put through.

After meeting with the Niblick family and Clyburn and listening to their story, I urged Wendy Johnson-Niblick to call the FBI and request an update on their case.

Last week, despite some reservations, Johnson-Niblick phoned the FBI office in Sacramento. She was told that a Wisconsin resident was in custody for making the bomb threats and her family was no longer under suspicion. And that somehow, the suspect had disguised his computers IP address to match one of theirs.

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Why didnt the FBI inform the family they were off the hook after being wrongly accused?

I was just so relieved that my kids didnt have charges piling onto their shoulders, I just said thank you, Johnson-Niblick said. I shouldve asked. Theres so many more things I shouldve asked.

To help get the Niblicks some further answers, I emailed the FBIs offices in Sacramento and Wisconsin. The reply from Caroline Clancy, a public information officer for the Milwaukee Division, amounted to No comment.

Wendy Johnson-Niblick, left, holds her son John Robert Niblicks hand as they recount the terrifying raid by FBI and Fresno County Sheriff deputies at their Quail Lakes home in 2022 for which turned out to be a mistake. Photographed Wednesday, May 21, 2025 in Clovis.

A responsible judge wouldnt have signed

The FBI neednt worry about the Niblicks and Clyburn seeking legal recourse. For one, theyre not inclined to do so. Second, the window to file for damages against a federal official is normally two years, according to Fresno civil rights attorney Kevin Little.

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After learning about the May 2022 raid on the Niblicks home and the agonizing wait that followed, Little suggested that IP address theft is common and should not have met the legal standard for probable cause.

A responsible judge would not have signed that warrant based on the information you just told me, Little said.

The search warrant cover letter left with and kept by the family contains the printed name of Eastern District federal court Judge Sheila Oberto. Judges often sign search warrants electronically, Little said, so copies do not always bear their signature.

After three years of keeping silent and repressing trauma, John Niblick was inspired to speak out after reading about an Atlanta family whose house was mistakenly raided by the FBI in 2017 and whose case reached the Supreme Court last month.

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My hope is that by sharing my story, I can pressure the FBI to take responsibility for its actions in the future and to prevent further raids of innocent people, he wrote in the initial email.

Thats unlikely to happen. But if personal integrity still exists in federal law enforcement, the familys next FBI contact will be a simple apology.
A pediatrician and mother of 10 is mourning the deaths of nine of her young children after an Israeli airstrike hit their home near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, according to hospital officials.

Dr. Alaa al-Najjar's husband, also a doctor, was severely wounded and is now in intensive care. Their only surviving child was also injured, according to Dr. Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

"This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain," al-Bursh said in a statement on Friday night. "In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted -- Israel's aggression goes further, wiping out entire families."

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Nasser Medical Complex, where al-Najjar works as a pediatric specialist in the al-Tahrir clinic, expressed condolences in a statement, saying: "We are speechless, and our breaths suffocate in the face of the horror of this tragedy."

MORE: Doctor details Gaza famine: 'We're not asking for miracles. We're asking for food'

When asked for comment, the Israel Defense Forces told ABC News its aircraft on Friday "struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure adjacent to IDF troops in the area of Khan Yunis" and that the "claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review."

"The Khan Yunis area is a dangerous war zone," the IDF added. "Before beginning operations there, the IDF evacuated civilians from this area for their own safety."

PHOTO: Mourners react as they attend the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 23, 2025. (Hatem Khaled/Reuters)

Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, head of pediatrics and obstetrics at the Tahrir clinic in Nasser Medical Complex, confirmed the incident, telling ABC News in a telephone interview Saturday that al-Najjar was at work when she received word on Friday afternoon that strikes had hit Qizan an-Najjar, the area where her family lives, south of Khan Younis.

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"She felt by her heart that something happened to her family," al-Farra said. "She left and walked and tried to run without transport."

"Unfortunately, she discovered that her house was completely destroyed," he added.

Among the children who were killed, five were boys and four were girls, with the youngest being a seven-month-old daughter and the eldest a 12-year-old son, according to al-Farra.

"They were completely burned," he told ABC News.

MORE: Aid trucks looted in southern Gaza as famine looms due to blockade: UN

PHOTO: Smoke rises from an Israeli army airstrike south of Khan Younis, Gaza, on May 21, 2025. (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

The one child who survived, al-Najjar's 11-year-old son, had to undergo two surgeries and remains in critical condition in the hospital, according to al-Farra. The father, al-Najjar's husband, also remains hospitalized in critical condition after undergoing surgeries and may have to have a leg amputated, al-Farra said.

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When asked whether any humanitarian aid had reached Nasser Medical Complex, one of the largest hospitals in Gaza, al-Farra told ABC News that they still haven't received anything because what little aid was distributed so far this week has been stolen by armed gangs.

The World Food Programme, the food assistance branch of the United Nations, said more than a dozen of its aid trucks were looted in southern Gaza late Thursday as 2 million people in the war-torn territory face "extreme hunger and famine without immediate action."

The looting came just days after Israel succumbed to global pressure and eased its 11-weeklong blockade on all supplies entering neighboring Gaza, which the U.N. and other international aid organizations said has caused widespread malnutrition and conditions likely to lead to famine.

The aid blockade went into effect in early March as the initial phase of a two-month ceasefire expired between Israel and Gaza's militant rulers, Hamas.

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The Israeli government is working with the U.S. to set up aid distribution points in southern and central Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday. But the plan, set to begin Monday, has faced criticism from established aid organizations that have been operating inside of Gaza for the past 19 months.

The war between Israel and Hamas broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas fighters entered Israel and killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages. There are still 58 hostages held captive by Hamas, 20 of whom are presumed to be alive. Hamas is believed to be holding the bodies of four Americans.

The war has taken a large toll on Palestinians, with over 53,000 killed in Gaza since the conflict began, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. While statistics do not distinguish between military and non-military casualties, women and children make up tens of thousands of this number, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

-ABC News' Samy Zayara and Nasser Atta contributed to this report.

Gaza pediatrician and mother loses 9 of 10 children after Israeli airstrike hits their home, hospital says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Israeli forces have killed more than a dozen Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip in the last 48 hours, while thousands more face the threat of imminent starvation amid a drastically deteriorating humanitarian crisis.

On Sunday, four-year-old Mohammed Yassine joined dozens of other children who have starved to death in recent days as the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that more than 70,000 children in Gaza face acute levels of malnutrition.

As well as causing starvation deaths, Israel has intensified its bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza, killing some 600 people in nearly a week.

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A strike on a tent housing displaced people in central Gaza killed a mother and her children in the central city of Deir el-Balah, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital, while a child was killed when his familys tent was struck with a drone in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

A strike in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza killed at least five, including two women and a child, according to Gazas Health Ministry.

Eleven-year-old Yaqeen Hammad, a popular social media influencer, and nine of Dr Alaa Amir al-Najjars 10 children were also killed in separate Israeli air raids. Al-Najjars remaining child, 11-year-old Adam, is in critical condition in an intensive care unit.

The attacks come amid an Israeli blockade for almost three months that has choked off access to essential food, fuel, and medical supplies. Aid agencies warn that thousands of children are now at risk of death from starvation.

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Children account for 31 percent of Palestinians confirmed killed during Israels 19 months of war on Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. This figure excludes deaths that have been reported but for which the victims remain unidentified, suggesting the real toll is higher.

A report commissioned by the United Nations also highlighted Israels disproportionate violence against children through targeting densely populated areas, with repeated air raids on residential buildings contributing to the rising child death toll.

At least 22 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Below are some of the children killed in Israeli attacks:

Yaqeen Hammad

Known for her smile and volunteer work in Gaza, Yaqeen Hammad was killed after Israel shelled al-Baraka in Deir el-Balah, northern Gaza, on Friday night.

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The 11-year-old influencer and her older brother, Mohamed Hammad, delivered food, toys and clothing to displaced families, the Palestine Chronicle reports. She also played an active role in the Ouena collective  a Gaza-based nonprofit group dedicated to aid and humanitarian relief.

Messages of grief and tributes from activists, Yaqeens followers and journalists poured in after news of her death spread online.

Her body may be gone, but her impact remains a beacon of humanity, wrote Mahmoud Bassam, a photojournalist in Gaza.

Instead of being at school and enjoying her childhood, she was active on Instagram and participating in campaigns to help others in Gaza. No words. Absolutely no words, another tribute read on X.

Mohammed Yassine

Activists and Palestinian platforms shared on social media painful scenes of Mohammed Yassine on a hospital bed.

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Appearing in a video, holding Yassines body, Mahmoud Basal of Gazas Civil Defence said: Mohammed Yassine died from hunger, a direct result of the occupations prevention of food and medical aid from entering Gaza.

Mohammed was not the first child, and the fear has become a certainty that he wont be the last, Basal added.

Dr Alaa al-Najjars nine children

An Israeli attack on the home of al-Najjar on Friday killed nine of her children and critically injured 11-year-old Adam.

Sidar, Luqman, Sadin, Reval, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Rakan and Yahya  aged between seven months and 12 years  all died in the attack, Gazas Government Media Office said.





Al-Najjar is a paediatrician at the southern citys Nasser Hospital, where her husband is receiving care after being critically injured in the attack.

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It is unbelievable, said Ahmad al-Farra, head of the hospitals paediatrics department, of the attacks impact.

You cant imagine the shock that [al-Najjar] had when she heard about that [attack]. But up until now, she is trying to be near her son and her husband to survive.
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD)  The Georgetown County Sheriffs Office is seeking the publics help in locating a missing boater.

Kerry Van Arsdel, of Indiana, left The Reserve Marina on May 19, according to the sheriffs office.

Employees at the marina found Arsdels unmanned boat Thursday near Butler Island, roughly a mile away from the docks. His personal items were still inside.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources was the lead agency in the search and have requested Georgetown County Sheriffs Office to take over the missing person investigation, the sheriffs office said.

Photo courtesy GCSO

Multiple agencies have been searching the surrounding waterways utilizing boats, drones, a helicopter and airplanes.

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Officials expect search efforts to continue Sunday and Monday; however, searches by air have been halted due to impending weather.

Kerry has been known to moor near the island and channels of the Waccamaw River. His last known clothing is not known for certain, but he may have been wearing a red shirt, officials added.

The sheriffs office asks that anyone with information call GCSO at 843-546-5102.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  Local and state authorities are asking the public for help as they search for a boater who has been missing for nearly a week.

Kerry Van Arsdel of Indiana left The Reserve Marina on May 19. Employees located his unmanned vessel Thursday near Butler Island, miles away from the docks, with his belongings still inside.

The state Department of Natural Resources was leading the search for Van Arsdel and has requested that the Georgetown County Sheriffs Office take over.

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In addition to those two agencies, Midway Fire Rescue the U.S. Coast Guard and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division officials have been searching waterways using boats, drones a helicopter and airplacne.

State and local marine assets will continue river searches through Monday, but aerial surveillance has been halted due to impending weather.

Van Arsdel has been known to moor near the island and channels around the Waccamaw River. His last known clothing is unknown, but he may have wearing a red shirt.

Anyone with information on Van Arsdel is asked to call the sheriffs office at (843) 546-5102.

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* * *

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.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
The U.S. Justice Department said on May 23 it has struck a deal in principle with Boeing to allow it to avoid prosecution in a fraud case stemming from two fatal 737 MAX plane crashes that killed 346 people, dealing a blow to victims' relatives.

The agreement allows Boeing to avoid being branded a convicted felon and was harshly criticized by many families who lost relatives in the crashes and had pressed prosecutors to take the U.S. planemaker to trial. A lawyer for family members and two U.S. senators had urged the Justice Department not to abandon its prosecution, but the government quickly rejected the requests.

"This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history. My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it, said Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing many of the families.

Boeing agreed to pay an additional $444.5 million into a crash victims fund that would be divided evenly per crash victim on top of an additional $243.6 million fine.

The Justice Department expects to file the written agreement with Boeing by the end of next week. Boeing will no longer face oversight by an independent monitor under the agreement.

Boeing will pay in total over $1.1 billion including the fine and compensation to families and over $455 million to strengthen the companys compliance, safety, and quality programs, the Justice Department said.

"Boeing must continue to improve the effectiveness of its anti-fraud compliance and ethics program and retain an independent compliance consultant," the department said Friday. "We are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome with practical benefits."

Boeing declined immediate comment.

Reuters first reported on May 16 that Boeing had reached a tentative nonprosecution agreement with the government.

The agreement would forestall a June 23 trial date the planemaker faces on a charge it misled U.S. regulators about a crucial flight control system on the 737 MAX, its best-selling jet.

An Ethiopias Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 plane set to take off on a demonstration trip to resume flights from the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia February 1, 2022. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

Boeing in July had agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after the two fatal 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia spanning 2018 and 2019, pay a fine of up to $487.2 million and face three years of independent oversight.

"With this filing, the DOJ walks away from any pretense to seek justice for the victims of the 737 MAX crashes, said Javier de Luis, an aerospace engineer of Massachusetts who lost his sister in the Ethiopian crash.
A dual American-German citizen appeared Sunday in federal court in Brooklyn on charges that he attempted to firebomb a branch of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, according to law enforcement officials.

Joseph Neumeyer arrived in Israel in April and on May 19 he posted on his Facebook account, Join me this afternoon in Tel Aviv we are burning down the US. embassy and join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv. Death to America. Death to Americans and f--- the west, according to a criminal complaint.

That same day, Neumeyer arrived outside the branch office of the Embassy of the United States in Tel Aviv carrying a backpack, according to the complaint. Neumeyer approached and spat on a guard and the guard attempted to detain Neumeyer, who uttered profanities before turning and fleeing, leaving his backpack behind, the complaint said.

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MORE: 2 Israeli Embassy staffers killed in 'act of terror' in Washington, DC

Law enforcement officials recovered from Neumeyers backpack several bottles that had been turned into Molotov cocktails, according to the complaint.

PHOTO: Israeli security forces stand in front of the US Embassy Branch Office in Tel Aviv, March 8, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

He was arrested at the hotel where he was staying and deported from Israel to the U.S., according to authorities.

Neumeyers social media accounts also contained threatening posts that,among other things, called for the assassination of President Donald Trump, according to prosecutors.

"Neumayer was arrested earlier this week in Israel -- when Embassy officials discovered a backpack carrying multiple explosive devices and a social media account allegedly linked to Neumayer detailing intent to attack the Embassy and threatening President Trump," FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.

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"He will now face justice," Patel wrote.

-ABC News' Luke Barr contributed to this report.

German-American dual citizen charged with planning attack on US Embassy in Tel Aviv originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt is planning to present a law in Cabinet to restrict family reunification for certain refugees, his ministry confirmed to dpa on Sunday.

Relatives of refugees with limited protection status are only allowed to join them in Germany after two years, as per the minister's plans, which are in line with the coalition deal of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD).

Cases deemed particularly urgent are to be exempt from the new family reunification rules.

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"Until now, 1,000 people per month have been able to follow their families to Germany. That is now over," Dobrindt had told Germany's Bild tabloid, which first reported on the plans.

"We must significantly reduce the pull factors to Germany. This is another way of showing that migration policy in Germany has changed," the minister added.

Germany's new conservative-led government, which took office on May 6, has vowed to crack down on illegal migration. Within the first 24 hours of taking office, Dobrindt ordered intensified checks and allowed police to turn back asylum seekers at the border, despite critics saying the move violates EU law.

Germany already suspended family reunification for refugees without asylum status between March 2016 and July 2018, citing overburdened capacities.

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Since August 2018, up to 1,000 relatives of refugees without this status have been allowed to enter Germany every month.

The previous centre-left administration of chancellor Olaf Scholz had planned to lift all restrictions on family reunification for the group, but failed to implement the plans before the coalition government collapsed in November last year.

More than 30 non-governmental organizations have called on Berlin to refrain from restricting family reunification again.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil has expressed confidence that the United States and the European Union will reach an agreement in the tariff dispute with Washington.

"I am cautiously optimistic that this will succeed," Klingbeil told German public broadcaster ARD on Sunday.

Negotiations are currently in a decisive phase, he said, but a joint solution is also in the US interest.

"They should also have an interest in working with us," Klingbeil stressed. "A solution must be found quickly. Otherwise, we will see massive unrest in the markets."

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On Friday, US President Donald Trump threatened the EU with punitive tariffs of 50% on imports from Europe from June 1.

It is unclear whether they will actually come into force, as Trump has regularly threatened high tariffs in the past before making U-turns.

EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said after talks with the US that the EU was determined to reach a deal that was good for both sides.
It takes severe depravity, not to mention sheer stupidity, to believe that shooting an unarmed couple in the back as they stand at a crosswalk is somehow going to "Free Palestine," which is what the cowardly killer yelled into the Washington night as he was led away by police.

If they didnt realize it before, Americans have now learned precisely what kind of demons are being summoned up when pro-Hamas demonstrators on college campuses chant "Globalize the Intifada." No one in Israel needed to be told. Theyve known for a long time.

The "Second Intifada" was burned into Jewish memory at the dawn of the 21st century by a series of gruesome attacks known in Israel by their place-names: the Dolphinarium discotheque in Tel Aviv, Sbarro Pizza and Cafe Moment in Jerusalem, Maxim Restaurant in Haifa, the Park Hotel in Netanya.

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The Dolphinarium was blown up on June 2, 2001, by a suicide bomber who took the lives of 21 young people - most of them Jewish teenage girls from Russia and Ukraine.

Two months later, seven Palestinian terrorists with ties to Hamas carried out the bombing of the Sbarro pizza parlor. Sixteen people were killed, including three Americans and a pregnant woman. Half the victims were children. One of the Americans, a mother named Chana Nachenberg, spent 22 years in a coma before dying in 2023. Ahlam Tamimi, one of the masterminds of the crime, was released in a 2011 prisoner exchange. She lives freely in Jordan today and is unrepentant - saying in one television interview shed do it again.

The deadliest single attack of the Intifada, known in Israel as the Passover Massacre, took place on March 27, 2002, at the Park Hotel along the Israeli coast. The killer disguised himself as a woman, and carrying a suitcase bomb entered the hotel dining room, where 250 civilians were celebrating Seder dinner. Thirty people, most of them elderly, were killed, and another five dozen wounded. Some of the victims were Holocaust survivors.

Hamas leaders boasted about the Passover attack, while Israeli government spokesmanGideon Meir spoke for most Israelis when he said, "There is no limit to Palestinian barbarism." Apparently fearing what did, in fact, later ensue (a fierce IDF crackdown on the West Bank) even Palestinian Authority officials condemned the attack.

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By the time the second Intifada waned, more than 1,000 Israelis were dead, most of them civilians.

Two of the terrorist attacks in particular foreshadowed the Wednesday evening murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim at the Capital Jewish Museum. The event featured humanitarian organizations that use interfaith dialogue in places like Gaza and Syria to alleviate civilian suffering.

Cafe Maxim had a similar ethos. Co-owned by Jews and Christian Arabs, the Haifa restaurant was a tangible symbol of peaceful co-existence when a female suicide bomber - a lawyer from Jenin - destroyed the place two days before Yom Kippur in 2003.

Jewish and Arab Israeli customers dined together in that place - and they bled and died there together, too. Twenty-one people perished, including three children and an infant. Among the dead were four Arab employees of the restaurant.

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On May 2, 2004, a Jewish social worker named Tali Hatuel who was eight months pregnant, was driving with her four daughters when she was ambushed by two Palestinian gunmen. After it was disabled, the killers walked up to her car and shot the four girls and their mother at close range. Islamic Palestinian groups praised the deed as "heroic."

That was 22 years ago. But it was only last week that Tzeela Gez, an Israeli mother of three being driven to the hospital to give birth, was shot and killed in the West Bank, a murder lauded by Hamas as a "heroic act."

Thats what the word "Intifada" signifies. What happened seven days later in Washington is whats meant by "globalizing the Intifada."

Typically, segments of the legacy media struggled to find moral clarity, or even simple coherence, in Wednesdays awful news. X.com was full of such examples, including one confusing passage from an NPR story that seemed to accept the Washington, D.C., killers logic. ("Many U.S. and Israeli officials identified the attacks as the latest in amarked rise of antisemitic incidentsin recent years - and more notably, as Israel ramps up its offensive in Gaza, where the risk of famine looms for a population ground down by a months-long blockade.")

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Bari Weiss, as usual, cut to the heart of the matter. Writing in The Free Press about the double murder outside an iconic Jewish landmark in the capital city, Weiss unspooled "the culture of lies that created the climate for his murderous rampage."

She details many of them; Ill fill in others. The list of culprits is long.

It starts with college presidents who accepted money from sketchy Arab autocrats who buy peace in their own country by fomenting bigotry and intellectual dishonesty in ours.

Next are the faculty cadres who spread specious theories such as critical race theory aimed not just at the United States, but at Western culture in general. The apotheosis of this insanity is grafting the dubious "colonizer" label onto Israelis, who occupy a land inhabited by Jews 2,000 years before the advent of Islam.

Democratic Party politicians whove repeated these toxic lies, or at least not objected to them out of fear of alienating the kookiest elements of their progressive base. On Friday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes issued a forceful denunciation of antisemitism. Yet last year she was supportive of the pro-Hamas demonstrators at Columbia. "At Columbia University they call for Intifada constantly," former Columbia student Jonathan Epstein explained on CNN. "Theyre not doing it quietly. Theyre loud  You can hear it. They make recordings of themselves."

Liberals who repeat the spurious slander about "genocide" in Gaza - on behalf of a movement that openly calls for the destruction of Israel and murderous attacks on the Jewish diaspora around the world.

Islamicists working for the U.N. who aided and abetted the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities.

Useful idiots in the Western media who repeat Hamas propaganda uncritically, particularly the deliberately deceptive exaggerations about famine and wartime casualties.

Performative posers who glamorized political violence by swooning over accused assassin Luigi Mangione.

"Words matter," we are constantly told. Its true and its a lesson we learned anew this week.

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On Tuesday British diplomat Tom Fletcher, U.N. Undersecretary General of Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, told the BBC that if food trucks didnt start rolling into Gaza, "14,000 babies would die in the next 48 hours."

This was nonsense, as Fletcher knew. The report he cited actually claimed that 14,000 children under the age of six would be at risk for malnutrition in the coming 12 months if the situation remained static.

The BBC didnt check Fletchers specious claims. Neither did the British prime minister, nor the hysteric members of the House of Commons who repeated them. His line was regurgitated ad nauseam by the U.S. news media and uncountable numbers of social media "influencers" around the globe.

By Wednesday, the BBC and the U.N. had backed off this assertion. Perhaps its unrelated, but by then a man with a pistol and evil intent had boarded a plane from Chicago to Washington and bought a ticket to a humanitarian event attended by Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim.

Carl M. Cannon is the Washington bureau chief for RealClearPolitics and executive editor of RealClearMedia Group. Reach him on X @CarlCannon.


Gov. Greg Abbott, now in the second half of his third term, is barreling toward the June 2 closing of the 2025 legislative session with his most impressive list of victories of his long political career. This session has turned on its head the long-running truism that Texas is a weak-governor state.

A Republican who was first elected in 2014 and twice comfortably reelected after that, Abbott was able to push to, and perhaps even stretch past, the constitutional limits of his executive office with his responses to the COVID-19 emergency of 2020 and an unprecedented surge of unauthorized immigration beginning early in 2021.

But the legislative sessions, both regular and special, of 2023 demonstrated that executive muscle alone was insufficient for Abbott to fully implement his vision for Texas. Most notably, for all of his cajoling and arm-twisting, the governor was not able to cobble together a majority in the Texas House to enact a plan to offset the cost of private K-12 education.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott holds up Senate Bill 2 which he signed into law at the Governors Mansion on Saturday, May 3, 2025 in Austin.

Abbott's critics labeled such a system "school vouchers." The governor and his supporters called it "school choice."

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Regardless of what it was called, the issue laid the groundwork for the legislative success that Abbott has enjoyed since lawmakers convened in Austin beginning Jan. 14. Because Democratic opposition to his school choice aim was deep-rooted and immovable, the governor proved he was not afraid to shed Republican blood to get his way.

Abbott targeted several Republican House members, many of them dependable allies over a broad swath of conservative priorities but who voted against school vouchers, in the 2024 GOP primaries. Most of them went down to defeat. Others opted not to seek reelection.

When the Legislature convened early this year, back-of-the-envelope math suggested school choice would pass, especially since the new House speaker, Dustin Burrows, was open to such proposal. And for some Republican members from rural districts who were still kind of squishy, all they had to do was look at what Abbott (and the millions in campaign funding he spent in the primary) was able to do with their now-departed colleagues.

More: As heat turns up in Texas Legislature, here's how a senior Houston lawmaker keeps the House cool

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While Abbott earlier this month signed his coveted school choice legislation into law, the voucher program is not the only item in his 2025 win column.

Less than two weeks after the voucher signing ceremony, Abbott made a show of signing legislation to further protect publicly traded corporations from lawsuits and shield corporate officers from most shareholder claims brought in the states new business courts, except in extreme circumstances.

Abbott has also promised more property tax cuts, generous pay increases for public school teachers and to expand judges' discretion to deny bail for suspects charged with such violent crimes as murder, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and other serious offenses.

All are tantalizingly close to the finish line.

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Abbott is also poised to continue his streak of victories, unchecked, even after the session ends. But it won't be limited to taking victory laps as he signs his priority bills into law. Because so much legislation tends to hit the governor's desk in the waning days of the session, and having until June 22 to sign or veto bills, Abbott can kill any of the measures he doesn't like without fear that the Legislature will override him.

That's because the session will have ended, and only he has the power to call lawmakers back to work for a special session. Lawmakers filed two measures this session to trim the governor's veto power. One passed the Senate but appears stuck in the muck in the House; the other never got off the ground.

More: Why dysfunction is necessary for the Texas Legislature to actually function

Perhaps the biggest measure of Abbott's success this year will come after all the bills are either signed or vetoed. And that's because the finger on the campaign money-raising pause button comes off.

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Abbott, who has made clear that he intends to run for an unprecedented fourth four-year term in 2026, is one of the nation's most prodigious fundraisers, excepting major-party nominees for president.

By way of example, Abbott was not on any ballot in 2024 and yet he still managed to rake in $50 million into his well-stocked campaign account. So, when that pause button was pressed in January, he was sitting on a bankroll of $70 million.

There's no reason to believe that his donors have grown tired of funding his political future. And because money is the main propellant of any campaign, Abbott will start the 2026 cycle in earnest with a strong wind at his back.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Gov. Greg Abbott is sealing key victories in Texas legislative session
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP)  Sunday marked the 188th Commencement for the Class of 2025 at Mount Holyoke College.

Over 500 students received their Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Mount Holyoke College, making May 25 the 188th Commencement ceremony for the oldest historic Seven Sisters college. The graduates were proud to become alumni and enter the working world.

Wilbraham honors fallen soldiers at Memorial Day ceremony

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I remember being like a freshman who was super scared, no idea, new country, said Peehu Chhabra, who received a Bachelor of Arts. I had no idea what I am going to do, whats a target, no idea of anything. But now I feel prepared.

While some graduates are pursuing their careers right after graduation, others plan to further their education. International students said that Mount Holyoke became a safe and welcoming space for them to call home.

Its such a community-oriented college, Chhabra said. The faculty is brilliant, and they really care for their students, and so does the administration. Theyre for the students entirely, and I knew that because I had some seniors who came to Mount Holyoke, and they cheered it on.

Now, family and friends were cheering for them on campus. MHC President Danielle Holley led the ceremony, and honorary degrees were given to two alumni, as well as Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. The moment was extra special for the graduates because Governor Healey was one of many speakers addressing them.

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In 2022, Governor Healey became the first woman and first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to lead the Commonwealth. Mount Holyoke is the first of the Seven Sisters to have inclusive admissions. The university admits cisgender and transgender women, as well as transgender men and those who identify as non-binary and gender non-conforming.

The graduates were excited to hear Governor Healeys words of encouragement before turning their tassels to the left side.

For us as graduates is very nerve-wracking, said Hanuel Skycho, who received a Bachelors of Neuroscience and Computer Science. First of all, to go out there into the world, even though we are very prepared through Mount Holyoke, and just hearing someone who has been out in the world and about her experience will really help us.

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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DES MOINES, Iowa  Several area high schools are celebrating their graduates this weekend, and for those now moving into their final year of school, its time to think about the future.

Plenty of maroon caps and gowns at the Knapp Center Friday night, and Dowling Catholic High School held its graduation ceremony on the campus of Drake University.

While the class of 2025 gets ready to head off to college or trade school, the military, or into the workforce, high school counselors say its never too early for the next round of high schoolers to start thinking about the future.

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And that can  at times  be pretty overwhelming.

The fear of moving away from home, maybe, or thinking about choosing the wrong path. And its being in something that doesnt take them where they want to go. I think that can cause a lot of fear. And then, you know, just getting good grades, passing courses, and being able to take the next step of going to a trade school or doing whatever theyre looking for in the future, is making sure they have what they need to do that, said Beatrice Kramer at the Iowa Virtual Academy.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, nearly 63% of high school graduates went on to study at a 2- or 4-year college or university last year. That means many soon-to-be seniors will spend this summer and next year investigating schools in and out of state. High school counselors say its always important to look at the programs being offered, the size of the institution, and to get a feel for the campus by taking a visit.

However, college degrees arent the only option for recent graduates.

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Were seeing more and more the need for students or people to enter the fields of trades. Thats a lot of different opportunities with vocational training. Whether it just be an apprenticeship or little training programs that are shorter and theyre not as long as maybe some of your college experiences might be. So they can start to investigate those trades, and those are a good option. And they have good salaries, so those can be beneficial for students as well, said Kramer.

If your student really doesnt know what they want to do, there are some online tools that can help.

Iowa Workforce Development has curated a portal of career exploration and information. Some of their features include Hot Jobs, which projects occupations with strong growth potential, as well as helping individuals get connected in professions that may require licensing or coursework.

The U.S. Department of Labor and the AmericanJobCenter network teamed up for CareerOneStop, which guides fresh graduates through career exploration, job training, and the job search. To explore their services, visit the CareerOneStop website.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com.
ST. LOUIS  From devastation to determination: What started as a quiet corner in north St. Louis has quickly become a symbol of resilience.

A grassroots relief effort is rallying neighbors, churches, and even motorcycle clubs in a powerful show of unity. For those involved, recovery isnt just a goal. Its a daily mission.

One parking lot on Euclid Avenue may look empty now, but every day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., it transforms into a lifeline for north St. Louis tornado survivors.

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Since just hours after the storm hit, hot meals, clothing, showers, and essential supplies have been offered right here, just steps away from the severely damaged Roosevelt Town Apartments.

City Hope St. Louiss pastor Mikey Robinson and Committeewoman Yolonda Yancie organized this grassroots relief hub within five hours of the tornado hitting. They chose this site because of how close it is to the impacted residents, many of whom are still without power.

Over here, weve had clothes for the children. Weve had clothes for adults. Undergarments for our seniors. A lot of the seniors in the building without power didnt have those necessities, personal necessities. We have mens items, socks and laundry detergentthings we take everyday for granted, said Yanice.

World Vision donated towels, pillows, and humidifiers. Local caterers have pitched in with hot meals. And last Sunday, they even hosted a full community dinner. At least 700 meals are served daily here.

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I get the resources. Ive been making phone calls, driving the van to pick up ice from Arctic ice, and delivering. Whatever I can do, said Marcia McDuffie with Hope Nation International Church.

McDuffie is one of many volunteers helping power this effort, including a motorcycle group who didnt just ride in but rolled up with hot meals and solar lamps.

They have given away clothes. They cooked hot meals. They didnt give away just hot dogs, hamburgers, or sandwiches. They had mashed potatoes and corn. They gave away hygiene items, batteries, and solar lamps, said McDuffie.

Ive seen so many people with just with nothing, and I was like, we got to do something. I mean, you know, for the people. So far, its been so good, said Ty Frazier, National Vice President of Dem Boyz Motorcycle Club.

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From faith-based groups to the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, dozens have stepped up to make this possible. McDuffie says if you or someone you know needs help, call her directly at 314-662-7129. They plan to remain on site every day until further notice.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
CLEVELAND- The FOX 8 I-Team has learned the former divorce attorney of Aliza Sherman, who is now accused of killing her, was brought back to Cuyahoga County Saturday.

Gregory Moore, 51, was secretly indicted by a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury on May 2 and was arrested that day at a relatives home near Austin, Texas.

I-Team: Thousands of hours of investigative work, new technology led to arrest in Aliza Sherman case

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He was held in the Williamson County jail in Texas without bond and last week waived his right to an extradition hearing. He was released from the Williamson County jail on Saturday morning and taken into custody by Cuyahoga County Sheriff deputies, who transported him back to Ohio.

Sherman was murdered in March 2013 outside her Moores law office in downtown Cleveland. The case remained unsolved for 12 years. Court records state Moore is accused of murdering Sherman because he was not ready to take her case to trial.

Moore is expected to be in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court next week to face the 10-count indictment. He has been indicted on one count of aggravated murder, one count of conspiracy, six counts of murder and two counts of kidnapping.

Attorneys Jon Paul Rion and Catherine H. Jackson, of the Dayton law Firm Rion, Rion, & Rion, are representing Moore

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
Fort Nelson First Nation in British Columbia, Canada, is an area littered with remnants of oil wells, but local communities are now looking to transform one into a sustainable geothermal power plant.

Using royalties gathered over the years from oil prospectors, an indigenous group aims to transform this old, polluting fuel source into one of the country's first 100% geothermal power plants, according to a report by Corporate Knights.

The community-owned plant is called Tu Deh-Kah, which translates to "boiling water," and the goal is for it to provide up to 15 megawatts of clean, geothermal electricity by 2027.

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Fort Nelson's electricity grid is currently reliant on dirty fuels for power, and this project is an essential keystone in the region's shift towards more sustainable energy resources.

"We want to see a sustainable energy project in our territory that we own," said Taylor Behn-Tsakoza, a community liaison officer with Tu Deh-Kah.

First Nations, Inuit and Metis people are already leaders in Canada's green energy transition, as partners or beneficiaries in around 20% of the country's electricity-generating infrastructure, with most of it based on renewables, the report detailed.

Geothermal power plants use hot brine pumped from deep within the earth to provide heat or generate electricity. They convert it into steam to power generators, and once that water vapor has done its job, it's reinjected back into the underground reservoirs.

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The Tu Deh-Kah team doesn't plan to waste any resources available in the old well. Any remaining gas found in the well will be used, and there are plans to extract lithium from the brine.

A recently constructed 2,000-square-foot greenhouse built near the community school will be one of the first locations to be heated by the Tu Deh-Kah power plant. The ambition is to grow enough commercial produce to "feed the north," as Behn-Tsakoza put it.

The project recently received $1.2 million from Natural Resources Canada through the Indigenous Natural Resource Partnerships program, which the report says is designed to increase participation of those communities in the clean energy economy.

Should we be harnessing the ocean to power our homes? Absolutely Leave it be It depends I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

There are still hurdles for the project, as using geothermal in sedimentary basins is still relatively unproven on the continent. There was also more gas found in the well than previously thought, which led skeptical local elders to question how environmentally friendly the project really is.

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Behn-Tsakoza's response was that "Our vision hasn't changed," and they'll continue to push forward with this sustainable geothermal energy project for the betterment of the community and the environment.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Millions of Americans have access to a 401(k), but many are leaving money on the table.

According to Vanguards annual retirement savings report, nearly one in five workers isnt taking full advantage of an essential retirement benefit.

Find Out: The Money You Need To Save Monthly To Retire Comfortably in Every State

Trending Now: The New Retirement Problem Boomers Are Facing

So, whats the smartest move an employee can make with their 401(k)? According to financial experts, the overwhelming answer is clear.

Get the Employer Match  First and Always

When it comes to 401(k) plans, the single most important move an employee can make is to contribute enough to receive the full employer match. Its one of the few instances in personal finance where the reward is both guaranteed and immediate.

A 401(k) employer match is a contribution made by an employer based on the employees retirement plan contributions. For example, if an employer matches 100% of contributions up to 5% of salary, an employee earning $60,000 per year could receive an additional $3,000 annually, just by contributing $3,000 themselves.

If youre not taking advantage of the full benefit, its like leaving free money on the table, said Katharina Reekmans, a financial expert at TurboTax. The contributions from your employer are an immediate return on your investment and with no risk.

However, Reekmans said contributing to a 401(k) is a great way to save for the future, even without an employer match. For example, in 2025, 401(k) contribution limits rise to $23,500, with extra room for older workers through catch-up contributions.

Be Aware: This Is the No. 1 Mistake Americans Make With Their 401(k)

Why People Miss Out

Despite the clear benefits, millions of eligible workers still dont take full advantage of their 401(k) plans, especially the employer match.

According to Vanguards How America Saves 2024 report, about 18% of eligible workers are not participating in their 401(k) plans at all. Among those who do contribute, many arent saving enough to qualify for the full match.

For some, its a matter of financial strain. Contributing to a retirement account can feel like a luxury when budgets are tight, especially for Gen X who are juggling caregiving for parents and children and rising living costs.

Gen X generally contributes the least to 401(k)s, often falling behind younger generations like millennials and Gen Z in terms of savings and participation rates. According to an annual Fidelity retirement planning survey, several factors contribute to this, including delayed savings initiation, lack of awareness about 401 (k) plans in their early years, and financial burdens related to family and career transitions.
The venture capital firm bankrolling Health Assurance Transformation Company's purchase  pending regulatory approval  of Summa Health has been lobbying U.S. government officials for new health care policies espousing greater use of artificial intelligence in medical settings.

HATCo owner General Catalyst has published a range of materials advocating for policies encouraging health care providers to use AI while delivering care and equip patients with AI to monitor vital signs in their daily lives.

In 2024, General Catalyst launched an initiative called the General Catalyst Institute. The institute published a March report that said AI could be implemented throughout the entire health care system  with the federal government getting rid of regulations that General Catalyst and its allies see as burdensome.

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The integration of AI into health care is among the chief concerns opponents of the Summa deal have expressed about the potential HATCo ownership, with fears that it will result in less attentive care and the elimination of jobs.

One of the proposals in the GCI paper  which General Catalyst spokesperson Molly Gillis said via email was "drafted in collaboration with over two dozen healthcare experts and entrepreneurs"  is for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to "create an expedited pathway for reviewing and approving AI-driven healthcare solutions."

The paper also shares the firm's vision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services broadly supporting the "Make America Healthy Again" movement championed by President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For example, the paper said the department can create "regional healthcare innovation sandboxes" that would test "interventions that address root causes of chronic disease, including environmental factors and food additives, while maintaining rigorous scientific standards."

Gillis, partner and chief of staff at General Catalyst, said the General Catalyst Institute is nonpartisan. She did not directly answer a Beacon Journal reporter's question about whether General Catalyst is concerned about Kennedy, the HHS secretary  opposing vaccines, questioning antidepressants and advocating for the removal of fluoride from public water.

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The effectiveness of multiple vaccines and antidepressants has been thoroughly tested and is widely agreed upon in the medical community, while new drugs go through multi-tiered government approval processes. Fluoride is added to water to prevent cavities, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Our engagement in Washington reflects our belief that healthcare transformation requires input from leaders across the public and private sectors, regardless of who is in office," Gillis said.

More broadly, Gillis said, "General Catalyst's commitment to fulfilling and accelerating the promise of Health Assurance, which prioritizes and incentivizes keeping people well, remains steadfast. We strongly believe that accelerating innovation and advancing value-based care through patient-centered solutions will create better health outcomes for all Americans."

Summa spokesman Mike Bernstein said via email that Summa is fully aligned with General Catalyst and HATCo's vision of creating a new health care model "that transforms the current sick care system into a resilient, proactive system designed to help people stay well, reduce cost through innovation and make quality care more affordable and accessible for everyone. We view this work as non-partisan and we seek feedback from people throughout the public and private sectors, regardless of who is in office or what political affiliations they hold."

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Summa leaders could not directly address the GCI report, Bernstein said.

The statue entitled Beacon of Well-Being by Stephen Canneto stands in front of the Summa Health Akron Campus main entrance on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Akron.

General Catalyst Institute also praised decisions surrounding AI by the Trump administration in a March 14 letter to the National Coordination Office at the U.S. government's Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program.

"President Trump has demonstrated his commitment  and that of his administration  to strengthening American leadership in the global AI race in a variety of ways, including prioritizing the appointment of the first ever White House AI Czar in David Sacks, and nominating and appointing many qualified individuals to shape and implement his administrations policies across this important topic," the letter said.

While the March 14 letter was not fully focused on health care as the GCI report was, it cited health care as an area where AI could be applied, stating that AI can "analyze medical data, help with diagnostic tools, predict disease outbreaks, and personalize treatment plans."

Matthew Charlebois, who is opposed to the proposed Summa-HATCo deal and a member of the Summa Is Not For Sale coalition, said it was "not surprising at all" to him that General Catalyst would try to curry favor with the Trump administration.

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"If Kamala Harris won the election, they would do something similar with her administration in terms of trying to win their support," Charlebois said.

But as far as General Catalyst's proposals themselves, he said, "It very much sounds like Akron and Summa in particular is being used as an experimental guinea pig subject to test out these largely unproven scientific experiments with regards to implementing AI technology into health care."

Charlebois said General Catalyst wants "less regulations on the health care industry so they can extract more profits from patients and they can work their workers even harder."

The General Catalyst Institute wrote in the March 14 letter, "The adoption of intelligent AI agents allows humans to focus on work that requires creativity, emotional intelligence, and complex decision-making. As this trend continues, managing AI agents will likely become a new function, or part of an expanded role."

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Summa's Bernstein said, "Importantly, technology will be used to support and empower our workforce, not replace it, so that clinicians and staff can focus fully on what matters most: delivering compassionate, high-quality care.

"As part of this transformation, we remain committed to investing in our people through workforce development, clinical training and enhanced engagement, recognizing that they are vital to our long-term success."

How did General Catalyst's 'health assurance' ideas come about?

Hemant Taneja, General Catalyst's CEO, and Dr. Stephen Klasko, an adviser to the firm and former president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, in 2020 wrote a book called "UnHealthcare." In it, they proposed that a new "health assurance" system could replace the "sick care" system.

"Building health assurance is one of the greatest business opportunities in history," they wrote. "How often in any generation does a multi-trillion-dollar global industry go through a reinvention?"

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Many of the proposals listed in the book focus on using technology to detect symptoms so physical health assurance locations don't get crowded, consumers can make more choices about their health to improve their wellbeing and hospitals can lower costs.

"Failure to take medications is one of the chief reasons patients end up back at a doctors office or emergency room," the authors wrote. "Soon, pills will contain a tiny ingestible chip that can tell an app whether youre following through."

Later in the book, Taneja and Klasko wrote, "AI-driven chat bots will 'talk' to mental health patients  we already know that many younger people are more likely to be honest with a chat bot than a psychologist. AI will help keep an eye on seniors 24/7, enabling them to live at home longer."

In its March report, the General Catalyst Institute addressed concerns about privacy, safety and security as it proposed the rollout of AI throughout the health care system. Ensuring privacy, for instance, would be done in part through data encryption and anonymization, the paper said.

Could Northeast Ohio become a 'health assurance' hub?

A document signed by Summa and HATCo leaders said HATCo and its affiliates will encourage portfolio companies to "locate their headquarters in the Summa Community." The Beacon Journal obtained the report from the Ohio Attorney General's Office, which is reviewing the proposed sale.

Charlebois said he doesn't see how patients, workers and the community would benefit from General Catalyst's AI push.

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"None of these are proposals that are about meeting the needs of Akronites," Charlebois said. "All these are proposals about, 'How can we profit our portfolio companies and ourselves and take over the health care industry and run it like a for-profit corporation?'"

Meanwhile, Summa is already using AI for multiple services, Bernstein said, citing "sepsis detection, transcription, radiology interpretation and lung cancer screening."

The hospital system uses a "comprehensive vetting process" before implementing new technologies, Bernstein said, adding that these are technologies from various companies, including some in General Catalyst's investment portfolio. He declined to name specific General Catalyst portfolio companies that provide the technologies, citing that "we are still in the early stages of this work and still in regulatory review" with the acquisition deal.

Other Northeast Ohio hospital systems are using similar technologies, too. University Hospitals radiologists interpret results with AI, and Cleveland Clinic uses AI to transcribe provider-patient interactions. Providers from both hospital systems have talked positively of the technologies.

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Charlebois said Summa employees in inpatient and outpatient patient care settings have joined the Summa Is Not For Sale coalition. He declined, however, to share how many Summa employees have joined the group  saying they all want to remain anonymous.

Gillis said General Catalyst's work over the past several years has had a priority of "making healthcare more accessible and affordable for all Americans."

"As we work towards finalizing our transaction with Summa Health, which includes maintaining its charity care policy, community benefit, and essential services, our vision is to reimagine and evolve healthcare to work better for patients, providers, and communities in the Greater Akron region and across America  through partnership, innovation, and an unwavering focus on health outcomes for all people," Gillis said.

Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH. Sign up for the Beacon Journal's business and consumer newsletter, "What's the deal?," at bit.ly/42LtqbS

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: HATCo owner General Catalyst would bring heavy AI focus to Summa
Almost half of white men are self-censoring at work for fear of causing offence, a poll has found.

Research by JL Partners also found almost a quarter of them (23 per cent) believe they experience discrimination because of their race and gender.

Some 41 per cent said they worried they would be sacked if they said the wrong thing, while a third (34 per cent) believed white men were the least valued employees in their workplace.

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The survey of 823 white males, conducted for a five-part podcast and YouTube series White Men Cant Work!, also found one in three white men (31 per cent) believed their sons would lose out on opportunities because of their race or gender.

More than a third (36 per cent) of those under 34 said they had lost out on a promotion or opportunity because they were white and male.

Young men are despondent about their futures

Tim Samuels, former host of the BBC show Mens Hour and the host of White Men Cant Work!, said the trend was pushing white men towards populist political parties and misogynist influencers such as Andrew Tate.

He told The Sunday Times: Millions of men are walking around on eggshells at work, too scared to speak freely, while knowing that being male can now be a disaster for your career.

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The scale of discrimination, self-censorship and anxiety is staggering.

Younger men are very despondent about their futures.

All this is pushing men towards populism and the likes of Andrew Tate.

He added: Jobs are so central to mens identity, status, daily purpose and mental health.

Mr Samuels also addressed diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) programmes, which are still run by most UK companies, while public sector bodies such as the police and NHS are providing diversity training.

He said: Of course racism and sexism have to be stamped out, but our biggest companies and institutions have implemented a very divisive and ideological form of DEI that demonises white men, disregards free speech and, when you look at the data, doesnt even help those it was meant to.

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We need smarter ways to tackle discrimination that actually work.

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Hannah Gutierrez, the weapons handler in the ill-fated Alec Baldwin western movie "Rust," has been released from prison after serving 14 months for her conviction last year of involuntary manslaughter.

Gutierrez was released Friday from a New Mexico women's prison after completing her sentence in the accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021.

Gutierrez was one of three people charged in Hutchins' death on the movie set south of Santa Fe, N.M., but the only one who received a felony conviction. A jury found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins' death following a dramatic two-week trial last year in Santa Fe.

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New Mexico prosecutors faulted the Arizona woman for reckless handling of firearms and ammunition in violation of gun safety rules.

The special prosecutor also argued that Gutierrez had unwittingly brought the live bullets with her to the popular western film location, Bonanza Creek Ranch, and mingled them with inert "dummy" bullets used on film sets.

Gutierrez has denied that allegation. There was no conclusive evidence presented about the origins of the live bullets.

Actor Alec Baldwin during his 2024 trial in Santa Fe for his role in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. (Ramsay de Give / Associated Press)

Baldwin, who pointed the gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal, also was charged. He pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter for the shooting that killed the 42-year-old cinematographer, a rising star in the industry, and wounded the film's director, Joel Souza.

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The New Mexico judge overseeing the "Rust" criminal prosecutions, New Mexico 1st Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, dismissed the charge against Baldwin three days into his high-profile trial last July.

Marlowe Sommer found the prosecutor and Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies had concealed evidence from Baldwin's legal team, which the judge said prejudiced the case against Baldwin. At the time, the actor-producer's team was exploring whether prosecutors and sheriff's deputies botched the investigation into how the bullets made their way onto the set.

Read more: Behind the spectacular collapse of the Alec Baldwin 'Rust' shooting prosecution

Assistant director David Halls was also charged in the shooting.

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Halls pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and received a suspended six-month sentence, which ended in October 2023. Halls, who has since retired from the industry, agreed to pay a $500 fine, participate in a firearms safety class, refrain from taking drugs or alcohol and complete 24 hours of community service.

Gutierrez had received the maximum sentence for her role.

She was released on parole. She also is being supervised under terms of probation after pleading guilty to a separate charge of unlawfully carrying a gun into a Santa Fe bar that prohibited firearms a few days before the fatal shooting, according to the Associated Press.

Terms of her parole include mental health assessments and a ban on firearms possession.

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Gutierrez, through her attorney, declined an interview request Sunday.

When I took on Rust, I was young and I was naive but I took my job as seriously as I knew how to," Gutierrez told the judge during her April 2024 sentencing hearing.

Read more: Dramatic 'Rust' shooting testimony: 'The gun went off' and then, 'I can't feel my legs'

Marlowe Sommer, who also presided over the armorer's case, gave Gutierrez the maximum sentence, saying: "You were the armorer, the one that stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. .. You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon."

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With Gutierrez's release, the criminal phase of the "Rust" saga has concluded.

Several civil lawsuits against Baldwin and the producers, including from Hutchins family members, remain unresolved.

Baldwin and other actors and crew members finished filming in Montana, 18 months after the fatal shooting in New Mexico. The movie was finally released in the U.S. this month on just a handful of screens.

Read more: The day Alec Baldwin shot Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza

The October 2021 shooting shined a harsh light on film set safety, particularly on low-budget productions.

"Rust" was racked with problems, including allegations of safety rules and hiring inexperienced crew members such as Gutierrez. Rust was just her second job as head armorer. She also was tasked with the job of prop assistant.

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Hours before the fatal shooting, Rust camera crew members had walked off the job to protest safety concerns and a lack of housing near the films set. Crew members complained about earlier accidental gun discharges.

Gutierrez is the stepdaughter of well-known Hollywood armorer Thell Reed.



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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Monday, May 26

Memorial Day events at the Capitol: The Capitol Campus will host two Memorial Day events Monday, May 26. The Thurston County Veterans Council will host a Memorial Day Ceremony from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Legislative Building, on the third floor rotunda. Music begins 10:30, event starts 11 a.m. Meanwhile, the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs will host the Olympia Thunder Run, an annual motorcycle rally. Motorcyclists gather at one of two starting locations, Eagle Leather in Lakewood or Northwest Harley Davidson in Lacey, and ride at 11:30 a.m. to the Capitol. They will then gather at the Vietnam War Memorial for a ceremony at 12:20 p.m. Cost is $10 for a single rider or $15 for doubles, with proceeds going to suicide prevention programs.

Wednesday, May 28

SPSCC hosts Machining Technologies Open House: South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) invites the community to its upcoming Machining Technologies Open House. The event will be held on Wednesday, May 28, from 3 to 7 p.m. in Building 3 of SPSCCs Lacey Campus, 4224 Sixth Ave SE, Lacey. The Open House welcomes makers, creators, and problem solvers with a passion for working with their hands, solving challenging problems, and exploring high-tech equipment. Attendees will explore SPSCCs state-of-the-art shop, watch machines in action, experience hands-on activities with advanced Computer Numerical Control (CNC) technology guided by instructors with real-world experience, and get the chance to win exclusive precision tools in a giveaway. To learn more about the program, visit the SPSCC website.

Olympia World Affairs Councils special speaker event: Steve Niva, a professor at The Evergreen State College, will speak on The Authoritarian Playbook: Abroad and at Home starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Lacey campus of South Puget Sound Community College, 4220 Sixth Ave SE. Learn more on the OWAC website.

Thursday, May 29

The 81st Mason County Forest Festival: From Thursday, May 29, to Sunday, June 1, therell be four days of fun, tradition, and timber pride going on in Shelton as Mason County celebrates its logging heritage and kicks off summer with a full schedule of family-friendly events. A carnival will be set up at First and Grove; KMAS will host Forest Festival Family Fun Night from 4-8 p.m. Friday at 425 Cota; the Goldsborough Creek Run/walk/jog will take place Saturday, as will the Firefighters Pancake Breakfast from 7-9 a.m. at 122 Franklin. The Paul Bunyan Grand Parade begins at 11 a.m. Saturday at Railroad & Franklin, followed by the Forest Festival Logging Show at 1 p.m. Saturday at Loop Field. The Kristmas Town Kiwanis Duck Drop will take place after the Logging Show Saturday at Loop Field; Rockin the Forest happens from 4-9 p.m. Saturday at Olympic Highway. Then the Manke Spectacular Fireworks happens at 10 p.m. Saturday, also at Olympic Highway. Sundays main event is the Car Showoff starting at 10 a.m. at Olympic Highway. Find a full schedule and event details on the Forest Festival website.

Friday, May 30

Olympia Zine Fest: The fest returns with a full weekend of festivities. It kicks off with a Zine-a-thon at the Olympia Timberland Library, 313 Eighth Ave. SE, on Friday, May 30, from 7-9 pm. The main event is on Saturday, May 31, from 11 am to 4 pm at The Olympia Center on Columbia Street Northwest in downtown Olympia and will feature 80+ zine vendors, workshops, DJs, DIY screenprinting, quiet zine reading area, raffle, and more. The weekend will culminate with a dance party closing event at DECAY (Diverse Events & Creative Arts Yard), 402 Washington St. NE, from 8-10 pm. For more info about the festival, visit the Zine Fest website.

Saturday, May 31

Capital City Pride pub crawl: Capital City Pride is hosting Sip N Seek, a pub crawl fundraiser happening Saturday, May 31, in downtown Olympia. This event invites community members to explore local bars and pubs, all while supporting Capital City Prides 2025 3-Day June Pride Festival. Participants will have an afternoon of pub hopping from 1-6 p.m., visiting a selection of local favorites. The day wraps up with a Drag Show at 8 p.m., included with every crawl ticket, bringing together drag artistry and community celebration. Tickets are $20 for pre-sale and $25 at check in.

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Energize Thurston application closing May 31: Time is running out to join the Energize Thurston program and receive free or discounted heat pumps or heat pump water heaters. The deadline to submit your application is May 31. Energize Thurston is a group purchase program that makes it faster, easier and more affordable for Thurston County residents to install energy efficient heat pump technologies. Heat pumps are a reliable high-efficiency electric heating and cooling solution that uses about half of the energy of traditional electric heating. This program offers a group purchase discount of at least 10% up to $1,200, and participants can stack rebates and incentives to save more than $5,000 on qualifying equipment. A limited number of no-cost heat pump installations are also available for income-qualified households. To qualify for Energize Thurstons program-exclusive discounts and incentives, participants must attend an educational workshops. The last in-person workshop is May 26 at the Olympia Timberland Library from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and the Workshop on Demand will be available online through May 31 for those who are unable to attend a workshop in person. Register for a program workshop at energizethurston.org.

Traffic Box voting closes: Olympias Traffic Box Wrap Project transforms sidewalk traffic boxes into public art. Vote for your favorite designs on Engage Olympia  90 submissions by local artists of all ages are up for selection. Voting ends May 31. The top 10 designs will be installed citywide; selected artists receive a $500 honorarium. You must be registered on Engage Olympia to vote. Sign in or create an account to participate. Winners will be announced this summer, with installations rolling out in summer/fall 2025.

WET Science Center Green Spring Cleaning: Enjoy eco-friendly hands-on activities and make a cleaning product that is safer for your family, pets, and the planet. Head to the WET Science Center at 500 Adams St. NE, Olympia, between 10:30 am and 2 pm Saturday for a presentation hosted by Thurston County Public Health. Admission is free.

Intertribal celebration: Gather at The Evergreen State College for a celebration of Native and Indigenous culture at 4 p.m. Saturday at the colleges House of Welcome, Longhouse, 2800 Dogtooth Lane NW. Enjoy traditional dances, music, art, and more from various Indigenous communities. Everyone is welcome. The event is hosted by the Native Pathways Program Student Governance, which works to enhance the educational experience for Native and Indigenous students.

Sunday, June 1

Frank Chopp celebration of life: Chopp, who served as Speaker of the Washington state House of Representatives for 20 years, will be remembered at a ceremony from 2 to 5:30 pm Sunday, June 1, at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, 11100 NE Sixth St. Doors will open at 1 pm and the program will start at 2 pm. The celebration of life will also be filmed by TVW to be viewed virtually at a later date. The family asks that attendees register for the event by May 26 at www.everloved.com/life-of/frank-chopp/funeral.

Would you like to have your event included in our weekly Whats Happening calendar? Email the details to news@theolympian.com at least 10 days before the event. Please put Whats Happening in the subject line.
Editors note: This story is part of Hard Times, a special report by The Republican on the challenge of healing from civic trauma.

She thought it was normal. Watching people work nonstop. Watching them take extra jobs to keep the lights on. Using candles when they couldnt.

People who live their life worrying about where their next paycheck is going to come from, said Janeyah Madera. People who worry about whether they have enough to pay the rent.

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Madera, a 17-year-old junior at Holyoke High School, watched teenagers drop out of school year after year. I thought everything was normal, she said. I normalized it for so long.

Until someone set her straight. While at Holyoke High, she met a teenager from Palante Transformative Justice, a nonprofit with a mission to build youth power to heal and transform interpersonal harm and systemic injustices.

And they were like, No, Madera recalled while sitting with a friend at Palantes Linden Street center in Holyoke. Thats not the way things should be. I never knew. I just thought thats the way things work.

At Palante, she learned about the school-to-prison pipeline. The school-to-prison pipeline targets people who look like me, said Madera, who was ready to drop out of school before she joined Palante. Im just really grateful I found Palante when I did.

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Her friend Nichelle Rivera was sitting beside her on a couch in a second-floor room of Palantes Victorian home.

I was a real quiet person, and Nichelle had to break me out of that, she said, looking over at her friend. She used to come up to me, no matter how much I didnt want to talk, and be like, How you doing? You okay? What are you coloring? What are you reading?

Eventually, Madera followed in Riveras footsteps and became a peer leader at Palante, helping more teenagers realize their potential. Youre born with an endless amount of possibilities, Madera said.

Power in unity

The name Palante is a reference to the Young Lords, a group of young people of color, primarily Puerto Ricans, who worked to address racism, police injustice, poor health care and tenants rights in the 1960s and 70s.

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Inside Palantes three-story home, inspirational murals decorate the wood-paneled walls. Pockets of young people talk and laugh, while others fiddle on their cellphones. In a large downstairs room, a group dances salsa while another group cooks in an upstairs kitchen and plays Nintendo video games on a big screen television.

Connecting local kids is not accidental.

Its one of our main goals, said Christopher Lora, a youth leadership coordinator. When we come together, we build power and we can use that power to transform systems of oppression.

When asked about the hardships and trauma that young people experience living in urban poverty, Lora immediately brought up the school-to-prison pipeline. Its a system that pushes students out of schools and into prisons.

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With being pushed out comes different things, he said. Because of being pushed out, the student has to find a way to make money.

A study from the National Library of Medicine found that the school-to-prison pipeline traps adolescents in the criminal justice system.

Lora said schools use suspensions and emergency removals to force certain students out of school and onto the streets. A federal report, Exploring the School-to-Prison Pipeline: How School Suspensions Influence Incarceration During Young Adulthood, supports Loras experience.

Our findings demonstrated that youth who experienced a suspension between grades 7 and 12 experienced significantly higher odds of incarceration as young adults, relative to youth who were never suspended, the report said.

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Palante fights back by showing up for local teenagers.

We bring them in and, in a transformative way, we tailor our work to their needs, Lora said.

Struggle after struggle

Maderas friend, Nichelle Rivera, said Palante is transformative because it is inclusive. As a peer leader, she connects with each person who walks into Palantes youth drop-in center daily.

Upstairs, theres a chill space they call the meta.

We are in touch with everybody in the meta, she said. We try to make sure everybodys included in the space so that nobodys left out and left behind.

Everyone is welcome.

No matter where youre coming from or your background, your sexuality, your ethnicity, it doesnt matter, Rivera said. We try to accept everybody.

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Rivera, whos 17, knows what many of her Holyoke peers are going through.

I came from struggle after struggle thinking that life wouldnt get better, she said.

When she was 10, her grandmother died and she and her mother lost their home. They bounced from shelter to shelter.

My mother was working when she was in the shelter from nine to nine, she said. It wasnt even a nine-to-five. I didnt see my mother for most of the day.

Thats why she looks up to her. When I think about transformative justice, I think of my mother, she said.

In her story, Rivera finds strength and resilience.

Its just amazing where Ive come from to where I am now, she said. The school-to-prison pipeline tries to catch me, but I just beat it down.

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Shes proud. My story is powerful, she said. My story needs to be heard.

Kids who grow up in the system get judged fast, she said. People see them as bad, she said, but thats not the truth.

Your story is powerful, too, she said. Youre amazing no matter where you come from.

Such affirmations changed Madera, Riveras friend. I thought school wasnt for me, she said. I thought Im never gonna get anywhere. I was like, Who am I? Im nobody.

But that started to change when Madera found Palante.

I have a community of people here that I can lean on for help, she said.

That connection changed how she saw everything.

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When I joined, they taught me that I am somebody, she said. That if I want to make a change, I can do it. And if I want to go to college, I can do it. And if I want to graduate, I can do it. I have power and I am amazing.

Read the original article on MassLive.
HONOLULU, HI (KLFY)- Raiden Barrientos,14, of Honolulu, Hawaii ran one mile in honor of fallen Rayne Police Lieutenant Allen Noochie Credeur.

The Hawaii teen carried a blue and white flag and ran the mile at the Honolulu Police Academy in honor of Credeur. Credeur died in the line of duty on May 6th.

Barrientos, a youth runner with Running 4 Heroes, said these runs are a way of showing respect and gratitude for the sacrifice fallen officers made to protect their communities.

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It kind of felt like I had a bunch of emotions going through me while I was running, so I always think about what his close friends, family and his relatives think about what happened to them, Barrientos said.

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Barrientos said it brings him comfort to pray tribute to the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice serving their community.

It kind of makes me feel good when I run because it shows other people, their families, that Im here for them and that their Yohana is here for them too, Barrientos said.

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After the run, Barrientos paused to offer his condolences to Lieutenant Credeurs family and held a moment of silence in their honor.

To the family of Allen Noochie Credeur, I give my heartfelt condolences to his fiancee Danielle, sisters Monica and Beatrice and his brother Joseph, I pray that this run will help you heal, and I want you know near and far, Hawaii is here to support you, Barrientos said.

Having supported fallen officers from a young age, Barrientos urges the youth to find the courage to step beyond their comfort zones. He says every run is a powerful way to honor those who gave their everything for their community.

It shows a lot of support to the family members, their colleagues, all the people that knew that one person that youre running for, so you understand what theyre going through and how this is your way of supporting them, Barrientos said.

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If you are interested in having your child become a youth runner for Running 4 Heroes, click here.

Raiden Barrientos,14, of Honolulu, Hawaii ran one mile in honor of fallen Rayne Police Lieutenant Allen Noochie Credeur.

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Most people in Harpswell, Maine, had no idea anything was wrong until they were told not to eat the fish.

A firefighting foam spill months earlier had quietly made its way into the water, and the chemicals were persistent.

Locals are asking why it took so long to find out, and what it means for their health moving forward.

What's happening?

Environmental officials in Maine are still assessing the fallout from the state's largest recorded spill of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) months after it happened.

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As News Center Maine reported, a malfunction at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station caused more than 50,000 gallons of water mixed with PFAS-laden firefighting foam to spill.

The contaminated runoff traveled through storm drains and ponds before reaching Harpswell Cove.

"These chemicals just don't disappear; they stay around, but the ocean is a big body of water, so it dilutes them," said senior research scientist Christoph Aeppli.

According to the Harpswell Anchor, tests later revealed PFAS levels in the cove had jumped to 70 times higher than what was recorded just two years earlier.

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State agencies issued a warning against eating fish from the area, and community members are now worried about the safety of the water and wildlife they rely on.

What are PFAS?

PFAS are often called "forever chemicals" because they don't break down naturally.

They are used in a diverse range of products and substances, from cookware to firefighting foam. These synthetic compounds have been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, liver damage, immune system harm, and reproductive issues, as Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health observed.

These chemicals can build up in fish, soil, and drinking water. In the case of Harpswell Cove, nearby residents are concerned about what long-term exposure could mean for their health.

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According to the Environmental Working Group, 2,719 U.S. communities have documented PFAS contamination, and many of them are still waiting for cleanup plans or drinking water protections.

What's being done about the spill?

In response to the Brunswick spill, Maine's Department of Environmental Protection has launched an investigation and stepped up water testing in the area.

The U.S. Navy, which operated the former airbase, is also under pressure to expand cleanup and monitoring plans. Meanwhile, local environmental groups are conducting independent sampling to hold agencies accountable and track the spread of contamination.

On the policy front, Maine has passed some of the nation's toughest PFAS laws, including a ban on most PFAS-containing products by 2030. More states are following suit, and the EPA finalized federal drinking water standards for six PFAS compounds, which will require utilities to start testing and filtering for them in the coming years.

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At home, you can help protect yourself by using water filters certified to remove PFAS and checking for contamination in your area through your state's health department or the EWG's tap water database.

Taking action to educate yourself on toxic chemicals like PFAS and the health risks that come with them is one small but powerful step toward building a healthier, more resilient future.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
By Waylon Cunningham

(Reuters) -McDonald's Corp is shutting down the five beverage-centered CosMc's stores it opened in 2023, but said some drinks from the standalone concept would be tested in McDonald's restaurants.

The company said on Friday it had opened the stores as a test to learn more about the fast-growing beverage space, which it said it had a right to win.

It said the standalone stores  in markets including San Antonio, Texas  allowed it to test new flavor and technologies without impacting existing McDonalds restaurants.

The company said it will test CosMcs-inspired drinks to its main menu at hundreds of U.S. stores. The company has more than 14,000 locations in the U.S.

In March, McDonalds announced it would be establishing a new internal team to develop new beverages.

The company said all CosMcs would be closed on a rolling basis beginning in late June. The CosMcs app will also be discontinued.

Restaurant consultant John Gordon said McDonalds has historically been very quiet in the beverage space compared with other restaurant chains, which have experimented with complicated drinks that typically carry a higher profit margin than food items.

(Reporting by Waylon Cunningham in New YorkEditing by Matthew Lewis)
Seth Moulton, the Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, knows a few things about generals. As a Marine officer in Iraq in the early years of the war, he served as one of three aides on Gen. David Petraeus elite counterinsurgency task force. Later, when he ran for Congress in 2014, he was endorsed by retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Moulton has also been an outspoken critic of the strategic failures by military leadership in Iraq and of military careerism more broadly, which has too often rewarded leaders who did not make hard decisions and were promoted anyway.

But he has nothing but scorn for what he says is the crude and overtly political way that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has chosen to revamp the highest echelons of the military. Hegseth, also an Iraq veteran, recently announced he would slash 20 percent of 4-star officers and 10 percent of all other generals and admirals to drive innovation and operational excellence unencumbered by unnecessary bureaucratic layers.

In a conversation with POLITICO Magazine, Moulton, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, explains why he agrees with Hegseth that the military is top-heavy  but why Hegseths purge appears completely political and ultimately undermines military readiness.

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Thats a recipe not just for a politicized military, but an authoritarian military, Moulton said. Thats the way militaries work in Russia and China and North Korea. And by the way, its a big part of why those militaries are not as strong and capable as our own.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.



Secretary Hegseth has recently announced dramatic changes he wants to make across the military. One of them is substantial cuts in the number of generals at the four-star level and below.

From the publics perspective, its often hard to understand the vast bureaucracy of the military, and whether these are good decisions or bad decisions. Hegseth has said he wants to streamline redundancy, but he has also said he wants to get rid of people who have been involved in DEI crap. So, what is really going on here?

Well, the truth of the matter is that we dont know because Hegseth has not honestly told us why hes making these changes.

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We have asked formally in letters, bipartisan letters from Congress, including one that I authored with Rep. Don Bacon, a former Air Force general, to ask him why he fired a bunch of generals early on. We asked his DoD officials in hearings. And of course, you and the press ask him, as well.

By not telling us why hes doing this, it first of all violates a fundamental tenet of leadership that he should have learned in the National Guard, which is you explain your intent to your troops. But it also violates a basic expectation in a democracy, which is that we dont just follow blind orders from government officials. We understand and debate the thinking behind what theyre doing.

One of the things Hegseth has said is more generals does not equal more success. And hes cited, or people on his behalf, have cited the vast difference between the ratio of generals to rank and file soldiers in World War II compared to now. Does he have a point about the way the military is structured now? Has it become too bloated?

I actually agree with the idea that we might have too many generals. From 1965 to 2023, the number of general and flag officers increased 31 percent, which includes an especially high growth at the top end, 107 percent growth of four-star officers and 129 percent increase in three-star officers. And yet, during the same period, the size of the total force dropped by about 50 percent.

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So, its not clear exactly what all of these high-level generals are doing. The Marine Corps, unsurprisingly, gets this right, and only has two four-stars in the entire corps, the commandant and the assistant commandant, whereas the Army has inflated rank almost as much as they inflate medals.

Spoken like a true Marine!

But its the truth.

The point is that you have to have a strategy for making these changes, because there also have been a lot of changes in the force structure over that time. The security environment we face is much more varied. No one was worried about Africa in 1965 the way we are today. We didnt have two near-peer nuclear adversaries like we have in Russia and China, and no one knew what cyber meant. Or what unmanned vehicles would do to change warfare in Ukraine. So, we should be an evolving force. But just making random across-the-board cuts because 20 percent or 30 percent sound like nice round numbers is not reflective of a strategy.

So far it seems as though many of the highest-ranking officers he has targeted for removal  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs C.Q. Brown, Admiral Lisa Franchetti  have been Black or women. In other words, while he talks about streamlining redundancies, what hes doing seems to be responsive to a much more political agenda. Is that a fair characterization?

Well, thats how Pete Hegseth characterizes it in his book, which is essentially a manual for politicizing the military and indoctrinating the Pentagon with extremist conservative ideology.

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Of the people theyve fired so far, it includes three women, including the first chief of naval operations and the first commandant of the Coast Guard. And yet women make up less than 10 percent of general and flag officers. In the entire force, only 10 women have ever reached the rank of four-star general or admiral, and Trump has fired two of them. Look at C.Q. Brown, one of the most talented general officers of his generation. Unsolicited, I wrote a recommendation to President Biden, strongly encouraging him to be chosen as chairman of the Joint Chiefs because I was simply so impressed by his leadership and intellect. C.Q. Brown was very clearly fired by Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth because he is Black, and thats outright racism.

I want to come back to the politicization that you just mentioned a moment ago, but before that, I want to talk also about what the removal of Black generals and female Admirals does to military readiness.

It sends a message to the troops that merit doesnt matter, that theres no accountability for important decisions and that anybody can be fired for simply disagreeing politically with the commander-in-chief.

Thats a recipe not just for a politicized military, but an authoritarian military. Thats the way militaries work in Russia and China and North Korea. And by the way, its a big part of why those militaries are not as strong and capable as our own. Because we value criticism and new ideas. We thrive off the diversity of talent in our country. And we ask the troops to take responsibility for their actions and the actions of those in their command. Pete Hegseth represents the opposite of all of that. It is the antithesis of leadership by example.

You mentioned criticism thats inherent in our military and not in our some of our adversaries. But lets talk about accountability for a second. Much has been written about the lack of accountability in the military over the past generation, including two major wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There was that famous quote: A private who loses a rifle faces greater consequences than a general who loses a war. Do we need to do more in terms of culling our leadership for their failures?

I think we should. And that would mean firing people based on merit. Not for quotas or racist ideals.

If youre a member of the public and youre looking at this, how will you know that the decisions to remove or demote this general or that admiral are made for justifiable reasons or because theyre part of a larger political agenda?

All he needs to do is simply answer the question: Why were they fired? And he has refused to honestly answer that question to date.

Is there a way to compel that response?

Every other secretary of Defense in history, as far as I know, has answered questions from Congress. And Hegseth has refused to even respond to our inquiries, which not only undermines his credibility. But it also undermines his leadership for everyone else, because every general or officer today is wondering if he or she will be next. They have no idea why some of their colleagues were fired. Ive spoken to fired generals who have no idea why they were fired. This is no way to lead the Department of Defense.

Youve seen his memos on the commands that he wants to consolidate. The Armys Futures Command and its Training and Doctrine Command he wants to combine into one. Theres a four-star general at the top of each. One of them, I assume, will go. From the lay perspective, is that a good decision? Is that the right call to solve some of what you described, as the problem of too many generals?

Or again, is it because  and Im going to be very blunt here  is this being done because theres a Black general at the top of one organization and a white general at the top of the other?

Well, lets take a wild guess as to whether Hegseth will fire the Black guy or the white guy. What do you think? I could make a case for combining these two commands. If Hegseth is so smart, lets hear that case. And if its a reasonable case, then people will agree with it. But my guess is he just fires the Black guy.

The president is seeking a big increase in military spending. If you had a magic wand to wave over the military budget, where would you be focusing resources?

I would invest many times more in space. The administration is cutting the space budget.

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I would reinforce our cyber capabilities. The administration just fired the head of cyber command.

I would invest more in the innovative private sector, including satellite imagery and intelligence. And weve seen no similar initiative under Hegseth.

So, its not necessarily that big is bad. Big can be great. But it has to be the right priorities. And I dont know anyone in the Pentagon who has enough faith in Pete Hegseths leadership to make the right investments for our troops. He spends his day defending himself, not defending our country.

I want to return to that politicization theme we discussed earlier. What are the risks of a politicized military from the perspective of service members and also from the perspective of the public? What happens when either or both of those groups perceive that the decisions at the top of the hierarchy are being made for ideological reasons, agenda-driven reasons?

Just imagine if we had a partisan, politicized military like Trump and Hegseth want. As a platoon commander in Iraq, if I give an order to my platoon and half the platoon says: Nope, were not going to do that because we dont agree with Bushs war, that doesnt work. It doesnt work in a successful military. And it sure as hell doesnt work in a democracy.

Are you worried about Trumps deployment of troops to the border?

I worry that the military could be used in lawless, illegal, partisan political ways because Trump has told us he wants to.

Do you see evidence that thats happening now? Where are you most worried it might happen?

The next time theres a protest that Trump doesnt like and he asks the secretary of Defense to order the troops to shoot the protesters, I expect Hegseth would comply. Whereas, at least in his first term, Trumps secretary of Defense said no to that very request.




In a decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court of Florida denied an attempt by a Putnam County man to have his death penalty overturned.

Mark Wilson was sentenced to death in 2023 after a three-day trial for the murders of his girlfriends young nephews at a home in Melrose.

Robert, 12, and Tayten, 14, were found dead by their mother, Sarah Baker, after being beaten with a hammer and having their throats cut, according to court documents.

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The suspect, Wilson, was the boyfriend of Cindy Guinan, the boys aunt. The two, along with their infant daughter, had been living in a shed on the Bakers property before the brutal killings.

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In his appeal, Wilson did not argue that there was insufficient evidence for the first-degree murder convictions, but he did take issue with supposed errors during the trial.

One argument was that he was on Methamphetamine at the time of the murders, and that it should have been a mitigating factor in his sentencing.

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The court wrote, There is scant proof of this. All contemporaneous observations indicate he was not under the influence. The court also said there was only slight weight to the argument that methamphetamine use could have affected his memory of the incident.

In the appeal, Wilson also argued that the death penalty should not be used in general.

Having reviewed each of Wilsons claims, we affirm the judgments of conviction and sentences, including the sentences of death, concluded the court.

Read the courts full decision and address of the appeal below:

At the time of sentencing, Judge Howard McGillin noted that Wilson had the choice to plead guilty and spare the family of the boys of a trial, but he chose not to. That was named a big factor in McGillins decision to hand down the death penalty.

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Wilson remains incarcerated at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford.

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Gen Z and Gen Alphas obsession with social media, like doomscrolling on TikTok, is making the classroom a living nightmare for some teachersand driving them to outright quit. While the rise of ChatGPT has promised to revolutionize the field for the better, students may be moving faster than school guidance.

As schools around the country are beginning to let out for the summer, many classrooms may not only find themselves empty of studentsbut teachers, too.

Thats because for thousands of educators, this year may have been the tipping point on calling it quits, with social media like TikTok and technology like ChatGPT piling stress onto the already overworked and underpaid field.

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Technology is directly contributing to the literacy decrease we are seeing in this country right now, said one teacher who went viral on TikTok after quitting her high school English teacher job.

Im actually leaving the profession. I am quitting. Friday is my last day.

But shes not alone. Over half of educators55% said in 2022 they were thinking about leaving the profession earlier than they had planned. Across the country, over 400,000 teaching positions are either unfilled or are staffed by teachers without proper certification, according to Desiree Carver-Thomas, senior researcher at the Learning Policy Institute. But that number is still conservative, she says, with some school districts facing an up to 20% turnover rate.

And while the pandemic put the microscope on teachingand helped bring some meaningful change, like an increased focus on social-emotional and online learningteachers continue to face an uphill battle. Not only are they educators, but theyre often de facto therapists, social workers, and guardiansall during the school day, and while metrics show student test scores are at their lowest ever levels.

No sign of relief for teacher shortages

For decades, the world of education has faced struggles retaining top talent. In fact, in 2015, hundreds of headlines highlighted a growing teacher shortage that were facing schools from Washington to Pennsylvania. Then came the pandemic, when the lack of educators became a national issue; one survey revealed that three-fourths of principals said that the number of teaching applicants was not enough.

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According to the Learning Policy Institute, 90% of annual teacher vacancies result from teachers leaving their careers, thanks in part to inadequate support, difficult working conditions, and low salaries.

High turnover negatively impacts student learning and undermines school improvement efforts, wrote Ryan Saunders and Amy Skinner of LPI. Schools with frequent teacher turnover see lower student achievement and face higher financial burdens, with teacher turnover costs ranging from $12,000 per teacher in small districts to $25,000 in larger ones.

But despite educations ability to be a rewarding professionby helping to train the next generation of world changersit remains financially unattractive. Graduates who majored in education end up earning one of the lowest median incomes within five years, according to recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Thats not to mention that many teachers are still paying off thousands of dollars in student loans while spending on average over $600 of their own money on classroom supplies.

Teachers are more than twice as likely than other working adults to report job-related stress, Carver-Thomas tells Fortune.

The cell phone impact on the classroom

Cell phones have been in the classroom for decades now. In many cases, cell phones have also been effective research tools for students to access the internet when they may not have Wi-Fi or a computer at home. Plus, theyve helped young people stay connected with the world and contact people in emergencies.

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However, schools have implemented restrictions on when they can be used at school. With 1 in 4 children having a smartphone by age 8, teachers have seen first-hand how young peoples attention spans have declined after spending hours scrolling through social media and playing mobile games, not to mention the added teacher stress of enforcing anti-cell phone policies.

Most of these kids prefer to live on their phones rather than experience real life. Additionally, cellphones are a constant distraction. Many students would get distressed if they couldnt check their phones frequently, says Greg Freebury, who taught high school math before quitting and starting his own private tutoring company.

At least eight states have realized the strain cell phones have had in the classroom and on students and taken action to limit their use. However, despite new laws, teachers have found it a near impossible task to enforce a cell phone ban when young people are increasingly addicted.

AI might be teachers saving grace, but guidance may be coming too late

The rise of ChatGPT and other generative AI models has given teachers some signs of hope for their overworked school days. The technology has the ability to significantly free up teachers time by building lesson plans, grading papers, or explaining concepts to a struggling student. According to McKinsey, teachers could have 20%40% of their time reallocated to activities that support student learning thanks to AI.

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But schools and districts have been slow to provide clear guidance on how to best use it the right way and how students can use it in and outside of the classroom. A recent New Yorker magazine article went viral for highlighting an unspoken reality in higher education: everyone is cheating their way through college, thanks to generative AI. And as the technology becomes more mainstream and advanced, younger students may lean on it more and possibly miss out on the chance to build foundational analytical thinking and writing skills.

At the same time, there needs to be a balance, experts say. While having ChatGPT do students homework assignments is not productive to learning, using it properly can be a gamechanger for their future.

In the age of AI, we must prepare our children for the futureto be AI creators, not just consumers, over 250 CEOs wrote in a letter sent to lawmakers earlier this month. A basic foundation in computer science and AI is crucial for helping every student thrive in a technology-driven world. Without it, they risk falling behind.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11)  Police are searching for a driver who crashed into a 32-year-old woman, killing her in Brooklyn on Saturday, according to the NYPD.

Police said the driver of a maroon Chevy was making turning onto Marcus Garvey Boulevard around 11:55 p.m. when he hit the woman, who was standing in the road.

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The driver then fled the scene, leaving the woman in the street, according to authorities. Police said they crashed into two parked cars before getting out of the Chevy and running on foot.

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The woman was taken to a local hospital where she died, according to authorities.

Police said no arrests have been made. An investigation is ongoing, according to authorities.

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).

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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Tell Elaine Gorman to take a hike and shell likely respond with an enthusiastic Where to first?

Gorman is a former life science teacher. She retired in 2009 after 24 years at Mark Twain and Roosevelt junior high schools and has been an avid birder, naturalist and hiker since.

Recently, shes become an author. Published in the summer of 2024, Valley Ventures is a book of 20 hiking trails within two hours of the Modesto area, ranging from easy to moderately strenuous walks. Spots nearby include places in Ripon, La Grange and Waterford, and farther out youll find trails in Sunol, Round Valley in Brentwood and along the Cosumnes River in Galt.

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A compact guide, spiral-bound for ease of reference while on the trail, Gorman said her book is like having her hiking alongside you.

I like to include information about the indigenous people and early settlers here, she said. I also like to do the natural history. I talk a lot about birds and plants and wildflowers and trees and wildlife.

The book is separated into five sections that list trails by drive time from Modesto.

Here are a few trails Gorman suggests for hikers at any skill level. These are within around 30 minutes from Modesto.

Sunol Wilderness Regional Preserve.

Where can you find easy, scenic hiking trails near Modesto?

Ripon

Gorman offers a trek through Caswell Memorial State Park, where she said you will find one of the San Joaquin Valleys remaining stretches of ancient old-growth riparian forest.

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Gorman guides you along this three-mile trail, describing the types of birds to listen for and spot  like black Phoebe and turkey vultures.

She advises to look not only up but down, for a chance to see Chinook salmon, pond turtles and other native reptiles.

More than fauna, the flora is not to be missed. She highlights the wild California grape vines that hang down from towering oaks, cottonwoods and sycamores trees, sometimes covering the trees in great grape leaf veils.

My favorite tree in the world is in Caswell State Park, she said. It is a particular sycamore tree. I dont know if everybody has a favorite tree in the world, but I do.

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Caswell is one of her suggested easy hikes, ideal for a family outing.

Vernalis

Gorman said the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge is among her most visited areas. She describes it as what the San Joaquin Valley looked like in the 1800s before it was turned into farms, dairies and pasture land.

Gormans description in Valley Ventures takes readers through the four-mile Pelican Nature Trail, where one may spot the endangered riparian brush rabbit and the once-endangered cackling goose, which was restored to a healthy population because of conservation efforts like the refuge.

As hikers walk the trail, the guidebook details what they will see: the thick brush of wild tobacco, elderberry and coyote bush, as well as herons and egrets perched in oak trees along the river.

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Here, portions of the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and San Joaquin rivers converge at points in the refuges 7,300 acres.

I hike here at least once per season, Gorman said.

Waterford

For a journey along the Tuolumne River, Gorman writes about The City of Waterford River Trail. Its a unique trail that mixes modern additions like an exercise course and interpretive naturalist signs with some of the best bird sightings around. Theres also a harrowing 135-step staircase down to the bank of the river with stunning views of Half Dome and the Sierra  if visibility conditions are ideal.

Gorman said this is an easy two-mile excursion. Its four miles for those who make a round trip, but some people park at both ends of the park and hike from one to the other. Signs along the trail mark the mileage, making it an ideal beginner trail.

Elaine Gorman at Dry Creek Regional Park. She is the author of a new book called Valley Ventures which features 20 hikes within a few hours of Modesto.

Hiking, being out in nature, is beneficial for health, author says

Gorman said she got the idea to publish her guide after writing similar columns for California Explorer Magazine, Stanislaus Connections and the Motherlode Chapter Sierra Club Newsletter.

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She said she wanted to focus on hikes and trails that are less popular or well-known but full of wildlife and history. What really inspired her was her love of nature.

Its just about being outside and not being by a screen, Gorman said. Just being out in the real world and being out in nature, where theres greenery and life and the wind and the rain and birds. I think the health benefits of being out in nature have been documented.

Part of her motivation for writing Valley Ventures, she said, was to help people learn about what resources Central Valley residents have locally.

Usually, when you learn about something, you start to appreciate it and then you start to love it, Gorman said. And then you want to protect it and advocate for its preservation.

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Gorman said a good pair of hiking boots or shoes, water, food, appropriate clothing, a map or hiking app and a day pack with a first-aid kit are essential when embarking on a hike.

Taking along a friend or two is good, too, as well as binoculars, a camera for burgeoning birders and, as Gorman said, an adventurous spirit.

Valley Ventures is available at Bookish in Roseburg Square and retails for $14.

Dave Candey and Pam Griggs of Sacramento are bird-watching at Cosumnes River Preserve in Galt. The region attracts Pacific Flyway tourists to see birds winter habitat.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  A homicide investigation is underway after a man was shot and killed in Northwest D.C. early Sunday morning.

At around 5:45 a.m., officers responded to the 3300 block of Georgia Ave., in the Columbia Heights area, for the report of a shooting.

Man accidentally shoots himself during attempted armed robbery in Northwest DC

At the scene, they found a man who had been shot multiple times. Officers said he was unconscious and barely breathing when they arrived.

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He was later pronounced dead.

In an update Monday, police identified him as 26-year-old Benjamin Coleman of Northwest D.C.

As of Sunday morning, no arrests have been made; however, investigators said they were searching for a red infinity occupied by a male with a beard, wearing all black clothing in connection with the deadly shooting.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  Detectives have launched a homicide investigation in north Charlotte.

Around 8:30 on Saturday night, officers responded to the 4000 block of North Graham Street about an assault with a deadly weapon. When they arrived, they found one person with a gunshot wound.

The victim was taken to a local hospital, where they later died, officials said.

The victim was later identified as 46-year-old Deeaudrey Copeland.

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No word yet on any arrests made in this case.

Police have not released any additional details at this time.

This is a Developing Story . Check back for updates

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
COURTESY CRIMESTOPPERS Ikaika Reed and John Garside COURTESY CRIMESTOPPERS Ikaika Reed and John Garside Update 9 :45 p.m.

CrimeStoppers and the Honolulu Police Department reported that shooting suspect John Garside was located in the area of Vineyard Boulevard at 5 :24 p.m. today and arrested by officers in the Homicide and Strategic Enforcement Detail on suspicion of second-degree attempted murder and firearm offenses.

Previous coverage The Honolulu Police Department and CrimeStoppers are seeking the publics assistance in locating the suspects in two separate attempted murder cases that left two women with gunshot wounds.

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At about 2 a.m. Wednesday, a 30-year-old female victim was sitting in a vehicle with a 45-year-old man identified as Ikaika Reed when he allegedly shot her in the back, according to a CrimeStoppers notice released today. Witnesses transported the victim to Kahuku Hospital. Reed fled the scene on foot and remains at large.

Police said Reed should be considered armed and dangerous, and that he should not be approached. He is described as 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs approximately 190 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes. He has a full left-arm sleeve tattoo and also has the number 96792  tattooed on his belly, Reed  on his back and Westside  on his chest.

The second case was reported around 6 :30 a.m. Wednesday when a passerby observed a 23-year-old woman walking along Tantalus Drive, visibly bleeding. The victim was driven to the Queens Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound.

An HPD investigation revealed that the woman had accompanied a 54-year-old man identified as John Garside to the Tantalus area. While there, Garside demanded sex and when she refused, he allegedly shot her, police said. The woman fled in Garsides vehicle and hid along the mountainside until she was discovered by a passerby who rendered aid and transported her to the hospital. She is currently in stable condition.

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Garside remains at large and should be considered armed and dangerous. He is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs about 165 pounds, and has shaved black hair and brown eyes.

If either suspect is spotted, the public is advised to call 911 or notify CrimeStoppers at 808-955-8300 or submit anonymous tips online to or via the P3 Tips app. CrimeStoppers will pay a cash reward of up to $1, 000 for information leading to the arrest of a suspect.

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AIKEN, Sc (WJBF)  The streets were full of red, white and blue and those in uniform to remember the fallen who gave their life for our country.

Chairman of the Aiken County Veterans Council, Lowell Koppert, says this is a day to honor and remember those brave men and women.

Im a combat veteran, Im a green beret from the United States Army, so Memorial Day is a big deal to me. Ive lost 17 of my brothers over the years going in and out of combat zones. Its a day to stop and pause to take a moment to say thank you and to realize whats been given for this country, said Koppert.

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Two friends we spoke with have been attending the Aiken Memorial Day Parade for 10 years.

I just love that everybody is so friendly, patriotic, all the people here and just the fact that this town honors veterans and people that have died in wars, said Sonya McCook, Mebane, North Carolina resident.

Leslie Hull-Ryde, Aiken, South Carolina Resident said, Just remembers the service and sacrifice of our military and also the families because the families serve too.

Koppert says events like this wouldnt be possible without the community members always showing up to support the organizations in their town.

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It doesnt work without all of the people that are here making it happen. If the community doesnt support it, it doesnt work, its a special place and were proud to live here, weve got 20,000 veterans that call Aiken County home, Koppert said.

The parade was free for anyone of all ages to attend.

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JESSUP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  Hours before the running of the saints, another race tradition took place. A mass was held at the Saint Ubaldo Cultural Center in Jessup.

It honors Saint Ubaldo, who was a bishop of Gubbio, Italy.

He is credited with saving the town from an invasion by 12th-century emperor Frederick Barbarossa by pleading with the emperors army to spare the people he represented.

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Expect a cool, soggy Memorial Day weekend

We come here and have the mass, which is a very important part of the day because thats what all this is all about, as father said, the saints that are behind all of this and that we honor, Jessup resident Bonnie Urzen told 28/22 News.

Jessup and Gubbio are the only two communities in the world that hold a day dedicated to celebrating Saint Ubaldo.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to 28/22 News.
Key Points

New store openings, coupled with comparable sales growth, helped this business drive a double-digit revenue gain in Q1.

Management believes there is a tremendous expansion opportunity, which is supported by a franchisee operating model.

Investors looking to buy shares today must consider the valuation.

10 stocks we like better than Planet Fitness 

In the past 12 months, the S&P 500 index has generated a total return of 13% (as of May 21). This is a wonderful outcome, despite there being a ton of volatility in the past three months, thanks to uncertainty about trade policies and the overall economy.

But some businesses have fared much better. There's one growth stock that has handily outperformed the broader index, as it's up 61% in the past year. Continue reading to learn what this company is and whether or not it should be in your portfolio.

Image source: Getty Images.

Solid Q1 numbers

Investors should become familiar with Planet Fitness (NYSE: PLNT). The low-cost fitness center chain reported solid financial results for the three-month period that ended March 31 (Q1 2025). Revenue increased 11.5% to a total of $277 million. The top-line figure was driven by the opening of 19 net new locations, bringing the total to 2,741. Besides the U.S., Planet Fitness has a presence in Canada, Panama, Mexico, Australia, and Spain.

Further supporting the revenue gain was same-store sales (SSS) growth of 6.1%. This is a key performance metric for any retail-based business. It demonstrates increasing productivity from existing locations. To see a positive figure here is definitely an encouraging sign.

Planet Fitness' management team remains optimistic in the face of ongoing macro uncertainty. They expect SSS to rise between 5% and 6% in 2025, with revenue to increase by 10%. The plan is to open 160 to 170 new locations this year.

Large growth opportunity

Planet Fitness made headlines a year ago when it decided to increase the price of its basic membership option from $10, where it had stood for 26 years, to $15 per month. Even at the higher monthly rate, it's difficult to argue that the business doesn't offer customers a very compelling value proposition. This is demonstrated by Planet Fitness adding a notable 900,000 new members in Q1, now bringing the total to a whopping 20.6 million. This huge figure clearly highlights an incredible product-market fit.

There are fears about a potential economic downturn on the horizon in the not-too-distant future. The fact that Planet Fitness' cost is so low could help it minimize membership churn better than other more expensive rivals might deal with.
Project Summary:

This story is part of KXANs Preventing Disaster investigation, which initially published on May 15, 2024. The project follows a fatal car crash into an Austin hospitals emergency room earlier that year. Our team took a broader look at safety concerns with that crash and hundreds of others across the nation  including whether medical sites had security barriers  known as bollards  at their entrances. Experts say those could stop crashes from happening.

AUSTIN (KXAN)  A bill aimed at preventing future vehicle crashes at hospital emergency rooms in Texas will not pass this legislative session due, in large part, to an aggressive lobbying effort by the Texas Hospital Association against a proposed safety step, according to multiple sources.

Senate Bill 660, which was supported by the Texas Nurses Association, would have required crash-rated vertical barriers, called bollards, at hospitals across the state. It was sparked by a series of KXAN investigations following last years crash at St. Davids North Austin Medical Center that seriously injured five people and left the driver, who was intoxicated, dead.

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The bills author, Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, plans to re-file the bill during the next legislative session in 2027, his legislative director told KXAN.

Despite several last-minute changes made to address concerns from the THA  including an amendment to only require bollards at new hospitals in counties with a population of 1.2 million or more  the bill stalled in the House Public Health Committee. It received a hearing last Monday but failed to get a vote before the clock ran out and a key deadline on Saturday passed.

Last month, the Senate approved the measure 23-7.

The THA, which represents more than 85% of Texas acute-care hospitals and health care systems, had pushed back against the measure over concerns related to cost, autonomy and a belief that a bollard requirement unfairly targeted hospitals over other sites that could be prone to vehicle crashes.

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The THA called the proposal an unfunded mandate.

Surveillance video shows a vehicle crashing into the entrance of St. Davids North Austin Medical Center on Feb. 13, 2024. The driver was killed and five others injured. (Source: Austin Police)

WATCH: Bollards are put to the test at Texas A&M

This bill imposes a one-size-fits-all mandate on a single industry that does not, to our knowledge, pose a greater safety risk to the public than many other types of businesses, THA General Counsel Steve Wohleb testified before the House panel.

Since the deadly ER crash in Austin in February 2024, KXAN uncovered more than 400 crashes at a variety of medical-related sites across the country since 2014, resulting in more than 20 deaths, according to an analysis of TxDOT, police, EMS and media reports. There are no local, state or federal requirements for critical infrastructure, like hospitals, to have bollards. KXAN witnessed crash testing at Texas A&M Transportation Institute that revealed crash-rated versions of the devices can be effective at stopping the equivalent of a Dodge Ram pickup truck traveling at 20 miles per hour.

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EXPLORE: KXANs Preventing Disaster investigation uncovers hundreds of crashes

We shared those findings with local and state policymakers and visited more than two dozen Central Texas hospitals to see how many entrances lacked bollards (nine had partial coverage and seven had none at the time).

Despite their life-saving potential, a KXAN investigation found many Central Texas hospitals lack adequate bollard protection, Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, who sponsored the bill in the House, said at Mondays public hearing.

The bills demise comes nearly six months after the Austin City Council passed an ordinance to require crash-rated bollards at new local hospitals, urgent care clinics and standalone ERs. That safety step was initiated by former Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, who testified in front of a Senate and House panel in support of expanding that requirement to hospitals across the state.

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Bollards save lives and the legislation will ensure hospitals in our largest counties dont have to learn that lesson the hard way, Kelly told House lawmakers during her testimony. Disasters dont discriminate. But policy can determine whether or not were prepared.

In a statement to KXAN, Kelly said she is incredibly proud of Austins new bollard law and hopes it will serve as a model for proactive, common-sense public safety.

While Im disappointed that SB 660 did not make it out of the House Public Health Committee this session, I remain hopeful and encouraged, Kelly later told KXAN. Austin led the way by acting before tragedy struck again, and I firmly believe this ideas time will come at the statewide level. Protecting patients, emergency personnel, and hospital visitors should never be a partisan issue  its a matter of life safety.

KXAN has reached out to St. Davids HealthCare which opposed Austins ordinance  for comment. The hospital system said it does not have anything to add to this report. We also reached out to the THA, West, Rose and the chair of the Public Health Committee, Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, for comment. We did not immediately hear back and will update this report with any responses.

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I am grateful to Senator West and Representative Rose for championing this bill, Kelly added, and look forward to supporting its reintroduction next session.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
HONOLULU (KHON2)  The Honolulu Police Department has one attempted murder suspect in custody, while the other is still at large, with both accused in separate crimes.

In a post shared on social media, HPD identified one suspect as John Garside, 54. Police said Garside is accused of shooting a 23-year-old woman who denied his demands for sex. Police said the incident took place on May 21 in the Tantalus area.

Inmate convicted of kidnapping missing from OCCC

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Police also said the woman fled from Garside and was later found by a passerby who transported her to the hospital, where she is currently in stable condition.

Shortly after 6 p.m. on May 24 HPD confirmed on social media that Garside was arrested for Attempted Murder in the Second Degree and Firearm Offenses.

Honolulu police are searching for Ikaika Reed, 45, who is wanted in a separate shooting on the same day.

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Authorities said Reed shot a 30-year-old woman in the back while in a vehicle with her in the Kahuku area.

The victim was taken to the hospital while Reed allegedly fled on foot.

Reed is considered armed and dangerous. HPD urges anyone with information regarding their whereabouts to immediately call 911.

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Hundreds of people gathered in Dayton to protest against the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on Sunday.

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>>PHOTOS: Hundreds rally against NATO Parliamentary Assembly for second day

As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, the group held a peoples assembly for peace and justice to reject the NATO assembly in Dayton.

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The protest started at noon at Deeds Point Park. The rallygoers spent about an hour at the park, listening to multiple speakers share their concerns about the way the U.S. is run.

Attendees then marched from the park to St. Johns United Church of Christ on Third Street for what they call The Peoples Assembly.

News Center 7s Taylor Robertson spoke with rallygoers shortly after the assembly dismissed. Protesters said they ultimately want peace around the world, so it only made sense for them to protest peacefully.

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We are going to be having our own assembly right next to them, but our assembly is not going to be making plans for war and assembly, well be making plans for peace and justice, a rally speaker said.

A member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Olivia Rowland, said everyone who attended the protest and the NATO assembly ultimately wants the same thing. She said they want peace and justice for everyone, no matter where they live.

This is kind of a historic moment. NATO hasnt had their parliamentary assembly in the U.S. in a few decades. With the new Trump administration ramping up their attacks on the working class, and then for NATO to come here, I think its the perfect time for us to come out, Rowland said.

Video from the protest shows people holding signs that read Peace Cant Wait! Disband NATO, Build Schools Not Bombs! U.S./NATO Out Of Africa! and more.

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Organizers believe people from across the country, including New York City, Chicago, and Pittsburgh, came to Dayton to participate in the protest.

As previously reported by News Center 7, community members held multiple peaceful protests against the event on Saturday.

News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.

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His lawyers call him Y.A.P.A., a shielded name based on his initials, because they fear what might happen if hes sent back to Venezuela.

Hes a 34-year-old activist for humanitarian causes who drew the ire of the Maduro regime in Venezuela. In September of 2022, he crossed the U.S. southern border, was met by U.S. Border Control officers and asked for asylum.

While awaiting an asylum ruling, he obtained a work permit and held a job in food service at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, delivered takeout food and had other odd jobs. He reported to his scheduled hearings, all of them continued. He found a place to stay and had a girlfriend.

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All was going well until February, when he was picked up in Wilmington by Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officers for allegedly being part of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

He denies any connection to the gang and the government said in court documents that it cannot validate that he is a member. He is left with the difficult and perhaps impossible task of proving he is not.

He has been in Stewart Detention Center, an overcrowded private prison in Georgia, since February, with no immediate prospect of getting out. He has spent months fearing he might be deported without due process to CECOT, El Salvadors terrorism confinement center, or sent off to another country or returned to Venezuela.

This week, he had a small victory in his odyssey through the slanted system of immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. A federal district court judge in Georgia said Y.A.P.A. couldnt be sent to a foreign prison or returned to Venezuela without a chance to refute the governments allegations against him.

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Judge Clay Land said that the right to due process extends to all who face detention or removal by the federal government. This foundational principle is part of what has made, and will continue to make, America great, he said. Consistent with the rule of law, it is the courts job to make sure, without fear or favor, that we adhere to these principles.

Rebecca Cassler, an attorney at the American Immigration Council, which has taken up Y.A.P.A.s cause, said in a statement, This ruling affirms that our client, like every person in the United States, has a fundamental right to due process and a fair day in court.

The ruling blocks the Trump administrations claim that it can deport non-citizens without due process under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. The law allows for the removal of people deemed to be enemies during times of war or invasion. The administration says Tren de Aragua is an invading force connected to the Venezuelan government, although a U.S intelligence report said thats untrue.

Cassler said, Thanks to this ruling, for now there is one less person who has to live in fear of being whisked away to CECOT in the middle of the night and held there indefinitely on behalf of the United States.

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Still, a Venezuelan immigrant being plucked from the streets of Wilmington and imprisoned remains an unresolved injustice.

He was complying with everything the government asked him to do, said his immigration attorney, Keli Reynolds. He reported his address changes. He had a work authorization and then all of the sudden in February they started picking up Venezuelans and alleging out of nowhere they are members of Tren de Aragua. Its quite shocking.

Reynolds thinks ICE swept up Venezuelan immigrants under a blanket claim of membership in Tren de Aragua because Trump was unhappy with the pace of deportations. Now her client has to prove hes not what ICE says he is.

Its terrifying to have to prove a negative, she said. Its not like people from Tren de Aragua are going to come in and say, Hes not one of us. 

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Kaelyn Phillips, a U.S. citizen, met Y.A.P.A. last summer and became his partner. She has visited him at the Georgia detention center, where they were separated by a clear plastic barrier and spoke by phone. When he was denied bond to get out because of his alleged gang connection, Phillips said, It totally broke him. He went into shock and denial. He said, God will get me out of here. 

Phillips said Y.A.P.A. has two sisters and nephews living in Wilmington and no criminal record in Venezuela or the U.S.

The claims that he is a gang member, she said, are not charges, they are allegations, that the government has not provided evidence to support and he has had no opportunity to refute. She said he was lucky he was not among the group of Venezuelan immigrants sent to an El Salvador prison in March without due process and with no prospect of release.

We are a country of immigrants, she said. Why are we making war on immigrants?

Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@newsobserver.com
Illinois lawmakers passed two bills this week that aim to support mothers in the state.

One bill requires employers to give paid time off to employees who pump breastmilk at work. The second allows midwives to help with home births, which is the latest attempt by Illinois lawmakers to restore access to maternal health care in the states maternity care deserts.

House Bill 2688, sponsored by Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, would allow certified nurse midwives to enter a written agreement with a physician to provide or assist with home births. In designated maternity care deserts, they can enter into such an agreement even if the local physicians dont provide home births.

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The bill only applies to certified nurse midwives, who must be a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or APRN, and have at least a graduate degree in midwifery. It does not give the same privileges to certified midwives, who are required to have a graduate degree in midwifery.

In recent years, the number of home births across the nation has been steadily rising. The CDC reported that 51,642 home births took place across the country in 2021. That number was a 12% increase from the number of home births in 2020, which the CDC said was the largest increase since at least 1990.

The rise in home births in Illinois is often attributed to the rise in the states maternity care deserts, which are counties without a single hospital, birth center, or licensed health care professional who offers obstetric care.

According to a report from March of Dimes, a nonprofit focused on improving maternal health care across the U.S., about 34% of Illinois counties are labeled maternity care deserts. The nationwide average is about 32% of all U.S. counties.

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The CDC reported that nearly 35% of women living rural areas that are of reproductive age did not live within 30 minutes of a birthing hospital in 2023.

March of Dimes reported that women living in counties with the highest travel times to a birthing hospital had to travel anywhere between 47 and 59 miles. They also found that women living in maternity care deserts had to travel a little more than 5 times as far as women living in areas of the state with adequate access to maternity care.

This bill addresses the maternity care deserts that exist in our state to give certified nurse midwives the ability to collaborate with other nurse midwives and APRNs to provide such care, Moeller said during a House committee hearing on the bill in March.

Illinois recent history around the legality of midwives also played a role in the recent increase of maternity care deserts in the state. Although midwives have been used and recognized as health care professionals for centuries, when hospitals began to be recognized as the safest health care settings in the late 1900s, many states stopped licensing midwives and even outlawed the practice altogether.

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In Illinois, state officials stopped licensing midwives in the mid-1960s and outlawed the practice in 1992  making the act a felony with punishments of fines up to $10,000 or three years in prison  according to NPR Illinois.

A law passed in 2021 reversed that decision, making midwifery in the state legal and again allowing for midwives to be legally licensed.

HB 2688 also allows nurse midwives, if they are APRNs, to provide birth services in a licensed birth center without a written agreement if the director of the birth center allows them to. Under the bill, physicians will not be liable for the acts or omissions of nurse midwives solely because of the agreement, unless the physician has reason to believe the midwife was unprepared to perform the services or committed willful and wanton conduct.

The bill passed the Senate on Thursday with a vote of 57-1, with only Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, voting no. It now awaits approval from the governor to become law.

Paid time off to pump breast milk

Senate Bill 212 mandates employers to compensate mothers who take breaks at work to pump breast milk for up to a year after their child is born. The bill prohibits employers from requiring employees to use paid leave time for pumping.

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I believe many employers are already doing the right thing, and, you know, we just need to compel a few of them to make sure they are also supporting mothers and babies, Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, said on the House floor Wednesday.

During a news conference in February, bill sponsor Sen. Laura Fine, D-Glenview, said she would have benefitted from the bill when she had children.

I know for me, we did not have the generosity of these rules and regulations to allow me to take that break to take care of my child, Fine said. So, it would be hiding in a bathroom, getting away when you possibly could and actually having to stop breastfeeding early when it couldnt work out.

The bill passed the House Wednesday on a bipartisan vote of 82-27. It now only needs approval from the governor to become law.
Opponents of a new law that targets undocumented immigrants who enter Florida argued Thursday that state Attorney General James Uthmeier should be held in contempt of court because of a letter he sent to police after a judge blocked the law.

Lawyers for the opponents, who are challenging the law in federal court, argued in a 26-page filing that Uthmeiers conduct surrounding an April 23 letter was quintessential contempt of court. They accused Uthmeier of signaling to police officers that they could make arrests under the law after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams had issued a temporary restraining order to block enforcement.

It is simply not acceptable that, notwithstanding this courts order and his ethical duties, the attorney general encouraged arrests that he fully understood were specifically prohibited, the lawyers for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida and two individual plaintiffs wrote.

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The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit April 2 in Miami challenging the constitutionality of the law, which the Legislature passed during a February special session. The law created state crimes for undocumented immigrants who enter or re-enter Florida.

Williams on April 4 issued a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of the law and extended the restraining order on April 18. Ultimately, she issued a longer-lasting preliminary injunction on April 29, saying the law was likely unconstitutional.

In the April 29 ruling, Williams also ordered Uthmeier to show cause why he should not be held in contempt or sanctioned because of an April 23 letter he sent. She cited arrests that continued after the temporary restraining order and quoted from Uthmeiers letter, which she said included an effort to counsel law enforcement that they were not restrained from enforcing the law.

Uthmeiers lawyers, in a May 12 response, said he complied with the temporary restraining order by not enforcing the law (SB 4-C) and notifying law-enforcement agencies about the temporary restraining order. It said Uthmeier was free to express his disagreement with Williams decision in the letter.

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The attorney general has consistently abided by the courts order to cease enforcing (the law), Uthmeiers lawyers wrote. Nowhere does the TRO (expressly or impliedly) require the attorney general to refrain from sharing his views about the order with law enforcement.

But in the filing Thursday, lawyers for the plaintiffs said Uthmeier went beyond expressing his views about the temporary restraining order. They said the April 23 letter came after an April 18 notice that Uthmeier sent to police indicating the temporary restraining order prevented them from enforcing the law. Williams had ordered the April 18 notice.

Considered objectively and in the context of the earlier (April 18) letter, the attorney generals second letter plainly undermined the notice he was directed to provide, and invited arrests which he knew would be violations of this courts order, the plaintiffs lawyers argued. That is quintessential contempt of court.

In ordering Uthmeier to show cause about why he should not be held in contempt, Williams wrote that Uthmeier sent the April 18 letter notifying law-enforcement agencies to refrain from enforcing the law but then sent the April 23 letter reversing his prior directive.

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It said, I cannot prevent you from enforcing (the law), where there remains no judicial order that properly restrains you from doing so, Williams wrote. Aside from the clear misstatement that there is no judicial order that restrains law enforcement from arresting individuals pursuant to S.B. 4-C, AG Uthmeiers assessment that the order does not properly restrain them demonstrates his active effort to counsel law enforcement.

But in the May 12 response to the show cause order, Uthmeiers lawyers said Williams reading of the April 23 letter relies on one portion of one sentence, rather than reading (the) letter as a whole and in the context of what preceded it: the April 18 letter and a legal brief that also was filed April 23.

In the April 23 letter, the attorney general expressly reiterated the courts conclusion that the TRO bound the letters recipients, Uthmeiers lawyers wrote. He explained  as he had in the April 18 letter  that he believed the courts conclusion as to permissible scope of the TRO was wrong, and he noted that the April 18 letter had promised his office would be arguing as much in short order.

The plaintiffs have alleged the law violates what is known as the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution because immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. In issuing the April 29 preliminary injunction, Williams said the law likely was preempted by federal immigration authority.

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Uthmeiers office has appealed the preliminary injunction to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition to disputing that the law is preempted by federal immigration authority, Uthmeier has contended that law-enforcement officers are not defendants in the lawsuit  which was filed against Uthmeier and local state attorneys  and, as result, should not be bound by orders about enforcement.

Williams has scheduled a hearing next Thursday on the contempt issue.

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT)  If you have outdoor plans this Memorial Day Weekend, make sure you are staying weather-aware as storms will be possible during the afternoon and evening hours.

The Weather Authority has issued an Impact Day for Sunday from 12 pm until 7 pm due to the threat of strong to severe storms. This storm threat will be associated with a mesoscale convective system, or MCS, that will track southeast into the area from Arkansas.

The Storm Prediction Center has highlighted the area under a Slight Risk (level 2 out of 5) for the development of strong to severe storms.

Sunday morning will start off dry, with some sun and clouds. Storms will arrive around or shortly after lunchtime on Sunday.

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LOOKING FOR THE EXTENDED FORECAST? Click here to learn how to download the Live Alert 19 app

The MCS will begin to enter NW Alabama around midday and then push southeast through the Tennessee Valley. Embedded in the cluster of storms, there will be a chance for isolated strong to severe storms. That storm threat will continue through the early evening hours.

The MCS will form in Arkansas and then move into the Tennessee Valley. An MCS is a complex of storms on a larger scale that can travel for miles. The formation can be linear or round. The system that will move through the area Sunday will be round in formation as it tracks into NW Alabama before breaking down into a line segment.

Storms that can develop on Sunday will be able to produce damaging winds over 50 mph, small hail, frequent lightning, and heavy rainfall.

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If you have outdoor plans, you must have multiple ways to receive weather alerts and be weather-aware. Stick with The Weather Authority for the latest on Sundays storm threat.

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(FOX40.COM)  An incarcerated person walked away from Growlersburg Conservation Camp in El Dorado County on Friday and was arrested on Saturday morning.

 Video above: How to report a public safety threat

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, at around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, Dion Harvey was found missing from his bunk during a camp count, which resulted in a search of the fire camp buildings and grounds being immediately conducted.

Arrest made in connection of 2023 nightclub shooting in South Sacramento

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CDCR stated that its Office of Correctional Safety and local law enforcement agencies were notified and assisted in the search. On Saturday, at around 5:45 a.m., officials took Harvey into custody without incident near the campgrounds.

Harvey was transported to Sierra Conservation Center, and his case will be referred to the El Dorado County District Attorney for consideration of escape charges, CDCR said. He was recently received from San Bernardino County on April 10, 2023, after being sentenced to 12 years for second-degree robbery with an enhancement for use of a firearm.

Since 1977, 99 percent of all people who have left an adult institution, camp, or in-state contract bed or Community Rehabilitative Program Placement have been apprehended, CDCR said.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News.
This article was originally published in Chalkbeat.

As new graduation requirements go into effect in Indiana, more students will likely take college and career courses to prepare for life after high school. But making sure students can access these classes  and succeed in them  takes some patience and creativity.

When Sheridan High School teacher Jill Cali noticed her students struggling with the longer deadlines and open-ended questions typical of college assignments, she began to teach them how to break tasks into more manageable steps. Soon, her students were reaping the benefits.

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Other roadblocks to students success in college courses, especially in rural communities like Sheridan, a town of 3,000 people in northwest Hamilton County, include accessing these credits and paying for them.

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Cali said being part of the Rural Early College Network, sponsored by the Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning at the University of Indianapolis, allows her students to earn college credits for free. The network also serves as a source of support, allowing her to exchange ideas with teachers at other schools.

The struggles that students typically have in early college courses are some of the same things that prevent many students from being confident that they will find success in college, Cali told Chalkbeat. When students believe they dont have the ability to be successful in completing college-level work, their first instinct is to shy away from it.

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Read on to learn more about how Cali approaches her early college classes.

This interview has been lightly edited for length.

How and when did you decide to become a teacher?

I decided to become a teacher during my sophomore year of college when I realized that I was not meant to be an accountant! I had always loved working with kids and had a natural talent in Spanish, so becoming a [Spanish] teacher seemed like a good fit. The longer I teach, the more sure I am that this was the right path for me. I was made to be a teacher.

What was the process like to become a dual-credit instructor?

Our superintendent suggested I pursue a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction so I would be able to teach the dual-credit Education Professions courses. During our conversation, he convinced me that the degree program would be flexible enough to work with my busy single parenting and teaching schedule and that I would see the return on my investment very quickly. He was right.

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The following week, at the age of 42, I enrolled in a program to complete my masters degree online, working at my own pace. I finished in six months, after working tirelessly to make sure that I only had to pay for one term.

In order to be approved as a dual-credit instructor, I had to coordinate with my high schools higher education partner, Ivy Tech Community College. This involved submitting my [college and grad school] transcripts, along with a proposed syllabus for each of the courses I planned to teach. The process was honestly pretty quick and painless.

Whats your favorite lesson to teach and why?

In my Principles of Teaching class, the introduction to teaching course, I teach about differentiation and making accommodations for students with special needs. My very favorite lesson to teach is the one in which I give students various tasks, but each has a different limitation. Their reactions, creative thinking, and aha moments are the reason it is my favorite lesson. During that lesson, my students realize that some of the most basic tasks can be entirely impossible with just one small limitation. Their internalization of how frustrating learning can be for some of our students really helps us to move forward with the unit of study in a productive manner.

Tell us about your own experience with school and how it affects your work today.

Throughout my childhood and into adulthood, I was a student who strived for excellence in every subject. Realizing that I finally understood a concept I had been trying to grasp or persevering through a tough problem to find an answer always gave me immense satisfaction. I loved the light bulb moments as a student, but I enjoy them even more now that I am the teacher. A natural lifelong learner myself, it has always been my goal to inspire my students to be inquisitive and curious investigators of anything that interests them.

How is your early college classroom different from a standard high school classroom?

At a glance, my classroom looks a bit more like a college classroom than many high school classrooms. I was fortunate enough to be able to use grant money to furnish the room with flexible seating options. What you cant see is that my early college students work with elementary students, getting experience in the field. The flexible seating allows them to move seamlessly between working independently and cooperating and creating with their peers.

How do you help students adjust to those expectations?

Students in early college learn that when something feels overwhelming or difficult, they have the tools to tackle it on their own. This doesnt mean that they cant ask for help or guidance. It means that before asking for help, students should make sure they have exhausted all options for figuring it out on their own.

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I send a letter to each student and one home to their caregivers prior to the start of school in the fall, explaining what dual-credit means and what the expectations will look like in my early college class. This ensures that there is no confusion about what will be expected of early college students and also opens the lines of communication with students and families.

Having taught these courses for a few years, Ive found that students struggle with a course that has larger assignments and more time between deadlines. The first thing I do to support them in addressing this is to show them how they can break larger assignments and projects into smaller tasks on their own. Many students are used to having teachers do this for them. I show them how they can establish their own, smaller deadlines based on what they know about their personal schedule, how fast they tend to work, and the support they think they might need.

Students also find it challenging to write nearly everything for their dual-credit courses using a formal tone with proper grammar and spelling. In addition, students tend to have trouble answering multi-part questions  particularly when they are higher-level thinking questions. I spend a full class period  more, if needed  showing them and having them practice how to appropriately respond to the types of writing prompts and questions they will typically see in their early college courses.

Another area where students tend to struggle is with attendance and deadlines. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools insisted that students be shown grace in both of those areas. Unfortunately, this instilled in them the idea that as long as they completed all graded assignments, it didnt matter whether they participated in class or how late assignments were submitted. Though their learning is always my primary focus, much of what my students learn builds on itself. In addition, much of the learning takes place through class discussions.

What are some barriers your students face to postsecondary opportunities, and how does the Rural Early College Network help you help them overcome those?

The greatest barrier to postsecondary opportunities for students in my school is the financial barrier. The dual-credit courses we offer are all free to our students, so when they successfully complete those courses, the number of semesters that will be required for them to complete their degree can be reduced. This translates to money saved for the student and makes their postsecondary options more affordable and attainable.

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Rural Early College Network schools meet throughout the school year to share ideas and support each other in building programs that provide our students with the tools they need to be successful in our classrooms, in college, and beyond.

Whats the best advice youve ever received, and how have you put it into practice?

The best advice I have ever received with regard to teaching is, Student behavior and choices are almost never personal attacks against the teacher. It was the great reminder that my teenage students brains are not fully developed. When they make poor choices or when they act out, it nearly never has anything to do with how they feel about me or anything even relating to me. Letting that go and remembering to see their behaviors as something completely separate from me has really made it much easier to create consequences when appropriate, support my students when needed, and establish a welcoming environment in which every student starts fresh every day.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.
U.S. President Donald Trump approved the merger of United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) and Nippon Steel on May 23, following the blocking of the Japanese steelmaker's prior attempt to purchase its U.S. rival on national security grounds.

Back in January, former President Joe Biden cited national security concerns to prevent Nippon Steel from paying $14.9 billion to acquire U.S. Steel, stating that the acquisition would raise concerns for vital U.S. supply chains. However, in April, Donald Trump directed the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to determine "whether further action in this matter may be appropriate" and ordered a new review of the proposed acquisition.

President Trump Endorses Nippon-U.S. Steel Merger, Promises Economic Boost

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, the President gave his remarks regarding the merger:

This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy.

The President stated that the majority of the investment will occur over the next 14 months and that U.S. Steel's headquarters will continue to be located in Pittsburgh. Donald Trump's post on Truth Social caused shares of U.S. Steel to jump 21% after investors interpreted it as indicating that Nippon Steel had obtained his approval for its long-planned takeover.

While we acknowledge the potential of X to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than X and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

Read More: 10 Defensive Stocks Billionaire Ken Fisher Is Betting On and 10 Best Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Steve Cohen.

Disclosure: None.
Israels former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he now believes his countrys relentless assault on the Palestinian people amounts to war crimes and must be stopped.

Addressing the people of Israel in an article written in Hebrew and published by Haaretz on Thursday, Olmert, who served from 2006 to 2009, condemned current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for waging a pointless war, without a clear goal or plan, and with no chance of success, according to Googles translation of the piece.

While Olmert wrote that he had previously defended his country against accusations of genocide and war crimes, the Israeli politician said he can no longer see the widespread slaughter of civilians, including women, children and the elderly, or the campaign to starve Gaza as mere collateral damage in a brutal war.

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What we are doing in Gaza is a war of extermination: indiscriminate, unrestrained, brutal, and criminal killing of civilians, he said.

We are doing this not because of an accidental loss of control in a particular sector, not because of a disproportionate outburst of fighters in some unit  but as a result of a policy dictated by the government, knowingly, intentionally, viciously, maliciously, recklessly, Olmerts op-ed continued. Yes, we are committing war crimes.

Last week, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, seen here at a March 2023 demonstration in Tel Aviv, wrote an op-ed condemning his country for committing "war crimes" in Gaza. JACK GUEZ via Getty Images

Olmert also wrote that the current administration can no longer dismiss criticism of the military onslaught or the monthslong blockade of food and medical supplies as antisemitism, as Netanyahu once again did last week.

When French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a joint statement calling for Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza and immediately allow humanitarian aid into the region, Netanyahu accused the trio of emboldening Hamas and its aims to annihilate the Jewish people.

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When mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers thank you, youre on the wrong side of justice, he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Describing such deflections from Netanyahu and his gang of criminals as disingenuous, Olmert wrote, The Netanyahu governments chorus of thugs and the poison machine it operates will immediately leap up with characteristic shrieks of rapprochement: The gentiles are anti-Semites. They hate us. They have always been against us. They support terrorism  and we fight terrorism.

The truth is, these governments are not anti-Israel, they are anti-the Israeli government, he said.

People commute Sunday along Gaza's al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory. NurPhoto via Getty Images

At the end of his piece, Olmert warned that Israel must heed these warnings before we are all ostracized from the family of nations and summoned to the International Criminal Court for war crimes, and a good defense wont stand a chance against us.

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After blocking food and medical aid from coming into Gaza for two-and-a-half months, Israel began allowing a limited amount of supplies into the region last week.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the level of aid was still woefully insufficient and condemned Israels military offensive for intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction.

According to May numbers from the Gaza Health Ministry, 52,615 people have been killed since conflict in the region ignited after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas 19 months ago that killed more than 1,200 Israelis.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A woman from Maryland was rescued early Saturday night from the Eternal Flame Trail at Chestnut Ridge Park, the Erie County Sheriffs Office announced.

Officials said at 6:15 p.m., the countys SWAT and response team assisted the 61-year-old woman, who fell and injured her hip. She was extracted from the trail and transported to ECMC for further evaluation and treatment.

Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said the countys SWAT and response team has responded to a total of 19 first aid and rescue calls at Chestnut Ridge over the past 12 months.

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Another injured hiker was rescued in March and had to be transported to ECMC by Mercy Flight to be treated for a broken pelvis and femur.

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A man allegedly attempted to open the cabin door on All Nippon Airways flight NH0114 from Tokyo to Houston on Saturday, May 24, according to multiple news reports

The flight diverted to Seattle, where a second man began acting "unruly" while the plane was still on the tarmac

"The safety our passengers and crew are our top priority," All Nippon Airways said in a statement, NBC affiliate KPRC reported









A man had to be restrained by other passengers and crew on board a Houston-bound flight after allegedly trying to open an exit door mid-air, according to news reports.

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All Nippon Airways flight NH0114 from Tokyo was initially scheduled to arrive at Houstons Bush Intercontinental Airport at 8:25 a.m. local time on Saturday, May 24, NBC affiliate KPRC first reported.

However, when there were around four hours left in the journey, the plane had to be diverted to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport due to an onboard incident.

Airport officials said police were called about a man having allegedly attempted to open an emergency exit door during the flight, a representative for Port Seattle confirms to PEOPLE.

Two military veterans who were on board assisted the crew in restraining the man, according to local station KRIV.

Once the plane landed, it was determined the man was having a medical crisis and he was taken to a nearby hospital, Port Seattle confirmed. No further details on the passenger or his condition have been released.

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Ashley, a passenger who was sitting in front of the man, told KRIV that she initially wasnt suspicious of him.

"He actually got up from his seat and crawled over the people next to him," Ashley said, according to the outlet. "He got up in a hurry, and I just assumed he was sick."

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Getty Airplane exit (stock image) Airplane exit (stock image)

But after allegedly attempting to open the emergency exit, the man was zip-tied to his seat, Ashley said. He sat restrained behind her for more than an hour before the fight landed in Seattle.

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"It was incredible," Ashley said, according to KRIV. "I do want to say thank you to those kind citizens who stood up and took control. I wouldn't know what to do."

The flight landed safely at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport around 4:19 a.m. local time. Then a second passenger became disorderly for an undisclosed reason and had to be escorted off by officials, Port Seattle stated.

The flight eventually made it to Houston around midday, according to FlightAware.

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty ANA All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in 2022 ANA All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in 2022

Today, All Nippon Airways flight NH114 departing Tokyo Haneda Airport for Houston Intercontinental Airport was diverted in-flight to Seattle due to an unruly passenger, All Nippon Airways said in a statement, per KPRC. While on the tarmac in Seattle, a second passenger became unruly. Both were removed from the flight by the Port of Seattle Police. The flight to Houston continued without incident.

The airline added: The safety our passengers and crew are our top priority and we applaud the efforts of local law enforcement for their support.



Read the original article on People
A flight was diverted to Seattle after a passenger allegedly attempted to open exit doors midflight, according to Port of Seattle Police.

The All Nippon Airways flight was traveling from Japans Haneda Airport in Tokyo to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Saturday when a passenger became unruly, according to the airline, which did not provide any details. Online records show that Flight 114 departed from Tokyo at around 10:33 a.m. local time.

The flight was diverted to Seattle as a result, and landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at around 4:19 a.m. PT, police said. The Federal Aviation Administration said the flight was diverted due to a passenger disturbance, but did not provide any additional details. The flight was almost 10 hours into its journey when it landed in Seattle, according to FlightAware.com.

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Port of Seattle Police were called due to reports of a passenger who attempted to open exit doors during the flight, police said. The report stated that passengers and flight crew had restrained the individual.

The person, who was not identified, was evaluated and it was determined they were having a medical crisis, police said. They were later taken to a local hospital.

A second person was also removed from the flight for unruly behavior while on the tarmac before the plane departed from Seattle to Houston, according to police and All Nippon Airways. Officials did not clarify what the individual did that was unruly, but said that it was not related to the passenger who had a medical crisis.

The second person, who was also not identified, was removed from the flight and it continued to Houston without incident, according to the airline. The flight left Seattle at around 7 a.m. PT and landed in Houston at 12:42 p.m. CT, according to FlightAware.com.

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The safety of our passengers and crew are our top priority and we applaud the efforts of local law enforcement for their support, the airline said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Israeli military is stepping up its activities in the embattled Gaza Strip, a leading commander said on Sunday, as dozens of Palestinians were reportedly killed in fresh attacks.

"We are intensifying our activity in accordance with the established plan," said Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir.

"Hamas is under immense pressure. It has lost most of its assets and its command and control," Zamir said during a visit to troops in the city of Khan Younis in the south of the coastal territory.

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"We will deploy every tool at our disposal to bring the hostages home, dismantle Hamas, and dismantle its rule," he asserted.

"This is not an endless war. We aim to end it by achieving its objectives," he added. "We're aiming for the decisive defeat of Hamas, and we will achieve it with determination, precision, and while ensuring the safety of our troops."

Israeli media previously reported that the military has moved all its regular infantry and tank brigades into the Gaza Strip. The armed forces are currently deployed in various areas of the embattled coastal region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced plans to capture the entire Gaza Strip.

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Israel's actions in the coastal area, where around two million Palestinians live, have been met with massive international criticism.

There is also growing criticism among the Israeli population, with opinion polls indicating that many are in favour of ending the war in Gaza.

The armed forces launched a new major offensive in Gaza about a week ago. Dozens of deaths have since been reported daily in the Gaza Strip.

In the latest attacks, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said at least 38 people were killed in the past day.

A further 204 people were injured during the past 24 hours, the authority said on Sunday.

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The figures do not include victims registered in hospitals in northern Gaza as access to the area is currently too difficult, the ministry added.

Since the start of the Gaza war, following the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, more than 53,900 people have been killed in the territory, according to Palestinian sources.

More than 122,700 people have been injured.

Relatives of Palestinians who lost their lives mourn after the Israeli army bombed several homes in Gaza, The bodies of Palestinians who lost their lives in the attack are transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Hadi Daoud/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The Israeli army said on Sunday that it planned to capture 75 per cent of Gaza and push Palestinian civilians into three designated zones.

Though Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has repeatedly said he wants to control the whole of the Gaza Strip, the armys announcement on Sunday offers the first details of a plan to boost its control from 40 per cent currently.

The army estimates it will take about two months to create three zones for civilians in Gaza; one in the Mawasi area along the southern coast; a second in Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat in central Gaza; and a third in and around Gaza City in the north.

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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say that about a million people reside in Gaza City, 700,000 in the Mawasi area and 300,000-350,000 in central Gaza.

The focus will also shift from trying to kill Hamas fighters to capturing their territory and destroying their infrastructure.

Though the move suggests a possible reduction in violence, the forcible displacement of civilians into designated spaces is unlikely to help repair relations with Israels allies, who in recent weeks have issued scathing criticism of its offensive.

The IDF said they have killed about 800 Hamas members since they launched an offensive against the terror group in early March.

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An Israeli official told The Telegraph earlier this year that some 20,000 terrorists had been killed between Oct 7 and the ceasefire in January this year.

Around 25 per cent of the estimated 600 miles of tunnels in Gaza have been destroyed by the army since Oct 7, most of which, the army claims, were being used for offensive means and weapons manufacturing.

Many of the remaining tunnels are used by Hamas to move around Gaza, the army says.

On Sunday, IDF chief Eyal Zamir visited Khan Younis in southern Gaza, promising that the war wouldnt be endless.

An Israeli tank near the southern Israeli border with Gaza on May 20 - Xinhua/Shutterstock

You dismantled the Rafah Brigade  and now is the time to dismantle the Khan Yunis Brigade, Mr Zamir told Israeli soldiers.

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Hamas is under immense pressure  it has lost most of its assets and its command and control. This is not an endless war  we aim to end it by achieving its objectives. Were aiming for the decisive defeat of Hamas, he added.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by Israel and the US, is expected to begin operating in southern Gaza on Monday, where Israel is building three Hamas free distribution zones.

A fourth distribution site will be located in the Netzarim Corridor area of central Gaza. Israel estimates that each site will be able to serve 300,000 Palestinians each week, with a representative of a Palestinian family collecting a food supply for five days from the GHF.

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The number of famous Wall Street analysts and economic experts warning about recession has surged dramatically in recent weeks. Much of this concern stems from weakening consumer sentiment and a slowing economy. The US GDP fell 0.3% year over year in the March quarter, marking the first quarterly decline since 2022.

Robert Kiyosaki, investor and author of the best-selling book "Rich Dad Poor Dad," said last month that the US may be heading toward a "greater depression" as the economy continues to worsen. Kiyosaki wrote on X that he had predicted this "chaos" and he is "sad" that the financial crisis he predicted is "here."

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"In 2025 credit card debt is at all-time highs," Kiyosaki said. "US debt is at all-time highs. Unemployment is rising. 401 k's are losing. Pensions are being stolen."

However, Kiyosaki pointed to a silver lining, telling his followers there's an opportunity to emerge from the crisis as a "very rich" person.

It's Not Too Late'

Kiyosaki urged his followers to pile into bitcoin, gold and silver if they want to get rich despite the incoming "financial disaster."

"For those who take action today, when the crash crashes, those who invest in just one Bitcoin, or some gold, or silver," he said. "You may come through this crisis a very rich person. It's not too late, if you take action. But if you wait, it may be too late, after the giant crash."

Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing  this is your last chance to become an investor for $0.80 per share.

Kiyosaki said he was reiterating his call to invest in precious metals and bitcoin, even as some on X criticized him for repeating the same advice.

The author, who has long questioned the belief that debt should be avoided, warned that those who delay or are fearful would be the "biggest losers."

"If a poor person bought a few ounces of gold or silver, or 1/2 of a Bitcoin, I predict they may become the new rich....once this Depression is over," according to Kiyosaki. "I strongly believe, by 2035, that one Bitcoin will be over $1 million dollars. Gold will be $30k and silver $3,000 a coin."
An Israeli air strike on a family home in southern Gaza killed nine siblings on Friday, leaving their 11-year-old brother as the only surviving child.

The children, aged 12 and under, were those of Dr Alaa al-Najjar, who was at work when she received the news, according to Ali al-Najjar, her brother-in-law.

After rushing back to her family home, she witnessed the charred bodies of four of her children being pulled out the rubble.

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They werent just burned, they were roasted. No face, no hands, no back, said Mr Najjar, who was also helping at the scene.

The tragedy comes as Israels relationship with its allies plunges to new lows since it began its war in Gaza.

France, the UK and Canada have in recent weeks issued their strongest condemnation yet for the brutality of Israels offensive, while Donald Trumps decision to avoid visiting Israel on a trip to the Middle East suggests he is also losing patience with the Israeli leader.

Fridays attack happened in Khan Younis minutes after Dr Hamdi al-Najjar, their father, returned from driving their mother to work at the citys Nasser Hospital, according to Ali al-Najjar, Hamdis brother.

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Dr Hamdi Najjar, also a doctor at the hospital, was critically wounded with a head injury.

Dr Alaa al-Najjar was treating patients at Nasser Hospital when she received the news that her home had been bombed - Hani Alshaer/Anadolu

Ahmad al-Farra, the head of the hospitals paediatrics department, said: It is unbelievable.

You cant imagine the shock that [Dr Najjar] had when she heard about that [attack]. But up until now, she is trying to be near her son and her husband to survive.

Adam, the surviving child, 11, underwent surgery for severe injuries including lacerations and his left arm that was nearly severed, said Graeme Groom, a British surgeon who operated on the boy.

His left arm was just about hanging off, he was covered in fragment injuries, Mr Groom said, adding that Adam was quite small for his age.

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Since both his parents are doctors, he seemed to be among the privileged group within Gaza, but as we lifted him onto the operating table, he felt much younger than 11.

Mr Groom said in an interview with the BBC: Our little boy could survive, but we dont know about his father.

Colleagues of the couple told media outlets that the family had no ties to Hamas.

Mr Groom said he had been told the father had no political and no military connections and doesnt seem to be prominent on social media.

Dr Hamdi Najjar was also seriously wounded and suffered what Mr Groom described as a penetrating injury to his head. Hospital officials said both the father and surviving son were injured but alive.

Rescue teams found eight bodies and several injured people after the air strike, says a spokesman for Gazas civil defence - Palestinian Civil Defence/Reuters

A spokesman for Gazas Hamas-run civil defence, said that rescue teams had found eight bodies and several injured people after a strike on the al-Najjar family home near a petrol station.

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A hospital first reported on Facebook that eight children were killed, then later said the number had risen to nine.

Dr Youssef Abu al-Rish, speaking for the Hamas-run health ministry, said he saw Dr Alaa Najjar in the operating room waiting for news about her surviving son and tried to comfort her.

Youssef al-Najjar, a relative to the family, said in an interview: Enough. Have mercy on us. We plead to all countries, the international community, the people, Hamas, and all factions to have mercy.

We are exhausted from displacement and hunger.

The Israel Defence Forces said its aircraft had struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure adjacent to IDF troops in the area of Khan Younis.

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The military added the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.

In a statement, the IDF said the Khan Younis area was a dangerous war zone and that it had evacuated civilians from the area before beginning operations for their safety.

Hamas described the air strike as a horrific massacre.

Francesca Albanese, the UNs special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, called the attack part of a distinguishable sadistic pattern of the new phase of the genocide.

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, warned that Gaza is facing what could be the cruellest phase of the war and criticised Israels restrictions on aid.

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However, the head of Israels army visited Khan Younis on Sunday, promising that the war would not be endless.

We aim to end it by achieving its objectives. Were aiming for the decisive defeat of Hamas, said Eyal Zamir.

Hamas is under immense pressure  it has lost most of its assets and its command and control.

Israel had blocked food, fuel, medicine and other supplies from entering Gaza for nearly three months, worsening the humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians.

The country partially lifted the blockade last week, with 83 trucks carrying flour, food, medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs entering Gaza on Friday.

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However, the UN has repeatedly said the amount of aid delivered into Gaza has been insufficient, calling for 500 to 600 trucks daily compared to current levels.

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The Israeli military is stepping up its activities in the embattled Gaza Strip, a leading commander said on Sunday.

"We are intensifying our activity in accordance with the established plan," said Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir.

"Hamas is under immense pressure. It has lost most of its assets and its command and control," Zamir said during a visit to troops in the city of Khan Younis in the south of the coastal territory.

Advertisement Advertisement

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"We will deploy every tool at our disposal to bring the hostages home, dismantle Hamas, and dismantle its rule," he asserted.

"This is not an endless war. We aim to end it by achieving its objectives," he added. "We're aiming for the decisive defeat of Hamas, and we will achieve it with determination, precision, and while ensuring the safety of our troops."

Israeli media previously reported that the military has moved all its regular infantry and tank brigades into the Gaza Strip. The armed forces are currently deployed in various areas of the embattled coastal region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced plans to capture the entire Gaza Strip. Israel's actions in the coastal area, where around two million Palestinians live, have been met with massive international criticism.

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The armed forces launched a new major offensive about a week ago. Dozens of deaths have since been reported daily in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, there is growing criticism among the Israeli population, with opinion polls indicating that many are in favour of ending the war in Gaza.
The Israeli military on Sunday said it intercepted a rocket fired from Yemen, as the Iran-backed Houthi militia claimed an attack.

The attack triggered alarm sirens in several areas of Israel, including Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and near the Dead Sea, the military said. There were initially no official reports of injuries or major damage.

The Houthi militia said it attacked the international airport in Tel Aviv with a hypersonic missile.

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"Millions" of people had to rush to shelters and operations at the airport came to a standstill, according to a Houthi military spokesman.

Alerts have been triggered in different parts of Israel in recent days due to rockets launched from Yemen.

Three weeks ago, one struck near the Tel Aviv airport for the first time, injuring several people.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis continue to position themselves as part of the broader resistance against Israeli military operations in Gaza.

The militia, which controls large parts of war-torn Yemen, has been firing missiles at Israel since the beginning of the latest Gaza war in what it says is a show of solidarity with the Palestinian extremist movement Hamas, another Iranian proxy group.

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The Houthis have also been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

After a ceasefire struck between Israel and Hamas collapsed in mid-March, the attacks increased.

Israel's air force responded with air strikes on militia targets in Yemen, including the port city of Hudaida.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has condemned Russia's latest missile and drone strike on Ukrainian cities and villages, which he pointed out was aimed solely at civilians.

Source: Tajani on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: "Italy firmly condemns Russias new attack on Ukrainian territory, carried out using unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles with the sole aim of targeting civilians," Tajani stated.

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He stressed that Rome will continue to stand by Ukraine in its struggle for freedom and sovereignty, adding that Italy has always supported Ukraine and that its government continues to work with Ukraines partners and allies to achieve a just and lasting peace.

Background:

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has called for "unbearable pressure" on Putin after the latest airstrike.

EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova said Russia is laughing at the world and mocking US attempts to broker peace.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the international community, particularly the US, to speak out and increase pressure on the Kremlin.

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Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulov, who in May 2024 escaped from Iran to Europe after receiving a jail sentence from the countrys authorities for making his drama The Seed of the Sacred Fig, has issued a strong statement underlining the significance of fellow dissident auteur Jafar Panahi scooping the Cannes Palme dOr on Saturday for his revenge drama It Was Just an Accident.

This victory is an unexpected and powerful blow to the machinery of repression in the Islamic Republic, Rasoulov, who lives in Germany, said in a joint statement made on Sunday with producers Kaveh Farnam and Farzad Pak of the Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFMA).

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We congratulate Jafar Panahi; his family, who have stood by him with patience and resilience over the years; and the cast and crew of this film, whothrough solidarity, trust, and courageresisted threats and pressure from security forces during its difficult and clandestine production, the statement added.

We are heartened to know that the film will soon be screened widely across the world, and we have no doubt that It Was Just an Accident will reach Iranian audiences before longoutside the official cinema networks, through the Internet, it continued.

Panahi, who was able to travel to Cannes to promote his surreptitiously shot film after being incarcerated twice for propaganda against the state and banned from leaving Iran for more than 14 years, made an impassioned plea after being given the Palme.

I believe this is the moment to call on all people, all Iranians, with all their differing opinions, wherever they are in the world  in Iran or abroad  to allow me to ask for one thing, Panahi said, speaking through an interpreter.

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Lets set aside all problems, all differences. Whats most important now is our country and the freedom of our country, he added. Let us join forces. No-one should dare tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do, or what we should not do Panahi continued while sharing the stage with the cast of his film, including several unveiled actresses.

It Was Just an Accident is about a group of former political prisoners who kidnap a man whom they believe to be their former interrogator and torturer. The film, which the director in an interview with Variety said was inspired by his experiences in an Iranian prison, has now given Panahi, who is 64, the rare distinction of having won the top prize at all three major European film festivals, after taking Berlins Golden Bear for Taxi in 2015 and the Golden Lion at Venice for The Circle in 2000. Panahi was not able to attend those festivals due to his ban which was lifted in April 2023.

Asked by French news agency AFP if he was worried about returning to Iran after winning the top film prize at Cannes for It Was Just an Accident, he replied: Not at all. Tomorrow we are leaving.

Meanwhile, as the dissident director heads back to Iran, Iranian media are largely ignoring Jafar Panahis momentous Cannes Palme dOr victory.

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Though Irans state news agency IRNA trumpeted Panahis award with a picture of him and the headline The worlds largest film festival made history for Iranian cinema, news that Panahi scooped the Palme did not appear on the websites of the nations top English-language news outlets, Tehran Times and Iran Daily on Sunday. Instead, the latter published an item announcing that The Last of the Whale Shark, a documentary by Iranian filmmaker Ramtin Balef, will be screening in competition at the upcoming Raindance Film Festival in London.

Below is the full statement from Mohammad Rasoulov, Kaveh Farnam and Farzad Pak:

The Palme dOr awarded to A Simple Accident marks the beginning of a new wave of success for a cinema that has emerged from the heart of prohibition and censorship.

This victory is an unexpected and powerful blow to the machinery of repression in the Islamic Republic.

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We congratulate Jafar Panahi; his family, who have stood by him with patience and resilience over the years; and the cast and crew of this film, whothrough solidarity, trust, and courageresisted threats and pressure from security forces during its difficult and clandestine production.

We are heartened to know that the film will soon be screened widely across the world, and we have no doubt that A Simple Accident will reach Iranian audiences before longoutside the official cinema networks, through the internet.

After years of perseverance, resistance, and creative struggle by generations of filmmakers, the decaying and collapsing system of censorship has been pushed back. Irans censorship-defying cinema is now more alive and deeply rooted than ever. We believe in the future of this cinema, and we are confident that many Iranian filmmakersespecially the younger generationare seeking new paths to create works that are free, humane, and liberating.

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TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Sunday said Tokyo aims to advance tariff talks with the United States, with the goal of achieving an outcome during the Group of Seven summit next month.

Japan's top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa held a third round of Japan-U.S. talks in Washington on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Kyoto, Ishiba said there has been progress in negotiations, pointing to discussions on trade expansion, non-tariff measures and economic security.

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"We will continue to further refine our discussions with the G7 summit in mind," he said.

Ishiba on Friday held a 45 minute phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss security, diplomacy and tariffs and said they exchanged hope for an in-person meeting at the G7 summit.

On Sunday, Ishiba expressed Japan's willingness to cooperate in shipbuilding. He said the U.S. has shown interest in the possibility of repairing U.S. warships in Japan and that Japan would like to assist.

He said Japan has an advantage in icebreakers, such as those used on Arctic trade routes, which could become an area of cooperation with the U.S.

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In Tokyo, Akazawa on Sunday said the schedule for the next Japan-U.S. talks is being arranged and that he hopes to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during his next visit to the U.S.

Speaking to reporters at Haneda Airport following his return from Washington, Akazawa said an agreement will be reached only when all elements are settled as a package, meaning that until everything is agreed upon, nothing is agreed upon.

"Therefore, I won't comment on how far we've progressed," he said.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi, Ritsuko Shimizu and Yoshifumi Takemoto; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
Joe Biden made his first public appearance since he announced that he has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer.

The former president said he was feeling great as he arrived at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut on Friday afternoon as he attended his grandsons high school graduation.

Former First Lady Jill Biden reposted a video from the scene on social media with the caption thank you for the warm welcome.

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He was filmed shaking hands and saluting people inside the terminal as a law enforcement officer escorted him through the airport.

Joe Biden was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer (AP)

Biden later appeared in photos posted on Instagram by the former first lady.

The couple appeared alongside other members of the Biden family at the high school graduation of the former presidents grandson Robert Hunter Biden II from the Salisbury School.

Proud Nana and Pop! Congratulations Hunter - we are so proud of you, the former first lady wrote to her grandson, whose father is the late Beau Biden and mother is Hallie Biden.

His brief response to questions to WTNH News 8 were his first public remarks since his office announced on May 18 that he had been diagnosed with cancer two days earlier.

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A spokesperson for Biden said the former president was diagnosed with prostate cancer characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.

While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management, the spokesperson added.

On Monday, the former president shared a message on social media thanking supporters.

Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places, the former president wrote. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.

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The announcement of his diagnosis and subsequent visit to Connecticut followed renewed scrutiny of his health during the final months in office.

According to the recently published book Original Sin by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios political reporter Alex Thompson, concerns over Bidens dwindling health among his inner circle dated back to his 2020 campaign.

The book describes an effort by senior staffers to hide the former presidents alleged cognitive decline, with one Democratic official quoted as saying that seeing him talk to voters over Zoom was like watching grandpa who shouldnt be driving.

Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden pose for a selfie photo after announcing his cancer diagnosis amid renewed scrutiny over his health during the 2024 campaign (Joe Biden via REUTERS)

Tapper received backlash following the books release, with critics highlighting his playing down of Bidens health concerns during his 2024 presidential campaign, which eventually forced to step down from.

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Bidens granddaughter, Naomi Biden, slammed the book as a bunch of unoriginal, uninspired lies written by irresponsible self promoting journalists out to make a quick buck.

The book relies on unnamed, anonymous sources pushing a self-serving false narrative that absolves them of any responsibility for our current national nightmare, she wrote on X.

Tapper later admitted feeling humility about his past coverage of Biden.

I think some of the criticism is fair, to be honest, he told CNN last week. Of me, certainly. Im not going to speak for anybody else, but knowing then what I know now, I look back at my coverage during the Biden years  and I did cover some of these issues, but not enough. I look back on it with humility.
In 2016, prominent conservatives warned fellow Republicans against backing Donald Trump in the GOP presidential primary. The billionaire real-estate mogul and reality TV star, Trumps conservative critics argued, was vain, vulgar, and mercurial; ignorant of public policy; and lacked commitment to conservative or any other principles. After Trump won his partys nomination, conservative Never Trumpers exhorted Republicans to vote in the general election for Democrat Hillary Clinton or a third-party candidate. To elect Trump, the Never Trumpers contended, would inflict long-term harm by legitimizing a rogue element within the conservative movement. Better to lance the boil early and suffer less pain later.

During his first term, President Trump did much to please the conservatives who voted for him. Notwithstanding the drumbeat of accusations that he would destroy freedom and democracy in America and an onrush of his own over-the-top pronouncements on social media, Trump cut taxes and reduced regulations. He appointed conservative judges. He cracked down on illegal immigration. Until COVID-19 struck the world in the final year of his term, he presided over a growing, low-unemployment economy. His administration reoriented U.S. foreign policy around the overarching challenge to American freedom, playing out on every continent, presented by the Chinese Communist Party. And Trump accomplished all this despite a two-year special-counsel investigation that did not find evidence to vindicate the charge that he colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election, and an impeachment and Senate trial for improperly withholding aid from Ukraine that ended in acquittal.

Trump then executed an astonishing political comeback - overcoming the Jan. 6 riots, a second impeachment, two civil lawsuits, four criminal indictments, and two assassination attempts - to win back the White House in 2024.

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The frenetic and tumultuous first four months of the second Trump administration have put the president and his teams still more at odds with traditional American conservatism. Whereas in 2017 he arrived in Washington accompanied by a small, largely inexperienced retinue, this time, no longer a political neophyte, he surrounded himself with an extensive network of officials, advisers, and assistants who share an overriding loyalty to the man and his agenda. Already, he has signed more than 150 executive orders that disrupt, scale back, or terminate long-established government programs. He has taken on the federal bureaucracy, illegal immigration, and elite universities. He has imposed, and then suspended or reduced, massive tariffs on Americas trading partners - friends and allies as well as China. He has scoffed at Americas promotion of freedom and democracy abroad while emphasizing the pursuit of peace and stability through commerce. And he has exploited social media not only to circumvent the press and communicate with the people directly but also to troll adversaries, including world-famous musicians.

The second Trump administration seems to have thrown caution to the wind. Does it still make sense to characterize as conservative the president, his administrations shock-and-awe tactics, and the "New Right" for whom the president can seemingly do little wrong?

In "Dont Call This Conservatism," a lengthy essay appearing mid-May in The Dispatch, Jonah Goldberg puts the matter starkly. "If being a principled defender of the constitutional order, limited government, free markets, traditional values, and an America-led world still makes you a conservative, are you still on the right when the loudest voices on the right reject most or all of those positions?"

A prominent conservative voice for more than 20 years, the former National Review senior editor is editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Dispatch as well as the bestselling author of "Liberal Fascism" among other books, an AEI senior fellow, a Los Angeles Times columnist, and host of "The Remnant" podcast. Always entertaining and illuminating and as home in popular culture as in the classics of conservatism and the particulars of public policy, he insists that "[l]abels matter, because we use labels - terms, constructs, categories, words - to understand reality and chart our course through it, both individually and collectively."

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Goldberg credits the Catholic man of letters G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) with providing, in describing two reformers competing attitudes toward a fence or gate, a good first approximation of conservatism. "The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, I dont see the use of this; let us clear it away," writes Chesterton. "To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: If you dont see the use of it, I certainly wont let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it." Whereas progressives are disposed to tear down to make way for the new, conservatives inclination is to preserve and improve what exists.

Conservatism so understood designates both a temperament and an intellectual orientation.

The 20th-century British thinker Michael Oakeshott, according to Goldberg, captures the conservative temperament: "To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss," Oakeshott observes. The conservative temperament cherishes the inherited, admires the beauty in the passing moment, and aims high while taking in stride the worlds rampant folly, perfidy, and ill fortune.

A conservative in the intellectual sense brings such a temperament to life in the preservation and improvement of a particular tradition. An American conservative, for example, cultivates and transmits the nations fundamental beliefs, practices, and institutions. That starts with Americas founding principles and constitutional practices: individual rights, limited government grounded in the consent of the governed, equality under law, free markets, and robust civil society composed of families, faiths, and a multitude of civic associations. It includes the convictions and virtues that enable a free people to govern itself and pursue happiness. In the 1960s, National Review senior editor Frank Meyer gave the name "fusionism" to the blend of freedom and traditional morality that undergirds Americas constitutional inheritance, and which reflects the logic of free and democratic self-government.

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Trump and the New Right that has consolidated around him, Goldberg contends, pose a fatal threat to traditional conservatism in America - temperamental and intellectual. Under the guise of rethinking or reinventing conservatism, the Trump right panders to the people by repackaging as conservative policies that fit popular grievances, Goldberg maintains. The Trump right endorses an "apocalyptic politics," insisting that American institutions - including the conservative establishment as well as the progressive establishment - are crumbling and that the right ought to hasten their collapse. It regards the rule of law as an instrument to be used and not used as pursuit of the common good dictates. It embraces the statism of tariffs and industrial policy. It downplays the power of American principles in diplomacy and disparages long-standing American allies. It celebrates manliness, which it equates with bravado, brute strength, and conquest, and which it severs from honor, virtue, and justice.

Much of the Trump right would agree with Goldberg that it and traditional American conservatism represent divergent and increasingly clashing political outlooks. Yet that leaves open the prudential question whether given the circumstances, a traditional American conservative might reasonably have preferred Trump in 2024, as in 2016 and 2020.

Oddly, given the importance that traditional conservatism attaches to prudence, Goldberg overlooks the question. But a traditional conservative is obliged to take stock of the world as it is. By 2016 it had become incumbent on traditional American conservatives to recognize that American conservatism had lost its way.

Traditional American conservatives stress realistic assessment of the nations capabilities, fiscally responsible governance, and the dependence of politics on culture and education. Yet during George W. Bushs two terms, conservatives conducted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that fell far short of their objectives. In addition, they oversaw reckless increases in government spending. And they offered little opposition to the progressive culture war, not least on campuses, against traditional morality.

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Traditional American conservatives emphasize the importance of character to statesmanship and citizenship. Such a conservative might have sensibly viewed as the worse option the corrupt and cynical Hillary Clinton in 2016, the obviously declining Joe Biden in 2020, and the often unintelligible and progressive-left-backed Kamala Harris in 2024.

And while traditional American conservatives can never regard the peoples passing predilections as the supreme guide to politics, in the 2010s popular discontent with self-regarding and incompetent elites surged throughout the rights-protecting democracies of the West. Far from lancing a boil by keeping Trump out of the White House, a vote for Clinton or Harris - as a vote for Biden demonstrated - would have paved the way for more hard-left policies that would have further alienated red-state America and intensified the grievances that Trump rode to victory in 2016 and 2024.

In these situations, traditional American conservatives might reasonably have chosen to moderate the Trump right rather than join the resistance against it.

Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. From 2019 to 2021, he served as director of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department. His writings are posted at PeterBerkowitz.com and he can be followed on X @BerkowitzPeter.
Brands

Casual footwear brand Crocs has promoted Terence Reilly as executive vice president, chief brand officer, to oversee marketing and communications for both the Crocs and HeyDude brands.

Reilly previously served as Crocs chief marketing officer between 2013-2020 and rejoined the company last April. In this newly created role, he will report to CEO Andrew Rees and partner with executive vice president, brand president, Anne Mehlman. Rees will serve as interim president of HeyDude until a permanent leader is named.

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Swiss performance brand On announced the election of Helena Helmersson as an additional independent member of the board of directors as well as a member of the nomination and compensation committee. Helmersson began her career at H&M in 1997 and climbed the ranks before ultimately serving as the groups CEO from 2020-2024.

Kenneth Foxs seven-year stint on the board of directorsduring which he helped the company go public in 2021has ended, On announced at the 2025 annual general shareholders meeting.

Hokas parent company, Deckers Brands, has tapped veteran director Cynthia Cindy L. Davis as its new board chair, succeeding Mike Devine upon his retirement after 14 years with the company (six as chair). Davis joined the board in 2018 and has led its talent and compensation committee since 2019. She sits on the sustainability and governance panel and brings three decades of relevant leadership, branding, and fiscal and risk oversight experience.

Victor Luis, a board member since 2020, will assume the talent and compensation committee chair.

Retail

Custom Ink

Online apparel retailer Custom Ink has expanded its senior leadership team. Cross-industry executive Phil Auerbach has joined as chief marketing officer, tasked with developing the companys customer base and increasing engagement.

Justin Swietlik has been promoted to chief financial officer. Since joining the company in 2016, Swietlik held leadership roles in finance, spanning analysis, treasury, and strategic transaction activities, among others.

Internal leader Kane Posner has been appointed to a newly created role of senior vice president, strategy, to lead pricing, merchandising, strategy and business operations. All three will report to CEO David Doctorow.

Technology

Rokt

E-commerce technology company Rokt expanded its product and marketing teams with several new roles. Dhruv Patel, co-founder and CEO of Aftersellrecently acquired by Rokthas been named chief product officer. Claire Southey will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) driven customer relevancy in her role as chief AI officer. Both will report to Rokts CEO, Bruce Buchanan.
A federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump to return a gay deportee who says he lives in fear of persecution for his identity outside of the U.S.

The Trump administration had shipped the man, a citizen of Guatemala, to Mexicoa place where he says he has previously been held for ransom and raped, even after he shared his concern about facing further violence there.

Judge Brian Murphy, in a Friday ruling, demanded that the Trump administration facilitate the mans return, writing that its likely that the deportation lacked any semblance of due process.

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The Justice Department did not immediately return the Daily Beasts request for comment.

O.C.G., as the man is identified in court documents, said in a sworn declaration that he sought asylum in the U.S. in March 2024 to escape persecution and torture but was denied an interview and sent back to Guatemala.

Donald Trump has worked with other national leaders, like El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, to have them imprison deportees. / Win McNamee / Getty Images

He embarked on another attempt to obtain asylum the following month. However, O.C.G. says that he was captured by a group of men in Mexico while on his way to the U.S. They held him in a room for days and raped him, he claimed, adding that he was released only when his sister sent them money as ransom.

O.C.G. reentered the U.S. and secured a series of immigration hearings to determine his fate. He says that in February of this year a judge ruled that he would not be deported due to his fears about persecution.

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I was so relieved that I was finally going to be able to stay somewhere safe, he said.

However, O.C.G. says that he was deported anyway in February by the Trump administrationfirst to Mexico, the country where he had faced violence. He begged to call his lawyer but was told it was too late.

O.C.G. says he subsequently was given the option to be released to Guatemala, which he took out of fear of remaining in Mexico.

But in his home country, he said he also lives in a state of constant fear and panic.

I cant be gay here, which means I cannot be myself, O.C.G. claimed in his deposition. I cannot express myself and I am not free... Anything could happen to me in the street.

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O.C.G. said he has been hiding out in a house owned by his sister. When I leave, I wear hats and try to camouflage myself so that no one recognizes me and sees that I have returned, he explained. But living a normal life is impossible here, and I live in fear because of the past hateful incidences I experienced.

Judge Murphy ordered the Trump administration to facilitate O.C.G.s return so that he can make his case for remaining in the U.S.

The Trump administration has faced other court orders to return men deported in pursuit of fulfilling the presidents campaign promise to rid the country of undocumented immigrants.

Most prominent was the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a deported Maryland man whom the government accidentally shipped to a megaprison in El Salvador.

Many deportees, like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, have been sent to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador. / Pool / Getty Images

Despite being ordered to facilitate Abrego Garcias return, the government has ignored the order, arguing that it is unable to bring him back because he is in Salvadoran custody.

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Judge Murphy stressed the difference between O.C.G.s situation and Abrego Garcias. The word facilitate, the judge wrote, should carry less baggage for O.C.G.s return because he is not being held by another countrys government.

Murphy, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, also criticized the government for revealing O.C.G.s full name in a public filing, which he wrote exacerbated the risks he faces.

It remains unclear whether the Trump administration, which earlier this month declared Murphy a far-left activist judge, will follow the order.
Actor Jussie Smollett is speaking out after reaching a settlement with the city of Chicago in a civil case related to the city's efforts to recover costs from its investigation into a 2019 incident that authorities claim was a staged hate crime. Smollett has always maintained he is innocent.

Smollett addressed the resolution in a public statement shared Friday on Instagram.

Jussie Smollett heartbroken over criticism after attack: 'You don't even want to see the truth'

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"Over six years ago, after it was reported I had been jumped, City Officials in Chicago set out to convince the public that I willfully set an assault against myself. This false narrative has left a stain on my character that will not soon disappear," he wrote.

He added, "These officials wanted my money and wanted my confession for something I did not do. Today, it should be clear They have received neither."

Smollett said his decision to settle "was not the most difficult one to make," explaining, "I was presented with an opportunity to make a charitable donation in exchange for the case being dismissed."

Calling Chicago his former home, he noted, "Making a donation to benefit Chicago communities that are too often neglected by those in power will always be something I support."

PHOTO: In this April 8, 2025, file photo, Jussie Smollett is shown at an event in Los Angeles. (Cover Images via AP Images, FILE)

Smollett also announced a separate $10,000 donation to the Chicago Torture Justice Center, writing, "To anyone who has had to prove they have in fact been violated, you know how difficult this can be to navigate. I stand with and for you."

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In March 2019, Smollett forfeited his $10,000 bond to the city and agreed to perform 16 hours of community service as part of a separate agreement to drop all criminal charges related to the alleged false report, according to then-Cook County first assistant state attorney Joe Magats.

The city filed a lawsuit in 2019 over $130,000, which the Chicago Police Department said it had spent investigating the actor's claims that he had been attacked in a racially and politically motivated incident.

In November 2019, Smollett filed a counter lawsuit against the city of Chicago, claiming that authorities "maliciously" prosecuted him "in bad faith" and filed criminal charges against him "without probable cause."

The counter lawsuit was filed in response to a lawsuit the city filed against Smollett in April, requesting $130,000 in civil penalties, damages and attorney's fees and costs arising from Smollett's alleged "false statements."

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Two brothers -- Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo -- later claimed that Smollett paid them $3,500 to help him orchestrate and stage the crime after Smollett allegedly became upset that a letter threatening him, sent to the Fox studio where the television series "Empire" was filmed, did not get enough attention, according to police.

Police later accused Smollett of writing the letter. The brothers were not charged.

As part of the new settlement agreement, Smollett will donate $50,000 to Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts, a local nonprofit serving underprivileged youth in Chicago through arts and education programming.

The donation was made in exchange for the dismissal of the city's lawsuit against Smollett, according to a statement released Thursday by the city's Department of Law.

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In an official statement, the department said, "The City believes this settlement provides a fair, constructive, and conclusive resolution, allowing all the parties to close this six-year-old chapter and move forward."

Jussie Smollett speaks out after reaching civil settlement with city of Chicago originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Former Vice President Kamala Harris put Elon Musk on blast for saying empathy has made America weak.

There was someone that is very popular these days, at least in the press, who suggested that it is a sign of weakness of Western civilizations to have empathy, Harris told a real estate conference in Australia.

In March, Muskthe head of the government-slashing Department of Efficiency (DOGE)spoke with MAGA influencer and conspiracy theorist Joe Rogan on his podcast.

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The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, the empathy exploit, Musk said, adding that theyre exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response.

Slamming the DOGE chief for having this misplaced idea that the sign of the strength of a leader is who you beat down, she said she thinks it is, in fact, a sign of strength to have some level of curiosity and concern and care about the well-being of others.

The former vice president took aim at the DOGE chief for suggesting that empathy weakens Western civilization. / Pool / Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images

Though Harris did not refer to Musk by name, it was clear her comments were aimed at the Tesla CEO, who has stepped back from his duties at DOGE in recent weeks.

During her Sunday conference appearance, Harris acknowledged the rise of fascism, telling the audience, I do worry, frankly, about whats happening in the world right now.

Musk made the controversial comments during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. / ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

Its important that we remember the 1930s, she said. Its important that we remember that history has taught us that isolation does not equal insulation [and] the importance of relationships of trust, of the importance of friendships, integrity, honesty.

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These comments also appear to have been in veiled reference to Musk, who has courted controversy since assuming his post as President Donald Trumps government efficiency czar with a raft of statements and gestures widely perceived as a dog whistle for white supremacists.

Perhaps most famously, this included the Tesla chief giving what appeared to have been a Roman salute at a speaking event on the night of Trumps inauguration, quickly followed by a slew of posts on X that featured a series of puns on the names of prominent Nazi figures.
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As future king and queen, it might be easy to assume Prince William and Kate Middleton have given up on the idea of an 'ordinary' life for them and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

However, one royal expert revealed that the Prince and Princess of Wales have been able to achieve just that, and Kate's mom, Carole Middleton, is a huge part in making it a reality.

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It's already known that Carole has been Kate's rock as the Princess of Wales has become one of the most popular and senior royals, and it was one of the reasons why William and Kate left London and moved to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, closer to Michael and Carole in Berkshire.

Even as the family grows, with Pippa Middleton's kids, Arthur, Grace and Rose, plus James Middleton's son, Inigo, the doting mom and grandmother is "indispensable" to William and Kate.

Credit: Getty Images

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Author and journalist, Katie Nicholl, explained that Carole and Michael's help and support as a grandmother is what allows the Prince and Princess of Wales to provide normality for their three children, who are second, third and fourth in the line of succession.

Credit: Getty Images

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Appearing on the True Royalty documentary, Katie said, "One of the things that allows William and Kate to be so ordinary is the presence of the Middletons in their lives."

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At the time of her comments, Kate and William were still at Kensington Palace in London - and Katie reported that Carole was often round to help out with bedtime duties.

She explained, "Carole is a regular through those golden gates at Kensington Palace. She whizzes through in her Land Rover. There is no security because everybody knows her.

"She turns up to help with bedtime and bath time. She is absolutely indispensable."

With the family even closer now, we can only imagine how hands on Carole is, and how much of a help she has been as her daughter returns to public duties following her cancer treatment in 2024.
JOPLIN, Mo.  A major contribution to Kansas City University is set to make a big difference in the future of medical students.

Its the largest donation in the history of KCU, more than 20-million dollars from the estate of Dr. Paul and Mary Dybedal.

The donation will increase the Mary L. Dybedal Scholarship fund, establish a Chair of Psychiatry endowment, expand the Kansas City campuss research facilities, and build state-of-the-art labs in Joplin.

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KCU Joplin Vice President Dr. Rick Schooler says supporting research will make students more competitive when applying for residencies, and help them make better decisions as doctors.

Its very important to us to be able to contribute to the science of health, to help continue to advance health care and health practice. At the same time, its very important for our students to have the opportunity to get involved with research as theyre going through our professional programs, said Dr. Rick Schooler, KCU Joplin Vice President.

A 2004 donation from the Dybedals allowed KCU to open the Dybedal Center for Research in 2006.

Dr. Dybedal graduated from KCU in 1954, and served on the Board of Trustees for more than 36 years.

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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 KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com.
The Kentucky crypto entrepreneur accused of a heinous kidnapping and torture plot is innocent  and being manipulated by someone else, a relative claimed to The Post.

John Woeltz, who was held without bail on kidnapping and other charges for allegedly physically abusing and trying to extort an Italian businessman, is an easy victim who was forced into the sick situation, the relative contended.

Hes a kind, caring, loving person, so he was completely controlled by other people, the relative said of Woeltz, 37, who is worth $100 million, according to police sources.

A family member of John Woeltz claimed the crypto boss is an easy victim who was forced into allegedly imprisoning and abusing an Italian businessman. Michael Nagle

Beatrice Folchi, Woeltzs assistant, was arrested alongside her boss. Khristina Narizhnaya/NY Post

The relative called Woeltz easily manipulated.

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Im getting calls from Johns friends, girlfriends, everyone saying, John was railroaded, this person hijacked his life,' she claimed.

He was hijacked and manipulated and scammed. I think they stole his money as well, the relative continued.

Hes a victim.

Investigators searched the residence where an Italian tourist was allegedly tortured for weeks. Melanie Marich/NY Post

An NYPD investigator carries a gun box from the luxe address. Melanie Marich/NY Post

Hes a kind, caring, loving person, so he was completely controlled by other people, the relative said of Woeltz, who is worth $100 million, according to police sources. David Burns

Woeltz, who owns a private jet and a helicopter, was forced to hand over his passport during an appearance Saturday in Manhattan Criminal Court. At least one other suspect is still being sought, sources said.

The abuse allegedly included threatening to kill the family of victim Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan in Italy and at one point, carrying thehim to the top flight of the stairs of the eight-bedroom Prince Street penthouse and dangling him over the ledge, lest the tourist hand over his account password, Assistant District Attorney Michael Mattson told Judge Eric Schumacher during Woeltzs arraignment.
May 25Kettering Health's system-wide technology outage is heading into its second week as the hospital system works to restore access.

The outage could last anywhere between 10 and 20 days, but the hospital system said Saturday afternoon its emergency departments, on-demand care and urgent care locations remain open and ready to care for patients.

Yet as patients face missed appointments, testing and treatments, they worry about the impact to their health the longer this outage lasts.

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Yellow Springs resident Havilah McGinnis was awaiting radiation treatment for a brain tumor when the cyberattack occurred.

McGinnis' canceled appointment was her final radiation treatment. She's not sure what comes next.

"I know that they're trying to contact people and doing the best they can in a really terrible circumstance," she said. "But without any information, it's really hard to know if I'm going to get contacted at all."

Outage caused by ransomware

The hospital system's ongoing technology outage followed a cybersecurity incident last Tuesday, resulting from unauthorized access to its network.

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John Weimer, senior vice president and leader for Incident Command at Kettering Health, said they did not have any direct contact with the perpetrator and did not pay any ransom.

"At this time, my understanding is we have not received a request, nor have we paid anything," Weimer said. "We shut down the system to isolate it, so that's immediately what we did, and then we worked with our forensic teams to sequester that so that we can bring systems back online."

There were some pop-up messages that included some demands on some of Kettering Health's computers, he said, but the perpetrators have had no direct conversation with them.

"I know there are lots of questions. We just do not have the answers for everything," Weimer said. "Our focus really has been, how do we open back up and how do we ensure that we continue to care for our patients and bring systems back up."

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Procedures happening on 'case-by-case' basis

Kettering Health said patients with appointments should still go to those appointments unless they have been contacted by phone to reschedule.

"Procedures are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis based upon collaborative decision-making between care teams, with safety as our highest priority," Kettering Health said.

Its offices operating on alternate procedures in this situation and seeing patients when possible.

Medical staff at Kettering Health tell the Dayton Daily News that physicians' ability to fill prescriptions and do medical imaging is severely limited, they have no access to patients' medical records, and some diagnoses and treatments are suspended. They say doctors are giving out their personal cell phone numbers to patients because phone lines are down.

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For current patients who need a prescription refilled, Kettering Health said to bring your empty prescription bottle to your doctor's office and the Kettering Health team will assist you.

Cancer treatments on pause

After McGinnis' optometrist last year noticed her vision had declined in her right eye, a series of other tests and appointments discovered the brain tumor. McGinnis had surgery in February and started six weeks of radiation treatment.

She worries that missing that treatment could impact her overall wellness.

When asked if she had any concerns with the cyberattack's impact on her personal records, McGinnis said, "I've been so concerned about my health that I haven't even had room to panic about that."

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"It's just hard to know what that even means in terms of when and if I will be able to resolve this," she said.

Mary Burns of Centerville recently had a follow-up scan related to lung cancer. Information from that appointment was appearing in her MyChart as late as last Monday, but her main providers at Ohio State University's medical center cannot access it.

Burns said she's been very pleased with care she has received through Kettering Health, but she's concerned with her personal information being leaked. She's not sure how long she and others could be at risk.

"And I'm really concerned about people that actually had procedures scheduled and had to reschedule," Burns said. "That's nerve-wracking."

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'I can't use my arm'

Patients are continuing to have difficulty getting in touch with their doctors.

"My arm is in a sling, and I can't get my doctor," said Renee Jackson of Springfield. "...This is really a bad situation for them and also really bad for the patients."

Jackson needs an orthopedic surgeon for a serious shoulder injury and can't get in touch with her doctor's office, she said.

"The emergency department did see me," Jackson said.

She went to the ER before the cyberattack happened, but her shoulder needs an MRI, she said.

"I can't use my arm," Jackson said. "Not a good situation, and the surgeon that I need is there in the Kettering (Health) system."

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Leah Day, 76, of West Carrollton showed up to her local hospital early Wednesday for an appointment to get an endoscopic ultrasound, which she needs for doctors to determine how to proceed with cancer treatment.

After checking in and waiting in the lobby, a receptionist told her she would not be having her procedure that day.

"I have an appointment now," Day said. "But we'll see how that goes. The hospital could be closed or not closed, not doing any surgeries."

But also concerning to Day is the threat to her personal security. She's a Medicare patient and pays for her deductibles online.

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"I just hope nothing goes wrong with anyone stealing my information in any way. For any others, too," she said.

Kettering Health has 14 area medical centers and more than 120 outpatient locations throughout Western Ohio, as well as Kettering Physician Network, which includes more than 700 board-certified providers.

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Kettering Health launches temporary clinical phone line

Kettering Health launched support help lines for Kettering Health Medical Group patients to call with urgent medical questions.

For patients with urgent health questions, you can use the following phone numbers:  For urgent medical concerns after hours, weekends and holidays, call MatchMD at 1-866-257-5363.  For urgent medical questions Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m, call (937) 600-6879.

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To ensure these phone lines are available for patients who need it, Kettering Health is asking that people do not call for questions about the technology outage, information or data security concerns, or scheduling for non-urgent appointments.

Women's Health patients experiencing urgent needs after-hours can find updated OB-GYN practice phone numbers at ketteringhealth.org/womens-health-after-hours-information.

For the latest updates about the outage, please visit: ketteringhealth.org/system-wide-technology-outage

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A sovereigns address to the opening of the Canadian parliament is a rare event. The late Queen performed the role only twice in her long reign and tomorrow the King will follow in his mothers footsteps on his first official visit to Canada as head of state.

But this is much more than a dutiful gesture on the part of the King. It has a deliberate geopolitical resonance, a signal to the US president Donald Trump that his persistent overtures to Canadians to join their neighbour as its 51st state should cease.

Few take Mr Trumps rhetoric seriously when it comes to Canada, a country that has long defined itself against the republic to its south. His supporters claim he was merely ribbing the former prime minister Justin Trudeau and was fully aware that the idea would never be accepted by Canadians.

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Yet if undermining the Liberal government in Ottawa was the aim then it backfired spectacularly when Mark Carney was elected prime minister last month, after his party had trailed by more than 20 points in the polls.

Mr Carney, a former Bank of England governor, used the perceived threat from Washington to rally patriotic support and win an unlikely victory. He invited the King to open the parliament to drive home the point he made during the campaign: Canada is not for sale.

While the monarch is usually well advised to steer away from overt political controversy, when it comes to underlining his commitment to a country of which he is head of state there can be no compunction.

Mr Trumps constant goading and belittling of Canada, including reneging on trade deals, is the action of a braggart and a bully, though the King will be far too diplomatic to put it in such terms.

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Indeed, he is due to welcome Mr Trump to the UK later this year on a state visit that is bound to be problematic.

The president has declared a trade war on the EU, and his ambivalent attitude to Russias invasion of Ukraine continues to cause ructions, including in Washington where he faces congressional pressure to impose far tougher sanctions on Moscow.

A G7 summit in Canada next month promises to be a disputatious affair among supposed allies at a time when presenting a united democratic front is more important than ever. Perhaps Mr Trump will look to the Kings example and tone down the divisive and strident language.

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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  A customer allegedly pulled a knife out at a local taco shop in Riverside.

According to an employee at Taqueria Tres Hermanos on 5392 Burkhardt Rd., a customer allegedly pulled a knife out and alarmed staff after being asked to pay for their bill.

This incident happened at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

2 NEWS has reached out to local police for more information, but they have declined to comment.

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Amgen is no exception to this dynamic. Although 2017's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act spurred the company to build a handful of new manufacturing sites within the U.S., it's still heavily reliant on its production facilities in Singapore and Ireland to make many of its drugs, including generics.

Generic drugs can be manufactured by any company willing to replicate a medicinal molecule that's no longer patent-protected, and that often ultimately leads to a profit-pinching price war. Therefore, as a means of keeping generic drug-production costs as low as possible, pharma companies often establish manufacturing sites overseas.

Higher import costs work against all drugmakers. But they're especially challenging for companies like Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), due to its significant exposure to the generics segment of the drug business.

But which pharma stocks are most vulnerable? Here's a closer look at three companies that face more than their fair share of potential tariff headaches.

The problem is that the construction of more U.S. drug-manufacturing facilities could prove incredibly expensive, not to mention time-consuming. With little wiggle room between their costs and the prices of their drugs, this leaves pharmaceutical makers vulnerable -- as well as their stocks.

One could argue, however, that the pharmaceutical industry is especially vulnerable. Although the 25% import tariff rate the White House has threatened on foreign-made drugs and drug components is neither sky-high nor a guaranteed figure (and may only be a means of forcing negotiations), this administration has voiced clear concerns about any American dependence on overseas suppliers of medicines.

The tariff war the U.S. is waging against most of the world stabilized somewhat earlier this month. But let's face facts -- it could easily flare up again. President Donald Trump appears quite committed to the idea of leveraging America's economic dominance, and no industry is immune to this dynamic.

With Pfizer already reeling from a collapse in COVID-related sales, its international tax-saving strategies are also under attack.

Story Continues

Contrary to a common assumption, the United States' biggest drug import/export disparity isn't between it and China (China is actually a net buyer of U.S. pharmaceuticals). Rather, it's with Ireland. As the Motley Fool's own in-house research arm points out, despite the country's relatively tiny size, in 2024 alone Ireland exported $45.5 billion more worth of drugs to the U.S. than it imported from the U.S.

Don't misread this data, however -- it's a purely technical matter. There's simply a significant tax benefit for domiciling certain pharma operations in Ireland, so much so that several other drugmakers have done the same. Now this tax-reducing strategy appears to be a specific target of President Trump's, in that he's called out the country by name in several public comments about his drug-tariff plans.

The path Amgen will need to navigate isn't yet clear. But it is clear that shareholders can expect to see rising costs chip away at what are already rather thin profit margins for the drug industry.

2. Pfizer

Speaking of Ireland, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is also highly vulnerable for the same basic reason as Amgen. That is, several of its top-selling drugs including the pneumonia vaccine Prevnar, the meningitis vaccine Penbraya, and some of the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty are made in Ireland. This could soon prove to be an expensive arrangement.

Trump's impending tariffs aren't just targeting Ireland, though. Plenty of drugs delivered to the United States are manufactured in other parts of Europe, which has also prompted tariff-raising moves from the U.S. president. Some of Comirnaty's components are also manufactured in Germany, for instance, while the blood thinner Eliquis is made in the Netherlands by Bristol Myers Squibb as part of a partnership with Pfizer that's been in place since 2007.

For perspective, the four drugs mentioned above account for about 10% of Pfizer's total top line. That's not even considering the potential added cost of drug ingredients needed to manufacture pharmaceuticals inside the U.S.

Pfizer is capable of making at least some of these drugs elsewhere, to be clear. Indeed, with almost a hint of acceptance, Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla explained last month: "We have all the capabilities here and the manufacturing sites are operating in good capacity right now." He added that the company doesn't "have to build the network" if import tariffs end up being locked in at untenable levels.

Nevertheless, not all of Pfizer's foreign-made pharmaceuticals can simply shift their production here. For some of them, the company would need to build new facilities, at a cost in the billions of dollars. Given that it recently shelled out $43 billion to acquire Seagen -- to own a promising but not yet completely proven oncology drug portfolio, as its large COVID business continues to deteriorate -- that's not another prospective expenditure the market's likely to cheer.

3. AbbVie

Last but not least, add AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) to the list of pharmaceutical stocks that could get hit particularly hard should the worst of drug-tariff fears be realized.

This company is mostly shrugging off the potential effects of Trump's suggested tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals. As CEO Rob Michael commented during the first-quarter earnings conference call, before raising the organization's fiscal full-year revenue and earnings outlook, "any related impact from these tariffs, as well as other potential new or reciprocal tariffs, [has] not been contemplated in our guidance." But he optimistically went on to say: "To the extent there is an impact, we believe it would be in line with our peers, given that AbbVie has an extensive manufacturing presence in the United States."

Other less biased observers aren't so sure, though. Analysts with Bernstein, for instance, put AbbVie in their "highest risk category" of pharmaceutical companies that could feel the impact of newly imposed tariffs, suggesting they could cost the drugmaker hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

These analysts are likely keying in on imports of some of the company's bestsellers into the U.S., where it does the bulk of its business. Some of these top-selling drugs include the arthritis drug Rinvoq (made in Ireland, Canada, and Germany), and the immunosuppressant Humira (manufactured in Germany as well as Puerto Rico). Although U.S. residents don't necessarily use the foreign-made versions of either drug, these foreign-made drugs still become part of AbbVie's worldwide supply.

And while the company may not be concerned enough about looming tariffs to include their potential impact in its 2025 guidance, it's curious that AbbVie is still earmarking $10 billion to expand its domestic manufacturing capabilities over the next 10 years. That's hardly chump change for a pharmaceutical outfit that's been fighting not one but two ongoing patent wars for two of its top-selling drugs -- the aforementioned Humira and Rinvoq.

In the meantime, AbbVie's best-selling Skyrizi (for the treatment of psoriasis, arthritis, and certain intestinal conditions) may be selling well, but it's being assisted by a very expensive ad campaign. In fact, the company's now spending more to promote the drug on American TV than is being spent to advertise any other drug made by any manufacturer.

Connect the dots: AbbVie isn't exactly entering potential tariff turbulence from a position of tremendous strength. There's even chatter about the company being unable to maintain its dividend.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE)  A man who the Knoxville Police Department say assaulted a woman was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service in Meridian, Mississippi Wednesday afternoon.

The suspect was identified on Monday as Ethan Johnston, 21 of Bean Station. On Monday afternoon, KPD said he may be traveling to an unknown city in either Georgia or South Carolina.

Multiple people injured in block party shooting, DAs office says

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Johnston was traveling on a Greyhound bus when he was located by members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Task Force based on a tip. He will be extradited back to Knoxville soon, police said.

The Knoxville Police Department appreciates the U.S. Marshals Service for their assistance and thanks the community for the many tips that were submitted to help quickly resolve this case, KPD said.

(Photo via Knoxville Police Department) (Knoxville Police Department) (Knoxville Police Department)

READ: More top stories on WATE.com

The woman, 20, was assaulted early on Saturday at an apartment at Union Knoxville on Cumberland Avenue, according to the KPD. She received significant injuries to her face and was taken to East Tennessee Childrens Hospital for treatment, police say.

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Question : I noticed the enrollment capacity for Honolulu Summer Fun is down this year, with the Makiki District Park only initially having 65 total spaces. Last year they had well over a 100. I know the enrollment numbers are based on the number of summer hires they can bring on, but it still seems like many families (the waitlist is over 105 ) are stuck waiting with summer just about upon us. Does the City have a notional timeline for when families can expect to hear about expanded enrollment so we can ensure our kids have summer activities ?

Answer : We are onboarding more staff at that location and hope to accommodate that waitlist of over 100 keiki with those hires,  preferably by the end of this week, said Nate Serota, a spokesperson for Honolulus Department of Parks and Recreation, confirming that low staffing, not a change in physical capacity, limited initial enrollment.

Other Summer Fun sites also continue to process new hires and will whittle down their waitlists as employment is confirmed, he said. We appreciate the patience of the waiting families while we work diligently to get these staff ready for Summer Fun,  Serota said in an email.

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However, another 16 of the youth recreational programs 59 sites across Oahu need to attract more staff to be able to welcome all the children who want to attend, he said. We strongly encourage anyone interested in working for the program to apply immediately. We are also in need of lifeguards in addition to the Summer Fun Aides. More information, and the ability to apply online, is available at.

Sites seeking more employees, and which have corresponding waitlists, include :Booth District ParkHalawa District ParkKalakaua District ParkKanewai Community ParkKauluwela Community ParkMoanalua Community ParkPu unui Community ParkHau ula Summer FunHe eia Summer FunKahaluu Summer FunKailua Summer FunKapunahala Summer FunSunset Beach Summer FunMaunawili Summer FunWaimanalo Summer FunPacific Palisades Community Park Moreover, the city couldnt use four intended sitesKilauea District Park, Kalihi Uka Community Park, Aikahi Community Park and Keolu Elementary. Because there was little to no staffing at these locations, we did not include them in the registration and reallocated any available staff to other nearby sites,  Serota said.

He said DPR works hard every year to recruit Summer Fun staff to serve up to 10, 000 keiki and teens, aiming for a ratio of no more than 25 keiki per adult staff member. Summer Fun jobs pay from $15 to $20.10 an hour, depending on the role, according to the programs website. This week (the week of May 27 ) represents the deadline for when we can get more staff into the program before  Summer Fun kicks off June 9, Serota said. The program runs through July 25.

Not every site has a waitlist ; well more than a dozen had space available for keiki participants when we checked Friday. See pros.hnl.info for details. Note : Online registration for Junior Leaders is designed to be waitlist only. Thats because we need to interview the teens before they can enter the program, as they act as volunteer assistants for the Summer Fun staff,  Serota said.

Mahalo On May 12 at 11 p.m., I was on my way to the Hono lulu airport. The airport offramp was totally closed. Where do I go ? Where do I turn off ? I hadnt a clue ! I continued on to Pearl City in total darkness, turned around and headed back. I called my cousin, who was waiting for me at the airport. In total darkness and unfamiliarity an angel who stood alongside my cousin remained online with me giving me instructions back to the airport. My cousin was relieved to finally see me and we headed home to Kaimuki, all thanks to our angel, security guard Meredee Strong. Mahalo piha Meredee. You saved two kupuna that late night. Maile and Cris------------Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813 ; call 808-529-4773 ; or email.------------
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Several Ukrainian drones were downed by Russian air defenses on their approach to Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed on May 25. Sobyanin's report comes following Russia's large-scale missile and drone attack on multiple cities of Ukraine, which killed 12 people and injured 60.

Sobyanin said that emergency crews are on-scene at various locations as to where the debris of at least four drones fell.

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It was not immediately clear as to the damage caused by the alleged attack, or as to whether there were any casualties.

Moscow's Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports were closed for about two hours between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. local time amid the attack, Russian state media reported.

Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the attack and the Kyiv Independent cannot verify information provided by Russian officials.

The attack on Moscow comes after Russia launched 69 missiles and 298 drones overnight , according to Ukraine's Air Force.

The Air Force reported that 45 cruise missiles were shot down by air defense and 266 drones were neutralized, while 22 locations recorded a direct strike.

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The attacks come one night after one of the heaviest Russian assaults on Kyiv throughout the full-scale war. The attack also coincides with Kyiv Day, a city holiday typically celebrated on the last Sunday in May.

In recent week, Kyiv has ramped up its attack on Moscow, launching hundreds of Ukrainian kamikaze drones towards the Russian capital. While none have appeared to have reached Moscow, the attacks have caused significant disruptions to commuter air traffic.

Ukrainian drones have forced at least 218 temporary airport closures across Russia since Jan. 1, independent Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on May 14, citing data from Russia's state aviation agency Rosaviatsia.

Russia's air defenses destroyed and intercepted 110 Ukrainian drones overnight on May 25, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed, including over Moscow and Kursk oblasts.

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The second night of large-scale attacks on Kyiv comes as Russia and Ukraine have continued to engage in peace talks. Despite some progress to establish a 1,000 for 1,000 prisoner exchange, Moscow continues to reject the prospects of a 30-day ceasefire.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy who was placed on leave in January 2023 was released from jail early Tuesday on $50,000 bond after he was arrested Monday on suspicion of felony domestic violence, according to the sheriffs department.

The arrest of Jim Devoe, 30, came two years after he was arrested and charged with physically abusing his 5-year-old son.

Little information is publicly available about the circumstances of the latest incident beyond the fact that Devoe was arrested in Lancaster at 4:10 p.m. Monday. But a spokesperson for the sheriffs department said he had been arrested on suspicion of corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant.

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The department spokesperson said in an emailed statement last week that it had launched criminal and internal administrative investigations into Devoe, who worked as a bailiff at the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster.

The Sheriff's Department holds its employees to the highest standards of integrity and professionalism, the statement said. We are committed to ensuring accountability for actions both on and off duty, as public trust is earned through transparency, responsibility, and adherence to the law.

Sharon Paris Babakhan, a lawyer for Devoe, said in an email that she was unable to comment on his latest arrest. But, she said, it is important for the public to recognize that Jim has endured significant personal and professional losses as a result of the pending matter  The past two years have been extremely difficult for him.

Devoe pleaded not guilty to a felony count of child abuse in June 2023, a month after his arrest on suspicion of hitting his 5-year-old son and the issuance of a protective order requiring him to avoid any contact with the child.

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The father of two had told the boys mother via text that the child hurt himself while riding his bike, the L.A. County district attorneys office said in a May 2023 statement .

When she picked him up from Devoes home, there was serious bruising and swelling on their sons face, according to a document reviewed by The Times at the time. The 5-year-old and his brother both told sheriffs department investigators in a hospital interview that Devoe had punched the boy, the document said.

Devoe was accused of slapping and punching his son in the face, causing visible injuries, and then lying to the boys mother about the cause of the injuries, including facial swelling and bruising, an eye hemorrhage and red marks, the May 2023 district attorneys office statement said.

Babakhan said via email that she had negotiated a favorable resolution with the District Attorney regarding the 2023 case.

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We anticipate closing the matter on our next court date, July 1, 2025, she said. While the terms have not yet been finalized, we expect both felony charges to be dismissed, with a plea to a single misdemeanor count.

The sheriff's department relieved Devoe of duty three months before his 2023 arrest, according to documents and two law enforcement sources interviewed by The Times at the time, in connection with several allegations of misconduct, including that he had allegedly possessed illegal steroids. The department statement issued last week said he had been relieved "of duty pending the outcome of an internal administrative investigation."

Anthony Salerno, an attorney who represented Devoe before Babakhan took over his case, denied the steroids claim in May 2023, telling The Times that his client had passed drug tests and was relieved of duty after his driver's license was suspended for speeding at an extremely high rate.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson vetoed various provisions of a bill regarding Washington States Clemency and Pardons Board (CPB).

The Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill-HB 1131, partially signed into law by Ferguson on Tuesday, aims to expand the CPB, alter the boards processes for reviewing applications, and make board members eligible for compensation.

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Ferguson wrote in his veto submission, The Legislature did not provide funding to implement this expansion of the boards work. Therefore, I am vetoing Section 117(8). I intend to seek the necessary funding to support the work contemplated by E2SHB 1131 in the next budget.

The CPB reviews applications and makes recommendations to the governor on granting executive commutations, pardons, and restoration of rights for individuals previously convicted of a legal offense, according to the House Democrats.

The bill also expands the size of the board from five to 10, enlarges the experience required of each board member, adds more compensation, and provides supplemental training, The Center Square reported.

Representatives debate Fergusons partial veto of clemency bill

Representative Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, sponsored the bill and stated his confusion about Fergusons partial veto of his bill.

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The governor didnt know it was coming until they reviewed the bill and found that they dont have funding for a staff member in the Governors Office to manage the expansion of the clemency and pardons board, Goodman said, according to The Center Square. Were going to be delayed by a few months. We will appropriate the money necessary in the next supplemental budget in January 2026.

James McMahon, policy director with the Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, relayed his concern for the expansion of the CPB.

We differ from our friends in the (Prosecuting Attorneys Office) because this small, intimate group allows the members of the board to leave their preconceived notions, McMahon said, reported The Center Square. There have been times where the police chief on that board says, I think we should grant this person clemency and the defense attorney on the board says, Actually, I disagree. When you double the size of the board, we fear it creates constituencies, caucuses if you will.

Goodman noted that his position is limited, and the governor has the final say in the matter.

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Remember that the governor is the backstop, so its the governors decision whether or not to grant clemency, Goodman said, The Center Square stated.

Clemency bill membership conditions

Included in the bill, members must possess lived experience as an incarcerated individual or have worked with the formerly incarcerated. There must also be a member with experience and interest in tribal affairs, and two representatives of crime victims.

Members will receive up to $100 per day, be compensated for time spent on training, travel expenses, and hearing preparation. The CPB members must also attend training exercises related to race, equity, racism, and restorative justice.
As mass protests over the police murder of George Floyd raged across Los Angeles in late May 2020, the LAPD had an unexpected problem.

After a week of demonstrations, officers had fired so many "less-lethal" crowd control projectiles made of rubber that the department's stockpile was running low.

Scrambling to buy more, officials arranged for two reserve officers to fly a private plane to Casper, Wyo., to pick up 2,000 additional rounds from an arms wholesaler called Safariland, according to LAPD emails reviewed by The Times.

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The days and weeks that followed brought more unrest in the streets, with police criticized for indiscriminately firing rubber rounds into crowds, injuring scores of people with shots to the face or torso.

Multiple reports and activists assailed the department's response to the protests as a botched operation that resulted from poor planning, inadequate training and failure to learn from past mistakes.

According to The Times' analysis of LAPD data released by the L.A. city attorney's office, police actions related to the George Floyd protests have cost $11.9 million in settlements and jury awards. Scores of other pending lawsuits represent potentially tens of millions more in liability exposure.

Read more: Officers are winning massive payouts in LAPD lottery lawsuits

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Yet five years removed from Floyd's killing, police backers say public opinion has largely swung back in favor of aggressive law enforcement, pointing as proof to last year's passage of tough-on-crime legislation and ousting of progressive prosecutors.

Last month, President Trump issued an executive order promising to unleash high-impact local police forces in his administration's campaign against criminal aliens.

The U.S. Department of Justice moved last week to cancel settlements to overhaul police departments in Louisville, Ky., and Minneapolis. The federal oversight was part of the national reckoning with racism and police brutality that followed the law enforcement killings of Breonna Taylor and Floyd, who was pinned to the pavement by a police officer for nearly 10 minutes before dying.

The push to overhaul the LAPD that began in 2020 did not result in sweeping changes, but the Police Department has in some ways come to resemble the slimmed-down version sought by some activists.

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While its multibillion-dollar budget has only grown, the number of low-level arrests and traffic stops have plummeted, and staffing shortages have forced the department to focus more on responding to and solving violent crimes.

Today, the department is nearly 1,300 officers smaller than it was when Floyd died, with fewer cops on the force than at any point since 1995, mirroring nationwide declines in police staffing.

On Thursday, the L.A. City Council signed off on a $14-billion spending plan for 2025-26 that cuts funding for police recruitment in order to avoid laying off hundreds of city workers. The council provided enough money for the LAPD to hire 240 new officers over the coming year, down from the 480 proposed by Mayor Karen Bass last month.

Asked in a news radio appearance last week whether Floyds death had changed policing, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said it had, largely with the slump in hiring.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, center, and Capt. James Hwang perform the uniform inspection during graduation for recruit class 11-24 on May 2. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

The department lost scores of cops who didnt feel support, he said, and recruitment continues to prove challenging.

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So that has had a negative impact on the profession overall, he told public radio station KCRW. We have to restore morale within the organization; we have to restore pride within the profession.

Read more: Overhaul the LAPD, in this economy? Questions surround chief's plan amid budget crunch

Following years of calls for embracing alternatives to traditional policing, LAPD officials and city leaders are continuing to explore ways to hand off calls involving substance abuse, homelessness and mental illness. Officers are also no longer responding to minor traffic accidents.

Efforts to limit police traffic involvement have gained some traction, and a controversial policy enacted by former Chief Michel Moore still restricts so-called pretextual stops of motorists or pedestrians that critics say led to the disproportionate harassment of Black and brown Angelenos. The department has also taken steps to try to limit dangerous pursuits by asking supervisors to monitor them in real-time, and if the chase proves too dangerous, to call them off.

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Police data show violent crime continues to drop from pandemic highs, with the exception of aggravated assaults and robberies in certain parts of the city. Property crimes, including most burglaries, have also started to trend downward.

Some efforts at reform have stalled, including a proposal to overhaul the department's disciplinary system for officers. Another plan that would have replaced LAPD officers with unarmed transportation workers on traffic stops sputtered amid debates around jurisdiction and funding.

Art Acevedo, who began his career with the California Highway Patrol before serving as police chief in several major cities including Houston and Miami, blamed movements to defund and abolish police for polarizing the debate on how to move forward.

Acevedo, who applied for the LAPD chief's job that eventually went to McDonnell, said police unions and allies weaponized such rhetoric because it effectively equated advocating for police reform as one and the same as advocating for defunding the police.

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That movement created a backlash that has translated into a diminished appetite for reform, he said.

Acevedo also worried about officers feeling emboldened to bend or break the rules in the current climate: You dont want to re-create the perception, real or not, that its open season for bad policing, because youre going to have that small percentage thatre going to act on that belief that theyre not going to be held accountable.

Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, shared similar concerns.

I think they absolutely feel unleashed," she said of police. "Not that they were ever on a leash.

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Part of the problem, Abdullah said, is public fatigue over the seemingly constant barrage of troubling incidents.

People don't have the bandwidth to respond with the kind of outrage that they would when you saw the beatings at Pan Pacific Park, said Abdullah, referring to the LAPD's response to protests in 2020.

John Burton, an attorney who filed lawsuits on behalf of several people who were wounded by less-lethal rounds during L.A. protests in 2020, said that most changes to the LAPD have been around the edges, but the department hasnt addressed its culture of aggression.

The lack of progress, he said, is obvious in the LAPD internal affairs investigations hes reviewed that rarely found anything wrong with officers' use of force  even in the face of overwhelming video evidence. More than a few officers mentioned in his lawsuits have since been promoted, he said, even after he accused them of lying in police reports.

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LAPD supervisors looked the other way, he said, because they are very protective of their officers.

Burton also noted that rubber projectiles are still being used, despite little evidence the weapons helped rein in chaos on the streets. Police also once faced criticism last year for the handling of pro-Palestinian protests on the USC and UCLA campuses.

The thought that youre going to stop somebody from throwing a rock at the cops by shooting one of these first is a fantasy, he said. They can cause very serious injuries.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect comments from the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

As Kyiv completed its largest prisoner exchange of the war on May 25, exchanging 1,000 Ukrainian POWs for 1,000 Russians, some spoke out on social media to criticize authorities for failing to return certain captives.

Colonel Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov National Guard Brigade, described the exchange as a "mockery" due to the lack of fighters from the Azov Brigade, in a post on Facebook.

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In the past, Ukrainian authorities have said that Russia has pushed back against their requests to return Azov fighters as part of earlier exchanges.

Ukrainian society has rallied for captured Azov fighters who defended the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol during the Russian siege of the port city in 2022. The battle, one of the most brutal of the entire war, is credited with buying time for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to prepare itself and receive international military aid against Russia's invasion during the initial phase of the war.

Azovstal defenders were ordered to surrender to the encircling Russian forces after nearly two months of constant bombardment of the besieged plant. While hundreds of these fighters have been released since 2022, hundreds more remain in captivity.

Prokopenko said that Ukraine needs to change its tactics, writing, "There are options, we just need to adapt and start looking for new ways and configurations. Because not a single Azov resident among 1,000 exchanged people is a shame for our entire state."

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Separately, writer and journalist Stanislav Aseyev criticized the exchange on Facebook for failing to include civilians who have spent more than eight years in captivity.

"The list of hostages that I handed over to President (Volodymyr) Zelensky back in January 2020 has remained a list," Aseyev wrote.

"The vast majority of these people are in the 32nd maximum security colony in Makiivka, where they were taken after Isolation and from other prisons. Some of these people actively helped our special services," he added. "I don't know if there is anyone in the history of this war for 11 years who has been in prison longer," he added.

In response to the frustration seen on social media, Andriy Yusov, deputy head of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, told Suspilne that the exchange was conducted on "mutual lists," with both Russia and Ukraine deciding which POWs they would return.

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"Ukraine is fighting for every one of its citizens. We are working under extremely difficult conditions amid the full-scale invasion, and the Mariupol garrison remains one of the top priorities for repatriation," Yusov added.

Zelensky, following the exchange pledged to "bring back every single one of our people from Russian captivity."

Ukraine has long advocated for an "all-for-all" exchange, but Russia has so far rejected the proposal.

KI Insights / The Kyiv Independent / Nizar al-Rifai

The three days of prisoner exchanges were negotiated by Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul on May 16th, during the first direct talks between the two countries in three years.

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on May 23 that Moscow will convey its peace terms to Kyiv immediately after the completion of the prisoner exchange.

While Moscow's list of conditions have yet to be revealed, Russia has repeatedly reiterated maximalist demands, including that Ukraine accept the loss of Crimea and four eastern regions.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
May 24An ex-convict accused of robbing a burrito stand at gunpoint last month is now facing multiple other charges after police said they've linked him to the arson of a church and multiple burglaries throughout West Texas.

John Houston McClellan, 33, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated robbery April 6, two days after three men entered the Chavito's Burrito stand on South Moss around 7 a.m. and found the owner inside.

According to an Ector County Sheriff's Office report, one of the men put a pistol to the woman's forehead and ordered her to the ground after which the trio robbed her of $1,800 in cash and other items, the report stated.

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Before leaving, the men broke the woman's phone and told her not to get up, the report stated.

On April 6, authorities found the suspects' vehicle being driven by McClellan, the report stated.

According to the report, another person inside the vehicle gave details of the robbery they'd learned from McClellan and another suspect  details only the suspects could know.

According to the report, McClellan told the cooperating witness he was the suspect with the pistol.

McClellan posted a $120,000 surety bond and was released from the Ector County jail April 9.

According to court documents released Friday, on the same day McClellan was arrested on the robbery charge, authorities were investigating a subset of the Aryan Brotherhood and the theft of several safes, $220,000 in cash and three shotguns from a business in Crane when a suspect in that case admitted she'd stolen two assault rifles and a handgun from a residence for McClellan and his friend, Jeran Loschiavo, 31.

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On April 18, authorities developed information leading them to believe that McClellan stole a 2000 H1 Hummer, valued at $100,000, a 2009 Harley Davidson motorcycle valued at $6,000 and a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe valued at $50,000 from CMT Storage on Faudree Road, the reports stated.

Then, on April 19, deputies were dispatched to Goldsmith Grocery, 2023 W. Gulf, on a burglary call. They discovered two safes containing cash, tobacco products and lottery tickets were taken.

According to the reports, during the investigation, deputies received information the stolen items could be found at a trailer in the 4800 block of North Golder Avenue. They were also informed McClellan, Loschiavo and a third man, Christopher Glenn, 34, were doing burglaries throughout Ector County and other parts of West Texas.

In searching the vehicles on the Golder Avenue property and a trailer, deputies found items from the Goldsmith burglary and other burglaries in Ector and Howard counties, including some that had been taken from CMT Storage, the reports stated.

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Glenn, a Midland resident, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of theft of property and several outstanding Ector County warrants.

Loschiavo, an Odessa resident, was arrested on April 29 on suspicion of possession of stolen property, theft of property $150,000-$300,000, two counts of theft of firearm and two counts of engaging in criminal activity

He was released May 4 after posting surety bonds totaling $405,000.

McClellan was arrested on April 26 on suspicion of burglary of a building in a Crane County case and he was released from the Ector County jail the same day after posting a $5,000 surety bond.

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According to the recently released reports, dispatchers received a report the Second Chance Fellowship, 812 W. Hillmont, was on fire around 3:45 a.m. May 9.

During the subsequent investigation, authorities learned a $4,000 cargo trailer and sound equipment valued at $15,000 was stolen roughly four hours before the fire broke out.

They obtained security camera footage showing the burglary and a few hours later, a Dodge pickup truck belonging Loschiavo pulling into the alley near the church and two men getting out minutes before the fire, the report stated.

According to the reports, a cooperating witness identified Loschiavo, McClellan and a third man as being involved in the incident. The witness also said McClellan sold the sound equipment the morning after the burglary and he split the proceeds with Loschiavo.

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The reports indicate McClellan confessed to selling the equipment, but said another person borrowed Loschiavo's pickup truck, burglarized the church and started the fire.

McClellan was booked into the Ector County jail May 14 on suspicion of theft of property $150,000-$300,000, possession of stolen property, theft of firearm, arson at a place of worship, two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity, theft of property and burglary of a building. His bond was set at $545,000, but he's also being held without bail for allegedly violating his parole and for allegedly being a fugitive from justice in a Lea County, New Mexico, case.

According to Ector County District Court records, McClellan was sentenced to six years in prison in June 2022 after pleading guilty to engaging in organized criminal activity. Under the terms of his plea agreement, burglary of a building and evading arrest charges were dismissed.

Loschiavo was arrested Thursday on suspicion of arson of a place of worship, engaging in organized criminal activity, theft of property and burglary of a building. He was booked into the Ector County jail and his bail has been set at $145,000.

There are no jail records showing an arrest for the third suspect in the arson case, although jail records indicate the ex-convict was released from the Ector County jail April 1 after posting bond in a case involving drugs, endangerment and firearm charges.
Aaron started coming to San Franciscos Tenderloin neighbourhood three years ago to buy heroin.

I didnt know where else to go to get drugs. San Francisco is the place where people historically do drugs. So I came here and I just started shoulder-tapping random people.

He arrived at the height of San Franciscos so-called doom-loop, as homelessness, addiction and shoplifting rocketed in the wake of the pandemic. Thousands of businesses abandoned the city, turning parts of downtown into lawless, open-air drug markets in one of the richest cities in the world.

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Aaron found heroin but soon switched to fentanyl. I ran out of money, and its cheaper.

But at lunchtime last Tuesday in San Franciscos UN Plaza in the Civic Center neighbourhood, next to the Tenderloin, the 33-year-old is not shooting up, but playing ping-pong.

The newly installed tables sit next to a collection of chess boards, occupied by three pairs of players concentrating intently in the sun.

There used to be a whole homeless tent city right here, says Aaron.

The drug addicts have not left. Come back here at 2am and hundreds of people will be spiralled out half-dead, he says.

But the contrast between what this area looked like when Aaron arrived and how it looks now is stark.

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It is one of many signs that San Francisco is at the beginning of a turnaround. The citys tent count has dropped to the lowest level since records began in 2019, crime has plunged to a 23-year low and new office leasing has hit its highest level in six years.

Citizen activist groups backed by high-profile billionaires have led an uprising against extremely liberal policy-making, overhauling the citys political system by reducing far-Left dominance of the school board, the district attorneys office and the citys board of supervisors.

New mayor Daniel Lurie, a moderate Democrat who took office in January and is considered wholly pro-business, now has much more licence to press ahead with an agenda of reform.

At the same time, back-to-office mandates are bringing new life to the business district and Silicon Valleys artificial intelligence (AI) boom is driving a surge of optimism in the tech sector, the lifeblood of the citys economy.

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San Francisco is in recovery. If it returns to full health, residents will hail a seismic victory for common-sense policymaking over the far-Left ideas that bought the city to its knees.

Left to rot

Much of San Francisco is gorgeous and thriving. The bars in the Castro district are humming. Volleyball players serve at golden hour in Dolores Park overlooking the skyscrapers of the business district.

But the scene in the Tenderloin is dystopian.

On the pavement on Leavenworth Street, a couple have their heads huddled under a soiled blanket, holding a flame to a piece of foil at the end of a pipe. A woman sits slumped against a nearby wall, sobbing audibly.

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Hunched, hooded people wearing pyjama bottoms and Crocs cross the street with jerky, unnatural steps. One man, bent nearly double, stands in the middle of the intersection staring into the middle distance, his face stretched in shock, showing the whites of his eyes.

The Tenderloin neighbourhood, pictured in May 2024, is marked by homelessness and drug-taking - Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

Shopfronts are not just boarded up but locked behind metal gates with graffiti-ed plates over their windows. Many of those that are open still have bars over their windows.

For many blocks, it is difficult to walk down the street without tripping over someone.

But even this is an improvement. These streets were once filled with sprawling encampments. In back alleys, there are now parked Teslas instead of tents. And there are no glittering dustings of smashed car windscreens, which used to be such a common sight it was dubbed San Francisco snow.

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The city has long had a problem with homelessness and drug addiction. Problems were super-charged by the arrival of fentanyl and then the pandemic. Downtown districts became ghost towns as major employers shifted to remote working or quit the city altogether.

The loss of foot traffic hammered retailers just as street homelessness surged. Retail theft and drug dealing boomed. Some shops were looted. More businesses left. As recently as January, Walgreens announced a fresh round of 12 store closures.

The post-pandemic tech slump was a further drag on the local economy and jobs, while a slump in office leasing and commercial property values hammered the citys tax revenues.

It has proved a living nightmare for residents of a city that has more billionaires than any other place in America.

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San Franciscos problems are a case of liberal policies hitting their limit, argues Steve Hilton, a former adviser to David Cameron and now a Republican candidate for governor of California. It is symptomatic of everything thats gone wrong in California.

But now San Francisco is freeing itself from the doom-loop it has been stuck in.

The number of car break-ins last year plunged by 50pc to a 22-year low, according to figures from the San Francisco police department (SFPD). The San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier this year that auto glass repair shops had seen such enormous drops in business that they were considering making staff redundant.

The overall number of reported crimes fell by 28pc in 2024 to the lowest level in more than two decades. So far this year, it has dropped by a further 27pc.

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The citys homeless tent count fell to just 222 in March, down from 609 in July 2023 and less than a quarter of the 2020 record of 1,108. Although the number of homeless people in San Francisco hit a record high of 8,323 last year, the number of people who were actually sleeping on the streets fell to a six-year low. Drug overdose deaths fell by 22pc in 2024 to their lowest level since 2019.

Aaron, who is not homeless because he lives with his family, can feel the difference.

Law enforcement has become much more visible and much more active in recent months, he says. He has been ticketed twice in the last few weeks, once for selling merchandise without a permit and once for using drugs in public.

Some of the changes are because of Mayor Lurie, who has introduced a new street team response programme and measures that mean people selling commonly stolen goods without a permit or proof of purchase can get apprehended.

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Others are because of Luries predecessor, London Breed, who was also a moderate and initiated UN Plazas redevelopment.

But the major seeds of change in San Francisco began in the thick of the pandemic.

Citizens revolt

In 2021, long-time San Francisco Bay Area resident and former drug decriminalisation advocate Michael Shellenberger published San Fransicko, a damning critique of the citys progressive policies that he said were enabling addiction.

Today, San Francisco, arguably the most liberal city in America, has hardly shifted to the Right. But it has new rational politics as Bill Oberndorf, founder of the multibillion-dollar investment firm SPO Partners, has termed it.

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In 2020, a group of long-term city residents formed a super-political action committee (Pac) called Neighbors for a Better San Francisco.

We had problems that had got so out of control that we needed to tackle them in a way that had not been done before, says Oberndorf, who is the groups chairman and who was a major Republican donor until 2016, when he registered as independent.

Now, Neighbors has 1,000 paying members, each making a median annual donation of $1,000 (740), and has raised a total of $23m in fundraising for political causes in San Francisco.

Rational politics and the donations of some of the citys wealthiest residents have helped clean up the streets - Gabriela Hasbun

Neighbors is at the heart of a centrist movement led by citizens that has grown steadily in San Francisco and has the backing of many of the citys richest businessmen.

Alongside Oberndorf, donors to Neighbors include start-up investor Garry Tan, who until January also sat on the board of GrowSF, another activist group that is run by former Google engineer Sachin Agarwal.

Billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz, meanwhile, was the chief donor behind TogetherSF, a political pressure group that has now merged with Neighbors.

Crypto billionaire Chris Larsen has given millions in grants to local retail organisations and the SFPD.

Citizen activism has led three key changes in San Franciscos political make-up.

The first came in 2022. Parents in San Francisco had become enraged by the fact that the local board of educations approach meant that the city was particularly slow to reopen classrooms after the pandemic.

While classrooms were closed, the school board had passed a vote to rename a third of local schools because they were named after figures such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington who had inhibited social progress or owned slaves. There was a feeling that officials were focusing on the wrong things.

Only one out of seven members of the school board was a moderate. Alongside other groups, Neighbors helped provide funding and strategic support to parents to recall the board members that they could. Now, there are four moderates on the board.

Next, Neighbors spearheaded a campaign to recall Chesa Boudin, the district attorney and a radical Left-winger who was elected during what The New Yorker described as a Joan of Arc phase in American progressivism, when it seemed like the kids  Greta Thunberg, David Hogg, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  could save us all.

Boudin launched programmes to reduce the number of people in jails. When the pandemic hit, he released 40pc of the citys inmates and wrote an op-ed in the LA Times titled Im keeping San Francisco safer by emptying the jail.

Community groups raised $7.2m to campaign for Boudin to be recalled with nearly $5m coming from Neighbors. The Pac then recruited his replacement, Brooke Jenkins, who took over in 2022 with a promise that crime is illegal again and was re-elected in 2024.

Jay Cheng, executive director of Neighbors, says: Recalls are effectively citizens telling the establishment, Were firing you. That is a citizen revolt against a political establishment.

A large part of our work has been almost a complete turnover of political leadership in San Francisco.

Jay Cheng, of Neighbors, has led a complete turnover of political leadership in San Francisco - Gabriela Hasbun

Finally, Neighbors lobbied to redraw the Citys Board of Supervisors, which has to approve measures proposed by the mayor. Before, one member of the 11 was a moderate. Now, there are five.

There were many things Mayor Breed would have liked to have done but she just couldnt get movement on the board. Its far easier to do that now, says Oberndorf.

War on drugs

Jenkins appointment in 2022 as San Franciscos district attorney  a role that was once held by former vice-president Kamala Harris  has been hailed as a turning point in the citys approach to crime.

When I was sworn in, we were at a point of reckoning in San Francisco. The culture here was of lawlessness and of over-tolerance. [There was an idea that] criminal behaviour is happening, and we should make excuses for people who do it. And I think people were at breaking point, says Jenkins.

Even so, citizens who were unhappy with the approach of Boudin felt uncomfortable speaking out, she says.

I think we had a majority of people in the city that were fed up. Yet they were being silenced by the progressives and being made to feel like to say you want a clean and safe street is racist, is anti-immigrant, is Republican.

Richard Nixon reflected a similar sentiment in the 1960s, when he appealed to the silent majority who rejected the liberal excesses of the decade.

However, radical progressives are now using this argument to silence not just those on the Right but other Democrats, says Jenkins.

The problem is that the notion that you must be a racist if you want no crime, really means, to me, as a black woman and as a Latina woman, that you believe that everyone that looks like me must subscribe to criminality, that we are the only people committing crime in this country, and we are not, she says.

What I have tried to do is to say safety is something we all want.

Jenkins took a very different approach to Boudin. Instead of treating the dealing of fentanyl as a misdemeanour, she treats it as a felony. She started asking the courts to keep people charged with serious crimes, such as chronic offenders of retail theft, in custody while their cases were open.

I came in emphasising a tone of accountability that we were not going to be a city that was tolerant of crime, that we were a city that had to enforce its laws and its rules, she says.

She also began working much more closely with other law enforcement agencies such as the police, which means they have become better at providing the evidence prosecutors need to present in court.

It is not just the DAs office that has been changing. The police force has ramped up its use of technology, acquiring licence plate reader cameras, drones and access to live surveillance footage. At the same time, a Supreme Court decision in June 2024 known as Grants Pass opened the door for the mayor to remove tents.

Now, Mayor Lurie has brought forward a more aggressive approach to public health.

Daniel Lurie, San Franciscos mayor, has brought forward a more aggressive approach to public health - Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

San Franciscos approach to drugs has historically been one of harm reduction  a policy approach focused on safer usage.

Groups hand out clean paraphernalia to smoke fentanyl as a strategy to stop people from injecting it. For one year in 2022, the city operated The Tenderloin Center, which supervised drug usage as part of a series of trial measures to tackle the crisis.

In 2020, the Department of Health issued an ad campaign trying to encourage drug users not to take drugs alone. A billboard with a photograph of people looking like they were having a great time at a party read: Do it with Friends.

But Mayor Lurie is changing tack.

In April, he announced that non-profits that rely on grants will no longer be permitted to distribute harm reduction supplies in the citys public spaces. These supplies can still be distributed inside, but only if the organisations connect users to recovery programmes.

In February, Matt Dorsey, health department supervisor, introduced the Recovery First Ordinance which will direct the city to fund abstinence-based treatment.

The shift reflects the fact that drugs are at the core of San Franciscos homelessness problem.

By the time you get to the street, if youre not addicted to drugs, you sure as hell turn to drugs, says Tom Wolf, at the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions, who is a former addict himself.

A Tenderloin street corner in 2020. Homelessness and Covid hit the city badly - REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

The arrival of fentanyl on San Franciscos streets turbocharged what was already a crisis. The synthetic opioid, which is up to 100 times stronger than heroin and far cheaper, became the citys primary drug by 2021.

All of a sudden we went from a couple of hundred overdose deaths in a year to 720, says Wolf.

In the first seven months of 2023, the SFPD seized 123kg of drugs just in the Tenderloin District, including 80kg of fentanyl. This will be just a fraction of what was actually consumed.

But at least it is now being seized. Jenkins thinks San Francisco will be back to where it was before the pandemic within a couple of years.

From a public safety standpoint, in another year we will be in a better position. But what is going to take some time is getting business back. This is an ecosystem.

AI-driven boom

Improved public safety is helping to bring companies and investment back to San Francisco. So is the AI industry.

It feels like were at the edge of the next boom, says Rebecca Prozan, of sf.citi, a local tech industry body.

Ted Egan, the chief economist at the City and County of San Francisco, says AI companies are driving as much as 40pc of new office leasing.

Silicon Valley is just in the early phase of doing something new, and people are talking about AI the way they talked about the internet 30 years ago, says Egan.

Last autumn, OpenAI finalised an agreement for a 315,000 sq ft office building, taking its total occupancy in the city up to 1m sq ft. In November, Microsoft will bring its flagship Ignite conference to San Francisco for the first time.

San Franciscos office vacancy rate is still high but it has declined for the last two quarters in a row after a new surge in leasing, according to CBRE. During the first three months of 2025, 2.9m sq ft of office space was leased in San Francisco, the highest quarterly total since mid 2019.

2505 Office vacancy rates are falling from post-Covid peak

Connor Kidd, the chief executive of The Swig Company, a real estate investor, says his companys leasing activity has nearly tripled compared to a year ago. We are clearly seeing momentum. There has been a really noticeable shift starting in January this year.

Companies are finally calling workers back to the office. In October, Salesforce, San Franciscos largest employer, began requiring that many of its employees work at least four days a week in the office.

There was a big surge of energy after that and then everyone said, OK, were going to do it too, says Kidd. In February, Gap announced that it wanted its employees to return to a five-day working week in the office by September.

Mayor Lurie is also driving a new sense of optimism in the business community.

I went to an event a few weeks ago that was hosted by a large brokerage firm and when he showed up he got a standing ovation. He hadnt even spoken yet, but people were excited that he was there, says Kidd. And then after he spoke, he got another standing ovation.

In April, the mayor announced the formation of the San Francisco Development Corporation, a private non-profit that will raise money to develop the central business district. Its board members include Meg Whitman, the former eBay chief executive.

While San Franciscos office vacancy rate is still high, it has declined for the last two quarters - Gabriela Hasbun

Lurie has also launched Partnership for San Francisco, a group of chief executives who will work with City Hall on business policy as part of Luries open for business campaign.

Dan Safier, the chief executive of the Prado Group, a real estate investor, says: The city is definitely in the beginning of a recovery and the new Lurie administration is creating the conditions that will encourage investment.

Events are coming back. The city will host 32 conference events this year, which will drive 700,000 hotel night bookings  nearly a 50pc jump year on year.

We turned a corner this year, says Anna Marie Presutti, the chief executive of the SF Travel Association.

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CHICAGO (Reuters) -Flight attendants at United Airlines have reached a tentative agreement with the company for a new contract, their union said on Friday.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents United's flight attendants, said the deal provides industry-leading compensation and retroactive pay.

The agreement is estimated to result in a financial gain of 40% for the flight attendants in the very first year of the new contract, it added.

United's cabin crews, who filed for federal mediation in 2023, were demanding a double-digit base pay increase, higher pay for time at work including time on the ground, retroactive pay, schedule flexibility and work rule improvements in their new contract.

They had authorized their union to call a strike if negotiators failed to reach an agreement.

United's cabin crews have not had a raise since 2020.

The union said its leaders will meet next week to review the full details of the agreement. If the leadership approves the tentative deal, it will be sent for a ratification vote.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Nia Williams)
For decades, Connecticut residents have complained about the price of housing.

Whether a recent college graduate seeking an apartment or a young family trying to buy their first house, prices have been seen as too high.

With those problems as a backdrop, the state legislature is considering providing incentives to build more affordable housing as Democrats and Republicans have disagreed sharply over the best way of doing that.

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They clashed last week over a 92-page omnibus bill with 51 sections that makes parking reforms, helps the homeless population, and offers incentives to build affordable housing. The measure relaxes parking requirements in order to spur new housing, but the two sides disagreed over whether that would solve the problem.

Lawmakers had expected to debate on Thursday, but the bill was being rewritten amid concerns from moderate Democrats and a threatened filibuster by Republicans that could have stretched overnight. The debate now has been postponed until Tuesday.

House majority leader Jason Rojas, an East Hartford Democrat, has worked on the issue for years as the prices of rental apartments and mortgages have continued to increase.

I have been described as being impatient with the pace of change on housing policy, and I am because of what you see around our state in terms of the lack of affordability, Rojas told reporters before the debate. For families that are stable in their housing, they are still paying a lot of money towards it. We obviously have a growing homeless population that I think we should all be concerned about. Thats really what is driving me because if we dont do something today, 10 years from now, the situation will be far worse than it is today.

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Rojas added, It takes a long time to get housing built.  Im really trying to meet everybody somewhere in the middle to advance a policy that helps us get more housing built.

In the past, Rojas has described the housing progress as painfully incremental, but he says now that his view is different this year.

Its still incremental, but not painfully, he said, adding that the latest measure is an incremental step in the right direction.

The bill, Rojas said, reflects the priorities of Democrats in the House and Senate, along with Gov. Ned Lamont, who supports the measure. The legislation was named as House Bill 5002 to show that it is a high priority among House bills that start with the number 5000.

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But Republicans are skeptical.

House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford said the multi-pronged housing problem is much broader due to the legislatures past decisions on raising taxes and passing legislation that did not help the business climate.

Weve seen good-paying jobs leave the state of Connecticut, Candelora told reporters. Large companies like GE and Lego move their headquarters out of our state, being replaced by Amazon warehouse workers. It is no longer affordable for those type of jobs for those individuals to live here. We certainly do have an affordability issue, but weve got to look more broadly at the policies they are passing to cause us to have economic loss in the state of Connecticut.

Parking as major issue

A nonpartisan summary says the bill allows residential or mixed-use development on lots zoned for commercial use to be developed if it meets certain requirements. Republicans are concerned about that idea, saying that housing should not be built in areas with gasoline stations, propane tanks, and polluted properties.

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In addition, the bill prevents development applications from being rejected by local planning or zoning commissions on the basis that they do not conform with off-street parking requirements.

A lack of minimum parking, lawmakers said, can lead to other problems in towns.

Currently, towns across the state have minimum, mandatory parking requirements, said Rep. Joe Zullo, an East Haven Republican. As I read the bill, that applies to commercial and residential uses.  Do you want a big box store or a busy restaurant or some other type of commercial use around the corner from you, and you not being able to tell them they have to have a certain amount of parking?

Candelora said there was a similar problem in his hometown when the local planning and zoning commission granted an exemption to allow a pizza restaurant to open next to an elementary school without sufficient parking. The diners started parking in the schools parking lot, but eventually the restaurant closed due to the parking problems.

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This bill is going to make that story a common-day occurrence, Candelora predicted.

Parking restrictions traditionally vary from town to town, thus blocking a one-size-fits-all solution. The parking concerns are starkly different from downtown Hartford to rural areas in Litchfield County or eastern Connecticut.

Lawmakers could not even agree on the impact of the bill. While Republicans maintained that the legislation would take away local control, Rojas said that was not true.

The debate could easily have lasted 10 hours on the original bill as Rep. Doug Dubitsky, a Republican attorney, had filed 22 amendments alone, Candelora said. He had not seen an updated version of the bill but was hoping to view a new version over the holiday weekend in order to be prepared when the House reconvenes on Tuesday morning.

Racing against time

Besides the merits of the bill, top lawmakers are highly concerned about how many hours the debate will last because extra lengthy debates can crowd out the time that is needed to pass other key bills as lawmakers race toward the June 4 adjournment date.

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House Speaker Matt Ritter, a Hartford Democrat who controls the agenda, keeps a close eye on the clock in the final days as numerous lawmakers want their bills on a wide variety of issues to pass in a scramble before the midnight adjournment.

Weve got a big bill every day that could be easily a big talker from now until we get out of here, Ritter told reporters. Chairs have to understand. Sometimes I think the public has this perception that every bill thats not called was because Jason and I did not like it or there was a vote-count problem. Time is the enemy at this point.  We always take the hit for it, but sometimes its just not ready for us to put on the board  or the amendment is not ready.

Traditionally, the Republicans gain power in the final days of the session because they can delay bills through long debates.

Im going to try to assist them, Candelora said. Look, we dont agree with what the Democrats are doing, and were going to point out all the bad policies. But theres only so many bills that were going to be able to do based on members of my caucus who are willing to fight these.

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Amid the back and forth, Lamonts spokesman, Rob Blanchard, said that he is on board with the original, detailed bill.

The governor appreciates the legislature making accommodations to their housing bill to include some of his priorities, which include removing local barriers to housing development, while allowing municipalities the ability to maintain control, Blanchard said. Connecticuts housing supply is constrained at a time when our housing needs should be keeping up with demand and affording families the opportunity for home ownership. As there is no one-size-fits-all approach to addressing the housing shortage, this legislation will encourage better collaboration between the private sector, who build residences, and local leadership.

Homeless

In efforts to address all levels of the housing crisis, Democrats are also calling for a pilot program for mobile, portable showers that would travel from town to town to help the homeless.

In addition, Rojas is pushing for helping public housing authorities that are controlled by local communities.

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For me, Im going back to public housing, Rojas told reporters. Its a policy that weve long forgotten about.  Theres so much focus on local control. Housing authorities are made up of people who live in those communities. They are the ones who are truly building housing for that population of people that Im most concerned about, which are families that are 0 to 30% of the area median income  the poorest of the poor.

Rojas added, The private marketplace is not going to do anything for those individuals, and I think its appropriate for the government to step in and try to secure housing for those people who are at the most vulnerability of being homeless.

On the other end of the housing spectrum, prices have increased in recent years due to relatively few homes on the market with some buyers entering into bidding wars. The bidding has prompted buyers to pay above the asking price for Greenwich mansions to New Haven condominiums to Greater Hartford homes.

In Simsbury, a five-bedroom home with a three-car garage sold in April 2024 for nearly $800,000, which was $170,000 over the asking price. The homeowner received 27 offers, including many that were above the asking price, and the house was sold within one week to the highest bidder.

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Regarding the answer to solving the problem, Republican Rep. Thomas ODea of New Canaan, one of the states wealthiest and most expensive communities, said that towns should be allowed the right of first refusal to buy property that could be used for affordable housing. Prices can reach $1 million per acre in the upscale Fairfield County town, he said.

Theres no incentive to builders, ODea said. The state has not helped us build affordable housing in New Canaan. Weve had to do it all on our own. The state needs to incentivize towns and help them.  My proposal does work. Thats the answer.

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com
A 25-year-old man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder stemming from a shooting that erupted during an argument between multiple individuals and left six people injured late Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colorado, according to police.

The suspect was identified as Deomni Myers, who is charged with attempted first-degree murder in connection with the shooting that unfolded northeast of downtown Colorado Springs, police said in a statement released Monday on social media.

Myers was taken into custody after he turned himself in, according to police.

PHOTO: Deomni Myers in police booking photo. (Colorado Springs Police Department)

MORE: Shooting on South Carolina charter boat leaves 11 injured: Police

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At least one victim was hospitalized in critical condition, while others injured in the shooting were in stable condition, according to an online statement Sunday from the Colorado Springs Police Department.

PHOTO: Police in Colorado Springs, Colorado, investigate a shooting, May 24, 2025, that left several people injured. (KRDO) (KRDO)

The shooting occurred just after 11 p.m. local time on Potter Street in a residential neighborhood, according to police. Several 911 callers reported a "disturbance involving shots fired," according to the police statement.

"When officers arrived on scene, they found several individuals with gunshot wounds," police said.

Four gunshot victims were taken to hospitals by ambulance and two arrived at emergency rooms in personal vehicles, police said.

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"At this time, this appears to have started as an argument between multiple people that [led] to shots being fired," the police statement said.

A motive for the shooting remains under investigation and the Colorado Springs Police Department said anyone with information about the incident should contact detectives.

Arrest made in Colorado Springs shooting that injured 6: Police originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
DENVER (KDVR)  Six people were shot Saturday night in Colorado Springs during what 911 callers said was an active shooter, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department.

The call came in around 10:12 p.m. Saturday in the 1400 block of Potter Drive, police said in a Sunday morning press release. At this time, the shooting appears to have started from an argument, police said.

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Arriving officers found several individuals with gunshot wounds, and at least four people were transported to hospitals. Two more people arrived at hospitals by personal vehicles.

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Police said one victim is in critical condition, and Colorado Springs Police Departments Homicide unit is investigating.

FOX31s Kasia Kerridge arrived at the scene the next morning on Sunday to find the large scene still active with dozens of evidence markers across the area.

It wasnt stopping: Neighbors react to shooting

One neighbor told Kerridge at the scene she could see multiple people still injured when she went to see what happened.

When I came outside, people were still laying on the ground, Kendre Thunstrom said. It was terrible. Bodies everywhere, people were groaning, moaning.

Thunstrom said her daughter ran out to try and help victims, and when asked how many shots she heard, it was tons.

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It wasnt stopping, and it was so scary, she said. Ive witnessed drive-bys or whatever before. This was, it was terrible. It wasnt stopping.

Thunstrom said children live in the apartment complex nearby, and she cant believe someone would open fire there.

I pray they get a lot of time because this is ridiculous, Thunstrom said. Theres children over here, theres children who play out here daily. Youre going to open fire in a community where theres babies? Terrible.

Police have not released any suspect information. Anyone with additional information regarding this incident can call 719-444-7000 or Pikes Peak Crime Stoppers at 719-634-7867.

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When I look back on the aftermath of the George Floyd murder five years ago, I recall the weeks after the 9/11 attacks and how New Yorkers responded.

Gone was the discord and rudeness that is often synonymous with the Big Apple. In its place was a spirit of unity and kindness, a solidarity born out of unspeakable tragedy.

That didnt last long. Before you could say Freedom Tower or Homeland Security, New Yorkers were back to minding their own business and fighting each other over parking spaces.

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So, too, it is with George Floyd. We were promised a reckoning. What we got was a rewind.

George Floyds murder shook the world  but shaking the world is not enough, Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said in a statement. Did we seize the moment to build a lasting movement, or did we squander the chance for transformative change?

Morials venerable organization, as old and important as any civil rights organization, is behind a new report that examines the years since Floyds murder, a study that asks the haunting question: Was it a movement or a moment?

It certainly started off as a movement.

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Floyd, an unarmed Black man, died May 25, 2020 on Memorial Day, when cops in Minneapolis were arresting him for allegedly passing a counterfeit bill at a grocery store.

Cellphone video showed one of the white cops, Derek Chauvin, pressing his knee into Floyds neck for more than nine minutes while the other officers looked on.

Floyd suffocated after telling his tormentors he could not breathe. Yet it took four days before Chauvin was finally arrested. He was later convicted of murder.

In the weeks and months after the murder, there were protests across the country, and promises of police reform. But instead of real change, we settled for superficial handouts.

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We got statues of Confederate generals removed.

We got Netflix to show more Black movies.

We got Amazon to sell more books about the African American experience.

We got Aunt Jemimas portrait off the pancake box.

We got Uncle Bens picture off the boxes of rice.

We got Gone With the Wind off HBO.

We got newspapers to capitalize the B in Black.

What we didnt get was the cops in Memphis convicted for beating Tyre Nichols to death.

Among the highlights of the Urban League report is how how initial outrage over Floyds death sparked corporate pledges of more than $66 billion for racial justice programs.

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Corporations, higher education institutions and non-profits all chipped in to fund the fight against systemic racism.

But those same programs, especially in the months since President Trump returned to the White House, have faced increasing backlash, underlined by recent executive orders eliminating federal diversity programs.

According to the National Urban League, DEI job postings declined 44% from 2022 to 2023, and major companies like Google and Meta scaled back programs supporting Black talent.

Morial, a former mayor of New Orleans, said the report is a sobering reflection on Americas racial justice journey.

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Five steps forward, three steps back, Morial told NBC News after his organizations report came out. Im disappointed, and somewhat shaken by the idea that commitments so significant and so powerful were made and now, too many are backing off.

And the change from reckoning to rewind seems to have happened overnight. One day were saying that Black Lives Matter, and the next day were fighting for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Translation: It might get worse before it gets better.

That is the risk, Morial said, that its five steps forward and eight, nine, 10 steps back.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Theres not much to like about blue-green algae. The algal blooms stink, they can shut down beaches and they pose a health threat for people and pets alike.

A research team at Central Michigan University is working on a tool to help mitigate the damages caused by harmful algal blooms by speeding up the testing process and making them more affordable  and thus available  for the public.

Algae is most common in the summer. During periods of warm temperatures and lots of sun, algae can thrive, particularly in water with high nutrient levels. Runoff, especially from farms and other agricultural areas, can be particularly bad, dumping excess amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus into the water to feed the algae.

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The primary issue is figuring out whether the algal bloom is harmful or not. Not all forms of blue-green algae are toxic. Only certain species produce the toxins that can trigger potentially deadly illnesses.

Cyanobacteria grow in various spots in the Great Lakes region. When theres high nutrient levels, high water temperatures, you get these blooms, lead researcher Eric Petersen told News 8. And when that happens, they spit out this toxin, cyanotoxins. One of the most common ones is microcystin. So thats our aim  to develop a new method of detecting the toxin for that chemical.

On Lake Erie, getting rid of problem algae starts with giving it less food

Petersen, an assistant professor with CMUs College of Medicine, leads the project. He said the current testing process is expensive and inefficient.

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EGLE, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, conducts tests across the state when it receives reports of algal blooms. Last year alone, they found 36 harmful algal blooms in Michigan, including three on Muskegon Lake, two on Mona Lake and one on Spring Lake. Lake Erie, a known hot spot for blue-green algae, had 10 on the Michigan side alone.

Algae collects on portions of Lake Michigan at Holland State Park on June 30, 2021.

Unfortunately, sometimes it takes upward of two weeks to get confirmed results back. Other portable tests are much faster, he said, but are not very accurate.

There are some portable test kits, but theyre not super reliable for detecting microcystin, especially at the lower end of the range that would (still be) considered harmful to humans or wildlife or livestock, he said.

Ask Ellen: Is the algae Im seeing toxic?

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The first step, he said, is developing a reliable test that doesnt require a lab to deliver results. The plan: bioluminescence.

Our goal was to create a protein-based sensor that produces bioluminescence in the presence of this toxin, Petersen explained. Basically, it will give off a light to let people know not only that there is algae in the water, but that its not safe algae, either.

The second step is to come up with a way to manufacture the tests at a reasonable rate so the tests can be reasonably affordable for the public. Petersen said researchers still have a long road ahead of them.

The current challenge is finding funding. The team has already used a grant from the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute for nearly $15,000 to do some of the legwork. It will continue to push for federal funding, possibly from the National Science Foundation, to keep working on the prototype.

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How the CMU logo found its way into the Smithsonian

There are several warning signs to look for when out for a swim or playing near the water. The water will look scummy or like spilled paint or pea soup.

If a person has contact or swallows water containing cyanotoxins, they may experience a variety of symptoms, including stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, weakness, headaches, dizziness and difficulty breathing.

Pets can also react to toxins and typically show symptoms before humans. If your pet has had contact with contaminated water and shows similar symptoms along with excessive drooling or staggered walking, residents are encouraged to contact a local veterinarian.

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If you or a pet have been exposed to a harmful algal bloom, experts recommend you shower or bathe immediately. You should also reach out to your local medical provider or poison control.

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Lewis & Clark president speaks out on Trumps actions against higher education

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  On April 22, college presidents across the country signed a letter to the Trump administration denouncing the executive actions threatening higher education funding.

Entitled A Call for Constructive Engagement, the letter came out against unprecedented government overreach and political interference and coercive use of public research funding in higher education.

More than 300 college and university presidents have signed the letter, including several here in Oregon.

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Lewis & Clark President Robin Holmes-Sullivan was among the first to sign it. She is the 26th president of the college, taking the helm in 2022 after stints at the University of California and the University of Oregon. She is also Lewis & Clarks first female president, and person of color to have the title.

Holmes-Sullivan joined Eye on Northwest Politics to discuss how Lewis & Clark and others are fighting back against these actions by the Trump administration.

Watch the full interview in the video above.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys has called for a strong response to the Russian Federations large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine.

Source: Budrys on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: Budrys described Russias night attack on Ukraine as "a show of sheer brutality".

"Over 250 Shahed drones, 14 ballistic missiles and innocent lives lost. This wasnt just an attack. It was a message of impunity," the diplomat said.

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He emphasised that the response must be "stronger than Russian aggression".

"More military support and weapons to Ukraine, harsher sanctions and isolation of Russia. Appeasement isnt a path towards peace  its a permission to continue the aggression," Budrys stated.

Background:

Meanwhile, former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis sarcastically recalled that Ukraine had been promised Taurus missiles and crushing sanctions against the Russian Federation.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also called on the international community  particularly the United States  not to remain silent, and to step up pressure on the Kremlin.

On the night of 24-25 May, Poland scrambled fighter jets in response to Russias large-scale missile attack on Ukrainian territory.

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Following Russias latest massive missile attack on Ukraine, former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has tweeted a sarcastic reminder of the new German chancellors as-yet-unfulfilled promise to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine and the pledge by Western countries to impose crippling sanctions on Russia.

Source: Landsbergis on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: Landsbergis is known for his outspoken criticism of Russian aggression against Ukraine, and he didnt hold back. He posted the message on Sunday after a night of extensive Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian cities and villages.

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"Hello, sorry to disturb you, but have you heard anything about Taurus and those crippling sanctions? Let me know, thanks," Landsbergis said.

Background:

Before taking office, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had criticised his predecessor Olaf Scholz for refusing to supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles. He even proposed an ultimatum to Vladimir Putin, stating that if Putin did not cease attacks on Ukraine within 24 hours, Kyiv would receive the missiles.

After assuming office, Merz altered his stance, stating that any decision on missiles would be made in coordination with allies. He also indicated that he preferred not to discuss specific weapons systems for Ukraine publicly.

On 10 May, during a visit to Kyiv, the leaders of France, the UK, Poland and Germany demanded that Russia halt its attacks for an extended period from 12 May, threatening massive sanctions if it failed to comply.

But the worlds attention then shifted to the peace talks in Istanbul, which yielded no significant outcomes, and the European leaders made no further mention of their ultimatum.

The US Senate frequently threatens devastating sanctions against Russia for rejecting peace, but no substantial new restrictions have been implemented.

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Victims of the May 16 tornado were honored Friday night at the second prayer vigil held at the London-Corbin Airport a week after the disaster.

"We want to honor every name that we've lost through this devastation," said London Mayor Randall Weddle.

Christy Wagers read the 17 names aloud.

Confirmed victims include 88-year-old Ray Kenneth Cowan, 76-year-old Bobby W. Tillman, 74-year-old June Fisher, 73-year-old Bernice Tillman, 73-year-old Richard D. McFall, 72-year-old Linda Sweet, 71-year-old Garry Sweet, 69-year-old Nancy Clem, 68-year-old Sherri Smith, 67-year-old Pamela Mason, 67-year-old Darlene Miller, 65-year-old Wanda G. McGall, 63-year-old Kenneth G. Elliott, 58-year-old Leslie Roger Leatherman, 50-year-old Elisha (Lisa) Fortney, 48-year-old Tiffany Heim, and 25-year-old Marshall Miracle.

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"In this moment of reflection, we pause to honor our neighbors, our family members, our friends, and our loved ones who were lost," Wagers stated. "Their memories live on in our hearts and their absences are felt deeply."

Mayor Weddle shared that one man also took his own life following the storm, though he did not identify the man.

"This is the moment that we need to stand up and say, when you feel hopeless, there's hope. When you feel broken, there's somebody that can raise you up. When youre at your lowest, there's somebody that can take you by the hand and lift you to higher heights, and it's Jesus Christ," he said.

Weddle thanked those who played a role in saving lives and restoring power the night of the tornado.

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"There's one department that I want to highlight tonight in this vigil, and that's the London-Laurel County Rescue Squad," he stated. "They were absolutely phenomenal when this storm hit."

Weddle also recognized those who are not first responders, but still saved lives.

"We thank you for saving that life," Weddle stated. "We thank you for your bravery as well."

State Representative Timmy Truett spoke at the vigil, sharing he'd never seen anything like the destruction he saw when driving through the area last Saturday.

"After I drove through, I had to give God glory because at that time, there was only 17 people," Rep. Truett stated. "For those of you that's walked through this destruction, to fathom that there was only 17 lives lost, I mean, we have to give God the glory for that."

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Pastor Jerry Lewis of Freedom Christian Fellowship Church led attendees in prayer and offered words of encouragement.

"This is going to be one of the greatest releases of revival I believe we have ever witnessed," said Lewis. "I believe in my heart that God's about to do a turnaround here in London."

Standing behind speakers was a special visitor holding a large cross. Dan Beazley of Michigan traveled to the vigil after watching the first one from home. Beazley had been in London earlier that week, but felt called to return after seeing the recording  calling London an "amazing community."

This was not Beazley's first time visiting a community following a natural disaster. He has also shown his support after hurricanes in Florida, as well as the 2021 tornado that hit Mayfield, Kentucky, and the 2022 flooding in eastern Kentucky.

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"This is the message that they needed to turn to," Beazley stated, motioning to his cross.

Mayor Weddle closed the vigil by highlighting how the community has come together.

"This has been life-changing for me," Weddle stated. "Never in my life have I seen such devastation, but at the same time, I've never seen God work so powerfully like he has in this community."
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (WTNH)  The Italian American Club of Middletown hosted their second-annual meatball contest on Saturday.

Several local restaurants participated, competing for pride and the title of  Best Meatball.

Feast of Saint Sebastian begins in Middletown

It cant be too hard, its gotta have a lot of flavor to it, its gotta have a good sauce on it.. and it cant be  when you put that knife into it, or that fork, it cant stop, said Jay Polke, The Flavor Master. Its gotta go right into it. Its a good fundraiser for the club, to pay some of the bills here, and Im happy that they selected me as a judge.

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Organizers hope to make the event an annual tradition after last years success.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com.
By Steve Holland and Svea Herbst-Bayliss

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday expressed support for Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel, saying their "planned partnership" would create jobs and help the American economy.

Shares of U.S. Steel soared 21% as investors interpreted Trump's post on Truth Social to mean Nippon Steel had received his approval for its long-planned takeover, the last major hurdle for the deal.

"This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

This week, Reuters reported that Nippon Steel has said if the merger is approved, it would invest $14 billion into U.S. Steel's operations, including up to $4 billion in a new steel mill.

Trump added that the bulk of that investment would occur in the next 14 months and said he would hold a rally at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh next Friday.

U.S. Steel praised Trump's leadership.

"U.S. Steel will remain American, and we will grow bigger and stronger through a partnership with Nippon Steel that brings massive investment, new technologies, and thousands of jobs," the company said in a statement.

Nippon Steel also applauded Trump's decision. "The partnership is a game changer - for U.S. Steel and all of its stakeholders, including the American steel industry, and the broader American manufacturing base," the Japanese company said in a statement on Saturday.

A Nippon Steel spokesperson in Tokyo declined to comment on the $14 billion investment and the 14-month timeline that Trump cited.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the announcement. It is unclear whether Trump's term "partnership" refers to the full acquisition Nippon Steel has been pursuing.

For Japan's top steelmaker, the deal is core to its global expansion strategy, lifting production to 86 million metric tons from 63 million tons now - especially at a time when domestic demand is declining.

The merger would create the world's third-largest steel producer by volume, following China's Baowu Steel Group and Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, according to World Steel Association data.

U.S. Steel kept rising after hours, hitting $54, just shy of the $55 per share that Nippon Steel offered in late 2023. While no details were released, investors expressed confidence that terms will be similar to those agreed in 2023. Investors said that eventually U.S. Steel will no longer be publicly traded and they will receive a cash payout for their shares.
If you can't beat them  eat them?

That seems to be the philosophy behind an annual bounty program on offer in Maryland, where a nonprofit pays anglers to catch invasive fish species, Chesapeake Bay Magazine reported.

Those who turn in the body or head (fresh or frozen) of a northern snakehead, blue catfish, or flathead catfish receive $30 under the Reel Rewards Program. Only invasive species caught within the Baltimore Harbor area of the Patapsco River qualify.

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The 2025 Reel Rewards Program runs from April 26 through July 12, per Chesapeake Bay Magazine. One need not be a resident of the area to participate.

The program serves the dual purpose of removing invasive species from local waterways and providing important research data about the prevalence of non-native fish.

"Invasive fish species threaten the Baltimore Harbor ecosystem, economy, and native species," explains the Reel Rewards website. "Invasive Snakehead, Blue Catfish, and Flathead Catfish prey on and compete for resources with native species that are important to anglers and businesses."

The program pays $30 for each qualifying fish. In 2024, it paid out almost $9,000, per Chesapeake Bay Magazine. The leading angler, Brian Slacum, turned in 134 snakeheads, earning over $4,000.

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Perhaps having learned its lesson, Reel Rewards placed a bounty limit of 12 fish per week per angler in 2025. Those participating in the program must obtain an appropriate fishing license and comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

Despite the efforts, the invasive species have shown few signs of relenting.

"We have been hitting the same spots for years," Slacum told Chesapeake Bay Magazine. "Each year seems to produce more and more of the snakehead."

Due in large part to increasing global temperatures, invasive species have been on the rise around the world, causing an estimated $423 billion in economic losses annually.

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Invasive species outcompete native plants and animals, upsetting the delicate balance of local ecosystems, which threatens food supplies on which humans depend.

If you aren't an angler within range of Baltimore Harbor, there are other steps you can take to protect your local environment from the threat of invasive species. Upgrading to a native lawn, rewilding your yard, or simply planting a few native plants can save water, time, and money while helping the local ecosystem.

As for whether the invasive fish caught in Baltimore Harbor are safe to eat, Reel Rewards warns: "It depends. Follow the [Maryland Department of Environment] consumption guidelines to ensure safety in preparation and consumption of fish."

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.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)  Western Massachusetts residents experienced all kinds of weather on Saturday, from rain and wind to bits of sunshine.

Salsa dance series to be held in Northampton all summer long

As soon as the showers passed, people enjoyed their time outdoors and headed to downtown Springfield for some fun. The clouds and rain didnt stop locals from enjoying the sunshine that came out of Saturday afternoon. When the sun was shining, people didnt shy away from heading outdoors for what seemed like a summer day.

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Its close to home, a beautiful day, you know, said Ashley Adams of East Longmeadow. We just wanted to enjoy the weather for a little bit.

Gone fishing seemed to be the theme of the day, taking the time to relax and enjoy what nature has to offer. As soon as the sun set, people headed to Student Prince in downtown Springfield for Sommerfest.

Sommerfest at Student Prince takes place every Saturday. The event, known as the unofficial kickoff to summer, serves as a good time and place to celebrate with friends over traditional German food and beverages.

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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WASHINGTON  An unexpected name kept coming up as House Republicans crafted their multi-trillion-dollar legislative package slashing taxes for the wealthy and Medicaid: Bill Clinton.

On the House floor, during committee hearings and in hallway interviews, several Republicans have justified their Medicaid cuts by pointing to the Democrat who served as the 42nd president of the United States.

We are reintroducing Clinton-era work requirements, Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.) said in a floor speech last week. One of the most popular things Bill Clinton achieved in his presidency, and he worked with Congress to get it done, was bringing common-sense work requirements to social welfare programs.

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Work requirements  better understood as benefit limits for the unemployed  are the centerpiece of Medicaid and food benefit cuts Republicans are using to offset part of the cost of tax cuts at the heart of their so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. Work requirements were the core of a 1996 welfare reform bill that Clinton signed into law.

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There is, however, little evidence work requirements actually encourage unemployed Medicaid or SNAP recipients to find jobs and lots of evidence they bombard aid recipients with paperwork, causing even some employed people to lose benefits when they cant keep up. Their return is one of several bitter pills Democrats are swallowing as the GOP advances a bill amounting to a massive redistribution of wealth from poor to rich.

Just a few years ago, Democrats seemed to be escaping the 1990s politics of welfare, in which the government can help poor people only after a state-federal bureaucracy has vetted their deservingness. Now, theyre watching Republicans repeatedly invoke a Democrat to justify health care coverage cuts that will result in millions of people losing health insurance and food benefits.

I think work is really important in America, and Democrats need to stand up for the value of work, and we should be encouraging work, Robert Gordon, a former Clinton White House aide who is now a fellow at Georgetown Universitys McCourt School of Public Policy, told HuffPost. But taking away peoples health care and food benefits is not the way to do it, and its a completely different animal from what was debated 30 years ago.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks to the media after the House narrowly passed a bill last week forwarding President Donald Trump's agenda at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images

Republicans originally wanted the Medicaid work requirements to start in 2029 as part of a package of changes saving nearly $700 billion over a decade. Hardliners demanded the start date be moved up to December 2026, a key concession that helped the bill pass Thursday morning.

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Even though the work requirements will obviously cut federal spending, Republicans say they dont count as cuts, and therefore that they are fulfilling Trumps pledge not to touch Medicaid. Under their logic, people will make their own deliberate decisions to disenroll from Medicaid because they would simply rather not document 20 hours per week of community engagement. The paperwork hassle and availability of suitable work arent part of the equation.

Bill Clinton proposed work requirements. This isnt like some crazy conservative idea, Rep. Nick Lalota (R-N.Y.), a moderate who vocally opposed Medicaid cuts, told HuffPost on the Capitol steps earlier this month. (All the moderates wound up voting for the bill except for another New York Republican, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, who missed the vote because he fell asleep.)

Were restoring Medicaid for the people who rely on it, putting in requirements for people to work that can work, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) told HuffPost after the bill passed the House. Thats what the Democrats used to be, right? Its kind of sad that theyre so extreme. They dont want people to work.

Moreno and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) are MAGA populists insistent that the Big Beautiful Bill not cut Medicaid. Even for them, work requirements dont count as cuts.

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If you can work and youre not working, you should be working. We dont want to pay people not to work, Hawley said.

The law Clinton signed rebranded the old Aid to Families with Dependent Children program as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, capping its federal costs, imposing time limits on benefits and encouraging states to shrink enrollment through a system of work requirements. Participation plummeted, and so did child poverty, prompting Clinton and others to declare the reforms a success.

In later years, much of the employment gains among single mothers and poverty reduction have been attributed to the strong economy of the late 1990s. When the Great Recession came around, TANF enrollment stayed low, and scholars noted there had been a rise in cashless poverty among people who should have been eligible for assistance, but got none. Fewer than 1 million families receive TANF benefits today, making it one of the federal governments least helpful social programs.

At a committee meeting last week, Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) entered into the record an article describing the apparent early success of the Clinton welfare reforms.

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The welfare-to-work side under Bill Clinton was a success, and we believe that this one will be as well, Scott said.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrive in January for the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the Capitol. Bloomberg via Getty Images

For a brief time, it seemed like welfare politics had changed. During the coronavirus pandemic, Republicans and Democrats agreed that everybody should get stimulus checks, regardless of whether they proved their deservingness through work. In 2021, Democrats seized the momentum and enacted a near-universal child benefit. For six months that year, most American parents received as much as $300 per child. Child poverty fell as the U.S. joined peer nations in recognizing the economic disadvantages facing parents.

Democrats failed to make the policy permanent, however, after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) refused to vote for it because he feared voters would see the money going to crackheads, i.e., the undeserving poor.

One irony of the Bill Clinton name-dropping is that while Republicans may like him as a mascot for work requirements, when it comes to the federal budget, theyre not following Clintons example. In the late 1990s, a strong economy, combined with restrained spending and a higher top marginal tax rate, converted federal budget deficits into annual surpluses. Even with its $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance, Republicans Big Beautiful Bill would add an extra $2 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

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In a speech on Thursday before the bill passed, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called out the Clinton surplus and widening deficits under Republican presidents.

My colleagues have the nerve to talk about fiscal responsibility, he said.

Gordon, the former White House aide from the Clinton administration, noted that the welfare reform law sought to boost workforce participation by providing flexible funds states could use to offer child care, transportation assistance and subsidized jobs. He also pointed out that the welfare reform law sought to mitigate the supposed evil of cash assistance  not in-kind benefits like health care.

Were not talking about people saying, Oh, Im not going to earn cash because I am getting it already. Instead, its, Im not going to earn cash because I have health insurance. Its a much weaker theory of the case, and theres a lot of evidence it is wrong, Gordon said.

Clinton, for his part, vetoed two welfare reform bills sent to his desk by a Republican Congress that he considered overly harsh on Medicaid and food stamps, as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program used to be called. Later, the former president told the journalist Jason DeParle, I thought there ought to be a national guarantee of health care and nutrition.
Firefighters used a rope to hoist a man who was stuck in a manhole to safety early Sunday morning.

The Los Angeles Fire Department stated that the technical rescue occurred around 2:15 p.m. in the 12400 block of Osborne Street in Pacoima. One man was stuck in a manhole when crews arrived.

Firefighters used a rope to hoist a man who was stuck in a manhole to safety early Sunday, May 25, 2025. (Citizen App) Firefighters used a rope to hoist a man who was stuck in a manhole to safety early Sunday, May 25, 2025. (Citizen App)

Using a rope system to reach the man, he was successfully hoisted to the surface for medical treatment. Video from the Citizen App shows a large law enforcement presence at the scene.

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More than 30 people arrested in Fullerton over the course of 48 hours, police say

LAFD did not disclose the mans condition.

It is also unknown how or why the man was in the manhole in the first place.

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When Tammika Thompson first heard about the fire at Louisianas Nottoway Plantation on May 15, she felt a surge of energy in her body as she recognized why the name was so familiar.

Her fathers family traces its roots to White Castle, where the plantation is based, and she believes some of her ancestors were enslaved there.

Its personal for me, Thompson said. Theres literally a heat I feel.

She wasnt the only one with a strong reaction. As images of the inferno and its aftermath circulated, some took to social media to bemoan the loss while others celebrated its destruction.

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The plantation, roughly 25 miles from Baton Rouge, was billed as the largest antebellum home still standing in the American South. And like so many other symbols of its era, it has become a Rorschach test for how residents grapple with the regions history. The fire there has revived a conversation about how properties born from slavery should be viewed  and how they should function today.

The Nottoway Plantation was one of the largest remaining antebellum homes in the South. (Dukas / Universal Images Group via Getty Images file)

Nottoway, a former sugar plantation, has been criticized for whitewashing the past. It is promoted as a 40-room resort with an outdoor pool and ideal for weddings. A history page on its website describes the names and sizes of century-old oak trees on the property named after the children of John Hampden Randolph, for whom the plantation was built, but fails to mention the history of the roughly 155 people who were enslaved there.

These are places where people bled, people sweated to build something that they could never actually have a piece of, said Eugene Lee-Johnson, a political science assistant professor at Southern University, who attended a senior prom at Nottoway in 2009, when the property was under different ownership. Plantations are basically graveyards as well.

Nottoways current owner, William Dan Dyess, an attorney who only recently purchased the property, declined to comment for this article.

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He told the New York Post that the fire appeared to be electrical. Though he acknowledged the plantations complicated history, he distanced himself from its legacy. We need to move forward on a positive note and we are not going to dwell on past racial injustice, he said.

Some plantations take a fundamentally different approach. For Ashley Rogers, executive director of the Whitney Plantation, a nonprofit museum in Wallace, Louisiana, confronting past injustice is a core part of her job. A memorial at the Whitney museum recognizes the hundreds of people who were once enslaved there by name. Its tour guides describe the punishments slaves faced for trying to escape, for instance, or reading. With very rare exceptions, it doesnt allow weddings on its grounds.

Rogers said she wasnt familiar with Nottoways operations but said it was important to offer plantation visitors a clear view of slavery. If you are telling a story on a plantation that does not center the Black experience, she said, youre not telling the truth of the plantation.

The Whitney Plantation focuses on the history of enslaved people, rather than serving as an event venue. (Gerald Herbert / AP file)

It isnt always easy. In March, President Donald Trump largely dismantled the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provided the Whitney Plantation with two grants. One, in partnership with the University of New Orleans and other institutions, helped fund an exhibit about resistance on plantations; the other helped pay for programming, including a virtual tour and a Juneteenth celebration.

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Though most of that funding had already been paid out, Rogers is concerned that the administrations crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs could preclude future grants. She recently decided not to apply for a $750,000 National Park Service grant for restoration work, in part because she assumed it would be off-limits.

A spokesperson for the Institute of Museum and Library Services said that the cuts were triggered by a push to shrink federal bureaucracy and werent targeted at the Whitney Plantation. A spokesperson for the National Park Service said it would be too speculative to discuss future funding.

Back in Iberville Parish, the Nottoway plantation may get a second life. Dyess told the New York Post that he hopes to rebuild. And certainly, there are those who would welcome its return.

One woman wrote on social media that she first fell in love with the plantation during a fourth grade field trip and would go on to spend her 20th wedding anniversary there.

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A Black woman who said she had worked as a tour guide at Nottoway wrote on Facebook that a visitor once asked how she felt about working there. I give these tours and let people see my face here to show that we have survived and thrived despite Americas inhumanity to us, she said.

The post went on to defend Nottoways existence. Especially now, when history is being whitewashed to exclude people like me, she wrote, we still need to have these places stand.

But some are more critical of Nottoway.

Andrea Livesey, a historian based in England who studies slavery, visited the plantation in 2019 when it was under the previous ownership. She said her tour guide wore period dress and rarely mentioned slavery. Its almost this Gone With the Wind style narrative, she said. I would describe it as an Old South theme park in the way that it was set up.

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Thompson, whose family is from White Castle, questioned the owners plans to rebuild.

Why re-erect a symbol of something that hurt so many people? she said. If it is rebuilt, she said she hopes it will pay homage to those who toiled there.

The Whitney Plantation opened in Wallace, La., in 2014. (Gerald Herbert / AP file)

Historians say plantations can be teaching tools, but that depends on how theyre run.

Jo Banner, a co-founder of The Descendants Project, a nonprofit organization that focuses on eradicating the legacies of slavery, said families like her own who trace their lineage to enslaved people arent always involved in the operations of the sites.

Alongside her twin sister, Joy, she acquired two pre-Civil War properties, including the Woodland Plantation in St. John the Baptist Parish. In 1811, a slave revolt, believed to be one of the largest in the countrys history, started at the plantation. The sisters plan to make the site into a museum that will tell its full history.

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Were not here to promote these sites as wedding venues, Banner said. Its not about the recreation; its about what they mean to our history and our future.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Loved ones are searching for a Southern California man who has been missing for over a week.

Justin Keith Gant, 38, was last heard from on May 15, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department.

He is known to frequent the area of Alamogordo and Bouquet Canyon Roads in Santa Clarita.

Gant is described as a white male standing 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. He has blue eyes, brown hair and a full beard.

Justin Keith Gant, 38, was last heard from on May 15, 2025. (Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department)

He has several distinct tattoos  the word Legend on his left cheek, a large tattoo of a woman across his chest, the word Margaret on his left wrist and a sleeve tattoo on his right arm.

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The L.A. County man, who is considered at risk, has depression, authorities said.

His family and loved ones have not heard from him since and are very concerned for his well-being.

Anyone who may know Gants whereabouts or has information on his disappearance is asked to call LASDs Missing Persons Unit at 323-890-5500.

Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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The boss of Marks & Spencer has revealed he went into shock upon learning about the cyber attack that crippled computer systems at the retailer.

Stuart Machin said he felt anxious when he was first informed late at night about the ransomware attack that hit the FTSE 100 companys systems last month.

But he insisted the ensuing chaos at the retailers stores did not represent a crisis and that it was more of a setback, a bump in the road.

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I went into shock. Its in the pit of your stomach, the anxiety. But you have to think: Stuart, you have to lead this, you have to keep a cool head, Mr Machin told the Mail on Sunday.

I dont know if I was calm. It was a mixture of emotions because I care, I put my life into transforming M&S. By day three I was going everywhere and talking to everyone. I spoke to every store manager.

He added: I wanted to put my energy into our customers, our colleagues, into getting the business on track.

M&S first revealed last month that it was struggling with the fallout of a cyber attack that had left customers unable to make contactless payments over the Easter weekend.

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The attack by hackers demanding a ransom also affected some of the companys digital stock systems, resulting in empty shelves in some of its stores. Bosses warned that it is expected to wipe 300m from the retailers profits.

Marks & Spencer was left with empty shelves after the cyber attack - Holly Williams/PA Wire

Shoppers were later also told they could not place orders online temporarily.

Mr Machin said M&S was working urgently to rebuild its computer systems but that restoring online clothes shopping may still take five or six weeks.

The incident had led him to accelerate the companys efforts to overhaul its digital infrastructure, he added, which was originally scheduled to take three years but may now only take a year and a half.

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He said: Everyone is way too obsessed with it taking too long. It is quite unfair.

I have always  when I have given updates  been brutally honest. I have managed expectations because I dont like going out with false hope.

He also insisted that M&S was well-prepared for cyber attacks but that ransomware  which often target employees with deceptions that encourage them to click malicious web links or download rogue files  was hard to prepare for.

The company has blamed human error for the hack.

I have learnt everyone is vulnerable. The hackers only need to be lucky once, Mr Machi added.

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M&S warned staff last week that some of their personal data were stolen in a cyber attack. Email addresses and full names were believed to have been taken.

The high street stalwart has also told customers to beware of scam calls and emails after admitting their data may have been breached as part of the heist as well.

It wrote to millions of its customers to tell them that details including contact information, dates of birth and order histories, as well as masked credit card information, may have been taken.

However, amid the setbacks, Mr Machin said he had been buoyed by support from customers including his friend Dame Joan Collins, who had posted a video of herself on social media visiting an M&S store after the attack.

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We have worked very hard to do the right thing and keep everyone up to date and informed, he added.

We are chins up, shoulders back, dust ourselves down. I want to look forward.

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When crazed gunman Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire on unsuspecting tourists enjoying the sun in a luxury Tunisian beach resort, those who werent shot before they could escape, ran for their lives.

Yet for holidaymaker Allen Pembroke, the thought of leaving injured people on the beach wasnt an option. After ensuring the safety of his wife, he returned, running towards the horror, not away from it.

That selfless decision would save the life of Cheryl Mellor, whod been shot and lay badly injured on the beach.

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Her husband, Stephen, was one of 38 victims gunned down that day on June 26 2015 in the ISIS-inspired attack that remains one of the deadliest Islamist attacks in recent history. Thirty of the victims were British.

Cheryl survived, thanks to the bravery and calm actions of Allen, then an NHS volunteer first-responder from Essex. Two years later, in 2017, he received the Queens Commendation for Bravery.

But nearly a decade on, Allen, now 71 and working part-time at a university after a successful career pioneering the first electric cabs in London  brushes off the title of hero with typical modesty.

Two years after the attack, Allen received the Queens Commendation for Bravery - Julian Simmonds

Given the same set of circumstances  god forbid  Id do it again, he says . I didnt want the exposure it brought. I just cant stand injustice or people being hurt.

Sense of unease

Allen and his then-wife Tracy had holidayed twice before at the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse. They deliberately avoided the school holidays to enjoy the resort at a quieter, more affordable time.

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At the start of the holiday Allen had tipped the staffer in charge of the sunbeds so he could bathe near the front of the beach each day.

But something didnt sit right as the holiday neared its end.

The previous day, Id said to Tracy, my ex-wife, whats he doing? because the sunbed guy was looking up and down the beach, ducking under umbrellas. His behaviour was really unusual. Im sure he must have known.

Now, he wasnt there at all. None of the locals were.

The vendors who sold fake glasses and cheap tat on the beach had disappeared.

Every day the Police were up and down the beach, either on their lovely Arab horses or on their quad bikes. You could set your clock by it. Bear in mind this was day six of seven and wed been there twice before.

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I just did not feel comfortable.

Allen says there was a strange atmosphere around the resort in the days leading up to the attack - Warren Allott/Telegraph

That feeling proved tragically accurate the next day.

A war zone

My gut was screaming at me that something wasnt right so when I heard the first shot, I knew it was gunfire. I grabbed Tracy. She said Its fireworks. I said, No its not and we started to run.

The bullets were literally whizzing over our heads. They were so close to us you could hear the sound and people were screaming. I could see the gunman with his weapon as I looked over my shoulder but it was for such a brief moment. It was such a blur.

As others ran to safety, Allen made sure Tracy was secure in their room  then did something few would have dared.

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I threw Tracy into the room and stood there for five or ten seconds and thought I knew I could help, he recalls. I said to Tracy Im going back out. She said, no youre not. I told her, Just stay there, lay on the floor, lock the door, dont open it, and then I ran from the room before she could say anything else.

By now, the resort had become a nightmare.

As I was running back towards the incident there were still people running off the beach but unfortunately, by then, there were deceased bodies on the beach. I started crawling around in the sand on my belly, looking for life. There was blood and bodies everywhere. It was like a war zone.

I was trying to feel for a pulse but no one was alive. Then I touched this one woman and she sort of murmured. Her face was covered in sand and her hand and forearm was about two metres away from her body, detached. It had been blown off completely.

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I asked her, Do you speak English? My name is Allen. Im here to help, she replied, yes Im Cheryl. I told her, Im here to help you.

Life-saving skills

Cheryl had suffered devastating injuries and lost a critical amount of blood. But she was alive  and she could speak. Allen did what he could with the meagre supplies he could find.

After pouring water over her face and giving her a drink, Allen found a scarf which he wrapped her arm up in and, seeing she had a badly injured leg, he wrapped a towel around that too.

To Allens horror and disgust, as he helped Cheryl he saw a local going through the bags of dead holidaymakers and screamed at him to leave.

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The whole time Cheryl was saying, check my husband. Check my husband Stephen.

Stephen and Cheryl Mellor on their wedding day - Cornish Guardian

She was laying flat, I was sort of kneeling next to her and I could see he was on the other side of the sunbed and unfortunately I could see hed been shot several times and he hadnt survived.

I jumped across after Id helped her to look at him. I said, do you really want to know? She said, please tell me. I replied unfortunately, hes gone.

Knowing the gunman was still nearby, Allen improvised again to protect her. I told her I was going to carry her away from this point but she didnt want to leave. So I told her she needed to play dead. I tipped some sunbeds over there and threw debris over her.

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By then the guy was by the swimming pool and moving onto the main body of the hotel where he was shooting and grenades. It seemed like an eternity at the time even though it was probably 15 to 20 minutes.

Returning to the hotel room, Allen was hit by another shock.

I went back to the room Id left Tracy in and I was banging on the door but she wasnt there. Shed left a note which said she was scared and that shed gone to reception where I later found her.

Time is a healer

Time, Allen says, has helped him process what happened.

Ive had, in the past, a few dreams about it but I compartmentalise things, he explains. Ive always been very good at sort of putting things in boxes and closing the lid and thats exactly what I did. I buried it.

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He and Tracy never returned on holiday together. They have since divorced. Despite the trauma, Allen says he never needed counselling  and didnt seek compensation.

There is one thing that sticks in my mind from that day  the sight of one of the bodies  but out of respect for the relatives I wont go into detail. Ive never taken a penny in compensation, nor would I.

He takes some small comfort from the fact that extremist Rezgui, a 22-year-old electrical student, was shot dead by police that day  despite wishing the police had done more to help the victims in the first place.

He says: I am glad he was killed because he would have gone to court otherwise and I dont know what the penalties are in Tunisia, but if that had been the UK hed still be alive with his colour TV, cigarettes, getting his conjugal visits  all paid for by the taxpayers, of course.

Thirty-eight holidaymakers were killed in the attack, 30 of the victims were British - Warren Allott

What does linger is anger  particularly towards TUI UK, the tour operator.

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Like the families of many of the victims, Allen believes they were responsible for safety and security breaches at the hotel, which the company has always denied.

After the attack, they settled with some of the families out of court, reaching a settlement without admission of liability or fault.

Allen insists: TUI abdicated all responsibility and for that, I feel they have blood on their hands. Had TUI intervened and told people there had been another incident shortly before at a museum people would have had a choice as to whether to go.

Ongoing friendship

His friendship with Cheryl, however, remains intact  and deeply meaningful. He says: For the first two or three years we would ring or text.

I find a lot of peace in riding my motorbike and last summer I drove down to the south of Cornwall to have lunch with her. She sent me a lovely, very personal, letter. It was absolutely wonderful and one that I will cherish and keep forever.

We always send a Christmas card. We will never forget each other and Im sure we will remain friends but time does heal.

In a new documentary on Prime Video called Surviving The Tunisia Beach Attack, Allen  one of several survivors who share their stories  reads out that very letter.

You put your own life at risk to come and help me and my husband, even though shots were being fired, Cheryl writes.

Allen downplays it all. I wish I could have done more. Though retired from the NHS, after losing colleagues and relatives during Covid, Allen hasnt stopped helping others. Just six weeks ago, he crossed traffic in his car to shield an elderly woman whod fallen into the road. He then waited three hours with her for an ambulance to come.

Allen finds peace in riding his motorbike

His sister, he says, calls him a cat with nine lives.

Only, she tells me youve probably already used about seven, he jokes. She says my job in life is to help people.

And what about luck?

I dont see myself as lucky in the sense that Ive not ever won the lottery or anything. I just dont think its my time yet. I think theres a lot of good to be done in the world but I dont want anything out of it.

Ill never return to Tunisia  there are too many other places to see and the Police and locals didnt do enough to help  but I intend to do a lot more travelling on my bike.

As for that fateful moment on the beach, he says: People always ask me Why did you go back? Well, it was just instinctual, I suppose. I went back because it was the right thing to do but the real heroes are the ones like Cheryl. She saw her husband shot, pulled through and was able to go back to work.

Surviving the Tunisia Beach Attack, Prime Video, May 27, produced by Yeti Television

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Ben Jones, director of legal and policy initiatives for Lives in the Balance and former attorney for Disability Rights Maine, has been working with restraint and seclusion data for years. He testified at the State House on May 9, 2025, against legislation that would relax the rules around these controversial practices. (Eesha Pendharkar/Maine Morning Star)

Maine students have been restrained and secluded more than 22,000 times a year in some years. But the real number of times educators put students in holds, move them against their will and shut them alone in small rooms is likely much higher.

Restraint and seclusion are widely condemned practices that create lasting trauma for students, their families and the educators involved. Thats why every use is supposed to be documented and reported to the state. But over the past decade, only 24 out of more than 250 private schools and public districts in Maine have consistently reported their numbers.

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Maine law mandates annual reporting to the Maine Department of Education, however the department did not say whether there was any penalty for failing to report.

Maine law mandates annual reporting to the Maine Department of Education. However, according to Bear Shea, the departments restraint and seclusion specialist, Maine DOE has not been given statutory authority or mechanisms to enforce compliance.

Rather, the department seems to operate under the assumption that a districts lack of reporting means schools didnt restrain or seclude any students that year.

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It is possible that if a school district does not have any incidents of restraint and seclusion in a school year, they will not report any data, said Chloe Teboe, the department spokesperson, when asked about the dozens of districts that arent reporting every year, according to publicly available state data. The Maine DOE can only act on the data that is shared by school districts, as required by statute.

Atlee Reilly, managing attorney for the advocacy organization Disability Rights Maine, said its beyond unlikely that districts failing to report have not used restraint or seclusion.

Overall, reporting to the DOE has fallen off in recent years, Reilly told lawmakers on May 9 during discussion of a proposed bill that aims to relax the rules on restraint and seclusion. Many of the states largest districts and schools that historically reported frequent use of restraint and seclusion have stopped sharing their numbers in recent years, according to statewide data.

I know that some schools that have historically reported high numbers of restraints havent reported, Reilly said. So does that mean that they, all of a sudden, are not restraining or secluding youth? I think probably not.

At least one school not reporting high use to state

A closer look at the Bangor Regional Program, a school for students with disabilities, reveals how restraint and seclusion practices can go unreported for years.

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Bangor Public Schools is responsible for reporting its own numbers, as well as the data for the Bangor Regional Program, which serves students from several area districts. The state database includes numbers from the regional program for one of the past 10 years, after a 2019 investigation found the school had been restraining and secluding students thousands of times each year from 2015 to 2018, more than almost any other school in the state.

During the 2019-20 school year, the regional program used 261 restraints and 325 seclusions on 33 individual students. Internal data provided by Bangor schools to Maine Morning Star in response to a records request shows that in the following years, the program continued using these practices. In 2021-22, the school reported 419 total uses of restraint and seclusion. In 2022-23, use dropped to 187, and in 2023-24, increased to 281.

None of these incidents were reported to the state, according to publicly available state data.

Though Bangor Public Schools reports its data every year, when asked why the regional programs numbers were not shared with the state, spokesperson Ray Phinney said he didnt know and couldnt find out due to recent changes in district leadership.

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The superintendent who oversaw the submission of this is no longer with us, he said.

The DOE did not respond directly to questions about this schools lack of reporting, but the spokesperson said the department reports any data received from school districts and does not make a practice of not publishing it.

Ben Jones, director of legal and policy initiatives for Lives in the Balance, a Maine-based nonprofit that works with schools to reduce restraint and seclusion, said its important for the department to explain what happens when schools like the regional program collect data but dont report it to the state.

We still dont have a true sense of the scope of using these dangerous practices, so this, to me, points the spotlight back at reporting and collecting, he said. So what more is DOE doing to ensure the completeness of the data, the completeness of this picture?

Few districts regularly report data

This underreporting casts doubt on the apparent progress Maine has made in relying less on these practices in the wake of a 2021 law, which specified restraint and seclusion should only be used in emergency situations.

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The law was intended to reduce the use of emergency behavioral interventions that are known to be traumatic  particularly for students with disabilities, who are disproportionately affected.

Its very difficult to tell if the numbers went down or up after the law change because of underreporting, Jones said.

In the 2022-23 school year, Maine schools reported 44% fewer incidents of restraint and seclusion in schools than it did four years earlier. But only 140 of Maines 300-plus school administrative units submitted their data for that school year. In 2018-19, that number was 213.

I don't want anyone to think that people in schools are just wanting to put hands on kids. Because it's traumatic, it's not good. However, there are times, when for the safety of an individual student or others around that individual, it becomes necessary to restrain or seclude.

 Superintendent Clay Gleason, Maine School Administrative District 6

Only 24 districts have submitted restraint and seclusion data every year for the last decade, a Maine Morning Star analysis found.

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Together, they represent fewer than one-quarter of Maines roughly 170,000 K-12 students. Only two of the states 10 largest districts, Bangor and Maine School Administrative District (MSAD) 6 in the Buxton area, are among them.

In the 2018-19 school year, MSAD 6 staff reported restraining students 150 times and placing them in rooms by themselves 256 times.

By 2022-23, MSAD 6s use of those tactics, especially seclusions, had dropped considerably. District staff that year reported restraining students 100 times and placing them in seclusion rooms 132 times.

That districts reliance on restraint and seclusion roughly matches the trend statewide over that period. Across Maine, use of restraint and seclusion peaked in the 2018-19 year at more than 22,000 reported uses, according to the available state data. After passage of the 2021 law restricting their use to instances when a students behavior poses an imminent danger of serious injury, overall incidents fell to just under 12,600 in the 2022-23 school year  a 44% drop.

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I dont want anyone to think that people in schools are just wanting to put hands on kids. Because its traumatic, its not good, said MSAD 6 Superintendent Clay Gleason. However, there are times, when for the safety of an individual student or others around that individual, it becomes necessary to restrain or seclude.

Numbers still high despite underreporting

Despite inconsistent reporting, its clear many Maine districts still rely on these practices thousands of times a year. In 2021, data reported directly by schools to the federal government showed that Maine ranked first and second in restraining and secluding students, respectively, per capita. According to an analysis of the most recent national numbers, the state fell to third and fourth per capita.

These are still extremely high numbers, said Jones with Lives in the Balance. Each one of these is a kid being grabbed or put into a closet, and then theres probably more of it going on based on what we know.

The number of reported restraints and seclusions vary widely from district to district, noted Alan Cobo-Lewis, director of the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and associate professor of Psychology at the University of Maine.

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Some districts have reported zero incidents for many years, and others like those in the Buxton-area, report large numbers. But whether theyre model programs, or whether theyre just not reporting their restraints, I dont think that you can know that without actually visiting schools, Cobo-Lewis said.

I have advocated for a while for the department to visit the schools that had high rates and also visit the schools that had zero, he said.

While the federal government collects this data from districts, there is no federal oversight, and every state has different laws about restraint and seclusion. Some members of Congress have proposed a federal ban on school use of restraint and seclusion, with the most recent legislation introduced in 2023.

The proposal currently before Maine lawmakers would allow districts to move students against their will without reporting it as a restraint and would allow educators more flexibility in determining when they use these practices by decreasing the level of danger posed by a students behavior from serious physical injury to just injury.

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Both Jones and Reilly of Disability Rights Maine worry that if the bill passes, schools will no longer have to report incidents where staff move students against their will into classrooms and quiet rooms. That would mean the statewide data on the number of restraints could drop.

What were going to do is take a whole class of stuff  like the physical management of students that I think most people would look at and say, that childs being restrained  and say its no longer restraint, Reilly said.

He added, It doesnt mean that people are going to be putting their hands on kids less.

From 2014 to 2023, school units reported 55 serious bodily injuries to students and 594 to staff members related to the use of a restraint or seclusion, according to publicly available data. In recent years, the number of students injured while being restrained and secluded has increased, with 22 of those 55 instances reported in the 2022-23 school year, all reported by Biddeford Schools. The southern coastal district did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Most years, the vast majority of districts reported zero injuries.

MSAD 6 in Buxton is one of the only districts that has reported staff and student injuries to the department every year, but Gleason said he did not recall any serious incidents, and did not know what criteria was used by staff who filled out forms.

There are minor injuries that happen to both staff and students, sometimes with somebody getting a little rug burn or bumping into a desk or something, he said, explaining the typical ways staff or students might get injured during a restraint or seclusion.

But I dont know if its a standard kind of thing across districts and how they report it, or if its like an internal measure, he added.

According to state law, school units would not report injuries that do not meet the definition of serious physical injury, according to Shea, the departments restraint and seclusion specialist. But in practice, I have talked with many schools and there is a wide range of ways that [school administrative units] choose to report injuries with some tending to report even more minor injuries, he said.

While the department collects injury data, there is no statewide policy about what districts should do in response to student or staff injuries.

Majority of reports from schools for students with disabilities

When public school districts determine they cant adequately serve a student with disabilities, some of them are referred to special purpose private schools. Although these schools still receive public funding, Jones said the programs are often insulated from scrutiny.

Having sat through dozens of those placement meetings, Jones said the students parents and advocates are hoping that a move would increase support for the child, but thats not always the case.

Pointing to the high number of reported incidents, Jones said these schools can often be hotbeds for the inappropriate use of restraint and seclusion.

Over the past decade, Maines special purpose private schools have accounted for roughly 57% of all uses of restraint and seclusion in the state each year, going up to almost 70% in 2019-20, when the state saw the most incidents in a decade.

Though the data from these schools havent been consistently included in the states annual data, students with disabilities in Maine and nationwide are much more likely to be subject to these practices.

Maines special purpose private schools served roughly 850 students in 2022-23 but accounted for 58% of all 7,975 restraints in the state, according to a Maine Morning Star analysis. That same year, they also accounted for about 47% of all seclusions in Maine: 2,154 of 4,618 incidents.

The Margaret Murphy Centers for Children, a special purpose private school with campuses in Auburn, Lewiston, Saco and Turner, has topped the states list for seclusion every year since 2014-15; it has also restrained students more than any other school every year since 2017-18, state data shows.

The centers used these practices more than 11,000 times on just 108 students in 2019-20, according to the state data from 2023.

There is no state law restricting an educator from using these practices repeatedly on a particular child. And unless a parent complains and requests a district try a new approach, there is no statewide process for addressing the frequency of incidents.

Margaret Murphy Senior Director Michelle Hathaway attributed those numbers to the severity of the student populations needs. The school exclusively serves children and young adults (up to age 22) with significant behavioral and developmental challenges, many of whom are referred to the school specifically because of the intensity or dangerousness of their behaviors, she said.

They sometimes display aggression  including attempts to hit, choke, or rip out hair  that can pose serious safety risks to themselves or others.

Hathaway wrote in an email that restraints are only used as a last resort but argued the law leaves room for interpretation and that ambiguity means some schools may over-document and over-report.

For example, she said a staff member holding a 3-year-olds hand to prevent them from running into a parking lot could technically, under current law, be considered a restraint.

But repeatedly using restraint and seclusion on a small number of students should be a red flag that something is not working, Jones said.

Of course emergency situations will arise, but after the first few uses of restraint or seclusion, we are no longer talking about emergencies, he said. We are talking about predictable behavior that can be planned for, trained for.

The series was produced as a project for the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Health Journalisms National Fellowship Fund for Reporting on Child Well-being.

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This report was originally published by the Maine Morning Star. Its part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maine Morning Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lauren McCauley for questions: info@mainemorningstar.com.
A man has been arrested for allegedly selling methamphetamine at a bar in San Bernardino County, police announced Saturday.

The Rialto Police Department said its Narcotics Unit received a tip that a suspect was engaged in the sale of narcotics at a bar in the 300 block of East Foothill Boulevard.

Police identified the suspect as Keith Henriksen, 57, of Rialto.

According to the department, officers with the Narcotics Unit executed a search warrant at the bar and found what was only described as several pounds of meth, narcotics-related contraband and two firearms.

Officers are seen executing a search warrant at a bar where they arrested a suspect for selling narcotics. May 2025. (Rialto Police Department) Officers are seen executing a search warrant at a bar where they arrested a suspect for selling narcotics. May 2025. (Rialto Police Department) Officers are seen executing a search warrant at a bar where they arrested a suspect for selling narcotics. May 2025. (Rialto Police Department)

Although it was not immediately clarified whether Henriksen was an employee of the bar, police said he was found inside the establishment and taken into custody.

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Henriksen was ultimately arrested for violating the Health & Safety Code regarding possession of a controlled substance for sale.

In addition to Henriksens arrest, Rialto police said the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has initiated administrative action against the bar, seeking the suspension of its alcohol license due to the violations.

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It was recently revealed that U.S. regulators have granted approval for Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG)'s CP2 LNG plant in Louisiana. Let's shed some light on the development.

Venture Global Receives Approval to Build CP2 LNG Plant in Louisiana

A closeup of the Rio Grande LNG terminal facility, showing its massive scale.

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) develops and constructs LNG export projects to provide clean, affordable energy to the world. The company is currently among the largest LNG exporters in the United States.

It was reported on May 23, 2025, that U.S. regulators have given the go-ahead for Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG)'s CP2 LNG plant in Louisiana, according to a document from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The green light reaffirmed the regulator's original 2024 approval for CP2, following an environmental study that showed no major concerns from federal regulators. The 28 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) plant has been at the very heart of a disagreement between the energy sector and environmentalists seeking to curb future LNG projects on the country's Gulf Coast.

With the federal approval finally in hand, Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) stated that it plans to launch on-site construction 'immediately'. The enthusiasm is not overstated, because once its CP2 plant is up and running, Venture Global is set to surpass Cheniere Energy to become the biggest LNG company by liquefaction capacity in the United States.

Only a startup three years ago, the LNG exporter already boasts two operational facilities in Louisiana with a combined capacity to produce 38.5 mtpa. So the latest CP2 project will lift Venture Globals total capacity to 66.5 mtpa, helping it overtake Chenieres expected 60 mtpa of capacity by that time.

While we acknowledge the potential of VG to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than VG and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 10 Cheap Energy Stocks to Buy Now and 10 Most Undervalued Energy Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds

Disclosure: None.
Police investigating the death of a woman whose body was found at an abandoned home in Jordan have charged a man with her murder.

John Joseph Peterson, 41, of Jordan, is charged with the 2nd-degree murder of Tabitha Justice, 46, who was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head at 230 Quaker Avenue on Jan. 28.

Justice had been reported missing by her family in January, with none of them having seen her since mid-December.

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Police then searched the home at 230 Quaker, which was Justice's last known address, though her ex-husband had told police that her family had not lived there for around two years.

John Joseph PetersonLe Sueur County Jail

She was found dead with a bullet wound to the back of the head in an outbuilding on the property, and a 9mm bullet casing near her body.

Investigators were told by Justice's friends that she had been in a relationship with a man called "Nico" and had been living with him, and said Justice had told them he was "very controlling, bi-polar, physically aggressive." He allegedly told her to leave his home, but continued to follow her after she left.

Peterson was interviewed in early February and confirmed he used the name Nico, and said Justice called him by that name. He claimed he last saw Justice a few days before Christmas when she came to his home, but never saw or heard from her after that.

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On April 11 police executed a search warrant at a home in Hovland, where they found Peterson and arrested him for a probation violation for being a felon in possession of a firearm. They found a 9mm gun in the home and several spent casings, which were a match to the casing found by Justice's body.

There was also a positive fingerprint match to Peterson taken from the gun.

He is currently being held at Le Sueur County Jail, but will soon be transferred to Scott County Jail pending further hearings.
CHICAGO  A 46-year-old man was critically injured after being shot in the head on Chicagos West Side Saturday afternoon.

Police say the man was inside a car in the 800 block of North Sacramento Boulevard at 4:10 p.m. when he was struck in the head by gunfire.

The mans vehicle continued driving after he was shot and crashed into a parked car and light pole, Chicago police say.

The victim was transported to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition.

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There are no suspects in custody at this time. Area One detectives are investigating.

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WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  A man was hurt after a Saturday stabbing in Northeast D.C., according to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Police responded to reports of a stabbing at 11:23 a.m. in the 1400 block of Florida Avenue, NE, where a man was found, conscious and breathing, suffering from a stab wound.

Man hospitalized in Northwest DC shooting

According to police, the man was taken to the hospital by DC Fire and EMS for treatment.

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Police are searching for a woman with freckles and long black hair in connection to the stabbing.

Anyone with information is asked to call (202) 727-9099 or text the Departments tip line at 50411.

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EAU CLAIRE  An Eau Claire man facing his sixth OWI charge has pleaded not guilty.

Andrew Johnson, 44, faces the OWI and a sixth charge of operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration. The plea, made during his arraignment, sets up a status conference in August.

The charges are more than a year old, having been filed in May 2024. Authorities say Johnson was at more than twice the legal limit  nine times the limit for repeat offenders  when he was pulled over.

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According to the criminal complaint, police received a call about a man urinating in public before getting into a gray van on Galloway Street. An officer was patrolling the area and quickly found Johnson, who matched the description given in the call, as he got into a van that also lined up with the complaint.

The officer pulled Johnson over and he quickly admitted to public urination. Johnson said he had had a couple of drinks. When the officer checked Johnsons record, he found the five prior convictions for drunken driving.

In Wisconsin, the number of convictions alters the requirements for drivers. The limit for alcohol is typically .08. But, after a third conviction, it drops to .02. Thats low enough that almost anything other than a single drink will exceed the limit for most.

Johnson cooperated with field sobriety tests, but failed them. He blew a .196 on his breath test and was taken into custody.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 14.
ASTORIA, Queens (PIX11)  A man was robbed twice after he was knocked unconscious on an F subway train in Queens on May 15, according to the NYPD.

Police said it happened at the 21st Street-Queensbridge subway station around 9:15 p.m. The 61-year-old victim got into an argument with a suspect, a man, according to authorities.

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Police said the suspect allegedly punched and kicked the victim multiple times, causing him to pass out. The suspect is then accused of going through the victims pockets to steal his property before he fled the train, according to authorities.

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Police said a second suspect is accused of approaching the unconscious victim and taking $45 from him before he also ran from the train.

More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State

The victim was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, according to authorities.

Police described the first suspect as a man around 62 with black hair. The second suspect is a man with a heavy build, according to authorities.

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).

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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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DENVER (KDVR)  A man who was found with two runaway teenage girls during a traffic stop in 2020 was convicted of human trafficking charges and sentenced to 36 years to life in the Department of Corrections, according to a release from the 18th Judicial District Attorneys Office.

Kenneth T. Noel, 34, a resident of Texas, was pulled over for a routine traffic stop in 2020 after he was spotted driving in the left lane only of Interstate 70, while no other traffic was around. Colorado law states drivers should remain in the right lane unless actively passing another driver or avoiding a road hazard.

Denver weather: Timing, impacts of severe storms Memorial Day weekend

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A Colorado State trooper pulled over the vehicle, a BMW, and proceeded with the traffic stop. A woman was driving, Noel was in the passenger seat and two 14-year-old girls were in the back seat.

The teenagers initially gave fake names to the trooper, but were eventually identified as two runaway juveniles. The two said they were traveling to Nevada to work as strippers. One of the teens also said that Noel had assaulted her the previous night.

During the trial, Noel was linked to human trafficking through several key pieces of evidence, which included online sexual advertisements that exploited the woman driving, and a further investigation revealed the ads featured in cities across the United States.

Sadly, human trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacob Kremin said. Statistics show that victims who are subjected to human trafficking at 13 or 14-years-old simply will likely not live to see their 21st birthday if they dont escape this illegal enterprise. I commend the state trooper in this case for being observant in identifying red flags during a traffic stop that ultimately led to the safe recovery of two teens and a third adult victim. The sentence imposed guarantees the defendant will not be able to victimize anyone else in the foreseeable future.

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The sentencing on Friday fell two years short of the maximum sentence allowed under Colorado law.

After trial in February, Noel was found guilty by a jury on multiple felony charges, including:

Attempted human trafficking of a minor, Class 3 felony

Human trafficking of an adult, Class 3 felony

Pimping, Class 3 felony

Sexual assault on a child, Class 4 felony

The 18th Judicial District Attorneys Office said that the outcome would not have been achieved without the help of the Colorado State Patrol, an investigator from its own office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Arrest made in Littleton financial fraud case: Police

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Survivors of human trafficking endure profound physical and emotional abuse, facing trauma that can leave lasting scars on their health and well-being. Thankfully, in the case, the perpetrator was intercepted by Colorado State Patrol, who recognized the signs and engaged with FBI Denvers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mar Michalek. After nearly five years, with assistance along the way from FBI Kansas City and FBI Houston  as well as support from community service providers  the survivors were able to watch a judge sentence their abuser to prison, where he wont be able to victimize additional juveniles or adults.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Georgia deputies said a 46-year-old man is behind bars after he tried to sell illegal drugs at a business.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

On Thursday, Crisp County officials said Anthony Wallace, 46, of Smithville, Ga. scheduled to meet at a business in Crisp County to sell cocaine.

Officials said that after the deal was done, the Mid-South Narcotics Task Force intercepted and Wallace was arrested.

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He was taken to the Crisp County Jail.

Wallace is charged with the sale of cocaine and the use of a communication facility in a drug transaction.

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NEW YORK (AP)  A dual U.S.-German citizen has been arrested on charges that he traveled to Israel and attempted to firebomb the branch office of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, officials said Sunday.

Federal prosecutors in New York said the man, Joseph Neumeyer, walked up to the embassy building on May 19 with a backpack containing Molotov cocktails but got into a confrontation with a guard and eventually ran away, dropping his backpack as the guard tried to grab him.

Law enforcement then tracked Neumeyer down to a hotel a few blocks away from the embassy and arrested him, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York.

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The attack took place against the backdrop of Israels war in Gaza, now in its 19th month.

Neumeyer, 28, who is originally from Colorado and has dual U.S. and German citizenship, had traveled from the U.S. to Canada in early February and then arrived in Israel in late April, according to court records. He had made a series of threatening social media posts before attempting the attack, prosecutors said.

Israeli officials deported Neumeyer to New York on Saturday and he had an initial court appearance before a federal judge in Brooklyn on Sunday, the same day his criminal complaint was unsealed.

Neumeyers court-appointed attorney Jeff Dahlberg declined to comment.

During his first term, President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital despite Palestinian objections and moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city.
Police in Inglewood are searching for a man who they say walked away from a hospital last week and has not been seen or heard from since.

Anthony Joel Rogers was originally admitted to Centinela Medical Hospital, located at 555 East Hardy Street in Inglewood, on May 18. He was hospitalized for a mental health episode, the Inglewood Police Department said in a missing person bulletin issued to media outlets.

Two days later, Rogers, 72, walked away from the hospital at approximately 2:30 p.m. and disappeared.

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More than 30 people arrested in Fullerton over the course of 48 hours, police say

According to hospital staff, Anthony suffers from altered mental status and diabetes, and he takes medication as needed, the Inglewood Police Department said.

Anthony Joel Rogers, 72, as seen in a photo released by the Inglewood Police Department.

IPD stated that Rogers, who is considered at-risk, left an assisted living facility in Mar Vista on May 9 and may be homeless.

Los Angeles firefighters hoist man stuck in manhole to safety

He was last seen wearing a black and white jacket with drawstrings, blue jeans, yellow socks and dark-colored shoes.

Anyone who has information on Anthony Joel Rogers whereabouts should contact the Inglewood Police Department: 310-412-8771.

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A gang of nearly two dozen masked federal agents descended on a courthouse in Phoenix, Arizona over several days this week and arrested immigrants moments after they left their immigration court hearings.

Issac Ortega, a Phoenix-based immigration attorney, said his client was arrested on Tuesday after a hearing that same morning. His client has no criminal history and entered the United States legally through the CBP One app. Ortega told the Arizona Mirror.

The incident in Phoenix was not isolated.

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Unidentified agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies have made similar arrests inside and outside courthouses across the country in recent days, from Washington state to Virginia, as Donald Trumps administration accelerates his deportation agenda.

New tactics deployed by federal agents inside and outside immigration courthouses are part of the ongoing effort by the Trump administration to carry out his promise of mass deportations (REUTERS)

Inside Seattle Immigration Court, three people were arrested and escorted from the building on Wednesday morning immediately after their cases were dismissed, KUOW reported. One woman was granted permission to apply for asylum, narrowly avoiding another agent who was waiting for her outside the courtroom.

And in San Diego, a man was arrested for allegedly obstructing the detention of a Guatemalan man who was attending his immigration court hearing. His lawyer later said his clients case had not yet been dismissed and that he had not violated any of the terms of his release.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association says the incidents are a flagrant betrayal of basic fairness and due process for people who are simply following the rules.

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Immigration courts are being weaponized, judges are coordinating with ICE to dismiss cases and immediately funnel individuals into the fast-track deportation pipeline known as expedited removal, the group said.

These are not fugitives, the group added. They are individuals, many who are seeking protection from torture in their countries, complying with the law.

Attorneys say their clients are being arrested inside and outside immigration courts in a flagrant betrayal of due process (AP)

After taking office, Trump signed an executive order that greenlights fast-track deportation proceedings for immigrants who cannot prove that they have continuously lived in the United States for more than two years. That expedited removal process  historically used at the U.S.-Mexico border  is now being expanded across the country. The American Civil Liberties Union sued to block the measure, arguing people seeking asylum would get less due process contesting their deportation than they would contesting a traffic ticket.

Internal administration documents reviewed by The Washington Post instruct ICE agents in more than 20 states to arrest people immediately after there cases are dismissed by a judge, or if they are given orders for their removal.

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Following that, immigrants who have been in the country for less than two years are placed into a fast-track removal process  which does not involve a hearing before a judge.

One attorney, Khiabett Osuna, told The Post she was was approached by a plainclothes ICE agent who was checking a list of immigration cases while sitting inside a courtrooms public gallery.

Roughly six agents gathered outside the courtroom with laptops, reviewing more lists of names, she said.

Its a whole operation, she told the outlet.

Immigration lawyers describe the tactics as cruelty disguised as policy. Theyre morally wrong  and self-defeating, they said.

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If the goal is court compliance, these tactics achieve the opposite: they terrify people away from the very process theyre supposed to trust, undermining the rule of law at its foundation, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association

This is a corruption of our immigration courts, transforming them from forums of justice into cogs in a mass deportation apparatus, the group said. The expansion of expedited removal strips more people of their right to a hearing before a judge  as our laws promise.
Key Points

Buffett and his successor, Greg Abel, are fans of five Japanese stocks.

Abel plans for Berkshire Hathaway to own these stocks for decades and would love to boost its stake by 5x in each of them.

Although Berkshire can't buy as much of the five stocks as Abel would like, the stocks are good picks for other investors.

10 stocks we like better than Itochu 

No one can fill Warren Buffett's shoes. However, he's passing the baton as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO to a worthy successor in Greg Abel.

Abel currently leads Berkshire Hathaway Energy. He also serves as vice chair of Berkshire's non-insurance operations. Come January 2026, he'll move into the CEO spot long held by Buffett. As Buffett has done for years, Abel will make the final investment decisions for Berkshire's portfolio once he becomes CEO.

If you're wondering what kind of stocks Abel might like, you won't have to guess too hard. Buffett's successor recently revealed five stocks for which he'd love to increase Berkshire's stake by 5x.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Buffett's Japanese birds of a feather

Buffett has typically focused primarily on U.S. stocks. However, in 2019 he became interested in five Japanese stocks: Itochu (OTC: ITOCF) (OTC: ITOCY), Marubeni (OTC: MARUF) (OTC: MARUY), Mitsubishi (OTC: MSBHF) (OTC: MTSU.Y), Mitsui (OTC: MITSF) (OTC: MITSY), and Sumitomo (OTC: SSUM.F) (OTC: SSUM.Y).

The business models of these five Japanese companies are very similar. All of them are soga shosha, the Japanese term for trading houses. Their operations span multiple industries, including energy, financial services, food, manufacturing, materials, and more.

Each of these five companies pays attractive dividends. All except Itochu sport dividend yields of over 3%. Itochu's yield is a more modest 2.2%.

Probably the biggest difference between the Japanese companies is their size. Mitsubishi is the largest with a market cap of around $80 billion. Itochu and Mitsui trail with market caps of $74 billion and $60 billion, respectively. Marubeni and Sumitomo are the smallest of the group, with both companies' market caps hovering around $31 billion to $32 billion.

Why Buffett and Abel really like these stocks

At Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting earlier this month, Buffett mentioned that around six years ago, he began reviewing a book with information about roughly 2,000 to 3,000 Japanese companies. He noticed that Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo traded "at ridiculously low prices."

The attractive valuations of these Japanese stocks piqued his interest. Berkshire started buying shares of each of the companies. Buffett said, "And then we got to know the people better, and everything that Greg [Abel] and I saw, we liked better as we went along."
Scores of masked white nationalists descended on Kansas City Saturday, holding a rally outside the National WWI Museum and Memorial and marching downtown carrying flags and chanting.

Police said the event, carried out by the Patriot Front, did not result in any arrests. Talk about the march spread rapidly on social media throughout the afternoon and evening.

The Patriot Front is a white nationalist and avowedly fascist nationwide organization that was formed in the aftermath of the deadly Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, according to the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights.

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On Saturday, the groups members  faces covered and dressed in their signature navy shirts, khaki pants and tan caps  marched down the sidewalks chanting, Life, liberty, victory and Reclaim America. Some carried shields and many carried flags, including upside-down American flags, Betsy Ross flags and Confederate flags.

A video posted on X showed more than 150 marchers lined up in formation outside the National WWI Museum and Memorial as leader Thomas Rousseau gave a speech.

When the event was over, the members piled into U-Haul trucks. In a video posted later on X, Rousseau said that today was the largest action weve ever put on as an organization.

It was remarkably successful, and we accomplished every single objective we set out to for the day.

Members of the white nationalist Patriot Front organization march in downtown Kansas City on Saturday.

Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a Kansas City Police spokesperson, said a patrol sergeant saw a group of about 100 marching on the sidewalk near the National WWI Museum and Memorial for about an hour.

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The KCPD was unaware this group was planning to come into our city as they do not advertise their protest/march locations, she said in an email. We learned this group calls themselves the Patriot Front and it is believed everyone involved is from out of town and not local to Kansas City.

Gonzalez said it appeared the group did not need a parade permit for the event.

A parade permit is not needed unless roadways need to be shutdown, and from information received at this point the group remained on the sidewalk and out of roadways, she said. There is zero indication that KCPD was involved in any kind of escort capacity while the group was here. There were no arrests made or citations issued. The group has left Kansas City.

Mayor Quinton Lucas commented about the march in a post on X Saturday evening.

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While the First Amendment provides the right to bring any message to Kansas City, he said, we know that our diversity, our welcoming community, and our respect for the rights of all reject whatever hate and cowardice come our way.

A spokesperson for the National WWI Museum and Memorial issued a statement Sunday afternoon denouncing the Patriot Fronts views.

The National WWI Museum and Memorial is aware of yesterdays gathering on the public grounds surrounding our institution, said Karis Erwin, vice president of marketing and guest services. We respect First Amendment protections for peaceful assembly and free speech, and want to be unequivocally clear that the views expressed by this group do not represent or align with our values. We stand firmly against hatred, bigotry and divisiveness in all forms.

While the grounds include public park space where groups may gather, Erwin said, such use should never be interpreted as our endorsement of any particular viewpoint.

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The Museum and Memorial remains committed to serving as a place of learning, reflection and unity for all visitors. This Memorial Day, as we do every day, we honor the lives of those who died in defense of liberty and freedom. This Memorial, a beacon for democracy, reminds us all of core values that seek to unite us and create a just and lasting peace for all nations.

Devin Burghart, president and executive director of the Seattle-based Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, said Kansas City was the only city targeted by the Patriot Front on Saturday.

The presence of a group of masked white nationalists tromping through the streets of Kansas City is a stark reminder that, in this moment, we must counter racism and bigotry on the margins and in the mainstream, Burghart said in an email to The Star on Sunday.

The attention-seeking neo-fascist group Patriot Front is well-known for utilizing stunts like this to generate publicity and attract broken young men to their ranks. Widespread community condemnation and long-term organizing are essential in making sure this new generation of white nationalists cant take root in our communities.

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Rousseau founded the Patriot Front in an effort to rebrand the neo-Nazi organization Vanguard America after the violence in Charlottesville, according to groups that monitor far-right extremists. The white supremacist convicted of killing Heather Heyer when he intentionally plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters that day was seen in photographs holding a shield emblazoned with the Vanguard America logo.

In June 2022, police arrested 31 Patriot Front members in Couer dAlene, Idaho, after receiving a tip that men in face masks with riot gear were seen getting into a U-Haul outside a hotel. Police pulled the truck over near a park where an annual Pride event was to take place. Inside the truck, officers found a smoke grenade, shields and other gear as well as documents describing a plan to incite a disturbance at the park.

Members of the white nationalist Patriot Front organization gather outside the National WWI Memorial and Museum

A May 2023 IREHR report said that Missouri was the third most active state for Patriot Front activity. It said the groups members sometimes perform charitable acts to improve their image.

On November 11, 2022, Patriot Front members handed out food and blankets to people experiencing homelessness in Kansas City, the report said. Flyers about Patriot Front were attached to the brown bags they were handing out.

This type of action is about more than helping the community. This recruitment tool gets young men and teenagers involved in the group.
UPDATE: Jackson Police says one shooting victim remains critical but stable, two others are also stable, and four received treatment and have been released from the hospital.

***

MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Seven people are recovering after a mass shooting at a Jackson, Tennessee, park on Saturday, police confirmed.

At 8:41, officers with the Jackson Police Department responded to a shooting incident involving juveniles at Kate Campbell Park located at 2700 N. Parkway East.

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Seven individuals were injured in the incident, with one of the victims suffering serious injuries and receiving treatment at a local hospital.

Jackson Police urge anyone with additional information or footage related to the incident to contact the Jackson Police Department at 731-425-8400.

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MOUNT STERLING, Ky. (FOX 56)  A woman from Massachusetts was indicted on Friday in connection with an April crash in Mount Sterling that led to the death of one person and the hospitalization of a one-year-old child.

Court records show that around 3 p.m. on April 19, 28-year-old Erica McColgan was involved in a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Indian Mound Drive and Winchester Road.

Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) noted in an arrest citation that the crash allegedly killed one person and that a one-year-old child from the same vehicle was taken to the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington.

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The toddler was reportedly sent to the intensive care unit for a head injury on the day of the crash. Their current condition is unknown.

1 killed in downtown Lexington crash involving pickup truck, motorcycle

McColgan was arrested and charged with first-degree assault, but law enforcement noted that more charges would be pending.

On May 23rd, 2025 evidence was presented to the Montgomery County Grand Jury where an indictment was returned, the MCSO posted on Facebook.

According to her arrest citation, there were no skid marks from McColgans vehicle, indicating she had been distracted in the moments before she allegedly ran a stoplight and hit the other vehicle.

LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS:

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McColgan was charged with:

Murder

First-degree assault

Failure of the owner to maintain required insurance  first offense  no insurance

The UK Police Department also charged McColgan with third-degree assault of a healthcare provider.

Kentucky State Police, the Mount Sterling Police Department, and the Richmond Police Department reportedly helped Montgomery County deputies with the crash investigation, which remains ongoing.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  A massive Russian drone-and-missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 7 people and injures dozens, officials say.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Its National Public Works week, a time to remember people who serve their communities every day.

Inside the Water Purification Plant, youll find Ted Lewis working on making Sioux Falls water drinkable

Sioux Falls outdoor pools to open May 30th

So every single person that works for the water department is intricately involved in that water quality, delivering consistent, clean water for everybody in our community, Sioux Falls Drinking Water Environmental Engineer, Ted Lewis said.

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He is part of the close to 500 public workers in the city.

We have engineers, we have technicians, we have project managers, we have equipment operators. We have specialized positions that do laboratory testing, to high level managers, Sioux Falls Street Operations Manager, Dustin Hansen said.

While there are different times these workers are evident in Sioux Falls.

From filling potholes, fixing streets, providing clean water, to taking wastewater and treating that, to developing projects across the city like building bridges. Working with our South Dakota DOT to develop large projects like our Veterans and Arrowhead project, Hansen said.

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They also serve in ways you wouldnt expect.

Theres so many things that until its not there, you dont realize how often you used it or how important it was to your daily life. So many of us grow up just expecting clean, safe drinking water coming out of the tap and the breadth and depth of whats involved to make that happen day in and day out is a lot more than most people realize, Lewis said.

These are the men and women that keep our city up and running.

A community like Sioux Falls, its 200,000 plus. And we typically have probably 300,000 that commute through our city every day. Our roads, our bridges, clean, safe drinking water, things of that nature. Like we have to provide those, so people can live and thrive in our communities, Hansen said.

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In-house the public work departments are having their own ways of celebrating, but Hansen says that if you know a public worker, to thank them for all they do this week.

Vendors optimistic for farmers market season

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com.
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNW)  Health officials have confirmed a case of measles in a Pawnee County resident, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Saturday.

Its unknown if the case is connected to a wider measles outbreak impacting southwest Kansas, the department said.

1 injured in crash at K-254 and Webb Road

The KDHE and the Pawnee County Health Department are now working to notify individuals who may have been exposed.

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Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness that spreads through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or even talks. Those who are unvaccinated or lack immunity are especially vulnerable.

Early symptoms typically include high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes. A rash usually appears three to five days later, starting on the face and spreading down the body.

Health officials urge anyone who may have been exposed and is unvaccinated or unsure of their immunity status to contact their healthcare provider.

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. To watch our shows live on our website, click here.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
John Wiederspan is well aware of how things can go wrong in the high-pressure, high-stakes environment of an operating room.

During situations such as trauma or a patient doing poorly, theres a real rush to try and get emergency drugs into the patient as fast as possible, said Wiederspan, a nurse anesthetist at UW Medicine in Seattle. And thats when mistakes can occur, when youre flustered, your adrenalines rushing, youre drawing up drugs and youre trying to push them.

Despite ongoing efforts to improve patient safety, its estimated that at least 1 in 20 patients still experience medical mistakes in the health care system. One of the most common categories of mistakes is medication errors, where for one reason or another, a patient is given either the wrong dose of a drug or the wrong drug altogether. In the U.S., these errors injure approximately 1.3 million people a year and result in one death each day, according to the World Health Organization.

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In response, many hospitals have introduced guardrails, ranging from color coding schemes that make it easier to differentiate between similarly named drugs, to barcode scanners that verify that the correct medicine has been given to the correct patient.

During situations such as trauma or a patient doing poorly, theres a real rush to try and get emergency drugs into the patient as fast as possible, Wiederspan said. That's when mistakes can occur. (David Jaewon Oh for NBC News)

Despite these attempts, medication mistakes still occur with alarming regularity.

I had read some studies that said basically 90% of anesthesiologists admit to having a medication error at some point in their career, said Dr. Kelly Michaelsen, Wiederspans colleague at UW Medicine and an assistant professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington. She started to wonder whether emerging technologies could help.

As both a medical professional and a trained engineer, it struck her that spotting an error about to be made, and alerting the anesthesiologists in real time, should be within the capabilities of AI. I was like, This seems like something that shouldnt be too hard for AI to do, she said. Ninety-nine percent of the medications we use are these same 10-20 drugs, and so my idea was that we could train an AI to recognize them and act as a second set of eyes.

The study

Michaelsen focused on vial swap errors, which account for around 20% of all medication mistakes.

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All injectable drugs come in labeled vials, which are then transferred to a labeled syringe on a medication cart in the operating room. But in some cases, someone selects the wrong vial, or the syringe is labeled incorrectly, and the patient is injected with the wrong drug.

In one particularly notorious vial swap error, a 75-year-old woman being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee was injected with a fatal dose of the paralyzing drug vecuronium instead of the sedative Versed, resulting in her death and a subsequent high-profile criminal trial.

Michaelsen thought such tragedies could be prevented through smart eyewear  adding an AI-powered wearable camera to the protective eyeglasses worn by all staff during operations. Working with her colleagues in the University of Washington computer science department, she designed a system that can scan the immediate environment for syringe and vial labels, read them and detect whether they match up.

Dr. Kelly Michaelsen and John Wiederspan. (David Jaewon Oh for NBC News)

It zooms in on the label and detects, say, propofol inside the syringe, but ondansetron inside the vial, and so it produces a warning, she said. Or the two labels are the same, so thats all good, move on with your day.

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Building the device took Michaelsen and her team more than three years, half of which was spent getting approval to use prerecorded video streams of anesthesiologists correctly preparing medications inside the operating room. Once given the green light, she was able to train the AI on this data, along with additional footage  this time in a lab setting  of mistakes being made.

Theres lots of issues with alarm fatigue in the operating room, so we had to make sure it works very well, it can do a near perfect job of detecting errors, and so [if used for real] it wouldnt be giving false alarms, she said. For obvious ethical reasons, we couldnt be making mistakes on purpose with patients involved, so we did that in a simulated operating room.

In a study published late last year, Michaelsen reported that the device detected vial swap errors with 99.6% accuracy. All thats left is to decide the best way for warning messages to be relayed and it could be ready for real-world use, pending Food and Drug Administration clearance. The study was not funded by AI tech companies.

All injectable drugs come in labeled vials, which are then transferred to labeled syringes. (David Jaewon Oh for NBC News)

Im leaning towards auditory feedback because a lot of the headsets like GoPro or Google Glasses have built-in microphones, she said. Just a little warning message which makes sure people stop for a second and make sure theyre doing what they think theyre doing.

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Wiederspan has tested the device and said hes optimistic about its potential for improving patient safety, although he described the current GoPro headset as being a little bulky.

Once it gets a bit smaller, I think youre going to get more buy-in from anesthesia providers to use it, Wiederspan said. But I think its going to be great. Anything thats going to make our job a little bit easier, spot any potential mistakes and help bring our focus back to the patient is a good thing.

It isnt a fail-safe

Patient safety advocates have been calling for the implementation of error-preventing AI tools for some time. Dr. Dan Cole, vice chair of the anesthesiology department at UCLA Health and president of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, likened their potential for reducing risk to that of self-driving cars and improving road safety.

But while Cole is encouraged by the UW study and other AI-based research projects to prevent prescribing and dispensing errors in pharmacies, he said there are still questions surrounding the most effective ways to integrate these technologies into clinical care.

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The UW trial idea was indeed a breakthrough, he said. As with driverless taxis, Im a bit reluctant to use the technology at this point, but based on the potential for improved safety, I am quite sure I will use it in the future.

Melissa Sheldrick, a patient safety advocate from Ontario who lost her 8-year-old son Andrew to a medication error in 2016, echoed those thoughts.

In a study published late last year, Michaelsen and her team reported that the device detected vial swap errors with 99.6% accuracy. (David Jaewon Oh for NBC News)

Sheldrick said that while technology can make a difference, the root cause of many medical errors is often a series of contributing factors, from lack of communication to vital data being compartmentalized within separate hospital departments or systems.

Technology is an important layer in safety, but its just one layer and cannot be relied upon as a fail-safe, she said.

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Others feel that AI can play a key role in preventing mistakes, particularly in demanding environments such as the operating room and emergency room, where creating more checklists and asking for extra vigilance has proved ineffective at stopping errors.

These interventions either add friction or demand perfect attention from already overburdened providers in a sometimes chaotic reality with numerous distractions and competing priorities, said Dr. Nicholas Cordella, an assistant professor of medicine at Boston Universitys Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. AI-enabled cameras allow for passive monitoring without adding cognitive burden to clinicians and staff.

AI is only going to be used more

AI tools are likely to be deployed to prevent errors in an even broader range of situations. At UW Medicine, Michaelsen is considering expanding her device to also detect the volume of the drug present in a syringe, as a way of preventing underdosing and overdosing errors.

This is another area where harm can occur, especially in pediatrics, because youve got patients [in the same department] where there can be a hundredfold difference in size, from a brand-new premature baby to an overweight 18-year-old, she said. Sometimes we have to dilute medications, but as you do dilutions theres chances for errors. It isnt happening to every single patient, but we do this enough times a day and to enough people that there is a possibility for people to get injured.

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Wiederspan said he can also see AI-powered wearable cameras being used in the emergency room and on the hospital floor to help prevent errors when dispensing oral medications.

The wearable camera scans the immediate environment for syringe and vial labels, reads them and detects whether they match up. (David Jaewon Oh for NBC News)

I know Kellys currently working on using the system with intravenous drugs, but if it can be tailored to oral medications, I think thats going to help too, Wiederspan said. I used to work in a cardiac unit, and sometimes these patients are on a plethora of drugs, a little cup full of all these pills. So maybe the AI can catch errors there as well.

Of course, broader uses of AI throughout a hospital also come with data protection and privacy concerns, especially if the technology happens to be scanning patient faces and screens or documents containing their medical information. In UW Medicines case, Michaelsen said this is not an issue as the tool is only trained to look for labels on syringes, and does not actively store any data.

Privacy concerns represent a significant challenge with passive, always-on camera technology, Cordella said. There needs to be clear standards with monitoring for breaches, and the technology should be introduced with full transparency to both patients and health care staff.

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He also noted the possibility of more insidious issues such as clinicians starting to excessively rely on AI, reducing their own vigilance and neglecting traditional safety practices.

Anything thats going to make our job a little bit easier, spot any potential mistakes and help bring our focus back to the patient is a good thing, Wiederspan said. (David Jaewon Oh for NBC News)

Theres also a potential slippery slope here, Cordella said. If this technology proves successful for medication error detection, there could be pressure to expand it to monitor other aspects of clinician behavior, raising ethical questions about the boundary between a supportive safety tool and intrusive workplace monitoring.

But while the prospect of AI entering hospitals on a wider basis certainly presents the need for stringent oversight, many who work in the operating room feel it has enormous potential to do good by keeping patients safe and buying medical professionals valuable time in critical situations.

Time is of the essence in an emergency situation where youre trying to give blood, lifesaving medications, checking vital signs, and youre trying to rush through these processes, Wiederspan said. I think thats where this kind of wearable technology can really come into play, helping us shave off vital seconds and create more time where we can really focus on the patient.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU)  The Girls of 68 held their annual memorial service for Theophile Bruguier and Chief War Eagle this weekend at War Eagle Park.

The ceremony gave a history lesson on Sioux City, as the name came from the Sioux Native Americans. Chief War Eagle and Bruguier were from two different cultures, but officials said, that didnt stop them from working together back in the day.

Story continues below

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One of the members of the Girls of 68 said, her ancestors were the founders and she wants to remind people of their history.

I was honoring those two men and how they came here, met together from different cultures different skin colors, whole different way of life, said Jana Foltz, a member of the Girls of 68. And they became trusted friends. I think thats just amazing considering what our culture is like today and people dont get along. I push towards looking back and seeing what happened with them.

The Native Americans are hoping to be able to continue to inform more people about War Eagle Park, this summer through projects.

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Memorial Day 2025 is almost here. The holiday is considered the unofficial start to summer  a long weekend with pleasant weather in the Ohio forecast, a time for barbecues, graduation parties and picnics.

The holiday, however, is one of the most solemn that the United States observes. It honors those who gave their lives in service to this country.

Here's when we celebrate Memorial Day 2025, plus more on the holiday's origins.

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Memorial Day travel outlook, best times to travel in Ohio

When is Memorial Day 2025?

This year, Memorial Day will be marked on May 26. Until 1971, Memorial Day was always marked on May 30. That year, Congress established Memorial Day as a federal holiday on the last Monday in May.

What is Memorial Day and what are its origins?

Memorial Day is a federal holiday mourning the loss of military personnel who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, according to History.

A federal holiday since 1971, Memorial Days history stretches back to the Civil War when it was known as Decoration Day. May 30 was designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.

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Memorial Day got its start three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, when the head of an organization of Union veterans  the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)  established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared it should be May 30, when it was thought that flowers would be in bloom all over the country.

Even though numerous communities had been independently celebrating Memorial Day for years, the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Waterloo first celebrated the holiday on May 5, 1866.

Alexis McKee, 7, of Brownie Troop 90021 of Valley City, places flags at the base of a columbarium at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery Saturday in Rittman. Over 2500 girl scouts, boy scouts, troop leaders, parents and volunteers placed flags on military veterans' graves. (Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal)

Why you shouldn't say 'Happy Memorial Day'

While it may be an instinct to wish someone a happy Memorial Day, there's a debate about whether that's appropriate on a somber holiday, according to Newsweek.

Since the word has a joyous connotation, some think "Happy Memorial Day" is an inappropriate sentiment. For those who have lost a loved one, it can come across as insensitive and may indicate to some that the holiday has lost its meaning.

Grant Hirnikl. 8 of Cub Scout Troop 3330 of Green, joins over 2500 girl scouts, boy scouts, troop leaders, parents and volunteers as they place flags on military veterans' graves at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery Cemetery Saturday in Rittman. (Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal)

Should you thank a veteran on Memorial Day?

Thanking a veteran for their service is more appropriate for Veterans Day, the holiday in November to honor veterans for their service to the United States. "I hope you're having a meaningful day" might be one of the better things to say to a veteran, writes NPR.

Memorial Day traditions include parades, fireworks, ceremonies

Memorial Day parades, often incorporating military personnel and members of veterans organizations, are among the traditions cities across the United States observe for the day. Some of the largest parades take place in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

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Also, some areas mark the holiday with fireworks displays.

Many also observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials. Some wear a red poppy to remember those fallen in war  a tradition that began with a World War I poem.

As the unofficial start of summer, many people have barbecues or get away for the weekend to mark Memorial Day.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Memorial Day 2025: When is it? Origins, what to say to military members
Despite President Donald Trump continuing to tout tariffs as a way to increase U.S. manufacturing, a Wells Fargo report from this week argues meaningfully increasing manufacturing employment will be an uphill battle. Tariffs have pushed companies to absorb costs or pass them down to consumers, which is not conducive to ramping up domestic workforce expansion.

As President Donald Trump continues to push tariffs as a strategy to bolster U.S. manufacturing, economists arent convinced his steep levies will have their intended economic effect.

Manufacturing employment in the U.S. hovers at 12.8 million today, down from the countrys 1979 peak of 20 million, Wells Fargo said in a report on Wednesday. While the tariffs are intended to return American manufacturing to its heyday 45 years ago, they are instead creating a short-term environment that makes it harder for companies to expand their payroll and production efforts, according to the report.

An aim of tariffs is to spur a durable rebound in U.S. manufacturing employment, report author Sarah House wrote. However, a meaningful increase in factory jobs does not appear likely in the foreseeable future, in our view.

Despite putting a 90-day pause on some Chinese tariffs earlier this month and on reciprocal tariffs last month, Trump threatened on Friday a 50% tax on European Union imports beginning next month, as well as a 25% tax on Apple products unless the tech company starts making iPhones on American soil. Earlier this month, Trump said he had a little problem with Apple CEO Tim Cook, and asked him to stop producing the tech in India. Analysts have warned moving iPhone production to the U.S. would be a non-starter, adding thousands of dollars to the price tag.

Markets are reeling from Trumps vow to implement more tariffs. Companies, including giants like Amazon and Walmart, have already warned tariffs will force them to either absorb costs through lower profit margins or pass down higher prices to customers. The taxes therefore are not conducive in the short term to growing ones workforce, according to Wells Fargo.

In the medium to long term, the growth of U.S. manufacturing would take several years and require trillions of dollars in steady investment, the report said. Labor costs in the U.S. are sky high compared to the rest of the world, and executives like Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik have remained stubborn in refusing to move production to the U.S., insisting theres a dearth of affordable and skilled American labor.

I employ up to 15,000 craftspeople in Thailand, Lacik said in a CNBC interview this month. I cant find that amount of talent that actually has this craft experience in the U.S.
Every Memorial Day, we pause to remember the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Their courage, service, and legacy echo through history  and so do the machines that carried them into battle.

While no vehicle can match the bravery of those who served, many became unforgettable symbols of American grit, innovation, and resilience. From the beaches of Normandy to the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan, these machines helped shape the course of history.

Today, we pay tribute to the most iconic U.S. military vehicles: machines that didnt just move troops, but helped define generations.

Willys MB Jeep: The Original 4x4 Legend

Image Credit: Rahil Rupawala, Flickr, CC BY 2.0/Wiki Commons.

Simple. Tough. Incredibly versatile. The Willys MB Jeep is perhaps the most recognizable military vehicle ever made. Nicknamed the GIs best friend, it served in every theater of World War II. Whether hauling wounded soldiers, towing artillery, or serving as a makeshift ambulance, this 1/4-ton utility vehicle proved that big things can come in small packages.

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Its legacy? The birth of the modern SUV and a permanent place in military and automotive history.

M4 Sherman Tank: Backbone of the WWII Ground War

Image Credit: Jebulon - Own work, CC0/Wiki Commons.

Though it was often outgunned by German armor, the M4 Sherman more than made up for it with reliability, ease of production, and strength in numbers. It was the workhorse of the Allied ground forces in World War II, and it rolled through Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific with courage and steel.

For many, the sight of a Sherman meant reinforcements, hope, and momentum.

Higgins Boat (LCVP): The Vessel That Won the War

Image Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eddie Harrison - This image was released by the United States Navy with the ID 100831-N-4044H-206 (next)., Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

Dwight D. Eisenhower credited the Higgins Boat with winning World War II. These flat-bottomed landing craft carried soldiers from ship to shore during the D-Day invasion and other amphibious assaults. Without them, the liberation of Europe may have looked very different.

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They were unglamorous but essential: floating proof that logistics win wars.

Bell UH-1 Huey: The Sound of Vietnam

Image Credit: Airwolfhound from Hertfordshire, UK - commons file, CC BY-SA 2.0/Wiki Commons.

The Huey wasnt just a helicopter  it was the soundtrack of the Vietnam War. With its iconic whomp-whomp rotor sound, it became synonymous with medevac rescues, troop insertions, and the rapid mobility that modern warfare demanded.

To this day, many veterans say the Huey was the last thing they heard before making it home.

Humvee: The Modern Military Workhorse

Image Credit: Pfc Roberto Villa Jr. - Defense Imagery, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

From the sands of Desert Storm to the mountains of Afghanistan, the Humvee (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) replaced the Jeep and became a symbol of American presence abroad. With its broad stance, high ground clearance, and armored variants, the Humvee could do it all: troop transport, ambulance, weapons carrier, and more.

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Its civilian cousin, the Hummer H1, became a pop-culture icon, but the original was all business.

HEMTT: The Heavy Hauler of Modern Warfare

Image Credit: SPEC HENRY, USA - own work by SPEC HENRY, Defense Imagery, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

The HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck) is the backbone of modern U.S. Army logistics. With eight massive wheels and enough power to haul over 10 tons of supplies, this behemoth keeps combat operations moving by delivering fuel, ammunition, and equipment wherever its needed  even in the most rugged environments.

It doesnt get the spotlight, but without it, nothing else moves.

F-4 Phantom II: Cold War Muscle in the Sky

Image Credit: USAF - holloman.af.mil, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

Fast, loud, and powerful, the F-4 Phantom II served in Vietnam and throughout the Cold War as both a fighter and bomber. It was the go-to jet for the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps  an airborne multitool that could dogfight one day and perform reconnaissance the next.

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It wasnt always graceful, but it was incredibly effective  and utterly unforgettable.

A-10 Thunderbolt II: The Flying Tank

Image Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Mark Bucher - AF.mil, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

Affectionately known as the Warthog, the A-10 Thunderbolt II is beloved by ground troops and feared by enemy armor. The A-10 was designed to fly low, hit hard, and take punishment.

Its rugged construction, redundant systems, and legendary durability make it the ultimate close air support aircraft. When you hear the brrrrt of that cannon, you know the cavalry has arrived.

M1 Abrams Tank

Image Credit: US Army - Defence-Blog, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

The M1 Abrams has been the U.S. Armys main battle tank since the early 1980s, and for good reason. With its 120mm smoothbore cannon, Chobham composite armor, and turbine engine that can power it up to 45 mph, the Abrams blends speed, protection, and firepower like no other. It dominated the deserts of the Gulf War and later saw hard service in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning a reputation as a nearly unstoppable force on the battlefield.

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Its crew of four operates in a high-tech environment that continues to evolve with upgrades in fire control, armor, and communications.

B-17 Flying Fortress

Image Credit: Balon Greyjoy - Own work, CC0/Wiki Commons.

During World War II, the B-17 Flying Fortress became one of the most iconic aircraft of the era. Built to endure heavy damage and still return home, it was the backbone of America's daylight bombing campaign over Nazi-occupied Europe. With up to 13 .50-caliber machine guns, it earned its Flying Fortress name by defending itself against waves of enemy fighters.

Crews of ten flew these bombers deep into enemy territory, often at great personal cost. Many never came backbut those who did told stories of near-miraculous survival and incredible resilience. The B-17 stands as a powerful reminder of the courage and endurance of the Greatest Generation.

B-52 Stratofortress

Image Credit: Senior Airman Keifer Bowes - USAFA.AF.MIL, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

Few military machines have stood the test of time like the B-52. First flown in the 1950s, this long-range strategic bomber remains a vital part of Americas aerial arsenal today. Capable of carrying nuclear or conventional payloads, the B-52 can reach targets across the globe without ever needing to land.

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Its distinctive silhouette and thunderous engines have flown over nearly every major conflict since Vietnam, serving as a symbol of deterrence, endurance, and overwhelming might. With modern upgrades and ongoing service, the B-52 isnt a relic  its a living legend.

CH-47 Chinook

Image Credit: Acroterion - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0/Wiki Commons.

With its twin rotors and massive hauling power, the CH-47 Chinook is the backbone of Army air logistics. In service since the Vietnam War, the Chinook has proven itself in every conflict since, ferrying troops, supplies, artillery, and even downed vehicles across hostile terrain.

Able to carry over 20,000 pounds of cargo, the Chinook is more than a helicopter: its a sky crane, a flying ambulance, and a battlefield delivery truck all in one. When you see those massive rotors thumping overhead, you know help is on the way.

LAV-25 (Light Armored Vehicle)

Image Credit: U.S. Marine Corps - This image was released by the United States Marine Corps with the ID 021002-M-2706G-003 (next)., Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

Speed and agility meet armor and firepower in the LAV-25, the U.S. Marine Corps go-to armored reconnaissance vehicle. With its eight wheels, amphibious capabilities, and a 25mm chain gun, the LAV-25 can scout, engage, and retreat, all before enemy forces know what hit them.

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It plays a crucial role in rapid deployment missions, bridging the gap between infantry and heavier armor. Built for mobility in the harshest environments, the LAV-25 is the eyes and ears of the battlefield.

M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle

Image Credit: Shane A. Cuomo, U.S. Air Force - Defense Link, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

Designed to accompany Abrams tanks into battle, the M2 Bradley gives American infantry both protection and punch. Its aluminum armor, TOW missiles, and 25mm cannon let it take on enemy troops, light armor, and fortificationswhile keeping its squad of soldiers safe inside.

From Desert Storm to Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Bradley has proven itself as a versatile, dependable partner in combined arms warfare. It's not just a ride: its a mobile shield, a fire base, and a force multiplier.

Harley-Davidson WLA (The Liberator)

Image Credit: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0/Wiki Commons.

Nicknamed The Liberator, the Harley-Davidson WLA was more than just a motorcycleit was a rolling symbol of American presence in World War II. With blackout lights, ammo can mounts, and rugged construction, it was built to handle mud, sand, and battle-damaged roads.

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Used by messengers, military police, and scouts, over 90,000 WLAs were produced, many dropped behind enemy lines to support Allied operations. It wasnt fast, but it was dependableand where it went, freedom followed.

Indian 741

Image Credit: Alexxx1979 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0/Wiki Commons.

While Harley stole most of the spotlight, Indian Motorcycles also played a key role during WWII. The Indian 741, with its 500cc side-valve engine and simple mechanics, was built for rugged reliability. It was favored in the North African and European campaigns for its torque and easy field repair.

Though less common than the WLA, the 741 earned a place in the history of wartime mobility. Lightweight and built to last, it carried messages, patrolled streets, and helped keep Allied forces connected.

AC-130 Gunship: Angel of Death

Image Credit: SrA Julianne Showalter - United States Air Force, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

When ground troops called for help, the AC-130 answered with unmatched firepower and precision. Nicknamed the Angel of Death, this heavily armed gunship transformed a standard cargo plane  the C-130 Hercules  into a flying fortress. Outfitted with side-mounted cannons and howitzers, the AC-130 could loiter above the battlefield, delivering devastating close air support with pinpoint accuracy.

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From Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan, its thundering barrage turned the tide in countless engagements. But it wasnt just about overwhelming forcethe AC-130 flew low, stayed exposed, and relied on tight coordination with ground forces, often protecting them through the darkest hours of the night.

Crewed by some of the most elite airmen in the U.S. military, the AC-130s legacy is one of strength, sacrifice, and unshakable support from above

Honoring the Machines, Remembering the Heroes

Image Credit: MSgt Christopher Boitz - US Air Force, Public Domain/Wiki Commons.

These vehicles tell stories: not just of battles fought, but of lives risked, missions completed, and moments that changed the world. They were tools in the hands of Americas bravest, and they remain part of our national memory.

This Memorial Day, as we honor those who gave everything, we also salute the machines that stood beside them  metal forged with purpose, history, and sacrifice.

To the fallen, the veterans, and the vehicles that carried them  we remember. We honor. We will never forget.
When Lt. Ben Meure visits Diamond Park on Monday, hell be in familiar territory.

I feel like Ive been going to the Memorial Day Observance for as long as I can remember, especially with my dad, Meure said earlier this week.

Memorial Day observances in area

Here is a listing of public Memorial Day observances as reported to The Meadville Tribune:

This time, the whole family will be there and there will be an important difference: Instead of being part of the crowd surrounding the gazebo bedecked with stars and stripes, the 2018 Meadville Area Senior High (MASH) graduate will be the parade marshal and keynote speaker.

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Its a real big honor for them to ask me, Meure said, and Im really excited to be able to do this  really looking forward to it.

Meure has been busy since he graduated from MASH. Just a few weeks later, his parents, Tracy and Christopher, dropped him off at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

Four years later, Ben graduated and was commissioned in the Army as a finance and comptroller officer. Since then, his Army career took him to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where he was the distinguished honor graduate of the Armys Finance and Comptroller Officer Basic Course. Next, Meure was part of the finance staff for Americas First Team, the 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Cavazos, Texas. Today, hes stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he works in financial management.

After training at West Point that often emphasized the skills needed for a combat platoon leader, Meure said his focus on finance has involved a bit of a learning curve.

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You learn more about the army and the Defense Department as an industry, almost, and how the government works, he said. Its like a really big civics class.

Its also a timely lesson.

Its awesome to learn about how the government really works and it definitely ties into a lot of current events, Meure added. What youre seeing on the news definitely impacts all of our Army, but my career field specifically.

Meure and Rachel Popovich, his girlfriend, try to make the drive from North Carolina, along with their two dogs, to visit family about every month, but having them in town for Memorial Day is particularly gratifying for Joe Galbo, who chairs the committee that organizes the annual observance.

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Its always a special moment when we have folks from the Meadville area to be able to come back to speak, Galbo said. To have a MASH grad, a West Point grad  thats a pretty special thing.

Having secured Meures appearance, Galbo is most looking forward to what he hopes will be good weather for the occasion. Due to the threat of inclement weather last year, the parade was canceled and the observance was moved to Meadville Central Fire Department. If something similar happens this year, Galbo said, the observance, which begins at 11 a.m., will be moved to the Downtown Mall. If necessary, the move will be announced Sunday.

In addition to Meure, Galbo said, a special guest will also be present: Denis Queva, the former city administrator of Fismes, France, Meadvilles sister city and the place that about 150 soldiers from Meadvilles Company B, 112th Infantry, 28th Division, liberated from German occupation in September 1918. The fighting in the Battle of Fismes and Fismette claimed the lives of about 13,000 American soldiers.

Queva and others in the tiny city are preparing to mark the centennial, in 2028, of the original construction of a bridge that replaced the one destroyed by the retreating Germans. A contribution of nearly $43,000 helped make construction of the replacement bridge possible.

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The actions of those Crawford County natives far from their homes, and the efforts of others more than a century later to remember and honor them, fit well with the topic of the address Meure has planned for Monday.

For many stand the few  the motto of the West Point class of 2022 of which he was part  will be his theme.

That really epitomizes what it means to serve, Meure said. For every service member that has given the ultimate sacrifice, theres a mom, a dad, wife, husband, son, daughter  they continue to live that legacy.

The address will encourage listeners to not let such sacrifices go unremarked but to remember and to live fuller lives for it.

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Let this not just be about barbecues and summer starting, Meure said, but remember those who have sacrificed for our nation.

YOU CAN GO

The city of Meadvilles Memorial Day events begin at 10 a.m. Monday with a parade from Water Street to Poplar Street and then north on Market Street before turning east on Chestnut Street to Diamond Park. The observance begins at 11 in Diamond Park and continues until noon when Meadville-area churches traditionally toll their bells. Portions of parade streets will close at about 9 a.m. and reopen shortly after the parade. Diamond Park itself will be closed to traffic from around 9 a.m. until noon.
Despite a highly active and destructive Atlantic hurricane season in 2024, this year could prove to be more of the same. In fact, meteorologists have already seen signs that indicate a named storm could develop before the 2025 season officially begins.

What's happening?

As reported by Fox Weather, computer models have already begun to forecast low-pressure disturbances that could possibly form around Central America before June 1.

Fox Weather hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross explains that a Central American gyre could result in the formation of a tropical system. "There is consensus among the various computer model forecasts that a broad area of low pressure will develop from the Pacific across Central America to Colombia," Norcross explained.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines a Central American gyre as a large, closed, cyclonic circulation that can occur during the rainy season between May and November. These systems can bring extreme rainfall, leading to catastrophic flooding and severe damage.

Since gyres can often coincide with the Atlantic hurricane season, low-pressure centers can sometimes develop inside a gyre. Mixed with warm water temperatures and strong upper-level winds, conditions could become favorable for a tropical system to develop.

Why is an active Atlantic hurricane season important?

While computer models can help meteorologists estimate the size, location, and duration of tropical storms, the technology is still far from being considered flawless. "No computer forecast models are skillful at predicting the genesis of new tropical systems in the long range," Norcross said.

"Before we pay attention, we look for multi-model consensus and a persistent forecast over time," he added.

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The rise of global temperature has been linked to the rise of ocean temperatures as well. This has led to more intense tropical systems around the globe. Increased ocean heat energy is the primary fuel for storms. As warm water evaporates, it rises and condenses, releasing energy that can power storms.

While the number of named storms may not always increase during each hurricane season, the storms that do form are likely to become stronger, with higher wind speeds, heavier rainfall, and increased coastal flooding.

What's being done about stronger tropical systems?

To help combat rising global temperatures, many countries have pledged to drastically slash emissions as a long-term solution. In Belize, government officials have moved to receive 75% of the country's energy from renewable sources by 2030.

In the short term, other countries have worked to shore up their vulnerable coastal communities to prevent further erosion or devastating flooding. As sea levels continue to increase, the looming threat of encroaching waters has forced communities to rebuild sand dunes and beaches to act as a natural barrier against storm surge.

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At home, residents can opt to install solar panels paired with a battery system to help prepare for potential power outages caused by extreme weather events. This can also help bring your monthly electric bill down dramatically. EnergySage offers users a completely free service that makes comparing quotes from vetted local installers easy. As an added bonus, users can save up to $10,000 on their solar installation.

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.
Many people gathered to pray and honor George Floyds memory and press for racial justice.

Churches across the country staged prayer rallies outside Target stores. Theyre boycotting the retail chain for ending its diversity initiatives.

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About 200 people came together on the edge of a Target parking lot in Conyers. Theyre not here to noisily protest and picket, but to wield the power of prayer.

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All crowded together, they thrust their fists in the air and bowed their heads as words of prayer emanated from the middle of the flock.

The state president of Georgias NAACP, Gerald Grigg, had this petition: that diversity, equity, and inclusion be celebrated as a strength.

It should not be a political toy that is bantered about as if its a bogeyman. Im hopeful because I know the true nature of America, Grigg told Channel 2s Bryan Mims.

TRENDING STORIES:

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The pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Jamal Bryant, organized the prayer rallies in Target store parking lots.

They prayed for at least 9 minutes 29 seconds, the length of time, Ofc. Derek Chauvin pressed his knee to George Floyds neck.

Rev. Bryant also launched the boycott of Target after the retailer rolled back major diversity, equity, and inclusion programs the company started after George Floyds death.

Target announced an end to its DEI goals just days after President Trump took office.

Go back to your word and your commitment to our community, Mims said.

For this solemn anniversary, Bryant summoned 56 churches across the nation to send their people to the Target to pray.

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I think that it is a spiritual engagement. It is righteous indignation. Were not going with any picket signs or any banners. Were going with the power of prayer because that is our weapon of choice, Bryant said.

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The boycott appears to have some bite.

Targets first quarter earnings report shows net sales and foot traffic were down, and its stock price has tumbled.

For those who gathered in Conyers, this moment of prayer has an impact, too.

It also refocused people that social justice continues. It did not stop in Minneapolis or even with the other incidents that occurred around the country, Bryant said.

The service didnt last long. After praying, the crowd would disperse  a peaceful show of solidarity.
In his inaugural address, President Donald Trump said boots were imminent on the red planet. But chile  red or green  may not be coming on the trip.

A 2021 experiment to grow New Mexico chile in space, known as PH-04, relied on the Advanced Plant Habitat, an automated plant growth facility on board the International Space Station. Future research at the facility, is in flux, however. NASA recently announced research applicants would no longer be able to request the use the Advanced Plant Habitat for their proposed experiments due to recent resource constraints.

Plant Habitat-04 Debris Removal

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European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet cleans up debris in the International Space Stations Advanced Plant Habitat, which has harvested a hybrid New Mexican chile that combines Hatch chile with an Espanola variety.

One New Mexico researcher who worked on the PH-04 project said making it to Mars will require the type of research done in the specialized lab  for the health of those embarking on the yearslong mission  and the research, in turn, could inform agricultural practices on our own planet.

An early proposal shows NASAs budget for the space station could shrink by more than $500 million, cutting crew members and onboard research, as the agency plans to transition to more cost-effective commercial space missions. Remaining resources would be focused on missions to the moon and Mars.

A federal contract award database shows there are two contracts to provide engineering services for the plant habitat: one for $1.4 million and another for $7.9 million. It was unclear if the lab has additional costs, whether it might become available later for research or if there are alternative research opportunities on the space station. A NASA spokesperson did not answer questions about the facility.

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NASA requested around $1.2 billion total for research and operations in fiscal year 2025 at the International Space Station.

Although the price tag might seem high, its a relatively scant slice of the government pie, representing about 4% of NASAs total budget, which in turn makes up less than 1% of the federal budget.

jacob.jpg (copy)

Jacob Torres, an Espanola native, holds a New Mexico chile grown in space as part of a NASA experiment. Torres is now working on a doctorate at UNM and visiting schools as "Jacob Pepperseed" to deliver chile seeds, teach kids about astro-botany and generate some good news about his hometown.

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Hotter in space

NASA began planning to grow vitamin-C-rich peppers in space a few years ago.

An agency webpage on growing plants in space said astronauts on the International Space Station now receive shipments of freeze-dried and packaged foods. But on long space trips, astronauts wouldnt have regular deliveries, and the vitamins in those foods would eventually break down.

That leaves a problem.

A lack of vitamin C was all it took to give sailors scurvy, and vitamin deficiencies can cause a number of other health problems, the webpage states. Simply packing some multi-vitamins will not be enough to keep astronauts healthy as they explore deep space. They will need fresh produce.

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Enter the chile.

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New Mexico chiles grown in PH-04  an agricultural experiment dedicated to peppers. The Espanola Improved chile was selected as the superior chile to grow in this type of controlled environment.

More than 30 pepper varieties from around the world were grown under controlled conditions to replicate the International Space Station. Jacob Torres, an Espanola native and NASA contract scientist who worked on the project, said half the peppers didnt flower or grow, and other samples blistered and swelled. But varieties from one location thrived.

And, of course, they were the New Mexico ones, Torres said.

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A hybrid variety, NuMex Espanola Improved, was ultimately selected for the mission. Hatch chiles were mixed with Espanola chiles, which grow at a higher altitude and have a shorter season, to reduce the growing time. The seeds were delivered as part of a SpaceX resupply mission.

Initially, Torres said, the peppers were too mild  more like a bell pepper. That wasnt a problem in space.

They actually ended up being a lot hotter up in space, Torres said, because microgravity stressed them out [and] they didnt grow as fast.

Torres, who worked at the Kennedy Space Center, felt a lot of pressure to get chile right.

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I felt like it was my job to ensure that our traditions were followed, he said. That meant spelling chile with an e, harvesting green and red.

jacob2.jpg

New Mexico chiles grown in PH-04  an agricultural experiment dedicated to peppers. The Espanola Improved chile was selected as the superior chile to grow in this type of controlled environment.

Good food is critical

In 2023, astronaut Frank Rubio returned to Earth after spending a record-breaking 371 days in space  the longest time an American had spent off-planet. The world record still belongs to the Russian Valeri Polyakov, who spent more than 400 days in space in the 1990s.

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But a Mars mission would go far beyond that, with NASA estimating last year astronauts would likely be off Earth for around three years. Getting to the red planet alone would take several months.

At the time of the PH-04 experiment, NASA officials said the research in the Advanced Plant Habitat was critical to get astronauts  and, eventually, inhabitants  to Mars. In a 2021 news release, researchers said astronauts physical and mental well-being was improved when they grew colorful and scented plants. In space, astronauts can lose some of their smell and taste capabilities, so some prefer spicy foods, the news release stated.

The food astronauts eat needs to be as good as the rest of their equipment, one researcher said in a statement. To successfully send people to Mars and bring them back to Earth, we will not only require the most nutritious foods, but the best tasting ones as well.

In his inaugural address, Trump said Mars was a target, and an early budget proposal emphasizes investments in human missions to the planet.

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We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars, Trump said Jan. 20.

Spreading seeds

Torres no longer works for NASA. He moved back to New Mexico to pursue his doctorate in mechanical engineering at the University of New Mexico and take care of his familys land in Espanola. For the past two years, hes been volunteering as his alter ego, Jacob Pepperseed, visiting schools to deliver chile seeds, teach kids about astrobotany and generate some good news about his hometown.

I sent seeds to the Midwest, Torres said. I sent seeds to Antarctica, to Australia, to China, to South Africa. We sent chile seeds around the world  I have Johnny Appleseed beat.

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Red and green chiles float in the International Space Station in 2021 as crew members conduct a taste test.

But Torres had hoped to do more research in the Advanced Plant Habitat as part of his doctoral work. He developed a passive irrigation system that wouldnt require electricity or pumps and hoped to test the design in space. He thinks the irrigation system could help with more sustainable plant growth in space and ultimately be used for longer spaceflights like missions to the moon or Mars.

We were doing proposals for it, and at least they realized that they needed to give us a heads up because we were all putting like 100 hours to writing this thing, Torres said. We just woke up one day and they canceled it.

Looking at agriculture in space is going to be crucial for space travel, Torres said. But he also sees potential applications for the research on Earth.

Torres mentioned hearing about chile wilting in Chimayo last summer from the heat. He sees the research as an opportunity to investigate new ways to grow chile  and get a new generation of Northern New Mexicans interested in agriculture.

Its very possible that we may need to think of new ways to grow our traditional crop, Torres said. If it does get too hot, or if we do run out of water, what are we doing?
Michigan prisons shouldn't collaborate with ICE

I was upset to read of the Jackson County and Taylor Police Department agreements to act as U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents for the federal government.

The current federal government is already taking funding away from every part of our lives, including those that impact our children, our libraries, our schools, our health care, our scientists, our seniors and the poorest amongst us, increasing our local tax burdens.

It's made enemies of Canada, our closest and fondest neighboring country, and en route to slowing trade and tourism dollars. It has set up tariffs that threaten the success of our auto companies, which is likely to impact local Michigan tax revenues.

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Now, the federal government wants us to divert even more of our local tax dollars to enforce their cruel, lawless and inhumane treatment of immigrants. Why should any local police department agree to this? We need them to focus on keeping us safe, not threatened. It's madness. Please reconsider.

Jeaneane Havstad

Novi

Protesters gather at Roosevelt Park in Detroits Corktown neighborhood to mark May Day by protesting President Donald Trumps policies on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

Federal government shouldn't leave SNAP funding to the states

Not everyone in my community has adequate resources to be able to afford the necessities of life, one of them being the basic requirement of food. The proposal to require states to pay for a portion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits is a burden on the state and would potentially leave a number of people without enough food to eat.

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It is not realistic that most or all states would be able to make up the difference of the lost federal funds, in which case they would need to cut the food assistance to low-income people and families. The Trump administration and congressional Republicans seem ready to pursue these cuts that would harm many at risk families. Please contact your representatives and let them know what you think about this issue. We dont have to stay silent. We have a voice.

Carol Carpinelli

Plymouth

More from Freep Opinion: U-M President Santa Ono lacked the stomach to stick around

Let's not exempt seniors from property taxes

The Michigan Senate is looking at a proposal to exempt seniors over the age of 70 from paying property taxes.

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The first question asked by every citizen should be: What services are you willing to see discontinued with the loss of community tax income?

I am a 74-year-old retiree who disagrees with the constant demand that someone else pay for community services. Everyone wants someone else to pay for police and fire protection, education, street maintenance, mosquito control, etc., yet they want those services available when they need them. Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to a communitys maintenance, even retirees.

Enacting the Senate proposal will require either raising someone elses taxes or cutting basic services and programs to reduce spending.

John F. Frenzel

Saginaw

Medicaid cuts threaten education

As board president of Honor Community Health and an education professional, I see firsthand how children's health and academic achievement are inextricably linked. The proposed significant elimination of Medicaid funding threatens both.

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At Honor, Oakland County's largest Federally Qualified Health Center, we provide comprehensive health care to thousands of children whose families rely on Medicaid. These children receive critical preventive services  vaccinations, developmental screenings, and early interventions  that set the foundation for lifelong health and learning.

As an educator, I've witnessed how untreated health issues create insurmountable barriers to learning. Children cannot focus when struggling with dental pain, untreated asthma or vision problems. They cannot attend school regularly when preventable illnesses go unchecked.

More from Freep Opinion: Trump flag flying? No thanks. I don't want to know a business' politics.

Investing in children's health through Medicaid pays dividends in educational outcomes. Healthy children attend school more consistently, concentrate better and achieve higher academic success.

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Without Medicaid, these children would lose access to consistent care, resulting in more classroom absences, reduced academic performance and, ultimately, diminished future opportunities.

I urge our elected officials to protect Medicaid funding. Our community's children deserve both health security and educational opportunity  inseparable components of their future success.

Dr. Michael Yocum

Pontiac

Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters, and we may publish it online and in print. If you have a differing view from a letter writer, please feel free to submit a letter of your own in response.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: I'm disappointed in Michigan police collaborating with ICE | Letters
Mike Johnson on Sunday brushed off concerns over Trump's recent meme coin dinner.

Johnson told CNN he didn't know details about the dinner but said Trump was transparent.

"He has nothing to hide, and he's out there trying to advance America's interests," Johnson said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson brushed off concerns on Sunday about President Donald Trump's private meme coin dinner, arguing that the president does "everything out in the open."

While speaking with CNN's Jake Tapper, Johnson said he had no knowledge of the private dinner, which raised concerns from some lawmakers over conflicts of interest and whether attendees were seeking to sway Trump on cryptocurrency policy.

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When Johnson was asked about the lack of disclosure regarding the list of attendees at the meme coin dinner, the speaker said the president had "nothing to hide."

"President Trump is the most transparent president in the most transparent administration, probably in history," he said.

"President Trump does everything out in the open. He's not trying to hide anything," Johnson added. "There's no shell companies or fake LLCs or fake family businesses. He's putting it out there so everybody can evaluate for themselves."

Trump's crypto ventures, including the launch of his own meme coin in January and the dinner for the coin's top 220 investors, raised concerns from a group of Senate Democrats who have pressed for greater ethics standards, including in the recently passed GENIUS Act.

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Johnson played a leading role in shepherding Trump's "one big, beautiful bill" through the House last Thursday, a huge victory for the GOP.

However, the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where several Republicans have expressed concerns over its effects on the federal deficit, as well as the impact of Medicaid cuts, higher state and local tax deductions, and the phasing out of clean energy tax credits.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Faculty and students at some of the nations top military academies are reportedly going underground to continue teaching and studying social justice topics that have been put on the chopping block by the Trump administration.

Cadets at the U.S. Naval Academy have allegedly created non-governmental email addresses in order to continue discussions about books and topics that have been banned by the current administration, including critical race theory, according to The Washington Post.

We at the Naval Academy are here to prepare young officers to command, one professor at the school told the paper, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. They need to know what we have learned from our study of politics and history and literature and languages.

Teachers and cadets at some of the nation's top military academies are quietly bucking Donald Trump's efforts to stamp out DEI initiatives and cull social justice topics from the syllabi. / Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images

We are failing them and we are failing in our jobs if we suppress some things we know are true and we parrot other things we know are false, the professor added.

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They went on to say that some of their students feel conflicted about the possibility of active deployment, given their concerns over what kind of orders they may be required to carry out at the behest of the current White House.

Graham Parsons, a philosophy professor at West Point who left his position earlier this month in protest of the Trump administrations new policies, told WaPo that the entirety of the U.S. armed forces has been left reeling from the Trump administrations abrupt reversal of DEI initiatives and social justice programs.

Trump used his commencement speech at West Point on Saturday to rail against the Biden administration for

Its a feeling of real whiplash, Parsons told the newspaper on Saturday. We used to raise the possibility in the military and beyond, there are still real structural problems with racism and sexism. That would not fly now.

Parsons resignation came after he penned an opinion piece for The New York Times, in which he wrote he was now ashamed to be associated with West Point following changes instituted by the White House.

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Once a school that strove to give cadets the broad-based, critical-minded, nonpartisan education they need for careers as Army officers, [West Point] was suddenly eliminating courses, modifying syllabuses, and censoring arguments to comport with the ideological tastes of the Trump administration, as he put it in that article.

In a long and rambling commencement speech at the academy on Saturday, Trump gave a flavor of some of those changes, vowing to ditch DEI programs and support for transgender service people.

He also pledged to make the military better than ever before, criticizing the Joe Biden administration for what he described as subjecting the armed forces to all manner of social projects.

Trump and his Defense Secretary, former serviceman Pete Hegseth, have indeed already made good on much of that promise, firing at least nine senior officials from the U.S. military for their perceived support for DEI initiatives under the previous administration.
Key Points

Two factors propelled the shares slightly higher on the last trading day of the week.

One piece of news came from Florida, the other from Pennsylvania.

10 stocks we like better than Curaleaf 

One positive internal company development and another outside of its control helped propel Curaleaf (OTC: CURLF) stock into the win column on Friday. The marijuana company's shares ticked up by 1.5% that trading session, on a day when the S&P 500 index closed in the red at 0.4%. Weed stocks are generally unpopular and tend to trade down if anything, so the Friday rise was notable.

Another stake planted in the Sunshine State

The internal factor was Curaleaf's announcement that it has opened a new medical marijuana dispensary in Florida, specifically in the municipality of Punta Gorda. This adds to the company's already considerable presence in the Southeastern state, as it's the 67th Curaleaf outlet there.

Image source: Getty Images.

That in itself is reason to be more optimistic about Curaleaf. Florida is the third most populous state in this country, with a recent estimate of almost 23.4 million inhabitants. At the moment, it has only legalized medical marijuana; a vote to flip the switch on recreational cannabis fell short last November, but there is sufficient public support for a future effort to succeed.

As for the external happening, some distance north in Pennsylvania lawmakers are making another run at legalizing recreational sale and consumption. On State Senator Sharif Street's podcast, the lawmaker waxed optimistic with his guest, Representative Rick Krajewski, about their Democrat Party's attempts to modify the proposed law in order to get it passed.

A legalization bill had passed in the House of Representatives earlier this month, but it was rejected by the Senate's law and justice committee when handed over to that legislative body.

Reasons to be cheerful

Both of these developments aren't all that major or game-changing, yet they are steps in the right direction for Curaleaf (and for the ever-struggling marijuana business in general). Investors are justified in feeling cautiously bullish about one and both, although Curaleaf needs bigger wins to be a more viable company.

Should you invest $1,000 in Curaleaf right now?

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Austin Washingtons car keys were at his apartment in the Milwaukee suburb of Shorewood. However, thieves were still able to drive off with his vehicle. They broke into his parked Infiniti car through the sunroof and stole it using a reprogrammed key fob.

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Last month, Washington told WISN 12 News he felt violated.

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"Somebody was in your car, going through your stuff, stole your car," he said. "I thought I was doing everything right with the information I knew about vehicles. I had no idea about these fob re-programmers."

Fortunately, police found his car dumped a few miles away, but they told the news network such high-tech car theft is on the rise across Milwaukee.

How this type of crime works

Thieves use key fob programmers to get cars to start, and then simply drive away. Milwaukee police told WISN 12 News there have been at least 19 reported cases of car thefts using this method within the first three months of 2025.

Keyless, or re-programmed car keys, is a growing method of car theft. News reports show that police in different parts of the country, like San Fernando Valley or Oakland County, have issued warnings about this problem.

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Multiple locksmiths told WISN 12 News that thieves steal key programmers from businesses like theirs in order to steal cars with keyless ignitions.

Itay Rahamim, owner of Milwaukee Automotive Locksmith, showed reporters how the theft works on a Lexus.

Thieves either go through the sunroof, break the window, or find some other way to get inside the vehicle. They then find the vehicles on-board diagnostic (OBD) port and plug in the key programmer. Its typically under the steering wheel, close to the gas and brake pedals.

Once its successfully plugged in, the thief can then program a new key to the car.

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It was about 40 seconds from the time Rahamim opened the door to the car to when he started it using the reprogrammer.

Read more: This is how American car dealers use the '4-square method to make big profits off you  and how you can ensure you pay a fair price for all your vehicle costs

What are the most vulnerable cars?

Any car that uses a key fob is susceptible to such theft, but some vehicles are more vulnerable than others.

Nissans and Infinitis are the most targeted, police told WISN 12 News, but they are not exactly sure why.

Rahamim told reporters that 2007 to 2017 models of Honda, Nissan, Infiniti, Dodge, Chrysler, Lexus, and Toyota are more easily stolen

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The reason? These cars dont have a wait time for someone to start the vehicle after theyve reprogrammed a new key.

Ford and GM vehicles are among those that do not start immediately, and so they are harder to steal, according to him.

How to protect your vehicle

Vehicle thefts nationwide decreased 17% to 850,708 in 2024, dropping below the one million mark for the first time since 2021, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

But owners should still take precautions. In an April Facebook post, Milwaukee Police said it has noticed an increase in motorvehicle thefts and drivers should consider protecting their car by installing a lock over their cars OBD port.

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These types of locks are typically made from a piece of metal or strong plastic that covers the OBD port and makes sure it can only be accessed with a special key.

A wheel lock can also deter thieves.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau recommends taking the layered approach to protection and has a list of ways owners can try to prevent car theft..

If you discover your vehicle has been stolen, file a police report right away. Provide as many details as possible like information about your car, where it was parked and when you last saw it.

Call your auto insurance company and report the loss. Insurers should be able to help if you have comprehensive coverage.

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Even if your vehicle is recovered, your insurance company may pay to repair it or pay you the actual cash value if its been declared a total loss.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz spoke at an event Friday to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of George Floyd. "...I stand here today as governor five years later, recognizing that the change that we want to see has not come," Walz said.
The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis five years ago led to action at the Capitol in St. Paul.

There were changes to what training officers receive, when they can use deadly force and the board that licenses officers in Minnesota.

State Rep. Cedrick Frazier, co-vice chair of the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law committee, said laws and policies that were enacted were not new ideas, nor were the efforts to move them forward, but with Floyds death captured on video and widely shared, the world was watching.

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The civil unrest and protests we saw, not just in this country but around the world, was the energy and motivation to put some of these policies in place, to prevent some of these things and have some actual accountability, said Frazier, DFL-New Hope. He said he sees whats happened in the past five years as incremental movement and added, I still think we have a long way to go.

Paul Gazelka, then the Minnesota Senate majority leader, viewed the time as intense pressure by some to defund the police or dismantle the police. Gazelka, a Republican who represented a district in central Minnesota before he resigned to run for governor, said he worked to find reforms that both sides could agree to.

But he said he was determined not to go too far as a knee-jerk reaction to the terrible moments  first the death of George Floyd and then the riots that followed.

Here are nine laws and policy changes by the Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Tim Walz since Floyds death on May 25, 2020, and a look at one that didnt pass:

Stricter threshold for using deadly force

Before legislators revised state law, which went into effect in March 2021, Minnesota officers were allowed to use deadly force to protect the peace officer or another from apparent death or great bodily harm.

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The revised statute dropped the word apparent, and added three requirements to justify the use of deadly force, saying the threat must be:

 articulated with specificity

 reasonably likely to occur absent action by the law enforcement officer and

 such that it had to be addressed through the use of deadly force without unreasonable delay.

The previous standard really rested with the individual police officers state of mind at that time, said Carlos Mariani Rosa, who at the time was chair of the House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee.  I dont think you can have enough accountability when it comes to having the ultimate power to take a life.

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Since the law changed, then-Brooklyn Park officer Kim Potter was convicted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright in April 2021. She said she mistook her Taser for her gun.

State Patrol trooper Ryan Londregan was charged with murder in the shooting of Ricky Cobb II during a traffic stop in July 2023. The charges were later dismissed.

POST Board changes

The Legislature in 2020 expanded the Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training from 15 to 17 members, allowing the two members of the general public to be increased to four members.

The law also said that if the board formed a subcommittee to investigate actions against a peace officers license, it must have one voting member from the general public and three voting members who are current or former officers.

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The police licensing accountability system was very weak, said Mariani Rosa, DFL-St. Paul, who was first elected in 1990 and didnt run for re-election in 2022. We thought there was no serious review and oversight over the behavior of state licensed individuals. That was left to local law enforcement, the agencies they worked for. We were looking for a modern accountability system with direct expectations of the POST Board.

Kelly McCarthy, POST Board chair from 2019 to 2023 and Mendota Heights police chief, said the board underwent a detailed process to change its administrative rules. It was the largest rewriting of the boards rules since the board was formed in the 1970s.

In the past, a persons peace officer license would be automatically revoked if he or she was convicted of a felony.

Beginning in June 2023, changes to POST Board rules gave the board more authority to take action on an officers license for violations of standards of conduct  including in cases they arent charged in but that involve domestic assault, sexual harassment, theft, prostitution and drug offenses, among other types of cases.

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Officers can also face sanctions to their peace officer license for not interceding if they see another officer using force beyond what is objectively reasonable as defined by state law, if they engage in unreasonable or excessive use of force, unauthorized use of force, or unauthorized use of deadly force, if they engage in discriminatory conduct, or if they are a member of a hate or extremist group, the boards rules state.

Previously, an officer might get a job at another department if a law enforcement agency disciplined them for misconduct or fired them because theyd still have their license. Now, those cases also go to the POST Board, which makes a finding about whether the officer violated standards of conduct and decides whether their license should stay in place or be suspended or revoked.

It is, in my opinion, one of the more effective ways to hold officers accountable, said Justin Terrell, Minnesota Justice Research Center executive director. He was appointed to the POST Board in 2021.

Ban on chokeholds

Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on or close to Floyds neck for what prosecutors said was as long as 9 minutes. That wasnt allowed under Minneapolis policy, though Minnesota law had not previously addressed chokeholds.

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The new law says officers cannot use chokeholds, including any pressure to the neck, throat, or windpipe that may prevent or hinder breathing.

They may use such restraints when state law allows the use of deadly force to protect the peace officer or another from death or great bodily harm, the statute also says.

The law codified what was already in practice for most law enforcement agencies in the state, said James Stuart, Minnesota Sheriffs Association executive director.

Stuart, who retired as the Anoka County sheriff, said when he was hired in Anoka County in 1994, we were trained to stay away from the face or neck unless it was a deadly force situation.

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Communities United Against Police Brutality still gets hotline complaints about law enforcement using neck restraints, the group says.

Duty to intercede

Minneapolis police already had a duty to intervene policy when Floyd was killed. Three other officers were present with Chauvin and were also convicted.

New state law required the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training to adopt an updated comprehensive written model policy on the use of force, including deadly force, by peace officers. The law said every state and local law enforcement agency must update its policy to be identical or substantially similar to the model policy  by Dec. 15, 2020.

The law required that the policy include a duty for peace officers to intercede when present and observing another peace officer using force that is clearly beyond what is objectively reasonable under the law and the particular circumstances of the case and to report illegal use of force to the officers chief law enforcement officer.

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Before Floyds death, St. Paul police had already been planning workshops in moral courage  the concept of doing whats right in the face of fears or challenges, especially in the heat of the moment. Officers went through that training in 2020, along with a peer-intervention program.

St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said they didnt need to make major policy changes because the department had long focused on community policing.

In parts of the country, George Floyd tore police and community apart, and for us  it sealed us even tighter and it made us appreciate both sides of the equation, Henry said.

BCA creates Use of Force Investigations Unit

It was already the practice for local law enforcement agencies to request the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension conduct investigations when officers used deadly force. State law made it official and appropriated funds for the BCA to establish and operate the independent Use of Force Investigations Unit.

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Community advocates said that still amounted to law enforcement reviewing themselves, Mariani Rosa said.

The point was to have multiple measuring points and expectations spread across different parts of state government, he said. In 2020, the Senate was controlled by Republicans and the House by Democrats, so much negotiation was needed in reaching consensus in all their work, Mariani Rosa added.

No excited delirium or warrior training

The issue of the disputed term excited delirium  described as someone being in an agitated state and having extreme aggression  came up at trial in Floyds death. The term is not listed in the standard classification system for mental disorders.

A law enacted in 2024 says a law enforcement agency may not provide, directly or through a third party, to a peace officer any course that includes training on the detection or use of excited delirium. This section does not prohibit peace officer training in responding to and the proper care of a person in crisis.

In 2020, the Legislature banned warrior-style training for officers, which they said dehumanizes people or encourages aggressive conduct by peace officers during encounters with others in a manner that deemphasizes the value of human life or constitutional rights, the result of which increases a peace officers likelihood or willingness to use deadly force.

More power for civilian oversight of complaints against officers

Complaints against officers could be taken up by local civilian review boards previously, though they didnt have the power to make findings of fact.

We got that undone and it now allows for having civilian review that actually can adjudicate these cases properly, said Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality.

The law, changed in 2023, says a civilian oversight council can retain an investigator for a misconduct review against an officer, may subpoena or compel testimony, may make a finding of misconduct and recommend discipline, and must submit investigation reports that contain findings of peace officer misconduct to the chief law enforcement officer and the Peace Officer Standards and Training Boards complaint committee.

A chief law enforcement officer is under no obligation to agree with individual recommendations of the council and may oppose a recommendation, the law also says.

Crisis calls to mental health responders

Travis Law, passed in 2021, was named for Travis Jordan. Minneapolis officers fatally shot Jordan, who his mother says was in the throes of a mental health crisis, in 2018.

State law previously said a 911 system may include a referral to mental health crisis teams, where available. The word may was changed to shall.

Thats really big, Gross said of the change to getting mental health experts involved instead of defaulting to law enforcement when someone calls 911.

Though every county in Minnesota has a mental health crisis response team, Travis Law isnt followed throughout the state, Gross said. We are working hard to make the law become a reality, she added.

No-knock warrants

Laura Stevens, center, of Charlotte, N.C., an aunt of George Floyd, sings a hymn during a remembrance of Floyd in Minneapolis on Friday, May 23, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) A memorial to George Floyd in Minneapolis on Friday, May 23, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter lays a yellow rose at a memorial to George Floyd during a remembrance in Minneapolis on Friday, May 23, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) Yellow roses are placed at a memorial to George Floyd in Minneapolis on Friday, May 23, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) People lay yellow roses at a memorial to George Floyd in Minneapolis on Friday, May 23, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) A sign at a memorial to George Floyd in Minneapolis on Friday, May 23, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) A photograph of George Floyd is displayed with yellow roses as people gather to honor his legacy in Minneapolis on Friday, May 23, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) A mural of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Friday, May 23, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) Family, friends and supporters chant Remember His Name during a remembrance of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Friday, May 23, 2025. The Minneapolis location, at 38th St. E. and Chicago Ave. S., where George Floyd died under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, has become known as George Floyd Square. His death sparked a nationwide reckoning on police brutality and racism prompted by unprecedented, multiracial mass protests. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) Show Caption1 of 10Drie Matthews, 6, from Washington, D.C., lays a yellow rose at a memorial to George Floyd before a remembrance in Minneapolis on Friday, May 23, 2025. The Minneapolis location, at 38th Street East and Chicago Avenue South, where George Floyd died under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, has become known as George Floyd Square. His death sparked a nationwide reckoning on police use of force and racism. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)Expand

Changes to state law in 2021 put regulations on the use of no-knock warrants. Communities United Against Police Brutality wanted more restrictions, but kept hearing: Well study it, Gross said.

After Amir Locke was shot and killed by a Minneapolis officer carrying out a no-knock warrant in a St. Paul homicide investigation in 2022, legislators further cracked down on such warrants in the 2023 session. The law now says a court may not issue or approve a no-knock search warrant unless the judge determines that the applicant has articulated specific, objective facts that establish probable cause for belief that:

 the search cannot be executed while the premises is unoccupied; and

 the occupant or occupants in the premises present an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to the officers executing the warrant or other persons.

Officers dont need individual insurance policies

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Police accountability groups have long wanted officers to be required to carry their own professional liability insurance.

Municipalities could choose to pay for that insurance, but we want to ban the municipalities from paying for any overage in the premiums because of the officers history, Gross said. What that would do is it would create a consequence for bad behavior and an incentive to not engage in that bad behavior.

Gazelka, who works as an insurance agent, said he opposed any move to require officers to have their own insurance policies.

It would have been cost-prohibitive for them, rather than the city or county or state that provides that for them, he said.  Police were leaving the workforce in record numbers, and we didnt want to create more of that.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KXAN)  The Texas Department of Public Safety discontinued an endangered missing persons alert for a 17-year-old boy after he was found Saturday evening.

DPS said the San Antonio Police Department was searching for the 17-year-old, who has a diagnosed intellectual disability, according to DPS.

The alert was discontinued after the teen was found.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
ST. LOUIS  The Missouri National Guard has been officially activated for St. Louis tornado recovery operations as of Saturday, according to Gov. Mike Kehoe.

The governors office announced Saturday afternoon that the Missouri National Guard will activate and deploy up to 41 engineering personnel in St. Louis to support the key mission of debris removal and sorting to support tornado recovery operations.

Members of the 35th Engineer Brigade are preparing to execute missions next week. Service members are scheduled to be on site by Wednesday.

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Through this deployment, the State of Missouri is further assisting the City of St. Louis in recovery efforts following the devastating May 16 storms, said Kehoe via a news release. We are thankful for the efforts of the men and women of the Missouri National Guard in this mission. Recovery will take time, but our state agencies remain committed to partnering with local officials to assist affected residents and businesses.

Donate here: Help support St. Louis storm victims

Since Tuesday, a Missouri National Guard Liaison Officer has assisted the City of St. Louis with evaluating and advising local officials on potential appropriate missions.

The National Guards deployment follows the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) receiving a request for the debris removal assistance from the City of St. Louis on Friday evening.

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When the Missouri National Guard teams arrive. they will be on ground will support residential debris collection sites in St. Louis, along with assistance in sorting, loading, transporting, and removal of debris from collection sites to the landfill, according to Kehoes Office.

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National Guard support is currently planned for a two-week operating period commencing on May 28 through June 11, at which time support operations will transition to City- or SEMA-sourced long-term support solution.

On May 16, an EF-3 tornado ripped through several westside and northside St. Louis neighborhoods, killing five people, damaging around 5,000 properties and causing around $1 billion in estimated damages.

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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 2.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has condemned a large-scale Russian attack on Ukrainian cities and villages on the night of 24-25 May, stating that such actions do not reflect the behaviour of a country seeking peace.

Source: Sandu on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: In her post, Sandu expressed support for Ukraine.

Quote: "367 drones and missiles. At least 12 dead. Dozens injured. This is not the behaviour of a country seeking peace  its a deliberate escalation and a brutal attack on innocent lives. Moldova stands with Ukraine. The world must respond with massive support for Ukraine."

Background:

Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has called for the "strongest international pressure" on Russia after the latest large-scale attack.

Following the attack, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova stated that Russia is mocking the international community and the US's efforts to achieve peace.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys called for a strong response to the overnight large-scale airstrike on Ukraine.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
They were tight growing up, the Lanham sisters.

Separated by two-year increments, Lauren, the oldest, always looked out for middle sister Lindsey and Molley, the youngest, who tagged along with her older siblings wherever they went.

Molley, then 19, was brutally murdered in rural Hebron six years ago with boyfriend Thomas Grill Jr., 18, when they met up with Conner Kerner of Valparaiso, then 17, for a drug deal that went awry. Grill, from Cedar Lake, and Molley were 2018 graduates of Hanover Central High School.

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Sitting through Kerners trial and that of his co-defendant, John Silva II, would inevitably change the course of Laurens and Lindseys lives  it would be impossible for the tragedy of their sisters death, compounded by reliving that horror in grim detail in court, not too.

Lindsey and Lauren, who live in St. John, had both considered legal careers before Molley was murdered. Lindsey was in law school during the trial and, after a hung jury failed to convict Silva, who later entered a guilty plea, she decided to switch her focus from corporate governance to criminal law.

She has been a Lake County deputy prosecutor for more than two years and now, shes working alongside her older sister. Lauren passed the bar on Feb. 25, the sixth anniversary of Molleys death, and was sworn in as a Lake County deputy prosecutor last week.

Molleys death and murder is the whole reason Im here, said Lauren, 29, sitting in a conference room in the Lake County Prosecutors Office.

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Lauren wanted to go to law school before her sister, Lindsey said.

When she came to this office, I think I was talking so much about work that it inspired Lauren, Lindsey said.

The work, Lindsey said, allows her and her sister to form relationships with people facing what they have been through.

When she decided, I was excited about it and a little nervous, Lindsey said, adding shes looking forward to Lanham and Lanham prosecuting a case someday.

With an interest in civil law, including divorces and adoptions, Lauren figured she would stay on that side of the legal world. She was impressed by a wonderful team of Porter County prosecutors who handled the murder case.

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There is a stigma around murder victims.

Its such a taboo subject, Lauren said. I never felt that with Porter County. They treated Molley and Thomas with such dignity. For Lindsey and I both, it was wanting to do that for someone else.

Lauren graduated from Indiana University-Bloomington in 2018 and took a few years off as she decided what she wanted to do. She worked for a country club in Flossmoor, Illinois, but got laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic a year after Molley was murdered.

She worked as a personal assistant for a woman in Chicago who became a mentor during tumultuous times.

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She helped me take all these big emotions and find what would be a meaningful career, Lauren said.

The woman also helped establish the Molley Lanham Foundation, run by the Lanham sisters mother, Stacy Spejewski.

The foundation provides support for the families of homicide victims, and to the victims assistance programs in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties, Lauren said. The foundation also partnered with the Porter County Prosecutors Office for a suite for crime victims and their families at the Porter County Courthouse. The suite offers a main space, soft interview room, family grieving room, and comfort rooms offering victims a place to rest between court sessions or to meet with prosecutors.

The pandemic delayed Kerners trial, Lauren said, and in the meantime, she signed up to take the Law School Admission Test. Because of the trial delays, her test date fell during the murder trial.

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It all worked out how it was supposed to, and I took the bar exam in February on the anniversary of Molleys passing, she said. I dont know if I believed that stuff before but for those big moments, shes definitely around.

Lauren decided to go to law school in March 2020 and graduated from Indiana Universitys McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis.

As kids, Lauren, Lindsey and Molley were very, very close, Lauren said.

I always felt like sisterhood was important to me and being the oldest, I always felt kind of protective, she said. And we were so close in age, we had a lot of the same friends.

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The trio was known as the Lanham girls, she said. We were always a package deal.

Their mom often dressed them in matching clothes, which they griped about when they were younger, but now Lauren said she and Lindsey show up in similar outfits at least once a week. Additionally, they borrow each others clothes, providing entertaining fodder for their coworkers.

Lauren and Lindsey following the same career path in the same office, then, isnt that much of a stretch, though Lauren said they didnt expect to work together.

I think its funny because before Molleys passing, we both wanted to go to law school but we werent sure what we would do with it, Lauren said.

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Sitting through the trials for Kerner and Silva, the sisters felt a strong connection to Molley.

It puts some perspective on things, Lauren said, about what a victims family goes through.

Lauren is eager to get started in the prosecutors office, work she said you have to be passionate about, and can see herself working there for a long time.

The sisters mom sometimes pops in when one of her daughters is prosecuting a case, Lindsey said.

I think Mom loves it. Shes proud, Lindsey said.

Lauren said the work of her and her sister gives their mother inspiration about how to connect with people through the Molley Lanham Foundation. That furthers a sense of community for the families of homicide victims, Lindsey said.

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Prior to losing Molley, I had never been in any situation like this and I wasnt aware that it was going on around me, Lindsey said, adding her job is almost like exposure therapy, helping others navigate what shes been through.

And were honoring Molleys life and legacy. It was such a short life lived, Lauren said, adding she and her sister have empathy to help others. If this is a way to continue that legacy, it doesnt bring closure but it keeps Molleys light shining bright.

Molley, Lindsey said, was always known to give people second and third chances.

Thats something I try to remember with my victims, she said. Shes constantly in this job, every single day.

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Kerner, 24, of Valparaiso, was initially sentenced to 179 years in prison for the murders of Molley and Grill after a jury found him guilty of two counts of murder, one count of robbery causing serious bodily injury, and one arson count. The Indiana Court of Appeals trimmed 25 years off his sentence. His earliest release date, according to the Indiana Department of Correction website, is Aug. 31, 2134.

He is incarcerated at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility just south of Terre Haute.

The criminal trial for co-defendant John Silva II of Hamlet ended in a hung jury in June 2021. Now 24, Silva pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, attempted robbery and welfare fraud. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 10 years on probation. His earliest release date, according to online records from IDOC, is Nov. 22, 2037. Silva is housed at the Correctional Industrial Facility in Pendleton.

alavalley@chicagotribune.com
The island of Molokai is perhaps the most rural of all of the main Hawaiian isles, with a population of just about 7, 400 on about 260 square miles of land.

With its rugged landscape and steep sea cliffs, Molokai stands apart from other isles shaped by tourism and outside interests, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Its close-knit community, meanwhile, has long prioritized the aina (land ) and residents health and self-sufficiency.

These are the very reasons the foundation chose Molokai for its 2024, which comes with $250, 000. Out of hundreds of applicants from across the U.S. last summer, the foundation chose nine.

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Its a first for Molokaiand a first for Hawaii.

Honestly, this is really the first time our community has been recognized for our years and years of innovative efforts to try and solve our crises,  said Kawaipuna Kalipi, a Ph.D. student in political sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Because on Molokai, especially, we know people wont come to save us.

Kalipi, also general manager of the Molokai Heritage Trust, co-wrote the prize application with Momi Afelin, a Molokai native and Ph.D. student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, highlighting the communitys efforts to be resilient.

Applying for the award also was intended to honor Molokais beloved physician Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli, who at the age of 78. Aluli was a family practice doctor at the Molokai Family Health Center for decades, as well as a Native Hawaiian health advocate and activist renowned for protesting U.S. military bombing on Kahoolawe.

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We co-wrote the application in honor of Uncle Emmett and his dedication to Molokaibut really, his dedication to aina, to all of Hawaii,  Kalipi said, and his reminder to us that the health of the land is the health of the people, and the health of the people is the health of the land.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a national philanthropy dedicated to health equity that is based in Princeton, N.J., has been awarding the Culture of Health Prize since 2013.

The prize honors the work of communities at the forefront of addressing structural racism and other structural injustices to advance health, opportunity, and equity for all,  according to the foundation website. Awardees are honored for taking unique approaches to health by reshaping food systems, emboldening youth leaders while honoring elders and changing the narrative about their communities.

The foundation recognized Molokai as a place where land and people have existed in a regenerative and symbiotic relationship.

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The community of Molokai has had to be resilient and resourceful while facing issues of access to health care, high poverty rates, ongoing threats to its land and resources, and other challenges.

We have to be very creative in the ways we build out our health equity because its challenging for doctors to come to Molokai,  Kalipi said. Its challenging to get specialists, and on Molokai, by specialists I mean an eye doctor and dentist.

The island has long faced a shortage of doctors, forcing residents to travel off island to seek routine and specialized health care, oftentimes without reliable transportation.

Among some of Molokais accomplishments highlighted by the foundation are community efforts to buy back nearly a third of land from a developer to protect it for the benefit of the community.

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That is the mission of the Molokai Heritage Trust, a member-managed nonprofit.

I think Molokai has also understood itself to be aina momona, land of abundance,  Kalipi said, so the planning that we do and the approach that were trying to take is a holistic onea planetary health approach.

Without land, there is no sustenance, according to Kalipi, and Indigenous ownership and stewardship of land is necessary in order for people to cultivate their own food.

Our communities rely heavily on our land for food,  she said, and if we lose that land, imagine how many more people would have to rely on the food bank.

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According to the Molokai Community Health Center, about 45 % of the islands residents have incomes below 200 % of the federal poverty line.

Programs like the Mobile Market, which provides an outlet for some 65 local farmers and food producers to sell their locally grown produce to Molokai families, are a step toward self-sufficiency.

The foundation also noted other accomplishments, including the creation of a clean energy hui  to plan and develop a portfolio of clean-energy projects islandwide supported by the community, along with efforts to prepare for climate change.

In the face of climate change, Molokai has already started planning how to adapt to erosion, flooding and sea-level rise.

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Climate change is one of the big issues Molokai is facing, according to Kalipi, with questions of how to prepare for it discussed at community meetings. The majority of families on Molokai live at sea level on the east side of the island, and there are two homestead subdivisions on the coast.

Invasive species, including axis deer and macro algae, also pose threats to Molokais ecosystem. The overpopulation of deer has dried out mountaintops, according to Kalipi, bringing topsoil down into the ocean and onto coral reefs.

Molokais south shore is home to one of the longest, continuous coral reefs in the islands. The foundation lauded community partnerships to reclaim the shoreline by removing invasive macro algae that threaten nearshore fisheries. To date, more than 35, 000 pounds of algae have been removed and repurposed to enrich the soil.

All of it, Kalipi said, is a reflection of the communitys efforts. The prize money, she said, will go back to the community and be shared among 10 or so nonprofits.

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Other communities that were awarded the prize include Trenton, N.J.; Jurupa Valley and Sacramento, Calif.; Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wis.; Juneau, Alaska ; Lower Eastern Shore, Md.; Sussex County, Del.; and tribes in the Great Lakes region.

Juneau, Alaskas capital city, was recognized for addressing structural racism and unraveling generational trauma in order to heal, along with its leadership in reviving Indigenous culture.

Sacramento, Californias capital, was selected for establishing an innovative youth program called the Childrens Fund using local cannabis tax revenue to help finance programs addressing mental health, substance abuse, violence and homelessness.
MONROE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  On Saturday, Monroes first Black police chief was honored with a historical marker at his birthplace.

Former Chief James F. Sutton is a Monroe native. He was born and raised in the Quality Hills community.

Pictured: Former Chief James. F. Sutton; City of Monroe

Sutton graduated from Winchester High School in 1969, and later served in the United States Army with the 82nd Airborne Paratroopers.

After leaving the Army, he joined Monroe Public Safety and worked his way up to Chief of Police in 1996.

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Chief Sutton was the first African American to serve as the Chief of Monroe Public Safety.

The ceremony for the historical marker was held on Saturday at Branch Street.

The organization, A Few Good Men, was behind getting the historical marker put in, along with the city.

Sutton passed away last July at the age of 83.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Key Points

President Trump signed four executive orders today to "jumpstart" nuclear power growth in the U.S.

The orders aim to expand nuclear power production fourfold in 25 years.

Uranium mining, refinement, and plant construction will all become easier under the new regulations.

10 stocks we like better than Fluor 

Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Donald Trump signed executive orders (yes, plural) this afternoon "to jumpstart the nuclear energy industry by easing the regulatory process on approvals for new reactors and strengthening fuel supply chains," Reuters reports.

Reuters broke the story last night, and Fox news has just confirmed that the orders are now out. Investors didn't even wait for confirmation before beginning to buy nuclear stocks, however, and shares of nuclear power plant construction company Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) is already up 8.8% through 2:10 p.m. ET. Uranium miner Denison Mines (NYSEMKT: DNN) is doing even better, up 10%, and Centrus Energy Corporation (NYSEMKT: LEU), which enriches uranium for use as nuclear fuel, is doing best of all, up a staggering 22.1%.

Image source: Getty Images.

How President Trump jolted nuclear stocks today

As Fox reports, one executive order aims to reform nuclear research and development efforts at the Department of Energy, accelerate reactor testing, and develop a pilot program for building new, more modern reactors.

A separate executive order reportedly will facilitate construction of nuclear reactors on federal land. A third will "overhaul" the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and accelerate license approvals, such that applications to build a nuclear reactor can be approved within 18 months. And a fourth will encourage uranium mining and uranium enrichment, such as Centrus aims to do, within U.S. borders.

Ultimately, the goal is to expand U.S. nuclear power production fourfold, to 400 gigawatts within 25 years, providing sufficient electrical power to support new artificial intelligence systems that the administration is also promoting. As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explained in remarks at the signing:

We're including artificial intelligence in everything we do. If we don't, we're not fast enough. We're not keeping up with adversaries. You need the energy to fuel it. Nuclear is a huge part of that.

Reporting on the signings, NBC news noted that experts anticipate electricity demand in the U.S. will grow 78% over the next 25 years, largely because of AI. The quadrupling of nuclear capacity will go a long way to covering that increase in demand.
May 24 (UPI) -- At least seven have been arrested for helping 10 inmates escape from the Orleans Parish Justice Center jail in New Orleans on May 16.

Investigators have identified at least seven who have been charged with crimes related to the jailbreak, including an inmate who did not escape but is accused of aiding those who did.

Inmate Trevon Williams is among those accused of aiding the mass escape and is charged with 10 counts of being a principal to simple escape.

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"We will hold absolutely everyone who contributed any role to the prison break in New Orleans accountable," Louisiana Attorney General LizMurrill said on Friday in a post on X.

"While Trevon Williams was already incarcerated, we will be filing additional charges related to the escape," Murrill said.

"We will continue our investigation and follow all of the facts to ensure we get accountability."

Others charged will assisting the escapees include Emmitt Weber, Casey Smith, 30, two women and a jail employee.

Orleans Parish Jail maintenance worker Sterling Williams,33, on Tuesday was charged with 10 counts of principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office.

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The 10 inmates escaped through a hole that was located behind a toilet in a cell and were not discovered missing for seven hours.

"Williams admitted to agents that one of the escapees advised him to turn the water off in the cell," Murrill said in a statement.

"Instead of reporting the inmate, Williams turned the water off as directed, allowing the inmates to carry out their scheme to successfully escape," she said.

Five escapees have been captured as of Tuesday, when law enforcement arrested Corey Boyd, 19, in New Orleans' French Quarter.

Boyd faces charges for allegedly killing a man during a car burglary last year.

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Other escapees who have been caught are Robert Moody, Dkenan Dennis, Kendall Myles and Gary Price.

Inmates who were still at large as of Saturday afternoon are Jermaine Donald, Leo Tate, Derrick Groves, Antoine Massey and Lenton Vanburen.

Vanburen, Groves and Donald face second-degree murder charges.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has reported an attack involving several drones heading towards the city, prompting the temporary suspension of operations at three airports in the Russian capital and the surrounding area.

Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti, citing Sobyanin and Rosaviatsiya (Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency)

Details: At around 16:50, Rosaviatsiya announced temporary restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft at Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports.

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Sobyanin claimed that Russian air defence units had downed a drone en route to Moscow. Emergency services are currently working at the site where the debris fell.

He later claimed that two other drones heading towards Moscow had been shot down.

At around 17:50, Sobyanin reported that a fourth drone heading towards Moscow had been shot down.

Pulkovo Airport in St Petersburg has warned of possible schedule changes due to restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft at several Moscow airports.

At around 18:20, restrictions on the reception and departure of aircraft were lifted at Moscow's Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, Rosaviatsiya reported.

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Twelve people were killed and more than 60 injured on the night of 24-25 May in Russias largest ever combined attack on Ukraine.

Source: Ukraines Minister of Interior Ihor Klymenko on Telegram

Details: Thirteen Ukrainian regions came under attack from Russian forces: Kyiv city, Kyiv oblast, and Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Sumy and Poltava oblasts.

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More than 80 residential buildings have been damaged. Firefighters have recorded 27 fires and are still working to contain the flames at three locations.

Quote: "As of now, more than 70 people have been affected: 12 have been killed and more than 60 injured.

Among the dead are three children from the same family in Zhytomyr Oblast. Their parents are in hospital; their mother is in a serious condition."

Background: Russian forces launched a combined aerial attack on Ukraine on the night of 24-25 May, deploying 367 aerial weapons. More than 310 of them either were destroyed or disappeared from radar (without causing adverse effects).



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A mother and three of her children died in a house fire in London in the early morning hours of Saturday, May 24

A 41-year-old man was taken into custody by police and is currently being held under the U.K.s Mental Health Act

Neighbors voiced their shock and grief over the deaths, describing the victims as really good people







A mother and three of her children died in a house fire in London  and a man was taken into custody in relation to the tragedy.

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Police were called to assist the local fire brigade at a home in Stonebridge, a neighborhood in the northwest part of the city, at about 1:22 a.m. local time on Saturday, May 24, per a press release from the Metropolitan Police.

Police said the victims have been identified as four members of the same family: 43-year-old Nusrat Usman, her daughter, Maryam Mikaiel, 15, and her two sons, Musa Usman, 8, and Raees Usman, 4.

A woman in her 70s and a 13-year-old girl from the same family were also taken to the hospital, and the teen remains in critical condition, per police.

PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo Home destroyed in a fire in London on May 24, 2025 Home destroyed in a fire in London on May 24, 2025

Police said a 41-year-old man was arrested at the scene in connection with the incident. He was released from police custody, but was then subsequently detained under the Mental Health Act, per the press release.

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The Mental Health Act permits a person to be detained and treated without their consent, according to the U.K.s National Health Service website.

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.

London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner Keeley Foster spoke to reporters during a May 24 press conference, calling the incident extremely tragic.

PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo Emergency service workers on the scene of a house fire in northwest London on May 24, 2025 Emergency service workers on the scene of a house fire in northwest London on May 24, 2025

Upon arrival, firefighters were met with a well-developed fire, Foster continued, adding that fire crews wearing breathing apparatuses were able to rescue the woman and one of the children from the second floor, but they were later declared deceased at the scene.

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Two children were discovered to have died in the fire as crews carried out [a] search," she said.

Foster added that the Brigades special fire investigation unit is working closely with police to determine the cause of the fire.

PEOPLE reached out to the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade for comment on Sunday, May 25, but did not receive an immediate response.

Neighbors of the family were shocked and saddened upon learning of the news of the fatalities, with one eyewitness telling The Daily Mail they heard small explosions at the time of the fire, along with the smell of smoke.

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Mohamed Labidi, a 38-year-old teacher who lives on the street, described the family as really good people, while speaking to the PA news agency. He added that he can't "even look at the house right now, per the BBC.

Neighbor Cecilia Marquis, 60, told the outlet, "I just feel numb."

Another neighbor told the outlet that the family had moved to the U.K. from Pakistan more than 20 years ago.



Read the original article on People
"Are you gonna kill my mommy? Are you gonna kill me?"

Michelle Renee said those are the first words she heard from her 7-year-old daughter Breea after three masked gunmen broke down their door in San Diego County, California, on the night of Nov. 21, 2000.

Renee says she had lost sight of her daughter after the intruders threw them to the floor and bound them with duct tape. When she was finally able to look up, she saw Breea "face down, with a gun to her head."

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The gunmen took their time explaining why they were there. They told her they had followed her for months.

"It was very much that mind control thing that they were doing, that, 'we know everything about you,'" Renee said, including the fact that she was a branch manager at a local bank.

Finally, the ringleader told Renee what they wanted.

"You're gonna rob the bank for us," she recalled them telling her. "Or you will die, your daughter will go first."

"48 Hours" contributor Tracy Smith takes us into this unusual case in "The Kidnapping of Michelle and Breea Renee,." now streaming on Paramount+.

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Throughout the night, Renee said she heard the ringleader talking to a female voice on a walkie-talkie. The woman called him "Money One," and she was "Money Two."

The following morning, Renee, her roommate and Breea were strapped with dynamite. Renee said they told her they could detonate within a 10-mile radius if she made one false move. Breea would be placed in a closet while Renee drove to the bank with the ringleader crouched in the back of her car. By the time the bank opened at 9 a.m., Renee walked out with a duffel bag filled with $360,000.

Recovered money from the bank robbery. / Credit: North County Superior Court

Once the gunman took off with the cash, Renee raced home, not sure what she'd find once she got there.

"I don't know if Breea's gonna be there," Renee recalled thinking. "I don't know if she's gonna be alive when I get there."

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When she finally arrived the gunmen were gone, and Breea was still in the closet where Renee had left her.

In a reenactment for investigators, Michelle and Breea Renee are seen wearing the fake dynamite that the intruders strapped to their backs. / Credit: North County Superior Court

The ringleader had forgotten to remove the dynamite from Renee's back. After examining it, the bomb squad discovered it was fake. Tom Manning, a prosecutor in the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, told "48 Hours" that it was just two broomstick handles that had been cut up, painted and taped together to look like dynamite.

During the 14-hour hostage situation, Renee had recognized the ringleader's eyes because he had posed as a customer at the bank earlier that day, and he had left behind a business card before a female companion had whisked him away.

"My brain was going, 'Oh my gosh, don't let him know that you know,'" Renee said.

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The lead would help investigators crack the case.

"Through that card, they started the investigation," Renee said.

The business card contained the suspect's real name, Christopher Butler. The FBI soon discovered Butler was a convicted felon with a history of robbing banks. Through surveillance, they found Butler living in a house with his fiancee Lisa Ramirez, the same woman who had come with him to the bank. When Butler and Ramirez were arrested 10 days later at a traffic stop, investigators found physical evidence tying them to the crime, including a BB gun that matched one of the guns Renee had described, the ski masks with cutout eye holes, Renee's credit cards, and the money straps from the bank.

At the house, investigators found "all the ingredients to make the fake bomb," Manning said, like cut-up pieces of a broom handle that had been painted, and cans of red spray paint, including one with Ramirez's fingerprint on it. Butler's fingerprint would later be found on the fake dynamite itself.

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"It was crazy, I've never seen that much physical evidence left at a crime scene," Manning said.

Butler denied everything to police and tried to protect Ramirez. But during her interview, Ramirez admitted to authorities she was involved in the plot, and that she was the female voice on the walkie-talkie. She even took credit for the idea to use fake dynamite and kidnap the bank manager. She also told detectives the money had been split three ways among the suspects, but that both her share and Butler's had been stolen. But during that interview, Ramirez also falsely claimed that Renee had been in on it.

"We walked out of that thinking, 'OK, Lisa's the mastermind behind all of this. And, is it possible Michelle's involved?'" Manning said.

But ultimately, Manning said, he knew Renee was innocent.

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"The first time I interviewed her, she had Breea with her," Manning said. "And...I saw that bond and relationship. And when she left, I went, 'she's not involved in this.'"

There was also all the evidence to corroborate Renee's account. The other two suspects, Christopher Huggins and Robert Ortiz, had given full confessions, neither implicating her.

Christopher Butler and Lisa Ramirez, aka

In June 2002, Butler and Ramirez would be tried together in the first of two trials.

"There was so much evidence, there was no way I thought that this trial was gonna be anything but a slam dunk," Renee said.

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Manning said the DA's office was confident that Ramirez's key statements about her involvement would be allowed into evidence.

Even Ramirez's attorney Herb Weston admitted that it didn't look good for his client  she had confessed on camera. Weston told Smith he thought Ramirez was guilty when he first got the case, and offered the prosecution a plea deal, which they rejected.

"If they play that tape, saying that she wasn't involved would've been difficult," Weston told Smith.

But to everyone's surprise, and Weston's delight, since Ramirez's statements also implicated her co-defendant Butler, the judge ruled the entire interview inadmissible.

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"We can now argue that she's not involved," Weston explained.

Without Ramirez' statement, the case against her relied heavily on Renee's testimony. In court, the defense would attack her credibility, and even suggest she was complicit in the bank robbery.

"I was treated like I was the criminal," Renee said.

Manning remembers that "it got very confrontational."

Weston told "48 Hours" his strategy was to "beat the hell out of the victim and point out all the inconsistencies the victim is saying."

He implied Renee was lying about recognizing Ramirez's voice on the walkie-talkie the night she was held hostage, pointing out that it wasn't in any of the FBI reports. But Renee insists she told them, and Manning argued Renee did identify Ramirez's voice before she took the stand. But Weston argued that even though his client had admitted the voice was hers, the jury didn't know that.

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"That's not the point," Weston said. "For me, it was a great opening to attack [Renee's] credibility."

Weston said it was suspicious that Renee hadn't taken the bait money  traceable bills banks keep in the vault to trap bank robbers. Renee explained, however, that she was not going to take the chance that she could get her daughter killed, especially since the gunmen had instructed her "no funny money," she said.

Maybe worst of all for Renee, Weston cast doubt on her maternal instincts, questioning why she would go back to the house, knowing she was strapped with dynamite that could possibly explode. But Manning said Renee's actions made complete sense, given the stress and the pressure Renee was under to pull off a bank robbery to save her daughter's life.

While Weston hammered on every decision Renee made that day, Butler's attorney picked apart her financial history, and even asked her about her sex life.

"They were trying to paint me as somebody that was irresponsible," Renee said.

"A selfish, terrible mother...that...would do anything for money," she added.

According to Manning "the defense was to make her a culprit."

A teary Michelle Renee in court.

After Renee's three grueling days of direct testimony and cross-examination, Butler took the stand. He continued to protect Ramirez as he had in his police interview, but now he told a new, elaborate story, one in which Renee masterminded the bank robbery. And he claimed the two of them had previously had an affair. He said they had met at a grocery store, and that Renee had recruited him for the bank robbery.

Manning admitted it was jaw-dropping testimony, but contended it was all a lie and that the defense didn't present any evidence to corroborate Butler's claims.

"If any of this were true, he would've thrown Michelle down in a heartbeat in his [police] interview," Manning said.

But despite the outlandish story, it would seem the defense had done what they set out to do. After deliberating for five days, the jury found Butler guilty of the robbery and kidnapping of Breea and their roommate, but hung 9-3 on the charges involving Renee's kidnapping.

Manning said one of the jurors had completely believed Butler's story, while the other two were unsure. Butler would still receive multiple life sentences for all the other charges, but Ramirez would walk away a free woman. The jury found her not guilty on all counts.

"Mind boggling" Renee said. "The fact it was her idea to do this to a mother and a child and laughing and proud of it."

"It was the best verdict I ever got in my life," Weston said.

Even though the other two suspects would be easily convicted at their trial a few months later, Renee said she felt revictimized by the defense's tactics.

"Is it fair to beat up on the victim?" Smith asked Weston.

"Oh absolutely, absolutely," Weston replied.

Manning said the jury got it wrong on Ramirez. He believed she was "very involved...The investigators kept saying...she was the brains of the outfit."

It would take two decades, but the truth would eventually come from an unlikely source.

In January 2020, when Christopher Butler became eligible for parole under California sentencing laws, Manning saw an opportunity to ask him about the story he'd told on the stand. Butler recanted his entire testimony, admitting he and Renee never had a relationship.

"It's about time," Renee said. "There was never, ever a chance...that I would...have been involved in anything like this."

Butler was denied parole, but Renee was free.

"In a weird...way, I could breathe...I could exhale, finally, after all these years," she said.

Robert Ortiz was granted parole in January 2021.

Christopher Butler was granted parole in December 2024.

Christopher Huggins was granted parole in March 2025.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A man is dead and a woman is injured after a crash on I-240 on Saturday.

At 4:57 p.m., Memphis Police responded to a one-vehicle crash at I-240 East and Millbranch Road. Police say a man and a woman were taken to Regional One Hospital in critical condition.

According to police, the man later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Memphis Police say the investigation is ongoing.

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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.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW)  Those interested in filling the ever-present need for social workers, especially in rural areas of Northwest Missouri, can receive training through a growing program at Missouri Western State University.

The bachelor's program in social (BSW) has been accredited for nearly 40 years. However, a few years ago, the administration and faculty decided to begin a master's program for social work (MSW) which will soon begin its third full year.

Department Director, Dr. Grey Endres, said this third year represents a milestone for the program in regard to full accreditation.

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Pre-candidacy is year one. Then, in year twoyou reach what is called full candidacy," Endres said. "When you clear the hurdles of year threeyou get what's called your full accreditation."

This coming year has the potential of clearing those hurdles for the new program, which means the graduates from both years will also receive credit for having graduated from a fully accredited program.

In order to fully achieve their career goals in social work, recent program graduates, like Theresa Sullivan, know that being connected with an accredited program is key. However, for Sullivan, the support of professors and staff in this MSW program have made all the difference.

"The staff and professors are very personable and easy to approach," Sullivan said. "As a working mom, the commitment the university has shown to this degree is crucial, because it can be hard for working parents to get to Kansas City or other areas for a master's level program."

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Sullivan added that a program like this getting off the ground in St. Joseph will benefit the entire region, especially in rural areas.

Endres said the program is part of the vision the faculty, staff and administration had in mind when designing an accredited program for social work.

Endres said, given the size of the faculty, he feels the program could accommodate around forty students. MWSU graduated 12 MSW students in year one, and expects to graduate 16 this year, counting the May and December 2025 graduating class.

In addition to providing graduate-level training for the wide range of care social workers provide  from dealing with child abuse to assisting all ages with mental health needs  Endres said the program also provides a boost to caregivers and non-profit organizations in the community.

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"Because of the practicum requirements for our MSW students, we have been able to provide around 32,000 hours of service to Northwest Missouri since our beginning," Endres said. "One of our practicum students even assisted a local school in rescuing a child who was being groomed for human trafficking this past year."

In the Fall of 2025, the program will partner with Voices of Courage by allowing students to open up a mental health clinic for parents and children at VoC, giving both a practical education opportunity for students and a much needed mental health resource for the community.

For recent MSW graduate Sullivan, the diversity of courses and the wide range of backgrounds among the professors expand the opportunities for training and allow graduates a wide range of choices when it comes to the next steps in their careers.

"This program is beneficial for any aspect of a social work career, because of the diverse course offerings," Sullivan said.

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According to the social work department guidelines, there are two tracks for the MSW program: one for those with an undergraduate degree in social work (BSW), as well as a track for those whose undergraduate training is in a related field like education, criminal justice or psychology.

"We are fortunate to have the facilities we have at Missouri Western," Endres said. "We have classrooms that mirror real-world places, like hospitals, and we also have practicum requirements that place students in real-world experiences.

To find out more about the program and qualifications for admission, visit www.missouriwestern.edu/social-work.
May 24A three-vehicle chase across multiple counties ended in an arrest Saturday, though other suspects remained at large.

In a Facebook post by the Brookville Police Department, police said that early Saturday an unknown number of people went into unlocked vehicles to steal personal items, and stole at least two vehicles.

One of the people used "a device" to start the vehicle, police said.

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"Officers located three vehicles in a neighborhood and attempted to stop them, but the suspects fled," police said in the post.

Police said one pursuit ended in Richmond, Indiana, where law enforcement tried to use stop sticks to end the chase. However, police said that Richmond police were still searching for the suspects in that pursuit.

At least one juvenile suspect was taken into custody in Trotwood in one of the stolen vehicles.

Many items that had been taken from vehicles in the city were also recovered, according to police.

"If you have any video footage that could be helpful to this investigation, please contact us," police said. "We are working to identify the rest of the individuals involved."
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  One person was hospitalized and cited after a multi-vehicle crash early Sunday morning by the NATO village barricade on N. St. Clair Street.

According to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch, the crash happened at approximately 2:15 a.m.

The Dayton Police Department released a statement on the crash on Tuesday. It said a white Chevrolet Express failed to stop and crashed into the back of a black Kia Optima. This caused the Kia to be pushed into the back of a red Ford Fusion.

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The 29-year-old driver of the Chevy was transported to an area hospital with a suspected minor injury.

He was cited for speed.

This crash is under investigation for suspected OVI.

2 NEWS will continue to monitor this story as it 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 WDTN.com.
Like many condo owners in Florida, residents at the Heron Condominiums in West Kendall were expecting to receive a special assessment of some kind. The mandatory 40-year recertification inspection is the result of new regulations for condominiums in the state following the deadly 2021 condo collapse in Surfside, Florida.

But when their special assessment came back for $3.48 million, the residents were aghast.

While the aging condo building was likely to need repairs of some kind, the colossal price tag has left many worried about potentially losing their homes.

"They're not against the special assessment," said Mayra Rodriguez, a resident speaking on behalf of several homeowners in an interview with CBS News Miami. "They're just saying, why so much?"

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Expected costs put pressure on budgets

Those who own condos know that some of the costs and maintenance responsibilities are outside the residents control.

For example, this condo needs roof repairs, building repairs, waterproofing and other structural work. And, until these are completed, the buildings cannot be recertified and must bare code violation signs throughout the property. These repair costs are covered through the assessment, which is divided between the number of units a building has so that each unit covers a portion of that total bill.

In this case, the $3.48 million assessment is spread across approximately 250 units. Residents at Heron have a choice between two different payment options: a 10-year bank loan amounting to roughly $154 per unit per month or a self-funded payment of over $13,200, paid either as a lump sum or divided into four quarterly payments of roughly $3,300, starting in June.

In order for the condo board to move forward with the bank loan payment option, at least 66% of the condo owners must approve that action. With the vote yet to happen, residents are worried about being able to cover the cost on their own.

That's $3,300 every three months," Rodriguez explained. "Most people here just can't afford that."

Beyond the consternation about the upcoming assessment, residents are frustrated about the lack of communication and transparency from the board. The owners at this condo complex already pay $260 per month in dues. But they arent clear on how those funds have been used.
May 24LIMA  There were just a few empty seats during Allen County Museum docent Karlyn Lauer's presentation about Lima's brush with the gangster era Saturday at the Allen County Museum.

The Great Depression brought about tough times around the nation and in Lima. Amidst those trying times, the rising tide of crime and desperation swept into town in October 1933 because of John Dillinger and his gang, leaving a sheriff dead and a city forever marked by the violence of the gangster era.

Allen County Sheriff Jess Sarber, whom Lauer described as a "well-respected man," was shot and killed the evening of Oct. 12, 1933 during a jailbreak plotted by Dillinger's associates.

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The Dillinger Gang had robbed the Bluffton Bank, now known as the Citizens National Bank of Bluffton, of $2,100, on Aug. 14, 1933. Afyer being captured, Dillinger was in the Lima jail awaiting trial.

"They always wanted small banks in small towns," Lauer said.

Prior to the arrest, Dillinger was found at the apartment of his girlfriend, Mary Longnacker, by police and made it known he wanted to be in the Allen County Jail so his plan could come to fruition.

Two days before Sarber was killed, members of the gang were seen walking around the jail, trying to draw up a plan to get Dillinger out.

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"Two gang members come back to town [the next day] and visit an attorney telling him John's sister is upset and wants to see John," Lauer said.

Feeling uneasy, Sarber decided to cancel the jail's church service that night.

Around 6:20 p.m. Oct. 12, Charles Makely, Harry Pierpont and Russell Clark entered the jail while Sarber and his wife Lucy Sarber were joined by Deputy Wilbur Sharp for dinner and casual conversation.

"They (gangsters) say they're officials from Indiana and want to interview John," Lauer said.

When Sheriff Sarber asked the men for credentials, he was quickly shot. Lucy Sarber and Sharp were then locked in the basement for several hours, leading to an unimpeded escape for Dillinger and the men.

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The men then arrived in Hamilton with their girlfriends who had food, shelter and medical supplies on the ready before relocating to Chicago where business continued, continuing to rob small banks in small towns around Chicago.

"They are successful businessmen, they dress in the best clothes, they have the best apartments, they have the fastest new cars," Lauer said.

In January 1934, Dillinger killed a police officer, Patrick O'Malley, in eastern Chicago.

A short time later in Tucson, Arizona, the gang was caught and extradited to Indiana and Ohio, Dillinger to Crown Point, Indiana, and Pierpont, Makely and Clark to Lima for the death of Sarber. Pierpont and Makley were sentenced to death; Clark received life in prison.

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After breaking out of a jail in Crown Point on March 3, 1934, Dillinger continued his criminal spree until he was betrayed in Chicago by a woman facing deportation.

On July 22, 1934, FBI agents shot and killed Dillinger outside the Biograph Theatre in Chicago.

Makley and Pierpont attempted a last-minute prison break with wooden guns carved in their cells. Makley was killed in the attempt. Pierpont, badly wounded, survived long enough to be executed in October 1934.

Lauer has was pleased to present the topic during the afternoon hours Saturday.

"It makes you feel good you know? It's a topic people are interested in," Lauer said.

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The Dillinger exhibit is on the bottom floor of the Allen County Musuem, 620 W. Market St., Lima.

Lauer had two books on Dillinger present for attendees to flip through after the presentation.

Reach Cade Higgins at 567-242-0351.

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Editors note: A version of this story appeared in CNNs Wonder Theory science newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.

An Anglo-Saxon ship found at the Sutton Hoo estate in Suffolk, England, has long captivated history enthusiasts since its discovery on the eve of World War II.

And the site of the seventh century royal burial has yielded still more wonders of the ancient past in more recent decades. In 1986, a tractor harrow unearthed pieces of a Byzantine bucket.

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Made from a thin sheet of copper alloy, the artifact depicts a North African hunting scene. The sixth century object had made an unusual journey from Antioch (in modern-day Turkey) to the eastern coast of Britain, researchers believe.

Archaeologists found and assembled fragments of the bucket over the years, but its base  and any clues that could shed light on its purpose  remained elusive.

Now, new excavations at Sutton Hoo have revealed the entire base of the bucket, as well as the contents it once housed: cremated remains, along with precious items that might help unveil the persons identity.

Discoveries

Some of the cigar boxes are still shut, and the exact composition of the metal is yet to be determined. - Museum of Eastern Bohemia

In another remarkable find, when two hikers exploring the Krkonose Mountains in the Czech Republic happened upon an aluminum box jutting from a stony wall, they uncovered a mysterious cache of gold bracelets, cigar cases, a powder compact and hundreds of coins.

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The duo took the discovery to the Museum of Eastern Bohemia in Hradec Kralove, where experts are now studying the pieces.

Community residents have been sharing speculations on where the trove could have come from, as none of the coins are of local origin, said Miroslav Novak, head of the museums department of archaeology.

One hypothesis is that the collection is related to departures of Czech and Jewish populations prior to World War II, or the post-war German exodus in 1945, he said. But the most recent coin in the stash is dated 1921, which adds another layer to the riddle.

We are family

If youve ever wondered why your teeth ache after biting into something very cold or sweet like ice cream, ancient fish may be the root cause (no pun intended!).

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New research has shown that dentine, the sensitive interior of human teeth, likely evolved from the sensory tissue within bumps on the exoskeletons of armored fish 465 million years ago.

The fish used these bumps, called odontodes, to sense their surroundings in Earths early oceans, which were teeming with predators. Over time, the genetic tool kit for odontodes was repurposed for teeth in animals  and even humans.

During the study, scientists had another surprising revelation: A fossil long thought to belong to an ancient fish was something else entirely.

Explorations

Biologists and engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, teamed up to create an acrobatic robot with the leaping and landing skills of an animal. Watch this squirrel-like robots parkour moves.

Wild kingdom

Camera traps on Jicaron Island, an uninhabited island off the coast of Panama, have captured perplexing behavior by some male capuchin monkeys, according to a new study.

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A white-faced capuchin, nicknamed Joker for a scar on his mouth, was seen kidnapping baby howler monkeys  and other juvenile male capuchins followed suit. Other than toting the babies on their backs, none of the capuchins interacted with or cared for the howlers, and eventually all the infants died of starvation.

Given the endangered status of the howler monkey population on the island, researchers set out to find the possible motivations behind such unusual behavior  and they uncovered a behavioral tendency the primates share with humans as the likely reason.

Across the universe

Two distant galaxies have entered into a cosmic joust while in the process of merging into one larger galaxy.

As the massive objects hurtled toward one another at more than 1.1 million miles per hour (1.8 million kilometers per hour), one galaxy repeatedly pierced the other with intense radiation.

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The dynamic activity, powered by a bright object at the galaxys center, disrupted gas clouds and stellar nurseries  and it could prevent stars from forming in the future.

Take note

You dont want to miss these must-reads:

 After back-to-back explosive mishaps, SpaceX has been cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration to launch the latest Starship test flight as early as Tuesday. The company plans to reuse a key component of the launch vehicle for the first time.

 An ancient reptile relative made tiny clawed footprints that were fossilized in 356 million-year-old rock. The tracks are rewriting the way scientists understand the evolution of four-legged creatures.

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 As any owner of an orange cat knows, golden-hued felines are special. Now, scientists think they know why: an unusual genetic mutation that has not been found in any other animal.

Like what youve read? Oh, but theres more. Sign up here to receive in your inbox the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writers Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt and Jackie Wattles. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

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During the day, delegates spend their time in meetings or panel discussions within the NATO Village. When the work day is done, they get to explore Dayton and the surrounding areas, enjoying everything the Miami Valley has to offer.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Delegates shared how their time here in Dayton is going with John Bedell on News Center at 11.

One thing many delegates mentioned was how welcome they felt, including Portugal delegate and President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Marcos Perestrello.

TRENDING STORIES:

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Thank you to Dayton for the hospitality that gives name to the famous Midwest, warm hospitality, Perestrello said.

Many of the delegates visited the Oregon District for dinner on an Out On 5th night with great weather.

We are seeing a lot of NATO guests last night for dinner, this morning for brunch, and then tonight for dinner, Nikki Stargel, Salars general manager, said. Weve got a couple different delegations who are here.

Ramona Bruynseels is a member of parliament in Romania and is the Secretary of the Defense Commission while also sitting in the Budget Commission.

People are very open and very nice, kind and communicative which is fantastic, Bruynseels said. Its always nice to feel that you are welcome in a place.

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She was grabbing drinks with delegates from Montenegro at Salar.

There might be a language barrier but like food and drink doesnt need a language and people have been having a really nice time and enjoying themselves. We like giving them that comfy, fun space to just decompress a little bit and have a good night, Stargel said.

Some of the other delegates were out getting dinner at The Greene in Beavercreek.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Leah Parks graduated from East Tennessee State University with a degree in English and minors in communications and journalism. She graduated after the pandemic and didnt know what the next step should be. She decided to join the Navy, and she hasnt looked back!

What am I going to do to have free healthcare and also travel and also serve something bigger than myself. I looked into the Navy, and they had the perfect job for me, which is to be a mass communications specialist, and here I am, said Parks.

Her job gives her creative freedom through social media, video, photography, and writing. She even created her own show for the George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier.

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So what Shop Hop is, is a social media series that goes around to different departments on the ship and asks each sailor what they do. So, one cool thing about an aircraft carrier, when were fully stocked, we have 5,000 sailors, which is a lot of people, which means a lot of jobs, and a lot of responsibilities.

Nashville sailor now navigates the open sea

Being from Kingsport, Tennessee, Parks was surprised by people from all over the country.

Coming into the Navy, you are coming into a melting pot of cultures, of people with different backgrounds, religions, upbringings, and it really just teaches you how to serve with one another humbly.

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Since joining the Navy, Parks has met her soulmate and is a newlywed. Her husband is a Marine, and they are considered a Mil-to-Mil marriage.

So we are up for orders together at the same time, which is really, really helpful because were not stationed together. So, one thing you have to do is something called a colocation, where youre like asking the military, can you please put us together so that we can, I dont know, be happily married.

Parks Navy pride is only heightened by playful banter with her husband.

Being in different branches is kind of, I mean, the Navys better, but hes got that OORAH mentality, which makes it fun too, so yeah, I love that hes a Marine.

To see more from Shelbys naval journey, check out the News 2 special report Shelby Goes to Sea.

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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 WKRN News 2.
Democratic Gov. Josh Stein was at the Legislative Building on Wednesday, talking with lawmakers ahead of the first key vote on the House budget.

Before the day was over, the majority of House Democrats voted with Republicans on their budget bill, citing teacher pay and state employee raises among the reasons. And most notable among them was Democratic Leader Robert Reives, of Chatham County.

Good morning and welcome to our Sunday Under the Dome newsletter, which focuses on the governor. Im Dawn Vaughan, The News & Observers Capitol bureau chief.

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While Democrats balked at the idea that they voted with Republicans, every House Republican and a majority of House Democrats voted in favor of the bill.

Im not voting with them, Im voting with North Carolina. And that is not political speak, Reives told me Wednesday night after the vote. On Thursday, the House took the final vote to pass the Houses version of the budget.

I also asked Reives about Stein, who was there earlier in the day.

Over a fiscal cliff

The theme of the House budget was raises, taxes and cuts. The Republican-written House plan gave state employees bigger raises than the proposals of either Stein or the Senate.

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The biggest rift now between the House and Senate, however, is likely to be taxes. Both the House and Senate budget bills continue the planned individual income tax rate reduction to 3.99% next year. But after that, the House wants to slow further planned tax cuts, while the Senate does not, and considers the House plan as a tax increase because it doesnt continue further cuts. As for Stein, he wants tax cuts to just freeze for now, given the cloudy economic situation.

Gov. Stein recognizes what everybody here who voted yes or no recognizes, Reives said in an interview. Were not heading towards a fiscal cliff. We are over it. We are working at a deficit, and somebodys got to figure something out.

Democrats split, but most vote for NC House GOP budget. What got their support.

A heads up about the budget

Just before the final round of budget debate, Reives left the floor with Republican House Speaker Destin Hall, and they came back smiling. I asked Hall after session about their conversation. It wasnt the first time Hall gave Reives a heads up about what was in the final House budget bill. Hall told reporters Reives knew about top-line information days before it was revealed to the public, and he was also told in advance what Republicans were putting in the final budget amendments.

N.C. Speaker of the House Destin Hall speaks about the budget bill during a press conference at the Legislative Building on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C.

Ive tried to talk with Rep. Reives as we move along through the process, Hall said.

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Its basically just giving him a heads up on some of the things that we were going to add in there, Hall said about his talks with Reives, which  I dont think Im speaking out of school  he probably didnt love some of those things.

What if theres a budget veto

Its up to Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger to make the final decision on a budget deal this summer, if there is one. And thats the budget theyll send to Steins desk to sign or veto.

Hall said of House Republicans, Frankly, we want to do all of our caucus priorities that we can, and still maintain veto-proof supermajorities.

While Senate Republicans hold a veto-proof supermajority, meaning they have the three-fifths majority to overturn a Stein veto, the House does not. House Republicans need the vote of at least one Democrat to overturn a Stein veto.

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Reives said that House Democrats wont vote to override a Stein budget veto, and that this vote was part of a negotiated mediation on the bill.

Higher starting teacher pay, state employee raises, tax cuts in NC House budget

Steins statement

In the hours between Steins visit to the Legislative Building and the vote, he issued a statement that both praised and criticized the House budget.

The Houses proposed budget isnt perfect. But I am pleased that the House raises teacher pay to make North Carolinas starting teacher salaries the second-highest in the Southeast and rewards our state employees with a raise. The House budget also makes important investments in public safety, child care, and workforce training, Stein said.

Gov. Josh Stein shakes hands with House Speaker Destin Hall, and Senate leader Phil Berger after delivering his State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in the House chamber of the Legislative Building.

Steins thoughts on the Senate budget are far different. He used his statement on the House budget to also criticize the Senate:

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Importantly, the House budget cuts taxes for working families while recognizing that North Carolina is a growing state and reduces personal income tax rates after this year only when the economy is growing. In contrast, the Senates fiscally irresponsible revenue scheme will result in fewer teachers and law enforcement officers and diminished services that would harm our people, Stein said.

The next battle on the budget front is between Republicans in the General Assembly.

Democrats cross aisle to back NC budget, setting up battle over taxes within GOP

Governor cuts in the House budget

I searched through hundreds of references to the governor in the House budget documents, looking for policy or funding that impacts Steins office.

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I found that among the cuts in the budget was a planned new building for the governor and Council of State, which would have been built in the state government complex in downtown Raleigh. The project was only at the planning stage. The House would not provide more money to build it.

The House budget also would change how the NC Arts Council is appointed. Currently, the governor appoints all 24 members of the council. Instead, the council would be reduced to nine people, with three appointed by the governor, three by the House speaker and three by the Senate president pro tempore.

The change follows what Republicans have done in previous budgets, shifting appointment power away from the governor and giving it to the legislature, which has resulted in multiple lawsuits. This is a lower-profile appointment shift, but notable just the same.

The staff of the governors office are state employees, so 20% of the offices vacant jobs would be cut under the House budget plan, as the plan would do across state government.

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NC House budget cuts 20% of vacant state jobs to give bigger raises. How it would work

Thanks for reading. Contact me at dvaughan@newsobserver.com. Not a newsletter subscriber? Sign up on our website to receive Under the Dome in your inbox daily.
North Carolina Gov. John Stein criticized FEMAs denial Thursday of the states request to extend 100% federal reimbursement of Hurricane Helene debris removal costs.

North Carolina taxpayers will be on the hook for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up Western N.C., Stein said in a statement Friday.

So far, we have removed more than 12 million cubic yards of debris from roads and water ways, but given the immense scale of the wreckage, we have only scratched the surface, Stein said.

A rescue team paddles down the Swannanoa River on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The remnants of Hurricane Helene caused widespread flooding, downed trees, and power outages in western North Carolina.

Helene caused $59.6 billion in damage and needs in the state, former Gov. Roy Cooper said in a revised estimate report in December.

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In Thursdays letter to Stein, FEMA official David Richardson gave no reason for the denial.

Richardson said only that FEMA concluded the extension is not warranted. The decision, he said, followed a careful and thorough review of all the information available, including that contained in your initial request for a cost share adjustment and appeal.

Stein said money the state must now pay to remove debris will mean less money towards supporting our small businesses, rebuilding downtown infrastructure, repairing our water and sewer systems, and other critical needs.

Jen Dombrowski arrives in downtown Marshall to help a friend clean up her business on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024 after the French Broad River caused catastrophic flooding. The remnants of Hurricane Helene caused widespread flooding, downed trees, and power outages in western North Carolina.

Stein said he continues to urge the Trump administration and Congress to send $19 billion to the state for disaster relief  $11.5 billion in new appropriations and $7.5 billion from previous appropriations.

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Despite FEMAs rejection, we are going to stay the course, Stein said. We will keep pushing the federal and state governments to do right by Western North Carolina.

The governor on Monday released his second state Hurricane Helene budget proposal of $891 million. He said the money would spur economic recovery, strengthen critical infrastructure and get people back into their homes.
The Netherlands will complete the transfer of 24 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine on Monday 26 May, fulfilling its earlier commitment to support Kyivs defense capabilities.

Source: Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans on WNL op Zondag

Details: "The final batch of F-16s will be officially delivered to Ukraine on Monday," said Brekelmans. "This means all 24 promised fighters will soon be in Ukraines possession."

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In addition to the fighter jets, the Netherlands has been actively involved in training Ukrainian pilots and technicians, as well as sharing NATO-aligned military doctrines. These efforts aim to help Ukraine build a modern air force in line with the standards of NATO member states.

Brekelmans also addressed the broader context of the war, emphasising that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin "continues his aggressive war" and "has shown no intention of seriously considering a truce."

Background:

Ukraine received its first batch of Dutch F-16s in October 2024, followed by a second delivery in February 2025.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in March that another batch had been received from the Netherlands, marking continued support from the Dutch government.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Newark Airport was again plagued by delays over Memorial Day weekend, with more than 150 flights in and 230 flights out delayed on Saturday, according to flight-tracking data.

With more than 380 delays, Newark saw the second most delays in the nation Saturday, trailing only Denver International Airport, where storms disrupted operations.

The troubles were somewhat mitigated on Sunday, with a total of 132 flights  78 arriving, 54 departing  delayed as of Sunday afternoon, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

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Get me once but dont get me twice. I learned my lesson, would-be Newark traveler Abraham Shiepe told News 12 New Jersey.

Weather was not to blame for the weekend issues. While Newark piled up more than 380 delays on Saturday, Kennedy Airport saw just under 200 delays and LaGuardia recorded hardly any delays.

Newark has been troubled with delays and cancellations for weeks, as a shortage of air traffic controllers, aging technology and runway repairs have combined in disastrous fashion.

The problems became so extensive that federal authorities cut the number of flights allowed in and out of the airport to 28 arrivals and 28 departures per hour. Those restrictions will continue until at least June 15 and could be extended further.

But the cutbacks have not stopped consistent delays at the airport. As delays continued into Sunday, flights were arriving and departing an average of 35 minutes late, according to FlightAware.
(KRON)  Nine people were rescued from a sinking boat in San Francisco Bay Saturday afternoon.

The San Francisco Fire Department responded to a distress call for the sinking boat near Marina Green at 2 p.m. The boats eight crew members were rescued first while the captain held his post, SFFD said.

The boat is owned by the youth organization Sea Scout Ship Viking, a sailing and scouting club for high school girls in San Francisco. SFFD has not yet confirmed if any of the passengers were high school girls.

A group of boaters was recued from a sinking boat in San Francisco Bay on May 24, 2025. (Photos courtesy of SFFD)

Dozens of Oaklands homeless citizens housed following major sweep, city says

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No one was injured during the incident. The group was rescued within an hour, SFFD said.

KRON4 will update this story when more information is 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 KRON4.
The share price of Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO) surged by 23.04% on May 23, 2025. Lets shed some light on the development.

Here is Why Oklo (OKLO) Stock Surged Today

Marcin Balcerzak/Shutterstock.com

Backed by OpenAIs Sam Altman, Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO) develops advanced fission power plants to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale to customers in the United States.

Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO) rallied on Friday after President Trump signed an executive order to boost Americas nuclear energy industry by streamlining the construction of new reactors and ensuring the domestic mining and enrichment of uranium. Aimed to ensure the countrys energy security, the strategic move will help meet Americas rising electricity demand, which is expected to surge to record levels in 2025 and 2026 amid an increased demand from data centers powering the ongoing AI boom.

The order pays special attention to small modular reactors as they are relatively more affordable, versatile, and quicker to build. This presents a significant opportunity for players like Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO), as the companys Aurora Powerhouse, capable of holding up to 75 megawatts, is well-suited to meet the needs of large-scale data operators without the necessity for design alterations. Moreover, Oklos unique business model, which involves selling power directly to consumers under long-term contracts, puts it in a strong position to generate sustained, recurring revenue and mitigate the usual challenges in nuclear project development.

While we acknowledge the potential of OKLO to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than OKLO and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 10 Cheap Energy Stocks to Buy Now and 10 Most Undervalued Energy Stocks According to Hedge Funds.

Disclosure: None.
A Jersey City man is taking Walmart to court for $2 million after falling inside one of the mega-retailers New York locations and suffering severe, grievous, and permanent injuries to his back and spine.

Ramon Camilo claimed in federal court records he was shopping at the Walmart in Suffern on July 26, 2024, and he slipped, NJ.com reports.

Camilo lost his balance after stepping onto a manhole-sized puddle of light brown liquid substance at or near the self-checkout area toward the front of the store.

Prior to taking the retail giant to court, Ramon Camilos attorney filed documents in court in April. AP

After the accident, Camilo underwent lumbar fusion surgery, court documents detailed, according to NJ.com.

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Walmart offered Camilo a $75,000 settlement, which he rejected.

Camilos attorney filed court documents in court in April.

Camilo claims Walmarts negligence caused him to fall. Rattanachat  stock.adobe.com

On May 16, his lawyer submitted a new filing, declaring his clients intention to sue the corporate chain for $2 million.

Camilos lawyer, Mitchell Dornfield, said his clients injuries far surpass the $75,000 Walmart offered, according to the outlet.

The stores gross negligence failed to maintain a safe environment for customers and staffers, the filing claims.

Walmart did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem delivers her 2025 State of the State address to lawmakers at the Capitol in Pierre on Jan. 14, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

During her tenure as the governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem liked to remind legislators at budget time that the money they were dealing with was not their own.

From a 2019 address to the Legislature: Im committed to maintaining the fiscal integrity for which our state is known. We wont spend money we dont have. We will not raise taxes.

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From 2022: I recognize that taxpayer dollars are not our own  they belong to the people of South Dakota. We all must remember throughout our budget discussions that this money belongs to the hard-working people of South Dakota.

From 2025: During my time as governor, I have always kept my budget proposals focused on our people, not government programs. After all, this is the peoples money. They entrust it to us and expect us to spend it wisely and responsibly.

Noem coverage

Those are good reminders that legislators should take to heart. However, it seems that Noem was just reading from the teleprompter rather than paying attention to her own advice. Recently Noems actions with taxpayer dollars were the topic of discussion on a couple of fronts.

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A South Dakota Searchlight story noted that the Government Operations and Audit Committee in Pierre was trying to get answers about how Noem rang up $750,000 on her state credit card during her six years as governor. Noem admonished lawmakers to look out for the way taxpayer dollars were spent while she was racking up travel expenses on a book tour, a Canadian hunting excursion and various out-of-state political trips to tout the hopes of Republican candidates, including Donald Trump.

Whos to say if South Dakota will ever have another governor like Noem who became the darling of the Republican Party for her reaction to the pandemic. During her many travels, she was quick to praise South Dakotas maskless response to the pandemic and just as quick to label as fake news anyone who dared point out that the state was leading the league in per capita COVID-19 deaths.

Lawmakers on the committee learned that under the current laws, there isnt much that state bookkeepers can do when called on to cover a governors credit card expenses. They can question a credit card charge, but if it isnt then handled voluntarily by the elected official, the state has to pay.

Basically, the current law treats elected officials like adults. As adults, those officials should know when the people should pay and when they should reach into their own wallets to cover any expense that doesnt directly have anything to do with their elected positions. Given the example Noem set, lawmakers who took her advice about fiscal integrity seriously are now faced with proposing legislation that calls for creating some sort of credit card overseer or nanny. Thats a move that wouldnt be needed if Noems credit card use was more statesmanlike instead of resembling a sailor on leave.

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Another Searchlight story published on the same day chronicled Noems appearance before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. At the meeting, Noem had it pointed out that her new department has budget problems.

Your department is out of control, said Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut. You are running out of money.

Given that Noem has been given responsibility for Trumps signature issue  immigration control  it would certainly be a bad look for the president if the department charged with rounding up illegal immigrants ran out of funds before the end of the fiscal year. Fiscal restraint may be the order of the day as Noem works for a man who changes Cabinet secretaries the way other presidents changed their socks.

For her part, Noem doesnt seem like shes pinching pennies, spending $100 million on TV commercials that praise Trump policies and warn immigrants not to come to the United States illegally.

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She has also unveiled a plan to offer $1,000 in travel assistance to illegal immigrants who self-deport. The cost of that could be as much as $1 billion if Trump reaches his goal of deporting 1 million people. Those hardly seem like the actions of someone who has been entrusted by taxpayers to spend their funds wisely and responsibly.

All of Noems budget guidance for South Dakota lawmakers should have come with another bit of helpful advice: Do as I say, not as I do.

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No, that wasn't an earthquake. A sonic boom caused by a SpaceX cargo vessel rattled Los Angeles late Saturday evening. Residents across a broad swath of the region reported a loud boom and rattling sensation around 10:45 p.m.

The rattle arose from a SpaceX Dragon capsule that was reentering the atmosphere, according to a post on X from Elon Musk's space company. .

"Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean," SpaceX posted about an hour before the boom was reported. The account said the capsule was due to make its entrance around 10:44 p.m. Saturday.

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The unpiloted spacecraft had transported about 6,700 pounds of crew supplies, equipment and other resources to the International Space Station, according to NASA. It undocked from the International Space Station around 9:05 a.m. Friday before beginning its journey back to the coast of California.

Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean  SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 25, 2025

On social media, local residents vented fear, loathing and just a sprinkling of glee.

"It was SO loud I genuinely thought we were about to all go out like the dinosaurs, TikTok user @limeysublime posted under her video of the bright, comet-like object hurtling through the night sky over Santa Monica.

Im in Corona and began hyperventilating when I experienced it, user Felix Jordan wrote in the comments. [I] thought it was my last day on Earth.

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Residents from as far away as Irvine and Fresno raced to Reddit and TikTok to report a loud boom and rattling sensation around 10:45 p.m.

Some thought it was a seismic event, others an explosion, still others that its source was an episode of the television series "Andor" on their flatscreen or an intruder on the roof.

"I thought my fish tank blew up," said Trent McGee, 38, of Orange, who was lying in bed watching "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" when he felt the boom.

After rushing to see that his 360-gallon aquarium was intact and his porcupinefish and other exotics were unharmed, he checked Reddit to find out the source of the noise.

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"I wish I knew the sonic boom was coming because I would have gone outside to get a better experience," he said.

Sonic booms have become a source of consternation for people living near Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, where officials with SpaceX and the U.S. Space Force have acknowledged that their rocket launches and landings are causing the regular rattles.

"We get woken up a couple times a week," said Brooke Heflin, 37, of Camarillo. "Right when you're getting into a deep sleep its like a big boom  the walls shake, the windows shake, the dogs start barking. You wake up to an explosion, basically."

Last year, military officials rejected calls to reduce sonic booms coming from SpaceX rockets in the area, which have been increasing in frequency. Musk's agency said it plans to launch more than 90 rockets from the base by 2026.

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"When youre awakened in the middle of the night, your heart starts racing  oh my God, what is it?" Heflin said. "And then your mind finally becomes clear: Its SpaceX again. And then you have to go back to sleep."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A senior German conservative leader is in favour using the possible reopening of the Nord Stream gas pipelines as leverage to get Russia to the negotiating table.

"Nord Stream is a possible opening for talks with Russia," said Michael Kretschmer, the deputy chairman of Germany's governing Christian Democrats (CDU), in an interview with the Zeit Online outlet released on Sunday.

Kretschmer, who also serves as the premier of the eastern state of Saxony, argued 20% of Germany's gas needs should be covered with imports from Russia.

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Germany used to be highly dependent on Russian gas imports before the war in Ukraine, with energy prices soaring when supplies were cut in the wake of the invasion.

New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has backed the European Commission's plan to block reactivation of the pipelines as part of a new sanctions package against Russia, intended to pressure Moscow into ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine.

But Kretschmer said he did not find this strategy particularly helpful, noting there were two options to get Russia to agree to talks.

"Either you try to force Russia, as has been the case up to now, or you try a positive approach," he said, adding he was a clear proponent of the latter.

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"As long as we say: We don't want anything, we don't want gas supplies, we're just imposing sanctions, there's no point [for Russia] in talking to us."

The Nord Stream project includes two pipelines - Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 - leading from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea.

After supplying Europe with gas for more than 10 years via Nord Stream 1, Moscow halted deliveries following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Nord Stream 2, while completed, was yet to begin operations at that time.

Three of the pipelines' four strands were damaged in September 2022 in what was widely believed to have been an act of sabotage.

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Kretschmer said reactivating Nord Stream would also boost the German economy, noting that many companies were leaving the country amid high production costs, with energy prices being a central issue.

"It would greatly improve our situation if we could obtain around 20% of our gas from Russia," the state leader said.

While Kretschmer said he currently doesn't see any willingness to change strategy in Berlin, he was certain that "if economic developments continue as they are, we will be forced to change course in one or two years."
A senior German conservative leader is in favour using the possible reopening of the Nord Stream gas pipelines as leverage to get Russia to the negotiating table.

"Nord Stream is a possible opening for talks with Russia," said Michael Kretschmer, the deputy chairman of Germany's governing Christian Democrats (CDU), in an interview with the Zeit Online outlet released on Sunday.

Kretschmer, who also serves as the premier of the eastern state of Saxony, argued 20% of Germany's gas needs should be covered with imports from Russia.

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Germany used to be highly dependent on Russian gas imports before the war in Ukraine, with energy prices soaring when supplies were cut in the wake of the invasion.

New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has backed the European Commission's plan to block reactivation of the pipelines as part of a new sanctions package against Russia, intended to pressure Moscow into ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine.

But Kretschmer said he did not find this strategy particularly helpful, noting there were two options to get Russia to agree to talks.

"Either you try to force Russia, as has been the case up to now, or you try a positive approach," he said, adding he was a clear proponent of the latter.

"As long as we say: We don't want anything, we don't want gas supplies, we're just imposing sanctions, there's no point [for Russia] in talking to us."
HILLSDALE, N.Y. (WWLP)  A North Adams man was arrested on Friday in New York in connection with a larceny investigation.

Caller impersonates Hampden County Deputy in latest phone scheme

The New York State Police stated in a press release that 46-year-old Christopher J. Read of North Adams, Mass., had been appointed as a legal guardian for an individual living in Hillsdale. Following an in-depth investigation, officers found that Read did not use guardianship funds he received for the care and wellbeing of the child in his care.

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Read allegedly used these funds for personal gain and, in total, misappropriated $38,302.05. The New York State Police Livingston Bureau of Criminal Investigation arrested Read on Friday and charged him with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree and Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the First Degree.

Read was released on personal recognizance and is scheduled to appear in the Town of Claverack Court on June 25.

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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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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korean authorities have detained four officials over the recent failed launch of a naval destroyer, an incident that leader Kim Jong Un said was caused by criminal negligence, state media said.

It's rare for North Korea to publicly impose severe punishments against officials over botched weapons tests or military displays. The weekend arrests of the four officials signal how serious Kim is about his military build-up plan and bolstering discipline at home.

The 5,000-ton-class destroyer was damaged Wednesday in the presence of Kim when a transport cradle on the ships stern detached early during a launch ceremony at the northeastern port of Chongjin. Satellite imagery on the site showed the vessel lying on its side and draped in blue covers, with parts of the ship submerged.

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The incident infuriated Kim as the warship  the country's second known destroyer  is key to his naval forces modernization plan. Kim quickly blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for what he called a criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.

The official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that law enforcement authorities detained Ri Hyong Son, vice director of the munitions industry department at the ruling Workers Partys Central Committee, who said it was greatly responsible for the failed launch.

KCNA reported Sunday that the authorities detained three officials at Chongjin Shipyard over the incident  the chief engineer, head of the hull construction workshop and deputy manager for administrative affairs.

Hong Kil Ho, the shipyard manager, also was summoned for questioning, KCNA previously reported.

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In an instruction to investigators Thursday, North Koreas powerful Central Miliary Commission said those responsible can never evade their responsibility for the crime. But it's unclear what punishment the arrested officials would receive.

Earlier in his rule, Kim gained notoriety for engineering a spate of executions and purges of senior officials, including the killing of his powerful uncle. But observers say those actions were largely meant to solidify his grip on power and eliminate potential threats to his rule. In recent years, there have been few reports of executions or purges in North Korea as Kim has built up the absolute power similar to that of his late father and grandfather.

Kim has reportedly granted preferential treatments to scientists and engineers involved in the weapons development industry as he has pushed hard to expand his nuclear and missile arsenals. Kim has allocated new apartments in Pyongyang to them, and after a failed launch of a military spy satellite last year, he issued a supportive message toward his scientists over the setback, saying a failure is always a prerequisite for success," according to state media.

Experts say Kim is eager to achieve major progress in his five-year arms development plan set during a ruling party congress in early 2021. Kim has said North Korea needs greater naval forces as well as nuclear-capable missiles and other sophisticated weapons to cope with what he calls escalating U.S.-led security threats.

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Last month, North Korea launched its first destroyer, also a 5,000-ton-class ship, with massive fanfare. The ship is North Korea's largest and most advanced warship and state media reported it is designed to carry various weapons including nuclear missiles. Kim called its construction a breakthrough in modernizing North Koreas naval forces.

North Korea denied the second destroyer suffered major damage, saying the hull on the starboard side was scratched and some seawater flowed into the stern section.

North Korea said Friday it needed about 10 days to make repairs, but many outside observers said the country likely understated the damage.

___

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
North Korea arrested three shipyard officials after a flagship new navy destroyer capsized in front of leader Kim Jong Un.

State media said authorities detained the chief engineer at Chongjin shipyard, the head of its hull-construction workshop and a deputy manager.

The officials could face execution given the regimes history of severe punishment for public failures.

It followed Wednesdays failed launch at the north-eastern port that Kim witnessed the 5,000-ton warship on its side.

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The destroyer lost balance as engineers tried pushing it sideways into water.

Satellite images show the vessels stern submerged while its bow remained on the launch ramp, covered by blue tarpaulins. New surveillance images on Sunday showed a salvage operation under way.

Kim called the failure a criminal act and promised punishment.

He said on Thursday the accident was caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.

Kim added that those who made irresponsible errors would be dealt with at a plenary meeting next month.

Kim Jong Un, pictured with his daughter Kim Ju Ae in April, has sought to modernise North Koreas navy fleet - KCNA

His central military commission said the accident was unpardonable and would prompt action against lax attitudes.

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The incident contrasts with North Koreas successful destroyer launch in April at Nampo port, where engineers used a dry dock method instead of sideways launching.

Analysts say Chongjin shipyard was probably not prepared for launching destroyers, the largest warships North Korea has built.

The shipyard mainly builds cargo ships, fishing boats and dredgers, and probably lacks the experience needed to build and launch large warships.

Launching large ships sideways requires precise balancing, and North Korea had never used this method for warships before.

Heavy weapons on the destroyer may have complicated the process.

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South Korean analysts suggested pressure from Kim to replicate Aprils success may have led engineers to cut corners.

North Korea initially reported the accident tore holes in the hull but later said inspection revealed only scratches despite seawater entering the vessel.

Officials estimated several days to restore balance by pumping out water, plus 10 days for repairs.

Kim ordered restoration before a June ruling party meeting.

The launch was intended as an elaborate ceremony highlighting Kims naval modernisation efforts before what appeared to be a large crowd.

Defence ministry officials vowed to thoroughly contain and control all sorts of military threats from enemy countries.

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North Korea has historically executed officials over major failures.

In July last year, South Korean intelligence reported possible executions of at least 30 North Korean officials after devastating floods that killed up to 1,500 people.

Analysts say the destroyer incident marks another embarrassing moment for Kim, who has sought to show military strength in modernising North Koreas ageing fleet.

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President Donald Trump holds a $5 million "gold card" visa on an Air Force One flight. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump's $5 million "gold card" visa could generate limited interest.

One analyst said even the wealthy may be reluctant to pay that much as a fee rather than an investment.

The move appears to have boosted interest in the EB-5 visa program, Henley & Partners said.

In February, President Donald Trump announced plans for a $5 million "gold card" visa that would offer green card privileges and a "route to citizenship."

He's suggested that as many as 1 million people might want to buy one, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said 250,000 people were "waiting in line" and "willing to pay the $5 million" fee.

This week, Lutnick told Axios that a website where potential applicants could register their interest would go live within weeks and that further details would follow.

Dominic Volek, the head of private clients at Henley & Partners, an investment migration consultancy, said the plan was unlikely to generate a rush of applications.

"Their estimations are just simply way off," he told Business Insider. "As a general rule of thumb for wealthy people, they won't spend more than 10% of their liquid net worth on a single discretionary purchase"  whether that's a yacht, a watch, or the right to live in a country.

Volek said that an individual would need at least $50 million in liquid net worth to comfortably part with $5 million.

"Globally, there's probably only 100,000 to 150,000 people who have that kind of net worth, and the majority are already in the US. And so that leaves you with less than 100,000 people as a potential market," he said.

Even if you're quite wealthy, the idea of handing over $5 million rather than investing it may be a tough sell. Many other countries with citizenship or residence-by-investment programs offer tangible returns, not pure capital outflows.

New Zealand offers residency in exchange for a $2.95 million investment, while Singapore requires a $7.8 million investment.

Tax trouble

"Those were all investments," Volek said. "That's money I put into the stock market, into a business, into a bond, and I get a return."

The potential tax burden could also discourage applicants. Unlike many countries, the US taxes citizens  and even green card holders living abroad  on their worldwide income.

"It's not a good place to be from a tax perspective," Volek said. "If the tax treatment is not adjusted, then it will be a massive failure."
The number of people injured in a Russian attack on Kyiv Oblast on the night of 24-25 May has risen to 33, including seven children.

Source: Mykola Kalashnyk, Head of Kyiv Oblast Military Administration, on Facebook

  ,  

The aftermath of the attack on Kyiv oblast.

Photo: Kyiv Oblast Military Administration

Quote: "The number of people injured in the oblast has risen to 33. Seven of them are children.

Nineteen of those injured are currently receiving treatment at seven medical facilities. All necessary medical assistance is being provided in full. No life-threatening conditions have been recorded. Seven of those injured are in a satisfactory (fair) condition and 12 are in a moderate condition."

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Details: Kalashnyk said that 39 houses had been damaged or destroyed in the village of Makariv.

  ,  

The aftermath of the attack on Kyiv oblast.

Photo: Kyiv Oblast Military Administration

Update: At 20:37, Kalashnyk reported that the number of people injured in the Russian attack on Kyiv Oblast has risen to 34.

A total of 115 houses in the Bucha, Fastiv and Bila Tserkva districts were damaged during the overnight air attack. Food warehouses, educational institutions, garages and outbuildings were also damaged.

Kalyshnyk also posted a video from the village of Markhalivka, where 22 houses were damaged during the attack, most of them totally destroyed.

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Background: Earlier reports said that four people in Kyiv Oblast had been killed and 29 injured in the large-scale overnight Russian aerial attack. Damage was reported in four of the oblasts districts.

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NEW YORK (PIX11)  A worker from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection who had served the city for 33 years lost his life in a boat explosion on the Hudson River Saturday morning, officials said.

The blasts force propelled the worker between the pier and the boat, and required him to be extricated, according to officials.

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Two other workers were also injured when a large explosion rocked a sewage transport vessel near 138th Street in Harlem. They are expected to survive their injuries, officials said.

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The entire DEP family is grieving today. Our employee who lost his life had served the Department and the City with dedication for 33 years. He was a valued and experienced member of the Bureau of Wastewater Treatment, and his decades of service reflect his commitment to DEPs mission, said DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala.

City officials said the cause of the explosion remains under investigation, while the U.S. Coast Guard suspects the incident is linked to hot work aboard the barge.

Mayor Eric Adams said that at this time, there is no suspicion of criminality and no impact on the sewage treatment plant.

City officials have not disclosed the identity of the deceased.

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Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. 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 PIX11.
Ahead of a key deadline to reduce class sizes, New York Citys sprawling school system will spend upwards of $400 million as it races to fill 3,700 new teaching positions by the fall, new data shows.

Under the states 2022 class size law, 60% of classrooms must comply next school year with caps between 20 and 25 students, depending on grade level. Its expected to be the first time schools have to make real changes to abide by the regulation.

To meet that benchmark, principals developed and had approved 741 school-specific plans in exchange for more funding. Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos and her deputies revealed during a City Council hearing on Tuesday that costs associated with those plans will top $400 million, paid for with a combination of state and city funds.

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While nearly all schools will use those dollars to bring on more teachers, some also expect to hire about 100 assistant principals or convert spaces into classrooms.

We wanted to make sure that the impact was not felt at the school budget level, because they needed to meet this mandate, Aviles-Ramos said. And so when we say the plan, we meant a holistic plan that really, really captured all of the steps that would ensure the school can meet the mandate.

Schools including Queens M.S. 158 Marie Curie in Bayside and Hillcrest High School in Jamaica were approved to hire as many as 31 and 23 additional teachers, according to a list of funded positions released later in the week. Other campuses will likely feel less of an impact from this years hiring push: About a third of schools were authorized for three or fewer new teachers.

Of the 81 schools who applied for room conversions, only 10 projects were deemed feasible to date, according to a citywide proposal issued alongside the list of schools. Principals could also ask to cut 3K or Pre-K sections to free up classroom space, but a schools spokeswoman declined to share how many of those requests were ultimately approved.

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Olympia Kazi, a mom of two students at P.S. 187 in Washington Heights and the chief PTA member on efforts to lower class sizes, said the school is so overcrowded that it could only fit one more teacher  and had to give up an art room to make space available. Its the second time P.S. 187 has to surrender a key facility: Before the art room was renovated for that purpose, it was a library, to which the school no longer has access.

My kid had 30 kids in their class in first grade. I saw firsthand how impossible it is from every perspective  for the teacher, for kids, Kazi said. We need to invest in improving, and improving for real.

Kazi called the plan low-hanging fruit and wished that three years after the law was passed, the city would have done more to cap enrollment at overcrowded schools, hire dedicated staffers for class size reduction, or otherwise think ahead.

We did intentionally announce this early to give more teachers time to apply, since were getting close to doubling the number of teachers we usually hire, Emma Vadehra, the chancellors deputy tasked with operations and finance, said at the Council hearing.

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Some boroughs and school districts were more eager than others to apply for the funding to hire more teachers, according to the citywide proposal.

Schools in Queens applied for and are receiving funds to hire more than 1,280 additional teachers, and Brooklyn schools over 980 teachers, it showed. The Bronx and Manhattan will each get about half of the teachers awarded in next years plan as Queens received.

Vadehra cautioned that more hires are being made than usual in areas of lower economic need: We did see more applications for more teachers from schools in our comparatively better-off communities, she said.

School districts with the smallest shares of principals applying included Districts 4 in East Harlem and 12 in the central Bronx, according to the proposal. To encourage schools to apply, the spokeswoman said central office staffers scheduled sit-downs and trainings with district superintendents and principals to discuss the opportunity and answer any questions.

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But the school system still has a long way to go until the law is fully phased in over the next few years.

Between backfilling positions and complying with the new caps, the city expects to hire upwards of 20,000 teachers between now and the start of the 2028-29 school year, according to new data in the proposal.

And beyond hiring, some advocates said the plan does not go far enough to address how 495 overcrowded schools  which do not have the space to lower class sizes in their current foot print  will meet the requirements of the law.

We are now coming into the third year of whats supposed to be a five-year plan, and yet the DOE is still dragging its feet, said Leonie Haimson, executive director of the advocacy group Class Size Matters. These schools enroll nearly half of students. Without a coordinated plan that includes an accelerated effort to build more schools, aligned with more rational enrollment policies, these students will never get the individualized attention from their teachers that they so desperately need.
Socialist NYC mayoral wannabe Zohran Mamdani has a long track record of burning New Yorkers as a state legislator by pushing an anti-firefighting agenda, smoke eaters and other critics told The Post.

The Queens assemblyman  who is polling second behind ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a crowded race to become the Democratic mayoral nominee  has shown a complete lack of respect for firefighters and other first-responders since taking office in 2021, according to Nicholas Spinelli, chief of the West Hamilton Beach Fire Department in Queens.

Its shocking that the Queens assemblyman has repeatedly refused to sign off an annual, non-controversial resolution simply commemorating May 4 as Volunteer Firefighters Day, Spinelli said.

Socialist mayoral wannabe Zohran Mamdani has a long track record of taking anti-firefighting stances as a state legislator  and critics are burning mad over it. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post

And bringing his lefty policies to City Hall would likely cause already-surging emergency response times to rise even more, he warned.

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It seems like he has a complete disregard for public safety, said Spinelli.

Mamdani was also one of the few Assembly Democrats to vote against a bill eventually signed into law creating a task force to help with recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters in New York.

In 2023, he also voted against providing $25 million to volunteer fire departments statewide for new equipment and facilities and another $10 million to provide stipends to volunteer firefighters for offset training costs. The pots of cash were delivered anyway through the state budget.

The city is home to eight other volunteer fire departments, including 123-year-old Richmond Engine Co. 1 on Staten Island and others in Broad Channel, Queens, and Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn.

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Spinelli and other critics are also peeved with Mamdani for appearing in a 2021 satirical video with Sen. Jamari Brisport (D-Brooklyn) pushing socialized healthcare statewide.

Heres the latest on NYC mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani

Mandani (right) with Sen. Jamari Brisport (D-Brooklyn) in a 2021 video that critics say mocked firefighters to push socialized healthcare. nyhcampaign.org

Mamdani is second to only ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (pictured) in most polls about the Democratic mayoral primary. Robert Miller

In the segment, both socialist lawmakers donned FDNY uniforms and pretended to be lazy firefighters who wouldnt put out a nearby blaze because they didnt have the right paperwork  a shot taken at insurers who refuse to honor legitimate healthcare claims.

Assemblyman Mamdani has real lack of respect for our firefighters, and thats simply unacceptable, said Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola (R-Queens).

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The fact that a politician would make videos mocking our first responders and vote against legislation to help them is truly troubling, especially for a mayoral candidate.

Richmond Engine Co. 1, a 123-year-old volunteer fire department on Staten Island. Google Maps

Mamdani has previously come under fire for refusing to sign off on two other resolutions this year besides the measure supporting volunteer firefighters, including one denouncing the Holocaust and another celebrating Israels 77th anniversary.

Zohran is deeply grateful to the men and women of the FDNY for their exemplary public service  rushing towards danger when others flee and saving countless lives, said a Mamdani campaign spokesperson.

He is running to make New York City safer and more affordable for them, their families and communities.

The campaign, however, didnt address the criticism about the pols lack of support for volunteer firefighters.
In a New York minute, three women looking to bolster their aesthetician careers lost more than $3,000 each when a highly promoted makeup course vanished overnight, along with the influencer behind it.

Marley Matamoros, Ashley Landin and Michelle Echeverry, all from New York, paid their money to take an unlicensed course led by Miami-based TikTok influencer Melanny Restrepo Herrera, who claimed to be a successful permanent makeup artist.

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But the class was canceled. After promising refunds and rescheduling classes, Restrepo Herrera disappeared without further communication and blocked the women on social media.

Ive seen her posts and I was really intrigued, Landin told CBS News New York. She markets herself as a millionaire who helps people achieve financial freedom.

All three women are frustrated and angered by the lack of communication. After the CBS story aired, Restrepo Herrera followed up, offering a refund but with a catch: they need to sign corresponding documents.

Their ordeal raises concerns about how vulnerable people looking to improve their careers can be exploited by influencers or fake colleges who promise financial freedom but deliver nothing. Heres how you can avoid a similar situation.

Who is Melanny, and what did she promise?

Restrepo Herrera, or simply Melanny, is a Florida-based TikToker who paints a rags-to-riches story and promotes her permanent makeup business, The Luxury Ink, through her social media. Her since-deleted Instagram and TikTok accounts were filled with posts promoting her services and luxury lifestyle.

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Restrepo Herrera said she went from a homeless shelter to earning $200,000 a month, and when advertising her courses, claimed she could teach students how to make $1 million a year.

Although the course was initially priced at $6,000, Melanny offered steep discounts and payment plans. Landin said she saw others take the course and believed it was legitimate.

But the night before the class, Restrepo Herrera canceled, saying she needed emergency surgery. She told students they could either request a refund or take another course she was offering in Miami, with travel covered if they gave 30 days notice.

Echeverry asked for a refund but was blocked on social media. Landin tried to accept the Miami offer but never heard back. As of May 11, when the CBS News New York aired its story, Restrepo Herrera was still promoting a course set to take place in Dallas in June.

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Upon further investigation by both CBSs New York and Miami affiliates, the Florida Department of Health said that Restrepo Herrera does not have the necessary licenses or permits to teach the courses she promotes.

I hope she gets whats coming for her, Echeverry said.

Read more: This is how American car dealers use the '4-square method to make big profits off you  and how you can ensure you pay a fair price for all your vehicle costs

How to avoid being misled by college or training scams

Unfortunately, bogus college and training course scams are common. To protect yourself, you can:

Look up the college or influencers full name and verify their credentials.

Check for required licenses and permits if theyre offering services or teaching a skill.

Be wary of vague refund policies and unclear course details.

Search for reviews or testimonials from past students  outside of the college or the teachers social media.

Use a credit card to make purchases, which can help you dispute a charge if things go south.

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And most importantly, act fast if you feel somethings wrong  whether that means asking for a refund or filing a dispute with your bank. If its too good to be true, it most likely is.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Crowds are flocking to Virginia Beach Memorial Day weekend to enjoy the beautiful weather, beaches and Oceanfront businesses.

WAVY-10 Ethan Krauss spoke to beach goers along the Oceanfront to see what makes Virginia Beach the place to be to kick off the summer season.

Everyone is off work so everyone decided lets go to beach,' said Ryan, who is a beachgoer.

On a regular weekend the beach is usually popping but usually whenever its a holiday like Memorial Day weekend, theres a lot of people out here, said Jacob, another beachgoer.

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With this being the busiest weekend of the year for many here on the Oceanfront, various businesses and hotels have had to quickly adjust to handle the holiday traffic.

Its been very hectic but things have calmed down (Saturday afternoon). When I got in at 12(p.m.), it was already packed said Hope Cushing, a hostess at 21st Street Seafood. I think Summer will be hectic every single day.

If youre looking to get a hotel along the beach for the summer, you may be out of luck. The Virginia Beach Hotels Association says hotels in the area are at or near full capacity heading into Saturday night.

Preparations start months in advance with hiring employees, training, making sure you have all your supplies. Its been very busy, said John Zirkle, president of VB Hotels Association.

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Friday night most hotels were sold out or really close to it. Saturday night is the peak of Memorial Day weekend and I expect the resort area to be 100% occupied or close to it Sunday, said Zirkle.

Its safe to say that business is good here on the Oceanfront entering the summer season and be sure to visit the beach if you havent already.

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An officer was injured while responding to a fight in Mattapan.

According to Boston police, around 12:19 p.m., officers responded to the area of 68 Westmore Road for a report of a fight.

A firearm was recovered, and one person is in custody.

An officer was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Additional information was not available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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An unpleasant odor in one Arkansas county has prompted legislators to freshen things up.

It was just one of the many environmental concerns addressed during the 2025 legislative session. The legislation would tackle a problem residents have been complaining about for months  a waste lagoon in Crawford County.

According to Successful Farming, a waste disposal company called Denali Water Solutions uses the area to store and apply waste from chicken processing plants to farmland as fertilizer. Unfortunately, the harmful odors from the open-air lagoon have left residents unhappy.

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The legislation requires the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment's Division of Environmental Quality to impose the maximum penalty when those with permission to apply industrial biosolids do so near a rain event.

Rep. Brad Hall, a sponsor of the bill, said Denali promised to shut down the waste lagoon by the beginning of 2026. However, Successful Farming reported that a Denali representative said the company did not commit to a timeline.

"I'm tired of people living like that," Hall said. "It's ridiculous. I mean, it's obscene. They [Denali] don't have to live like that where they live, so they shouldn't expect everybody else to live like that."

The Natural Resources Defense Council said manure management is responsible for 12% of agricultural air pollution in the United States, per data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Heat-trapping pollution ultimately contributes to a warming planet, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events.

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Agricultural air pollution also poses a problem for public health. When manure emits ammonia into the atmosphere, it combines with other air pollutants and creates dangerous particles that can lead to heart and lung problems in humans. It may even lead to death.

Researchers around the world continue to look for ways to prevent ammonia from polluting the air. Experts in China have used artificial intelligence to study certain crops and fertilizers in an effort to reduce pollution. Meanwhile, scientists in Utah tried using nuclear energy to make cleaner ammonia.

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In his first six months trading on Kalshi, Shpilberg was down a couple hundred dollars. Then, around the election, things started to change.

Next, Shpilberg had a theory that he could do something similar with the weather markets on Kalshi, using data to predict the temperatures in New York City better than anyone else. Again, he didnt make any money.

Shpilberg has been trading on Kalshi for about a year. At first, he tried his luck trading markets that revolve around Rotten Tomatoes scores for recent and upcoming movies. He noticed that movie critics would release their reviews, which would then get uploaded to Rotten Tomatoes in batches, thus affecting a movies score. Shpilberg had a theory that if he built an algorithm that scraped the Rotten Tomatoes website for updates, hed be able to trade those markets faster than others and thus gain an edge. He tried it but ended up losing money.

Coby Shpilberg is a 21-year-old who lives in Palo Alto, Calif. With a background in data analytics, he works as the chief technical officer at Adnexi, a clinical-trial startup he co-founded with his mom. At work, Shpilberg uses data science to identify people to participate in clinical trials. Outside of work, he uses that same expertise to trade on Kalshi.

Although these markets are relatively new, they already are reaching a broad audience and have become quite complex. And just like more traditional financial markets, traders have developed sophisticated arbitrage and market-making strategies to clear hefty sums of cash.

Kalshi, along with other prediction-market platforms like Polymarket and ForecastEx by Interactive Brokers IBKR, allows traders to bet on seemingly just about anything  from egg prices to interest rates to the U.S. presidential election . And while its easy to scoff at some of the more outlandish prediction markets  like Will Luigi Mangione plead guilty to murder?  critics may be glossing over something important.

Catholicism warns against gambling addiction. But that didnt stop traders on Kalshi from wagering over $10 million on the answer to Who will the next pope be?

Story Continues

What I was trying to do was essentially arbitrage. I had information where I thought I was quicker than everyone else. So I thought I could buy stuff better. Didnt turn out to be true, Shpilberg told MarketWatch. But then my mindset switched to do market-making.

And thats when Shpilberg found his edge.

Market makers exist in all types of financial markets, trading things like equities, derivatives and more. In equity markets, the way market-making works is that a market participant, usually a large financial institution, will execute very large volumes of stock orders both on and off exchanges. Market makers are willing to take the opposite side of anyone who wants to trade, making profits by setting their price parameters to ensure they collect a spread  which is the small difference between the price a seller is asking for (the ask) and what a buyer is willing to pay (the bid). This difference may be just a few cents or fractions of a cent per stock, but because market makers handle so much volume, they can turn a sizable profit.

For example, the market makers Citadel Securities and Virtu together handled more volume in December 2020 than the entire New York Stock Exchange. Last March, Citadel Securities reported $9.7 billion in trading revenue for the past year.

Kalshis papal-election market saw over $10 million in volume. - Kalshi

Kalshis contracts are binary, meaning each contract has two sides. Theres a yes side that pays out $1 per contract if a certain outcome happens, and a no side that pays out $1 per contract if the outcome doesnt happen. The cost to buy one side of the contract reflects the anticipated likelihood of that event happening, so a yes contract that costs $0.60 represents a 60% probability and pays out a net $0.40 if the outcome occurs.

In order to make markets on Kalshi, Shpilberg has resting orders on both sides of the book, and he sets his buy and sell prices wide enough to collect a profitable spread. With this setup, hes willing to sell contracts to anyone buying and buy from anyone selling, as long as they meet his prices. The individual spreads may seem relatively small, but because market-making is a numbers game, Shpilberg is able to profit by executing a large volume of orders.

That was the real unlock and where I started to become profitable, Shpilberg said.

Although Shpilbergs strategy isnt exactly the same as the market-making done by institutions in other financial markets  where there are strict rules about what institutions can and cant do  its similar in the sense that the strategy provides liquidity on both sides of a trade and the goal is to collect a spread while remaining position-neutral.

Kalshi has an official market-making program for institutions and other entities that want to make markets on its platform. Financial firm Susquehanna International Group is one of the institutions that participates in this program. Kalshi requires the official market makers in this program to meet certain requirements, undergo auditing and take certain positions to ensure market smoothness and integrity, according to a company spokesperson. The company said that individual traders are not part of this official program and therefore their strategy is not market-making in the official sense. But this also gives those individuals more flexibility in how they trade.

Shpilberg built an algorithm using the Kalshi trading application programming interface, or API, and ChatGPT. This algorithm looks over all the new markets on Kalshi, then checks each market for a list of characteristics that Shpilberg has personally identified. These characteristics tell Shpilberg and his algorithm that the specific market is good for market-making and more likely to be profitable. Once identified, the algorithm sends a notification to Shpilberg through a private Discord server, telling him what to buy. After putting hours into building his algorithm and debugging it, Shpilberg got the process mostly automated and now spends less than an hour per week actually trading on the Kalshi platform.

In just a few months, Shpilberg was able to wipe out his negative profit-and-loss balance and make over $165,000.

Market-making on platforms like Kalshi doesnt always work. Since traders take positions on both sides of a trade, theres a risk of holding the wrong side of the trade at a bad price if the market shifts too rapidly in the other direction. For example, if they are selling yes contracts and collecting a $0.02 spread, their entire volume could get picked off if the market thinks that yes outcome is much more likely than the market maker has priced.

This means that the traders who are market-making on Kalshi have to be strict about the parameters surrounding what markets they trade in and how much volume theyre willing to handle.

[Kalshi] is a really cool playground to flex these skills and learn how to take advantage of financial markets, and create a little bit of edge, Shpilberg said. I really believe its going to create a whole new generation of market makers and introduce, with a very low barrier to entry, automated trading to a whole new generation of people.

Shpilberg said that he once made a post about market-making on Kalshi on his private Snapchat story, and one of his friends responded saying he was market-making on Kalshi, too.

In spring 2023, a group of undergrads at the University of Southern California created a Kalshi market-making algorithm as part of a school assignment. The algorithm ran probability simulations on the daily close of the S&P 500 SPX and entered positions in Kalshis S&P 500 prediction market that allowed the traders to profit off of a spread. In their test, the students achieved a $6.80 profit on a $33.40 initial investment according to their GitHub page.

Jack, a senior at Princeton University who asked MarketWatch not to disclose his last name, has made about $150,000 as a market maker on Kalshi since he started using the platform around the time of the 2024 election.

I think that theres a clear space for retailesque market makers, which is kind of unique, he said in an interview with MarketWatch.

Prediction markets are evolving

Market-making is far from the only strategy that traders on Kalshi use to seek gains.

Personally I do see it as a form of investing or day trading. There are also definitely arbitrage opportunities to be found if you know where to look, Hunter Foschini, a 23-year-old who works in sales, told MarketWatch. I actively look for profitable opportunities daily, and I find them pretty often.

Foschini said his trading strategy consists of doing deep research in order to find information to trade on. He also developed his own models and algorithmic trading strategies, which he said has helped give him an edge. While he didnt disclose how much hes made with his strategies, he said hes profitable overall.

I also know or have spoken with numerous traders who use prediction markets to make a living, and some of them have crossed seven figures in profit, Foschini said.

Prediction markets, in their current form, are still a somewhat recent development. But these markets have been evolving and will continue to evolve. As that happens, they may begin to resemble other once-new markets, like the options market or other derivative markets.

I think that if this trajectory of success continues, more and more money comes into the markets. And I think that this means betting markets will become more and more efficient, Davide Accomazzo, an adjunct professor of finance at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, told MarketWatch.

More money in prediction markets means more liquidity, more efficiency and more accurate pricing. Coincidentally, that may mean less opportunity for arbitraging to take advantage of market inefficiency.

Accomazzo made the comparison to the S&P 500 SPX, which sees large volumes of trading and is able to price in news very quickly. As a result, its very hard for professional traders to beat the index.

But that doesnt mean traders will stop looking for ways to gain an edge.

People, for some reason, will always look for ways of gambling, Accomazzo said.

Most Read from MarketWatch
The last thing you'd expect to see in a state like Texas is a mountain lion, likely due to the Lone Star State's general lack of mountains or hilly regions.

A worker for the San Marcos city trail crew at the Purgatory Creek Natural Area in Hays County, Texas, was out on the trail on a regular Thursday morning when they happened to catch a glimpse of a mountain lion climbing down from a tree and scurrying off when it noticed them, per Phys.org.

A completely normal sight, indeed.

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According to city officials, the timing of the sighting coincides with reports of dead animals, such as deer, suggesting the two events "may be related."

Mountain lions (also known as cougars) were once native to much of Texas but were largely eradicated through hunting and human development.

However, they've been spotted most commonly in West Texas, specifically the Trans-Pecos region. This marked the first time a mountain lion had been confirmed in Hays County, which is closer to the central part of the state.

"As always, please use caution when exploring our natural areas. These greenspaces are home to many types of wildlife," San Marcos officials said in a statement.

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"If you encounter a mountain lion: Do not approach it. Give it space and a way to escape  most will avoid confrontation," they added  an important warning when encountering any animal in the wild.

This could be a sign that cougars are starting to return to the state, which is a big win for animal conservation efforts. This isn't the first time we've seen a species once native to a particular region start to bounce back recently. One example is gray wolves being spotted in California early last year.

A rare wild cat was also spotted in the Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand, India, indicating that conservation efforts are not just finding success in the U.S.

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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  On Sunday morning, officials caught seven loose dogs on the bike path off Dryden Road, by the Great Miami River. One of these dogs has been deemed dangerous because of a confirmed bite.

Animal Resource Center worked alongside the crews and caught these dogs.

The scene was cleared at approximately 11:45 a.m.

Dog bite escalates into shots fired in Dayton

According to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch, there are multiple reports of dog bites from the area. However, the dispatch said no medical transports were made.

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A 2 NEWS weekend photographer witnesses multiple dogs being caught.

The Animal Resource Center confirmed the seven dogs it had posted on social media were the same seven dogs.

One of the dog bite incidents has been confirmed by officials. This dog has received a dangerous dog designation.

Officer shoots, kills dog on Negley Place while responding to bite call

All of the seven dogs have been claimed, they are owned by one person. They are currently being monitored under a 10-day quarantine for rabies. This means the dogs cant leave the owners home or yard.

2 NEWS will update this article when more information is available.

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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 WDTN.com.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Severe storms impacted parts of Oklahoma overnight Saturday with heavy rain, hail, and up to 70 mph winds that caused broken power poles, downed power lines, and left many Oklahomans without power.

The hardest hit areas were mostly northeastern parts of the OG&E service area, including Kellyville, Sapulpa, Drumright, and Muskogee, according to OG&E.

Crews have restored power to 85% of their customers after the overnight storms brought power outages. As of 5 p.m. Saturday, around 2,500 customers are still without power.

Guidance for OG&E customers

Assume any downed power line is hazardous and energized. Stay away from them and anything they are touching. Please do not drive over a downed power line. Report downed power lines by calling 800-522-6870.

The public should avoid areas impacted by the storms so crews can work safely and quickly to restore power to customers who are without service.

As we clear tree limbs that are interfering with power lines and have damaged equipment, vegetation crews will take tree and brush debris from the customers yard to the curb but are unable to remove this debris from the customers property.

OG&E customers can quickly report and monitor outages: Use our app to submit a report (available on iOS and Android) Submit a report online at OGE.com/outages Text OUT to 32001 if signed up for myOGEalerts Call 405-272-9595 (OKC metro) or 800-522-6870 (all other areas)

As we work to restore power, it may be necessary to gain access to your property. Please ensure our crews have access and that you secure any animals.

Customers need to be able to take power at their homes and businesses and may need a certified electrician to repair a weather head, meter base, or service cable.

Who does what? Image courtesy, OG&E.

After storms have passed, OG&E will bring any tree and brush debris to the curb, but customers are responsible for removing the debris. Debris removal resources may be available from the city or county.

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OG&E customers experiencing power outages can find estimated times of restoration 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 KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
A 76yearold Franklin County, Ohio woman thought shed hit the jackpot when an unexpected caller told her shed won $3 million in a Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. All she needed to do, he said, was pay taxes on her winnings, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

So, she mailed more than $89,000 in tax checks to an Arkansas address before realizing the prize was a scam. Detectives traced the money to a 68-year-old man in Little Rock, Arkansas who was arrested on a felonytheft warrant and remains in an Arkansas jail waiting to be extradited.

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Scams like this are increasingly common because the scammers are smart and know how to convince you that theyre from legitimate companies. They often use pressure or fear tactics to keep you on the hook.

But understanding how these scams work  and how to protect yourself  can be key as fraud attempts grow.

How do scams like this work?

Investigators say the fraudster posed as a sweepstakes employee, phoning the victim in March and insisting the windfall couldnt be released until upfront taxes were paid  an approach straight out of the classic prizescam playbook.

Scammers often add pressure by invoking trusted names  like Publishers Clearing House  claiming official oversight and urging victims to act now before the offer expires, says the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They may direct targets to wire money, send gift cards or  in this case  mail checks to outofstate addresses that are hard to trace.

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Conartists may also spoof caller ID so the number looks like it comes from Publishers Clearing House or even a government agency. Or, they might mail officiallooking letters, complete with fake seals or phony tax forms to build trust.

Once the victim pays the first fee, the scammer often invents new hurdles  customs duties, courier charges or even antiterror compliance certifications to milk the victim for even more payments.

The FTC notes three telltale signs of prize and sweepstake scams:

Real prizes never require payment

Odds of winning cant be boosted by a fee

No legitimate contest needs your banking or Social Security numbers.

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Fraud like this is increasingly common, especially for seniors, who may be lonely, less tech-savvy or less aware of new scam techniques.

According to the FTC, Americans over the age of 70 lose more per scam than any other age range. But young people fall for scams more often, so people of all ages need to know how to spot these scams.

Read more: This is how American car dealers use the '4-square method to make big profits off you  and how you can ensure you pay a fair price for all your vehicle costs

How to avoid falling victim to prize or sweepstake scams

According to the FTC, genuine sweepstakes are free and random. Any request for cash, gift cards, cryptocurrency or personal data is a red flag. If a stranger contacts you about a prize, look the company up yourself  using a verified phone number or website  to verify the company is real. Never rely on numbers or links that the caller or an email provides.

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If youve paid already, the quicker you act, the better. Report the transaction to your bank or card issuer, file a complaint at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and contact your state attorney general. If the scammer contacted you by mail, notify the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The faster you report the scam, the more likely you are to get some of your funds back.

If personal data was shared, visit IdentityTheft.gov for recovery steps. Spreading the word to friends and relatives  especially older family members  can prevent the next wouldbe winner from becoming the next victim.

A final reminder: Unsolicited prize calls, emails or brochures in the mail are almost always too good to be true. The safest response is to hang up, delete or recycle  before the only thing youre left holding is an empty checkbook.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo.  An Olivette burglary suspect, out on probation for an unrelated offense, left behind jail documents with his personal information in a homeowners laundry room, quickly leading to his arrest.

The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office has charged Darell Bonner, 35, with second-degree burglary and stealing (Fourth or subsequent offense within 10 years) in the investigation.

Police say, in addition to Bonner misplacing his paperwork, surveillance video and GPS monitor records also connected him to the crime scene.

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Devil in the Ozarks escapes north Arkansas prison

According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, a homeowner in the 1100 block of Appleseed Lance reported on May 7 that someone had entered his individual laundry/storage room and stole various amounts of his laundry and detergent.

Among the items stolen. the victim reported, were a LeBron James Lakers jersey, two polo shirts and a pair of kids-sized Jordan brand shoes.

At some point, the victim found a suspicious piece of paper next to his washing machine. The paper was a state of Missouri Department of Corrections Intervention Fee Payment Voucher with an offender number written on it.

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Police later verified that paper was given to Bonner while he was on probation. Authorities then reviewed GPS monitor records, which placed him in the laundry room on May 6.

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Some time later, authorities served a warrant for Bonners arrest. When questioned about the paperwork, Bonner told police he entered the home to get out of the rain, per court documents. Police then reviewed surveillance video, which did not show rain from the time that GPS monitor records linked Bonner inside the home.

Bonner then told police he went down the homes stairs, but he denied stealing anything, according to court documents.

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Investigators say Bonner was on probation for one burglary case in St. Louis County and had another open case for trespassing at the time of his arrest.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)  One man is dead after a motorcycle crashed into a home on Saturday evening on State Route 41 near Spence Road.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the crash 9:25 p.m. on State Route in Pike Township.

Officials said the 71-year-old motorcycle driver, from Tremont City, went right off the road. His Harley Davidson Tri Glide 3-wheeler then hit a house and overturned.

The cyclist was airlifted from the scene to Miami Valley Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

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There was no one inside the house during the crash, and the road was closed for approximately 1.5 hours.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is actively investigating the crash.

2 NEWS will update this article when more information is 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 WDTN.com.
A man is dead and another person is in critical condition following a double shooting in Bostons Dorchester neighborhood Saturday night, according to police.

Officers responded to 38 Franklin Hill Ave. for a report of a person shot around 9:46 p.m., a Boston police spokesperson said. At the scene, they found two people with life-threatening injuries.

Both victims were taken to a hospital, and one  a man  was declared dead, the spokesperson said. The other victim remains in critical condition as of Sunday morning.

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Homicide detectives are investigating the shooting, but no arrests had been made as of 8 a.m. Sunday, police said.

More local crime stories

Read the original article on MassLive.
A seasoned aviator was forced to take quick action to avoid disaster while flying over the West Valley.

On the morning of May 23, the carburetor on Jim Starks 1978 Cessna 172 began to fail as he flew near 99th and West Southern avenues. Stark, 84, knew he and his copilot and friend, 78-year-old Pete Biddle, needed to quickly find a safe place to land  they were about 9 miles east of the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport.

In that moment, Stark recalled the advice he often gave to others in similar emergencies: Stay cool.

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More specifically, Stark said, "it was abundantly clear that we weren't going to make it back to Goodyear. So, we just looked around" and located a tractor trail nestled between cornfields.

"I mean, that's what you got to do," Stark added.

There were no injuries in the landing.

The cornfield was 6.35 miles southeast of Goodyear on 95th Avenue, just south of Baseline Road, Stark said.

He said cornstalks were unharmed in his impromptu landing, but he "did clip a little bitty tree" on the field's edge that dinged a wing.

The plane should be good to hit the skies again, he said. His insurance sent someone to haul the aircraft out of the field at dawn on May 24 and get it to the Goodyear Airport. Repairs were expected to take a week.

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Stark has been a licensed pilot for about half a century and served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years. Prescott-raised, he grew up around planes on account of his father being an engineer for Boeing.

He has owned this plane  his seventh ever  for more than a decade and has flown it over such remote places as the mountains of Australia.

"This airplane is an absolute jewel," he said. "I love it."

This was not Stark's first emergency landing among crops. A little more than 10 years ago, he said he landed in a Nebraska soybean field when the plane appeared to be running low on fuel.

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Biddle, the copilot, said he was reassured by Stark's experience when they ran across trouble while returning from breakfast in Chandler to Sun City where they are neighbors. A licensed pilot since 1976, Biddle likened the landing to those made at what he said are the "dirt strips" found at Red Creek Airstrip near the Verde River.

Besides, Biddle said of his longtime buddy, "he's one hell of a pilot."

In the works: Whats being built near Goodyear Ballpark?

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'One hell of a pilot': Man lands plane in Phoenix-area cornfield
The Maine Department of Education touts the approach taken by the Topsham-area school district, MSAD 75, to reduce the use of restraint and seclusion. Amy Hall, left, special education director, and Samantha Lapointe, elementary special education coordinator, helped implement the alternative approach. (Troy Bennett/Maine Morning Star)

About a decade ago, a Maine school district became concerned about how often staff members physically restrained students who were acting out and put them in seclusion rooms, especially the districts 500 or so special education students.

Those tactics are only supposed to be used in emergencies under state law, but at the time, Maine School Administrative District (MSAD) 75 recorded 176 restraints and 152 seclusions on just 15 students, according to district-level data shared with Maine Morning Star. Staff were routinely scratched and bruised in the process, said Amy Hall, the districts special education director.

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We started to get very concerned about the level of staff injuries, student injuries, and just the level of crisis we were dealing with in our schools, Hall said.

So in 2018, the district decided to pursue an alternative. Today, because staff members now view student behavioral issues as a problem to prevent and solve, rather than an infraction to punish  and because of a significant investment in training to execute that shift in mindset  the 2,350-student districts use of restraint and seclusion is down to the single digits: two restraints and seven seclusions in the 2022-23 school year.

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The Maine Department of Education is touting that success story in the hope that more districts will sign onto MSAD 75s approach and rely less on restraint and seclusion  when a staff member temporarily immobilizes a student and places them alone in a room until they calm down. Research has shown that the tactics are not effective in altering a students behavior and that the experience of being restrained and secluded can be traumatizing and cause lasting effects for students, according to the Maine DOE website. The state and some school districts have worked to reduce their use for years due to staff and student injuries.

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The model MSAD 75 turned to was developed by a Maine-based nonprofit, Lives in the Balance, that works nationally and has been adopted by a handful of other districts  including the much larger Fairfax Public Schools in Virginia  to dramatically reduce their use of restraint and seclusion.

But despite that models success, it has not been widely adopted across Maine, according to Ben Jones, director of the organizations legal and policy initiatives. Although Lives in the Balance has offered free technical assistance to districts since 2022 through a state Department of Education partnership, Jones said only two districts have followed up on the offer.

Sarah Wilkinson, an assistant professor of special education at the University of Southern Maine who recently co-authored a report on student behavior, said the state is failing to provide adequate assistance to districts to make sure these tools can be implemented properly.

Any one of these programs would decrease the behavioral crises, and then need for seclusion or restraint. But part of the issue there is that the state doesnt really have the infrastructure to support implementation, Wilkinson said.

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In response to questions about state support, Chloe Teboe, a spokesperson for Maine DOE, said the department provides resources such as monthly office hours, one-on-one consultations, mentoring and regular training, available for districts that want them.

What works in Falmouth isnt going to work in Machias or Fort Kent, and thats where folks at the district level need support to implement these approaches in a way that works for their population, Wilkinson said.

Since 2021, Maine has limited the circumstances under which school staff can restrain and seclude students through a change in state law that aimed to nudge districts away from their frequent use. But recent complaints of worsening student behavior since the pandemic led to an effort to loosen those restrictions, which disability rights advocates fear could result in a spike.

The Topsham-area district, MSAD 75, is seeing that same increase in extreme behavior among younger students, Hall said, but relaxing the law on restraint and seclusion is not the answer.

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The mental health needs of our population of students have increased, while restraints and seclusions have dramatically decreased, she said.

Instead, Hall advocates for educators to rethink how they view behavior. Most kids will do well in school if they can. Problems with behavior often signal a response to an underlying problem that educators need to uncover and address, she said.

If a kid is not doing well, then we need to shift the way that were working with that student, Hall said. Once we get to a restraint or in a seclusion, youre way too late.

Changing how schools think about student behavior

The founder of Lives in the Balance, Ross Greene, a child clinical psychologist and former Harvard Medical School faculty member, came up with the model based on a mindset shift that MSAD 75 adopted.

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Greenes approach helps schools address what he calls concerning behaviors without resorting to punitive measures, based on the idea that when children struggle with frustration, refuse to follow instructions, or cant keep up academically or socially, their response is to act out.

I get it, those behaviors are dangerous and scary and disruptive, but theyre communicating the exact same thing  theyre having difficulty meeting a particular expectation, he said.

Rather than respond with punishment or continue to demand compliance, educators can work with the child to identify and address the underlying problems. By temporarily adjusting expectations and focusing on solving problems, educators can prevent behavioral issues from escalating and build students skills so they can meet expectations in the future, Greene said.

The problem is that a lot of adults, not just in schools, see a kid whos having difficulty meeting an expectation as being noncompliant, and what they do is they shoot for compliance, he said.

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Greenes Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model has been studied in students with significant behavioral challenges, including nonverbal students and students with oppositional defiant disorder, and those studies have found the model leads to notable improvements.

One district thats advocating to loosen the states restraint and seclusion law, MSAD 11 in Gardiner, said it considered Greenes model but worries that the approach is not enough to address increased reports of aggressive student behavior.

Given that weve almost never experienced the type of dysregulation were seeing in very early learners, I am not confident that only going down the proactive pathway is a solution to the current context and climate that we are in, said Angela Hardy, the districts director of curriculum and instruction.

In the upcoming school year, Hardy said the district will try to implement some strategies that worked for MSAD 75 and that Greene advocates for, such as designing a learning environment that helps prevent incidents.

Classroom design as prevention

A special education teacher at the time, Samantha Lapointe started thinking that restraints and seclusions were no longer an option when MSAD 75 first made the change, even though the law permits their use in emergencies.

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Its hard to imagine how you would do business without those tools, until you commit to thinking about not having them, said Lapointe, who is now the districts elementary special education coordinator. That leads to a lot of thinking about what to do instead  and that leads you into new territory, right around what new skillsets need to be stronger, what prevention strategies need to be stronger.

Classroom design is one element of prevention, Lapointe said. The idea is to minimize any danger in case a student acts out  and reduce the need for staff to physically intervene.

She started working with students on the floor, then brought in a sofa. When the school got new furniture, she requested two heavy, communal tables instead of individual desks that students could easily move or overturn. The tables also had to be low to the ground so students climbing atop them would not be in danger. And Lapointe hung all the posters high enough so elementary students couldnt rip them off the walls. Staff also locked the closet that stored toys and activities.

Ive still had kids climb on tables, and Ive had to ask myself, how dangerous is this really? she said. Is it an extreme, imminent risk of harm if they fall? You should be constantly weighing out what really constitutes danger to the extent that you would need to go hands-on.

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The other piece was training ed techs  aides who often work one-on-one with students  in the new approach.

Adults spend a lot of time directing and correcting, and they need to spend time asking questions, seeking to understand, Lapointe said. The way you talk to kids matters a lot.

Adults spend a lot of time directing and correcting, and they need to spend time asking questions, seeking to understand. The way you talk to kids matters a lot.

 Samantha Lapointe, MSAD 75 elementary special education coordinator

If a student tries to leave the classroom, for example, instead of stopping them, staff can start a conversation by asking them where theyre going, what they need to leave for and what their plan is after leaving, she said. Meanwhile, she also trained her staff to ask themselves: What can I tolerate? Why cant they leave the classroom? Whats the worst thats going to happen?

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The level of thinking and intentional decision-making needs to be very high, and thats one thing also that I train my staff in: intentionality, Lapointe said. You must ask yourself, before you say anything, before you do anything: What is it youre going to say or do and why? What outcome are you hoping to get?

Thats the kind of training Maine teachers are asking for and largely not receiving, said Wilkinson with the University of Southern Maine.

Teachers or ed techs will report, Weve been safety-care trained, weve had de-escalation training  all of these things that really only happen when a behavior gets to a certain point, Wilkinson said. That means that the behavior has to get to that point before they have the skills to deal with it. Teachers are not reporting that theyre confident with all of the things you would do before the behavior escalates.

Even in the Topsham-area district, the training in Collaborative and Proactive Solutions isnt complete. Lapointe said its now a priority to expand beyond special education to general education classroom teachers and higher grades.

A new approach

The Topsham-area district combines Greenes model with Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or PBIS  a research-based model used in schools across the country thats built around positive reinforcement of good behavior and gradually increasing levels of intervention and consequences for kids who misbehave.

This is how the combination of the two models could look.

In the library, the expectation for all students is that they keep their voices low and read, Hall said. PBIS lays out a system to reinforce positive behavior, often through small rewards, and address infractions. But Greenes approach would come into play if a student cant keep quiet in the library, she said.

It may be that the child cant focus, keep still, has sensory issues, or is too stimulated in that setting. Instead of punishing the child, teachers try to problem solve: They might offer them headphones, move their reading time to a quiet classroom, or even allow the child to leave the library, Hall said.

Moving away from demanding compliance from students helps educators understand and work with them to solve the issue underlying the behavior, instead of an outburst or aggression stemming from it, she said.

Instead of just asking them to do the same thing over again and sustain in an environment that they cant, you try to figure out whats behind the behavior, Hall said. We still have rewards, and kids still have consequences, but the consequences just arent, Were going to put you in a seclusion room. Because thats not a consequence, thats a crisis response.

The series was produced as a project for the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Health Journalisms National Fellowship Fund for Reporting on Child Well-being.

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Maine Morning Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maine Morning Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lauren McCauley for questions: info@mainemorningstar.com.
May 24LEROY, Minn.  One person is dead after an early morning fire in LeRoy, Minnesota, on Saturday, May 24, 2025.

At about 3:56 a.m., Saturday, Fillmore County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a 911 call of a house fire in the 13000 block of 111th Avenue about 6 miles northeast of LeRoy, in southern Fillmore County.

According to the Fillmore County Sheriff's Office, a 90-year-old male, who was in the home at the time of the fire, was pronounced deceased at the scene. An adult female was transported from the scene to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys with injuries resulting from the fire.

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The Chester (Iowa) Fire Department, Ostrander Fire Department, Spring Valley Fire Department, Spring valley Ambulance, Leroy Fire Department, Leroy Ambulance and Mower County Sheriff's Office also responded to the scene.

The fire is still under investigation. More information will be available at a later time, the sheriff's office said.
A few days before Memorial Day, Joanne Malmstedt sat at a folding table in a parking lot at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, surrounded by trucks and supplies and volunteers, studying several maps in front of her like the leader of a military campaign.

In a way, she is the leader of a military campaign  or, one that honors veterans with military-like precision.

It was on Thursday that Malmstedt, the founder and president of Flags for Fort Snelling, was mapping out the waves of volunteers who come to the national cemetery every May to place U.S. flags on every grave for Memorial Day. This year, those volunteers will total approximately 3,700 to 4,700 people, all working to place (and, later, to remove) more than 190,000 flags at the graves over the span of several days.

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For Malmstedt, the campaign  now in its 10th year  goes beyond a personal gesture of remembrance for the veterans in her own family, her father and her great grandfather, who are buried here.

These men and women sacrificed so much, says Malmstedt, 44, of Blaine. I really want to make sure that sacrifice is not forgotten.

While the nonprofit honors all who served our country, expanding the day of remembrance beyond those who died while serving, the holiday we now call Memorial Day was meant to honor those who died in the Civil War.

Memorial Day

Fort Snelling National Cemetery, located near the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport International Airport on 34th Avenue, is the only national cemetery in Minnesota, a place to honor veterans (and their eligible family members) under the oversight of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration. Minnesotas national cemetery was formally dedicated almost 86 years ago, on July 14, 1939, according to the cemeterys website.

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Days before that dedication, on July 5, the first veteran was laid to rest there: His name is George H. Mallon, a Medal of Honor recipient who served as a captain in the U.S. Army during World War I. After his courage leading his men in battle in France in 1918, he was included in an American generals list of 100 heroes of World War I. He returned home later, where he was active in Minnesota politics. He died at age 57.

Mallons grave is located near a large plaque displaying the Memorial Day Order of 1868, situated in a prominent spot near the cemeterys main entrance.

In Order No. 11, John Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic  a veterans organization  declared that a day in May should be dedicated to decorating the graves of the Civil War fallen.

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This day, the order commanded, should be designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion and whose bodies now lie in every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form or ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit 

  Let us, then, at the time appointed, gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor 

Later on, Decoration Day became known as Memorial Day, a federal holiday observed on the last Monday in May, an annual day of remembrance, according to the National Archives, to honor all those who have died in service to the United States during peace and war.

Flags for Fort Snelling

It was a decade ago, as Memorial Day 2015 approached, when a phone call to Fort Snelling National Cemetery led Malmstedt to be the change she wished to see in the world.

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I had called the cemetery to ask, How do we volunteer to help put flags out?' she recalls. My kids were little at the time and I wanted to show them, This is who Memorial Day is for because they werent understanding the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

(Veterans Day, a federal holiday in November, honors military veterans.)

However, what she learned from that call surprised her.

The person I talked to said, We dont do that anymore,' she says.

That didnt stop Malmstedt.

I went on social media and was like, I cant believe the cemetery doesnt do this  Im still going out there so my kids can see what its for, if anybody wants to join me,' she recalls. And so I had about 12 friends and their kids come and help put out 3,700 of the tiny stick flags.

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Local news media, on site for Memorial Day, noticed the group at work.

They asked us, What are you guys doing?' Malmstedt says. We told them we were putting out flags and they asked, Whose idea was this? One of my friends pointed to me and they came over and did the interview. The response we got from it was the same as mine: Nobody knew it wasnt done. And then, a few days later, I got a call from the director of the cemetery, who asked for a meeting. I initially thought I was in trouble.

She wasnt.

He thanked me immensely for what we did, because it brought to light the fact that it wasnt done anymore, she says.

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She left the meeting feeling determined to revive the decorating tradition.

Thats when I said, Im doing this, Im going to make this happen,' she said. I laugh looking back, because at the time as a single mom of three little kids, I had no business taking this on. But now, this is our 10-year anniversary this year. Looking back, its like, Wow. Weve been making it happen and I really want to make sure we continue to make it happen.

The people who work at Fort Snelling National Cemetery appreciate it.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to Joanne Malmstedt and her team for volunteering to serve a greater good, while educating future generations on the importance of service and sacrifice, said Marshall Murphy, deputy director of Fort Snelling National Cemetery, in a statement to the Pioneer Press.

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Fort Snelling National Cemetery has a rich history of honoring veterans on Memorial Day  including placing flags at every grave, Murphy said. Over time, the ever-increasing volume of work at the cemetery outpaced the cemetery staffs ability to coordinate volunteers to assist with the transport, placement, retrieval, repair and storage of the flags each year. In 2015, Joanne saw an opportunity to serve veterans, her community and her country, and volunteered to lead this project.

As the fifth busiest national cemetery coordinating 5,000+ interments per year and managing 193,000 existing gravesites, Fort Snelling National Cemetery is extremely grateful for support from volunteers like Joanne.

Malmstedt hopes her story inspires others to do what her nonprofit has done.

I would love to see other groups, other people, piggyback off this and be like, Hey, you know what? Were going to start doing this at other cemeteries,' she says. It would be nice if all those that are laid to rest are able to be honored and remembered, too.

The community responds

Malmstedt, who also works as a mechanical adjuster for Federal Ammunition and owns a cleaning company, A Patriots Clean, says it requires a group effort to make Flags for Fort Snellings annual operation come together, from labor to donations.

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On Thursday, volunteers were working in a parking lot at the cemetery, water sealing the wooden staffs of the flags to prevent mold growth.

They worked quickly, dipping flag bundles into buckets of clear wood sealer before placing the flags on tarps to dry in the sun.

It was volunteer work they said they felt privileged to do.

We have multiple family members buried here, said volunteer Tina Friedel of Osceola, Wis. Its just a little way to give something back.

Nearby, Jill Cooper and her partner, Barry Gustafson, were breaking down boxes and doing other tasks needed on this preparation day. The Minneapolis couple serves in the core group every year, directing and helping other volunteers in this regimented operation.

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We dont want to spend our Memorial Day drinking at a picnic, Cooper says. We want to spend our weekend here, doing something to give back.

I know a lot of these vets did not pass away in war, Cooper says, but they still served, and they deserve all this respect.

A few days earlier, as part of a fundraising effort, Malmstedt spoke to the cadets of St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights about the nonprofit behind the flags.

It has grown since that phone call to the cemetery: Now, Malmstedts nonprofit has a co-leader, MacKenzie Anderson, a board of directors and other individuals and companies who help provide storage space, T-shirts, labor and more.

We are a small, volunteer-based nonprofit, she told the cadets. Myself, my partner and my other board members, all of us are volunteers. We put in hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of unpaid hours toward this mission every single year 

  Now, 10 years later, it seems like its a well-oiled machine, but it takes a lot of work to get there, she said. The first year that we did this as a nonprofit, we were able to raise funds to place 10,000 flags  it was overwhelming that year, just to see 10,000 flags. However, now in our 10th year, we will be close to placing 195,000 flags.

Not only do we place those flags Memorial Day weekend, but they are able to stay out and be visible and be out for honoring and remembering all week during that Memorial week; we also have to go back out and pick up all flags so we can store them and reuse them for years to come.

With that being said, the cemetery does grow on average of 5,300 people every single year for interments. With those growing costs, so do our costs for flags and all of the other operational needs to be able to make this happen every single year. The only way that we make this happen and continue to honor and remember all those laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery is through the generosity of the donations that we receive and the volunteers that come and help us.

As she spoke, one young man in particular was impressed: her son.

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Just the sheer will that she has to tackle something like this is inspiring to me, says Logan Ogroske, an 18-year-old college student who accompanied his mother to St. Thomas Academy. It gives me inspiration that I can tackle things, too.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Kim Friede, a military leadership instructor at St. Thomas Academy, is also inspired  especially with the visual impact that illustrates the ripple effect of one persons decision to step up.

If youve ever passed Fort Snelling National Cemetery during the Memorial Day weekend, then you know the emotional experience that is created by a virtual sea of U.S. flags placed on each and every gravesite, Friede told the cadets. It simply takes your breath away.

The cadets donated more than $2,000 to the nonprofit. Some signed up to volunteer, too.

Flags for Fort Snelling

Flags for Fort Snelling founder and president Joanne Malmstedt at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) Flags for Fort Snelling founder and president Joanne Malmstedt at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Malmstedt, of Blaine, started the nonprofit in 2015 as a way to honor the veterans in her family and teach her children the purpose of Memorial Day. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) Flags for Fort Snelling founder and president Joanne Malmstedt gives instructions to volunteers before they place flags next to headstones at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) Flags for Fort Snelling volunteer Gabrielle Wojdyla-Just of Minneapolis helps her dad, Ryan Just, place flags next to headstones at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Gabrielles mom is currently stationed overseas with the United States Navy. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) This is really grounding and important to experience this, said Flags for Fort Snelling volunteer Ranee Johnson, right, as she,( r-l) her daughter Makena, 16, husband Michael, and Kyler, 14, place flags next to headstones at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Saturday, May 24, 2025. This was the second year the Rosemount family spent the Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend volunteering for Flags for Fort Snelling to honor relatives at the cemetery. Joanne Malmstedt of Blaine started the nonprofit in 2015 as a way to honor the veterans in her family and teach her children the purpose of Memorial Day. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) This is really grounding and important to experience this, said Flag for Fort Snelling volunteer Ranee Johnson, right, as she and her daughter Makena, 16, place flags next to headstones at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Saturday, May 24, 2025. This was the second year the Rosemount family spent the Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend volunteering for Flags for Fort Snelling to honor relatives at the cemetery. Joanne Malmstedt of Blaine started the nonprofit in 2015 as a way to honor the veterans in her family and teach her children the purpose of Memorial Day. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) Flags for Fort Snelling volunteers Gail and Rich Thiel of Stockbridge, Wis., place flags at headstones at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Joanne Malmstedt of Blaine started the nonprofit in 2015 as a way to honor the veterans in her family and teach her children the purpose of Memorial Day. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) Volunteers with Flags for Fort Snelling helped place close to 195,000 flags at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Joanne Malmstedt of Blaine started the nonprofit in 2015 as a way to honor the veterans in her family and teach her children the purpose of Memorial Day. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) Volunteers with Flags for Fort Snelling will place close to 195,000 flags at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Joanne Malmstedt of Blaine started the nonprofit in 2015 as a way to honor the veterans in her family and teach her children the purpose of Memorial Day. (John Autey / Pioneer Press) Show Caption1 of 10Volunteers with Flags for Fort Snelling placed some of the more than 190,000 flags at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Joanne Malmstedt of Blaine started the nonprofit in 2015 as a way to honor the veterans in her family and teach her children the purpose of Memorial Day. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)Expand

After the Memorial Day observation, Flags for Fort Snelling is seeking volunteers to collect flags for return to storage on May 31 (and potentially continuing the work on June 1).

To register, donate or learn more, visit flagsforfortsnelling.com.

Other volunteering opportunities: If you or your organization are interested in volunteering at a VA national cemetery near you, visit cem.va.gov/volunteer.
I arrived in America on Feb. 9, 2011, with just one carry-on bag containing everything to my name: middle school certificates, some clothes and one white bag bearing the International Organization for Migration logo, holding a big badge with my name and our destination: Twin Falls, Idaho.

My one-and-a-half-year-old nephew screamed from hunger. My sister-in-law, drained from days of travel and weakened by her own hunger, tried to breastfeed him as we waited for hours at JFK International Airport.

We had no money and no guide. And I, then just a teenager, was the only one who could speak even a few words of English.

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Two days later, after a 10-hour delay in Detroit, we finally landed in Idaho. There was no press conference. No welcome speech. No camera crew. Just one driver from the local refugee center and a Nepali interpreter who took us to a run-down two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of town.

Our new home was in a complex full of people like us  Black, Middle Eastern and other non-white families whose stories no one had ever asked to hear.

Thats what most refugee arrivals in America look like: quiet, tense, invisible. Youre met not with celebration but with suspicion  from airport security, border officials, even bystanders.

Staff roll their eyes when you ask where to go, what time your flight boards, or which gate to use. Strangers glare at you for your accent, your United Nations badge and the smell of exhaustion on your clothes.

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There is no dignity  just the constant fear of doing something wrong, of being reminded that you dont belong. I remember my mother crying softly in a corner, whispering to me: Lets go back to the refugee camp, we at least had dignity in camp.

On Jan. 20, the Trump administration effectively halted refugee admissions. But on May 8, it was announced that refugee status has been granted to 54 White Afrikaners.

On May 12, the same day the Afrikaners arrived in the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the termination of temporary protected status for Afghanistan, stripping protections from more than 9,000 Afghans who had risked their lives working alongside U.S. forces.

A senior official from the Department of State made a public speech welcoming to the U.S. the descendants of the people who colonized southern Africa. There was laughter, applause, and praise of just how well-behaved the children are. The official even praised their culture, a culture that, until the 1990s, upheld an apartheid government.

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It wasnt a refugee arrival. It was a spectacle  a carefully staged, Hollywood-style production of resettlement.

Meanwhile, thousands of other refugees, mostly from the Global South, whose cases had been approved after years of rigorous vetting, have been quietly denied entry or had their resettlement canceled, leaving them in danger and legal limbo.

On May 21, what was supposed to be a bilateral trade meeting at the White House with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation quickly turned into a political ambush.

Instead of engaging in serious dialogue about economic cooperation or South Africas urgent domestic challenges, Trump used the moment to double down on discredited claims of white genocide in South Africa. He dismissed Ramaphosas explanations and showed no interest in the countrys post-apartheid governance or the crime and inequality affecting both Black and white South Africans.

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It was never about addressing the crime rate, addressing poverty or protecting South Africans. It was a calculated performance, meant to reinforce a message to Trumps political base that, in a multiracial democracy, white people are the ones under threat.

This performance on the global stage was neither about refugee protection nor principled refugee resettlement. It was about stoking fear and legitimizing a MAGA worldview that sees diversity as a threat.

The resettlement of the Afrikaners broke decades of precedent outlined in the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1980 U.S. Refugee Act, which together call for a fair admission with rigorous proof of political persecution. Its far from the standards many families like mine were held to.

Ive worked with thousands of refugees across the country, from Pennsylvania to Idaho, Utah and Ohio. As the founder of Refugee Civic Action, I spend every day helping newly arrived and naturalized Americans understand the rights, responsibilities and values of this country, believing that they, too, can become active participants in our democracy. In the last election alone, Refugee Civic Action engaged more than 27,000 former refugees who were new American voters.

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In recent days, I have been thinking about the Afghan father I mentored, who risked his life to support U.S. forces, who was forced to flee alone, leaving behind his two young sons in Taliban-controlled Kabul, and the mother I met through a refugee organization, who had fled China in fear for her daughters life in Xinjiang, only to have their family reunification indefinitely stalled under this administrations policies.

Historically, the U.S. has welcomed refugees for two primary reasons. One is geopolitical: during the Cold War, admission of those fleeing communism allowed America to assert itself as a beacon of democracy, and it took pride in that.

My family benefited from the other, more enduring motivation: the humanitarian imperative to protect the persecuted. In 2008, the U.S. extended refuge to Bhutanese families like mine, offering a pathway to resettlement and safety.

At its best, the refugee program reflects Americas highest ideals. But this admission of white Afrikaners has nothing to do with either. This is about racial signaling.

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What we have seen in the case of the Afrikaners is a strategic, racialized provocation that twists the legal and moral foundations of refugee protections to serve a white nationalist agenda.

The Afrikaners, by contrast, were ushered in  some in just three months  under the unfounded claim that they were victims of racial persecution. This move is not merely a policy decision; it is a politically calculated act that aligns with the rhetoric of the Make America Great Again movement.

First, it reinforces the narrative that white individuals are the true victims of globalization and competitive multiracial democracy. Second, it breathes new life into the great replacement theory: the racist and unfounded belief that white Americans are being systematically replaced by rising nonwhite populations.

By admitting white South Africans as refugees and victims of racial persecution, the Trump administration has sent a dangerous message that in a multiracial democracy, the loss of white dominance is equivalent to persecution  a narrative that has been actively promoted in public discourse by a fringe group of MAGA movements.

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In this narrative, South Africa becomes a warning of what awaits the United States should Black and nonwhite Americans gain political power, even though white South Africans still control a disproportionate share of the countrys wealth, including an estimated 73 percent of private farmland. As America becomes a more diverse nation, those who equate whiteness with greatness see this shift not as progress, but as a threat.

Congress must demand answers from the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. On what grounds were white Afrikaners granted expedited status while thousands of others, many with proven claims of persecution, wait in limbo or are deported?

Answering this question is not only essential to protect the integrity of the refugee system, but also to preserve the very foundation of a multiracial democracy.

Lok Darjee is a former Bhutanese refugee from Nepal and the founder of Refugee Civic Action, a nonpartisan initiative mobilizing New Americans to participate in U.S. democracy. He is a freelance writer and commentator on democracy, immigration, refugee issues and foreign policy.

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HONOLULU (KHON2)  An Oregon man and his cat have captured hearts worldwide by embarking on a weeks-long, 2,400-mile journey to Hawaii.

Thousands gathered to welcome Oliver Widger, 29, and his cat Phoenix at the Waikiki Yacht Club on May 24.

Sailing from Oregon to Hawaii after quitting his job turns a man with a cat into social media star

This is absolutely nuts. Absolutely insane, this is so bizarre. Yeah. Because Im like, totally not this, you know, Im just awkward, so, Widger said.

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Widger decided to make the journey with his feline friend after being diagnosed with Klippel Fiel Syndrome, a rare congenital condition with risk of paralysis. He quit his 9 to 5 and pulled out his 401K.

The initially-inexperienced sailor said the seasickness was real, but he powered through.

Check out more news from around Hawaii

Right now Im feeling really weird. But yeah, Im not seasick. I just feel like I have to hold on to things to not fall over, he said.

He had some help from a local non-profit off Maui. They airdropped a package with snacks and letters with well wishes.

It was just a white vessel and a lot of white caps so we were all looking and were all scanning the water and we actually kind of passed him a couple times. And so we finally found him and were able to circle him and confirm that it was his boat before we could drop the buoy and all the snacks, said Brian, an Aloft Charities flight instructor.

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Oregon man sails to Hawaii following medical diagnosis

Folks in attendance said not only is sailing halfway across the worlds biggest ocean with just a cat is an incredible feat, but the fact that it was done by an average dude is even more remarkable.

And hes just an average dude, right? Hes just like anybody else. And seeing everybody come out here and just be like Oliver! Its so funny to me, said Honolulu sailor Atticus Brown. I feel like so much secondhand happiness for him.

Gov. Josh Green was in attendance and even presented Widger with a proclamation to honor his bravery and inspiration. Widger never thought his story would reach across the world, but he has a message for everyone.

The world is in a weird place kind of thing. People have seen that its possible to break out. And it is possible, he said.

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OVERTON, Texas (KETK)  Overton City Manager Shane West shared his concern about the Overton Volunteer Fire Department in a post to the citys Facebook on Saturday.

LIST: Ways to keep safe while grilling outdoors this summer

According to an Overton Police Department report shared by West, EMS received a call at 4:08 p.m. on Thursday about a medical emergency on North Warren Street. At 4:42 p.m., EMS reached out to the Overton Police Department to attempt to enter the house of a paralyzed man who couldnt unlock the door.

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When an Overton PD officer arrived they called the Overton Volunteer Fire Department to help rescue the man and enter the home with the fire departments specialized tools. The officer then contacted Overton Water Works to have them call dispatch so they could call for the Overton Fire Department.

Then the officer called dispatch to have them page the fire department. According to the report, the fire department had been paged three times and didnt respond. The officer then broke down the door, allowing EMS to treat the man.

Please keep in mind that the Overton Volunteer Fire Department is made up of non-paid volunteers with families and daily jobs and this is not to cast blame but to simply point out a problem that could have ended with a life lost,  West said. I feel that we must, as a city, come up with a solution to try and prevent this from happening again.

According to the report, the family was able to fix their door.

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As more Floridians face evictions from mobile home parks, Kerrie Bacci is demonstrating how to stand your ground  even if that ground is owned by a huge property management company.

Bacci owns her mobile home in Shangri La Mobile Home Park in Largo, Florida. What she doesnt own is the land it sits on. She leases her lot from Chicago-based Equity LifeStyle Properties, which owns 200 such parks in the U.S.

When the property management company served Bacci with an eviction notice, she took the matter to court and won. Her attorney Michael Hildebrandt, who helped her win, says too many people in similar situations dont fight.

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Most people in these parks dont have the means or capabilities of defending these evictions properly, so they wind up giving up their homes, he says. They wind up moving out. They wind up selling their homes to get away from the problem.

Bacci shared her story  and the power of speaking up  with WFTS Tampa Bay.

Property managers backlash against resident

Bacci believes she was targeted after she complained to the property management company about the dumpsters near her property. She said the area wasnt being maintained.

I had to go out three to five times a week and wash it down," Bacci said.

She erected a sign in the dumpster area without managements approval. The property management company cited her for that. Then it cited her for other violations, including installing an intercom speaker and having planters and reflectors extending over the property line onto the sidewalk.

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Read more: This is how American car dealers use the '4-square method to make big profits off you  and how you can ensure you pay a fair price for all your vehicle costs

The property manager also issued a violation citing her for disturbing the peaceful enjoyment of the community.

They want everyone under their thumb, in check, doing what they say, Bacci commented.

Bacci had an altercation with the local property manager who arrived at her home and started measuring her lot without her consent.

The Florida Residential Landlord-Tenant Act states that a landlord needs to give reasonable notice (typically 24 hours) before entering a rental property.

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Bacci captured the confrontation on camera as a police officer arrived. Bacci told both the property manager and officer to leave  and they did.

No one should have to go through that," she said of the confrontation. I was in my own home.

The next thing she knew, Equity LifeStyle Properties served her with an eviction notice.

Judge rules against eviction

Lawyer Michael Hildebrandt represented Bacci at an eviction hearing and the judge ruled in her favor.

When asked about the eviction complaint and ruling, Equity LifeStyle Properties issued a statement that read: the judge in the hearing ruled in Ms. Baccis favor because management stopped issuing additional rule violations once a 30-day notice to vacate was posted.

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It also said the company hoped Bacci would continue to follow community rules and regulations so that further legal proceedings can be avoided.

As WFTS reported, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation has investigated Baccis complaint about Equity LifeStyle Properties and forwarded it to the Office of the General Counsel for review.

Hildebrandt said other people who live in Equity LifeStyle Properties mobile parks have reached out to him.

Ive been contacted by people as far as the east coast of Florida that are dealing with the company that owns these parks, he said.

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Tenants need to know their rights around evictions, whether they lease land in a mobile home park or an apartment.

Protect yourself from unlawful evictions

Look up your states landlord-tenant laws. As Jacksonville Legal Aid reveals, Florida has specific laws that apply to the eviction of residents in mobile home parks.

In Florida for instance, a landlord can send an eviction notice if a tenant didn't make any attempts to correct an issue within seven days after being asked to do so.

You can protect yourself by making sure you keep the home or lot you lease in good condition and that you do not unreasonably disturb other tenants.

A tenant may have a right to withhold rent if the landlord has engaged in unlawful behavior.

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If you receive an unfair eviction notice, you may need to provide documentation indicating how theyve violated their end of the rental agreement.

Since rules around evictions and tenant rights can be complex, its wise to do as Bacci did, and seek the advice of a reputable attorney.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
May 24GRAND FORKS  A group of parents are asking Grand Forks Public Schools to reconsider after they say district officials told Indigenous students they would not be allowed to wear traditional beadwork on their graduation caps.

District policy does not allow adornment of graduation caps, but since 2015, the district has given an accommodation that allows American Indian students to wear eagle feathers for their graduation ceremony. Although beadwork is not specifically allowed, in past years, students have worn it without issue, according to Courtney Davis, a parent in the district and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band.

Davis said the district's request left her confused.

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"It felt like they're finally getting to a place where it was being understood and celebrated," said Davis, also a former Native American liaison for the district. "But now we've got to go back and suppress the students' ability to express their identity and their culture."

The district's Native American Parent Committee plans to meet Tuesday to discuss the issue with district officials.

Melissa Bakke, a spokesperson for the district, confirmed to the Grand Forks Herald that the graduates are expected to dress "in an appropriate manner," requiring cap, gown, tassel and shoes, and that "no other personal additions shall be allowed other than school-issued stoles of honor without prior permission of the administration."

"At Grand Forks Public Schools, we value all students, including the meaningful traditions of our Indigenous communities," Bakke said in a statement. "With that in mind, we are actively exploring how Grand Forks Public Schools can continue to honor and celebrate all students in meaningful and respectful ways. ... As we review our practices, including those related to graduation ceremonies, our focus is on maintaining the dignity and formality of the event while ensuring it reflects the values of our GFPS school community."

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North Dakota Century Code says school districts may not establish a dress code that prohibits students from wearing traditional tribal regalia at graduation, and specifies that for the purposes of the law, regalia refers to an eagle feather or eagle plume.

The law is written to give districts local control, said Davis, who successfully pushed for the eagle feather accommodation in Grand Forks as a district employee more than 10 years ago. The state law followed in 2019.

Davis said she hasn't yet had a conversation with district officials about the issue, so she can't guess what the reason is for their decision on beadwork. In the past, those against allowing graduation cap decorations argued they could isolate or exclude some students, or could become disruptive.

Davis and others in favor argue that graduation rates for American Indian students in the district and state are low, and allowing graduates to wear traditional adornment is an important way to instill a sense of pride.

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The district does offer an alternative graduation to celebrate the achievements of Indigenous students, Davis noted.

Davis and other parents have been encouraging people in the district to write letters of support to district officials ahead of the Tuesday meeting. She has also been in touch with the Native American Rights Fund, which helped her change the district policy in 2015.

She's hopeful for a positive conversation on Tuesday with district officials.

"I just want to make sure that people are conveying why it's important and significant, in a good way," she said.
Brooklyn residents are urging the city to pump the breaks on a new electric vehicle charging station set to be built across from an elementary school, insisting possible health risks arent worth the purported green benefits, The Post has learned.

Plans for an EVgo charging station on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street in Bay Ridge are cruising along thanks to new City of Yes zoning updates that make it easier to build green energy technology and bypass community board input.

EVgo submitted plans to raze the former KFC located at the site, though construction permits had not been filed yet, Crains New York reported last week.

Parents fear increased traffic and fires resulting from the new electric vehicle charging station. J.C. Rice

Parents worry the charging station would bring more traffic to already dangerous roads around PS/IS 104, expose kids to potential radiation and bring the risk of fires that are more intense and difficult to extinguish.

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This is not something that should be built across from a school with over 1,000 children, John Ricottone, a parent and first vice president president of the Community Education Council for District 20, told The Post.

The ev charging facility was approved without input from the local community board thanks to new zoning rules. banphote  stock.adobe.com

Ricottone is leading the charge calling for further safety evaluations of the site.

Placing EV stations in such a high-traffic, accident-prone areadirectly adjacent to an elementary schoolis both reckless and dangerous, he contended in a letter to the community, school staffers and city officials.

There have been several hit-and-run accidents and pedestrians hit by cars in the area in recent years, Ricottone said.

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The safety of our children and the wellbeing of our community must take precedence over infrastructure that canand shouldbe located in a safer, more appropriate location, he wrote in the letter.

The lot was purchased by the Los Angeles-based EV charging company in 2022 for $5.3 million, according to reports.

EVgo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
People gathered for a Rally held by the Party for Socialism and Liberation to NATO protest in Dayton on Sunday May 25, 2025.
Joshua Chamberlain was naturally distraught after learning that his father, 61-year-old Harold Chamberlain Jr., suffered a fatal gunshot wound during a Feb. 28 altercation in the southern Stafford neighborhood where he lived.

The sons grief was exacerbated when it was recently announced that the man who shot Chamberlain in the chest, 43-year-old FBI agent Benjamin Spinale, would face only misdemeanor charges for his role in the incident. And none of the four brandishing charges Spinale was recently indicted on involve the deceased Chamberlain.

(Spinale) started, escalated and ended the altercation that resulted in his fathers death, Chamberlain said Friday while sitting with his wife, Toni, outside a Fredericksburg Starbucks. Yet he has literally no charges attached to the killing of my dad.

According to police reports and information relayed to the Chamberlain family, the Feb. 28 incident began when 21-year-old Nicholas Vazquez was riding around the Stratford Place subdivision on a dirt bike. Chamberlain said he was told by witnesses that Vazquez may have been doing wheelies but wasnt doing anything destructive.

At some point, the off-duty agent confronted Vazquez and allegedly pulled a gun on him. Vazquez rode away into a cul-de-sac and had the gun pointed at him again after turning around and passing Spinale.

The agent called 911, while the dirt bike rider went and retrieved his brother and his father. Meanwhile, an off-duty Sheriffs Office employee arrived and intercepted the Vazquez family before two on-duty deputies arrived.

The sequence of events is unclear, but things grew heated at some point. Chamberlain said it is his understanding that two deputies were trying to control 22-year-old Angel Vazquez while the two off-duty officers were engaged with his brother. Chamberlain said that video clearly showed that the father, 46-year-old Xavier Vazquez, was acting as a peacemaker.

Harold Chamberlain had just finished smoking a cigarette in his nearby garage when he headed into the street to assist the police. Thats apparently when Spinale fired the fatal shot that ended his life. Police described Chamberlains efforts as heroic.

The younger Chamberlain said videos he saw showed that the time between the arrival of the on-duty deputies and the ambulance that took his father to the hospital was only 11 minutes. He said he has hired a private investigator and a lawyer in hopes of gathering evidence that would lead to enhanced charges.

Obviously Im closely attached to the situation, he said. But even if I wasnt, the facts that are here call for much more serious charges.

Chamberlain said Stafford Commonwealths Attorney Eric Olsen told him that he decided not to file charges against Spinale in connection with the shooting because he didnt believe he could get a conviction because Spinale entered the melee as a law-enforcement officer.

Olsen Saturday said he could not discuss the case because a trial is pending. But he did refer to a written statement in which he said a review of state law regarding justifiable and excusable homicide leads me to the conclusion that a homicide prosecution for the shooting of Mr. Chamberlain is not appropriate.

Olsen added that the decision in no way diminishes the depth of this tragedy to the family of Mr. Chamberlain, to his neighbors, friends and loved ones, and to this community as a whole.

Attempts to reach Spinales attorney, John Spencer, were unsuccessful.

The other two brandishing charges against Spinale, who is currently on administrative leave, stem from alleged incidents in the neighborhood that occurred on Oct. 11 of last year and Feb. 10 of this year. Those allegations came to light during the Sheriffs Offices investigation into the Chamberlain shooting and were not reported earlier.

Joshua Chamberlain said that if those two incidents had come to light earlier, my dad would still be alive.

Harold Chamberlain, known as Jason, previously worked as a shop manager at Hamilton Iron Works in Woodbridge. He also previously served in the Army, the National Guard and worked as a steelworker. He also was a truck driver for more than 20 years.

Friends and family say he was extremely personable and said he was always willing to lend a helping hand. Among his favorite things were his beloved corgis.

Among his survivors are his son, his daughter, Jennifer Lynne, his wife, Wanda, his mother, Betty Ann Chamberlain, a stepdaughter and five grandchildren.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Passengers reported a smooth travel day on Saturday at Nashville International Airport during Memorial Day weekend.

Ive pretty much been relaxing, waiting for my flight to check my bag, Isaiah Bain, traveling from the Bahamas, told News 2.

RELATED: Memorial Day travel expected to break 20-year record

According to data from the American Automobile Association, roads may be a bit busier than the skies this year. In fact, 87% of Memorial Day travelers are reportedly choosing to take road trips rather than fly to their destination.

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Its been pretty good, you know, just like a normal day, said Summer Jackson, who is flying from Nashville to Florida.

However, airports are still expecting a 2% increase in travel this year for Memorial Day weekend compared to last year, with a projected 3.61 million air travelers expected.

Summer travel may actually be cheaper to certain destinations, expert says

This is actually my tenth time in Nashville, David Cancio told News 2. Its pretty awesome to be back here, especially for Memorial Day weekend.

This years travel numbers are expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels by about 12% percent. In Tennessee specifically, AAA predicts nearly 948,000 people will travel this weekend.

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AAAs review of Memorial Day travel bookings reportedly found that Orlando, Florida, is the top domestic destination for American travelers, while Rome, Italy, is the top international target.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
PeaceHealth nurses voted to approve their contract with the Bellingham hospital Friday after about four months of bargaining, stalled negotiations and collective concern over wages and health care benefits.

Our new contract includes important wins  wins that only came because nurses took action, the union bargaining team said in a news release about the vote. From historic raises and the elimination of ghost steps to guaranteed pharmacy access and stronger protections for hospice nurses, the new language in this agreement moves us forward. Its not perfect. No contract is. Thats why were not going to stop pushing for more.

The Washington State Nurses Association represents about 1,100 registered nurses at PeaceHealth. The new contract, including wage and differential raises, will go into full effect on June 1, according to the nurses union.

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We are proud of what we accomplished together, and we are already preparing for the next phase: enforcement, implementation, and continued organizing. Our solidarity doesnt end with this vote  it will grow with every shift we work, every grievance we file, every committee meeting we pack with observers, and every new nurse we bring into our movement, the union bargaining team said.

PeaceHealth nurses held an informational picket outside of St. Joseph Medical Center amid stalled contract negotiations on April 29.

Ahead of this contract approval, PeaceHealth nurses made themselves known at several recent Bellingham City Council and Whatcom County Council meetings, wearing blue in solidarity and speaking publicly about their concerns with the biggest employer in Whatcom County.

The Bellingham City Council followed those meetings with a letter to the nurses union, the Washington State Nurses Association, saying they understand that a high-quality health care workforce cannot be sustained without competitive compensation and benefits, improved employee retention, and adequate staffing.

The council sent a separate letter to PeaceHealth saying they were invested in the hospitals success in agreeing to fair and equitable settlements and addressing the impact of the rising cost of living on your employees.

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Hundreds of nurses also held an informational picket in front of St. Joseph Medical Center in April, doubling down on the nurses biggest concerns related to health benefits, wages and what they were calling a lack of respect from management.

The contract ratification comes about two weeks after two other PeaceHealth union-represented employee groups walked off the job to strike amid their own stalled contract negotiations with the hospital. Contract negotiations for those employees remain ongoing.
A pedestrian was struck by a car in the area of Interstate-95 South in Milford Saturday night, according to Connecticut State Police.

Connecticut State Police Troop G responded to the area of Exit 38 shortly after 10 p.m. on the call for a car versus pedestrian accident. The pedestrian sustained serious, but not life-threatening, injuries, according to state police.

State police said early information points to the pedestrian trying to cross I-95 on foot. Interstate-95 South was shut down for about two hours for the investigation before being reopened around midnight.
BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)  A Pennsylvania state park is closed Saturday as authorities are seeking a missing park ranger.

Tyler State Park in Newtown Township, Bucks County closed Friday and remained closed Saturday evening. The park is about 22 miles northeast of center city Philadelphia and 36 miles southeast of the Lehigh Valley.

According to State Police at Dublin, a boater  identified as a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) park ranger  was reported missing around midday Friday in the Neshaminy Creek.

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The ranger  a 38-year-old man from Delaware County  was in a kayak when his boat capsized.

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Crews from across Bucks County and beyond, including State Police aviation and maritime units and the Bucks County Special Operations Dive Team are assisting in the search.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Scrubbing history

Air Force Deletes Pages on First Female Thunderbirds Pilot Amid DEI Purge, (sacbee.com, April 16)

My uncle, Private First Class Dean Hunt, was killed in action in World War II on Iwo Jima. He joined the Marines at 18 and died eight months later.

The Pentagon has dishonored my uncles sacrifice by scrubbing from their website two pages profiling another Marine who fought on Iwo Jima, Ira Hayes, one of the six Marines shown raising the American flag in an iconic photograph.

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The profiles of Hayes, a Pima Indian, were removed to comply with President Donald Trumps order abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said, anybody that says in the Department of Defense that diversity is our strength is frankly incorrect. Following an outcry, one webpage was restored, but many references to Hayes ethnicity were removed.

My uncle fought for freedom and equality, values that the current administration is systematically undermining. I hope that the arc of the moral universe will once again bend toward justice.

P. Alan Thiesen

Roseville

Wage hikes as city goes broke

Sacramento mayor, council salary increases amid budget talk, (sacbee.com, May 14)

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Sacramento has projected a $44 million deficit for the coming fiscal year and is contemplating cuts in services and raising fees, some of which have already occurred. Yet, in an effort to be reasonable and consistent with comparable cities, the citys Compensation Commission unanimously voted to award raises to the mayor of 12% and 8% to the city council.

What is a reasonable pay raise to leaders of a city drowning in debt? Many on the current council made  or agreed with  decisions which caused the current deficit, which is projected to be worse next year. Now, as they contemplate layoffs and diminishing services to the community they serve, is it reasonable to award them such generous wage hikes?

Was nothing learned from the city manager pay debacle? What rules should be applied as the city goes bankrupt?

Bill Motmans

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Sacramento

Protect scientific research

Public health in California shaken by federal funding cuts, (sacbee.com, April 9)

As a clinician scientist dedicated to understanding the roots of dementia, Ive long believed that science, integrity and compassion must guide our work. Recently, these values were put to the test.

After years of progress under grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes, research focused on identifying vascular contributions to cognitive decline  our work was disrupted and nearly completely derailed by cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services. It was a painful reminder of how easily vital work can be threatened by bureaucracy.

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But we persisted, not just for ourselves, but for the millions of families impacted by dementia. Research must be protected, because behind every data point is a human story, and behind every story is hope.

Charles DeCarli, M.D.

Co-director, Alzheimers Disease Research Center of UC Davis

Return of wolves

In rural California, gray wolves are a growing threat demanding attention | Opinion, (sacbee.com, May 17)

I grew up around wolves. Ive seen dozens of wolves over the past decade when I have visited Yellowstone. As a child, growing up in the Greater Yellowstone in Montana, my safety was never in danger or threatened by a wolf.

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As a wildlife major, its been exciting to see wolves come back to California. But recent headlines about emergency declarations have been alarming.

We must listen, understand and work together to keep ourselves and our wolf population safe.

John Marchwick

Eureka

Medi-Cal coverage for weight loss drugs

Prison closure, Ozempic limit, cap-and-what? 5 takeaways from Gavin Newsoms budget, (sacbee.com, May 16)

It would be a mistake for Gov. Gavin Newsom to restrict Medi-Cal coverage of weight loss drugs, like Zepbound and Wegovy.

Medi-Cal will continue GLP-1 coverage for diabetics, meaning California wont offer overweight Medi-Cal patients access to GLP-1 drugs to help them avoid becoming diabetic, but it will pay for these treatments once they put on so much weight that they develop the disease. This is illogical.

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GLP-1 drugs will save Medi-Cal money.

Hank Naughton

Clinton, Mass.

Bill undermines housing goals

Rooftop solar subsidies raise electricity costs in California, (sacbee.com, May 16)

California has long established rooftop solar as a cornerstone of its energy and climate goals. Rooftop solar is a key tool in providing affordable housing for all, allowing middle class families to maintain control over their energy bills.

Assembly Bill 942, however, threatens to inject chaos into the housing market. Under the bill, new homeowners purchasing properties with existing solar installations would have their contracts retroactively changed to the less favorable Net Energy Metering 3.0. This would diminish the value of homes with solar panels to buyers and create unnecessary friction in the home sale.

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For homebuilders, this is particularly problematic: AB 942 will create new housing market risks, exacerbating housing costs. While AB 942 claims to address energy affordability, it will have the opposite effect.

California should be doing everything we can to help homebuyers enter into affordable and energy-resilient homes. AB 942 undermines that goal.

Chris Ochoa

Senior counsel, California Building Industry Association
PEORIA HEIGHTS, Ill. (WMBD)  In a rare Saturday morning meeting, the Peoria Heights Trustees decided not to renew the fire chiefs contract.

In a vote of 5-1 the trustees decided not to retain Peoria Heights Fire Chief Dan Decker who had served as chief since November 2023.

The meeting started off with a letter from Decker, which was read at the meeting in which the chief expressed his shock at the meeting.

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The letter stated how Decker had generally gotten an email on the trustees meetings when the agendas were posted, however, he had not found out about the meeting until May 23, the morning before the meeting.

The letter state how he found this alarming since the purpose of this meeting is to discuss his contract in which if he was not getting a extension would confuse him as he had never received any complaints or poor evaluations regarding his work.

He stated some of the positive things he felt he had helped contribute to the department, especially in the last 18 months he was chief.

We have increased membership received an SCBA grant for $200,000 received a grant for the Plymovent system with the village board approval we have worked to make a police and fire comission and establish the first full time firefighter list. he said.

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The meeting also allowed for public comment, which saw a few former chiefs and current firefighters, including former Chief Greg Walters, who is the current chairman of the Police and Fire Commission, who said the trustees are making a misinformed decision.

It appears from what I have been able to gather you are basing your decision on Chief Deckers fate on the words of a few malcontented or politically motivated individuals who appear to have an axe to grind.

Thats not a cause for his removal. I know this man as you do not. Ive worked with this man; he has done an exemplary job in the short time he has been with us and deserves to be retained, he said.

Also speaking at public commment was John Harris a engineer who is an emergency medical technician with the fire department and has worked there for the last three-and-a-half years and he said how he felt the politicians had lied to them.

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When candidates were being elected, we, as firefighters, had some candidates stop in and talk to us, he said. Each one said they were going to support us and that they were going to do what was best for us. And I remember distinctly one of our firefighters said, We will see how true that is. Todays the day to see how true that is.

Trustee Nathan Steinwedel said while he is friends with many of the people in attendence and has grown up with them he has major concerns with many things including money spent under Decker.

We need a leader who is fiscally responsible with the budget we pass, $1.1 million of taxpayer money, your money, he said. When I review our current budget, I am deeply concerned with what I see. The funds allocated to training were even sufficient to cover the most basic medical certifications.

He did express, however, that Decker is a terrific human being who has touched a lot of lives in the community.

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Most trustees shared Steinwedels concerns of Decker with the exception of Jenniffer Reichert who supported Decker.

[Chief Decker] does bring Stability which is something over the course of the last few years we have missed and we have not had. Stability cannot bought be it cannot be brought in on a whim it has go be taught it has to be learned it has to be respoected, she said.

I just dont find even in the things we have discussed as a board anything we cant fix by working with him.

Decker was not in attendance, stating prior commitment and the short notice he received of the meeting.

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In March of 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot and critically wounded. Before being wheeled into surgery, Reagan, known for his good-natured quips, famously said to his doctors, Please tell me youre Republicans.'

Dr. Joseph Martin Giordano, the director of George Washington University Hospitals trauma unit, replied, Mr. President, right now, everybody is a Republican.

But Giordano was a registered Democrat, and he and his team saved Reagans life. Giordano was one of the best in his field, and throughout his presidency, Reagan never doubted the goodwill of most Americans of any party.

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But this spirit is under assault today. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in a recent tempest-in-a-teapot regarding three Republican attorneys general  Dave Yost of Ohio, Alan Wilson of South Carolina and Lynn Fitch of Mississippi  who are taking public flak for hiring law firms that predominately donate to Democrats for litigation related to the opioid crisis and other complex cases.

To be sure, there is a difference between life-saving medical treatment and patronizing law firms which are involved in the political process. But they share underlying issues in common.

The fiercest criticism comes from a group called the Alliance for Consumers, an organization which seems focused on electing Republican attorneys general.

O. H. Skinner, the groups executive director, deems the practice of hiring Democratic connected law firms unsophisticated, and his sentiments are echoed by Mississippi auditor Shad White, a Republican who sees the differences as generational, the old guard, who wants to keep the status quo, vs. the young turks who want to ruffle some feathers.

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But the conversation raises the question: ruffle feathers, for what purpose?

White and the Alliance for Consumers suggest that partisanship alone is the most important consideration that requires feathers be ruffled. Thats a downright dangerous point of view.

Yost, the Ohio AG, didnt mince words when it came to defending his record: A blanket refusal to use a qualified firm based solely on perceived political leanings wouldnt just be bad government, it would be bad legal strategy. We seek out firms and lawyers with the competency to win cases, not ones who check ideological boxes.

His position is the right one. Indeed, theres a certain irony about a group called the Alliance for Consumers arguing, in essence, that the amount of money won in a lawsuit involving the opioid crisis over $700 million in South Carolina alone  is less important than partisan loyalties. The entire point of such litigation is for the benefit of consumers who have been hurt by practices that federal courts deemed harmful.

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The past decade has seen extreme partisan swings, from Democrat to Republican and back again. Widespread disenchantment with both parties cannot rationally be said to be a result of too little partisanship. While it is always difficult to judge the complex positions of more than 150 million American voters, the more likely scenario is that a failure of our political leaders to accomplish much of anything lasting is at the core of voter dissatisfaction. Prioritizing donations to your favored political party cannot but lead to worse public policy over time.

Something much more fundamental is lost if we allow partisanship of this sort to take center stage. The rules of a free society are, by necessity, relatively fewer and less restrictive. And as such, a certain amount of good faith is required when we seek to operate in the best interests of the public. While it is unrealistic to assume partisanship will play no role, forcing party loyalty to center stage, at all times, destroys the trust required for a large, pluralistic society to function well.

The consequences are more than a simple loss of collegiality, as important as that is. Such behavior also leads to the belief that well be treated unfairly when the other side takes power.

The late Sen. Henry M. Scoop Jackson (D-WA), famous for treating his Republican colleagues fairly, once said, Although I am a Democrat, and will work hard for the Democratic victory in November, I respect my Republican friends and their views  and wish them well 364 days a year. On election day, its a little harder. Thats a much better vision as to how partisanship should work.

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Am I making too much out of a simple dispute over what law firms a few state attorneys general contract with? Thats certainly possible. In the wide range of things to be outraged about, this dispute is relatively minor.

But too many of the problems in our current political climate have occurred because too few people raise alarm when small things are doing violence to larger, more fundamental and important truths.

Back to Ronald Reagan: He famously, and repeatedly, asked then Speaker of the House Tip ONeill, a Democrat, if it was 6 p.m. yet.

He meant that, while they might be foes during the work day, they could be friends after work. In truth, ONeill didnt think a lot of Reagan, as he made clear in his memoirs, but the men still kept things collegial. Even if this principle is not always, or even usually, upheld, it should be something to aim for. If Republicans and Democrats dont view each other as Americans first, our nation, and both parties, will pay the price in the long term.
Years ago, as a young academic, I found myself seated in an antebellum inn in Oxford, Mississippi. A fire crackled quietly in the hearth, and across from me sat William F. Buckley Jr.  founder of National Review, author of God and Man at Yale, and one of the great minds of our time.

As we spoke at length about the decay of higher education, Buckley lamented that Yale had abandoned its soul. Theyve kept the Latin, he said with a wry smile, but theyve lost the light. He was, of course, speaking of Yales motto: Lux et Veritas  Light and Truth.

I would add this: Yales seal doesnt only include Latin. It also bears Hebrew scriptUrim and Thummim symbols drawn from biblical tradition, meaning lights and perfections.

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When a university abandons Lux et Veritas, it doesnt just lose tradition. It forfeits transcendence.

Buckley told me that universities were drifting not only from faith, but from intellectual seriousness, from moral purpose, from the courage to say some things are true and others are not. That night shaped me. It reminded me that ideas are not abstractions  they are anchors. And liberty requires more than license. It requires character.

This is one reason that, earlier this year, I sponsored a bill that seeks to restore civic education to our universities. This was not a nostalgic gesture, but a necessary course correction.

Why? Because I spent years in the classroom, and Ive seen whats been lost. Students arrive equipped with slogans, not substance; credentials, but not conviction. They can quote grievance, but not Lincoln. They can deconstruct, but they cannot defend.

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One critic asked me, Why fix something when you can reinvent a whole other concept?

Heres why: Because whats broken is not just policy  its purpose. And sometimes, reinvention is the most responsible form of repair.

My bill, SB334, doesnt dictate doctrine. It doesnt ban ideas. It revives balance, it renews foundations, and it reminds us all that our republic cannot endure if it forgets its roots.

And yet, for daring to suggest that students should engage with the Constitution, The Federalist Papers, and the great thinkers of our tradition  from Augustine to Du Bois  I have been accused of censorship, of cowardice, of control.

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When I wrote earlier this year that Americans are sick of the neo-Marxist, nihilistic narcissism of the hard left, it wasnt a rhetorical flourish. It was a cultural diagnosis  a warning drawn not from ideology, but from experience.

Neo-Marxism has infiltrated too many corners of the academy  not as one voice among many, but as a dominating lens through which all of history, literature, and society must be interpreted. It teaches that everything is about power  race, gender, class forever locked in a binary of oppressor and oppressed.

Nihilism soon follows, replacing wonder with suspicion, and turning the quest for truth into a campaign of endless deconstruction. If nothing is true, then everything is permissible  and everything is politicized.

Narcissism completes the triangle, elevating personal identity above shared reality, feelings above facts, grievance above gratitude. It replaces moral formation with moral performance and turns education into a pageant of self-righteousness.

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This is not education. This is theater, not thought.

True education derives from virtue, and from liberty rooted in reason. It prizes self-rule, not mob rule. It knows that happiness is found not in the hedonism of the moment, but in a life anchored to virtue, ordered liberty, and moral purpose.

Pleasure, said Epicurus, is rather sober reasoning banishing those beliefs that lead to the tumult of the soul.

Justice Anthony Kennedy reminded us that to the Founders, Happiness meant that feeling of self-worth and dignity you acquire by contributing to your community and to its civic life.

And then there is Alexis de Tocqueville, who saw far ahead into our very moment:

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Tyranny in democratic republics does not proceed in the same way, however. It ignores the body and goes straight for the soul You will remain among men, but you will forfeit your rights to humanity Go in peace, I will not take your life, but the life I leave you with is worse than death.

That is the tyranny that awaits when liberty is divorced from moral clarity, when freedom is severed from formation, when truth is replaced by technocracy and virtue by virtual applause.

Not long ago, I sat down with sculptor Sabin Howard, whose work on the National World War I Memorial has been called nothing short of a modern marvel. His bronzes dont just commemorate; they communicate. They teach. They remind us that art, at its best, does not flatter our vanities but elevates our virtues.

Howard and I spoke about something bigger than a statue something deeper than nostalgia. We spoke about the need for a renaissance not just of art, but of ideas. A revival of beauty, meaning and moral imagination. A return to excellence.

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He told me about his next great vision: The Grand Liberty Arch, a monumental sculpture installation coming to Salt Lake City  a tribute to freedom, courage, sacrifice, and the enduring American spirit. Not just metal and stone, but a declaration in form: Liberty still lives here.

It is up to all of us to ensure that this remains true.

John D. Johnson is a Utah state senator and professor emeritus at Utah State University. This essay was adapted from a speech he delivered at the 2025 commencement ceremonies for Mount Liberty College.
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin five years ago sparked outrage in the Twin Cities and around the world.

A widely circulated video, which drew nearly universal condemnation, showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyds neck for several minutes on the evening of May 25, 2020, even after the 47-year-old Black man lay motionless beneath him.

Protesters gathered the next day at the site of Floyds death near 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, before marching to the Third Precinct headquarters of the Minneapolis Police Department, where Chauvin worked.

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The demonstrations would continue nearly nonstop for several days across the Twin Cities, with thousands turning out to protest Floyds murder and police brutality writ large. Several local officials joined activists in calling for the officers involved in Floyds death to face criminal charges.

For four days, protests devolved into riots when night fell. Along Lake Street in Minneapolis and in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul, stores were looted and hundreds of buildings damaged  some destroyed  by fire.

Each morning, neighbors and business owners gathered to clean up debris and salvage what they could from the previous nights destruction. Among the structures gutted by flames was the Third Precinct itself, which was abandoned by police.

On May 29, Chauvin became the first of four officers charged in Floyds death. That same day, Minnesota National Guard soldiers were deployed on Twin Cities streets, but looting and arson continued.

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It wasnt until the following evening when an 8 p.m. curfew was implemented for much of the metro that the overnight rioting dropped off, while peaceful protests continued.

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POWAY, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI)  Striking photos surfaced Saturday evening showing an air tanker releasing a cloud of red fire retardant over the Springhurst Fire in Poway  a coordinated firefighting effort that successfully halted the blazes forward progress at 7 acres.

The brush fire broke out around 5:11 p.m. in the 12300 block of Springhurst Drive, prompting an immediate response from San Diego Fire-Rescue and other agencies. The flames quickly threatened homes in the area, leading authorities to issue an evacuation warning for residents between Springhurst Drive and Beeler Creek Trail.

City answers questions about Montgomery-Gibbs airport following plane crash

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Air support played a key role in stopping the fire. Aerial images captured the moment a firefighting aircraft swooped over the brush-covered hills, releasing a vibrant red line of retardant designed to slow the fires advance and protect nearby structures.

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By 6:52 p.m., officials announced the fires forward rate of spread had been stopped.

2 arrested at DUI checkpoint in North County

It ended up being about a 7-acre fire, but the crews worked really, really well together, said Capt. Jason Shanley, information officer with San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. Coordinated effort was great.

The evacuation warning was later lifted, allowing residents to return to their homes safely. Firefighters remained on scene into the evening to monitor hot spots and ensure containment lines were held.

No injuries or structural damage were reported.

Officials are reminding the public that with fire season ramping up, its important to remain prepared and follow evacuation guidance when issued.

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When Gillian Sirles came to the Remount Foundation nine years ago, she had survived multiple suicide attempts.

Sitting on a picnic table outside the horse stables at the Air Force Academy, Sirles recounts her story of survival.

Decades earlier, the Navy welder was discharged for alcohol use, an attempt to push down past trauma. In the years following, she struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism, eventually turning to sex work for money.

I lost my family, I lost my job, I lost everything because of it, and I ended up homeless, Sirles said, remembering how she would rummage through trash cans on South Nevada Avenue in search of food. I had wanted to give up a lot. I cut my wrist. I tried every type of suicide there could be, and just, it never took.

In 1993, Sirles was gang raped in Denver and left for dead in a dumpster, her throat cut three times. Airlifted to Aurora Regional Hospital after being found by a little girl, she was placed into a coma for two months. Doctors said she would never walk again. Watch me, she thought. Soon enough, she was walking and talking again.

But, after being released from the hospital, she returned to the streets.

I hadnt dealt with anything, she said. She eventually signed up to go to Pikes Peak Community College, though, which kept her busy. I was still doing drugs, drinking, but I was passing my classes, and after three years, I finally got a degree.

She got an apartment. Her relapses got further and further apart. The VA gave her 100% disability. But she was still struggling. So, she looked into therapeutic riding centers, interested in horses because her sister had one, she joked.

I went to three other therapeutic riding places, and they all said, We dont have a horse big enough for you, Sirles said. So, in a last-ditch effort, she called the Remount Foundation, asking if it had a horse that could accommodate her.

She started laughing. She said, Be here at 9 oclock. The next morning I was here, I stopped at that stop sign and just started crying my eyes out, Sirles said, pointing to the stop sign behind the stables. That was the first sense of relief that Ive had in so long.

That day, she was assigned to Mackenzie, a towering brown mare standing at the fence directly across from us.

Almost a decade later, Sirles is a peer mentor with Remount, helping other veterans find healing with horse-assisted therapy. On Wednesday mornings like this one, the Remount Foundation hosts groups from the VA Center. Today, its survivors of sexual trauma. Next week, itll be a grief group.

The Remount Foundation is a Colorado Springs nonprofit that uses equine therapy to help veterans, active-duty personnel and military families. The organization rents out the Air Force Academy Equestrian Center for its weekly peer support group meetings, where veterans can socialize with each other and work with the dozens of horses at the stables.

At the end, youll hear this: Im so glad I came, its been a rough week. You know, Im much calmer. I was afraid to be here, and it was just great to be with others, said Jeanne Springer, co-founder and program director of the Remount Foundation.

Springer founded the nonprofit in 2009 alongside Billy Jack Barrett, a Vietnam-era Army veteran. The two had worked together at the Academy Equestrian Center prior to creating the organization, inspired by the impact they saw among service members who worked with the horses.

Since its start, the program has worked with 16,000 veterans  and is on track to serve 4,000 more this year. Remount helps service members and their families who have experienced physical or emotional trauma, including PTSD, and children with special needs.

The services are free to use, with the organization relying on grants, donations and the passion of volunteers to keep running.

Roughly half of the veterans who join the program enter with suicidal ideations, Springer said. For many, like Sirles, this is a lifesaving treatment.

At each meeting, theres a VA counselor present. The counselors help participants navigate their emotions as they work with four-legged friends.

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For some, like board of directors member Scott Sweedler, that peer-to-peer connection is key.

An Army veteran, Sweedler suffered a traumatic brain injury that resulted in neurological complications and seizures. After surgery in 2019, Sweedler and his wife, whos his full-time caregiver, moved to the Springs.

It was Sweedlers wife who first learned about Remount through the VA Center. The pair used to ride at the Air Force Academy when stationed here earlier in his career, so they were familiar with the stables. So, upon the insistence of his wife, Sweedler stopped by.

I really didnt want to participate, because I was self-isolating, Sweedler remembered. He felt self-conscious about his abilities. I really didnt want to be physically in front of other people. I didnt want them to see what I was going through.

As he ventured into the program for the first time, he started to feel more comfortable seeing other vets.

It brings a level of understanding and trust, he said. I realized, hey, were all just trying to get through what weve got in front of us, and that camaraderie and that ability to feel like (I) was in a familiar place with folks who understood my situation really made a big difference for me.

He also noticed that interacting with the horses impacted his health, from improving his emotional regulation to reducing his seizures.

The horses would almost seemingly pick me out, especially when I was having a seizure, and literally just bring their bodies up against mine. One would lift my hat off my head and nuzzle and lick the scar where I had brain surgery, he recalled.

For others, the horses provide a special comfort. One survivor, who asked not to be named, stopped by for the first time seven years ago.

Her youngest son had just died, and visiting as part of the veterans grief group, she wasnt sure what to expect. That was until she came face to face with Cinnamon, a light brown mare. As we talk, shes brushing out Cinnamons fluffy winter coat.

One day, she remembers coming in and not feeling up to anything. So, she sat down on the stone ledge out in the field. Cinnamon approached her and gently rested her head on the womans shoulders. That was exactly what she needed, the veteran said. For about two years now, shes been volunteering with the program as a peer mentor.

The horses are so kind and gentle. They can know when youre going through something, she said.

We can learn from animals. Theres so many of us who isolate from life experiences, but were really meant to be in a community, and they kind of teach you how to do that again.

As for Sirles, after working with Mackenzie for a year, she decided to take a walk through the geldings stables.

There, three stalls in, she found Frankie, a spotted horse with deep blue eyes.

Our eyes met, and he just filled my empty soul. I quit drinking, I quit drinking. I havent touched a drop or smoked any crack since, she said, proudly showing me a picture of him lying down. Hes the screensaver on her phone.

That was seven-and-a-half years ago. Since meeting Frankie, Sirles has come to the stables nearly every day to care for him and ride the thousand acres of trails.

I came in on 16 different medications. Now Im down to two, and ones my horse, Sirles, who eventually adopted Frankie, said. Life can be good again.
May 24The body of one of two men who were swept into the Susitna River when their side-by-side broke through the ice in early March during a work assignment was found this week, according to Alaska State Troopers.

The State Medical Examiner Office on Friday identified the body as 32-year-old Wasilla resident Skye Rench, troopers said in an online update.

A private pilot contacted troopers Thursday after finding the deceased individual near the mouth of the Susitna River, troopers said. The pilot initially noticed the body from the air and landed shortly afterward to look, troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel said in an email.

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A Department of Public Safety helicopter and a member of the Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team responded Thursday and recovered the body, troopers said.

Rench and 42-year-old Anchorage resident Sean Kendall were part of a five-man crew traveling from a remote job site to Point MacKenzie on March 6 when their six-seat Polaris Ranger utility vehicle broke through the ice at the confluence of Fish Creek and the Susitna River.

Rench and Kendall were swept under. The three others were able to walk back to a work camp.

Ice on the river complicated efforts by troopers, the nonprofit dive team and family as they searched for the men in the following days and weeks.

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Asked about any updates on the search for Kendall, McDaniel said Friday in an email that "additional search efforts are being evaluated.

"There were no other signs of additional items or areas to immediately search in the area that the body was recovered," McDaniel said.

The men were working for Palmer-based Alaska Directional LLC, related to a Matanuska Telecom Association project installing an underground fiber-optic cable to bring high-speed internet to Beluga and Tyonek, according to a state permit.

The incident spurred an investigation by the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health section and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

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Rench was born and raised in the Mat-Su and was a 2011 Colony High School graduate, according to an obituary posted as part of a GoFundMe for his family. Rench, with partner Kevin Niemi, also ran the Iron Dog snowmachine race for the first time earlier this year.

[Previously: Company involved in fatal Susitna River incident reported near miss a few weeks later]
A flight from Tokyo to Houston was forced to land in Seattle after a passenger tried to open an exit door mid-flight, local police said.

A passenger on All Nippon Airways Flight 114 tried to open the exit doors 10 hours into the flight, forcing the plane to land at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport just after 4 a.m. on Saturday, the Port of Seattle Police Department told NBC News.

Port of Seattle Police were called due to reports of a passenger who attempted to open exit doors during the flight, a department spokesperson told NBC News. The report stated that passengers and flight crew had restrained the individual.

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That passenger was having a medical crisis, police said. Theyve since been taken to the hospital.

The man accused of trying to open an exit door was having a medical crisis, police said (AFP via Getty Images)

While on the tarmac in Seattle, a second person was removed from the flight for unruly behavior, the police department told NBC News. While they didnt provide specifics, the police department said it was unrelated to the individual having a medical crisis, police said.

The flight continued to Houston without incident, landing just after noon local time, a spokesperson for All Nippon Airways told NBC News.

The safety of our passengers and crew are our top priority and we applaud the efforts of local law enforcement for their support, the spokesperson said.

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Ashley, a passenger on board the flight, told Fox 26 she sat near the man who tried to open the doors.

"He actually got up from his seat and crawled over the people next to him," she said of the man. "He got up in a hurry and thought he was sick."

Two other passengers helped restrain him, zip-tying him to his seat. The man sat behind her for about 90 minutes before they landed in Seattle.

"It was incredible," she said. "I do want to say thank you to those kind citizens who stood up and took control. I wouldn't know what to do."
ABINGDON, Va. (WJHL)  Plumb Alley Day, the biggest annual fundraiser for the Kiwanis Club of Abingdon, drew thousands of community members downtown Saturday.

The Kiwanis Club of Abingdon told News Channel 11 that money raised during the event directly supports childrens groups in the area. According to the club, this year marked the 43rd annual Plumb Alley Day, and around 5,000 people were expected to attend.

The festival featured food and more than 100 craft vendors, live music, a dance performance, childrens activities and a massive yard sale sponsored by the Kiwanis Club.

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Museum of Butler hosts 25th Anniversary Celebration

President of the Kiwanis Club of Abingdon Phil Dipietro said the money raised will be seen in the community, benefiting kids.

All that money goes back into the kids of Washington County [Va.], he said. We sponsor such things as the reading program thats put on by the Washington County Public Libraries. We help refresh areas that kids go to, regular playgrounds, sporting activities, members of certain schools that go on field trips. We like to sponsor those types of activities and so many more that go on every single year.

Dipietro said anyone who may want to assist in making local kids happy and healthy can join the Kiwanis Club of Abingdon.

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If theres anybody in the community that would like to become a member of the Kiwanis Club, were always welcoming new members. Visit our website and learn more about the Kiwanis Club of Abingdon, how you can become involved. Its a great opportunity to give back to the community and again, just support all activities around kids of Washington County, Virginia.

More information about Abingdons Kiwanis Club can be found at AbingdonKiwanis.org.

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Poland scrambled fighter jets and heightened its air defence readiness in response to a large-scale Russian missile attack on Ukraine on the night of 24-25 May.

Source: Polish Ministry of Defence

Quote: "Polish and allied aircraft have begun operating in our airspace due to an attack by the Russian Federation striking targets across Ukraine."

Details: Polish Operational Command activated all available forces, deploying additional fighter jets and placing air defence and radar systems on high alert as per standard procedures. It is continuously monitoring the situation, with forces ready for immediate response, the Ministry of Defence stated.

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Background: Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine on the night of 24-25 May, using drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. Explosions were reported in several regions.

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Four juveniles have been arrested in connection with a stolen vehicle out of Brighton, Boston police say.

The vehicle was originally reported stolen on Friday, May 23, around 7:12 PM in the area of 398 Cambridge Street.

Officers of the Wentworth Institute of Technology Police Department saw on surveillance camera that the vehicle was being driven around Ruggles Street at 5 AM on Saturday.

Shortly after, around 5:24 AM, officers were dispatched to the area of 60 Southern Avenue for a report of a person with a gun. Officers were told that four individuals attempted to rob a victim while displaying a firearm. The suspects fled the scene, and officers were able to broadcast a description of the fleeing vehicle.

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Then, an officer saw the vehicle driving on Warren Street towards Dudley Street, which prompted the officer to call for backup to stop the vehicle. Officers attempted to stop the car on Dudley Street, but refused to stop and drove around multiple police cruisers.

The vehicle then fled at a high rate of speed while also failing to stop at a red-light intersection on Malcolm X Boulevard. Officers lost sight of the vehicle and began patrolling the area of Tremont Street and Saint Alphonsus Street, when a supervisor was able to review security cameras and inform officers that the vehicle never left the area.

Officers were able to locate the vehicle around 6 AM in a public open garage underneath 75 Saint Alphonsus Street.

Numerous vape products were secured from the vehicle, and Newton police took custody of the vehicle.

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The four suspects were then seen walking in the area of 1600 Tremont Street, which resulted in a foot pursuit. The suspects were taken into custody in the area of Huntington Avenue and Tremont Street.

Officers searched the suspects, two 15-year-olds, a 16-year-old, and a 14-year-old, and found multiple stolen vape products and a spent shell casing from the 15-year-old. The stolen keys were found on the 16-year-old.

A firearm, a Palmetto Armory with one round in the chamber and eight rounds in a large capacity magazine, was recovered from the 14-year-old. The firearm was also equipped with a laser sight.

While being booked, the 14-year-old provided officers with a false name, which officers were able to determine the true name of the suspect which revealed he had an active warrant out of Juvenile Court for Firearm related Offenses.

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The 15-year-old Male was charged with Delinquent to wit; Carrying a Firearm Without a License, Delinquent to wit; Carrying a Loaded Firearm Without a License, Delinquent to wit; Unlawful Possession of a Large Capacity Firearm, Delinquent to wit; Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, and Delinquent to wit; Receiving Stolen Goods.

A second 15-year-old Male was charged with Delinquent to wit; Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, and Delinquent to wit; Receiving Stolen Goods.

The 14-year-old Male was charged with Delinquent to wit; Receiving Stolen Goods, and Delinquent to wit; True Name Violation.

The 16-year-old Male was charged with Two Counts of Delinquent to wit; Receiving Stolen goods.

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WATERBURY, Conn. (WTNH) Waterbury police are investigating a robbery involving Facebook Marketplace that took place on Saturday.

Police said the victim, an adult man, had arranged to meet an unknown person in the area of Southview Street around noon.

The unknown person displayed a firearm and stole the item.

News 8 Investigates: String of Facebook Marketplace robberies in Waterbury

No injuries were reported.

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This incident and others that have taken place recently in Waterbury are actively being investigated by the department.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Waterbury Police Department Detective Bureau at (203) 574-6941 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at (203) 755-1234.

Waterbury police urge the public to use designated safe exchange zones with video monitoring or security cameras like the WPD front lobby.

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PHENIX CITY, Ala. (WRBL)  The Phenix City Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred late Saturday evening.

Captain Skip Lassiter with the Phenix City Police Department says multiple people were shot in the incident that occurred at Meadowlane Park and taken to hospitals in the area.

This is an ongoing investigation.

WRBL will keep update this article as more information becomes available.



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EAST GREENWICH, R.I. (WPRI)  Multiple law enforcement agencies were at New England Institute of Technologys East Greenwich campus after a threat was made Sunday afternoon.

Police Chief Stephen Brown told 12 News an anonymous threat to one of the colleges dorms was made through social media.

Brown said they went through normal protocol, which includes evacuation and a search with K-9 units.

Alongside East Greenwich police, Rhode Island State Police, Providence police, Warwick police and multiple fire trucks were seen at the campus outside of Meltzer Hall. Students have since been allowed to go back inside.

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Logan Stoddard, one of the dorms residents, said he was in his room when the fire alarms went off, leading to an evacuation.

Im quite surprised, Stoddard said, adding the quick response from police makes him feel safe at the same time.

Another student, Mckenzie Johnson, said at first she thought it was just a drill.

Its a little surprising that people are still doing it as adults, Johnson added about the threat. Youre supposed to be an adult and not threaten other people, especially when theres other peoples lives at stake.

NEXT: 2 arrested accused of child neglect at casino

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Three people were hospitalized during a head-on collision on the south end of Elkhart County, near Syracuse, Friday morning.

According to Elkhart County deputies at 5:16 a.m., Nathaniel Goffinet, 47, of Lakeville, was traveling east on U.S. 6 approaching the intersection at C.R. 25 in a 2012 Dodge Ram.

According to police, Goffinets vehicle then traveled left of center, directly in front of a 2022 Nissan Sentra driven by Ruth Woodcox, 63, of Ligonier.

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The head-on crash resulted in Woodcoxs vehicle spinning off the northern edge of U.S. 6 into the guardrail before coming to a stop in the middle of the roadway. Goffinets vehicle continued east on U.S. 6 leaving the northern edge of the roadway before coming to a stop in a field.

Goffinet was transported to South Bend Memorial Hospital for a leg injury. Woodcox was transported to Elkhart General Hospital for chest and neck pain, and a passenger in her vehicle, Eric Woodcox, was also transported there for chest pain.

Goffinet was cited for driving without a seatbelt and left of center.

ARRESTS

 A 48-year-old woman was arrested and jailed by Elkhart County deputies at 1:45 a.m. Thursday after police were called to a vehicle in a ditch in the 20000 block of C.R. 50 in New Paris. The woman was taken to the Elkhart County Jail for outstanding warrants after being found in the vehicle.

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 A 34-year-old man was arrested and jailed by Elkhart County deputies at 10:57 a.m. Thursday on charges of resisting law enforcement, driving without a license, possession of marijuana and paraphernalia after he was stopped for traffic violations at Elkhart Road and Greene Road.

SEX CRIME

 A rape was reported to Elkhart County deputies at 8:03 a.m. Thursday.

 Elkhart County deputies received a report at 7 a.m. Wednesday of a sexual assault.

 Elkhart County deputies began an investigation into a sexual assault at 2:08 p.m. Thursday.

RESIDENTIAL ENTRY

A 22-year-old man reported to Elkhart County deputies at 10:02 a.m. Thursday that someone attempted to enter his home without permission in the 61000 block of C.R. 17 in Goshen.

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CRIMINAL MISCHIEF

 A 25-year-old woman reported to Goshen police at 12:07 a.m. Friday that her vehicles were damaged by someone she knew in the 61000 block of C.R. 17 in Goshen. Charges have been sent to the prosecutor for review.

 A 51-year-old man reported to Goshen police at 1:05 a.m. Friday that two vehicles at his home were vandalized in the 61000 block of C.R. 17 in Goshen.

 A 41-year-old man reported to Elkhart County deputies at 7:44 a.m. Thursday that someone he knew punched and broke two windows at his home in the 29000 block of Santa Cruz Drive in Elkhart. Charges are being forwarded to the Elkhart County Prosecuting Office.

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 A 22-year-old man reported to Elkhart County deputies that between 10 a.m. Wednesday and 10 p.m. Thursday someone damaged tires on his 2021 Ford Escape in the 22000 Pine Arbor Drive in Elkhart.

HOMELESS ASSIST

A person experiencing a mental health crisis encamped at Mullet Park, 550 S. Indiana Ave., reported a battery to Goshen police at 12:21 p.m. Thursday. The person declined medical assistance, but later accepted transport to a local crisis center. The person was offered shelter but declined.

THEFTS

 Great Clips, 2024 Lincolnway East, reported to Goshen police at 9:18 a.m. Thursday a theft from the building.

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 A 23-year-old woman reported to Goshen police at 12:09 p.m. Thursday someone breaking into her car at Brookside Manor.

 Elkhart County deputies at 4:27 a.m. Wednesday were called about a suspicious vehicle parked in the grass in the 70000 block of C.R. 11. The vehicle was found to have been stolen out of Elkhart. It was recovered and the owner was notified.

 A woman reported to Elkhart County deputies that on May 20 or 21 someone took the license plate from her vehicle in the 27000 block of C.R. 4 in Elkhart.

 Mid City Trailers, 51401 Ind. 19, Elkhart, reported to Elkhart County deputies that on May 15 two men came to the business and picked up a 2025 dump trailer using a fraudulent check issued by a fake business.

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 A 56-year-old woman reported to Elkhart County deputies at 12:30 p.m. Thursday that someone stole her silver 2014 Chevrolet Impala from the 25000 block of Medford Street in Elkhart.

 A 47-year-old man reported to Elkhart County deputies at 3 p.m. Thursday that his license plate was stolen from his RV in the 23000 block of C.R. 45 in Elkhart.

 Elkhart County deputies responded to a report of a found firearm in the 29000 block of C.R. 22 in Elkhart at 11:20 p.m. Thursday. The firearm was confirmed stolen from South Bend and placed into evidence.
I might be dead in nine months: Vets voice concerns over VA delays with Sen. Bennet at Fountain roundtable
Police are searching for the driver in connection with a deadly hit-and-run in Wellfleet that killed a 25-year-old man.

According to police, around 11:37 p.m., crews were dispatched to Ocean View Drive in the area of Long Pond Road for a report of a pedestrian lying in the roadway.

Upon arrival, the officer found a male lying in the roadway, who appeared to have been struck by a vehicle.

Officers and fire personnel performed life-saving measures, however, the individual was pronounced dead at the scene.

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The victim has been identified as a 25-year-old male from Florida.

His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The car involved was not present upon arrival and is believed to have fled the scene after the incident. Police believe the vehicle is a pickup truck or SUV with front-end damage.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Wellfleet Police Department at 508-349-3702

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Editors note: The California Highway Patrol reported that the owner of the Labradoodle has been identified and reunited with it.

(FOX40.COM)  The California Highway Patrol is asking for the publics help to find the owner of a Labradoodle that was rescued from a freeway Saturday morning.

 Video Above: How to report a public safety threat

CHP responded to a call about a dog running in and out of lanes on northbound I-5, just south of US-50 in Sacramento.

CHP is asking for help to find the owner of a Labradoodle that was found on I-5 on May 24, 2025./CHP

Man disappears amid attempt to walk from Northern California to the ocean

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Officers quickly initiated a traffic break to ensure everyones safety  including the dogs! CHP said on social media. Thanks to quick teamwork, we were able to safely rescue the pup and contact Animal Control.

The dog was transported to Front Street Animal Shelter, where they are now being cared for, according to CHP.

If you recognize this Labradoodle or know someone who may be missing their furry friend, please contact Front Street Animal Shelter, CHP said.

The shelter can be reached at 916-807-7387.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News.
Two people are facing life-threatening injuries after a shooting in Dorchester, Boston police say.

#BREAKING: Police found two shot with life-threatening injuries on Franklin Hill Ave. in Dorchester around 9:30 pm.



Homicide units are on scene.



No arrests reported. Both rushed to hospital. We just arrived to a large police presence  will have updates soon. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/sOmaCZIS4i  Daniel Coates (@danielcoates_25) May 25, 2025

The incident occurred on Saturday night around 9:46 PM, when officers were dispatched to the area of 38 Franklin Hill Avenue in Dorchester to reports of a person shot.

Upon arrival, police found two victims who were suffering from gunshot wounds.

The two victims were transported to local hospitals with life-threatening injuries.

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Homicide detectives were called to the scene, and no arrests have been made.

Franklin Hill Ave. is taped from American Legion Highway to Blue Hill Ave.



Police, ambulance responded to a building up over this the hill. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/nYznojuVKG  Daniel Coates (@danielcoates_25) May 25, 2025

The scene remains active as police investigate the incident.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Rafa Trzaskowski, the ruling partys presidential candidate and Mayor of Warsaw, has refused to sign a declaration containing a pledge to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.

Source: Polish Radio Zet, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The declaration was initiated by far-right and anti-Ukrainian politician Sawomir Mentzen.

Both Rafa Trzaskowski and Karol Nawrocki, who is supported by the opposition Law and Justice party (PiS), accepted Mentzens invitation to a conversation, during which he asked about their stance on the eight key points of his political programme.

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Trzaskowski and Nawrocki will face off in the second round of the presidential election on 1 June.

One of the points in Mentzens declaration includes a pledge that if the candidate becomes president, he will not sign the law ratifying Ukraines accession to NATO. Commenting on this fifth point of the declaration, Trzaskowski stated that he could not agree with Mentzen.

Quote from Trzaskowski: "If there are no security guarantees, Putin will rearm and move further. Poland must strive for Ukraine to be accepted into NATO."

Details: Mentzen immediately responded to Trzaskowskis statement.

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Quote from Mentzen: "If Putin can attack Poland despite it being a NATO member, then he can also attack Ukraine in NATO."

Details: Trzaskowski replied that he strongly disagreed.

Quote from Trzaskowski: "I know Putin very well and follow him closely. He understands only the language of force."

Details: Mentzen then claimed that "everyone knows Ukraine has unresolved borders".

Quote from Mentzen: "Moreover, even under Bidens presidency, the US did not agree to Ukraines accession to NATO. Why should Poland push for something impossible?"

Quote from Trzaskowski: "I did not say it would be an easy process. Poland must strive for Ukraine to be accepted into NATO. Only then will we be safe."

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Details: He noted that Ukraine could potentially join NATO in 10 to 15 years.

Meanwhile, Trzaskowski expressed opposition to sending Polish troops to Ukraine.

Background:

On 22 May, Karol Nawrocki, the opposition-backed presidential candidate in Poland, officially accepted the demands of Sawomir Mentzen, leader of the anti-Ukrainian Confederation party, including the pledge to block Ukraines NATO accession, in exchange for support in the second round.

During the televised Polish presidential debate on the evening of 23 May, Ukraine and Polands attitude towards it became one of the most contentious issues discussed.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
ROME (AP)  Pope Leo XIV declared himself a Roman on Sunday as he completed the final ceremonial steps cementing his role as the bishop of Rome.

The first American pope formally took possession of the St. John Lateran Basilica, which is Rome's cathedral and seat of the diocese, with an evening Mass attended by Roman priests and faithful.

He then took the popemobile for a visit to St. Mary Major, where he prayed before Pope Francis' tomb and an icon of the Virgin Mary beloved to many Roman faithful.

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In his homily, Leo said he wanted to listen to them in order to learn, understand and decide things together.

One of the many titles that Leo assumed when he was elected May 8 was bishop of Rome. Given his responsibilities running the 1.4-billion strong universal Catholic Church, popes delegate the day-to-day governance of running of the diocese of Roman to a vicar.

Sunday's ceremonies at the St. John Lateran and a stop at St. Mary Major basilicas follow Leos visit last week to the St. Paul Outside the Walls basilica. Together with St. Peters Basilica in the Vatican, the four papal basilicas are the most important basilicas in the West.

Rome's Mayor Roberto Gualtieri welcomed Leo first at the steps to City Hall, noting that his May 8 election fell during a Holy Year, an event occurring every 25 years to invite pilgrims to Rome. The city underwent two years of traffic-clogging public works projects to prepare and expects to welcome upward of 30 million people in 2025.

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Leo said he felt the serious but passionate responsibility to serve all Romans during the Holy Year and beyond.

Wearing his formal red papal cape and brocaded stole, Leo recalled the words he had uttered from the loggia of St. Peters Basilica on the night of his election. The Augustinian pope quoted St. Augustine in saying: With you I am Christian, and for you, bishop.

By special title, today I can say that for you and with you I am Roman! Leo said.

The former Robert Prevost succeeded Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope. Francis died April 21 and is buried at St. Mary Major, near the icon of the Madonna known as the Salus Populi Romani.

___

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.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Portland is one of several U.S. cities that gradually sinks each year, according to a recently-published study.

Scientific journal Nature uncovered the report, titled Land subsidence risk to infrastructure in US metropolises, earlier this month. After tracking space geodetic measurements in the countrys 28 biggest cities from 2015 to 2021, researchers found that 25 of them are sinking by at least a millimeter annually.

Burglar sentenced for stealing $44,000 in items from Tualatin storage unit

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Scientists determined that Portland  and other places including New York, Philadelphia and Chicago  lose between one and three millimeters of elevation per year, on average. The study also shows that more than 80% of the Rose City experiences subsidence.

According to researchers, this phenomenon is commonly seen as a hazard for coastal areas  but it can also increase flood risk, damage properties and hinder transportation in urban destinations.

Regional variability in the [vertical land motion] observed in cities along the western coast of the United States, such as Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, may be influenced by tectonic activities associated with the active plate margins and/or sediment compaction, the study reads.

While researchers noted that subsidence has some natural causes, they added that a majority of it is caused by human-driven activities like groundwater withdrawal. Within the Rose City, the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Lauren Gabel said sinking often stems from soil characteristics.

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Much of Portland is underlain by volcanic soils rich in clay, which shrink when wet and expand when dry, Coastal Field Geologist Gabel told KOIN 6. These fluctuations can be problematic when they occur under the foundations of buildings and other large concrete-based infrastructure such as bridges and fuel or water tanks. However, by far the biggest threat concerning ground movement in Portland is earthquakes.

Justice Department reaches deal to allow Boeing to avoid prosecution over 737 Max crashes

She noted that the city is at risk of an earthquake due to its proximity to the Cascadia Subduction Zone, in addition to the numerous crustal earthquake sources that move the ground. But Gabel said earthquake-induced changes arent as easy to predict as factors like soil compaction.

Nationwide, researchers estimated that around 34 million people are impacted by subsidence occurring in at least 20% of major urban areas. They noted that the gradual sinking also threatens the more than 29,000 buildings found within the risk areas.

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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 KOIN.com.
A power cut was reported in the southern French city of France on Sunday, one day after an outage disrupted the nearby Cannes Film Festival.

Almost 45,000 households in Nice were affected on Sunday morning due to a fire at a power station, with the coastal city's mayor, Christian Estrosi, blaming "malicious acts" in a post on X.

Electricity was quickly restored, Estrosi said. French media reported that the public prosecutor's office believes the offence was deliberate.

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It is unclear whether the outage is linked to the power cut which hit Cannes early on Saturday, leaving some 160,000 households without electricity.

Authorities have suggested the cut was likely due to criminal activity, with a fire reported at a power station and a pylon falling onto a high-voltage line.

Power was eventually restored on Saturday afternoon and the awards ceremony at the celebrated film festival went on as planned, although some screenings were interrupted during the day.
A power cut was reported in the southern French city of France on Sunday, one day after an outage disrupted the nearby Cannes Film Festival.

Almost 45,000 households in Nice were affected on Sunday morning due to a fire at a power station, with the coastal city's mayor, Christian Estrosi, blaming "malicious acts" in a post on X.

Electricity was quickly restored, Estrosi said. French media reported that the public prosecutor's office believes the offence was deliberate.

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It is unclear whether the outage is linked to the power cut which hit Cannes early on Saturday, leaving some 160,000 households without electricity.

Authorities have suggested the cut was likely due to criminal activity, with a fire reported at a power station and a pylon falling onto a high-voltage line.

Power was eventually restored on Saturday afternoon and the awards ceremony at the celebrated film festival went on as planned, although some screenings were interrupted during the day.

Two self-styled anarchist groups claimed responsibility for the fire near Cannes and damage to the electricity pylon in a letter published online.

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They said their intention was to disrupt the festival, and to cut the power to various businesses in the area and at the nearby airport.

The Draguignan public prosecutor's office announced that the letter was being investigated.
Crypto kidnappings have been on the rise around the globe thanks to the increasing value of the currency and the low-risk factor for the criminals, according to experts.

What weve seen in the last eight or nine months is a massive increase in the frequency and frankly the ruthlessness of these types of attacks, Adam Healy, a former US Marine and founder of the security firm Station70, told The Post.

It kind of coordinates with the price of bitcoin going up, he said. Then theres been some successful ransom payouts primarily in Canada and Europe, which have now gotten the attention of a broader criminal base, which sees this as effectively easy money.

As the costs of cryptocurrency has increased so have the number of abductions. NY Post

Healy, who advises companies how to stave off the attacks, said it makes sense that theyre increasing.

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If you actually think about it it makes total sense, Healy said. Its a lot easier  lower risk  and its a much bigger payout than, say, robbing a bank or robbing a convenience store. Youre not going to get in a gunfight while youre trying to leave the bank.

Cryptocurrencies have surged in value, with bitcoin up 54% in the last year, and is also much more difficult to track than dollars, he pointed out.

Adam Healy is currently the CEO at Station70, a cybersecurity company serving the digital asset industry and a principal at Executive Risk Services, an executive protection, training, and risk management firm serving the digital asset industry. Courtesy of Station70

The attacks, which have been increasing around the world, have been particularly prevalent in France recently.

In one an attempted abduction earlier this month, the daughter and grandson of a French cryptocurrency boss in Paris were almost kidnapped in broad daylight by four masked men who jumped out of a van.

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The men tried to pull the woman, who was with her husband and their 2-year-old son, into their van in the French capital.

Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau addresses a press conference after David Balland, co-founder of cryptoassets company Ledger, and his partner were kidnapped from their home and later released by the French Gendarmerie in Paris on January 23. AFP via Getty Images

Let go of me! the woman yelled as the attackers bludgeoned the husband.

A passerby armed with a fire extinguisher chased off the men by threatening to throw it at them.

Earlier this month, the father of a man who made a fortune in cryptocurrency was tortured and doused with gasoline after he was abducted in broad daylight from the street in Paris. His kidnappers cut off one of his fingers.

At security training in Las Vegas, five crypto executives learn how to remove bindings from their hands and protect themselves. Courtesy of Station70

Three masked men broke into the Houston home of online celebrity Amouranth, whose real name is Kaitlyn Siragusa, on March 2 demanding her millions in crypto. Amouranth

In the past, cryptocurrency investors primarily worried about hacking but have been using physical storage devices to make that nearly impossible.

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A lot of people are getting to the hide-your-gold-under-the-mattress level of security, Jameson Lopp, the co-founder of bitcoin security company Casa, told The Wall Street Journal recently. But if you are a high-profile personthats when you have to worry about the physical attack.

Healy, the security expert, teaches classes to small groups of investors about what they can do to protect themselves and what to do if they are, in fact, taken.

Crypto execs who attended a training course in Vegas learned how to prevent abduction and protect themselves if they are taken. Courtesy of Station70

One method is to have a plan in place to offer the abductors something else of value, he said.

I cant give you the $10 million, he tells his students to say. But I can give you $1 million that is liquid if you let me go.
"Home-rule" legal authority gives city governments in Colorado the power to make laws regarding matters of local concern. It differs from state control, where matters of city government are controlled by the governor and state legislature.

Under home rule, authority to act on matters of municipal (city) concern is derived from the Colorado Constitution. A municipality writes its own locally enacted charter and ordinances rather than using state statutes.

Cities that adopt a home rule charter are protected from the state interfering in what are strictly local matters.

In its essence, home rule allows local policies to be set by those most immediately impacted by them  city voters who elect a mayor and city council. Policies are not set by a governor and legislature meeting in what could be a faraway state Capitol.

Colorado voters adopted municipal home rule in the early 1900s. Since then, home rule has been clarified and protected. Colorado is one of 31 states with some form of home rule in the state constitution.

About 107 cities and towns in Colorado have adopted "home rule" for their communities.

Colorados home-rule provisions and protections against state government interference are among the strongest in the nation.

Before the adoption of Colorado's home-rule amendments to the state constitution in the early 1900s, the legislature and the city governments battled openly for control of the city governments. In one instance, this almost came to fighting with rifles on the streets of Denver.

Our book, "Colorado Politics and Government," tells the story:

In March of 1894, reform-minded Gov. Davis Waite inaugurated a campaign to reduce what he considered to be an excessive amount of drinking, gambling and prostitution in Denver. He began by firing two members of the Denver Fire and Police Board.

The two fired board members refused to give up their jobs. They locked themselves in their offices in the Denver City Hall, daring Governor Waite to remove them forcefully.

Soon the City Hall was surrounded by supporters of the two defiant board members. They were armed with pistols and rifles and appeared to be ready to fire at anyone who tried to get the two board members out of City Hall.

Not to be intimidated, Governor Waite ordered the state militia to move on City Hall and enforce his removal order. The troops dutifully marched into Denver and pointed Gatling guns and small cannon at Denver City Hall.

The situation was further complicated by large crowds of onlookers who came downtown to see what was going to happen. For an entire day, the two heavily armed groups stared warily at each other and waited.

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Under pressure from city leaders not to turn downtown Denver into a bloody battlefield, Governor Waite ordered the state troops to withdraw, ending Denvers City Hall War without a single shot being fired.

The Colorado Supreme Court took the case and ruled in favor of Governor Waites right to fire the two board members. The incident successfully defended the power of the state of Colorado to control local affairs in Denver.

Yet that power was soon denied with the passage of a series of constitutional amendments installing and strengthening home rule in Colorado.

Colorado voters overwhelmingly approved one of the home rule amendments, located in Article XX of the Colorado Constitution, by a landslide vote of 59,750 to 25,767.

Further amendments gave city governments the full right of self-government in local and municipal matters and all powers essential to exercise that right.

Colorado Springs, Denver, and Grand Junction were three cities that, in the early 1900s, quickly adopted home-rule charters and gained full governing responsibilities over city affairs.

Today, however, Gov. Jared Polis and a Democratic majority in the legislature are attempting to reverse 120 years of Colorado history by enacting seven new state laws that they want to take precedence over city laws and programs throughout Colorado.

These new laws involve many traditional city functions, such as eliminating required parking spaces in apartment projects; a requirement to have ADUs (accessory dwelling units) in single-family zoned neighborhoods; requirements that major transit streets in the cities be zoned for high density occupancy, etc.

The thrust of the seven new laws is to put the governor and legislature in charge of what formerly were considered local city zoning and land-use issues.

The governor is serious about this. He has threatened to cut off state funds and grants to those Colorado cities that do not comply fully with these seven new laws.

Polis' demands have produced the expected reaction. Six cities have filed lawsuits challenging the states right to pass the laws. They argue the new laws violate the rights of home-rule cities spelled out in the state constitution. This is a major politically charged case.

The six cities filing the suit are Arvada, Aurora, Glendale, Greenwood Village, Lafayette and Westminster.

Colorado Municipal League Executive Director Kevin Bommer criticizes what he considers this Polis overreach. Bommer said: "Colorado municipalities will not be bullied by an administration and legislature that gives lip service to local control but does not understand or respect the (state) constitution and local officials. He and others note that Polis had previously been an eloquent defender of local city control.

We are all in for a walk down home-rule memory lane. How this lawsuit from six Colorado cities will be decided is in doubt. For the first time in 120 years. a Colorado governor and legislature are seriously challenging home rule in cities in Colorado.
When Meridian resident Joel Camacho came out to his family at age 14, they werent the happiest people, he recalled.

Now, over two decades later, his mom will attend Boises first LatinX Pride, an event that Camacho is helping to plan and arrange.

Camacho, the lead organizer and head of fundraising, said he wants the inaugural LatinX Pride to be a space for families to heal. And although polls show the term LatinX is unpopular within the Latino community, he said the goal is simply to make all people feel included.

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I want to create a space for more older Latino generations to come and celebrate their gay uncles or gay sons or gay brothers or gay dads, Camacho said. Its hard for us to feel that our entire self is being celebrated because theres a piece thats missing, and that is our Latino heritage.

LatinX Pride is free to attend and will take place May 31 at Cecil D. Andrus Park across from the Idaho Capitol, on the eve of Pride Month. Anyone is welcome to come, whether they are LGBTQ+ or Latino, Camacho said.

Attendees will find a wealth of food, including empanadas, Caribbean dishes, tacos, quesadillas and more, Camacho said. The theme is La Diaspora, or the diaspora. Camacho said it recognizes that Latinos come from many different backgrounds, different countries, and different racial identities or religious affiliations.

Theres no one-size-fits-all, Camacho said. Theres no one face.

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Boise Mayor Lauren McLean will deliver the keynote speech.

Idahos LGBTQ+ community is at a crossroads, said Amanda Bladt, who is co-head of safety and volunteers for LatinX Pride. Idahos Republican legislators continue to introduce anti-LGBTQ+ bills, they said, such as a memorial asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn gay marriage. Bladt identifies as genderqueer.

Bladt said many LGBTQ+ Idahoans are trying to determine whether they should even stay in the Gem State.

We want to have these amazing and joyful experiences that really celebrate the history of our communities, Bladt said. LatinX Pride is about an intersection.

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Although June is Pride Month, the Boise Pride Festival has made a permanent move to September, so that students who might be out of town in the summer have a chance to attend while school is in session. In particular, organizers have said it helps the Boise State LGBTQ+ community.

Boise adds two official flags in latest jab at Legislatures new law

Boise-area sheriff criticizes a new Idaho law he says police cant enforce
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Credit: Andy Barr - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Kate Middleton seemingly receives a plethora of compliments from royal fans wherever she goes, and her husband, Prince William, apparently has some thoughts about that. During the couple's joint excursion to Scotland on May 22, Princess Katewho was wearing a nautical, Princess Diana-inspired outfitwas called "beautiful" by a well-wisher in the crowd, and the Prince of Wales decided to respond.

Kate and William both attended the official naming ceremony of the Royal Navy's new warship, HMS Glasgow, which took place at BAE Systems's shipyard in Scotstoun, Glasgow. At one point during the couple's visit, a royal fan shouted out to Kate Middleton, "You're beautiful," as heard on a video clip of the event shared on Instagram.

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The fan followed up the compliment with the words, "You too, William!" Understandably, other people in the crowd started laughing at the funny comment. However, they likely didn't expect the Prince of Wales to actually respond.

In Glasgow, a royal fan called Kate Middleton "beautiful." | Credit: Alamy

While walking away from the crowd, Prince William could be heard saying, "You don't have to say that. Don't worry." Clearly, the royal took the fan's comments in good humor.

Kate Middleton wore a nautical-inspired outfit in Scotland. | Credit: Getty Images

Aside from traveling to Scotland, Prince William's busy week included a surprise appearance at a London screening of a new wildlife and preservation series called Guardians. The series will focus on how the rangers that protect endangered animals have an incredibly perilous career, with the BBC reporting, "Around 1,400 rangers have died in the past decade."

Prince William told journalists at the event (via the BBC), "This is now one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet." He continued, "It shouldn't be. Protecting the natural world shouldn't be that dangerous."

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Elaborating on the importance of the new series, William explained, "Being a soldier, a police officer, the emergency servicesthese jobs are dangerous, people put their lives on the line. I don't think people realize it's the same for these guys and girls around the world."

As for why rangers have found themselves in such dangerous situations, William pointed to "community conflicts or civil wars, or illegal fishing, or poachingwhatever it might be is just spreading further and further across the globe."
A prison governor has been accused of attacking and attempting to strangle an inmate at a jail with one of the highest rates of violence in England and Wales.

Richard Dowdell, 49, who was lead governor at HMP Swaleside in Sheerness, Kent, at the time of incident, has been charged with two offences after allegedly attacking Ryan Fay in October last year.

Mr Dowdell has been charged with assault by beating and intentional strangulation.

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It is believed to be the first time in a decade that a governor has been charged with assault on a prisoner, and comes amid record levels of violence in jails, with overcrowding back at crisis levels.

Last week, Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, announced the early release of thousands of prisoners as little as a third of the way through their sentences in the biggest shake-up to sentencing for 30 years, as part of efforts to reduce the burden.

HMP Swaleside is a high-security category B mens jail housing long-term prisoners including killers, rapists and serious violent offenders.

Prison inspectorate reports suggest it has the highest rate of serious assaults against staff of any jail of its type and is struggling to stop an influx of drugs by flown in with drones by organised gangs. At one point, 56 per cent of prisoners were testing positive for drugs in random tests, according to inspectors.

Mr Dowdell denied the allegations against him when he appeared in the dock at Medway magistrates court earlier in May.

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Representatives for Mr Dowdell are understood to maintain that he used proportionate and legitimate force during the incident.

Mr Fay is understood to have been sanctioned under prison rules for assault.

Robert Brown, the deputy district judge, was told the attack took place on Oct 13, on a wing at the high security prison, as Mr Fay was being taken back to his cell. A row broke out between the pair, which led to a stand-off, the court was told.

The case was adjourned and passed up to Maidstone Crown Court to be heard at a later date. Mr Dowdell is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on June 9. He was granted bail until then.

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It comes as Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows the overall number of assaults on staff has hit record levels with 10,605 attacks last year, up 15 per cent from 2023 and equivalent to 29 a day.

At Swaleside, a report by inspectors in August last year found self harm and violence had increased since September 2023 with serious assaults, particularly on staff, continuing to be a cause for concern.

There were also suggestions in a 2023 inspection report of violent tensions between staff and prisoners.

More than a quarter (27 per cent) of prisoners surveyed said they had been assaulted by staff, although the inspectors said they had been unable to corroborate this unusually high figure.

Weapons amnesty

In 2019, the then governor of HMP Swaleside ordered an amnesty so prisoners could hand in homemade knives without being sanctioned as part of an attempt to prevent inmates attacking each other.

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Prof Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and previously an adviser to the Government on extremism in jails, said the incident was symptomatic of the pressures being placed on overcrowded prisons.

People doing an impossible job are pushed beyond their limits. Prison is inundated with drugs flown in by drones and this fuels very high levels of violence including serious assaults against staff, he said.

Some of these assaults are reportedly carried out on staff on detached duty who have been called in to prop up chronic shortages. They try to impose order and are targeted for doing so.

Concerns have been voiced about shortages of experienced officers after an exodus of staff over the past decade. Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, has warned that the training regime for new recruits is insufficient to prepare them for the challenges of the role.

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Earlier this month, Kerri Pegg, a 42-year-old former prison governor, was jailed for nine years after having an affair with a drug-dealing gangland boss at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire when she was in charge.

The MoJ said it could not comment about the alleged attack at HMP Swaleside while legal proceedings were underway.

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WATERTOWN, NEW YORK - Charles Ladalley, 79, attempts to pull his power wheelchair through the snow after it got stuck on his driveway on December 5, 2024 in Watertown, New York. Ladalley was injured while serving during the Vietnam War and uses the wheelchair as his main mode of transportation to town. This region in New York is experiencing the second snowstorm of the week and has been under a Winter Storm Warning for two days. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Private equity companies have gobbled up group homes and other services for people with disabilities, attracting the attention of state and federal regulators across the nation and alarming advocates.

People with intellectual or developmental disabilities have suffered abuse, neglect and even death while under the care of private equity-owned providers, according to a recent report from watchdog group Private Equity Stakeholder Project.

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Private equity firms are, more than many other types of investors, laser-focused on maximizing their cash flow, often trying to double or triple their investment over a relatively short period of time, usually just a handful of years, said Eileen OGrady, the reports author. The way that private equity firms will often do that is to cut costs.

For companies that provide essential services for people with disabilities, she said, those cuts can have really harmful impacts on peoples lives.

In late 2023, Florida moved to revoke the license of NeuroRestorative, one branch of the private equity-owned health services company Sevita, which provides services for people with disabilities. State regulators cited repeat violations by NeuroRestorative and a failure to protect the rights of its clients to be free from physical abuse. Ultimately the state opted not to revoke the license and fined the company $13,000 in a settlement.

But in recent years regulators have documented instances of patient harm at Sevitas affiliates in multiple other states, including Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts and Utah. In 2019, a U.S. Senate committee conducted a probe into the companys operations in Iowa and Oregon following multiple reports of patient abuse and neglect.

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Any entity that receives taxpayer dollars, but especially those charged with caring for our fellow Americans who may have an intellectual disability, ought to be doing everything under the sun to ensure quality care and continually improve, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said in a statement in 2020 following his investigation.

In a statement to Stateline, Sevita did not address the sanctions directly, but avowed its commitment to providing services and supports to give people greater independence, regardless of their intellectual or physical challenges.

Since 2019, when new ownership acquired the company, there has been significant capital investment to improve and expand our services, enhance facilities, implement robust training and new technologies, and strengthen our workforce  all with the goal of better serving our individuals and communities, the statement said.

The disability care industry has proven increasingly attractive to private equity.

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In recent years, a handful of large private equity-owned companies such as Sevita have snapped up hundreds of smaller providers of disability services  often community nonprofits, mom-and-pop businesses and religious organizations  and rolled them into larger corporations.

From 2013 to 2023, private equity firms acquired more than 1,000 disability and elder care providers, according to the report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. Thats likely an undercount because theyre generally not required to disclose acquisitions, the report said.

Cash cow

Private equity firms use pooled investments from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and wealthy individuals to buy a controlling stake in a company. They seek to maximize its value  often by cutting costs  and then sell it at a profit.

Most of Sevitas revenue comes from providing disability services. It operates companies in 40 states under various brands, including Mentor Network, NeuroRestorative and REM.

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Sevita is currently owned by private equity firms Centerbridge Partners and Vistria Group, which also own Help at Home, a home health company with more than 200 locations across about a dozen states.

Nearly all of Sevitas revenue comes from Medicaid, according to a February 2025 report from S&P Global.

Through Medicaid and Medicare, the government pays for most services for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The two programs cover services such as group homes, adult day programs, in-home care, and physical and occupational therapy.

Sevita has been owned by private equity firms for over a decade now, and has been under investigation and scrutiny at the federal and state level for basically that entire time, OGrady said.

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In 2022, Iowa fined a NeuroRestorative group home $10,500 after a resident was left unattended in a liquor store and drank three-quarters of a bottle of vodka. The same year, Massachusetts temporarily removed Sevitas license to operate group homes after regulators reported inadequate staff training and supervision, and a myriad of issues that were uncovered onsite, according to a Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services report.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has fined a NeuroRestorative facility in Utah four times since 2022. A February 2024 inspection report by the agency found the facility failed to prevent abuse, neglect  and exploitation of residents.

Last year, Florida fined another Sevita brand, Florida Mentor, for improper use of restraints. More issues have been documented in Sevita-owned locations in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire and Nevada.

Meanwhile, Sevitas owners, Centerbridge and Vistria, have collected nearly half a billion dollars since 2019 by loading Sevita and Help at Home with debt in order to pay dividends to investors, according to Moodys, a financial services company.

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Similar financial maneuvering contributed to the recent collapse of Steward Health Care, a private equity-owned hospital system that once had more than 30 hospitals nationwide. Steward has become a cautionary tale about the harm that profit-driven private equity firms can do to a states health system.

Before Steward Health Care ultimately collapsed, executives spent years hiding their financial information from state regulators, putting patients and our health care system at risk, Massachusetts Democratic House Speaker Ron Mariano said in a statement earlier this year announcing a new state law that beefs up reporting and financial requirements for private investors.

Thats why ensuring that our institutions are equipped to monitor the health care landscape, and to guard against trends and transactions that drive up costs without improving patient outcomes, is so important.

David vs. Goliath

After two residents of a New Jersey group home died from choking on food in 2017, attorney Cory Bernstein became interested in private equitys involvement in disability services. The residents had been living in homes operated by AdvoServ, a company then owned by the private equity firm Wellspring Capital Management. The state had cited AdvoServ more times than any other operator in New Jersey for abuse, neglect and unsafe conditions.

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AdvoServ later ceased operations in 2019 after multiple state agencies, including in New Jersey, Florida and Maryland, launched investigations.

But even when state regulators are doing all they can to protect people with disabilities from substandard care, theyre limited in how much they can hold a company accountable, Bernstein told Stateline.

Its state-level oversight on a national entity with not much [help] coming from the federal side, said Bernstein, who is now a staff attorney at the National Disability Rights Network, a membership organization of federally mandated state disability advocacy programs.

States just dont really have the resources or tools to do what needs to be done.

A regulatory agency in Georgia might shut down all the group homes owned by a certain company, for example, but those regulators cant do anything about the companys abuses in, say, Montana. With branches in multiple states, a company is better able to withstand sanctions or even a loss of license in one state, he said.

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[States] are not set up to go up against a national operator with billions of dollars in resources in a regulatory or oversight battle, Bernstein said.

Further complicating things for state regulators and for consumers is that a large services company such as Sevita might operate under multiple brand names, even in one state. It can be hard to parse out who owns a sanctioned business. Multiple brand names can also obscure a companys monopoly on a particular regional market.

When Florida regulators reached a settlement agreement with Sevitas NeuroRestorative last year, the state dismissed its proposed license revocation. OGrady believes one reason the state chose to settle is the difficulty of finding alternative facilities to relocate the residents who would have been displaced from the 13 locations the company operated around the state.

Because of that dearth of alternatives and the impotence of the state to act more fully, this company will continue to be allowed to operate, she said.

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Further complicating oversight: Large companies often operate various services that are overseen by different agencies. Group homes might be regulated under the states Medicaid program, while facilities that provide more intensive care might come under federal Medicare oversight.

There could be two completely different oversight systems for facilities serving the same population in the same state with the same name, Bernstein said.

State solutions

Some states have moved to address problems with private equity involvement in health care by passing tighter restrictions on mergers and acquisitions of health care companies.

In Rhode Island, where private equity companies mismanagement of health care providers threatened the future of local hospitals, a robust oversight law allowed the state attorney general to impose conditions to protect the hospitals finances.

More states are following suit. In 2023 alone, 24 states enacted laws related to health system consolidation and competition, while this year at least half a dozen have considered legislation to check private equity-fueled health care mergers.

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Todays national political climate has Republicans firmly in control of the federal government,

Democrats are still licking their wounds after the presidential election  trying to unify.

Republicans plan to maintain their stronghold with their own unity.

Host Jim Niedelman talks about that with former Rock Island County Republican Party Chair Bill Bloom and former Rock Island Mayor Mark Schwiebert.

Both parties have their own forms of purity tests. Right now the Democratic National Committee is considering the removal of DNC Vice Chair David Hogg. Hes a gun control activist and survivor of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

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Hogg stirred up the party with his plans to financially support primary challenges to incumbent House Democrats in safe seats, not competitive districts.

Political analysts criticize Democrats for trying to be all things to all aspects of the party. Any variance isnt tolerated.

Now Republicans also have their purity issues  specifically, President Trumps agenda. Any Republican who strays from Trumps mantra will likely get a primary challenge from another Republican who supports the president unconditionally.

Supporting the Trump agenda right now, particularly through 2026, is important to Republicans overall, said Bloom. I think almost all Republicans support the goal of making America great again.

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It strikes me as a little ironic to use the word purity in the same phrase as Donald Trump, since his purity would be about the same as patriotism to Benedict Arnold, said Schwiebert.

Hear what else our panelists have to say when you click on the video.

Local 4 News, your local election headquarters, is proud to present 4 The Record, a weekly news and public affairs program focused on the issues important to you. Its a program unlike any other here in the Quad Cities. Tune in each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as Jim Niedelman brings you up to speed on whats happening in the political arena, from Springfield, Des Moines, Washington, D.C. and right here at home.

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Vladimir Putins helicopter was forced to shoot down drones while he was aboard, a Moscow official said on Sunday.

The Russian presidents aircraft was involved in an air defence battle after an unprecedented Ukrainian drone assault, Maj Gen Yuri Dashkin, an air defence commander, told state television.

The incident was said to have happened last week when the Russian leader was on a tour of Kursk, part of which Ukraine previously occupied.

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During the period when the president was working in the Kursk region, the enemy launched an unprecedented attack with unmanned aerial vehicles, Maj Gen Dashkin said in an interview with Rossiya-24 television.

He added: We simultaneously conducted an air defence battle and ensured the safety of the presidential helicopters flight in the air.

Russian forces destroyed several Ukrainian drones during the operation, Maj Gen Dashkin claimed.

The task was accomplished, he said. The attack of the enemy drones was repelled, and all air targets were hit.

Vladimir Putin visited the Kursk-II nuclear power plant on Tuesday - Reuters

Ukraine has not responded to the claims. If verified, the timing of the drone attack would suggest Ukrainian forces had advance intelligence about Putins visit to the war zone.

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The Kremlin did not publicly disclose the trip until after Putin had left the region.

Wearing a smart suit, Putin met volunteers, municipal leaders and acting governor Alexander Khinshtein during the visit on Tuesday.

He also inspected construction of the Kursk-II nuclear power plant, in his first visit to the region since April 26.

On his visit to a command post in Kursk in March, he wore olive green military fatigues.

Putin was believed to be travelling in an Mi-17 helicopter, an evolution of the Soviet-era Mi-8.

The Mi-17 is 82ft long and can carry up to 30 passengers or four tons of cargo. It is equipped with defensive systems including infrared jammers, flare dispensers and armoured plating around critical components, designed to counter heat-seeking missiles and small-arms fire.

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However, the helicopters defensive systems are not normally powerful enough to resist co-ordinated drone attacks. Escorts and ground-based protection are needed for risky flights.

Ukrainian forces launched a significant ground incursion into Kursk in August 2024 and seized territory before Russian counter-offensives pushed them back months later.

Following the shock incursion, Putin poured in tens of thousands of Russian troops, with the help of a North Korean deployment, to break Kyivs hold on the frontier territory.

Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff for Russias armed forces, said his troops had pushed Ukrainians out of the territory while fighting shoulder to shoulder with North Koreans.

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Ukraine has increasingly used drones to strike targets deep inside Russia, including oil refineries, military airfields and government facilities.

Russian air defence systems have faced increasing pressure as Ukraine expands its drone operations.

The frequency and scale of Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory have grown significantly since the conflicts early months.

In May 2023, Ukrainian drones damaged the Kremlins Senate Palace. The unprecedented attack on the very symbol of Russian statehood sent shock-waves well beyond Moscow.

The helicopter attack would mark one of the most direct attempts to target Putin personally since the war began.

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Unlike Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, who frequently visits the front line, Putin has largely avoided combat zones over the past three years.

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German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called for additional EU sanctions against Russia on May 25 following Russia's large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine that killed 12 and injured 79.

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is not interested in peace, he wants to continue this war, and we must not allow this, which is why the European Union will agree on additional sanctions," Wadephul said in an interview with ARD.

Russia launched 69 missiles and 298 drones overnight on May 25, according to Ukraine's Air Force. The attack killed 12 people, including three children, and injured 79, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 20, stating that the next sanctions package "is already being prepared," after the EU approved the 17th sanctions package against Russia, which primarily targeted Russia's 'shadow fleet.'

Ukraine's European allies are continuing to tighten sanctions against Russia as Moscow refuses to ceasefire. In contrast, despite a commitment from U.S. President Donald Trump, no new U.S. sanctions have been imposed so far, with Trump saying that implementing sanctions "could also make it much worse."

Trump's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg became the only U.S. official thus far to react to Russia's overnight large-scale attack on Ukraine on May 25, calling for the end to hostilities.

"The indiscriminate killing of women and children at night in their homes is a clear violation of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols designed to protect innocents. These attacks are shameful," Kellogg said on X without explicitly naming Russia. "Stop the killing. Ceasefire now."

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The New York Times reported on May 20, citing a White House official, that Trump refuses to impose sanctions on Russia as it may hinder future business and trade opportunities with Moscow.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna on May 25 also called on additional economic pressure on Moscow following the attack.

"Putin continues this until the pressure becomes unbearable. Its in our hands to make him stop," Tsahkna wrote on X.

Ukraine is set to pitch a larger number of recommendations to the European Union next week as to how the bloc can continue to ramp up economic pressure on Moscow through sanctions, Reuters reported on May 21.

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Bloomberg reported on May 23 that the EU is close to restricting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in a new round of sanctions.

Read also: Russian missile, drone attack kills 12, injures 79





















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The helicopter of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin was reportedly at the centre of efforts to repel a large-scale drone attack by Ukrainian forces during his visit to Russias Kursk Oblast.

Source: Yuri Dashkin, Commander of the Air Defence division in Kursk Oblast, as quoted by RBC

Details: According to Dashkin, during Putins visit on 20 May, "the Ukrainian military launched an unprecedented attack", and air defences allegedly destroyed 46 drones.

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Quote: "We simultaneously fought an anti-aircraft battle and provided security in the air for the flight of the presidents helicopter. [N.B. Ukrainska Pravda does not recognise Putin as president  ed.]

The helicopter was actually at the epicentre of repelling a large-scale drone attack."

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BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WBOY)  The Buckhannon River Watershed Association held the Jack Barker Memorial Canoe Race on Saturday, giving participants a chance to enjoy the water and the outdoors.

Racers paddled a 4-mile route up and down the Buckhannon River to honor Jack Barker, a nationally renowned kayaker and canoe racer from Buckhannon, for the 23rd year. Volunteers of the Watershed Association told 12 News the Buckhannon River is an underutilized resource.

Tygart Adventure Lake opens for 2025 season

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[The Buckhannon River] is just so beautiful, said Lisa Gum, Chairperson of the Buckhannon River Watershed Association. Weve created this water trail. Its a flat water trail designated by the state of West Virginia now. Its 44 miles of beautiful kayaking.

The Buckhannon River Watershed Association went on to say that there will be community paddles on the river throughout the summer, and that there is a Facebook group for people interested in paddling the Buckhannon and Tygart Valley River.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Sunday he would not support President Donald Trumps sweeping domestic policy package unless the Senate scraps what he sees as its most reckless feature: a $5 trillion debt ceiling hike.

The longtime fiscal hawk warned that the measure would add trillions in new borrowing with minimal offsets. While Paul supports parts of the bill, including its tax cuts and its spending reductions, he argued that the scale of the debt ceiling increase undermines conservatives commitment to fiscal responsibility.

I can't vote to raise the debt ceiling $5 trillion, Paul said on "Fox News Sunday. There's got to be someone left in Washington who thinks debt is wrong and deficits are wrong and wants to go in the other direction.

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The House passed what Trump has dubbed the Big, Beautiful Bill last week following weeks of negotiations among Republican factions. While Trump has told the Republican-controlled Senate to ensure the bill gets to his desk by July 4, Paul said hes unwilling to go along with the presidents plan without meaningful steps to reduce the federal deficit.

While House Speaker Mike Johnson has urged senators to minimize their changes to the bill, Pauls criticism reflects Senate Republicans likely intent to seek adjustments.

Speaking to host Shannon Bream, Paul called the current spending cuts in the bill wimpy and anemic and pointed to rising deficits as a sign of failed fiscal leadership. The federal deficit is projected to be $1.9 trillion this year, which is roughly the same as last years.

Paul also said he recently offered an alternative amendment to raise the debt ceiling for just three months  by $500 billion  to force votes each time there is an effort to increase spending and give Republicans more leverage to demand reforms.

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If you do it for two years  it goes on the back burner and the debt accumulates like it always had, Paul said. This is more of the same. This is what the Democrats have always done, and this is the Republicans using the same playbook.

Republican leaders have defended the larger increase as a necessity move to avoid repeated high-stakes standoffs with moderate Republicans and align themselves with the White House. But Paul dismissed the approach as a political convenience that allows for unchecked spending.

We bring in about $5 trillion in revenue. We spend $7 trillion, he said. That's about what we do.  What we're really stuck with is the math doesn't work.
A confession

Tarrant County Commissioner Manny R. Ramirez would do well to edit his opinions for consistency. Although he states plainly in his recent guest commentary that the process of redistricting is inevitably political, he also claims that the courts current redistricting effort isnt about denying anyone representation, gaining power or stacking the deck. That is just plain political whitewashing. (May 21, 13A, Conservative policy has made Tarrant strong. Lets stay on track by redistricting)

By his own admission, this mid-census effort to redraw Tarrant Countys district lines is precisely about denying representation and stacking the deck in favor of the Republican Party.

- Caryl Sherman-Gonzalez, Fort Worth

By the people?

Republican Judge Tim OHare insists the justification for redrawing Tarrant County lines is to even the distribution among the precincts. In 2021, commissioners hired a law firm to redistrict, but because the decennial census showed the precincts were still in balance, they kept the same lines.

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Now, faced with the likelihood that his smart, Democratic, female, Black adversary on the court will win reelection in 2026, OHare wants to gerrymander her precinct to dilute or even eliminate her Black and brown constituents. The method chosen to achieve his goal by using a controversial activist law firm is especially devious: to flip Precincts 1 and 2 so the candidates would be seeking election by a constituency that does not know them, and in the case of Precinct 2, no longer identifies with them.

This ploy clearly reveals Judge OHares racist intent.

- Reed Bilz, Fort Worth

Street demand

The Star-Telegram Editorial Board wrote: 1 million and growing: How to be ready for the next million in Fort Worth (May 18, 7C) The Alliance and North Fort Worth area is booming all right: All kinds of housing projects being approved  lots of rentals, townhomes and so on. But where are the streets to support all the extra cars that are coming?

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Fort Worth needs to adjust its priorities. Traffic is crazy. How many on the zoning commission who are approving these new developments actually live and drive in North Fort Worth? They need to take a drive around 7:30 in the morning and between 5:30 and 6:30 at night.

We need more lanes before more homes  please!

- Teresa Smith, Haslet

Not above

Question: Which political party repeatedly asserts the principle that no one is above the law?

Answer: Both Democrats and Republicans.

That no one is above the law is understood, right?

Maybe not. We have eyes, and we see that presidents have immunity from some official acts  and if you are older and sympathetic, you can be reckless with classified material without prosecution.

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Yes, Virginia, some are above the law.

Dragline from Cool Hand Luke got it right when he said, When it comes to the law, nothing is understood.

- Elmo Collins, Mansfield

Need to know

There are many unanswered questions about Joe Bidens presidency.

Members of Bidens White House staff scripted Cabinet meetings and tried to cover up his incoherent ramblings, according to a new book co-authored by Jake Tapper.

Excerpts from Original Sin: President Bidens Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, by Tapper and Axios Alex Thompson, reveal that Bidens inner circle hid his cognitive decline. To be clear, the mainstream media had a large hand in this sham, as did Tapper himself.

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One of the primary unanswered questions is why then-Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden Cabinet failed to exercise their constitutional authority under the 25th Amendment to ensure competent leadership for the United States. Tapper and his co-author did not broach the subject of this disgraceful inaction.

Only a few months after he left office, we are now told Biden was also physically capped, and this condition was also kept secret for many years. Experts say prostate cancer at the stage he has takes nearly a decade to develop.

Who really had the keys to the presidents signature wheel and thus exercised the powers of the presidency? Did Bidens progressive chief of staff, Ron Klain, in essence kidnap and hold hostage the president in full view of us all?

The American public deserves answers to these, and many more, questions. Who will champion the cause?

- Bob Pavelko, Arlington
Nigel Farages announcement that a Reform government would restore in full the winter fuel allowance for all pensioners and end the two-child cap on benefits is a depressing reminder that nothing has changed in British politics.

His party is doing well because voters are fed up with Labour and the Tories. But if Reform thinks that expanding the welfare budget is the answer to our problems then we are going nowhere fast.

In the search for more votes and support, pandering to the demands for ever greater handouts will always win out over painstakingly explaining to the electorate that we are living far beyond our means and need to cut our cloth.

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The Labour Government toyed briefly with reining in the out-of-control welfare budget only to blink at the first signs of disgruntlement on the backbenches. Sir Keir Starmer last week indicated that the winter fuel payments would be restored for some pensioners, but no details of who is to be affected are yet available.

Mr Farage is seeking to outflank Labour on the Left to pick up even more supporters in so-called Red Wall areas. Kemi Badenoch has also promised to restore the winter fuel payment, which was only introduced in 1997, yet has taken on totemic significance as though enshrined in tablets of stone.

Are our politicians now about to engage in a bidding war to see which party can promise to raise benefits most rather than give serious thought to how we stop the bill from rising any further?

What is needed is a complete rethink of what the welfare state is for, what it does and whom it is meant to help. Is there a politician willing to make the argument for proper reform, not least the leader of the party that bears the name?

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Remember their names. Speak them aloud. Honor the freedom they secured for you.

"They always say a soldier dies twice  when they actually die and the last time that you say their name. So we always make sure to remember them by their names, especially this weekend," Kim Price reflected Saturday during the opening ceremony for Thousand Flags, an annual, moving Memorial Day tribute at The Park at River Walk put on by the Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Club.

Price introduced a cadre of Bakersfield Pageant title holders, recalling that earlier that day two had placed American flags at the gravesites of grandparents buried at Bakersfield National Cemetery. She remembered her own grandfather's military service, too, imploring listeners to remember Memorial Day isn't simply an extra day off or a time for barbecues.

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The Rev. Angelo Frazier, a pastor at RiverLakes Community Church and volunteer chaplain at the Bakersfield Police Department, invited those gathered at the park to, on the count of three, mention aloud the names of loved ones who have gone before us. And then a second time. Names were quietly uttered.

"No greater love than this; that one lays down his life for his friends," Frazier said, quoting scripture. Although the Bible passage refers to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, it also reminds us of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice under heaven, the pastor said.

He prayed that the Thousand Flags display would give people hope, inspire them and remind them of the future to come. He also asked that people pray for and support those still living who are burdened with great loss.

Leaders of the Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Club see firsthand the touching moments that come from their diligent work to pull off the annual display honoring the ultimate sacrifice of those who have served their country.

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Denise Haynes, the club's Thousand Flags event director, said touching moments emerge every year: The simple "thank you" for the display. A man who asks if he might have the honor of placing a flag, then reveals he wanted to do so for a fallen friend. Another who places a tribute card before a flag, and follows with prayer.

"We enjoy and are honored to give this event to the community each year," Haynes said.

The moments are pure and simple. The South High School JROTC raised the flag. Koumba Carino Diallo sang "The Star-Spangled Banner." Women and men in seemingly private moments shed tears as they stroll among the 1,000 American flags planted in the park's soil.

"We at the Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Club are honored to bring this majestic and patriotic tribute to the community each year," club President David Lari said.

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Times of reflection  along with a concert, barbecue, resource fair, run and walk and more  continue through Monday.

To conclude Saturday's opening ceremony, Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh called on the community to remember the price of freedom.

She summarized the sacrifice of U.S. Army Sgt. Larry S. Pierce of Taft, who in the central highlands of South Vietnam threw himself upon a mine on Sept. 20, 1965 to save his company of 29 men. He was only 24, and left behind a wife, daughter and two sons.

"So today as we take the time to wander through this beautiful array, let us remember that price of freedom, that precious price of freedom," Goh said. "And let our hearts never forget those who paid that price. Let us also always remember the families who paid the price of freedom."

Let our daily actions live out and honor the freedom that was purchased so dearly for us, the mayor said.

Remember their names. Speak them aloud.
LUZERNE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  On Saturday, the true meaning of Memorial Day weekend was on display. A somber service was held to bring the community together for reflection, and for many, a return to tradition after six long years.

Under gray skies but lifted spirits, Luzerne Borough stood united, not just as neighbors, but also a community bound by gratitude.

Though we come from different walks of life, we share the same debt to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, so that we might live in peace and freedom, Luzerne Mayor Ron Reino said.

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This marks the first Memorial Day weekend service in Luzerne Borough since the COVID pandemic put it on pause.

Amelia Hoffman lives directly across the street from the ceremony.

When the event was last held, she was privileged with the not-so-easy task of singing our national anthem.

In keeping with the theme of bringing back past participants, Hoffman once again opened the solemn event with uplifting notes.

Its pretty emotional, especially when they do the taps. I get choked up, always, Hoffman told 28/22 News.

University helping families visit their fallen veterans

The ceremony turned personal when the names of 100 hometown heroes were read aloud.

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The banners of men and women who were honored across the town now returned home to the families who loved them.

I think no matter how busy you are, each one of us has to stop, pause, and come to one of these services. To place those flags for the ones who gave that ultimate sacrifice, Luzerne resident Linda Van Orden said.

For some in this crowd, it was their first time there.

For others, it was a first step in passing on the meaning of Memorial Day to the next generation.

I really like how we had the ending prayer. That was pretty nice for everybody to lead out in prayer. Nice to spread the word. People that served for our country, put their life for the country, Kingston resident Tommy Donlick told 28/22 News.

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The event will return once again next year, and for Luzerne, the message is clear: Remembrance isnt just an annual tradition, its a promise that lives on.

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When Kisha Patterson last spoke to her husband, Esau, it was an ordinary conversation under extraordinary circumstances. "We talked that morning," she said. "It was like any other day. He was like, 'Hey, I'll call you back.' I was like, 'Okay.' You know, not thinking too much of it, kind of took it for granted."

In April of 2004, Army Staff Sergeant Esau Patterson was serving in Iraq. They'd met years earlier in church, at Ft. Benning in Georgia. They got married, had two children, and were planning a family reunion for when he returned.

But then came a knock at the door. "And there's two uniformed service members standing there," said Kisha. "And they looked at me, and I could see tears in their eyes, and that's when I knew."

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A car bomb had killed her husband. He was 25 years old. "I would never get to say goodbye," she said. "I would never get to touch him. I would never get to do anything else."

Kisha Patterson holds a portrait of her husband, Army Staff Sergeant Esau Patterson, who was killed while serving in Iraq. / Credit: CBS News

I asked, "What did it mean to you to have service members there with you?"

"It meant that what he died for was okay, that he was truly protecting and serving this country," Kisha replied.

Those soldiers were carrying out a solemn duty that had not always been performed. During the Civil War, the military had no formal casualty notification system. Occasionally families would receive a letter. By World War I and through the Vietnam War, the military was sending telegrams, until an Army wife named Julia Moore (known as Julie) stepped in.

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"She completely changed the culture of the military," said her son, Greg Moore. "In 1965, during the Battle of the Ia Drang, death notices were delivered to spouses by telegrams and taxicabs. Cold, cruel, dispassionate. She was outraged."

/ Credit: CBS News

Julie Moore's husband, Hal, was a highly-regarded Lt. Colonel then serving in Vietnam when, as she described in a letter, a taxi driver pulled up to her house: "When he rang the bell I decided not to answer; that way, everything would be all right," she wrote. "I finally said to myself, 'Come on, Julie, you have to face up to what's to come, so go answer the door."

It turned out, the driver needed directions.

Greg Moore said, "At that moment, she knew what it felt to get that telegram, and she never wanted to have anybody else get that telegram and not have somebody physically with them."

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So, Julie Moore made a deal with the local Western Union office: they would call her whenever a telegram came.

The 2002 movie "We Were Soldiers" portrayed how Julie Moore would rush to comfort the widows.

Even as she cared for her five young children, Moore helped other Army wives on the home front, as she recounted in a 2001 interview: "I think people forget that these men had families. And these families had problems. And the wives are left alone to deal with them as best they can. And these women were really up to the task. They really were."

Julie Moore and Lt. Colonel Hal Moore with their family. Hal wrote about his Vietnam War experiences in the 1992 book

Together, the Army wives successfully lobbied the base commander. Julie's son Dave Moore said, "What they really wanted was the Army to make a fundamental change, which they did, in that the Army should take responsibility for delivering these telegrams to the wives and personally care for the spouse during that time of cathartic change."

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Service members now notify families in person, and offer additional support.

When Army Sgt. First Class Kendrick Ray delivered a casualty notification in 2021, it was a sacred mission. Now, he helps families in the days after. Asked what goes through his mind before he knocks on the door, Ray replied, "I just said a prayer, like, 'How can I be of service to this family? I don't know what they're going through, but give me strength to, you know, face whatever it is once I ring the doorbell.'

"I believe now it's my purpose," he said. "I can let people know, like, 'Hey, you're not alone. we're right here with you, every step of the way.'"

Julie Moore died in 2004. Her husband died 13 years later.

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In 2023, the Pentagon renamed Ft. Benning Ft. Moore to honor them both. It marked the first time an American military base had been named for a civilian.

Dave Moore said, "It's not a legacy she asked for; it's a legacy she built herself towards. And the hero rises to a moment and achieves great things."

This year, the Army post was re-named Ft. Benning. But just down the road, at the National Infantry Museum, her name endures.

An exhibit honoring Julie Moore at the National Infantry Museum. / Credit: CBS News

I asked Kisha Patterson, "When you think about what she did, what comes to your mind?"

"She's phenomenal," Patterson replied. "I can't imagine having received a telegram with that information on it. So, I just thank her. There're husbands that endure this same pain. There are mothers and fathers, there are children that get these knocks. So, she has, yes, she has truly made a difference for all of us."

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For more info:

National Infantry Museum, Columbus, Ga.



Story produced by Robbyn McFadden. Editor: Joseph Frandino.

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A groundbreaking report from Sandy River Research asserted that large swaths of so-called "captive-born" macaques from Southeast Asian breeding facilities might actually be poached wild monkeys.

What's happening?

Endangered long-tailed macaques, native to Southeast Asia, have likely been poached and sold en masse to U.S.-based research facilities.

According to Mongabay, Cambodia exported captive-born monkeys for biomedical research purposes during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the numbers reported by these breeding facilities don't add up. In 2022, Cambodia's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries reported over 73,000 captive macaque births in just one month.

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This is way outside the norm. Mongabay reported that, just two years prior, the total population in these facilities was a little over 69,000. Sandy River suggested that wild monkeys have been captured and sold to breeding facilities, which then forge the birthing rates on official records.

Cambodia's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries refuted Sandy River's claims. However, an anonymous poacher told Mongabay that he's been catching and selling long-tailed macaques to middlemen who bribed authorities and transported them to breeding farms in Cambodia and Vietnam.

"There can be no dispute that the deficit has been filled by macaques obtained illegally and likely laundered into and out of the K-F site [monkey farm] for export for many years," Sandy River said.

Why is the macaque trade important?

This is about more than long-tailed macaques.

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The anonymous poacher told Mongabay that he's encountered fewer monkeys each year. Though that evidence is anecdotal, long-tailed macaques are already an endangered species. Due to deforestation and trade demand, their population has declined by about 40% in the last 40 years.

When a species declines or goes extinct, its ecosystem can be thrown out of balance, harming biodiversity. Humans across the world depend on biodiversity for fresh water, reliable food systems, and about half of modern medicines, according to the World Health Organization.

What's being done about it?

If this report is correct, it seems that the biomedical research industry fuels this illegal trade of endangered species for animal testing.

Do you think we use too much plastic in America? Definitely Only some people Not really I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Lisa Jones-Engel, a primate scientist with PETA, said in an email to Mongabay that the biomedical research industry is clearly complicit in supporting "a transnational criminal network that illegally sources wild primates for the violent and corrupt international primate trade."

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Sandy River suggested that global authorities suspend primate imports until Cambodia and Vietnam can provide proper legal documentation. It also recommended more thorough law enforcement.

So far, these actions have not been taken. If you would like to help on an individual level, you can try donating to causes that support endangered species, like the World Wildlife Fund.

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.




Israel's military has moved all of its regular infantry and tank brigades into the Gaza Strip, the Times of Israel and other local media reported on Sunday, citing the army.

The military said it would not provide further details on the deployment of its forces, in response to a dpa inquiry.

The Times of Israel report said the army is preparing to intensify its offensive in Gaza.

Television station N12 also reported that the Israeli offensive was continuing, saying the armed forces are deployed in different areas of the embattled Palestinian territory.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced plans to take control of the whole of the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli armed forces launched a new major offensive in Gaza around a week ago.

At the start of the offensive, the army said it wanted to achieve Israel's war aims, including the release of hostages and the destruction of the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas.

Israel's actions in the sealed-off territory are drawing mounting international criticism - even by close allies.

The war in Gaza has claimed more than 53,000 Palestinian lives, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Republican Representative Don Bacon, a moderate member of the US House of Representatives, has rejected the idea of peace talks with Russia following Moscows large-scale weekend attacks on Ukraine and called for decisive action.

Source: Bacon on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: Bacon, known for his pro-Ukraine stance, was commenting on reports regarding the number of drones and missiles Russia used to attack Ukraine on the nights of 23-24 and 24-25 May.

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"It is a time for honesty. Peace talks are having zero effect on Putin," Bacon emphasised. He stated that the Kremlin is continuing its aggression with the aim of subjugating Ukraine and will not stop until it encounters firm resistance.

"His [Putin's  ed.] goal is to dominate Ukraine & he wont stop until he realises he cannot win," the congressman added.

He urged the United States and its allies to act resolutely: "The US & Allies must arm Ukraine to the teeth, sanction Russia to the max, & confiscate the US$300 billion in overseas Russian assets".

Background:

Bacon is one of the most consistent supporters of Ukraine among US lawmakers. In March 2025, he posted an article in The New York Times criticising what he called the Trump administrations overly soft stance on Russia.

On 25 May, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the international community, particularly the US, to speak out and increase pressure on the Kremlin.

EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova said Russia is laughing at the world and mocking US attempts to broker peace.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has also called for "unbearable pressure" on Putin after the latest airstrike.

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A rescue worker has been injured in the village of Tomyna Balka, Kherson Oblast, after the Russians dropped an explosive from a drone.

Source: Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration

Quote: "A State Emergency Service employee has been injured in Tomyna Balka as a result of an explosive being dropped from an enemy drone."

Details: The 26-year-old emergency worker sustained a traumatic brain injury, blast trauma, concussion and shrapnel wounds to his back and arms.

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He has been taken to hospital and doctors assess his condition as moderate.

Prokudin said the Russians had deliberately targeted a civilian service that was dealing with the aftermath of hostilities in frontline settlements.

Background: On 23 May, a resident of the village of Kizomys in Kherson Oblast was killed in a Russian attack.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Residents in one Kansas City, Missouri neighborhood are frustrated after two shootings occurred less than 24 hours apart.

The first shooting was reported just after 5 p.m. on Friday. The second shooting was reported just before 5 p.m. on Saturday. Both shootings happened in the 1300 block of West Bluff Drive at the West Bluff Townhomes.

Independence woman hit, killed by two cars while crossing I-70 in Blue Springs

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Kansas City police dispatch tell FOX4 the victim in Saturdays shooting was alert and talking but did not know extent of injuries at this time.

Multiple neighbors told FOX4 on Friday theyre fed up with the crime thats been happening in the area and feel they arent being listened to by apartment management or police.

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The fact that theres been two shootings in less than 24 hours, thats saying a lot, neighbor Shellie Rowe said. What does it stop? When do we get the help we need? When do we get problem solving conflict resolution? When do we, as neighbors, sit down and discuss what a problem is before it leads to gunfire?

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Rowe lives in the area and wants to see more action taken to prevent gun violence and other crimes.

People need an outlet in order to discuss the problem before it becomes a murder or a shooting and we need to have better resources here to get the help that people need, she added. Its very overwhelming and people are crying out for help, and we need people listening and trying to pull together some resources to help the people resolve issues and problems before it gets out of hand.

FOX4 has reached out to the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department multiple times on the shootings but havent heard back at this time.

Back in November, a double shooting in the same area left one woman dead and another woman injured.

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We have a crew at the scene and will continue to bring updates as they become available both on air and online.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Restaurant vs. food truck

Imagine signing a lease for your dream restaurant in Fresno  only to discover weeks later your landlord approved a food truck selling nearly identical food just steps away, undercutting your prices. This recently happened to a local small business owner, blindsided by a competitor allowed on the same property without their consent.

There was no lease warning of this, leaving the tenant vulnerable to lost sales and confused customers. This problem isnt unique to Fresno; commercial tenants nationwide often lack protections against landlords enabling direct competitors on shared property.

Some say all mobile food vendors should be banned near restaurants in high-foot-traffic zones. But context matters. Events like farmers markets bring multiple vendors  even with overlapping menus but are time-limited, pre-approved, and planned with local merchants, boosting business during slow hours. This is very different from surprise or permanent vendors allowed by landlords without tenant input.

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To fix this, I proposed the Commercial Tenant Fair Competition Act. It would require landlords to disclose and get written consent before allowing direct competitors nearby. Tenants could then renegotiate or end leases if conflicts arise.

Food trucks are vital to Fresnos food scene. We need fair policies that protect all vendors.

 Bryan J. Alonso Garcia, Fresno

Clean Water Act

The federal Clean Water Act became law more than 50 years ago with the goal of making sure all public waters are safe for people and wildlife. This law was needed because water pollution had become a widespread problem that was threatening public health and natural areas. Every living creature needs clean water to survive. Protecting water from pollution is common sense. The only way to make sure our water stays clean in an industrialized world is to regulate it, plain and simple.

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The bad news is that decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and President Trump have weakened these protections in recent years. The good news is that California has a chance to pass The Right to Clean Water Act (SB 601), which would restore essential clean water regulations for our state. Please join me in sending a clear message to Senator Anna Caballero. We are counting on our state leaders to right this wrong!

 Jahari Garcia, Sanger

Dont close prison

In yet another move to make our state even more dangerous, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed to shutter yet another prison. all because of his total mishandling of our tax dollars. But, we have a train to nowhere and a tremendous amount of unaccounted money for unhoused citizens. Then to make matters worse, he will blame the president for all of the problems we have financially in California.

How did this happen in 100 days? This didnt happen overnight. It has accumulated over many years of his governorship and has finally come to ahead. We have sent a clear message to criminals that we dont care if you break the law because we dont have any place to put you, when we do get you, we dont keep you. We let you go because youve been a nice person in jail.

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If anything we need to build more prisons to house our criminals in a humane manner. If we do this then, maybe theyll figure out what do the crime do the time really means. Not just a vacation to get in shape and attend the gladiator academy our system has become.

 Duane Opie, Fresno

Praise for WWII section

I am a grandma, aged 91 years. When I received my Fresno Bee on 5/11 with the attachment entitled Remembering Our Triumph, I started reading it and could not put it down. When World War II ended in 1945, I was a young girl of 11 years and living with my family in Pittsburgh, PA.

I remember the sirens and whistles but I never understood what was happening. During my growing up years, the war was always portrayed to me in books, movies and TV.

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Remembering Our Triumph is a wonderful 24-page article explaining the entire war. It depicts the wonderful courage and tremendous skill of the many wonderful men who outwitted the enemy. The article was written in a laymans skill to be understood by all. I am saving it for my grandchildren. Thank you.

 Joanne Hawkins, Fresno
Extreme weather fuelled by the climate crisis has cost some of the worlds poorest countries $156bn (116bn) across the past two decades, The Independent can reveal.

Intense drought, flooding, cyclones and more have impacted 364 million people and caused more than 42,000 deaths since 2000  17,000 of which can be directly attributed to climate change. The nations hardest hit are Somalia, Haiti and Uganda.

Researchers at ODI Global, an international think tank, also found the climate crisis had contributed to billions of dollars worth of agricultural losses, with farmers across Somalia and Ethiopia forced to abandon their livelihoods amid growing food scarcity, saying the stark findings should serve as a wake-up call for global policymakers.

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If the UK suffered tens of billions of pounds worth of damage caused by other countries actions, our government and the public would rightfully be shouting from the rooftops about the injustice, Mike Childs, head of policy at Friends of the Earth, told The Independent.

Yet this is the reality for many countries on the front lines of climate breakdown that have contributed virtually nothing to global emissions.

With Donald Trump slashing US aid spending and the UK planning on cutting billions of pounds in funding, The Independent reports on the devastating impact on countries most affected by the climate crisis, due to losing support for food and disaster prevention.

Its deeply unjust that those who have done the least to contribute to the climate crisis are paying most dearly for it  the UK has a central role to play in righting that injustice, Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, said. While governments like ours delay, countries like Somalia and Ethiopia, and small island nations  some of the worlds poorest countries  are paying the price.

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The governments recent cuts to the foreign aid budget are particularly disturbing in this context, with so many across the world relying on essential humanitarian aid as a result of extreme weather caused by the climate crisis, added Ms Denyer.

Every year we see more devastation

The study of 53 low-income countries includes 36 small-island developing states in the Caribbean, Pacific and the Atlantic, and 17 countries in the Sahel and the Greater Horn of Africa.

Since the year 2000, these countries have suffered $395bn in losses and damages from extreme weather events, $156bn of which can be attributed to the climate crisis.

Every year, we see more devastation from the worsening effects of climate change, said Emily Wilkinson, principal research fellow at ODI Global.

Immigrants from Haiti recover their belongings from the rubble in their destroyed homes, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in Abaco, Bahamas (AP)

Wealthier nations urgently need to scale up climate finance and also make sure it reaches the right places. For remote or unstable places [facing conflict or other vulnerabilities], such as those featured in the study, getting projects off the ground might be harder, but the benefits will also be more keenly felt by affected populations.

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In 2023, the Cop28 climate summit agreed to the creation of the Loss and Damage Fund, which would provide financial support for some destruction caused by climate change. But wealthy, higher-polluting countries pledged a total of $768m to the fund; a fraction of the financial losses that vulnerable countries face, and will continue to face. It was agreed this year that the fund will pay out $250m of this sum until the end of 2026.

Hurricanes, droughts and flooding

To calculate the proportion of losses and damages resulting from climate change, ODI Globals research uses climate mapping studies combined with figures from EM-DAT, the international database covering 26,00es0 mass disasters worldwide, and United Nations disaster reports.

Tropical cyclones  often referred to as hurricanes or typhoons  and flooding have caused the most damage in small-island developing states like the Bahamas, which has lost at least $4bn from climate-attributed events.

Scientists believe tropical cyclones are becoming more intense thanks to the climate crisis, due to warmer seas and stronger winds heightening their impact. Meanwhile, rising sea levels from melting ice caps will contribute to increased flooding of low-elevation islands.

Somalia is currently facing floods following another intense drought, once again forcing people into internal displacement (AP)

Severe droughts and deadly flooding have ravaged the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, severely impacting many communities that rely on agriculture. The ODI Global report found that climate change contributed to at least $11.5bn in losses and damages to livestock and crops in these countries, causing lasting harm to livelihoods and food supplies in agrarian areas with already high poverty rates.

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Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia have suffered tens of billions of dollars in losses between them, but Somalia has suffered the worst of all. Devastating droughts and subsequent floods have led to $151bn in losses and damages, $75bn of which ODI Global estimates is attributable to climate change.

Somalias extended droughts have been exacerbated by the climate crisis, researchers have found, contributing to lower rainfall, warmer air temperatures, and higher evapotranspiration  the combined processes that move water from the Earths surface into the atmosphere.

These droughts in recent years have caused widespread crop failures and livestock losses, plunging many farmers and herders into poverty. Nearly half of Somalias eight-million-strong population has also faced food insecurity. As The Independent has reported, Somalia is facing drought and low crop yields once again; this time, charities are worried that aid cuts will limit their ability to respond to food shortages.

Many of the nations included in the ODI Global study have smaller economies, increasing the impact of climate crisis-related losses. On the Caribbean island of Dominica, such damage has cost nearly a tenth (9.25 per cent) of gross domestic product (GDP) each year on average over the last two decades.

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Haiti, Kenya and Grenada are among the nations already facing substantial losses, more than two per cent of their GDP per year, thanks to climate change. Extreme weather events such as hurricanes can increase that number substantially, given the damage they can do quickly.

This means that poorer nations, some of whom are facing further strain from regional conflicts, are disproportionately taking the brunt of climate-related destruction.

These effects will only continue to get worse, warn ODI Globals researchers, who estimate at least a further $235bn in these countries from climate-related damages if the planet warms by 2C compared to pre-industrial levels. According to climate scientists at Europes Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), each of the past 10 years (20152024) was one of the 10 warmest years on record. The monthly global average temperature exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for 11 months of the year.

The escalating costs from climate change will have a serious toll on economic growth and living standards, and a wider risk of geopolitical stability in some regions, Ms Wilkinson, a research fellow at ODI Global, said. Climate change contributing to a poorer, more dangerous, future is bad for everyone, but we are not too late to change course.

Ethiopia and other east African countries have suffered frequent and lasting droughts, which threaten access to food and water (Fredrik Lerneryd/Save the Children)

Disruptions to aid increase risk of famine and poverty

In the wake of extreme weather events, communities are heavily reliant on aid as people are displaced from their homes and access to food and infrastructure is disrupted.

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In 2023 alone, the countries in this study received some 7.5nn in aid from the US and the UK, with millions of people relying on life-saving food assistance.

But with the total dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and UK cuts threatening access to aid for some 55 million people, this support is drying up while the consequences of climate change are worsening.

In Ethiopia, food shortages in the northern region have led to starvation. A funding gap of $222m has already forced the World Food Programme to suspend malnutrition treatment for 650,000 women and children.

Just this week, the UK government refused to reconsider its cuts to aid spending and could not commit to funding for nutrition, the International Development Committee reported.

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A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: Demands for action from the worlds most vulnerable and the requirements for delivering security for British citizens are fundamentally aligned.

That is why we are supporting those who are experiencing the worst impacts of the climate crisis and working together with partners to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

This article was produced as part of The Independents Rethinking Global Aid project
May 24KINGSTON  Sherry Emershaw, president of the 24th Connecticut Militia Regiment, talked about Memorial Day and remembering our fallen heroes  and she took time to remember the Wyoming Valley's first soldiers killed in battle.

Emershaw said our area has a rich history, and not many people realize part of that history is its role in the Revolutionary War.

"We have the honor to have had a Revolutionary War battle fought in Wyoming Valley," Emershaw said. "It's quite extraordinary to think that our area had a part in the forming of our nation."

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Emershaw said we should all be proud of our area's Revolutionary War history, and we should never forget those who gave their lives to provide us a legacy of the rights and freedoms we all enjoy today.

The Battle of Wyoming, fought July 3, 1778, will always be an important historical event in our area  but, Emershaw said, it is especially significant now with the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States.

On July 3, 1778, the fields around what is now the monument ran red with the blood of patriots who were massacred by a combined force of British troops and their Iroquois allies during the Revolutionary War.

Emershaw said the 24th Connecticut Militia Regiment will organize and participate in local programs and commemorations as we celebrate nationwide.

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A Revolutionary War Memorial Service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday

, May 25

. This is the fifth year of the event for the 24th Regiment. Formerly held at the Forty Fort Meeting House, this year's service will be held on the grounds of the Wyoming Monument.

Emershaw said that five years ago, members of the 24th Connecticut Militia Regiment  re-enactors and living historians representing the men and women of Wyoming Valley during the American Revolution  felt it was time to have a Memorial Day service to remember and honor those who fell at the Battle of Wyoming that was fought on July 3, 1778.

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"The remembrance service is conducted by our Unit's chaplain in 18th century style following the Common Book of Prayer, allowing visitors to transfer back in time to what 1779 residents of Wyoming Valley would have experienced at a church service," Emershaw said. "The names of the patriots who were killed at the Battle of Wyoming  including those who were killed at the Harding Massacre that occurred on June 30, 1778  are read aloud during the program, along with 18th century hymns to the music of a recorder. After the service, there will be an honorary volley."

Emershaw noted that Memorial Day ceremonies are usually conducted in cemeteries, but this one is different.

"Since the bones of the fallen soldiers of the Battle of Wyoming are members of the 24th who protected and defended Wyoming Valley during the Revolutionary War and who are interred within the Monument, we felt we should have the remembrance service where they lay."

Emershaw said she and the members of the 24th Regiment have been working with the Wyoming Monument Association, which has supported the event and are pleased that the ceremony will feature the beautiful Wyoming Monument, which only has one event each year on the 4th of July.

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"Also, we want to highlight Revolutionary War events at historical locations in Luzerne County for the upcoming 250th anniversary of the USA," Emershaw said.

About the 24th Connecticut Militia

The 24th Connecticut Militia was first formed by the inhabitants of Wyoming Valley at a town meeting in May 1775, as a result of the Battles of Lexington & Concord to protect and defend Wyoming.

With increasing hostilities in the Boston area, the Continental Army was then formed by an act of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, with George Washington being appointed by Congress the next day.

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"The Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, prompted the Connecticut Assembly at its October session and made the 24th Regiment official by appointing its line officers on Oct. 17, 1775, making 2025 our 250th birthday," Emershaw said.

Then, 10 Militia companies would be formed and two Wyoming Independent Companies were formed to serve in the Continental Army. The Independent Companies suffered through the winter at Valley Forge.

Notable battles they fought in were Millstone and Bound Brook in New Jersey, Germantown, Brandywine, Fort Mifflin in Pennsylvania, and the Battle of Monmouth. Eventually, a Third Independent Company was formed because of the threat of invasion from the British and their Indian allies.

The invasion occurred on July 3, 1778  known as the Battle of Wyoming  and oftentimes the Wyoming Massacre because of the reported atrocities that happened after the Battle. Soldiers of the 24th Regiment also served in the 1779 Sullivan Expedition.

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In October 1778, remains from the battlefield were collected and placed in a mass grave  50 years later they were disinterred and eventually placed in a vault within the Wyoming Monument.

"The 24th Regiment is honored to be able to have this Remembrance Service at the site of the final resting place of those patriots," Emershaw said.

Emershaw said the 24th Regiment group will be placing 227 flags at the Monument base, representing those killed in the Battle of Wyoming of July 3, 1778, and the Harding Massacre which occurred a few days before the Battle on June 30, 1778.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
A Richland child pornography arrest led to the rescue of two children 1,800 miles away, police said

Richland detectives connected Ryan Raine D. Laters Twitter conversations about child pornography on Twitter with the alleged sexual abuse of two children in Oklahoma, according to a police Facebook post.

While the agency didnt explain how that happened, they did say Laters arrest in 2024 led to two children being rescued and a suspected abuser being arrested.

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Later, 26, recently pleaded guilty to second-degree dealing in child pornography and three counts of possession of child pornography.

Judge Jackie Shea Brown recently sentenced Later to seven years in prison and three years of community custody  the maximum allowed under state law.

Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force detectives started investigating a series of messages beginning in 2023 containing child pornography from Twitter users with the handles StormyFallsFall and stormfallsdown.

Both accounts were eventually tied to Laters Charter Communications account.

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According to messages, Later said he had worse stuff that he couldnt share through Twitter. He told the other user that it was natural to enjoy the pornography.

He also told another user that he went to a local pool and watched children while pretending to be on his phone. He also shared fantasies about grooming and raping children, court documents said.

He later claimed those conversations were taken out of context and were just role-play, court documents said.

When police arrested him on Aug. 8, 2024, officers discovered numerous pieces of child pornography on his phone.

Deputy Prosecutor Taylor Anderson congratulated the task force detective for his work, Richland police said.

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The investigation took more time and effort than normal for a case involving a tip from an online company, Anderson said according to the Facebook post.

Additionally, your continued efforts to identify and assist bringing the Oklahoma offender to justice demonstrates your commitment to the mission and goal of the ICAC task force, she said in a post on the police Facebook page.

Your work on both fronts reflects the dedication and determination that allows (the) ICAC task force to protect children and hold offenders accountable.
Delegates at the Wisconsin Republican Convention approved a resolution calling on the state to enforce the state's 1849 abortion law.

Granted, it was just a symbolic vote May 17 with no legal authority. But it reveals that grassroots Republicans  both here and across the country  are still embracing rigid views on abortion, despite a barrage of headlines detailing the deaths and suffering of women under similar bans.

And it made me wonder: Do we all live in different realities?

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Because in todays world of algorithms, relentless news cycles, and a never-ending stream of content, it's entirely possible that we all live in different realities when it comes to the news we consume. Social media feeds and search engines curate information based on our past behavior, reinforcing our existing beliefs and filtering out what might challenge us.

Letters: Former Gov. Tommy Thompson omits real reason for rough Supreme Court race

For going on three years, I've been reading the heartbreaking stories about women harmed by abortion bans from across out country. Is it possible that others aren't seeing them at all?

Have GOP delegates heard their names or read about their stories?

For example, had any of the attendees at the WISGOP convention heard about:

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Adriana Smith, a pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain-dead in February and is being kept alive, against her family's will, because of the states law banning abortions? Doctors told the family that because of Georgias LIFE Act, Smith must be kept alive until the fetus can live outside of the womb, probably at 32 weeks. Smiths pregnancy is only about 22 weeks along.

Porsha Ngumezi and Nevaeh Crain, who died in Texas because doctors hesitated, afraid of prosecution under their state's abortion ban? Or Amber Nicole Thurman, a 28-year-old mother, who died less than a month after Georgia passed its abortion law after waiting 20 hours to receive critical treatment?

Elizabeth Nakagawa, a Coast Guard commander, who nearly died after miscarrying because medical personnel waitedparalyzed by fear of legal repercussions.

Or Jaci Stratton, who was told by hospital staff in Oklahoma that we cannot touch you unless you are crashing in front of us" before they could provide life-saving abortion care. Her molar pregnancy meant that her fetus would never become a babybut the law demanded she flirt with death before doctors could help her.

Though deeply alarming, these instances merely scratch the surface of what is becoming a widespread issue in states with the most restrictive laws. In addition to these stories, countless other women have survived but suffered at the hands of providers opting for riskier treatments and delaying care because of the language used in their states abortion ban.

Id like to believe that perhaps some of the most staunch anti-choice advocates are genuinely ignorant of how quickly abortion bans lead to maternal deaths, infections and dangerous complications.

Maybe they've heard women's stories and just don't care

Because the alternative is that they have read these stories and just dont care.

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I dont write that lightly. But how else can we explain pushing for 19th-century laws in the face of 21st-century evidence that these bans are putting lives at risk? Some might call this a matter of moral conviction. But what kind of morality demands the painful deaths of women to prove a political point?

Abortion is health care. Thats not a slogan but a fact supported by virtually every major medical association in the country, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Abortion care is a necessary component of standard treatment protocol for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and fetal diagnosis incompatible with life. Bans do not prevent these conditions, they only prevent timely treatment.

And these laws dont operate in a vacuum. Every restriction breeds confusion, fear, and delay. Every vague statute pushes doctors to consult lawyers instead of focusing on patients. Every criminalized medical procedure sends a message: we dont trust women, and we dont trust the people who care for them.

What this nonbinding resolution reveals about the GOP

The Wisconsin resolution might be nonbinding, but it is still revealing. It lays bare a movement that appears more interested in punishing abortion than in grappling with its consequences. It exposes a political stance where symbolism takes precedence over safety  where women are expected to serve as ideological props instead of autonomous human beings.

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To the lawmakers and activists still supporting an abortion ban in Wisconsin, I ask again: are you reading these stories? Do you see whats happening to women in Texas, Idaho, Oklahoma, and beyond? Is that what you want for women in Wisconsin?

It is not enough to say the resolution is symbolic. Symbols matter. They reflect priorities. They telegraph what we value. And right now, this one sends a loud, clear message: that even preventable deaths of women arent enough to change course.

If were reading the same stories, then it's time to stop pretending this is a theoretical or political debate and starting acknowledging lives are on the line.

Kristin Brey is the "My Take" columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Abortion is health care. WI GOP ignores dangers for women. | Opinion
By Barbara Erling, Kuba Stezycki and Fatos Bytyci

WARSAW (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of people took the streets of Warsaw on Sunday to show support for rival candidates in next week's tightly-contested Polish presidential election that the government views as crucial to its efforts for democratic reform.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk hopes to galvanise support for his candidate, the liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, to replace the outgoing Andrzej Duda, a nationalist who has vetoed many of his efforts to reform the judiciary.

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"All of Poland is looking at us. All of Europe is looking at us. The whole world is looking at us," Trzaskowski told supporters who waved Polish and European Union flags.

Tusk swept to power in 2023 with a broad alliance of leftist and centrist parties, on a promise to undo changes made by the nationalist Law and Justice government that the European Union said had undermined democracy and women's and minority rights.

Trzaskowski beat nationalist Karol Nawrocki by two percentage points in the first round of the election on May 18, but is struggling to sustain his lead, according to opinion polls.

Nawrocki's voters, some wearing hats bearing the words "Poland is the most important", gathered in a different part of the capital to show support for his drive to align Poland more closely with U.S. President Donald Trump's policies.

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"I am the voice of all those whose cries do not reach Donald Tusk today. The voice of all those who do not want Polish schools to be places of ideology, our Polish agriculture to be destroyed, or our freedom taken away," Nawrocki told the crowd on Sunday.

Some of his supporters carried banners with slogans such as "Stop Migration Pact", "This is Poland," or displayed images of Trump.

"He is the best candidate, the most patriotic, one who can guarantee that Poland is independent and sovereign," said Jan Sulanowski, 42.

Approximately 50,000 attended the gathering of Karol Nawrockis supporters, while about 140,000 people participated in the march supporting Trzaskowski, the Polish Press Agency reported, citing unofficial preliminary estimates from city authorities.

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At Trzaskowski's march, the newly-elected president of Romania Nicusor Dan pledged to work closely with Tusk and Trzaskowski "to ensure Poland and the European Union remain strong".

Dan's unexpected victory in a vote on May 18 over a hard-right Trump supporter was greeted with relief in Brussels and other parts of Europe, as many were concerned that his rival George Simion would have complicated EU efforts to tackle Russia's war in Ukraine.

Jakub Kaszycki, 21, joined the pro-Trzaskowski march, saying it could determine Poland's future direction. "I very much favour... the west way to Europe, not to Russia," he said.

At Trzaskowski's march, people held banners displaying the word "Demonkraci" alongside images that associated Duda and Nawrocki with a demonic version of democracy as opposed to the "okay" democracy "DemOKracja" represented by Trzaskowski and his wife.

(Reporting by Barbara Erling, Kuba Stezycki, Fatos Bytyci; editing by Barbara Lewis)
LAURENS, S.C. (WSPA)  Drivers are being asked to avoid the area while transportation officials investigate a reported sinkhole in Laurens.

According to Laurens Police Department, a sinkhole has opened at the intersection of Church Street and W. Hampton Street in Laurens.

SCDOT is currently assessing the situation, and the area will likely be closed for safety. Drivers are asked to avoid the intersection and use alternate routes until further notice.

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We will provide 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 WSPA 7NEWS.
The Royal Navy and RAF will soon be ready to put robots on the front line after a successful battlefield test of the technology, the Government has said.

The Ministry of Defence has spoken of rapid progress in developing combat uses for artificial intelligence-powered assistance for pilots and sailors following a five-day trial, the largest of its kind ever conducted.

One of the main uses of AI in the field will be automatic detection of targets and assistance commanding military vehicles.

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The MoD has also said that using AI on the battlefield will also reduce cognitive load for service men and women. Cognitive load refers to the multiple systems that, for example, a pilot needs to pay attention.

A pilot in control of a plane is expected to fly, analyse potential threats and manage communication systems. The Government claims the AI-powered battlefield tech that was successfully tested will be able to do much of this, reducing the pilots cognitive load.

The trial, which took place in early March in Portland Harbour, Dorset, involved relying on AI in several mission-based scenarios and testing its effectiveness compared to human combatants.

It raises the prospect of robotic combatants eventually replacing human roles in parts of the Armed Forces, though sources said the possibility was still a little way away.

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The trial came under the remit of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership between Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

American and Australian military experts were also present during the practice missions, though no representatives from Canada or New Zealand attended.

Maria Eagle, the Defence Minister, suggested that after the successful trial the new technology could soon be deployed on the front line.

Maria Eagle said AI has the potential to impact enhance our war-fighting ability - Andrew Milligan/PA

Defence experts in government have also said the rollout of AI on the battlefield will give British forces operational advantage and improve mission success.

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AI and drone technology are expected to feature prominently in this years Strategic Defence Review, which will set out equipment and manpower priorities for the Armed Forces.

In November the Government warned that Britain was in an AI arms race with Vladimir Putins Russia.

In a speech on defence Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said of AI as we develop this technology theres a danger it could be weaponised against us. Because our adversaries are also looking at how to use AI on the physical and cyber battlefield.

The Government recently announced that a fleet of AI-powered battlefield robots would be built in a new plant in south-west England.

Keeping Britain secure

Ms Eagle said: We can all see how AI has the potential to impact our lives and enhance our war-fighting ability, and UK defence is embracing this leap forward in technology to better support our personnel on the front line.

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Significant trials like this, working with international and industry partners, demonstrate the rapid progress were making to utilise new technology for keeping Britain secure at home and strong abroad.

Dr Paul Hollinshead, the head of the MoDs Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), said: This innovative trial represents a significant advancement in how we develop and test defence technologies. By bringing together multiple domains and partners, were not just collecting data  were creating the foundation for mission success and operational advantage that will protect our forces for decades to come.

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Rosamund Pike is recalling a terrifying incident she experienced nearly two decades ago.

The Gone Girl actress revealed during a recent interview with Magic Radio that she was attacked during a mugging incident in London. The Independent reported that it happened in 2006.

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I was on the phone to my mother, on a mobile phone walking along a road, and I was mugged, she recounted. The phone was snatched so all she heard was me scream and a thud and the phone went dead.

Pike said she was angry after being left with a bruise from being punched in the face during the incident. She added that her mom also endured 15 minutes of hell until she was able to call her back following the attack.

The Independent reported that there has been a recent rise in criminals snatching mobile phones from people on the streets of London, with authorities seeing a 151 percent increase in the last year.

Pike, who was born in London, has starred in dozens of projects throughout her career, including Die Another Day (2002), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Surrogates (2009), Jack Reacher (2012), Beirut (2018), Saltburn (2023) and Hallow Road (2025). In 2015, she earned an Oscar nomination for best actress for her role in 2014s Gone Girl, opposite Ben Affleck.

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The actress also starred in The Wheel of Time for three seasons, before Prime Video recently announced that it had been canceled.

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Pikes rep to see if she filed any charges against the suspect at the time of the mugging incident.

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RUSK, Texas (KETK)  The Rusk Rural Water Supply Company issued a boil water notice for some customers on Sunday morning.

Boil water notice dos and donts

Current areas affected are:

FM 752, FM 241 and U.S. Highway 69 S.

CR 1110, CR 2303, CR 2306, CR 2307, CR 2310, CR 2323, CR 2324, CR 2325, CR 2400, CR 2403, CR 2404, CR 2443, CR 2444, CR 2445 and CR 2446.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the Rusk Rural Water Supply Company to notify all customers, especially children, seniors and those with weakened immune systems to boil their water.

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To ensure destruction of harmful bacteria and other microbs, water for drinking, cooking and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes, the water company said. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes.

When the boil water notice is no longer necessary, Rusk Rural Water Supply Company said they will notify all customers affected.

Anyone with questions can contact Rusk Rural Water Supply at (903)-683-6178 between 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. or from 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
Russia launched a large-scale drone attack on the city of Kyiv on the night of 24-25 May. Debris from downed drones injured at least 11 people and damaged residential buildings in several districts of the capital.

Source: Tymur Tkachenko, Head of Kyiv City Military Administration, on Telegram; Kyiv City Military Administration

Quote from Tkachenko: "In the Holosiivskyi district, drone debris fell on a five-storey residential building. The site suffered partial destruction, and a fire broke out. Information on casualties is being confirmed."

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Details: Updated information from Kyiv City Military Administration indicates that four people sought medical treatment after debris hit the five-storey building.

Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko reported damage to a house in the Dniprovskyi district where medical personnel are currently examining one injured person. Another wounded person received treatment on the spot in the Desnianskyi district.

Quote from Klitschko: "Medics provided first aid to four people on the spot in student accommodation in the Holosiivskyi district. A piece of drone debris hit the building. The external cladding of one wall caught fire."

The aftermath of the Russian attack

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Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Update: At 02:24, Klitschko reported that another person had been wounded in the Desnianskyi district and taken to hospital.

Debris from a downed drone damaged windows in a residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district. Remnants of the drone were also found in the area around the building. Medics are examining another wounded person.

"As of now, seven people have been injured in the capital. Six received medical assistance at the scene," said Klitschko.

At 03:02, he confirmed the number of injured had risen to ten.

The aftermath of the Russian attack

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Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

The aftermath of the Russian attack

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Quote from Klitschko: "Two of them have been taken to hospital. Six received medical treatment at the scene. Two others are currently being examined in the Shevchenkivskyi district."

Details: As of 04:00, Kyiv City Military Administration confirmed 11 people had been injured, ranging in age from 18 to 62.

The aftermath of the Russian attack

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Background: Russia launched a large-scale drone attack on Kyiv and the oblast on the night of 24-25 May. Dozens of Russian drones were recorded in the sky.

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Russia's negotiating team in Istanbul has repeatedly stated that "an unconditional ceasefire is categorically unacceptable," Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhii Kyslytsia said in an interview aired on May 24 on Ukraine's national telethon.

Kyslytsia was present in Istanbul last week, as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met on May 16 to begin the first direct peace talks between the two countries in three years.

The Ukrainian team emphasized during the talks that both the Ukrainians and Americans continue to propose an unconditional ceasefire as the next step in a peace negotiating process, Kyslytsia said.

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"I do not think that (the Russian negotiating team's) directives had a position that allowed for the possibility of reaching an agreement with the Ukrainian side on a ceasefire," Kyslytsia said.

The peace talks in Istanbul concluded after less than two hours with no agreement between the two sides on a ceasefire.

After the talks concluded, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that Moscow has no interest in agreeing to a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying on May 21 that "we don't want this anymore."

A source in the Ukrainian President's Office briefed on the talks confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that Moscow's delegation insisted that Ukraine retreat from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, despite Russia not fully controlling any of them.

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The only concrete agreement from the discussions was the arrangement of a major prisoner swap, which was completed on May 25.

Read also: Ukraine brings home 307 POWs in 2nd phase of major prisoner swap with Russia

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Russia's air defenses destroyed and intercepted 110 Ukrainian drones overnight on May 25, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed.

The drones were intercepted over several regions of Russia, including Moscow and Kursk oblasts, according to the ministry.

The Defense Ministry also reported that drones were intercepted over Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims.

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Over the past week, Ukraine has launched several massive waves of drones deep into Russian territory, forcing airport closures multiple days in a row.

Ukrainian drones had forced at least 217 temporary airport closures across Russia since Jan. 1, independent Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on May 14, citing data from Russia's state aviation agency Rosaviatsia.

The attack overnight came as Russia launched its own massive aerial attack on Ukrainian territory, killing at least a dozen, including 3 children.

According to Ukraine's General Staff, Ukraine has destroyed 1,169 Russian air defense systems since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Read also: Russian missile, drone attack kills at least 12 in Ukraine

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The News

Russia launched a massive air attack on Ukraine, even as both countries exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in a swap US President Donald Trump had suggested could spur negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.

Russias overnight onslaught was the largest air attack of the war in terms of weapons fired, Reuters reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Washington to condemn Russia, saying that the silence of America  only encourages Putin.

Ukrainian and Western officials believe Russia will ramp up attacks through the summer, as analysts pointed to Trumps growing disengagement from the war.

What is clear to Ukrainians  is that without pressure from Washington, or hugely accelerated aid from Europe, the war will grind on, The Guardian wrote.
Russian forces launched a large-scale attack on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast using missiles, kamikaze drones, guided bombs and artillery on the night of 24-25 May. Several districts were hit, with damage reported to industrial facilities, residential buildings and infrastructure.

Source: Serhii Lysak, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Details: Lysak reported that Russian Shahed drones and missiles struck an industrial company in the city of Pavlohrad, causing a fire that was promptly extinguished by firefighters.

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Quote: "The enemy also targeted the city of Dnipro with a drone. A three-storey building caught fire. The fire was promptly extinguished."

Details: The Russians used drones and guided aerial bombs against the Mezhova, Novopavlivka, and Vasylkivka hromadas in the Synelnykove district. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories  ed.] As a result of the attacks, a house, a petrol station and another company were damaged.

In the Nikopol district, Russian forces used FPV drones, artillery and munitions dropped from UAVs. The city of Nikopol, as well as the Marhanets and Pokrov hromadas, were affected. One apartment building and four houses were damaged. A fire broke out in one of the houses.

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Russian forces launched a combined aerial attack on Ukraine on the night of 24-25 May, deploying 367 airborne weapons. More than 310 of them were either destroyed or disappeared from radar (without causing adverse effects).

Source: Ukrainian Air Force

Details: The Russians launched nine Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, 55 Kh-101 and Kalibr cruise missiles from Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers, one Kh-22 cruise missile from a Tu-22M3 bomber, four guided Kh-59/69 missiles and 298 strike UAVs.

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Quote: "Early reports indicate that 45 Kh-101 and Kalibr cruise missiles were shot down, and two Kh-59/69 missiles disappeared from radar.

Also, 266 enemy UAVs of Shahed and other types were downed over the east, north, south, west and central parts of the country. Of these, 139 were shot down by firepower, and 127 disappeared from radar or were suppressed by electronic warfare systems."

Details: The military personnel stated that most oblasts of Ukraine were affected by the attack. Hits were recorded at 22 locations, and debris from downed cruise missiles and strike UAVs fell in 15 locations.

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Russia's military advantage against Ukraine is declining, the Washington Post (WP) reported on May 24, citing U.S., European, and Ukrainian officials and military experts.

While Russia's military difficulties could be an opportunity for Ukraine's allies to mount pressure against Moscow in hopes of securing a ceasefire, U.S. President Donald Trump has backed away from international sanctions efforts and appears increasingly unwilling to challenge Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow faces critical shortages of weapons and manpower, making the time ripe for escalated pressure, multiple officials told the WP, many speaking on the condition of anonymity.

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"Russia is very gradually taking bits of territory still, but at an unsustainably high cost," said Richard Barrons, the former head of the United Kingdom's Joint Forces Command.

A Ukrainian security official told the WP that Russia was not able to gain ground despite its significant personnel advantages and that the slowed advance may be partly a result of Ukraine's incursion in Kursk Oblast, which aimed to divert Russia's military resources from the front lines.

"Russia is not able to take any ground, and this is the situation pretty much since the end of the Ukrainian counteroffensive," the official said, referring to Ukraine's attempt to retake Russian-occupied territories in 2023.

"Despite the fact that they still have three-to-one superiority in number of troops  and maybe even bigger in terms of (weapons) systems  it's still not enough."

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Western experts also calculate that Russia's arsenal of tanks is likely to run out in the next few months, the WP reported.

"The Russians can continue fighting, but  the force will become more and more de-mechanized over time, and that does put a timeline on how long they can sustain the current way they operate," Jack Watling, a senior research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told the WP.

Read also: Russian tank losses in Ukraine  Syrskyi claims 1,159 hit since start of year

Barrons also said Russia was running out of opportunities to conduct major offensives in Ukraine.

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"It is very unlikely now that the Russian military have the equipment, the people, and the training and logistics to mount an offensive that would break the Ukrainian line and  even if they did  to exploit it immediately," he said.

In light of these obstacles, coordinated pressure against Russia could be more effective now than any point since the eary days of the full-scale war, officials said.

According to a May report from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Putin still remains confident in Russia's ability to secure "ultimate victory" in Ukraine, including the full occupation of four Ukrainian regions.

This confidence is reflected in Russia's strategy of dragging out peace talks while escalating deadly attacks against Ukraine. Trump even admitted, just days after holding a two-hour phone conversation with the Russian leader, that Putin is not interested in peace because he believes he is winning the war.

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"Putin believes that time is on his side, and Ukraine is bleeding faster than Russia," a senior European official told the WP.

But some officials suggested that Putin may be basing his confidence on reports from subordinates that understate Russia's increasing difficulties.

"I think they overestimate the current success of Russia," one senior European official said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called Putin's continued delays in the peace process "a mockery of the whole world" in remarks on May 23.

"And it's definitely time to put more pressure on Russia," he said.

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Read also: Russia pushes forward in Donetsk Oblast, threatening Ukrainian pocket around Toretsk

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Serhii Kyslytsia, Ukraines First Deputy Foreign Minister and a member of the Ukrainian delegation at the talks with Russia in Istanbul, has revealed that the Russian delegation categorically rejected an unconditional ceasefire during negotiations on 16 May.

Source: Kyslytsia in an interview broadcast on the Ukrainian 24/7 joist newscast on Saturday 24 May

Details: Kyslytsia noted that the Russian representatives operated under strict Kremlin directives, which did not allow for any agreement on a ceasefire with Ukraine.

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Quote from Kyslytsia: "It was a highly experienced delegation, but they lacked the mandate to deviate from their instructions. They strictly followed Kremlin directives, voicing them and apparently fulfilling them. I do not believe that their directives included any possibility of reaching a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine."

Details: Despite proposals from both Ukrainian and US representatives for an unconditional cessation of hostilities, the Russian delegation showed no willingness to agree.

Quote from Kyslytsia: "They stated several times during the negotiations: An unconditional ceasefire is categorically unacceptable."

Background:

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On 16 May, delegations from Ukraine and Russia held direct negotiations in Istanbul.

Media reports stated that during the talks, the Russians demanded the exclusion of US representatives from the negotiations with Ukraine and presented a number of unacceptable conditions.

The Russian representatives voiced several demands to the Ukrainian delegation during a closed meeting in Istanbul on 16 May, setting out the conditions under which Moscow is ready to cease fire. These included Ukraine giving up its territories and claims for reparations.

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation in Istanbul, said during the talks that Russia was ready for an endless war against Ukraine and threatened to seize Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts. "We fought Sweden for 21 years. How long are you ready to fight?" he asked the Ukrainian side.

Kyslytsia described the Russian delegates, particularly Medinsky, as "behaving like gangsters" and issuing direct threats to the Ukrainian side.

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Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Russia's Migalovo Air Base in Tver Oblast came under attack by drones overnight on May 25, the Russian independent news channel Astra reported.

Locals reported that drones were targeting the air base and that explosions occurred in the area. Tver Oblast Governor Igor Rudenya confirmed that air defense units had intercepted unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the area.

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Rudenya claimed that five UAVs were shot down but reported no damage or casualties. He did not mention the Migalovo airfield. Later in the night he said that three more drones were shot down in the area and that air defense was active over Tver.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify these reports.

The Migalovo military airfield is located on the outskirts of Tver, over 1,300 kilometers (807 miles) from the Ukrainian border. The facility is a base for military transport aircraft, including the Ilyushin Il-76.

Ukraine has previously targeted Russian air bases in drone attacks, aiming to undermine Moscow's ability to carry out large-scary aerial assaults against Ukrainian cities. In March, Ukrainian drones successfully hit Russia's Engels-2 air base in Saratov Oblast.

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Kyiv has also launched several strikes against targets in Tver Oblast. In January and February, Ukraine struck the Andreapol oil pumping station in the region twice in two weeks. Previous targets have included ammunition depots and missile arsenals.

The latest reported attack on Tver Oblast came as Russia launched a large-scale aerial assault on Kyiv and cities across Ukraine. For the second night in a row, Moscow barraged Kyiv with drones and missiles, injuring civilians.

Explosions were reported in cities across the country as attacks continued throughout the night.

As Russia intensifies aerial attacks on Ukraine and the civilian death toll climbs, Ukraine has stepped up its drone attacks on Russian territory. The recent surge in drone strikes aims to disrupt airport operations, overwhelm air defenses, and mount pressure against the Russian population.

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Read also: Ukrainian drones shot down near Moscow as Russia attacks Kyiv, official claims

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Three children have been killed and 12 people injured as a result of a large-scale overnight Russian attack on Zhytomyr Oblast.

Source: State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES)

Details: The children were 8, 12 and 17 years old. Rescue workers have retrieved the body of one of them.





Medical personnel providing assistance

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Twelve people were injured, and eight were rescued by the SES. All the people have been taken to hospital.

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A five-storey building, houses and outbuildings were damaged in the Berdychiv district.





Rescue workers dealing with the aftermath of the Russian air attack

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

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Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Russia's large-scale attack on May 25 killed three people in Kyiv Oblast and injured 10 others, including two children, according to regional Governor Mykola Kalashnyk.

Russia barraged Ukraine with missiles and drones throughout the night, threatening every region in the country. The attacks marked the second night in a row Russia launched a mass aerial assault on Kyiv and other cities.

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The wave of attacks left three people dead in Kyiv Oblast, Kalashnyk said.

The bodies of two victims were found when first responders extinguished a fire in the Obukhiv district, he said. Another person was killed in the Bucha district.

Two other people in the Bucha district were wounded.

Six people were also injured in the Bila Tserkva district, Kalashnyk reported. Two of the victims were children.

In the Fastiv district, the attacks injured two women, the governor said.

Emergency services are at work at the attack sites.

Across Ukraine, attacks continued throughout the night and into the morning as Russia fired relentless waves of drones and missiles. Explosions were in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Konotop, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv.

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The night before, three civilians outside the capital in Kyiv Oblast were injured amid another large-scale Russian aerial attack.

Read also: Its terrorism  Russia launches one of the heaviest strikes on Kyiv during full-scale war

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A Russian military commander has claimed that President Vladimir Putin's helicopter was "at the epicenter" of a Ukrainian drone attack on May 20 in Russia's Kursk Oblast.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify this claim, and the commander did not provide any evidence.

"We were simultaneously engaged in an air defense battle and ensuring airspace security for the presidents helicopter flight," Yury Dashkin, commander of an air defense division, said, as cited by the Russian news agency RBC on May 25. "The helicopter was effectively at the epicenter of the response to the massive drone attack."

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Ukrainian observers noted that the claims could be an attempt to garner support for the Russian president by painting him as more closely involved in the fighting.

Putin visited Kursk earlier this week, marking his first known visit to Kursk Oblast since Russian forces took back most of the Ukrainian foothold in the region in March.

Ukraine launched its cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024, marking the first large-scale invasion of Russian territory by foreign forces since World War II. It held a significant portion of the territory until a successful counter-offensive by Russia in March, which was carried out with the help of North Korean troops.

Read also: Ultimate guide on how drones changed warfare in Ukraine

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A Russian missile attack on Khmelnytskyi Oblast overnight on 24-25 May has killed four civilians and injured five, causing significant damage to housing and social infrastructure.

Source: Serhii Tiurin, Head of Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Quote from Tiurin: "Khmelnytskyi came under a hostile Russian attack last night which destroyed civilian infrastructure and caused deaths and injuries. Preliminary reports indicate that four people have been killed. Five others sustained shrapnel wounds and are in hospital, one in a serious condition."

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Details: Tiurin said that six private residential buildings had been completely destroyed, and over 20 households had sustained varying degrees of damage. Social infrastructure facilities were also affected, including shattered windows at an educational institution and damage to public transport.

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Following a deadly overnight Russian attack on May 25, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova described the strikes as mocking diplomatic attempts at peace.

"Russians are relentlessly stepping up the pressure. Stepping up the terror against civilians," Mathernova wrote in a Facebook post. "The attacks are more intense and frequent. They laugh at the world!!! They mock the U.S. and mock any diplomatic attempt at peace. Peace? What peace?"

Russia launched 69 missiles and 298 drones overnight on May 25, according to Ukraine's Air Force. The attack killed 12 people, including three children, and injured more than 60, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

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"How will the world react to Putins terror and clear provocation? To his mockery of any ceasefire discussion? I must admit, I ask that myself," Mathernova wrote. "Putin is clearly after his stated goal, killing Ukrainians and forcing Ukraine into submission. Sadly, the only language he understands is the language of force."

President Volodymyr Zelensky, in response to the attacks, called for stronger sanctions on Russia and added that the silence from the U.S. and others "encourages Putin."

Representatives from Ukraine and Russia met recently in Istanbul on May 16, for the first direct talks between the two countries in three years. Though the Ukrainian team had pushed for an unconditional ceasefire, the discussions ceased without any apparent progress towards this goal.

Russia "categorically" rejected the appeal in Turkey, according to Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia, who attended the talks as a member of the Ukrainian delegation.

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After the talks concluded, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed on May 21 that Moscow had no interest in agreeing to a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying that Russia "doesn't want this anymore."

In response to the Russian attacks on May 24 and May 25, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) released a statement "deploring" the deadly new wave of attacks.

With at least 78 people reported killed or injured across the country, last nights attack tragically demonstrates the persistent deadly risk to civilians of using powerful weapons in urban areas, including those far away from the frontline, said Danielle Bell, Head of HRMMU.

It is yet another addition to the staggering human toll this war continues to inflict on civilians, with more families across the country now grieving their losses.

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Since the start of its full-scale invasion, Russia has routinely used missiles and drones to strike Ukraines civilian infrastructure.

Read also: Its terrorism  Russia launches one of the heaviest strikes on Kyiv during full-scale war

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Russian forces have launched an airstrike on a house in the town of Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, killing two women and injuring three other people.

Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Quote: "As of now, two people are reported to have been killed  women aged 85 and 56. A 60-year-old man and two women aged 75 and 68 have also been injured. Medics are providing them with the necessary assistance."

The aftermath of the Russian attack on Kupiansk

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Photo: Oleh Syniehubov

Details: Early reports indicate that the strike was carried out using a FAB-500 aerial bomb.

The aftermath of the Russian attack on Kupiansk

Photo: Oleh Syniehubov

Background:

On the night of 24-25 May, Russian forces launched a combined attack on Ukraine using 367 aerial weapons. More than 310 of them were either destroyed or disappeared from radar (without causing adverse effects).

As a result of the large-scale overnight attack, three children were killed and 12 people injured in Zhytomyr Oblast.

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Russia's drone attacks have become more complex and difficult to defend against.

A Ukrainian team leader overseeing a mobile air defense unit said the drones fly faster and higher.

He said his unit needs shoulder-launched missiles in addition to the machine guns it has been using.

Russia's drone attacks are becoming increasingly complex, with enemy threats becoming harder to kill, the team leader for a Ukrainian mobile air defense unit told Business Insider. He said higher-reaching weapons are needed to beat them.

Oleksiy, the deputy commander of an air defense unit with Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, said Russia's drone tactics have changed over the last few months; it is now operating drones at higher altitudes and using modified ones that can fly faster. This presents a challenge for air defenders, particularly those armed only with pickup truck-mounted machine guns.

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At the heart of Russia's drone attacks is the Shahed-136, an Iranian-designed weapon that Moscow now also produces at home. Historically, these one-way attack drones could fly at speeds of over 115 mph with a nearly 90-pound explosive warhead.

Though the Shaheds are slower and less lethal than cruise or ballistic missiles, they are significantly cheaper, allowing Russia to launch them in large-scale attacks. Last weekend, for instance, Moscow sent 273 of them into Ukraine, marking one of its largest drone attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion over three years ago.

Oleksiy, whose unit is tasked with protecting civilians and critical infrastructure on the outskirts of Kyiv, said that Russia still operates the conventional Shaheds. But Moscow is now using a modified version with an engine that enables it to travel at speeds of over 180 mph. It has also increased the explosive payloads of the old and new drones to more than double the original.

Russia's Shahed drones are increasingly becoming a headache for Ukraine's mobile air defense units. Photo by FLORENT VERGNES/AFP via Getty Images

Russia is using decoy drones, too. These don't have warheads but are designed to exhaust Ukraine's air defenses because they look convincing, appearing just as deadly as the real thing. And while they are unarmed, these drones can perform long-distance reconnaissance missions.

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Russia used to launch its Shaheds at low altitudes to avoid radar detection. However, it is now flying the drones higher, at over 8,000 feet  beyond the reach of the machine guns that the mobile units are using. BI previously observed Oleksiy's unit fielding a .50 caliber M2 Browning mounted in the bed of a truck.

Oleksiy said that this newer tactic makes the Shaheds inaccessible to mobile fire groups like his  all they can do is observe them and report back. These loitering munitions can then gather in a specific area and simultaneously strike targets. He said that while the Ukrainians can still shoot them down, the kill figures "have begun to decrease."

Russia's defense ministry and its embassy in the US did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the change in tactics described to BI.

In a February intelligence update, Britain's defense ministry wrote that Russia could likely launch at least 2,000 drones each month for the entire year. On Saturday night alone, it attacked Ukraine with almost 300 drones, Kyiv said.

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"To overcome this altitude barrier and stably engage drones with firepower, mobile groups need to use additional weapons," like shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, or MANPADS, Oleksiy said.

Ukrainian soldiers use MANPADS to take down Russian air threats. Anadolu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

MANPADS stands for Man-Portable Air Defense Systems. In Ukraine, common examples are the American-made FIM-92 Stinger or Soviet-era 9K38 Igla. These are typically used to shoot down threats like low-flying aircraft, such as helicopters, and even cruise missiles.

"Right now, there is a shortage of inexpensive, hand-held MANPADS systems to shoot down drones," Oleksiy explained. "The military is ready to undergo a rapid course in MANPADS operation and use this means of destruction when it is impossible to do so with machine guns."

He said that a combined-arms approach to destroying drones, like using portable missile launchers in tandem with machine guns, would strengthen Ukraine's ability to defend itself.

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"If our unit were additionally equipped with a manual MANPADS," he said, "the effectiveness of destroying air targets would increase by twofold."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Serhii Kyslytsia, Ukraines First Deputy Foreign Minister and a member of the Ukrainian delegation at talks with Russia in Istanbul, revealed that on 16 May, Russian delegates, led by Vladimir Medinsky, made threatening and inflammatory remarks, including Medinskys claim that the war against Ukraine is "Russians killing Russians".

Source: Kyslytsia, in an interview broadcast on Ukraines 24/7 joint news cast on Saturday 24 May

Quote from Kyslytsia: "The stream of vitriol, threats, cynicism and immoral statements was almost continuous. Youve heard about their lengthy pseudo-historical rants, demands for four regions today, eight or six tomorrow, or threats that some delegation members may lose more relatives. At one point, the head of the Russian delegation said, Essentially, war is when Russians kill Russians, with certain nuances. They deny our existence as a nation, telling us to our faces: You are not Ukrainian, you are Russian, and we are just killing you  Russians killing Russians."

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Details: Kyslytsia noted that the Russian delegation, acting under strict Kremlin directives, lacked the mandate to negotiate in the presence of US representatives, a condition they imposed before the talks. The Turkish hosts were present but did not participate. Despite Ukrainian and US proposals for an unconditional ceasefire, the Russians categorically rejected this, stating that "an unconditional ceasefire is categorically unacceptable".

Background:

On 16 May, delegations from Ukraine and Russia held direct negotiations in Istanbul.

Media reports stated that during the talks, the Russians demanded the exclusion of US representatives from the negotiations with Ukraine and presented a number of unacceptable conditions.

Russian representatives voiced several demands to the Ukrainian delegation during a closed meeting in Istanbul on 16 May, setting out the conditions under which Moscow is ready to cease fire. Among them are Ukraine's renunciation of territories and claims for reparations.

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation in Istanbul, said during the talks that Russia was ready for an endless war against Ukraine and threatened to seize Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts. "We fought Sweden for 21 years. How long are you ready to fight?" he asked the Ukrainian side.

Kyslytsia described the Russian delegates, particularly Medinsky, as "behaving like gangsters" and issuing direct threats to the Ukrainian side.

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For months, the city of Goma held its breath.

Since late 2024, its residents had watched the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels draw ever closer, capturing towns and villages in the hills of eastern Congo and inching towards their city, the lakeside capital of North Kivu province.

As the new year dawned, the rebels, who had mysteriously re-emerged in the misty mountains to the north two years earlier, seemed poised to strike and the mood in Goma was febrile.

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A million people fleeing the rebel advance in the countryside had taken shelter within the city, doubling its population. The newcomers brought with them stories of executions, pillaging and razed villages.

M23 has so far seized territory with little resistance, but the citys residents hoped it would be spared. Goma  garrisoned by the Congolese army, 300 Romanian mercenaries and 3,000 UN peacekeepers  was no village after all.

M23 rebel soldiers stormed Goma in a bloody assault that lasted seven days - Jospin Mwisha/Getty

The rebels had captured the city once before, in 2012. But in the face of international pressure, Paul Kagame, Rwandas president, had ordered them out after just 11 days. Presumably he would not risk his image as the Wests most indispensable African partner by attempting a repeat.

But on Jan 23, three days after Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term as president, Mr Kagame crossed the Rubicon.

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In a dawn assault, the rebels stormed the city with tanks stolen from the Congolese army, advancing under the cover of heavy shelling. Government forces collapsed, the mercenaries fled and peacekeepers remained in their barracks.

It was the largest rebel victory in eastern Congo in more than a decade, and the most brazen Rwandan intervention since the official end of Congos civil war in 2003.

Mr Kagames actions drew swift international condemnation and comparisons with Vladimir Putin, leaving diplomats at a loss to explain why one of Africas most astute leaders had undertaken such a colossal gamble and what he might do next.

Mr Kagame has long denied sponsoring M23, despite claims to the contrary by the UN and the US.

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The president, who seized power in 1994 after his rebels toppled the Hutu regime behind the genocide directed at his Tutsi minority, has long been accused of undermining Congo militarily and economically.

Western leaders mostly chose to look away, ashamed over their inaction during the genocide and impressed by Mr Kagames leadership style. Efficient and apparently incorruptible, he used development aid wisely, making Rwanda an African development paragon, and dispatched its troops to pacify troubled parts of the continent where the West had economic interests.

Britain became his staunchest supporter. Former aid ministers such as Baroness Chalker, Clare Short and Andrew Mitchell sang his praises. Sir Tony Blair described him as a visionary and later served as an unpaid adviser. For many years Britain was Rwandas biggest bilateral donor.

Sir Tony Blair was a staunch supporter of Mr Kagame, describing him as a visionary - Adrian Dennis/AFP

Mr Kagame may have been a dictator  winning more than 99 per cent of the vote in last years election  but diplomats argued dictatorship was necessary to protect Rwandas Tutsis from another genocide.

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The West therefore mainly stayed silent as abuses mounted, even when Mr Kagame was accused of sending death squads abroad to murder critics.

When Patrick Karegaya, his former spy chief, was found strangled in a Johannesburg hotel in 2014, Mr Kagame denied involvement but condoned the murder, saying: You cannot betray Rwanda and get away with it.

Even when Scotland Yard uncovered a Rwandan plot to assassinate dissidents in London, British benevolence remained unwavering. Mr Kagame paid his dues, distancing Francophone Rwanda from Paris, joining the Commonwealth and, in 2022, signing a deal to receive asylum seekers deported from Britain.

The lure of the east

Western silence often extended to Rwandas repeated interference in eastern Congo.

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Early interventions had some justification. In 1994, Mr Kagames rebels ended the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus and pursued the perpetrators into neighbouring Congo, where they swiftly regrouped.

But Rwandan complaints about the Hutu killers lurking across the border increasingly seemed like pretext as the threat faded.

Over the course of 30 years, Rwanda has openly invaded Congo three times, attempted to topple its government twice and succeeded once. It has backed a dozen rebel factions, participated in the weakening of Congos anarchic east and stands accused of plundering resources such as gold, tin and coltan. Millions have died as a result.

Rwanda has legitimate security concerns, while M23s claim to be fighting discrimination and violence against Congos Tutsi minority is not without foundation.

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But the Rwandan elites hunger for Congos minerals is a decisive factor, analysts say. Looting has been widespread for decades. Kigali exports far more minerals than it produces, thanks to proxy militias smuggling resources from artisanal Congolese mines, rights groups claim. Last year, Rwanda exported more than 1 billion of gold, despite having few supplies of its own.

Eastern Congo is blessed with resources such as gold, tin and coltan, but widespread looting has taken place - Eduardo Soteras

Mineral greed alone does not explain Rwandas latest military action, however. Critics note it has merrily plundered the east for years without triggering a war.

But in 2021, the status quo in the east changed when Uganda, another beneficiary of smuggled minerals, reached a deal with Felix Tshisekedi, the Congolese president, to build new roads connecting the easts mineral-rich heartlands to Ugandan territory, sidelining Rwanda.

Ken Matthysen, a regional expert at the International Peace Information Service, a Belgian research institute, said: The balance of power in the Great Lakes shifted. Rwanda felt its interests were endangered.

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Weeks later, M23 resurfaced.

The fall of Goma

Few expected M23 to seize Goma. A low-level war protected Rwandas mining interests, kept Congolese and Ugandan forces at bay and avoided too much unwelcome international attention.

Mr Kagames decision to gamble may have been influenced by the US election, diplomats say. Mr Trumps isolationist instincts and equivocal views on Russias invasion of Ukraine suggested that Washington would respond to Rwandan escalation with indifference.

So for seven days, chaos ensued in Goma.

There was constant shooting day and night, said Michel Safari, a 21-year-old mechanic who sheltered with his family at home in the north of the city. During a lull, he ventured outside only to be confronted by gunmen who stole his phone and shot him in the leg.

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Thousands were killed, including 20 peacekeepers. Aid workers struggled to treat the wounded in overcrowded hospitals. Morgues overflowed; corpses rotted in the streets. Amid the chaos, 4,000 male prisoners escaped the citys largest jail, raped more than 100 female inmates, locked them in the womens wing and set it ablaze.

The Congolese army collapsed. Officers, loyalist militia leaders and government officials scrambled onto ferries or seized dugout canoes to cross Lake Kivu, according to Shaman Hamuli, the president of Gomas main fishery, who witnessed the scenes.

Others hid at the UN peacekeeping base, including the 300 Romanian mercenaries, who later surrendered to the rebels.

By the end of January, Goma belonged to M23.

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Analysts disagree on Mr Kagames endgame. Some believe he wants a permanent foothold in Congo; others suspect he aims to force regime change in Kinshasa, Congos capital. Perhaps Mr Kagame himself is uncertain.

Jason Stearns, an expert on the Congo, said: One of the things you learn over the years is that Rwandan strategy is often more tactical than strategic.

They push a little, see whats possible, and keep on pushing. They adjust. They do a lot of course corrections. There is clearly the desire to project power into the eastern Congo, but is there a grand strategy? Maybe, maybe not.

While Rwanda wants to project power into eastern Congo, few know Mr Kagames endgame - Pater Andrews/Reuters

Whatever Mr Kagames intentions, it appears he failed to anticipate the strength of the international response. Britain suspended aid, the European Union placed a key economic partnership under review and the US imposed targeted sanctions.

In a startling turn, Mr Tshisekedi outmanoeuvred his Rwandan counterpart, offering Washington a Ukraine-style minerals deal in exchange for protection against M23 and its patron. Mr Trumps interest was piqued and he tasked Massad Boulos, his daughter Tiffanys father-in-law, with negotiations.

Mr Kagame found himself in unfamiliar terrain. After M23 seized Walikale and closed in on a large tin mine backed by US investors in late March, he received an unequivocal warning from the Trump administration.

3004 M23 DRC conflict

They gave him a very strong message to say move back now, or else, says a source familiar with the discussions. There was no carrot involved in the conversation; there was nothing but stick.

Mr Kagame swiftly complied. M23 withdrew and Congos front lines have remained largely frozen since.

Mr Kagame now finds himself in the unusual position of being at the receiving end of Western vilification, argues Michela Wrong, the author of a book about Karegayas killing.

With the exception of a brief moment in 2012, the world has never stood up to Kagame and said no, so hes reached the correct assumption that he can get away with it. She said. The question now is whether he has pushed it a bit too far.

The conflicts future now depends largely on Mr Trump, who is understood to be offering drones to the Congo as part of a package to deter Rwanda and reduce its military advantage in the region.

Mr Kagame has been told to sign a peace deal with Mr Tshisekedi at the White House in early July or face far more significant economic consequences, according to two diplomatic sources.

Donald Trump has told Mr Kagame to sign a peace deal with Felix Tshisekedi, the Congolese president - Nicholas Kamm/AFP

Under the deal, it is likely that M23 would have to withdraw from most of the territory it holds, including Goma. His economy still heavily dependent on Western aid, Mr Kagame may have no choice but to yield  for now.

But Rwandan compliance could be short lived. Unless the complex issues bedevilling Congos east, most notably those of ethnicity and land rights, are addressed, the region will remain volatile, lawless and vulnerable to outside interference.

Congos army remains hopelessly feeble, while the ragtag loyalist militias Mr Tshisekedi relies on in their stead do more to fuel the chaos than end it.

Without sustained diplomacy, something Mr Trump may not have the patience for, a new chapter of violence could easily begin in the near future. Mr Kagame simply needs to bide his time.

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Kai found Jesus as a teenager. A person of white and Hawaiian descent, Kai now goes by gender-neutral pronouns and identifies as mahu, the traditional Hawaiian term for someone in-between masculine and feminine. But when they first became Christian, the high-schooler identified as gay  and was committed to celibacy.

Kai  a pseudonym to protect their privacy  embraced their churchs welcoming but not affirming teachings about LGBTQ+ people, agreeing that same-sex intimacy was incompatible with being Christian. It felt good to be sacrificing for the Lord, Kai recalls. But they eventually realized they were harming themself.

I found myself unconsciously shutting down connection, Kai told us. Inside, I was crumbling in every moment because I was so fervently policing myself.

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Kai believed  and their church taught  that Gods own love is a gift, freely given. Nevertheless, they still felt that to be worthy of that love, Kai had to surrender their orientation and need for emotional connection, even with friends.

It took me a long time to be able to look back on that and say, Those were days when I hated myself, Kai said. I hated myself for the sake of demonstrating how much I loved God.

Kai began to reflect on what it meant to be Christian and concluded that Jesus didnt have a problem with same-sex marriage, or gender beyond clear ideas of male and female. Christian friends quietly cut Kai out of their lives.

As a sociologist and a philosopher, weve worked together to understand the experiences of LGBTQ+ conservative Christians. Kais story illustrates a dynamic that in our 2025 book, Choosing Love, we call sacramental shame.

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In Christianity, the word sacrament often refers to a particular rite, like baptism, that provides a tangible sign of Gods presence. Many of the LGBTQ+ Christians we spoke with felt that conservative congregations expected them to demonstrate shame for their identity to prove they hadnt turned their backs on God  that God was still present in their lives.

Weight of shame

Some Protestant denominations fully affirm LGBTQ+ identities, same-sex marriage and gender transition, and other churches are split.

Two women at a church in Suffolk, England, on Dec. 17, 2023, after blessings for same-sex couples were approved for Church of England services. Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images

But when we learned that LGBTQ+ people and their allies were advocating for change in conservative churches, we wanted to hear their stories.

In interviews and fieldwork, LGBTQ+ evangelicals told us that their churches often treated being cisgender and straight as though it were more important than the Ten Commandments. In some congregations, being LGBTQ+ is treated as an especially grave sin. But since people cant change their sexual orientation or gender identity at will, treating these things as sins creates an experience of endless shame.

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In the sacramental shame dynamic, churches require LGBTQ+ people to feel and display shame as the sign that they have not rejected God. Their churches, families and friends more or less require them to act as though their very capacity to love others, and to recognize the truth about themselves, is a danger to the people they love.

As one person recalled, there were a lot of [friends] that I cut off. And I thought I was endangering them. I thought that I was going to poison them.

Feeling unworthy of the love of God and other people can make people feel like their lives are not worth living. We heard about countless struggles with addiction, depression and suicide attempts  and sometimes even physical symptoms, like unexplained asthma attacks or autoimmune disorders that developed as LGBTQ+ people wrestled with the stress of trying fervently to be worthy of love.

Queer Christians of color

Sacramental shame isnt easy for anyone, but often it can be more complicated for Black or Indigenous Christians and other Christians of color. In part, thats because centuries-old racist tropes often depict minority groups in a sexualized way, as promiscuous or exotic. Not wanting to affirm those stereotypes can make it harder for LGBTQ+ Christians of color to navigate life.

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Kai, like many Christians, was drawn to the faiths message of love and justice for the oppressed. Religion can offer support and strength for dealing with the realities of racism. But that can sometimes turn into a pressure to disprove racism by behaving as respectably as possible.

LGBTQ+ Christians who are people of color sometimes feel added pressure. bojanstory/E+ via Getty Images

A Black, bisexual pastor well call Imani grew up in a church that quietly supported LGBTG+ people, but she never knew it. As a young person, Imani worried that her own sexuality might cause trouble for her mother, who had already been through a lot:

I was scared of embarrassing my mother.  All I could think about was the swirling doom that would be, if people found out.  I never even thought for a second that it was an option.

Some white respondents, too, feared that coming out would embarrass their parents. But for Imani, silence about her sexuality seemed necessary to protect the Black communitys respectability, as well as her familys belonging in the church.

We also met Darren Calhoun: a Black, gay man who was urged to try to fight being gay. His pastors ideas about how to fix Darren involved having him live in an out-of-state church building for four years, sleeping on the altar and fasting two days a week.

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It ended when Darren heard Christ telling him to stop hiding from life. So he went home, and his pastor told the church not to talk to him.

Shifting views

Some conservative Christians, including allies who arent LGBTQ+, are starting to change the conversation  and their own views.

In 2024, New Testament scholar Richard Hays and his son Christopher Hays drew ire from some fellow evangelicals by publishing a book arguing that Gods mercy creates room in the church for LGBTQ+ people. Before them, evangelical leaders such as Tony Campolo, David Gushee and James Brownson had also changed their minds.

Leaders or laypeople who have rethought the issue often pointed out to us that Jesus said all of the Ten Commandments come down to loving God and your neighbor. Some said their views began to shift when they remembered to exercise humility, realizing that they might not know everything about gender, sexuality and Gods plan.

In interviews, many Christians talked about the power of humility. Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images

For example, the Book of Genesis says that God created male and female; it also says God created day and night, and sea and dry land. But as transgender Bible scholar Austen Hartke writes in his 2018 book Transforming, recognizing night and day doesnt preclude sunsets. The fact that there are seas and dry land doesnt mean marshes are abominable.

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As Kai tried to share Gods love with other LGBTQ+ people, Kai came to realize that their churchs expectation for all LGBTQ+ people to be celibate wasnt just hurting me; it was hurting other people. Kai decided that As holy as this feels, its not the spirit of the Jesus I fell in love with when I became a Christian.

Humility is not the opposite of pride; it is a realistic awareness of your gifts and your limitations. When LGBTQ+ people celebrate pride, they are celebrating the often hard-won knowledge that they are human beings, worthy of love.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Dawne Moon, Marquette University and Theresa Tobin, Marquette University

Read more:



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Dawne Moon received funding for this project from the Templeton Religion Trust, the Association for the Sociology of Religion, the Louisville Institute, and Marquette University. In the course of conducting research for the project this draws from, she served from 2015-2017 on the board of the Center for Inclusivity.

Theresa Tobin received funding from the Templeton Religion Trust and Marquette University.
As Sacramento stares down the barrel of a $44 million budget deficit, theres one department the city refuses to hold accountable: the Sacramento Police Department.

Year after year, the police department bleeds taxpayer dollars through lawsuit settlements and bloated overtime under the guise of public safety, while leaving our communities with less transparency, trust and actual safety. Sacramentos police department routinely racks up more than $15 million in overtime spending annually  money pulled directly from vacant positions that were never filled, used instead to line the pockets of a select few officers.

Last year, city staff admitted in public records that there is no meaningful oversight of overtime practices within the police department. Despite repeated alarms sounded over the years, the system remains broken. There is no written policy justifying the mandatory minimum staffing excuse the department uses to justify endless overtime, no safeguards to stop abuse and no accountability for the officers routinely doubling their salaries on the backs of Sacramentos working people.

City priorities

In April, the city council had the opportunity to demand transparency by auditing the Sacramento Police Departments overtime spending. They refused.

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Lets be clear: This isnt about public safety, its about protecting a system prioritizing padding police paychecks over serving the people. Transparent California data reveals that dozens of Sacramento officers have overtime pay exceeding 100% of their base salaries for multiple years. According to data gathered by Transparent California via public records requests, one Sacramento officer received over $475,000 in overtime on top of his base salary since 2019, comprising over $925,000 in total pay; several others have taken home over a million dollars in combined pay and benefits from 2012 to 2023.

This isnt just irresponsible, its obscene.

Its only getting worse: While departments across the city are being asked to make painful cuts, the Sacramento Police Department is set to see its budget increase to $254 million. Programs supporting housing, youth services, arts and culture, public infrastructure maintenance and violence prevention are on the chopping block. Yet the police department  the citys largest department with 194 vacant positions and sky-high pay rates  was asked to cut just 27 positions this year (by comparison, 57 positions were cut from Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment).

How did we get here?

Lets follow the money: Since 2014, the Sacramento Police Departments labor associations have funneled over $96,000 in campaign contributions to a majority of sitting city council members, with $38,000 going to Mayor Kevin McCarty alone.

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Its no coincidence that the departments overtime abuse exploded the same year former City Manager Howard Chan took office. In 2017, the police departments overtime spending began its steady climb, with 81% of the departments total overtime spending since 2012 occurring in just the past seven years, over $127 million. (These numbers appeared in the Sacramento Community Police Review Commissions annual report and recommendations for 2024).

Public support from Sacramento Police Department brass was prominent during last years negotiations to extend Chans contract. The city manager has the final say in union negotiations, and with the departments union seeking to renew its contract, having the highest-paid city manager in your pocket is a strategic asset. Even under new leadership, the deck is stacked  and now theyre cashing in.

What are we paying for?

This is a department that takes more and gives less. According to a city-commissioned analysis, the Sacramento Police Department spends the overwhelming majority of its time on non-criminal matters. According to my research on crime and clearance data reported to the FBI and posted by the California Department of Justices Open Justice Data Explorer for Crimes and Clearances, the Sacramento Police Departments overall crime arrests are as low as 13%, with violent crime arrests being less than 40%.

Additionally, according to the Open Justice Data Explorer, less than 10% of its calls for service are related to violent crime, while its crime-solving has steadily declined alongside the overall crime rate. Yet every year, it demands more money, more personnel, more power, and has received over $100 million in new funding and 78 new positions over the last five years.

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Its time we ask: What are we actually paying for?

Sacramento deserves a city budget that reflects our values. That means investing in housing, health, education, parks and youth services  all of which create real community safety. While we reward police officers with record-setting budgets and runaway overtime for a model of policing that continues to fail us, city leaders are considering budget reduction strategies that would cut over $2.5 million to park maintenance, neighborhood improvements and youth programming. Were even entertaining the idea of charging unhoused seniors for the right to use public shelters.

The Sacramento City Council must immediately freeze the Sacramento Police Departments overtime spending, investigate overtime abuses and begin redirecting funds into services that actually keep us safe.

Keyan Bliss is senior manager of policy and organizing with the Anti Police-Terror Project and former chair of the Sacramento Community Police Review Commission.
(FOX40.COM)  The Sacramento Police Department has released body camera footage that provides more insight into an officer-involved shooting that occurred on May 2.

SPD responded to reports of a domestic violence incident involving a weapon at around 11:50 a.m. near Jibboom Street. The caller told officers that the suspect threw a knife at him, attempted to molest him, and stole his property.

Authorities then identified the suspect as Johnny Balcorta, 37, of Sacramento, who reportedly had a BB gun on him. During that time, he had a felony no-bail warrant out for his arrest.

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SPD stated that around noon, officers arrived at the scene and found Balcorta, who then fled on foot from the officers with what looked like a firearm in his hand. Officers went after Balcorta, but lost him near the waterline near Matsui Park.

Man convicted for neglecting dogs, running puppy mill

Additional officers were called to the scene and a large perimeter was established, according to SPD.

Around 1 p.m., SPD said that the officers located Balcorta and reportedly gave him multiple commands to surrender. A K9 was used to help arrest the suspect, and an officer-involved shooting started.

According to SPD, two officers fired their weapons and struck Balcortat at least one time. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital to be treated for his wound, where he remained in stable condition.

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Authorities stated that once he was medically cleared, officers would book him into the Sacramento County Main Jail.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Sir Sadiq Khan plans to give 500 new properties to the homeless amid a national housing crisis.

The Mayor of London said that he would refurbish the empty homes using 17 million of taxpayer money.

It follows one of his 2024 manifesto pledges in which he said he would eliminate rough sleeping in the capital by 2030.

What we are saying to councils, registered social providers is: if you have a property that is not fit for use, its in bad condition, let us take it over, Sir Sadiq told the London Evening Standard.

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The Government has given us 17 million. That will help us refurbish these properties, and we can put in these properties those with complex needs.

You cant expect after four weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks to get them out. That is why these homes are a lifeline for those people.

Sadiq Khan said that he would refurbish the empty homes using 17 million of taxpayer money

The announcement comes as property prices rise at their fastest rate in almost two years.

Those looking to buy a home also face an average price of 270,000, up from 50,000 30 years ago.

MPs have criticised the plans, accusing Sir Sadiq of hypocrisy and arguing he has ignored those who are unable to buy a house.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative MP for Chingford and Woodford Green and former leader of the Conservative party, told The Telegraph that it was a case of ignoring young families.

He says one thing but does another

He said: Typical of Khan. First he fails to get anywhere near his housing target which he pledged at the last election and now, with young families crying out for housing he ignores their pleas. He says one thing but does another.

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City Hall said that despite record levels of investment, including 10 million set aside earlier this year, the long-term consequences of the housing crisis combined with a slashing of local authorities budgets had meant that they had been forced into crisis management.

Under new plans, the availability of houses to prevent rough sleeping would be increased.

Sir Sadiq also plans to change rules by 2028 to enable help for the homeless without having to wait for them to spend their first night on the streets.

He also announced he would also open a network of ending homelessness hubs to try and reduce rough sleeping in London.

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About one in 50 Londoners is technically homeless and living in temporary accommodation, presenting a growing problem for the capitals boroughs, which have a legal obligation to provide adequate housing to those in need.

A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: The Mayor is proud of his housing record, which includes meeting the target set by the previous government to deliver 116,000 affordable homes across the capital.

Under his leadership, London has completed more homes than at any time since the 1930s and council housebuilding has hit the level since the 1970s  benefitting all Londoners, including young Londoners.

The mayor is determined to work with the Government to turn the tide on the last 14 years of underinvestment in affordable housebuilding, which has been a key driver of the homelessness and cost of living crisis in the capital and across the country.

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(FOX40.COM)  Police in Northern California recently arrested a man for allegedly committing the same crime he was charged with one week ago.

 Video Above: Most commonly reported crimes in the U.S.

On Saturday morning, the Galt Police Department was dispatched to the 1000 block of C Street for a stolen bicycle theft. Officers said they attempted to contact the suspect, a 30-year-old Galt man, but he immediately fled on foot.

The Galt Police Department arrested a man accused of repeat bike thefts./GPD

Man disappears amid attempt to walk from Northern California to the ocean

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The man was followed by law enforcement through multiple business complexes where he was caught and arrested, according to GPD. The stolen bike was located and returned to its owner.

Police said he is the same suspect who was arrested in a separate bike theft incident last weekend. The suspect was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail for alleged petty theft and resisting arrest, according to GPD. He was released from custody on the same day.

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SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage)  Derek Randall Carson, 17, was arrested and booked into the Tom Green County Jail on Saturday in connection with the alleged shooting of a 16-year-old male on the 4400 block of Bermuda Drive that morning.

San Angelo Police: teen dead, 17-year-old charged with murder in Bermuda Drive shooting

According to Tom Green County Jail records, the suspect, Carson, is charged with murder and is currently being held without bail.

Early morning shooting leaves one injured in Southwest San Angelo, Police investigate

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Assistant Police Chief Craig Thomason shared in a press conference on Saturday morning that the case remains active.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ConchoValleyHomepage.com.
May 25BEMIDJI  Five Sanford Health hospitals, including Sanford Health of Bemidji, were recognized for their dedication to heart patients by the American College of Cardiology in the ACC advertising insert in the 2025 U.S. News and World Report "Best Hospitals" Guidebook.

Along with Sanford Bemidji, Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls and Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center were honored in South Dakota, and Sanford Medical Center Fargo and Sanford Medical Center Bismarck were honored in North Dakota.

All five hospital locations are committed to providing top-level care, a release said. Through participation in the ACC's proven quality programs, these hospitals inform their robust quality improvement processes using data to drive improvements in adherence to guideline recommendations and overall quality of care provided to heart patients.

"Sanford Health continues to be a leader in providing world-class care to our cardiovascular patients," Bill Gassen, president and CEO of Sanford Health, said in the release. "With five of our hospitals across three states recognized by the American College of Cardiology, it reflects our commitment and dedication to deliver consistent and quality care across our footprint."
The city of Santa Fe announced the upcoming departures of two high-level employees at public meetings this week: the directors of Youth and Family Services and Public Works.

After nine years with the city, Youth and Family Services Director Julie Sanchez will leave July 4 for a new role at the state, where she will serve as a director of planning policy and special projects in the Department of Aging and Long-Term Services.

Community Services Director Henri Hammond-Paul announced Sanchezs resignation Wednesday to city councilors on the Quality of Life Committee.

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Were incredibly excited by whats next for her and seeing her continue to thrive, but were also heartbroken that shell no longer be with us, he said.

Sanchezs portfolio includes most of the citys social services work, including homelessness and housing efforts, violence prevention, early child care and eviction prevention. The department received millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act during the coronavirus pandemic.

Public Works Director Regina Wheeler announced at a Public Works and Utilities Committee meeting Monday she will retire in January. Wheeler has been with the city since July 2018.

Wheeler said its been an honor to serve the city, and she believes her department will be in good hands after she leaves.

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You have a great public works team that is doing incredible work. Theyre just a machine, she said. I think with the knowledge the governing body has about where investments are needed, its just set up for success in the long run.

The two departures create the need for additional job searches at a time when the city is recruiting for a number of top positions, including public utilities director, affordable housing director, risk manager and equity and inclusion director.

Regina Wheeler headshot (copy)

Regina Wheeler

The city also is searching for a new airport manager, as former manager James Harris last day was Friday. He announced last month he was stepping down to serve as manager of the Waco Regional Airport in Texas.

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Former airport security coordinator Jimmy Gunn will serve as interim manager while the city searches for Harris successor, city spokesperson Regina Ruiz said Thursday.

The city last month hired Elisa Montoya as the new community development director after a nearly 10-month vacancy, and City Manager Mark Scott said he believes the city is really close to hiring a new deputy city manager following the previous deputys departure in January.
The Endangered Species Act always had a hole in it. It was intended to protect ecosystems as well as individual speciesit says so right in the original 1973 textbut it has no provisions to do so directly. For decades, conservationists successfully plugged that hole by arguing in court that the ESAs prohibition of harm to individual species includes destroying a species habitat. Now the Trump administration wants to negate that argument by asserting that to harm an endangered species means only to injure or kill it directly: to rip it out by the roots or blow it away with a shotgun.

Habitat destruction has been the most common threat to endangered species in the U.S. since 1975. If the administration succeeds in redefining harm to exclude it, the Endangered Species Act wont be able to effectively protect most endangered species.

That much of the acts power can be destroyed by tweaking its definition of one phrase reveals its central weakness. Preserving old-growth forest for a single owl species (to give a classic example) means the forestand everything living theresuddenly loses protection if that owl goes extinct anyway (as the northern spotted owl very well could). And the law requires that the government undertake heroic and expensive measures to save the most imperiled species, rather than using habitat protection to shore up populations before they truly crash. The act has no concept of preventive medicine, the conservation advocate and author Suzanne Winckler wrote in these pages in 1992. On the contrary, it attempts to save the hardest cases, the equivalent of the terminally ill and the brain-dead.

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Conservationists havent really wanted to talk about this, though, on the theory that opening debate about the law would risk losing it all. The ESA passed during a unique moment in the early 1970s, when a Republican president could talk about the nations environmental awakening, and for all its flaws, the act is still considered one of the strongest and most effective biodiversity-protection laws in the world. But the Trump administration has now opened that debateforcing a conversation about how we protect species and ecosystems that some conservationists say is long overdue.

Many conservationists have a long-standing dream solution to the ESAs circuitous mechanism for protecting places: What if we just protected ecosystems directly? Forty-one percent of terrestrial American ecosystems are at risk of collapse, according to a 2023 report by NatureServe, a nonprofit that collects and analyzes data on biodiversity. Most of them are largely unprotected.

Jay Odenbaugh, an environmental philosopher at Lewis & Clark College, in Portland, Oregon, told me that shifting to protecting ecosystems would obviate the need to chase down every last little species. It would be more efficient. We cant save everything, Odenbaugh said. What we are trying to do is protect larger structural features.

Reed Noss, a conservationist based at the University of Florida and the Southeastern Grasslands Institute, does still want to try to save every species. But he argues that only a fewlarge carnivores that face persecution and orchids collected for illegal trading, for exampleneed special, individual protections. Meanwhile, Noss estimates that 85 percent of species could be saved by simply protecting a sufficiently large chunk of each type of American ecosystem. He has therefore been one of the most vocal advocates for what he calls a native ecosystemprotection act to supplement the ESA since the 1990s.

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The U.S. already has multiple systems that categorize lands and fresh water into ecosystem types. The U.S. National Vegetation Classification, for instance, describes natural systems at a series of scales from very broad types, such as Forest & Woodland, to hyper-specific descriptors, such as Eastern White Pine-Eastern Hemlock Lower New England-Northern Piedmont Forest. An ecosystem-protection act would direct the government to choose (or develop) one such classification system, then ensure that each type of ecosystem had sufficient area protected.

Making that decision would surely involve ecologists arguing over how to categorize ecosystems. Philosophers might argue about whether ecosystems even existif they are more than the sum of the organisms that comprise them. But, for the purposes of policy, more important than arriving at essential truths would be creating categories that make sense to the public and describe the things the public cares about: old-growth forest, tallgrass prairie, the Everglades, Great Basin sagebrush steppe, the deciduous forests of the Northeast, and so on. Something like this was tried with Pacific Northwest old-growth forest in the 1990s; known as the Northwest Forest Plan, it is meant to protect not just the owl but old growth more broadlybut the plan, which is still in use, covers only one ecosystem type.

Part of the appeal of a system that directly protects ecosystems is that it recognizes that theyre dynamic. Species have always moved and evolved, shifting the composition and relationships within systems through time. And today, climate change is prompting many species to move. But Odenbaugh and Noss see ecosystems as entities that will remain coherent enough to protect. Florida, for instance, has sandhill ecosystems (sandy hills that support longleaf pine and oaks with wire grass) and wet flatwoods (which are seasonally inundated)and a sandhill and a flatwoods are going to remain a sandhill and a flatwoods even if their species composition changes due to climate change, Noss told me. A robust network of many different kinds of ecosystemsespecially one well connected by corridors so species can movewould support and protect most of Americas species without the government having to develop a separate plan for each flower and bee.

Many who fight on conservations front lines still hesitate to advocate for such a law. The Endangered Species Act, as it is, achieves similar purposes, they argueand it could be pushed in the opposite direction that the Trump administration wants to pull it.

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When I spoke with Kieran Suckling, executive director for the Center for Biological Diversity, which is dedicated to forcing the federal government to abide by its own environmental laws, he described his vision of a conservation-minded president who could, like Donald Trump, use executive power quickly and aggressively, only to conserve nature. The secretary of the interior and the head of Fish and Wildlife, they have, already, the power under the ESA to do basically anything they want, as long as it is supported by the best available science, he said. So, in theory, they could translocate species to help them survive climate change, or broaden the boundaries of critical habitat, which is protected from destruction by actions taken, permitted, or funded by the federal government (unless exceptions are granted).

Daniel Rohlf, a law professor at Lewis & Clark College who has studied the ESA for more than three decades, agrees that decisive leadership could do more to protect ecosystems by skillfully wielding the current ESA: Critical habitat could be treated as sacrosanct. Federal actions could be assessed not just for direct harm to species but for the harm they would cause via greenhouse-gas emissions. The range of a species could be defined as its historic or possible range, not just the scraps of territory it clings to in the present. You could do all that tomorrow under the current version of the act, Rohlf told me. And he believes that, unlike many of the actions Trump is taking, a lot of these stronger interpretations would likely hold up in court.

The political prospects for an entirely new ecosystem-protection act are low, even in a Democratic administration: Although 60 percent of Americans tell pollsters that stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost, these days politicians of all stripes seem to want to cut red tape and build stuff. And Suckling believes that his organization and others like it will be able to block or undo Trumps proposed changes to the ESAs definition of harm. We overturned all his first-term ESA regulation changes and are confident well overturn this one as well, he said. The U.S. may well just keep conserving the way we have been, through the ESA, and often in court.

But an ecosystem-protection act could also be a unifying cause. Love for American landscapes is bipartisan, and protecting ecosystems would not necessarily mean outlawing all human use inside them. Ranching and recreation are compatible with many ecosystems. Tribal management could protect biodiversity and support traditional use. Caring for these ecosystems takes work, and that means jobsphysical, outdoor jobs, many of which can be filled by people without college degrees. Farmers and ranchers can also be compensated for tending to ecosystems in addition to growing food, buffering their income from the vagaries of extreme weather and trade wars.

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The United States is an idea, but it is also a place, a beautiful quilt of ecosystems that are not valuable just because they contain biodiversity or even because they filter our water, produce fish and game, and store carbon. Our forests, prairies, mountains, coastlines, and swamps are knit into our sense of who we are, both individually and as a people. We love them, and we have the power to protect them, if we choose to.

Article originally published at The Atlantic
Editors note: This story is part of Hard Times, a special report by The Republican on the challenge of healing from civic trauma.

In struggling neighborhoods across the city of Springfield, children grow up in survival mode.

You cant address trauma without understanding the history of urban poverty  segregation, neglect and marginalization, said Yolanda D. Johnson, chief of student services for the Springfield public schools.

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Life in survival mode wears students down, making it hard to learn. But we want our students to thrive, Johnson said.

In Springfields schools, 85% of students are from low-income families, nearly double the state average, and 89% have high needs.

In struggling neighborhoods, children grow up in survival mode, Johnson said, which wears them down, making it hard to learn. But we want our students to thrive.

To do that, educators must acknowledge trauma as a reality, said Yveline Hulse, a school adjustment counselor in Springfield. She follows the four Rs: Realize trauma exists, recognize students specific experiences, respond appropriately and build resiliency. We have to create islands of competency for our children to succeed, she said.

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It all starts with relationships.

Poverty does not mean you cant learn, Johnson said. The challenge is how schools interpret students struggles.

Damion Dallas, a school adjustment counselor, says the key is trust. Square one is establishing a relationship, he said. So many kids dont have a safe outlet to communicate their concerns.

In Springfield, that means implementing a primary person model  ensuring each student has a trusted adult in school. Research shows that increasing belonging reduces anxiety and trauma symptoms, Johnson said.

Teachers need to step in early, not just when things go wrong. If you know your students, you should know their triggers, Hulse said. We have to be present, ask how we can help, and respond before issues escalate.

Role of classroom

At the end of the day, what happens in the classroom is what really counts. Its one thing to have a trauma-informed district, Hulse said, but what happens in the classroom every day makes the biggest difference.

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For a child experiencing trauma, the classroom can feel like a howling wind tunnel  overwhelming, chaotic and impossible to focus in.

Trauma takes up operating bandwidth they cant put into impulse control, said Tim Oaks, a trauma therapist who works at the Northampton Trauma Institute and Child Trauma Institute.

As a result, students may be misinterpreted as disruptive when, in reality, they are struggling to regulate their emotions.

The Massachusetts Department of Education urges schools to become trauma-sensitive  training staff to identify trauma, adjust teaching methods and connect students with mental health resources.

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Its all about keeping things on an even keel. Predictability helps students feel more secure  reducing transitions and providing advance notice can make a significant difference, Oaks said.

Supportive spaces

While public schools strive to implement trauma-sensitive practices, alternative programs like The Care Center in Holyoke have created deeply supportive spaces that transform lives.

The center sits in a neighborhood struggling with poverty, where violence and trauma are part of daily life.

Yet inside its renovated red brick mansion, the school provides a supportive environment where young mothers and low-income women thrive  often in ways they never have before.

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Each year, approximately 100 students enroll in The Care Centers college preparatory program, while an additional 50 take part-time college courses at partnering institutions. Seventy-five percent of its graduates enroll in college, far above the national average for high school equivalency earners. Additionally, 95% of its college students are the first in their families to attend college.

Our goal is to create an environment where our students feel emotionally and physically safe, said Executive Director Oona Cook. We pay very close attention to what might be triggering for our students and address it immediately.

The centers staff members approach each student as an individual, addressing their specific academic and emotional needs. Our small classrooms give us the opportunity to really build close relationships, Cook said. Classes sometimes have as few as 10 students.

The school promotes a culture of resilience.

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Its not just about where you came from, Cook said. Its also about what youve endured and the changes youre able to make moving forward.

Outside the classroom, students do hands-on art, visit museums and take part in activities like rowing, yoga and pickleball. Most importantly, students learn they belong in school.

I was talking to one student yesterday who started in our high school program, Cook said. The first day she came here, she felt like her daughter, who was in our daycare, had 10 new aunties. When she walked in the door, she felt like part of a family.

That same student is now in the centers microcollege, and her mother has applied to start next semester. Seeing families succeed, Cook said, is inspiring.

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Theres the transformation of the student, and because our students are also young mothers, theres the transformation happening for their children, Cook said. But it doesnt stop there. It extends to their parents, siblings, and partners. It changes their community.

Read the original article on MassLive.
A rapid decline has Costa Rican conservationists concerned about the future of an iconic beetle species.

What's happening?

For generations, the arrival of abejones de mayo, otherwise known as May beetles, has meant the May rainy season is set to begin in Costa Rica. But now, as The Tico Times reported, fewer are showing up each year.

Researchers estimate that the May beetle population has decreased by as much as 95% over the last 40 years.

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"For many Costa Ricans, spotting abejones buzzing around porch lights marked the start of the rains," University of Costa Rica biologist Andres Arias told the Times. "Now, they're a fleeting memory."

Scientists say three factors are largely responsible for this decline: rising global temperatures, widespread urbanization, and rampant pesticide use.

As the planet warms due to human-caused pollution, the rainfall and other seasonal cues these beetles rely on have changed, uprooting their lives. And that has been exacerbated by the heavy use of chemical-laden pesticides. Costa Rica uses more pesticides on a per capita basis than any other Latin American country.

Experts warn that if things don't change soon, the May beetles might not survive.

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"Losing them means losing a piece of who we are  and a warning we can't ignore," Arias told The Tico Times.

Why is this concerning?

This is part of a troubling trend occurring worldwide as insect populations plummet across the globe.

Insects make up about 80% of Earth's animal life and are crucial to our planet's health. They pollinate plants, giving life to flowers, fruits, and vegetables. They feed on plants and animals, including other insects, helping keep population levels in check. And they are the primary food source of many other animals.

But a 2023 analysis by the University of California, Riverside, found that, during the same 40-year time span as the May beetle's decline, global insect populations have fallen by about 45%. And the World Wildlife Fund warns that up to 40% of insect species could become extinct by the end of this century.

What's being done to save beetles?

One bill currently being discussed by Costa Rican lawmakers would go a long way toward saving the May beetle, as it would ban pesticides that meet the World Health Organization's criteria for high toxicity.

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And conservationists hope that these dwindling population numbers will prompt other action to preserve beetles and their habitats. There are examples of such action working. For example, researchers in Nebraska have noticed an increase in American burying beetle numbers, the first population increase in more than 35 years.

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Populations of the lesser goldfinch, native to the American Southwest, are traveling northward, likely because of the changing climate and landscape modification, according to a Cornell University writeup published by Phys.org.

While they have adapted well to their new habitats, their behavioral changes and invasions into ecosystems that are not native to them could be a cause for concern.

What's happening?

A team of researchers from Washington State University and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology studied data to track the lesser goldfinch's movement.

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When lead writer Mason Maron visited Eastern Washington, Maron noticed flocks of 30-40 goldfinches fluttering around. Per Phys.org, he learned from locals that 10 years ago, there were no lesser goldfinches in the area.

"So," Maron said, "I started to investigate what was going on."

Maron and the team's study determined that lesser goldfinch populations increased by 110.5% in Washington, 66.3% in Idaho, and 16.9% in Oregon between 2012 and 2022, as stated in the journal Ornithology.

Why are these migrating populations of the lesser goldfinch important?

"Our results are suggestive of this species being able to pretty rapidly colonize new environments," said co-author Jordan Boersma, per Phys.org.

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While the impressive way the lesser goldfinch has adapted to new habitats is indicative of its tenacity, it makes the species invasive. As the species eats the food available in their new environments, they disrupt the ecosystems they have invaded.

This phenomenon is damaging to other members of the invaded ecosystem while also changing the moving species' behaviors. According to a research article by Florian Ruland and Jonathan Jeschke in the Journal of Animal Ecology, invasive animals in new habitats have to change their behaviors to thrive.

The article said that when a species biologically invades an area, it must change its behavior to find food, evade predators, and adapt to new competition. The lesser goldfinch's adaptability is impressive, yet damaging, and the species should not have been left to make these life changes in the first place.

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The birds are moving toward areas with higher maximum temperatures and rainfall in response to rising global temperatures.

What's being done about climate-related animal habitat changes?

Controversially, some conservationists believe assisted migration, when humans intervene and relocate entire species to new areas, is a viable way to save them. Some states are on board with this belief, but many fear the consequences of introducing potential invaders to other habitats.

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So, the lesser goldfinch's move north into Eastern Washington to survive is a positive to some, but it could be dangerous. Results from the study on the lesser goldfinch, however, should give researchers more insight to the potential impacts of assisted migration as well as reason to conduct further studies.

"Understanding how birds like the lesser goldfinch respond to climate change and urbanization helps us predict how other species might also be impacted," Boersma said.

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It can take years or even decades for communities to recover from hurricanes. Latin America is still reeling from hurricanes Eta and Iota, which hit two weeks apart in 2020.

According to The Loss and Damage Collaboration, Hurricane Iota affected 7 million people. On the Colombian islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina, Iota reportedly destroyed 98% of the infrastructure.

Colombia and Honduras had been dealing with the effects of rising temperatures before the storms hit, including other hurricanes, droughts, floods, and rising sea levels.

What's happening?

Fish used to be a food source, but fishing has become more difficult.

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Dagoberto Majano from Honduras blames warming temperatures for this. "Within the climatic situation, there has been a shortage of fish because the sea has warmed a lot, the waters warm, and the species try to go to the depths further away," he said, per The Loss and Damage Collaboration.

Agriculture is also not providing for these communities like it used to, forcing people to migrate.

Honduras resident Delvis Velazquez Cardenas said that food became more expensive in the drier weather. This forced her husband to move to the U.S. to find work. That was a common consequence.

People also lose their homes. Francis Azucena Cruz told The Loss and Damage Collaboration: "I had a house. ... Now it is at the bottom of the sea."

Why is climate migration concerning?

According to Molly Wood, a journalist and tech investor, warming temperatures are like steroids for weather. These storms were already going to happen, but the warmer weather intensifies them.

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As storms become more unpredictable and dangerous, more people will be forced from their homes. It's not just Latin America seeing climate migration. In the U.S. between 2000 and 2022, about 3.2 million people moved or were displaced because of flooding risks.

Dirty energy contributes to the planet's warming and the strengthening of extreme weather events. Burning fossil fuels, mining, and drilling are all considered dirty energy because they produce polluting gases.

What's being done about climate migration?

To understand what's happening, you should explore critical climate issues to find solutions. One way to reduce climate migration is to reduce dirty energy use, such as by installing solar panels with a battery on your home.

Solar panels don't produce polluting gases, so they cut down on what's emitted into the atmosphere. They also make your home more resilient in extreme weather events since you won't have to rely on the grid during power outages.

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EnergySage has a marketplace where you can seamlessly compare installers in your area, just like you would insurance providers. The energy company can also help you save up to $10,000 on installation costs.

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Citizen scientists have made a rare and exciting discovery in Renishaw Hills, South Africa, according to the South Coast Herald. The group of locals identified a rare sable cruiser dragonfly.

The phrase "citizen scientists" is used to describe community members who gather information on the local environment. In Renishaw Hills, 44 locals make up the group. Together, they created a project on the global iNaturalist platform, and for the past three years, they've been studying the wildlife and biodiversity in the Renishaw Coastal Precinct.

"Citizen science opens the door to an advanced system where biodiversity observations may be made constantly across the globe and shared instantly via a vast network," citizen scientist Tim McClurg told the Herald.

Photo Credit: Tim McClurg

What makes the sighting of the sable cruiser dragonfly so impressive is the species' rarity. According to IOL, since its discovery in 1920, there have only been about 20 recorded sightings. By recording the sighting, the citizen scientists are documenting the species' geographic range.

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"The response was immediate and enthusiastic from our local group of experts, among them Peter Small, who confirmed it was a sable cruiser, which is incredibly rare, localised and vulnerable," McClurg added.

The group has gathered a significant amount of data, making 13,863 observations spread across 1,796 species. With each new observation and recording, the group adds to its understanding of the region's biodiversity.

The use of tools such as trail cameras can help document biodiversity and protect species. By learning more about the natural world through initiatives including citizen scientist projects, residents can better preserve the landscapes and wildlife of their areas.

The sighting of the sable cruiser dragonfly sparked curiosity among fellow scientists and experts since it marked the southernmost location of the dragonfly.

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"This raises a few questions," McClurg said. "Has it always occurred here and simply been overlooked? Was it blown down in a storm? Is there a link with global warming? These are the questions that we may be able to answer with a vastly increased iNaturalist database."

Moving forward, the citizen scientists are eager to learn more about the environment and contribute vital data that aids biologists across the globe.

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Expert climate scientists at Columbia University have developed a new interactive tool that can help predict natural disasters so the government can prepare for them.

They led the U.S. Natural Hazards Climate Change Projections project with a group of researchers to create an interactive dataset with maps and graphs, according to a post by the Earth Institute at Columbia University in Phys.org. The dataset can track and predict climate change-fueled extreme events on a county level.

These detailed estimates provide vital information to governments, city officials, disaster relief organizations, and residents. Better preparation for natural disasters is good for the environment and can mean less expensive damage and fewer injuries and deaths.

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In their testing, the researchers found that San Diego and Washington State are both at a high risk for wildfires, and it could get worse. North Dakota and South Dakota could also see an increased risk for wildfires, and the East Coast may soon see more tornadoes.

"While the challenges of climate change and disasters may seem overwhelming, it is also important to note that we have more knowledge at our disposal than ever before," said Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, a climate professor at the Columbia Climate School, per Phys.org.

"By working across sectors and engaging partnerships like this, we can provide data that is empirically rigorous and immediately relevant to stakeholders outside of academia. This helps to foster better decisions, better investments and better resilience for our communities."

The team released the dataset tool in April as open source and available to everyone. It's an important resource in a time when the Trump Administration is cutting funding to FEMA and taking down governmental agency tracking websites.

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"By making this data available in an accessible format, we aim to support not just climate scientists and risk modelers, but also urban planners, emergency managers and researchers in other fields, like economics or human mobility," said Simona Meiler, a postdoctoral climate researcher at Stanford University, per Phys.org.

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Sean "Diddy" Combs requested that his assistants bring a very specific  and unusual  list of food items he required for traveling, former employees said during the rapper's trial

The mogul and his team used a Black Amex card to buy luxury items, as well as food items such as applesauce for his hamburgers and ketchup for traveling abroad

Combs currently faces charges including sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution







Sean "Diddy" Combs had a very specific  and unusual  list of food items he required for his travels around the world, according to his former employees.



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While testifying at Combs' sex trafficking trial on Thursday, May 22, ex-employee George Kaplan described how the rapper and his team used a Black Amex card to cover everything Combs requested, from baby oil to yacht rentals and luxury villas.

When defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo questioned if those items included applesauce, Kaplan explained, "Mr. Combs loves applesauce, and eats it on the side or top of a lot of things.

"Cheeseburgers?" Agnifilo asked, to which Kaplan responded, "Cheeseburgers being one of them."

Ricky Vigil M / Justin E Palmer/GC Images Sean "Diddy" Combs in London in November 2023. Sean "Diddy" Combs in London in November 2023.

Combs is also obsessed with ketchup, David James, who was an assistant to the music mogul from 2007 to 2009, previously testified on Tuesday, May 20.

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"Ketchup was a big item that he always needed for his food, so it was just the consistency, to create a consistent environment for wherever he was," James testified.

He claimed that when they flew to the U.K., he always brought Heinz ketchup because "the tomato sauce didnt meet Combs' standards."

James also said he regularly packed applesauce, detailing that it was a favorite food item for Combs.

During the trial, Agnifilo asked James, "Were you aware he put applesauce on his cheeseburgers?" He replied, "I was not aware, but I knew he liked applesauce."

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Combs' former employees have testified about these unusual details as prosecutors attempt to learn more about the rapper's alleged sex trafficking, racketeering and other charges  including transportation to engage in prostitution.

Federal agents found a number of noteworthy items during a 2024 raid of Combs' $48 million Miami mansion that the musician allegedly owned  including AR-15-style rifles, some with their serial numbers scratched off, as well as loaded magazines, drugs such as MDMA and Xanax, sex toys and lingerie and 25 bottles of Johnson's Baby Oil, as well as one rubber duck.

Elizabeth Williams via AP Sean "Diddy" Combs at his sex trafficking and racketeering trial on May 19, 2025 Sean "Diddy" Combs at his sex trafficking and racketeering trial on May 19, 2025

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Combs' trial began on May 12 after he was initially arrested in September 2024. He has denied all of the allegations against him and pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges.

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So far, jurors have heard from his former employees Kaplan and James, his former girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura and her mother, a makeup artist and Kid Cudi.

The trial is expected to last several weeks, and Judge Arun Subramanian recently confirmed that the trial will most likely conclude before July 4. Combs is currently being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. If convicted on all counts, he faces a potential life sentence.



If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.



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Editors note: This article has been updated because the Virginia State Police corrected the victims name.

UPDATE 8:28 P.M. BEDFORD COUNTY, Va (WFXR)  Virginia State Police has seized a vehicle believed to be connected to the crash.

Police said damage to the vehicle is consistent with evidence left at the scene of the crash.

New information from interviews has provided police with a better description of the driver. Police are now looking for a white male between the ages of 20-30, with brown or black hair and facial fair.

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At the time of the crash, police say the driver had a full beard and tan skin. It is believed to be consistent with someone who works outside.

Police are still working to obtain warrants, and we will continue to update this story as we learn more.



UPDATE 3:41 P.M. 5/26 BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. (WFXR)  Virginia State Police have identified the bicyclist killed in the hit-and-run accident that occurred May 24 on Nemmo Road.

VSP said 67-year-old George Jerome Stephens of Jacksonville, FL, was pronounced dead at the scene on Saturday after he was allegedly hit by a silver or gray pick-up truck.

The incident occurred around 1:40 p.m. on Nemmo Road near Holiday Circle in Bedford County. A pick-up pulling a black utility trailer allegedly crossed the center line and hit Mr. Stephens.

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13 injured including children in Wythe Co. Crash

Police believe the driver exited the vehicle after the collision, walked back to where Mr. Stephens lay, struck on the road, and then returned to his truck before fleeing the scene.

Eyewitnesses described the driver as being around 30 to 40 years old with dark hair, police said.

It is believed there is damage to the pick-up truck on the drivers side, including the headlight, fender, and mirror.

The investigation is ongoing. If anyone has information regarding the incident, please contact the Virginia State Police at 1-800-542-5959 or questions@vsp.virginia.gov.

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WFXR News will continue to update this story.



BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. (WFXR)  Virginia State Police are searching for the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run Saturday.

Around 1:30 p.m., State Police say a silver or gray pickup truck pulling a small utility trailer crossed the center line and hit a cyclist on the 3900 block of Nemmo Road. According to VSP, the driver reportedly got out, checked the cyclist, and got back in their car and drove off toward Route 24.

A witness told VSP the suspect was a Hispanic or possibly Indian male, possibly 30 to 40 years old, with short, dark, curly hair. His car will have damage to the side mirror, front left headlight, and front fender.

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Anyone with information is asked to reach out to VSP.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (FOX 56)  Louisville police asked the community for help on Saturday after reports of shots being fired at a field near Algonquin Park.

The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) posted on Facebook that just before 5 p.m. on Friday, there were reports of shots fired near West Gaulbert Avenue and Catalpa Street.

Officers working in the park were on scene immediately. After a thorough check of the area, no victims were located, Louisville law enforcement wrote.

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The LMPD asked the public for help identifying a person in connection with the investigation. With pool season beginning, officers noted that public violence is intolerable.

We strongly condemn this reckless and irresponsible behavior, the department wrote. Gun violence has no place in our parks, our neighborhoods, or anywhere in our city. The safety of our residents, especially our children and families, is our highest priority.

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Louisville officers said that police will continue working closely to make sure places like Algonquin Park and the pool are safe, welcoming spaces.

Officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department asked the public to help identify a person in connection with a Saturday afternoon shooting investigation. (LMPD)

Anyone with information who can help identify the shooter was asked to contact the LMPD tip line at (502) 574-5673. Authorities said you can remain completely anonymous.

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The shooting investigation remains ongoing.

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO)  Its not the typical start to summer break with rain and cooler temperatures. However, thats not stopping several annual events from returning to Sioux Falls this weekend.

The cloudy skies didnt stop visitors like Robin Rowe from strolling through the Falls Art Market Saturday morning.

Sioux Falls outdoor pools to open May 30th

Theres a really amazing custom knife maker. Theres some beautiful art, jewelry and custom printed blankets and just a lot of neat things, Rowe said.

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The free event runs every fourth Saturday through July just east of the Levitt Shell. The next event is June 28th starting at 9:30 a.m. It features several local artists like Heather Cool who owns Heatherly Studios.

Primarily, I am a mandala artist, Cool said. I do skate decks, and then I custom cut wood pieces in my home workshop.

Cool said shes been setting up shop here since the event first started.

It helps me connect with the community, and it helps to kind of establish my name and establish recognition with people, Cool said.

Right across the road, Levitt at the Falls adds to the weekend energy with free concerts through August- including special kids concerts on select Saturday mornings.

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Downtown Sioux Falls has done so many things, and thats why I live here. Theres always something new and exciting going on, Rowe said. I always encourage everybody, even if youre from outside of town, always come downtown because theres just so much happening.

Inside KELOLAND: What to do in Sioux Falls this summer?

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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  El Paso Bishop Mark J. Seitz will celebrate a special bilingual Mass Sunday, May 25 and will sign and inaugurate the Dioceses environmental action plan.

The Mass will be at 11 a.m. May 25 at St. Luke Catholic Church, 930 E. Redd Road.

The Mass will mark the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si, Pope Francis landmark encyclical on care for our common home, and the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisis Canticle of the Creatures, the Diocese said.

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As part of this diocesan celebration, Seitz will officially sign and inaugurate the Laudato Si Action Plan for the Diocese of El Paso.

This new plan will guide the local Churchs commitment to the values of Laudato Si and Laudate Deum, deepening efforts toward environmental stewardship and solidarity with the poor across all ministries and institutions, the Diocese said.

The Mass will bring together representatives from local parishes, Catholic organizations, and environmental advocacy groups, including the Care for Creation Ministry at St. Luke, the Texas Chapter of the Laudato Si Movement, and New MexicoEl Paso Power and Light, the Diocese said.

Pope Francis reminds us that care for the Earth is inseparable from care for the most vulnerable, Seitz said. This plan invites every person, parish, and diocesan structure to reflect on our impact and take real steps to live more sustainably and faithfully.

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Released on May 24, 2015, Laudato Si called for an integral ecology that recognizes the deep connections between the environmental crisis and global inequality, the Diocese said.

In 2023, Pope Francis continued this message with Laudate Deum, which addressed the growing climate emergency and the moral urgency of collective action.

The Dioceses new action plan will provide tools and guidance for all Catholics to engage in concrete steps, the Diocese said.

These actions can include creating special ministries, evaluating use of resources and adopting sustainable practices, the Diocese said.

The Laudato Si Diocesan Action Commission is available to assist parishes and organizations looking to implement or expand environmental initiatives, the Diocese said.

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For more information, contact laudatosicommissiondep@elpasodiocese.org.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
BOSTON (SHNS)  Hours after U.S. House Republicans passed a landmark bill featuring deep tax cuts and spending reductions, Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues signaled his branch will continue debating its fiscal 2026 budget that does not account for any federal funding losses.

On a 215-214 vote early Thursday morning, the U.S. House passed a bill that would extend President Donald Trumps tax cuts from his first term, slash SNAP benefits funding by about $267 billion over the next decade, and reduce Medicaid spending by nearly $700 billion, according to the Associated Press.

The vote came just before the Massachusetts Senate dove into the third day of annual budget deliberations. Rodrigues told reporters he had yet to scrutinize the action out of Congress when the Senate got going around 10 a.m.

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We have not had a chance to analyze it, deep analyze it, Rodrigues said when asked how that U.S. House package may affect his thinking about the states spending plans for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Beacon Hill budget-writers have baked nearly $16 billion in federal dollars into their packages. Rodrigues said that as the days go on his committee staff will take a close look at the sweeping federal policy proposal.

Debate on the federal bill is moving to the U.S. Senate. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday his goal is to get a bill to Trumps desk by July 4, and said senators should be mindful of a delicate equilibrium.

I encourage them to remember that we have a very delicate equilibrium that we reached on here, Johnson said. A lot of work went into this to find exactly the right balance. You all saw how perilous that was over the last week, as it developed. And I encourage our Senate colleagues to think of this as a one-team effort as we have, and to modify this as little as possible, because it will make it easier for us to get it over the line ultimately and finished, and get it to the presidents desk by July 4.

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The timetable is important, he said, due to the need to deliver tax relief to people as soon as possible.

The federal bill, should it come together in the way that Republicans hope, would force Rodrigues and House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz to reevaluate state revenue and spending assumptions.

I dont know if well pause, Rodrigues said. We will deal with the facts once we know the facts. Chair Michlewitz and I are ready to adjust if needed to adjust. But we have to assess that once we know the facts.

On rare occasions, state budget writers have changed revenue assumptions and made other adjustments in conference committee, after the branches have approved their respective budgets.

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Right now theres so much speculation and rumor, the Westport Democrat said. We see what the House did in Congress. The Senate has yet to act  that has to go through their reconciliation process. So we will deal with the facts once we know the facts, and were prepared to deal with them in a responsible manner.

Increasingly, public officials are putting their analysis on the public record.

MassHealth officials said last week that Massachusetts is in jeopardy of losing more than $1 billion annually, with hundreds of thousands of residents at risk of losing coverage.

U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan said the GOP reconciliation bill will cause 14 million Americans to lose health insurance coverage, including 270,000 people in Massachusetts.

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She said it slashes $3.7 billion from MassHealth, threatening health care for children, seniors, and working families. An aide said $3.7 billion represents the amount Massachusetts could lose over 10 years based on a 10% cut to a federal matching rate to states that provide coverage to migrants.

The way things are playing out between Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill, there arent great choices for lawmakers here right now because of the uncertainty, Evan Horowitz, executive director of the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University, told the News Service on Thursday.

Horowitz said Massachusetts may dodge Medicaid funding formula changes, but work requirements for able-bodied MassHealth enrollees may create a de facto eligibility change that would trim program enrollment. The biggest factor for lawmakers, he said, is the macroeconomic situation and impacts of tariffs on tax revenue. Negative impacts, he said, could make it likely that Gov. Maura Healey might have to cut next years budget.

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Doug Howgate said Massachusetts is adjusting to dealing with the uncertainty that comes with the Trump administration and will know more about federal tax and spending policies in the fall, but should stick to its plan to aim for a new budget by July.

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Having a budget on the books for the start of the fiscal year is absolutely the right way to go, he said.

Howgate said that as the overseer of the executive branch, Healey would be in a position to manage spending and perhaps make unilateral adjustments next fiscal year. But the former top Beacon Hill budget aide also said a coordinated partnership between Healeys fiscal team and the House and Senate Ways and Means committees is important since some adjustments may require the passage of legislation.

The debate on the U.S. House bill showed just how differently it is viewed by Republicans and Democrats.

The left doesnt like this bill. That tells you its a good bill, Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan said. This bill is about fundamental conservative principles, regular things that the American people appreciate. This bill cuts taxes. This bill requires work for able-bodied adults in our welfare system. This bill gives school choice to parents. This bill secures the border. Were the party that believes in letting moms and dads keep more of their money to spend on their goals and their dreams.

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Congressman Richard Neal of Springfield warned the bill would require $4 trillion in borrowing for tax cuts that will overwhelmingly go to people at the very top, including the billionaire class.

The American people dont buy this because they know where these tax cuts are going and intended to help people at the top, when it is really the people at the bottom and then the middle who need help, Neal said in floor remarks delivered at around 5:10 a.m. So hospitals are going to close, children are going to go hungry. Health care is going to be denied, but the billionaire class is going to pick up a considerable number of dollars. And again, the number that I cited earlier, if you make a million dollars, you pick up 90,000 additional dollars. Its almost 10%. And if you make under $50,000, Mr. Speaker, youre getting a buck a day? Thats what this tax package means?

State senators on Tuesday and Wednesday processed most of the 1,058 annual budget amendments, adding about $74 million to the $61.32 billion bottom line. The Senate is likely to finalize its budget bill Thursday.

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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(PUEBLO, Colo.)  Senator Michael Bennett hosted a town hall in Pueblo on Saturday, May 25, hearing from voters about the issues that matter most to them.

In April, Senator Bennet announced his candidacy for the 2026 Colorado Governors election. His campaign focuses on building a brighter future for Colorado and improving the states affordability.

Courtesy: FOX21 News Photojournalist Cora Mitchell Courtesy: FOX21 News Photojournalist Cora Mitchell

Close to 100 people showed up at the event today at Pueblo East High School. Many expressed concern about decisions made by the Trump administration and said they appreciated having a local representative who listens.

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People feel helpless, as was spoken out about here in this forum, said Frederick Wells, Pueblo community member. They feel helpless. They dont know what to do. They dont know where to turn. And to have a political figure to come in and be able to actually have a conversation gives people hope. And I think right now, hope is something that we really need.

However, several attendees also said Senator Bennett still has work to do to earn their vote.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Editors note: This story is part of Hard Times, a special report by The Republican on the challenge of healing from civic trauma.

For many felons, prison ends, but the damage doesnt. They struggle with post-incarceration syndrome  a PTSD-like condition that makes rebuilding their lives an uphill battle.

Without the right support, many battle anxiety, depression and the weight of their past. That struggle often leads to joblessness, addiction and ending up back in prison.

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Some lawmakers and civil rights groups are pushing for better research and more support. In 2023, U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Grace Napolitano urged the National Institute of Mental Health to study post-incarceration syndrome and its consequences, highlighting how carceral environments lead to lasting mental health damage.

The NAACP says nearly 2.3 million people are locked up in the U.S., yet most dont get treatment for PTSD.

Without help, people bring that trauma home to their families and neighborhoods. As such, the NAACP has called for trauma-informed care for former prisoners.

A personal struggle

Holyoke City Councilor Israel Rivera has a recurring dream that hes back in prison.

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I still wake up in hot sweats, stressed out, wanting to cry, because I got a family now, Rivera said in a recent interview at the Holyoke office where he works as a regional manager for Families First, a nonprofit that supports parents throughout Massachusetts.

In the early 2000s, law enforcement officers raided a home Rivera was in. Rivera was arrested and served five years on drug-related charges. He was not far from adolescence, having just turned 21.

Since getting out, hes struggled to leave prison behind. As an example, he told the story of a dinner party where he introduced himself as an ex-felon.

A woman asked, Why do you do that?

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He hadnt thought about it. In part, he wants to humanize other felons. He wants to let people know that they are people like him. He uses his presence to challenge prejudices.

But then I was like, damn, its been over 10 years since I came out of jail. Why am I still saying that? Rivera said.

Hes not sure why, but he knows prison is still inside him. It is still in my head, he said. Im keeping myself in a kind of box. Thats PTSD.

In prison, Rivera dreamed of home. But when he woke up, the bars were still there.

Now that hes home, his dreams have reversed. Now I dream Im still in prison, he said.

Healing before the harm

Riveras story is far from unique. A lot of people in prison were struggling kids first  kids who never got the help they needed.

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If we dont reach young people early and help them heal, theyll carry that trauma into adulthood  filling our prisons instead of reaching their potential, said Leon Smith, executive director of Citizens for Juvenile Justice.

For 30 years, the Boston nonprofit has worked to reform the juvenile justice system in Massachusetts, advocating for policies that address the root causes of criminal behavior.

Smith said Massachusetts has made strides in this area. A recent MassINC and Boston Indicators report found that since Massachusetts passed criminal justice reform legislation in 2018, incarceration rates have dropped nearly 50%.

The sharpest reductions have come in the last five years, driven by investments in prevention, treatment and reentry support in the Commonwealth.

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Which largely avoided the major spikes in crime experienced in other cities and states during the pandemic, the report stated.

While these improvements are promising, Smith warns that the decline in incarceration has slowed. Between 2022 and 2023, Massachusetts prison population dropped by only 166 people, according to the Massachusetts Department of Corrections.

The real fix, Smith said, is making sure every young person has access to mental health care.

I have professional friends who are parents and are having a difficult time getting mental health support for their kids, he said. Now consider what its like when you are at the intersection of race and poverty in our commonwealth. Those parents are having an even more difficult time.

Read the original article on MassLive.
ATLANTIC BEACH, S.C. (WBTW)  A dozen people were hurt after a series of fights broke out early Sunday morning at the Memorial Day Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival in Atlantic Beach, the towns police chief told News13.

There were a couple of fights that broke out, causing panic in the crowd and several people were injured trying to leave the area, Chief Carlos Castillo Jr. said. Adequate police and medical staff were on hand to aid as needed and transport individuals to the hospital.

Horry County Fire Rescue said Sunday afternoon that 12 people sustained non life-threatening injuries and six others signed medical waivers on scene.

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Castillo said music was paused as officers responded, but the event continued through 3 a.m.

We sincerely regret that anyone was injured, but we also regret the infactual information that is being falsely spread about the Atlantic Beach Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival, Castillo said.

Founded in 1980 by the Flaming Knight Riders, Atlantic Beachs bike week draws up to 400,000 people.

Alone, it would be considered the third largest motorcycle rally in the entire country after Sturgis and Daytona. But when combined with Myrtle Beachs Harley Week, it has arguably more people than any other city, Atlantic Beach says of the event on its website.

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This is a developing story. Count on News13 for updates on air and online.

* * *

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.

* * *

Gabby Jonas joined the News13 team as a multimedia journalist in April 2024. She is from Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2023. Follow Gabby on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and read more of her work here.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
Norse ruins shiver in the shadow of the ice sheet in Greenlands deep south. There, Ellen K. Frederiksen tends the nations oldest working sheep farm, Illunnguujuk. This overlooks a turquoise fjord that explorer Erik the Red  founder of Greenlands first European settlement  once called home.

Ellen upholds a hardy tradition thats both ancient and unexpectedly modern, fending off wild predators, climate change and rising costs while honouring local knowledge and natural rhythms. Her farm, which features an onsite B&B, is in Kujataa: a UNESCO World Heritage Site noted as the first known place of agriculture in the Arctic. We spoke to Ellen about life in this remote part of the world.

How did you get involved in sheep farming?

I moved from the capital Nuuk, to be a schoolteacher, when I was 24. That was in the early 1980s. But I married a farmer, Carl. Theres a lot of work being a farmers wife: helping with lambing and other jobs, on top of being a teacher. But when youre in love, anything is possible.

Ellen K. Frederiksen runs Illunnguujuk farm with her husband, a third-generation sheep farmer. Photograph by Visit Greenland and Aningaaq Carlsen

Is it a nice life?

Yes, a good life  but also a hard life. Even though I'm now retired from teaching, we still work all the time. We dont have vacations like other people. We take care of the animals from November until the middle of June. Then we work on the fields and grow grass in summer so the sheep have something to eat.

Whats your favourite time of year?

Autumn is exciting, seeing how many lambs have managed to grow. Spring, specifically May, is hectic: we work 24 hours a day at the stable when all the lambs are born. Its always a privilege to finish lambing season, and to know we have a good average of lamb per mother. We can give ourselves a pat on the back.

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But summer is best, when the fields are green and warm. On our farm we dont have mosquitos, unlike other places. Some say it is because of our sheep.

How did sheep farming begin in your area?

Erik the Red  who was in exile after doing very bad things in Iceland  brought sheep and other livestock when he came here in the year 985. He gave Greenland its name, partly as a way of attracting other people to settle. His descendants stayed for about five centuries, until the Norse disappeared suddenly, around the year 1500.

The Northern Lights are visible all over south Greenland, particularly in winter, when nights are long and dark. Photograph by Visit Greenland and Stephanie Vermillion

Sheep farming makes up a significant part of argiculture in south Greenland, where there are nearly 40 sheep farms. Photograph by Visit Greenland and Magnus B Trolle

What happened to them?

There are many theories. Perhaps it was disease. I think the most likely answer is the climate changed. Whatever happened, that was the end of sheep farming.

My own ancestors, who came centuries ago from either modern-day Mongolia or Siberia, made a living through hunting and fishing whatever they could get from nature  a lot of seals.

When did sheep farming become a practice again?

About a hundred years ago, seals became rare, so the government had to think of other ways to make a living. There was a pilot project: importing about a dozen sheep from the Faroe Islands, to see if they could live in the climate. They survived. My husbands grandfather, Otto Frederiksen, was a carpenter on that project, and was inspired to start his own farm in 1924, which we still run today.

How has it changed over time?

There was not much machinery, even when I arrived. Ewes would lamb up in the hills. Since the 1990s, we must do it in the barn: a regulation introduced after a very hard winter when many sheep died.

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Today we follow a strict programme to control which sheep mate. [This is] to avoid interbreeding and to maintain good quality meat. Its a lot of work  more data than you might think!

At least youre out in nature

Yes, it is beautiful. And we are lucky, farming on the edge of the ice. We have eagles in the area. But between the eagles, the ravens and the foxes, we lose maybe 2 to 3% of our lambs every year. The eagles are not our friends.

Tell me about your wool workshops.

Once, we sold our wool overseas, but that became uneconomical. For about ten years, we simply burned it. Local ladies made yarn and learned to felt and spin, but not on a commercial scale.

Then I decided  because we also run a bed and breakfast  to create an opportunity for tourists to do wool work. With the help of equipment supplied by National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions, I set up workshops for visitors to spin and felt. We dye wool using local herbs and plants. Starting this summer, well make nice sweaters, socks, mittens and bags.

Are you optimistic for the future?

Climate change makes the weather unpredictable: high winds, intense snowfall, periods of drought. The war in Ukraine makes the price of fertiliser, and equipment, very high.

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But we have to be optimistic. My son will take over the farm when my husband retires, and he will be the fourth generation. Greenland people are used to living with whatever our landscape can provide. Self-sufficiency, creativity and resource management  these are all in our nature.

The bed and breakfast at Illunnguujuk overlooks a fjord and sleeps only eight guests. Photograph by Visit Greenland and Stephanie Vermillion

Three more sheep stops in South Greenland

For wool: Iiju Yarn & Craft Shop, Qaqortoq

Visitors to this shop in Qaqortoq can peruse yarns and handcrafted items made from local sheep's wool, and purchase authentic Greenlandic textiles.

For lunch: Cafe Thorhildur, Qassiarsuk

Located on the town harbour, this cosy, farmer-owned cafe is a community hub that serves local lamb and beers. Ideal for experiencing authentic Greenlandic flavours.

For the farm experience: Sheep farm stays in Igaliku

Known for ravishing scenery and Norse ruins, Igaliku offers opportunities to learn about sheep farming, join in daily activities and relish the tranquillity.

This paid content article was created for Visit South Greenland. It does not necessarily reflect the views of National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller (UK) or their editorial staffs.



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Ring camera footage captured a box truck exploding in Illinois on May 24 in what authorities have since ruled an accident

The explosion in Addison was the result of a leaking propane tank in the back of the rental vehicle, per officials

I thought, Wow, theyre starting early with the fireworks, this year, but that one sure seems to have a little extra punch,  a neighbor recalled of the moment











An exploding box truck in an Illinois neighborhood left multiple homes damaged and the vehicle's driver injured during Memorial Day weekend.

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On the morning of Saturday, May 24, the Addison Fire Protection District and Addison Police Department in Addison responded to the scene of an explosion at North Wood Dale Road, both agencies shared on Facebook.

Upon arrival, crews discovered a "large debris field" ranging from Oak Street to Overkamp Avenue with "no indication of any fire" at that point.

Ring camera footage shared by multiple outlets, including ABC affiliate WLS, shows the moment the large vehicle exploded while traveling through the residential area during the holiday weekend  as a massive "boom" noise could be heard, smoke appeared in the bed of the truck and debris flew through the air within seconds.

Per an updated release from the APD, an investigation with the DuPage County Bomb Squad and ATF found that there was "no indication of anything suspicious," with the explosion being ruled an accident resulting from a propane tank leaking in the back of the truck.

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The explosion damaged "a few homes" in the area, as the vehicle's driver sustained minor injuries, per police.

One home was evacuated due to "structural damage and potential for collapse," per the AFPD. CBS News Chicago reported that the explosion damaged four total homes, including one with a load-bearing wall that authorities say the truck pushed multiple feet inward.

CBS Chicago/YouTube Box truck explodes in an Illinois neighborhood on May 24, 2025 Box truck explodes in an Illinois neighborhood on May 24, 2025

The vehicle was a Penske box truck, which the company told PEOPLE had been rented out to a customer moving household items.

Penske added that "explosive, flammable or otherwise hazardous materials should not be transported in a consumer rental moving truck" under its rental agreement. "Penske will cooperate fully with any further investigation by law enforcement," the company added.

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"I thought, 'Wow, they're starting early with the fireworks, this year, but that one sure seems to have a little extra punch'," neighbor Angelo Source told WLS of the startling moment.

"We missed it," another neighbor, Rock Foreman, added. "Like, if we just lounged around a little bit longer, we would've been right here when it happened."

Addison Fire Protection District Chief Brock Herion told the outlet that the vehicle's driver was transported to a local hospital after he was seen "walking next to the truck when the crews pulled up." He described the debris field as two-blocks long.

Per CBS News Chicago, the district chief added that the homeowners whose home had been hit "described it as an earthquake and then a tree falling on their house."

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"Crews from Addison Public Works and DuPage County are cleaning up the area now, and the roadway should be opened within the next few hours," police shared in a statement following the explosion. "Thank you for your patience, and a big thank you to Addison PW and our partners at County."



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Showers will linger through your Saturday evening well inland as temps hold steady in the 80s. Rain will move out of the area around 9 pm giving way to a mostly clear sky.

Sunday will start out warm and dry with temps in the low to mid 70s before showers arrive along the coast early in the afternoon. The heaviest rain will be inland, but some storms could drift westward near sunset as highs rise to the mid 90s with higher humidity levels.

Theres not much change Memorial Day and throughout the work week with isolated pm showers and a few storms. lows all week will be in the mid to upper 70s with highs in the low to mid 90s.

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A weak front moves into central Florida next Friday and Saturday providing slightly higher rain chances with highs in the upper 80s to around 90 degrees.

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German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Sunday described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as "unbearable."

"On the one hand, we stand by the state of Israel, we are responsible for it, and on the other hand, of course, we stand by the fundamental value of humanity and recognize the suffering of these people," Wadephul told German public broadcaster ARD.

"That's why it's absolutely clear - and I discussed this again today with my Israeli colleague Mr [Gideon] Saar: There must be a delivery, a quick, effective delivery of relief supplies."

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Israel recently blockaded Gaza for weeks, causing international alarm amid warnings that the 2 million Palestinians living in the territory face starvation.

Wadephul, who took office under Chancellor Friedrich Merz's administration this month, said that he has been talking to Saar almost every day since his visit to Israel a fortnight ago.

"Germany will, of course, align its entire policy concerning this region and Israel with the principles of humanity and the fate of the Palestinians," said the minister.

However, this is an "extraordinarily difficult situation for us," he admitted.

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Wadephul's comments were echoed by his conservative colleague Armin Laschet, who called Israel's behaviour a breach of international human rights law.

"Withholding food deliveries, aid deliveries, medicine deliveries for the population is not fighting Hamas," Laschet told broadcaster ZDF. "Starving people to death is contrary to international law," he added.

Laschet, who ran for chancellor in 2021, is the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament.
Dams on Snake must be removed

Energy Secretary Chris Wrights recent remarks on the Lower Snake River dams and claim that dam removal would be going backward ignores decades of research showing that restoring a free-flowing Lower Snake River is essential to recovering Columbia Basin salmon populations.

Large dams are no longer being built in the U.S. In fact, they are being removed, especially in the Northwest, with a 100% success rate in improving fish runs.

These four dams are not irreplaceable. They produce about 3% of the regions energy, mostly in the spring when demand is low, and studies show their output can be replaced with cleaner, more seasonally appropriate alternatives like solar energy. Barge traffic on the river has dropped 50% since the 1990s, despite large subsidies, and expanded rail infrastructure will offer a competitive alternative. Irrigation needs can be met with a restored river.

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If we are to think boldly, as Secretary Wright suggests, we must move forward, not backward, by breaching the four Lower Snake River dams and replacing their services with available alternatives. A free-flowing Lower Snake River will be a rafting and paddling paradise, a hiking destination with trails along a finally healthy river and a mecca for salmon fishing.

Stan Kuick, Richland

Blaming polluters wont fix climate

In his guest opinion of May 16, Steve Ghan indicates that in a recent executive order, federal agencies should, ignore economic damage caused by climate change when writing regulations.

The social cost of carbon and anything else is part of any decision involving energy generation, weighed by costs (including social and environmental impacts) versus benefits. What may get ignored in the regulations and by the market are projections of social costs of carbon not deemed realistic.

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Economic studies defining the social cost of carbon tend to ignore offsetting benefits of CO2 and the electricity generated.

The article says we must not forget  the impact of U.S. CO2 emissions on sea level, mountain snowpack, wildfires and hurricanes. So, if polluters pay an ever-increasing annual carbon tax, how much will these events be mitigated? (Answer: not a measurable amount)

And at what cost? (Answer: electricity rates will triple. Look at California, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, etc.)

Washington state is going down this same path with the Horse Heaven wind/solar farm in Benton County. And what will the social cost of this now expensive, non-dispatchable electricity for middle America be? (Answer: a lower standard of living.)

Craig Brown, Richland

Minorities face troubling times

These are troubling times for all freedom-loving Americans, and particularly for racial minorities. Within 100 days, President Trumps administration has set back the civil rights gains by decades. Evidenced by the elimination of DEI programs and monuments, support of White supremacy groups, mass deportation of racial minority migrants, censorship of books and attacking free speech. All are acts of dismantling the freedoms, values and rights that have defined Americas exceptionalism.

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It appears that making America great again (MAGA) is the return to the days of slavery when Black peoples labor was free, and they legally had no rights that a White person was bound to respect.

Now, this contempt of freedom for Blacks has spread to include the poor and middle-class Whites who now struggle to maintain their relatively privileged lifestyles. Obviously, profit and greed (capitalism, the system) have appetites that must be fed even if they consume the middle-class and our democracy.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and others have called for those opposing Trumps current policies to unite and peacefully fight back before its too late. History has provided various approaches to combat governmental injustices, including the Civil Rights Movement and the American Revolution. Organize and fight back, now.

Dallas Barnes, Pasco

Homelessness is rising alarmingly

Homelessness in the Tri-Cities, particularly in Benton and Franklin counties, is increasing at an alarming rate, creating both a housing crisis and a public health concern. Many individuals experiencing homelessness face untreated mental health issues and a lack of access to essential healthcare.

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Since 2013, the number of homeless individuals has consistently increased, outpacing the statewide average. According to the Tri-City Herald, local shelters are overwhelmed, operating at or near full capacity. Additionally, access to mental health services remains limited, with significant barriers for families seeking youth care.

A 2023 report from the City of Kennewick highlights the lack of integrated services combining housing and healthcare, which are essential for stabilizing those facing chronic homelessness. In response, Benton County is transforming the former Kennewick General Hospital into recovery apartments and mental health facilities, with a $1.2 million investment aimed at improving access for those struggling with addiction and mental health.

However, these initiatives must be expanded since investments in supportive housing and mobile mental health units can significantly improve lives and enhance public safety. Addressing this issue requires a comprehensive approach involving elected officials, service agencies and community advocacy to integrate housing with healthcare. This helps better the community.

Devlyn Tobin, Benton City

Dan: Dont back cuts to Medicaid

To Rep. Dan Newhouse:

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Please do not support the budget reconciliation plan put forth by House leaders. It would force nearly 9 million people off Medicaid over the next decade and slash SNAP benefits for millions to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.

Push back on any policy that would harm putting food on the table for more than 40 million Americans (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). Ensure that Medicaid, a federal health insurance program that provides free or low-cost health care for 1 in 5 people in the US, stays fully funded and available to those who need it.

I believe you have the courage to stand up for the most vulnerable in our state and nation.

Barbara Puigh, Richland

Trumps reign is dumpster fire

President Trump wants to reign as king, proclaiming his decrees via executive actions. His cabinet is composed of sycophants and incompetents who harm our freedoms and health.

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Where to begin? How about RFK Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services? If your childs teeth become riddled with cavities due to fluoride removal from drinking water, then blame him.

That we are having a measles outbreak among unvaccinated children and that he is not actively promoting vaccination is mind-blowing. And you could probably swim with him in a sewage-contaminated creek and drink raw milk with him afterward. Yippee.

What does the Department of Health and Human Services do? It is responsible for overseeing public health policy, including managing Medicare, Medicaid, Childrens Health Insurance Program and addressing public health emergencies. It funds and conducts research in medicine and public health.

Kennedy has none of the necessary qualifications to run this department. He does have lots of public health conspiracies and promotes vaccine misinformation. Obviously, that is good enough for Trump to give him the position as head of DHHS as the reward for supporting his presidential campaign.

Amy Small, Richland
Since 1924, the social services organization Youth Guidance, as its mission statement says, has created and implemented school-based programs that enable children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education and ultimately to succeed in school and in life.

Youth Guidance is located around the nation, but its central office is in Chicago.

Weekend Break: Alma Padel in Glenview

The Bright Futures Gala, Youth Guidances premier annual fundraising event to support programs like Becoming A Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW), is this Thursday, May 29, at the Hilton Chicago on Michigan Avenue.

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Skaykira Richards, WOW Director of Program Administration, and Lissette Guzman, WOW Senior Counselor, joined Jewell Hillery  who happens to be emceeing the Bright Futures Gala  on Sundays WGN Weekend Morning News to talk about Youth Guidance and the gala this week.

Sunday Brunch: Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! and Lil Ba-Ba-Reeba! serve authentic Spanish cuisine in Chicago

See the attached video player for the interview, and visit youth-guidance.org for more information.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
A shooting in South Los Angeles left two people dead and one woman in the hospital with serious injuries Saturday night.

Police responded to reports of a shooting at Florence and Dalton avenues around 6:25 p.m. Saturday.

Officers took one suspect into custody shortly after the shooting and launched a search for two additional suspects, according to the Los Angeles Police Department

The department established a perimeter with police dogs and SWAT personnel. One of the suspects barricaded himself within the perimeter. Officers took him into custody around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. The third suspect was still at large, a department spokesperson said Sunday morning.

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First responders arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting and pronounced two victims dead, both men in their 20s.

A third victim, a woman in her 20s, also suffered gunshot wounds. She was taken to a local hospital, where she remained in stable condition as of Sunday morning, the department spokesperson said.

It remains unknown whether the shooting was gang-related, the Police Department said on X .

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Did a loud boom startle you or your neighbors dogs on Saturday night in Southern California? If so, youre not alone.

SpaceX announced that its spacecraft, Dragon, reentered Earths atmosphere and splashed down off the southern coast near Oceanside around 10:44 p.m.

Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, stated SpaceX in an X post.

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SpaceXs website said the Dragon is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth, and is the first private spacecraft to take humans to the space station.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule with a crew of four on a mission to the International Space Station is seen during a time exposure as it lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, March 3, 2024. (AP Photo/John Raoux) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon capsule and a crew of four private astronauts, lifts off from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, May 21, 2023. (AP Photo/John Raoux) In this April 24, 2021 file photo made available by NASA, the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule approaches the International Space Station for docking. Space junk is threatening the seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station and forcing them to seek shelter in their docked capsules. The U.S. Space Command says its tracking a field of orbiting debris, the apparent result of some satellite break-up event. The astronauts retreated into their docked capsules on Monday, Nov. 15, 2021 after being informed of the threat. (NASA via AP, File) In this frame grab from video broadcast by SpaceX, recovery crews lift and secure the SpaceX Dragon capsule after it splashed down into the Gulf of Mexico, just off the Florida Panhandle, late Tuesday, May 30, 2023. The private flight carrying two Saudi astronauts and other passengers returned to Earth after a nine-day trip to the International Space Station. (SpaceX via AP) The SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft is seen as it lands with NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina onboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Fla, Saturday, March 11, 2023. The group are returning after a five-month mission in the International Space Station. (Keegan Barber/NASA via AP) In this image from video provided by SpaceX, the Dragon capsule carrying four space tourists splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California on Friday, April 4, 2025. (SpaceX via AP)

A report by NASA explained that the unpiloted Dragon spacecraft was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket that took off from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 21.

Landing on April 22, it delivered about 6,700 pounds of crew supplies, science investigations and equipment to the International Space Station, NASA reported.

Then, on Friday, ground controllers at SpaceX commanded the Dragon spacecraft to undock from the port of the stations Harmony module to begin its return to Earth.

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SpaceX confirmed Dragons splashdown in a 10:46 p.m. X post, saying it completed the companys SpaceXs 32nd Commercial Resupply Services mission to the Space Station.

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Spain is calling for an international arms embargo on the Israeli government to end the war and the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.

"We must all agree on a joint arms embargo," Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told journalists at the start of a ministerial meeting of the so-called Madrid Group in the Spanish capital on Sunday. "The last thing the Middle East needs right now is weapons."

Albares also called for an "immediate suspension" of the European Union's partnership agreement with Israel - a measure currently being considered in Brussels - and for the imposition of targeted sanctions against individuals "who obstruct the two-state solution."

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If necessary, sanctions should also be imposed against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Albares asserted.

"Nothing that is being discussed here is directed against the State of Israel," the top Spanish diplomat emphasized. But he also made it clear that "the Palestinian people have exactly the same right to peace and security as the Israeli people."

There is no alternative to the two-state solution for achieving lasting and just peace, Albares said.

In an interview with French broadcaster France Info shortly before, the minister had said: "What is the alternative? Kill all Palestinians? Drive them... I don't know where... to the moon? (...) Or give them Israeli citizenship?"

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The Spanish government is one of the harshest critics in Europe of Israel's military action in Gaza.

In September last year, it organized a first meeting of the Madrid Group.

Ministers and high-ranking representatives from around 20 countries in Europe and the Arab world, as well as Brazil, are taking part in the second meeting.

Germany was involved for the first time and was represented by Foreign Office minister Florian Hahn.

Since the start of the Gaza war with the unprecedented massacre by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, more than 53,900 people have been killed according to Palestinian sources.

More than 122,700 have been injured.
The Spanish government is calling for an international arms embargo on the Israeli government to end the war and the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.

"We must all agree on a joint arms embargo," Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told journalists at the start of a ministerial meeting of the so-called Madrid Group in the Spanish capital on Sunday. "The last thing the Middle East needs right now is weapons."

Albares also called for an "immediate suspension" of the European Union's partnership agreement with Israel - a measure currently being considered in Brussels - and for the imposition of targeted sanctions against individuals "who obstruct the two-state solution."

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If necessary, sanctions should also be imposed against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Albares asserted.

"Nothing that is being discussed here is directed against the State of Israel," the top Spanish diplomat emphasized. But he also made it clear that "the Palestinian people have exactly the same right to peace and security as the Israeli people."

There is no alternative to the two-state solution for achieving lasting and just peace, Albares said.

In an interview with French broadcaster France Info shortly before, the minister had said: "What is the alternative? Kill all Palestinians? Drive them... I don't know where... to the moon? (...) Or give them Israeli citizenship?"

The Spanish government is one of the harshest critics in Europe of Israel's military action in Gaza.
SPRINGFIELD TWP., Ohio (WKBN)  All weekend, the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. Military are being honored.

In Springfield Township, VFW Post 2799 held a Memorial Day service on Sunday to remember them.

A crowd watched the service in the front lawn, complete with readings, a wreath laying, a salute and national anthem. After the service, those in attendance enjoyed a meal inside.

It keeps their memories alive. We would never want to forget anybody that paid the ultimate sacrifice, said Commander David Blakeman.

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The Memorial Day service has been happening at Post 2799 for decades.

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Jessup may be a small quiet borough, but every year on Memorial Day weekend, it blossoms into a celebration of faith, family and tradition during the St. Ubaldo Festival or Festa dei Ceri.

Saturday was no exception, as the faithful gathered early in the Midvalley borough, for a day of activities culminating in the La Corsa dei Ceri, where participants race through the streets carrying the the ceri or wooden pillars dedicated to one of three saints.

The day opened with a special Mass service and then the throwing of hand-painted vases by the captains of three teams, dedicated to Saint Antonio, Saint Giorgio and Saint Ubaldo.

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Laurie Marino, Jessup (right), prepares for the St. Ubaldo festival Saturday with Emma Anuszewski and her granddaughter, Francesca Valenzano. (GERI GIBBONS/STAFF PHOTO)

Participants scrambled to pick pieces of the broken vases, which are believed to provide a year of good luck.

The festivities are Jessups version of the observance of La Festa dei Ceri in Gubbio, Italy. Italian immigrants brought the tradition of the Corsa dei Ceri, or the running of the saints, from Gubbio to Jessup in the early 1900s.

Genie Lupini, of Jessup, is more than familiar with the days activities, having participated for over 60 years.

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Lupini, of the Jessup 21st Century Association, even travelled to Gubbio in 2013, especially for their version of the festival.

She pointed out many Italians attend the Gubbio festival in their country, where it has its roots.

But, in Jessup, she said, everyone of every ethnicity and religion comes out for the celebration, with many even travelling hours for the special event.

And, the tradition has been passed down through the generations, with many young people stepping into the roles their parents previously filled.

The most heart-stopping part of the event, she said, is when the runners make their way down a steep hill during the La Corsa dei Ceri procession.

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Members of SantUbaldo carry his Ceri up Church St. in Jessup during the Saint Ubaldo festivities on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Members of San Giorgio run with the statue of San Giorgio to affix it to their Ceri during the Saint Ubaldo festivities in Jessup on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Participants in the Saint Ubaldo festivities parade through the streets of Jessup with a statue of SantUbaldo, San Giorgio, and SantAntonio on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Dave Valvano, member of the family of The Family of Sant Antonio, and Scott Hall, president of the Saint Ubaldo Society, point out some of the relics that make up the cultural significance of Saint Ubaldo Day in the Saint Ubaldo Cultural Center Friday, May 23, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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The upper level of the Saint Ubaldo Cultural Center where artifacts are kept. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Members of SantUbaldo carry his Ceri up Church St. in Jessup during the Saint Ubaldo festivities on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Travelling for tradition

Gina Pascolini and Terri Yanoski both were recently back from this years festival in Gubbio.

Pascolini has travelled to Italy for the event four times, always impressed by the solemnity of the event and its continuing sense of tradition.

Its was Yanoskis first time making the trip overseas for the event. She was overwhelmed with the sheer number of people attending the event, numbering in the tens-of-thousands.

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Pascolini, Valley View High School choral director, was especially proud of the schools band, which comes out annually to provide a musical backdrop for the events festivities.

Music is also a very important part of Gubbios event, she said.

Band director Ryan Berry said band members really enjoy the opportunity to participate in the days activities, reflecting the events appeal to every generation.
State officials warn about the dangers of tick-bites

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)With tick-borne diseases on the rise, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is encouraging people to be aware when they are outdoors.

The MDHHS reports that the cases of these diseases, such as Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis, are increasing across the state.

Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common tick-borne disease in the state. Cases have increased by 168% over the last five years. The state recorded 1,215 cases in 2024, compared to 452 cases in 2020.

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Anaplasmosis, caused by the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum, is the second most common tick-borne disease. Cases have increased by nearly five times in the last five years, with 82 cases in 2024 compared to 17 in 2020. The disease is particularly common in northern parts of Michigan.

MDHHS says both diseases are transmitted by Ixodes scapularis, commonly known as the blacklegged or deer tick.

Symptoms usually arise one to two weeks after a bite, often after being in wooded or brushy areas where ticks commonly live. Early symptoms may include fever, chills, rash, headache, fatigue and muscle aches.

Early treatment with antibiotics can decrease the risk of serious complications.

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Preventing tick bites is the best way to prevent tick-borne diseases, including Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan, in a news release sent to 6 News.

If you find a tick attached to your body, promptly remove it. Monitor your health, and if you experience fever, rash, muscle or joint aches, or other symptoms, or if you suspect a tick has been attached for more than 24 hours, consult with your medical provider, added Bagdasarian.

How to protect yourself against tick-borne diseases:

Avoid tick-infested areas

As ticks live in grassy, brushy, and wooded areas, individuals should walk in the center of trails to avoid contact with overgrown grass, brush, and leaf litter at trail edges

Keep an eye on your pets

Dogs and cats can encounter ticks outdoors and bring them into the home. Talk with your veterinarian about the best tick prevention products.

Use insect repellent

Apply an EPA-registered repellent on exposed skin. Find a repellent product that is right for you.

Treat clothes (especially pants, socks, and shoes) with permethrin, which kills ticks on contact, or buy clothes that are pre-treated. Do not use permethrin directly on skin.

Always follow the manufacturer`s instructions when applying repellents.

Perform daily tick checks

Always check for ticks on yourself and your animals after being outdoors, including in your yard.

Inspect all body surfaces carefully and remove attached ticks carefully with tweezers.

To remove a tick, grasp the tick firmly and as closely to the skin as possible. With steady, even pressure, pull the tick`s body upward and away from the skin. Cleanse the area with an antiseptic.

Be sure to bathe and shower

Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors (preferably within two hours) to wash off and more easily find ticks.

Wash clothing in hot water and dry on high heat to kill ticks in clothing.

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If you need help identifying a tick, you can email photos of it to MDHHS for identification free of charge.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
AUSTIN (Nexstar)  Texas lawmakers moved closer to ban hemp-derived products that can make a consumer feel high, closing a loophole on unregulated intoxicants but also creating concerns it will negatively impact Texans who rely on the products to treat their chronic pain.

The Texas House passed a bill to ban all consumable hemp products containing THC. Most of the debate happened on the House floor Wednesday night, but State Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, offered an amendment to address the criminal penalty related to this bill before members officially passed the ban out of the lower chamber on Thursday.

Before Moodys amendment, anyone convicted of possession of a consumable hemp product containing any other cannabinoid besides CBD or CBG would be issued a Class A misdemeanor, the most serious type of misdemeanor which carries jail time and a fine.

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Moody offered an amendment that lowered the penalty for the first two offenses to a Class C misdemeanor, which could be deferred with community service. Any offense after that would be a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up 180 days in jail and a fine between $250 and $2,000.

The enforcement of this needs to be stair-stepped. Arresting someone right out for something they bought at the corner store just a few months ago before this went into effect is really not the right way to stair-step in, Moody said while laying out his amendment.

A person convicted of possession of intoxicating hemp would also have their drivers license suspended 30 days on the first offense, 60 days on the second offense, and 180 days on the third offense. The amendment passed 107-30.

Both sides of the aisle agreed the current state of unregulated THC products, the intoxicating compound in marijuana, needed to be fixed to protect children and users.

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However, both sides seemed to differ on how to do that. A majority of Democrats supported regulation while a majority of Republicans supported prohibition.

State Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, who is a physician, argued that the THC products can be dangerous. They are psychosis-inducing, overdose prone chemicals masquerading as relief. These products being sold are not tested, not dosed consistently and not supervised by a medical professional.

Democrats pushed for better regulations, rather than a ban. Before the vote, they warned about the potential economic harm of the legislation.

Texas businesses do not want a ban on THC, State Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos, D-Richardson, said shortly before the vote. This is a ban on 50,000 jobs held by working families across the state. Its a ban on 8 billion in annual tax revenue.

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A lot of the debate centered around the states medical marijuana program, called the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP).

State Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, a Democrat from Houston, raised concerns for the veteran community. Youre taking away potentially their freedom to choose this product that in their own words saved their lives, Morales Shaw said from the back microphone.

State Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, who wrote the amendment that changed the bill from a regulation on THC to a complete ban, sympathized with those concerns but argued the proper help for veterans would need to come from the states regulated TCUP.

I dont ever want somebody to be denied access to a medication that may be a benefit, Oliverson said.

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There is a push at the Texas Capitol to expand the TCUP. The program launched in 2015 for epileptic children and has since slowly grown to include more people, including those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It provides low-THC cannabis to patients with a proper prescription from a physician.

There are currently three licensed dispensing organizations that cultivate and deliver the products to patients. Nico Richardson is the CEO of Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation, one of the dispensing organizations based in south Austin.

Richardson says one of the main issues for the TCUP is accessibility. He says when a patient makes an order they will either have to drive to the main facility of the organization, meet the organization at a pick-up location, or have the product delivered to their house. The size of Texas creates a long waiting period for the patients, Richardson explained.

But even more of a problem lies in the pickup locations. The problem with that is with the pickup locations, were not actually able to keep any of our medicine there. It all has to stay in Austin. So that means someone has to order from us the night before, online or via telephone, and then we have to drive the medicine to that pickup location, Richardson explained. We have to drive the medicine there that morning and wait for the patient to come and pick it up. If the patient doesnt show up, we have to drive it back to Austin, put it back into our vault in our main facility.

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During the debate on the THC ban on Wednesday night, the head of the Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, posted on social media that he supports expanding the TCUP to allow for more licenses and locations.

We will expand licenses and have satellite locations for the first time for prescribed products from doctors for our veterans and those in need, the social media post read.

A bill that has already passed the House, House Bill 46, called for increasing the number of licenses available for dispensing organizations from three to 15. It will also allow organizations to store products at satellite locations to avoid the logistical nightmare, with an emphasis on making sure the locations are spread equitably throughout the state.

The bill would also expand the amount of products. Currently, patients can receive their medicine in the form of an edible or a tincture. HB 46 would allow low-THC to be administered by pulmonary inhalation which would allow for a quicker reaction for the consumer.

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The House bill called for allowing anyone with a condition that causes chronic pain that a physician would otherwise prescribe opioids to now be eligible in TCUP.

But the Senate Committee on State Affairs made significant changes to the bill. In a brief hearing on Friday night, committee members approved a committee substitute for HB 46 that does not include chronic pain as a condition eligible in TCUP. The committee substitute is the version of the bill that will be voted on by the full Senate.

The updated legislation adds one additional condition, terminal illness or a condition for which a person is in hospice care, to TCUP eligibility.

The committee substitute would set the number of licenses for dispensing organizations to nine, down from the 15 in the original version of HB 46. The bill will now go to the full Senate for a vote. May 28 is the last day the Senate can consider any bill.

After expedited process, Paxton closes Superior HealthPlan investigations

Three months after announcing an investigation into the company Superior HealthPlan, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtons office said it closed its cases, according to a news release.

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The investigation began after the Texas House Committee on the Delivery of Government Efficiency (DOGE) called for sanctions and legislation against the company, as KXAN previously reported. A day after that committee held a hearing, Paxton launched his investigation.

Texas DOGE considers bill to prohibit surveillance by state contractors

The allegations concerning Superiors actions, such as actions that were characterized as potentially blackmailing lawmakers to secure state contracts and surveilling private citizens to avoid paying legitimate claims, are deeply troubling, said Paxton in a March 27 press release. I will get to the bottom of this, uncover any illegal activity, and hold bad actors responsible. Justice will be served.

KXAN previously reported that the company hired a private investigator to research state lawmakers and journalists.

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The OAG Consumer Protection Division and Health Programs Enforcement Division both conducted investigations into the insurance company following the March announcement. However, both found that the company followed state law.

Superiors activities involved researching and consolidating publicly available documents into internal reports, which does not violate Texas law, the OAG said. There was no evidence of any surveillance or violation of privacy discovered or indicated within the investigation, nor was any privately held or confidential information, such as protected health information, included in the reports.

Superior HealthPlan responded to the office ending its investigation in a Tuesday afternoon press release, where it said it appreciate[s] the swift work of Paxton and his team.

We are pleased the numerous false accusations resulting from the March 26th DOGE committee hearing have been rebutted by the Attorney Generals review. Superior remains committed to transparency and accountability, and we will continue to ensure that all partners and practices reflect the integrity we expect of ourselves. For 25 years, Superior HealthPlan has partnered with the State of Texas to provide high quality care to Medicaid members and other vulnerable populations. We look forward to returning our focus to serving our 2 million members, providers and community partners.

One day after March hearing that led to the investigation, Centene, the parent company to Superior HealthPlan, announced that CEO Mark Sanders was no longer with the company. Emails revealed at that hearing indicated the company hired private investigators to get information on lawmakers and customers.

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Centene issued a statement after the March 26th hearing, emphasizing that the information gathered came only through publicly or commercially available resources. However, the company also issued an apology.

The research in question included irrelevant and unnecessary personal information. That was inappropriate and never should have happened, Centenes statement said. This occurred prior to 2019 and does not reflect the values or standards of our current leadership. For that, we offer our sincere and unequivocal apology.

Texas bills rooting out bad actors from schools advance

Texas has a new law aimed at rooting out bad actors from educational settings, with another in the works.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill from Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, on Monday. Senate Bill 1437 allows the Texas Juvenile Justice Department to designate former employees or volunteers permanently ineligible for certification if they engage in conduct that threatens juvenile safety. It takes effect Sept. 1.

The bill comes after a KXAN investigation found records showing the Texas Juvenile Justice Department allowed former Juvenile Corrections Officer Isaiah Smith, who was being investigated for sexual misconduct at the Giddings facility, to resign and remain eligible for hire weeks after firing him.

Records show that as part of a settlement agreement with Smith, TJJD agreed to change his termination, which rendered him ineligible for rehire, to show that he resigned for personal reasons. The agency also reclassified Smith as eligible for hire in its database, which is accessible to other county juvenile facilities.

Records show TJJD did not reverse its decision until more than a year after the settlement, in December 2023, after Smith was arrested and charged with indecency with a minor at an Austin Independent School District high school.

Sen. Bettencourt filed another bill, Senate Bill 571, as a direct result of KXANs investigation into Smith. The House Public Education committee reported the bill favorably on Friday, and it is expected to go before the full House for a vote.

KXAN uncovered that Smith got a tutoring job at the Austin ISD high school through nonprofit Austin Partners in Education, despite the TJJD Office of Inspector General already determining he had an inappropriate relationship with a juvenile.

Records show that during his time tutoring on an Austin ISD campus, he was arrested on allegations that he inappropriately touched a student. The non-profit that hired Smith did not have immediate access to TJJDs database, which typically contains information about suspected misconduct. The non-profit also told KXAN that Smith did not disclose that he had previously worked at the state agency during the hiring process.

Even now, the Texas Education Agencys publicly available Do Not Hire list does not list Smith because Commissioner Morath says his agency has no statutory authority to investigate or place third-party contractors on its misconduct registry.

Austin tutors arrest reveals cracks in how Texas vets school employees

Sen. Bettencourt initially said he filed SB 571 to close those loopholes. The bill allowed third-party non-profits to access the states database, the Interagency Reportable Conduct Search Engine, which will eventually house multiple agencies state misconduct records. More than two years after lawmakers greenlit the project, the database is still not operational.

SB 571 also authorized TEA to investigate third-party contractors for misconduct and place them on its Do Not Hire registry.

The legislation has since been expanded to a 72-page bill that, in his own words, attempts to close all the loopholes at one time.

A bill analysis from the Senate Research Center explains that school employees, including third-party service providers, can be placed on TEAs Do Not Hire registry for inappropriate communications with students, failing to maintain appropriate boundaries with students, or physically mistreating or threatening violence to students.

SB 571 also expands the list of convictions that would result in a mandatory termination and loss of certification to include felony offenses of public indecency or an improper relationship between an educator and a student.

The bill has received criticism over a newer provision making reports and other records related to the TEA or the State Board of Education Certifications review or investigation of a misconduct allegation confidential and not subject to disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act.

The bill summary says the confidentiality provision was added because current law requires seeking an [Attorney General] opinion each time on whether the records are releasable.

When Texas is in crisis with the growing number of educator misconduct events, we should not be hiding any record related to educator misconduct from the public, Amy Ratleff from Plano wrote in public comments to the Texas House on the bill.

Continuing Coverage

The bill, headed for a floor vote in the House, includes the confidentiality provision.

Texas House passes property tax cuts for homeowners

Lawmakers in the Texas House gave final approval Wednesday to two bills that aim to cut property taxes for homeowners in the state. The bills aim to increase the states homestead exemption, which is the amount of a homes value that is not subject to property taxes.

Texas voters will decide this November whether to amend the state constitution to allow the tax cuts to be implemented.

House members voted 143-0 on Wednesday to approve Senate Bill 4, which calls for raising the homestead exemption for all homeowners from $100,000 to $140,000. Supporters of SB 4 said the increase could save the average Texas homeowner nearly $500 annually in taxes.

Senate approves $140K homestead exemption to increase property tax relief

The House also passed Senate Bill 23, which would provide an additional raise to the homestead exemption for those 65 and older. It would raise the additional homestead exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners from $10,000 to $60,000. Thats on top of the current $100,000 exemption for Texas homeowners.

Both SB 4 and SB 23 require amendments to the Texas Constitution to take effect. The House also approved corresponding resolutions that would put the issues before Texas voters in November.

If voters approve amendments to enact SB 23 in tandem with SB 4, the total homestead exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners would rise to $200,000. Bill author Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston estimates that the increased exemption will save the average over-65 or disabled homeowner more than $950 annually in property taxes.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade speaks to the crowd outside the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum after being sworn in as the citys 42nd mayor in June 2023.
Student accommodation belonging to Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv has been damaged by debris that fell from a Russian drone during the combined Russian attack on 25 May.

Source: University administration

Details: Four people were injured and received medical assistance at the scene.

Cleanup efforts on the campus grounds

Photo: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Quote from the university: "In the early hours of Sunday, debris from a downed Russian UAV fell near some of the universitys student accommodation. The impact damaged a gas pipe and caused a fire to break out. Two neighbouring accommodation buildings and the universitys dining hall were also damaged."

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The university added that the fire had been promptly contained by firefighters, preventing serious damage. None of the residents sustained burns, and the four people injured in the incident were treated by emergency medical personnel.

Bomb disposal teams and police officers have inspected the premises for safety. The students affected have been offered temporary accommodation elsewhere. Cleanup efforts are ongoing in the campus grounds and the damaged buildings.

Background: During the large-scale Russian attack on the night of 24-25 May, 60 people were injured and 12 killed, including three school-age children from the same family. Their parents, who were also injured, are still in hospital.

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SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  A Suffolk firefighter was arrested Friday in connection to an arson incident, according to officials.

Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescues Fire Marshals Office charged Steve T. Jurnigan with the following criminal charges:

Maliciously Burn or Destroy (f);

Intentionally Destroy Property(f);

Assault and Battery (m);

Unauthorized use of an auto(f).

Jurnigan has been employed with Suffolk Fire and Rescue since 2005. He has been placed on administrative leave without pay.

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Jurnigan is currently being held at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail without bond. Additional charges are pending.

The investigation is ongoing. There is no further information available at this time.

Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO)  The sun is shining again, lets get a check on the latest in news and weather with KELOLAND On The Go.

Seasonal events have returned to Sioux Falls for the summer.

Seasonal events return to downtown Sioux Falls

While you may think its the mayor or city councilors who keep a city running, you are missing a large group of people.

You may not see them, but youd notice if theyre gone

Swimmers will have to wait until the end of this week to visit one of the City of Sioux Falls outdoor pools and aquatic centers.

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Sioux Falls outdoor pools to open May 30th

The best rain chances will stay in the far southwest today, but those rain chances will start to move slowly east on Memorial Day.

More showers ahead for KELOLAND; Warmer weather late this week

Several organizations are hosting Memorial Day events across South Dakota tomorrow.

LIST: Memorial Day events in South Dakota

For the latest in news and weather, use the KELOLAND News app.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com.
GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV)  A shooting in Glynn County Friday night left one woman with a gunshot wound.

The Glynn County Police Department (GCPD) responded to the scene near Mulligans and the Royal Inn Hotel in Brunswick and found the woman with a wound to her lower abdomen. The woman was transported to the hospital in Brunswick, then airlifted to another hospital in Jacksonville. She is listed in stable condition.

GCPD detectives identified the suspect as 32-year-old Brandon Betts. Detectives say Betts fired multiple shots from a shotgun in the direction of the victim, her two children, ages 7 and 9, and an additional male.

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Betts was arrested and charged Friday with four counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of or attempt to commit a crime. Additional charges may be added pending further investigation.

This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the GCPD at 912-554-3645.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV.
A man accused of trying to burn down Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiros official residence is seeking to delay his next scheduled court appearance because he is receiving mental health treatment, his lawyer said Friday.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Man admitted to harboring hatred toward Gov. Shapiro before setting fire to residence, police say

The suspect, Cody Balmer, had been scheduled to appear in court next Wednesday for a hearing to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence against Balmer to take the case to trial.

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PHOTOS: Police investigate act of arson at Governor Josh Shapiros residence in Harrisburg

But Mary Klatt, the chief public defender of Dauphin County, said Balmers hearing will be postponed because he is receiving treatment.

Everyone wants to ensure Mr. Balmer is mentally fit when this matter comes before the Court, Klatt said in an email to The Associated Press.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> 11 Investigates: Possible motive released in firebombing of governors mansion

Balmer is currently being held at the state prison in Waymart, the only state prison with a mental health unit for men, according to the state Department of Corrections.

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PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man charged with arson at Pennsylvania governors home struggled with mental health, brother says

Balmer, 38, is charged with attempted homicide, arson and other offenses for setting a fire that tore through a section of the state-owned residences first floor and forced the governor, his wife, children and members of his extended family to flee in the middle of the night, hours after they celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover with a Seder in the residence.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Consultant says security report into arson at Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiros home wont be made public

Shapiro, who is Jewish, is viewed as a potential White House contender for the Democratic Party in 2028.

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Balmer told police that he had intended to attack the governor with a hammer if he had encountered him that night, police said in a court filing. No one was injured in the blaze, which fire officials say caused millions of dollars in damage to the heavily protected residence.

Balmer has not entered a plea.

Balmer has been held without bail since turning himself in to state police after the April 13 fire. Klatt has said he would be evaluated to see if he is competent to stand trial.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Arson attack probe at Pennsylvania governors mansion looking into suspects hatred of Josh Shapiro

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Balmers mother and brother say he suffers from mental illness, something that Balmer denied in one brief court appearance. Authorities say Balmer expressed hatred for Shapiro.

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The 39-year-old woman suspected of having injured 18 people in a stabbing at the central train station in Germany's Hamburg had previously come to the attention of the authorities, officials said on Sunday.

The woman, who hails from the northern state of Lower Saxony, has been known to police since 2021, a spokesman for the state Interior Ministry said.

"She appeared at police stations several times, showing clear signs of mental illness," the spokesman said.

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Police initiated criminal proceedings against the woman in several cases last year, according to the ministry.

Following an incident at the beginning of May, a court ordered her to be placed in a psychiatric hospital where she received treatment for three weeks.

The woman was discharged one day prior to Friday's attack, the spokesman said.

Authorities in Lower Saxony say there was no indication that the suspect may have used a knife in previous incidents, nor does she have a firearms licence.

A magistrate ordered the woman to be placed in psychiatric care after she was detained following the stabbing on Friday.
ROCKTON, Ill. (WTVO)  Rockton Police are looking for Victor Ortega, 41, after he was accused of attacking a woman on Thursday.

On May 22, around 6:25 p.m., officers were called to the 800 block of Meadow Crest Drive for reports that a woman was bitten by a dog.

Authorities found the victim, and she had multiple injuries after what she said was a domestic violence incident.

Victor Ortega. Photo: Rockton Police Department

The suspect is still at large.

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He is charged with unlawful restraint, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated assault, domestic battery, interfering with the report of domestic violence and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.

If anyone knows the whereabouts of Ortega, please contact Rockford Area Crime Stoppers at (815) 963-7867 or Rockton Sergeant Detective Davies at (815) 624-6893.

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The suspect in the recent knife attack at Hamburg's central train station was released from a psychiatric hospital on the day prior to the stabbing, officials said on Sunday.

The 39-year-old woman had been treated in a psychiatric institution in the northern German city of Cuxhaven for three weeks after she was found in a state of helplessness in early May, a spokesman for the Health Ministry in the state of Lower Saxony said.

According to the clinic, the woman was released because there were no medical findings at the time of her discharge to justify further treatment.

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Authorities did not comment on the nature of her illness, citing privacy concerns and medical confidentiality.

Before patients are released from a psychiatric ward, doctors have to consider whether they could pose a danger to themselves or others.

A total of 18 people were injured in the stabbing at Hamburg's central station on Friday evening, with the suspect arrested at the scene. A magistrate later ordered her to be placed in psychiatric care.
Police were searching for a suspect after a shooting in north Phoenix May 24 left one man dead and another injured, according to the Phoenix Police Department.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting near Interstate 17 and Thunderbird Road just after 3:20 p.m. When they arrived, they found two victims with "serious, life-threatening" injuries, Sgt. Brian Bower said in a statement.

The next day, Bower identified the two men.

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Michael Tusa, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other victim, identified only as another man, was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Homicide detectives responded to the scene and were investigating the shooting while police officers searched for additional evidence.

Officers were called to the area for a shooting and found Tusa suffering from at least one gunshot wound under the I-17 overpass at Thunderbird Road, Bower said.

The other man was found nearby with a gunshot wound and was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Bower said detectives learned the shooting occurred under the overpass and that the alleged suspects involved left the area before police arrived. The relationship between Tusa and the unidentified man was not shared by police.

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Bower declined to provide further information on the shooting.

No suspects had been identified as police asked for the public's help.

"Anyone with information is encouraged to call in tips to Silent Witness," Bower said.

Tips can be reported to Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (480-948-6377) or 480-TESTIGO (480-837-8446) for Spanish. Tips can be made anonymously.

(This story was updated to include new information.)

Reach reporter Rey Covarrubias Jr. at rcovarrubias@gannett.com. Follow him on X, Threads and Bluesky @ReyCJrAZ.

Injured: Police say 3 hospitalized after pit bull attack at Tempe home where dog survived gunfire

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: North Phoenix shooting leaves 1 man dead, another man injured
Update 5/25:

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (ABC4)  After an hours-long SWAT standoff in West Valley City on Saturday night, a man surrendered and was taken into custody.

Officials with the West Valley City Police Department told ABC4.com that a constable was reportedly serving eviction papers to a resident in the West Valley home. WVCPD said a suspect allegedly pointed a firearm at the constable and went back inside.

After the incident with the firearm, the constable contacted police, which led to the SWAT perimeter being set up.

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There were no reported injuries during the standoff, officials confirmed with ABC4.com.

Original story: SWAT standoff unfolds in West Valley City, man refusing to come out

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (ABC4)  Officers responded to reports of an armed man barricaded inside a West Valley City home on Saturday night.

An officer at the scene told ABC4.com that 20 to 30 officers with the West Valley City Police Department were at the scene, and they believed the man was armed. The departments SWAT team also responded, and officers were making announcements and using distraction devices in an effort to get the subject to exit the residence.

Weve given him some opportunities to come out and chat with us, and hes refusing to do so, Lt. Levi Lloyd with WVCPD told ABC4.com. We kinda need him out of the house, so weve got some additional resources here to try to get to come out.

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Utah man arrested for allegedly stalking, harassing Salt Lake mayor over pride-themed city flag designs

Lt. Lloyd said that the man in the house was wanted for criminal charges from earlier in the day on Saturday. The charges are said to be assault-related, according to officials.

Hopefully, he just comes out and we get him taken care of, and thats the plan, Lloyd said.

Officers first responded to the home on 3300 South around 8 p.m., and had been in the area for over an hour. As of about 10 p.m. on May 24, officials were still at the scene, and the man had not yet come out.

We want to make sure that the neighbors are safe, we want to make sure that the subject inside is safe, and we just want to make sure that everyones safe, Lloyd said.

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Kat Hubertz told ABC4.com that she has lived in the neighborhood for 12 years, and that a SWAT truck had parked right in front of her home. Hubertz said seeing a few police cars on the street is never out of the norm, but she has never, never seen as many as on Saturday night.

All of a sudden, our entire streets full of undercover cops and cop cars and just everywhere, Hubertz said.

Hubertz said she is a little concerned cause we dont really know whats going on.

ABC4.com is at the scene to learn more about the situation.

Connor Comeau and Dennis Dolan contributed to this report.

Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Turkiyes Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Russia on 26 and 27 May to discuss its war with Ukraine.

Source: Anadolu Agency, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The visit follows the 16 May meeting in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, the first direct talks between the two countries in over three years.

While the meeting yielded no ceasefire, it secured an agreement for a thousand-for-thousand prisoner-of-war exchange, which began on 23 May.

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Fidan is expected to meet Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led Russias Istanbul delegation.

He will reaffirm Turkiyes commitment to facilitating a just and lasting peace and its role as a mediator. Discussions will also cover regional issues, including Syria, Gaza and the South Caucasus.

Background: Media reports stated that during the talks in Istanbul, the Russians demanded the exclusion of US representatives from the negotiations with Ukraine and presented a number of unacceptable conditions.

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Pediatric physicians at MultiCares Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital in Tacoma have voted to unionize, according to an announcement released Thursday.

One hundred physicians at Mary Bridge voted Wednesday to organize with Northwest Medicine United so they can formally engage with hospital administrators through a collective bargaining agreement on decisions that will improve patient care, according to the release.

We came together to have a voice in the decisions that impact our patients. In a time of growing challenges, physicians must be at the table to advocate for the children and families we serve, Dr. Andrea Gravatt, emergency medicine physician, said in a statement.

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Gravatt has been employed with Mary Bridge for 20 years.

Northwest Medicine United, formerly known as the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association, founded in 2014, also represents physicians at PeaceHealth, Providence and Legacy Health.

The union is part of AFT Nurses and Health Professionals, which represents more than 200,000 healthcare workers and is part of the 1.8 million-member AFT affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

MultiCare told The News Tribune in an emailed statement in response to questions, A subset of physicians at Mary Bridge Childrens voted this week for union representation.

It added, We respect our physicians right to decide their representation. Regardless of whether our team members are represented by a union or not, we will continue our work in ensuring Mary Bridge Childrens is a place of excellence for our teams and our patients.

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Dr. Derek Tam is a pediatric emergency physician at Mary Bridge. He told The News Tribune via email in response to questions that the union effort at the hospital has been ongoing since late last year.

The fact that weve reached this point so quickly speaks to the expertise of NWMU and AFT as well as to the urgency with which we approached this issue, he added.

He noted that the union encompasses dozens of physicians across a wide breadth of specialties within pediatrics, and so our main priority as a whole is to ensure that all departments, big or small, have their needs met as much as possible.

As for the emergency department, he said, One of our priorities will be ensuring that our physicians have the resources we need to continue to provide the safest and highest level of emergency care that the children and families of Washington deserve, particularly as we gear up to move into the new hospital building.

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MultiCare is in the midst of developing a new Mary Bridge campus, planned to open early next year. The site will include a new inpatient hospital tower, ambulatory building with specialty clinics and urgent-care services, and new parking structures.

Tam added that another priority for contract negotiations will include ensuring that the physicians in each department are able to determine how their respective departments run in terms of day-to-day operations and decision-making.

Tam said the group also anticipates a more transparent relationship with hospital administration that will allow all parties to succeed and continue to grow our footprint in the community.

As for previous union efforts, MultiCares Auburn Medical Centers physicians organized with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists in 2016. UAPD also represents primary care staff members with the health systems Indigo Urgent Care centers.
An Irish businessman is killed by his American au-pair-turned-wife and her father. They claim self-defense. The dead man's sister fights to clear his name. "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher investigates in "In Jason's Name,"

By the time Sarah Corbett Lynch was 8 years old, she had lost three parents, been moved back and forth halfway across the world twice and experienced more loss than anyone of us do in an entire lifetime, let alone childhood.

Sarah's birth mother died when she was just an infant. A few years later, her father Jason Corbett, a successful Irish businessman, married their young, beautiful American nanny, Molly Martens. The newlyweds, Sarah and her older brother Jack, moved from Limerick to North Carolina. Molly was the only mother Sarah had ever really known and the two were incredibly close.

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But the married couple grew apart and on Aug. 2, 2015, Jason Corbett was beaten to death by Molly Corbett and her father Tom Martens. They claimed it was self-defense. Within days of Jason Corbett's death, a very public and ugly international custody battle ensued between Molly Corbett and Jason's sister, Tracey Corbett-Lynch. Corbett-Lynch prevailed. The children abruptly moved back to Ireland to live with their aunt, uncle and two cousins.

Molly Corbett and her father were convicted of murder and sentenced 20 to 25 years in prison. In March 2021, the North Carolina Supreme Court ordered a new trial. The two were released on bond the following month. In October 2023, Molly Corbett pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and Tom Martens pleaded guilty to the same charge; the second-degree murder charge was dropped. They were each sentenced to another 7 to 30 months in prison. In June 2024, both completed their sentences and were released from prison.

You might expect a child exposed to so much loss and pain from a violent act to lash out at some point, but for Sarah, the pen became mightier than a sword. At 13 years old, the young author published a series of children's books.

Sarah Corbett Lynch holds a copy of her book,

"Some kids have a really gentle, fun life. For some of us we are not so lucky," she told The Irish Times. Perhaps the way in which she lost her parents was unique, but Sarah realized the overwhelming feelings of loss were not. "It basically helped me feel less alone and so I began to write about my experiences through my stories," she said.

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"Noodle Loses Dad, "the first book of the Boogawooga series, is a tale of young brother and sister wolves whose father is snatched by an evil vulture, never to be seen again. The frightened cubs are taken in by a kind and generous family of monkeys, a mother, father and two boys, who live "across the pond" on an island. Despite the simple words and soft pastel illustrations, the similarities between Sarah's real-life drama and the misfortunes that befall the cute, innocent forest animals are undeniable.

"These stories are a means for Sarah to share her experiences over recent years transforming her story into something that can be understood by other children coping with loss, grief, blended family and being re-homed due to personal circumstances," said Sarah's uncle, David Lynch.

In the end, the orphans successfully learn to live a very different life than the one they had planned. A fitting end for the book and hopeful beginning for a teenager recently honored with the Limerick Garda Youth Award for Most Courageous and Inspiring Young Person.

Sarah Corbett Lynch's latest book, "A Time for Truth: My Father Jason and My Search for Justice and Healing," was released in March 2025.

4 women arrested for allegedly aiding escaped New Orleans inmates

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Nature: Poppies in California
Its only four months into Donald Trumps second term as president, and his administration already seems fed up with all the paperwork.

The administration has responded on two fronts to a court order requiring that it provide potential deportees with the meaningful opportunity to challenge their deportations in court: With a legal challenge and declaration from State Secretary Marco Rubio, and rhetorical attacks on social media.

 This DOJ is taking immediate action to defend President Trumps authority to secure our borders.



Federal courts cannot direct the conduct of foreign relations, and the courts orders in this case disrupt the presidents ability to faithfully execute our immigration laws. pic.twitter.com/ErswJj5HnU  U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) May 25, 2025

Late Saturday night, the Department of Justice posted in its entirety their legal challenge to an order from M.A. District Judge Brian Murphy blocking the Trump administration from deporting immigrants to third countries.

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In the motion, the DOJ argues that the requirement that the Department of Homeland Security provide detainees with the opportunity to challenge their deportations is burdensome because the DHS is required to maintain custody and control of the detainees and conduct interviews regarding any reasonable fears they may have about being deported to third countries in private at a time of the detainees choosing.

One such detainee was a gay Guatemalan man, known only as O.C.G., who was deported to Mexico in March in what the Trump administration has since admitted was an error. As a result, on Friday Judge Murphy ruled that the Trump administration must facilitate the mans return to the U.S.

As detailed by @SecRubio, lawless nationwide injunctions are wreaking havoc on our foreign relations. This is the most clear example yet of why SCOTUS needs to immediately intervene and reign in judges masquerading as diplomats. pic.twitter.com/mxhwxOVEkn  Chad Mizelle (@ChadMizelle47) May 24, 2025

Sec. Marco Rubio also responded to the injunction in a declaration filed with the court and posted to X by DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle on Saturday. In his declaration, Rubio argues that orders made by the court cause significant and irreparable harm to U.S. foreign policy and its strategic interests in Libya, South Sudan, and Djibouti.

According to Rubio, court orders that prevent the Trump administration from deporting people to countries they have no ties to would cause damages such as harming humanitarian efforts in South Sudan. This, as Rolling Stone points out, is an argument that sounds particularly odd coming from the administration that single-handedly decimated USAID. The Trump administration has already deported at least two Asian immigrants to South Sudan in violation of court orders.

While Rubio now parrots the Trump administration line on immigration, he was once significantly more sympathetic. / Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

While the case is still in front of Judge Murphy, Mizelles post made it clear that the Trump administration wants to escalate the legal battle to a potentially more sympathetic Supreme Court, tweeting, SCOTUS needs to immediately intervene and reign in judges masquerading as diplomats.

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Rubios newfound commitment to enforcing Trumps hardline anti-immigration policies represents a shift from earlier in his career, when he had previously called for compassion toward undocumented immigrants, going so far as to refer to helping those covered by the DREAM Act as a humanitarian mission.

The only process illegals are due is deportation. https://t.co/kueog2uDut  Stephen Miller (@StephenM) May 24, 2025

Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller also weighed in, reposting a tweet from DHS that referred to Murphy as an activist judge and adding, The only process illegals are due is deportation. Under the U.S. Constitution, everybody under its jurisdictions, whether a citizen or non-citizen, is afforded the right of due process.

Millers influence on Trump was evident when, last month, he took to TruthSocial to mount a similar argument, claiming that there simply was not sufficient time or court capacity to afford every potential deportee due process.

The president wrote, It is not possible to have trials for millions and millions of people. We know who the Criminals are, and we must get them out of the U.S.A.and FAST!

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Despite facing numerous legal setbacks in his attempt to carry out his planned mass deportations, it is clear that Trump is hoping that dragging the issue into the court of public opinion will yield better results.

This agenda was laid bare in the DOJs late night post, which read, Federal courts cannot direct the conduct of foreign relations, and the courts orders in this case disrupt the presidents ability to faithfully execute our immigration laws,a clear misrepresentation of the role the legal system plays in interpreting the law, but one that will doubtless not matter to much of Trumps base.
A bill that would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom in Texas cleared a key legislative hurdle Sunday and is closer to heading to Gov. Greg Abbott for approval.

The state House of Representatives passed a version of the Ten Commandments bill in a 82-46 vote following a week of debate and delay, when Democratic lawmakers attempted to introduce amendments, including allowing individual school districts to opt in and for the Ten Commandments to be in different languages.

After the House passed the bill with an amendment on Sunday  requiring the state, rather than school districts, to defend any legal challenges to the law  it must now return to the Senate for approval. Advocates of the law celebrated the win after they initially assumed the bill would proceed directly to the governor once passed by the House.

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Abbotts office did not immediately comment about its passage, but the Republican governor is expected to sign it into law if it reaches his desk. The state Senate approved a previous version of the legislation in March on a 20-11 party-line vote.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had said the success of the bill, known as SB 10, was among his priorities for the current session, which ends next month, after similar legislation failed in 2023 because of time constraints.

By placing the Ten Commandments in our public school classrooms, we ensure our students receive the same foundational moral compass as our state and countrys forefathers, Patrick said.

Still, Texas Ten Commandments legislation is likely to face constitutional opposition, as it has in Louisiana, where a GOP-drafted law was signed last year by Gov. Jeff Landry and was quickly challenged by a coalition of parents of different religious beliefs.

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Under Texas bill, all public elementary or secondary schools would have to display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments. The displays would have to be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall and include the text of the Ten Commandments as written in the bill.

Once the bill is signed into law, schools must accept any offer of privately donated displays or may use district funds, starting in the 2025-26 school year.

The legislation does not have an enforcement mechanism, and its unclear what might happen to schools or individual teachers who refuse to comply. According to a state House committee analysis, the bill itself also does not expressly create a criminal offense.

State Sen. Phil King, the lead author of the bill, had said he was introducing the legislation because the Ten Commandments are part of our Texas and American story.

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But state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat who is Christian, objected to the bill last week during an earlier vote, saying a display of such religious text may feel exclusionary to non-Christian students.

Forcing our religion down their throats is not love, Talarico said.

With Louisiana and most recently Arkansas mandating the Ten Commandments in public schools, legal arguments over such laws could eventually wind up again before the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1980 ruled that classroom displays of the Ten Commandments were unconstitutional.

Louisiana has not fully implemented its law as officials await a federal appeals court ruling on its constitutionality. In November, a lower court judge concluded the state had not offered any constitutional way to display the Ten Commandments.

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Meanwhile, Texas House members on Friday approved another religion-based bill that would permit school districts to adopt policies allowing for a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text with parental consent. Abbott is also expected to sign it into law.

Emily Witt, a spokeswoman for the Texas Freedom Network, a grassroots group that advocates for religious freedom, said the wave of conservative-leaning legislation across Texas and other states is part of a wider coordinated strategy to infuse the Bible in public school education.

The message this sends to kids is that theyre being told their religion doesnt matter and isnt as important as this one, Witt said. We worry that leads to bullying and otherism  all things in public schools that we try to prevent.

CLARIFICATION (May 25, 2025, 4:50 p.m. ET): This article was updated after publication to clarify that the legislation must go back to the state Senate for approval, rather than directly to the governor, as supporters of the law had initially indicated in a news release.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Texas Legislature approved a bill that would ban diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and programs in public K-12 schools.

Senate Bill 12, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, will prohibit school districts from considering race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation in hiring decisions. The ban will also include training and programs on those topics unless they are required by federal law.

Parents will have to give written consent to allow their children to join school clubs. They will also be able to file complaints if they believe schools do not follow the DEI ban.

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[The 2025 Texas Legislature is over. See how far some of the most consequential bills made it.]

The Texas House passed the bill in May in an 88-47 vote, months after the Senate voted in favor of the bill in February. After both chambers ironed out their differences in closed-door negotiations, the proposal won final legislative passage Saturday.

The bill came out of those negotiations with many of the same measures its previous iteration had intact, though lawmakers removed a provision that would have allowed schools to recruit candidates from specific ethnic groups. That measure, added by the House, sought to help districts increase diversity in their hiring pools without fear of violating the proposed law.

Lawmakers also restored a provision from an earlier version of the bill that bans schools from authorizing or sponsoring student clubs based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The move sparked outrage among House Democrats, who blasted the bill's supporters and labeled the provision the work of monsters.

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Rep. Jeff Leach, the bills sponsor, cast the bill as giving parents more control over their childrens curriculum, school materials and safety. He also highlighted that the bill builds on the 2021 ban of teaching critical race theory in Texas, an academic discipline that explores how race and racism influence laws and institutions. Critical race theory is not taught in public schools, but it has become a catch-all phrase used by conservatives upset with how children learn about Americas history of racism.

The legislation further upholds parental authority by giving them the ability to opt their child in or out of specific programs, such as the requirement in this bill that a parent must opt in to a child's sex education curriculum, and this is so that parents can make informed choices that align with their family's values, Leach said.

Supporters of the bill claim that DEI initiatives divert both class time and public funds toward promoting certain ideologies in schools.

Its clear these programs are already in our schools using millions of taxpayer dollars meant for the classroom to fund political activism and political agendas, Creighton, the Senate education committee chair, said during a public hearing in January.

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Several amendments filed by Democrats during the House vote failed, including one by Rep. Rhetta Andrews Bowers, D-Rowlett, which aimed to make sure that the uncomfortable truth, including slavery, is still being taught. Another, by Rep. Christian Manuel, D-Port Arthur, proposed allowing educators to opt out of teaching topics that conflict with their personal beliefs.

Opponents argue that banning these initiatives will disproportionately harm marginalized students, especially those who are LGBTQ+. They say it will take away safe spaces where students can find community and support, potentially leading to increased levels of depression and anxiety.

Without DEI, you're going to see more students who might think that they are alone, Ash Hall, a policy and advocacy strategist for LGBTQIA+ rights at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, told The Texas Tribune.

The broad and vague language of the bill also creates a high risk of over-application and could lead schools to censor themselves out of fear of violating unclear rules, critics worry. When SB 12 was first introduced, it included a broader definition of DEI practices and threatened to withhold state funding from schools that didnt comply. Those concerns were later addressed, and the bill was revised to remove the risk of defunding school districts.

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The bill requires schools to provide an explanation if a parent files a complaint about a potential DEI ban violation. If the parent is not satisfied with the response, they can appeal to the Texas education commissioner, who can investigate the complaint.

SB 12 requires school districts to adopt a policy to discipline employees  which could include termination  who knowingly take part in DEI-related activities.

During the discussion last month, the House also approved an amendment introduced by Leach clarifying that if a school employee is terminated for violating the DEI ban, they have the right to appeal.

The bill will take effect Sept. 1 after Gov. Greg Abbott signs it.

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Jaden Edison contributed to this story.

First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 1315 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Texas Republicans are rolling ahead with a controversial bill that seeks to further restrict abortion access in the state, while making it impossible for it to be challenged in state courts, despite Democratic objections.

Senate Bill 2880 advanced through the state Senate and is now heading for a House vote, after being moved Friday out of the Committee on State Affairs, with its chair facing growing pressure ahead of a deadline that had been slated for Saturday.

More than 40 House Republicans sent a letter to state Rep. Ken King, the chair, urging him to move the bill, while some held a last-minute press conference pushing for passage of the abortion bill and other conservative priorities.

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Republican state senators wrote in their own letter to King that existing laws were not enough to guard against abortions in the state, mainly due to the continued availability of medicated abortion.

Texas is in crisis. The tremendous protections afforded to mothers and children by S.B. 8, the Heartbeat Bill (87R), and H.B. 1290, the Trigger Bill (87R), is subverted daily by bad actors who flood our state with dangerous and deadly abortion pills, they wrote. This must end.

Texas is already among the most restrictive states on abortion. Laws enacted since Roe v. Wade was struck down have no exceptions for rape or incest, and physicians who violate the laws face potential fines and jail time. Women have died in the state because of the abortion law.

Senate Bill 2880, if passed, would allow anyone who makes, distributes, prescribes or provides abortion medication or provides information on how a person can obtain an abortion-inducing drug to be sued for up to $100,000.

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It should worry every American, said Texas state Sen. Nathan Johnson, one of the many Democrats sounding the alarm on the bill. Its absolutely an abomination from a lot of standpoints.

Its unclear if the bill will be passed during Texass legislative session, which is slated to end June 2.

Texas almost entirely banned abortion in 2021 after state lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, before most women know they are pregnant.

Maternal mortality in Texas rose by 56 percent in the year following the passage of the six-week ban, according to the research and gender policy nonprofit the Gender Equity Policy Institute.

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The Lone Star State has since fought to further restrict abortion access, most notably by attempting to punish abortion providers who mail abortion medication to Texans from states where abortion is legal.

Texas became the first state to sue an abortion provider in a state with an abortion shield law late last year. In December, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued New York doctor Margaret Carpenter for allegedly prescribing and mailing abortion medication via a telehealth service.

Senate Bill 2880 is trying to take the states near-total ban on abortion further. Under the bill, those who provide abortion medication are liable to wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits from family members of those who undergo abortions.

From the abortion perspective, its like a Russian doll of a bill, said Texas state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt (D).

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It also allows for the attorney general to file lawsuits against abortion medication providers, prescribers or manufacturers on behalf of unborn children of residents of this state.

Its a very scary abortion bill, but it also sets a precedent that reaches far beyond abortion, Eckhardt said.

Beyond the clear restrictions on abortion, Democratic senators are worried over language in the bill that seeks to make it impossible to challenge it as unconstitutional in state court. Democratic lawmakers argue its a clear attempt by Republican lawmakers to make the judiciary system powerless in the state.

I think thats unprecedented, said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis.

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Its crazy that the bill says it cant be challenged in court, and then its also crazy that they dont even want it to be challenged in court  you have to [be] writing a bill that youre pretty darn sure is unconstitutional to not want the Texas courts to look at it.

Democratic lawmakers, like Eckhardt, and reproductive-rights advocates worry that even if the bill doesnt pass, it will inspire future similar legislation in Texas and elsewhere.

Texas has often served as a sort of litmus test for anti-abortion extremists. The very same lawmaker that came up with Texas vigilante law banning abortion is now attempting the same with medication abortion, said Nimra Chowdhry, senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights.

State officials are intent on trapping Texans and ending all abortion access in the state, no matter the cost to peoples lives. And we could see more like-minded states attempt the same.

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Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes, the bills author, did not respond to questions from The Hill about the bill.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Jon Caldara is president of the Independence Institute in Denver and hosts The Devils Advocate with Jon Caldara on Colorado Public Television Channel 12. His column appears Sundays in Colorado Politics.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is set to sign a bill into law that requires all public school classrooms in the state to prominently display the Ten Commandments, the latest move from Republican lawmakers across the country to integrate religion in public education.

State lawmakers approved a measure over the weekend that requires every classroom to visibly display a poster  no smaller than 16 by 20 inches  that contains the Ten Commandments, but only as written in the legislation. No other language can be added to the poster, under the bill.

Senate Bill 10 is expected to advance to the governors desk despite a federal court order striking down a similar law in neighboring Louisiana, where that states Republican Governor Jeff Landry welcomed a lawsuit alleging egregious violations of the First Amendments firewall between church and state.

A 5-foot tall stone slab bearing the Ten Commandments stands near the Capitol in Austin, Texas. Lawmakers have now approved legislation requiring the text in every classroom (AP)

The bill in Texas passed the state House by a vote of 88-46 on Sunday. Texas Republicans rejected Democratic amendments to the bill that would allow schools to opt out or present the Ten Commandments in languages other than English.

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Abbott is expected to sign the legislation after its final approval in the state Senate, which initially passed the bill in March by a vote of 20-11 on party lines.

Under the bill, all public elementary or secondary schools must display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments.

It is incumbent on all of us to follow Gods law and I think we would all be better off if we did, Republican state Rep. Candy Noble said during floor debate Saturday.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick listed the bill among his chief priorities this year.

By placing the Ten Commandments in our public school classrooms, we ensure our students receive the same foundational moral compass as our state and countrys forefathers, Patrick said in a statement earlier this year.

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Last year, District Judge John Wheadon deGravelles paused a similar Louisiana law that swiftly drew legal challenges from civil rights groups anticipating a Supreme Court battle.

The law violates the First Amendments provisions against the government from establishing or favoring one religion over another, and from interfering with a right to practice a religion without government interference, according to the ruling.

There is a real and substantial likelihood of coercion if Louisiana students are forced to be a captive audience for a specific version of the Ten Commandments, one posted in every single classroom, deGravelles wrote.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign legislation mandating the Ten Commandments in state classrooms after final approval from the Republican-dominated state legislature (REUTERS)

Conservative Christian legal groups have been angling for another shot at reversing Supreme Court rulings protecting the separation of church and state for decades.

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Lawmakers in Arkansas have advanced similar legislation, and Oklahomas chief school officials mandated copies of the Bible and Ten Commandments in all classrooms with immediate and strict compliance.

Texas lawmakers have also approved legislation that would allow school districts to create designated times for prayer and reading the Bible or other religious text with parental consent. Governor Abbott is also expected to sign it into law.

Rocio Fierro-Perez, political director of the Texas Freedom Network, called the measure a blatant violation of the First Amendment and an escalation in the ongoing effort to turn public schools into tools of government-endorsed religion.

Legislation to incorporate Christian teachings in public schools joins a nationwide effort from conservative special interest groups to move public funds into religious education, dovetailing with efforts within Donald Trumps administration and across the country to let families use taxpayer funds to send their children to private school.

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This week, the Supreme Court reached a surprise tie in a case that could decide whether Oklahoma could open the first-ever taxpayer funded Catholic public charter school, which triggered a high-profile legal battle to decide whether public funds can be used to create religious schools  setting up a major test to the First Amendments establishment clause.

The 4-4 decision, which Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from, maintains a lower-court order that effectively blocks the schools opening, for now.
NEW YORK (PIX11)  A second suspect was taken into custody on Saturday in connection to the torture of an Italian cryptocurrency millionaire, authorities said.

Police are still searching for a third suspect, who is still at large, according to court records.

More Local News

Beatrice Folchi was taken into police custody but has yet to be charged, according to authorities. On Friday, a man was taken into police custody in connection with the kidnapping and torture of a 28-year-old tourist from Italy, officials said.

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Police said the tourist had escaped a Manhattan apartment near Mulberry and Prince streets. He said he had been kidnapped and tortured for several weeks, according to authorities.

John Woeltz, a 37-year-old from Kentucky, was arrested and charged with assault, kidnapping, and unlawful imprisonment on Saturday. Attorneys said Woeltz forced the victim to send Bitcoin by threatening the victims family, then lured him to New York for the cryptocurrency.

Once there, the Italian man was robbed of his electronics and passport and tortured for three weeks, court documents stated.

More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State

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Investigators said the victim was bound to a chair in a Prince Street apartment where he was shocked with electrical wires, pistol-whipped, cut with a saw, forced to smoke cocaine, and had a gun pointed to his head on multiple occasions, among other forms of physical abuse.

An investigation is ongoing; the third accomplice has yet to be identified.

Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. 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 PIX11.
Around 8 million people in Syria, almost a third of the country's population, were under observation by long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad's security forces before his fall from power last year, according to a Syrian government official.

"The number of people who were wanted by the former regime for political reasons exceeded 8 million," a spokesman for the Syrian Interior Ministry, Noureddine al-Baba, said on Saturday.

"Nearly one-third of the Syrian people had security records at the intelligence service and other agencies," he added.

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In al-Assad's Syria, the term "wanted for security reasons" referred to persons accused mostly of terrorism for participating in anti-government activities.

The accusation brought them under authorities' close surveillance, or led to their detention in notorious jails.

Al-Baba made the remarks at a press conference in the Syrian capital Damascus, highlighting efforts to restructure the interior ministry that was dreaded under al-Assad's reign.

"The Interior Ministry is making great efforts to restore these citizens' rights that were unjustly usurped from them," he added.

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In 2011, a pro-democracy peaceful uprising erupted against al-Assad's rule, demanding political change.

However, his government responded with brutal oppression. The situation soon evolved into a full-blown conflict that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and massive devastation.

Hundreds of thousands more ended up in prison, subjected to torture or disappearance, according to rights advocates.

Al-Assad, who governed Syria for more than two decades, fled to Russia in December after an Islamist-led rebel alliance advanced on Damascus.

Syria's new leadership is at pains to project a moderate image and respect for human rights as they seek economic support in rebuilding the war-shattered country.
DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA)  As Memorial Day approaches, three men in Decatur are on a mission protecting the red, white and blue.

Theyve been doing it every year since a man was caught stealing a flag four years ago. Now, their goal is safeguarding old glory. They arent veterans, but they are part of a group called the Patriot Guard Riders who shows up at military funerals and supports other military events.

Students in Decatur getting a chance to graduate in style

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At Graceland Cemetery, theyll be enforcing a dawn to dusk rule from Friday until Tuesday, May 27. That means no one is allowed on the property while its dark. Its because they have about two hundred American flags in the area.

But these arent your typical American flags youd hang outside your house. These flags are casket flags. Its a United States flag that goes over the casket of a veteran to honor their memory and service.

Central Illinois lanes remaining closed for Memorial Day:

Thats sad that we have to sit out in the cemetery in the middle of night to do it, but it is what it is, said Mike Tarczan, Illinois Patriot Guard Riders member. A lot of these veterans thats buried out here are combat veterans. Theyve been gone for a long time and no longer have family anymore, so we really got to be their family.

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He said each casket flag is worth $1,000. Tarczan said theyll be outside each day from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Three people were killed in a car accident in the western German city of Koblenz, police said on Sunday.

Six other passengers in the vehicle were injured and taken to hospital, a fire department spokesman told dpa.

Later, officials said a 53-year-old man and two women aged 47 and 65 were killed. The other six people were between the ages of 20 and 66 and were not seriously injured.

The vehicle involved was a nine-seater minibus.

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The group was returning from a family celebration in the state of Hesse when the accident occurred in the early hours of the morning.

There were no indications that the 22-year-old driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, police said, asking the public not to engage in speculation.

"It is a very, very terrible accident," a Koblenz police spokesman said.

The cause of the accident is still unclear and the identities of some of the people in the minibus have yet to be confirmed. The police spokesman said in the morning that foreign nationals were among the victims.

Initial findings indicated that the minibus had veered off A48 motorway and overturned. No other vehicle was involved. However, another vehicle drove over debris shortly after the accident.

The motorway has since reopened, after being closed for several hours.
FRANKLIN, Mass. (WPRI)  A child has died and two of her family members are seriously injured after a deadly crash involving a man accused of driving under the influence in Franklin Saturday evening.

Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said just before 6:30 p.m., the child was in a car with her family when they collided with a pickup truck on Grove Street.

The other driver, James Blanchard of Franklin, was arrested and faces several charges, according to Morrissey.

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Blanchard, 21, has been charged with the following:

Motor vehicle homicide while driving negligently and under the influence of alcohol

Three counts of operating under the influence of alcohol and causing serious bodily injury

Negligent operation of a motor vehicle

Operating a motor vehicle with an open container of alcohol

Marked lanes violation

Morrissey said the girls father, who was driving the car, has been released from the hospital after being treated for his injuries. Her mother and brother, who were passengers, are still in the hospital.

Blanchard is expected to be arraigned Tuesday and was held on $500,000 cash bail.

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On the night of 24-25 May, Russia launched a combined attack on Ukrainian cities. In Zhytomyr Oblast the attack killed three children from the same family: Stanislav, 8, Tamara, 12, and 17-year-old Roman Martyniuk.

Source: Korostyshiv Lyceum No. 1 named after Gustav Olizar, the childrens school, on Facebook

Quote: "Today, as a result of the horrific overnight attack, we lost three of our children.

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These pupils from our lyceum  11th-grade student Roman, 6th-grade student Tamara and 3rd-grade student Stanislav  will never come to their classrooms, sit at their desks or smile at their friends again [] Their lives have been cut short by the war."

Details: The teachers said that Roman had been about to graduate from school.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko had reported that the children were all from the same family. Their parents were injured in the attack and are currently in hospital. The children's mother sustained severe injuries.

Background:

On the night of 24-25 May, the Russians launched a large-scale attack on Ukrainian cities using 367 aerial weapons, including ballistic, cruise and air-launched missiles as well as strike UAVs.

At least 12 people were killed and 60 injured in the attack.

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The Thurston County Sheriffs Office will install biomedical sensors in its jail so it can monitor people who are deemed high risk.

The Board of County Commissioners approved the purchase of seven such sensors from Reassurance Solutions LLC for $48,268 on Tuesday.

These sensors can detect a persons heart rate, respiratory rate and movement, even through clothing and blankets, according to county documents. The technology is intended to be mounted on a wall or ceiling within a cell and is fireproof, waterproof and shatter resistant.

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If they work as advertised, these sensors will help jail staff respond more quickly to medical events such as drug overdoses and other emergencies. Over the years, the jail has seen occasional drug overdoses, some of which Sheriff Derek Sanders has publicly discussed.

The board approved the purchase of the sensors by action on its consent agenda, so there was no discussion about it Tuesday. However, Sanders and Undersheriff Ruben Mancillas had briefed the board about the request on May 13.

I think the biggest bit of it for these is its monitoring them constantly, not just when I go and look in the little window to do my timely check, Mancillas said.

Sanders shared one anecdote that showed the limitations of corrections officers timely checks of inmates. He said in this case, a person in cell tried to harm themselves after a corrections deputy walked away.

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They knew that they had 15 minutes and they tried to kill themselves, Sanders said. It just so happened that the deputy was like, Oh, I forgot something, and walked back by and was like, Whoa.

Sheriffs deputies make rounds through the maximum security unit at the Thurston County jail in Tumwater.

Sanders said these sensors should help fill in those gaps when deputys arent looking. To start, he said they will be placed in high-risk cells, including what he called suicide watch cells.

He said sensors also will be placed in single holding cells in the booking area where correctional deputies place people who are intoxicated or going through acute withdrawal.

Mancillas said the Sheriffs Office will pay for the first batch of sensors with a grant from the Washington Counties Risk Pool. If all goes well, Sanders said his office may seek to purchase more.

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Our hope is that if they do provide a valuable resource, which we think they will, then we can seek some more grant money in the future to start building out the cell areas as well, Sanders said.

County Commissioner Rachel Grant, who has professional background in behavioral health, praised the Sheriffs Offices plan.

This is great, Grant said. Just really innovative and will really help those who are coming in.

An image of an XK300 sensor sold by Reassurance Solutions LLC. The sensor is designed to detect vital signs of people in prison or jail cells.

Thurston County Sheriffs Office gets OK to buy more grappler nets to use in pursuits

Thurston Sheriff plans to pilot GPS trackers, grappler nets in pursuits this summer
MI5 is hiring a carpenter to help protect the country from terrorism and hostile-state threats.

The successful candidate will be deployed in the field to help carry out intelligence-gathering operations around the UK and directly contribute to the security of our nation.

The new recruit will have to sign the Official Secrets Act and must have a meticulous attention to detail and sound problem-solving skills.

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The role has a starting salary of 43,000, is being advertised on MI5s website and on its official Instagram account.

A video promoting the vacancy features footage of a person chiselling, sawing and planing a piece of wood with the caption: POV [point of view]: youre a carpenter and you want to be a spy... It takes a variety of skills to keep the country safe.

The job description on the intelligence services website states: As a maintenance carpenter, your work will encompass maintenance, repair and construction within secure facilities, including hardening of critical infrastructure and creating bespoke spaces in many different types of property.

You will be responsible for creating technical drawings, selecting appropriate materials, and carrying out tasks to a high standard, all while adhering to stringent security protocols.

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Another aspect of the role, and very exciting part of it, is occasionally deploying within the UK on intelligence gathering operations; utilising your trade skills to directly contribute to the security of our nation.

Candidates will have to undergo the most stringent level of security checks, known as developed vetting, including solvency tests to ensure they are not heavily in debt and at risk of being blackmailed.

Applicants must also have a City & Guilds Level 2, BTEC, NVQ or equivalent qualification in carpentry and joinery.

The job specification continued: You will also be expected to maintain required levels of fitness as the job can be physical at times.

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Recruits will be given two hours of paid leave each week to exercise or go to the gym.

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Heres a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on May 25, according to the Tribunes archives.

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

High temperature: 94 degrees (1911)

Low temperature: 32 degrees (1992)

Precipitation: 2.52 inches (1879)

Snowfall: Trace (1949)

1950: A Chicago Transit Authority Green Hornet streetcar slammed into a gas truck on State Street near 62nd Street in what remains the worst traffic accident in Chicago history and the worst streetcar accident in the United States. The streetcars doors did not have emergency pulls to open them, which are now required on all CTA vehicles, so 33 passengers died trapped inside. The gas truck driver also died. The streetcars motorman was blamed for failing to slow down to negotiate a switch.

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5 things you might not know about Chicago native Ted Kaczynski  the Unabomber

1978: Unabomber Ted Kaczynski left his first known bomb in a parking lot at the University of Illinois Chicago.

A passerby picked it up and returned it to the person Kaczynski listed on the return address as the sender. That person, a Northwestern University professor, was suspicious about the package and turned it over to security there. A public safety officer at Northwestern suffered minor injuries when he opened the package and it exploded.

1979: At the start of Memorial Day weekend, 271 people aboard American Airlines Flight 191 died after the DC-10 aircraft they boarded crashed just 31 seconds after takeoff from OHare International Airport. Two more people on the ground also died in the crash that impacted an open field about 4,600 feet northwest of the departure end of the runway.

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Its still the deadliest passenger airline accident on U.S. soil.

1981: Spider Dan Goodwin scaled the Sears Tower, which was then the worlds tallest building.

At least 200 people showed up to watch the 25-year-old Goodwin, clad in a blue-and-orange suit, scale the west side of the building using suction cups and a home-welded claw, the Tribune reported.

Spider Dan wowed Chicagoans with his scaling of skyscrapers

Goodwin finished a little before 10:30 a.m. and was promptly taken into police custody. He and partner in crime James Hackett were charged with disorderly conduct and bonded out the next day, with Goodwin walking out of the downtown jail still in his superhero suit. Hours later, Goodwin was holding court and dining on trout at the Ambassador East Hotel in the Pump Rooms famed Booth One.

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Two weeks later, Goodwin and Hackett appeared in court. Goodwin pleaded guilty and was fined $35. Hackett had his charge dismissed.

Goodwin went on to scale the John Hancock Center in November 1981.

1982: Fergie Jenkins became the seventh MLB pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in the Chicago Cubs 2-1 loss at San Diego. Jenkins reached the milestone by striking out Garry Templeton in the third inning.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: Oprah Winfrey  10 moments from her Chicago years

2011: The final episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was filmed in Chicago, aired.

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Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicagos past.

Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com
A Tohono O'odham girl growing up in the 1950s spent her formative years helping her farmworker family pick cotton in the fields in central Arizona.

With a thirst for learning but few books at home, Ofelia Zepeda would play make-believe school with her siblings using discarded textbooks during the summer breaks when she wasn't working the fields.

Years later, Zepeda would become a renowned poet and linguist, and one of the worlds foremost experts on the Tohono Oodham language. Now a member of the University of Arizona's faculty, she works to advocate for disappearing and endangered Indigenous languages.

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At 71 years old, Zepeda is a regents professor in the linguistics department, the highest faculty rank at the University of Arizona. She wrote the world's first grammar book on the Tohono O'odham language and has published several poetry books in Oodham and English. She is also the director of the American Indian Language Development Institute and has been a member of the UNESCO Decade of Indigenous Languages International Task Force.

Zepeda grew up speaking only Oodham, which was originally a spoken language and was deeply connected to her Indigenous culture.

That's what language can do for you, she told The Arizona Republic in April.

But she didn't live on a reservation, a detail which she said surprises many people.

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My family's not from any community within the O'odham Nation. And that's why my background has to start with the town of Stanfield, Zepeda said, sitting in her office at the University of Arizona among the well-manicured lawns and palm trees that swayed in the breeze on campus, miles away from the cotton fields where she grew up.

Zepeda's humble beginnings

Zepeda recalled the poverty she experienced growing up in the 1950s in Stanfield, a farming community in Pinal County near Casa Grande.

Cotton was picked manually back then, a task she would often help with.

"I didn't think that much of it, you know. Sometimes you sort of worked and helped, and then a lot of times you just played," she said.

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She was seven or eight years old when she began attending Stanfield Elementary School. Zepeda liked school and learning, and was supported by teachers who saw something special in her.

"In the school system, there is always one teacher who for some reason they find something in you and make it their mission to nurture it, to support you," she said.

When she was older, a high school counselor submitted her and her cousins names to Upward Bound, a federally funded program that supports low-income, first-generation, high school students as they prepare for college.

She was accepted, and after she completed the program, she attended community college before being accepted to the University of Arizona.

Zepeda just wanted to read and write O'odham, but fate had other plans

Once at UA, she was studying sociology, but all she wanted to do was read O'odham books. She would scour the library for books written in her native tongue.

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I would check them out and try and figure out how to read them, Zepeda said. But she couldnt figure them out. Its challenging to try and teach yourself. And it's better to have a teacher. So that was it. That's all I wanted to do. I wanted to read and write.

Looking for someone to teach her, Zepeda met world-renowned linguist Kenneth Hale. Hale was knowledgeable in the Oodham language and had helped create one of the Oodham writing systems with Tohono Oodham linguist Albert Alvarez. Zepeda began studying with Hale and helped him lead a small class teaching other O'odham students.

After learning the basics of linguistics from Hale, she excelled and in 1984 she obtained her Ph.D. in linguistics and went on to win a MacArthur Fellowship in 1999 for her work as a poet, linguist, and cultural preservationist. MacArthur fellows are extraordinarily creative and have a track record of excellence in their fields.

Despite Zepedas success, she remains humble about all she has accomplished.

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When there's so few of us, you're bound to be one of the people that benefits from these (federal programs) for targeted populations, she said. "Over the years, I've appreciated the benefits that I have been offered, and I've tried to use them the best way that I can."

The challenge and importance of language work

Amy Fountain, an associate professor of practice, met Zepeda in the early 1990s when she was in her first year of graduate studies in linguistics.

Zepeda was a hero to her, and in the decades since she first assisted in Zepedas class, Fountain has seen firsthand Zepedas work around Indigenous language revitalization, language teaching, and language policy.

She's the only scholar I know of her level of accomplishment who is universally respected, admired, and beloved, Fountain said. She added Zepedas way of teaching is humble and warm and sweet, but incredibly wise.

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Zepeda is also working to bring awareness of the state of Indigenous languages to the forefront.

Part of this effort came to fruition in 2022 with the creation of the Native American Language Resource Center.

This is the first time the federal government has put forth funding just for Native American languages, Zepeda said, recalling her initial reaction to the resource center.

Zepeda highlighted how Indigenous languages hold knowledge that has helped society, like plant knowledge, which has impacted science and modern medicine, as well as the way people view nature and the environment, she said.

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All languages are part of all of us that are part of humanity, and so they should be acknowledged and supported, she said. The notion of supporting a language is very foreign, especially in the U.S., and that's a very, very hard mindset to change, but we keep working on it.

Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republics coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tohono O'odham linguist, poet fights to keep the language alive
Two recent actions by the Trump administration to protect American farmers clearly demonstrate why stronger enforcement of our trade agreements is long overdue.

The Trump administration, led by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, secured a deal requiring Mexico to release water from the Rio Grande to South Texas. For years, Mexico has repeatedly violated the 1944 Water Treaty by failing to uphold its end of the agreement, devastating South Texas agriculture, eliminating jobs and decimating rural economies throughout the region.

Similarly, on April 14, the Department of Commerce announced it would terminate the U.S.-Mexico Tomato Suspension Agreement. This decisive action was required under U.S. trade law and necessary to protect American tomato growers from the long-term effects of Mexican exporters flooding the market with tomatoes at prices that undercut American farmers and devastated the U.S. industry.

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As the department stated, the current agreement has failed to protect U.S. tomato growers from unfairly priced Mexican imports. Starting July 14, a 17% duty will be added to most tomatoes coming from Mexico.

These two decisions share a common theme. First, Mexico violated an agreement and broke its obligations. Second, American farmers bore the brunt of those broken agreements. In both instances, the Trump administration stepped in to protect American farmers. Those decisions weren't about politics. They were about fairness and accountability.

Since 1996, the U.S. has tried five separate suspension agreements with Mexico to stop unfair tomato pricing. Every one of them has failed. While American farmers followed the rules, Mexican competitors skirted them  routinely selling tomatoes far below the agreed-upon price.

The damage to American growers is undeniable. Since 1994, Mexican tomato imports have surged nearly 400%, making up 70% of the U.S. market. Over the same period, U.S. producers share plummeted from 80% to just 30%. The result? Family farm closures, job losses and entire agricultural communities left behind.

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If we keep looking the other way, we risk losing the backbone of American agriculture.

Critics claim that terminating the agreement could hurt trade and U.S. jobs. Thats nonsense. Mexico can  and should  continue selling tomatoes in the U.S., but it must do so at fair, legal prices.

Speculation that consumer prices will be impacted doesnt reflect what happened in previous instances of terminating the agreement. In fact, when the agreement was terminated as recently as 2019, consumer prices did not change.

Nor is this about blocking trade. Its about enforcing trade laws and ensuring a level playing field. American farmers shouldn't be driven out of business by cheating. Consumers will still find a wide variety of tomatoes in their grocery store, only now from a marketplace that's no longer rigged against American growers.

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If we held Mexico accountable for violating a water treaty, why should our response be any different when it comes to enforcing laws against tomato dumping? To act on one and not the other is a double standard our farmers can't afford.

Let's call it what it is. When Mexico breaks a water treaty, we demand accountability  and rightly so. But when they break trade laws and dump cheap tomatoes into our market, why is it suddenly controversial to enforce the rules? That's inconsistent and indefensible.

If you're going to throw stones, make sure you're not standing inside a glass greenhouse full of unfair trade.

Terminating the Tomato Suspension Agreement isn't just justified  its essential. Its a necessary step to defend American farmers, uphold the law and bring some long-overdue integrity to our trade system.

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Robert Guenther is the executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Trump stands with American farmers in the tomato trade war | Opinion
WESTON, W.Va. (WBOY)  Those who were laid to rest at the Weston State Hospital Cemeteries were honored on Friday with a Memorial Day Wreath Laying Ceremony.

According to a release from the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, formerly known as the Weston State Hospital, 4,000 flags were placed in the 3 cemeteries by volunteers in honor of Memorial Day. The event was coordinated by the Friends Auxiliary of Sharpe Hospital.

Whats open and closed on Memorial Day?

Photo: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Photo: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Photo: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Photo: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

A relative of one of the patients buried on the grounds was happy to see their family member honored and remembered, stating in the release, My family members are looking down on us, this ceremony, and this organization, and they are smiling. The Friends Auxiliary has brought us peace. The ceremonies mean so much to me. This organization and the work they do means everything.

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The event also included prayers, reflections and history, and a dedication.

You can learn more about the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and its history on its 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 WBOY.com.
Americans should use increased caution when traveling to Italy, as there is currently a heightened risk of encountering terrorist violence while visiting, the U.S. State Department warned in a travel advisory on Friday.

Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, the state department said. Common targets include tourist destinations, transportation centers, shopping centers, local government buildings, hotels, clubs, restaurants, religious sites, parks, schools, airports and cultural events.

If you decide to travel to Italy:

Stay alert when visiting tourist destinations.

Check local media for breaking news.

Be prepared to adjust your travel plans.

Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive messages and alerts from the U.S. Embassy and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.

Review the Country Security Report for Italy.

Make a plan for emergency situations.

Review the state departments Travelers Checklist.

Visit the CDC page for the latest travel health information related to your travel.

More national news

Read the original article on MassLive.
A tribe in Wyoming is advocating for a change in the way bison are treated on the plains that could lead to a new relationship between the once-endangered species and Indigenous people.

In April, the Eastern Shoshone voted to reclassify bison (or buffalo, as tribes refer to them) as wildlife instead of livestock, according to The Associated Press and Grist. The Northern Arapaho, who share land with the Eastern Shoshone, are expected to make a similar vote soon.

"Buffalo as wildlife allows the animals to exist on the landscape, rather than livestock based on economic and Western paradigms," Jason Baldes, executive director of the Wind River Buffalo Initiative, told the AP.

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Once near extinction, there are now roughly 20,000 wild plains buffalo, but most are actually raised in private operations for the meat industry and are seen as a market beyond cows.

The beef industry contributes a significant amount of planet-warming emissions, with cows accounting for 10% of those, per Scientific American.

Buffalo emit methane as well, but they can have a positive impact on the environment by increasing biodiversity through their grazing and movement. If they are treated more like wildlife rather than livestock, their positive impact can grow.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, their wallows  or areas where bison roll around on the ground and pack down the soil  fill with rainwater and provide breeding grounds for amphibians and a drinking source for wildlife, and grazing on different grasses can help nesting birds.

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Redesignating buffalo is also a means to restore tribal sovereignty, including allowing the animals to roam free and be hunted. Buffalo were hunted to near extinction when European colonizers took over tribal lands, targeted as part of the effort to remove Native American peoples from their land.

Baldes wants buffalo treated as they were before Western expansion, saying, "Bringing the buffalo back is about our relationship with them, not domination over them."

Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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.
Donald Trumps war on the judiciary and the rule of law is no longer theoretical, following the FBIs arrest of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Duganan alarming new escalation in his assault on the judicial branch. From pardoning Jan. 6 rioters to threatening federal judges, and now the arrest of a sitting jurist, the Trump administration has made clear it sees the independent judiciary not as a coequal branch, but as an adversary to be subdued. Congressional Republicans are aiding this eff
The Trump administrations efforts to block international students from Harvard University could come at a hefty price  and not just for the university.

Harvard students are top innovators in the country, with foreign-born alumni leading dozens of successful startups.

Besides their business contributions, international students more broadly make up a sizeable portion of spending in their areas, throwing almost $44 billion into the U.S. economy.

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We turn global talent away at our own expense. Losing international students contributions will negatively impact domestic students understanding of the world and have dire consequences for the countrys economic strength, security, and global competitiveness, said Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of the Association of International Educators, or NAFSA, in a statement.

These outcomes run counter to the administrations stated goal of making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous, Aw added.

Along with saying new international talent cannot come to Harvard, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week demanded that current foreign students leave the school for other colleges.

A judge on Friday temporarily blocked the move and scheduled a hearing for Thursday to consider a longer pause. District Judge Allison Burroughs noted Harvards concern it will sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties.

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If a later ruling allows the ban to move forward, Harvard would feel the pinch immediately: 27 percent of its student body, or some 6,800 attendees, in the 2024-2025 academic year was made up of international students, who typically pay more in tuition and other costs than domestic ones.

According to NAFSA data, international students at Harvard contribute approximately $383.6 million annually to the areas economy, supporting around 3,910 jobs.

In the 2023-2024 academic year, Harvards international students made up 54.5 percent of the total spending by foreign students studying in Massachusettss 5th Congressional District.

The state sees almost $4 billion a year in foreign students spending, with Harvard making up around 10 percent of that.

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International scholars spend money on tuition and books, but also on accommodations, dining, retail, health insurance, telecommunication and transportation, NAFSA notes.

Around 24 billion-dollar U.S. startups were founded by foreign students who studied at Harvard, according to an analysis from Axios.

And the effects could soon ripple out. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made clear in her announcement of the Harvard ban that other colleges that displease the Trump administration could meet the same fate, calling it a warning to every other university to get your act together.

For every three international students, one job was created in the U.S., according to NAFSA. In total, foreign students supported or created almost 380,000 jobs.

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The situation for international students in the U.S. was already perilous, with hundreds seeing their visas pulled, sometimes with little explanation. In many high-profile cases, the government has gone after students who were involved in the pro-Palestinian movement on their campuses.

Harvards lawsuit against DHSs move is the second it has filed against the Trump administration; the first last month came after the government froze billions of dollars in federal funding because the university refused to bow to its demands to change its hiring and admissions policies and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on campus.

President Trump has also called for the IRS to revoke Harvards tax-exempt status.

The administration accuses Harvard and other schools of failing to protect their students from antisemitism, often specifically regarding last years protests amid the war in Gaza.

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Even if Harvard does have to replace all of its international scholars, it would struggle to do so before the fall semester.

Harvard can replace all those international students with Americans, pretty easily, but its hard to do that on short notice, said Robert Kelchen, a professor and head of the department of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Tennessee.

I think that other colleges would normally be happy to take students to help them out during a time of need. I think the question is, will the administration issue a threat that if any of these students end up transferring to put that institutions funding at risk? Kelchen added, warning Trump could also to go after the schools ability to receive federal student aid.

At this point, the only lever that the federal government has not used against Harvard is financial aid for students. And I think thats quite possible at this point, because basically every other funding source has been cut off, he said.

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President Donald Trump wants to know who exactly Harvards international students areand why the countries they hail from arent paying up.

Trump claimed the Ivy League university has not been forthcoming about how much of its student body international students make up in an early-morning screed on Sunday.

Why isnt Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their students [sic] education, nor do they ever intend to, Trump wrote.

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The Truth Social post came days after the Trump administration moved to block Harvards ability to admit foreign students, though a federal court temporarily blocked the move. International students generally pay their own tuition and are a major source of revenue for the university.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly targeted Harvard since March. / Andrew Harnik / Andrew Harnik/Getty

Nobody told us that! We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isnt exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries, Trump added.

Harvard had 6,793 international students for the 2024-2025 academic year, or 27.2 percent of its student body, according to the university.

The White House did not respond to an immediate request for comment. Harvard also did not respond to an immediate request for comment.

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The Trump administration and Harvard have sparred since March after the administrations antisemitism task force said it would review the schools federal funds, a continuation of the Republican Partys war with top universities after GOP leaders said they were not doing enough to combat antisemitism on campus. The administration has halted nearly $2.7 billion in federal grants to the university since March, most recently blocking $450 million in grants earlier this month.

Critics have said the effort is a proxy fight for Republicans to root out left-wing ideology from higher education.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked Harvards Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification on Thursday, she wrote in a letter to Harvard. SEVP allows the university to enroll non-immigrant, foreign students.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noemwho has earned the nickname

Trump claimed the move was warranted because some of the students needed remedial math.

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The students cant add two and two, and they go to Harvard... now, wait a minute. So why would they get in? he said, referencing Harvards new introductory math course.

It followed Harvards refusal to comply with Noems sweeping records request last month, which demanded the names of student visa-holders, their course of study, and whether any had been engaged in illegal activity. The university said in an April 30 letter that it would provide information required by law but that it sought to maintain its status in the SEVP.

Our thousands of international students who hail from more than 140 countries enrich the University communityand this nationimmeasurably with their presence and contributions," Harvards executive vice president, Meredith Weenick, wrote.

The university slammed Noems move last week. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvards academic and research mission, it said in a statement.

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A federal court issued a temporary restraining order to block Noems certification revocation on Friday after Harvard sued to block the administrations arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, and unconstitutional move.

Harvard had already sued the Trump administration last month for its barrage of attacks on the university and claimed it violated the universitys First Amendment rights.
President Donald Trump posted a late-night rant on Truth Social, demanding that Harvard University provide his administration with the names and countries of all its international students.

There would be nearly 6,793 names on that list, according to the latest data shared by the university.

Why isnt Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their students education, nor do they ever intend to, Trump wrote at 12:51 a.m. on Sunday. Nobody told us that!

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We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isnt exactly forthcoming, he continued. We want those names and countries.

President Donald Trump said he wants all the names of the nearly 7,000 international students at Harvard University (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Trump tried to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students on Thursday, in the latest escalation of his war on U.S. colleges. His administration also wants all foreign students to leave the university, or else risk losing their legal status.

The administration had previously warned that the schools federal funding was at risk if leaders didnt comply with Trumps demands, which included ending diversity programs, dissolving pro-Palestine demonstrations and submitting a viewpoint diversity audit.

But U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs called the order a blatant violation of the Constitution on Friday, granting Harvard a temporary restraining order against the administration. Burroughs said Harvards attorneys have shown that the move would do immediate and irreparable injury to the institution.

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Earlier this week, a federal judge also blocked the Trump administration from revoking legal status for international students nationwide while a legal challenge is ongoing.

A building seen on Harvard Universitys campus. Trump said his administration would block Harvard from enrolling international students before a judge intervened Friday (REUTERS)

Harvard professors and staff have shown an outpouring of support for their international students, and the schools administration says its committed to ensuring the students can stay.

We are fully committed to maintaining Harvards ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the university  and this nation  immeasurably, Harvards media relations director Jason Newton said Friday.

We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community, he added. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvards academic and research mission.

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Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security claims Harvard has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students, and otherwise obstruct its once-venerable learning environment.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has similarly accused the university of fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.
Donald Trumps Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary has suggested it would be more effective to treat more diabetes with cooking classes instead of just throwing insulin at people under the presidents Make America Healthy Again agenda.

Makary made the remarks Sunday on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures while promoting a new report from the presidents Make America Healthy Again commission.

We've got to stop and ask ourselves, should we be focusing more on school lunch programs, not just putting every kid on Ozempic? We've got to talk about food as medicine and gut health and the microbiome, Makary said.

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We've got to talk about environmental toxins that cause cancer, not just the chemo to treat it, and maybe we need to treat more diabetes with cooking classes, not just throwing insulin at people, he continued.

People with type 1 diabetes require regular insulin injections to survive, according to the World Health Organization. Similarly, those with type 2 diabetes must take medications like insulin or sulfonylureas to control their blood sugar levels, the agency says.

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary (right) stands with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (center) and National Institutes of Health Director Jayanta Bhattacharya. Makary said doctors should treat diabetics with 'cooking classes' instead of 'just throwing insulin at people' (Getty)

The Making Our Children Healthy Again report, released Thursday, declares that todays children are the sickest generation in American history in terms of chronic disease.

These preventable trends continue to worsen each year, posing a threat to our nations health, economy, and military readiness, the report adds.

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The report highlighted rising rates of conditions like obesity and diabetes in children. Much of the report focused on ultra-processed foods, claiming that the food American children are eating harms their health.

The report did a phenomenal job highlighting how harmful processed foods are, Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, told The New York Times.

Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, the director of the Food Is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, similarly praised the reports focus on unhealthy foods.

Its terrific to see such a clear, direct admission from the government that we are failing our childrens health  and that our food is one dominant driver, Mozaffarian told the Times.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (pictured) is leading the charge to Make America Healthy Again (Reuters)

But other parts of the report were more concerning, and public health experts are raising alarms about the administrations claims.

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The report suggests the growing number of recommended childhood vaccines harms kids. But experts have long rejected this claim and say its based on an incorrect understanding of how vaccines work.

The growth of the vaccination schedule does reflect the fact that we can prevent a lot more suffering and death in children than we could generations ago, Jason Schwartz, a professor of health policy at the Yale School of Public Health, told the Times.

The report also echoes Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s false claim that childhood vaccines arent tested in clinical trials that involve placebos. New vaccines are tested against placebos whenever its necessary and feasible to do so.

Kennedy has long been an anti-vaccine advocate.

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Kennedys organization, Childrens Health Defense, has advocated against vaccinations and spread the baseless claim that vaccines cause autism. In his bookThe Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy also falsely claimed that the former White House medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases colluded with Microsoft founder Bill Gates to exaggerate the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in January 2022, Kennedy also compared U.S. vaccine policies to the actions of an authoritarian state, suggesting that Anne Frank was in a better situation while hiding from the Nazis.
Experts are scratching their heads at President Trumps ambitious, three-year timeline for Golden Dome, a next-generation missile defense system he says is essential for the future of U.S. security.

Intended to protect the skies over the continental United States, Golden Dome would mark a bold move into space, promising a network of space-based missiles launched from satellites to intercept missiles launched from the ground. But the expensive, untested technology is still years away from being fielded.

Such a system, as called for by Trump via a January executive order, would take far more than the two and a half to three years he boasted in the Oval Office on Tuesday, according to Melanie Marlowe, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studiess Missile Defense Project.

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Golden Dome is not going to be an impenetrable missile shield across the entire United States of America, Marlowe told The Hill, adding that the system will require both short- and long-term effort to come together.

Trumps claims the system could be finished in three years are seen as lofty given the sheer amount of satellites needed to cover and protect the entire U.S. via sensing and tracking missiles  some 400 to more than 1,000 satellites, Reuters reported.

Another 200 attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers would need to be built to knock down enemy armaments, the first time such weapons would be put in space. But that technology has yet to be demonstrated.

Marlowe said the two tracks in building out Golden Dome include a faster undertaking to ramp up munitions and missiles  which the U.S. has been expanding rapidly in the Red Sea in its strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen or shipped to Ukraine for its war with Russia  as well as radars and sensors to detect and track rapidly moving hypersonic threats.

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While its feasible for those parts to be funded, partially completed, and a lot of it at least started in three years, the systems need for space-based interceptors will be a daunting challenge.

We will not have space-based interceptors in three years, she told The Hill. That is a very challenging and expensive problem to solve. But if we start moving quickly, we can make good progress on getting missiles, radars, and satellite constellations in that time frame.

Also being questioned is Golden Domes purported $175 billion price tag, which Trump also announced on Tuesday. That number, the details of which are still unknown, is far below estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, which pegged the figure at more than $500 billion over 20 years to develop.

And while the system is poised to receive $25 billion to jump-start its creation  money included in the GOPs reconciliation bill passed by the House on Thursday morning  its unclear how it will be funded past those initial dollars.

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If there is not a lot of political support for Golden Dome, the system is likely to end in three years, Marlowe said.

It would be wise for Republican supporters of the Golden Dome framework to reach across the aisle and find support from Democratic colleagues, she said, noting that a lot of the systems built for Golden Dome would come from blue and purple states such as California and Arizona.

To be successful, this effort is going to require sustained funding and attention, beyond the next one or two election cycles.

Others have warned that U.S. adversaries may be threatened by Golden Dome and seek to build their own similar space systems or to develop weapons to get around the missile shield.

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A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said Beijing is seriously concerned about Golden Dome and urged Washington to abandon the project.

The United States, in pursuing a U.S.-first policy, is obsessed with seeking absolute security for itself. This violates the principle that the security of all countries should not be compromised and undermines global strategic balance and stability. China is seriously concerned about this, Mao Ning said at a press conference.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) brought up the issue with the U.S. militarys top missile defense officials earlier this month, remarking that Russia and China have publicly expressed concerns about U.S. missile defense systems.

Youre going to spend billions of dollars of taxpayer money building things that could inspire the Russians to say, Oh, we need to take them out before they get used. You better figure that out if youre going to spend a lot of taxpayer money on this, he said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

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The system also is facing a potential hurdle with the current fight over government-controlled wireless frequencies.

Included in the reconciliation bill is language that would allow the U.S. government to auction off federally controlled spectrum  electromagnetic radio waves  that the Pentagon uses for its radars, missile defense and secure communications.

Selling off megahertz of spectrum to commercial telecommunications companies is projected to raise $88 billion to help fund Trumps intended tax and spending changes, according to Republicans, but it could impede Golden Dome.

Thats what Katie Arrington, the Pentagons acting chief information officer, told lawmakers earlier this month, testifying that Golden Dome wont work if the Defense Department doesnt have control of the 3 gigahertz band of radio frequency spectrum, used for U.S. radar and missile defense systems.

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It is critical for national security, Arrington said during a May 8 House Armed Services subcommittee hearing. The only way we can achieve Golden Dome right now is having the lower three of the spectrum.

Arrington said the military carries about 1,100 different platforms and weapons systems to protect national security on that spectrum.

Those are prized, critical capabilities that we cannot lose, she stressed. That area of the spectrum is golden, and we need to protect it to maintain national security.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Elon Musk, after months omnipresent in the White House, was nowhere near the Oval Office on May 20 when Donald Trump announced his new Golden Dome space weapons system. He didnt have to be. He had already maneuvered his companies to benefit substantially from the $25 billion Trump said he would spend immediately and the hundreds of billions in federal contracts the new effort will spawn.

Though Musk has largely disappeared from Washington and Trumps media feeds, his influence lives on. Earlier this month, the acting inspector general at the Department of Defense got a letter asking for a probe into Musks lobbying on Golden Dome from 42 congressional Democrats, including the late Representative Gerry Connolly in one of his last acts as the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The members believe that Musks formal or informal participation in any process to award a government contract raises serious conflict of interest concerns, including the possibility that SpaceX is a top contender for the Golden Dome contract because of Mr. Musks position in the government.

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This, they said, raises concerns about whether defense contracts to build a Golden Dome are an effective way to protect Americans or are meant to enrich Mr. Musk and other elites.

Their fears are well grounded. Though the 60-year pursuit of an effective national missile defense system began with an ideological desire to replace arms-control agreements with a military shield, for decades, the primary driver has been the pursuit of lucrative contracts.

Musk understands that there is a lot of money to be made in missile defense. The program has grown from a relatively modest $3 billion a year, back when Ronald Reagan first started talking it up during the 1980s, to over $30 billion a year for missile defense and defeat programs today. Since the development of the first interceptors in 1962, the government has spent more than $531 billion on multiple ineffective missile defense schemes, according to Stephen Schwartz, a nuclear budget analyst. Over $453 billion of that was spent in failed efforts launched by Reagan in 1983 to fulfill his fantasy of a shield that could protect us from ballistic missiles just as a roof protects a family from rain.

All we have to show for the effort is 44 ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California that are so flawed that the Pentagon last year awarded Lockheed Martin an $18 billion contract to build a brand-new replacement system. While missile defenses against short-range rockets, like those Hamas fired into Israel, can be effective, no country has built a system that can reliably shoot down nuclear missiles that travel thousands of miles at many times the speed of sound.

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Trump claims that Reagan didnt have the technology, but now we have super technology that will provide close to 100 percent protection against hypersonic missiles, ballistic missiles, and advanced cruise missiles; all of them will be knocked out of the air. Even better, said Trump, the whole thing will only cost $175 billion and be fully operational before the end of my term.

This is all nonsense, of course. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a Golden Dome system would cost as much as $831 billion over two decades. Scientists warn that even if all the complex technology and computer software works flawlessly, an adversary could defeat the defenses by simply launching a salvo of missiles that would overwhelm the system and deploying basic countermeasures that could spoof the sensors.

Whether the systems works or not doesnt matter for the contractors who get rich on contracts to design, develop, and deploy these weapons. That may be why Musk has partnered with two other companies owned by Trump supporters, software maker Palantir and drone builder Anduril, to help design and build the system. Musks company estimates that the initial design contracts alone could be worth between $6 billion and 10 billion, according to Reuters.

Think of it as a pump and dump scam, where investors buy a cheap stock, inflate its value with hype and exaggerated expectations, then get rich by selling the stock at the inflated levels. Here, contractors and their government supporters take an old, devalued concept, pump up its value with exaggerated promises of instant success, secure big, multiyear contracts to build it, then get even more contracts for more systems when the ones they built dont work.

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SpaceX is lobbying the Pentagon to win the contract for the custody layer of the proposed system. That would involve launching thousands of satellites into orbit to detect missile attacks. It might also include hundreds or thousands of satellites that would attempt to intercept these missiles as they rise through the atmosphere. Reuters reported that one of the sources familiar with the talks described them as a departure from the usual acquisition process. Theres an attitude that the national security and defense community has to be sensitive and deferential to Elon Musk because of his role in the government.

Trumps call for the accelerated deployment of the system also benefits SpaceX, which is the worlds leader in space launches. This rapid schedule could advantage Mr. Musks companies and could result in a faulty end product, warn the congressional Democrats in their letter, that wastes billions of dollars and leaves our country with a false sense of security.

There are also reports that SpaceX is pushing for a subscription model for Golden Dome, similar to Musks Starlink system. Musk would own the satellites and lease them to the government, ensuring lucrative payments for years to come. A subscription model would also give Mr. Musk unacceptable ongoing leverage over United States national security. Mr. Musk could, as he allegedly did in Ukraine, determine when to provide the U.S. government with access to Golden Dome satellite systems, say the Democrats.

Musks activities may violate government ethic rules against using a public office for private gain and criminal prohibitions against participating in government decisions in which he has a financial interest, the Democrats assert in their letter. So far, there is no move in the administration to block Musks activities.

National missile defense is the longest-running scam in the history of the Department of Defense. Musk didnt invent it, but hes about to get a whole lot richer by perpetuating it.
President Donald Trump has taken another swing at Harvard University amid an escalating legal battle with the institution over enrolling foreign students.

Why isnt Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their students education, nor do they ever intend to, Trump said in a message posted early Sunday morning on his social platform Truth Social. Nobody told us that!

Harvard lists its international student enrollment at nearly 7,000, or 27% of all enrollment, on an easy-to-Google website. International students usually pay more of their education costs than U.S. citizens.

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Trump continued, We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isnt exactly forthcoming.

Trump wrapped up his scathing message by telling the university that it needs to stop asking the federal government for more funds.

We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you! he added, while missing a few zeros in his reference to Harvards $52 billion endowment.

Last week, the Trump administration barred the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university from enrolling foreign students. The action, which was announced Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security, means thousands of current students must transfer to other schools or leave the country.

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The department alleged that Harvard has created an unsafe campus environment for Jewish students. It also accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.

Harvard, which filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the ban, slammed the action in a statement.

This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvards academic and research mission, the university said.

In the lawsuit filed early Friday in federal court in Boston, the Ivy League school called out the governments ban as a violation of the Constitution and warned that it would have an immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.

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The Trump administrations move to revoke the schools ability to enroll international students was temporarily blocked Friday by a judge.

Back in April, Harvard rejected a list of demands Trump had sent the school amid an ongoing review of several universities DEI programs as well as allegations of antisemitism.

Related...
Amid U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to crack down on drug smuggling across the country's southern border, news outlets reported that his administration made a deal with 17 cartel family members allowing them to enter the United States, according to a Mexican security chief.

Many of these stories framed the security chief's statement as confirmation that the deal occurred. The Associated Press (AP), for example, wrote that, "Mexico's security chief confirmed Tuesday that 17 family members of cartel leaders crossed into the U.S. last week as part of a deal between a son of the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Trump administration." The Sinaloa Cartel is a global criminal enterprise and one of two drug cartels "at the heart" of illicit drug-related dealings in the United States, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The stories spread on social media platforms like Bluesky, X, Facebook and Reddit. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, accused Trump of allowing "17 relatives of El Chapo, one of the most notorious cartel drug dealers in the world, into America."

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"What kind of message does that send? Who the hell knows? Maybe you got a presidential helicopter from them, who knows," Schumer said in a May 16 Facebook video, referencing Qatar's offer of a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to the Trump administration.

It is true that Mexico's security chief, Omar Hamid Garcia Harfuch, said that 17 family members of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is imprisoned in the United States, crossed into America, apparently confirming reporting from independent journalist Luis Chaparro.

Garcia Harfuch told reporters it looked clear to Mexican authorities that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) granted the family members entry as part of a deal with Guzman's son, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, who is also a suspected member of the cartel's leadership. However, until the Trump administration confirms a deal occurred and the details of the purported deal  or documents verifying the deal took place are made public  Snopes cannot put a truthfulness rating on this statement. We reached out to the administration and await a response.

Mexican authorities arrested Guzman Lopez in 2023 and extradited him to the United States, where the government charged him with various drug trafficking-related offenses; he is expected to plead guilty on July 9, 2025, as part of a plea deal, per court documents filed May 6, 2025  but details of the deal were not yet public as of this writing.

Journalist breaks story, citing anonymous sources

On May 12, 2025, Chaparro posted a video titled, "LUN 12 MAY | EXCLUSIVA: LA FAMILIA DEL CHAPO SE ENTREGA AL GOBIERNO FEDERAL DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS" on his YouTube channel  translated into English, his video title said: "MON, MAY 12 | EXCLUSIVE: EL CHAPO'S FAMILY SURRENDERS TO THE U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT."

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Here's a transcript of his report citing anonymous sources, starting at 2:21, translated into English from Spanish with the help of Snopes reporters who speak Spanish (emphasis ours):

Seventeen members of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's family, including a daughter and Ovidio Guzman's mother, surrendered to the FBI this weekend at one of the international bridges between Mexico and the United States. According to reports from our sources, the family surrendered to the FBI at noon last Friday at the San Ysidro border port in Tijuana. And according to the same sources, among these people are Griselda Lopez, Ovidio's mother, several nephews, a grandson named Archivaldo and a daughter of "El Chapo" along with a son-in-law of the drug trafficker. It is currently unknown why they surrendered, but the fact that they turned themselves in to agents who were already waiting for them is probably linked to the deal Ovidio Guzman allegedly made with the United States government last week. The family reportedly arrived with several suitcases, at least two brand-name suitcases for each member, and between them all they were carrying more than 70,000 in cash.

Chaparro also shared pictures of what he alleged were the family members at the border in his report at 3:19 but censored the faces. NBC Chicago's investigative team on May 13 also reported, using anonymous federal sources, that "the immigration of 17 Chapo relatives, including a sister, were part of the deal that resulted in Ovidio's guilty plea."

Mexican officials corroborate report

Then, on May 13, Mexican talk radio station Radio Formula published an interview with Garcia Harfuch, wherein the security chief said the transfer of El Chapo's relatives was clearly part of a "negotiation" between the U.S. Justice Department and representatives of Guzman Lopez.

Here's the interview, translated into English (emphasis ours):

Journalist: How should we read this news, Omar, which is on the front pages of virtually every national newspaper today, about Ovidio Guzman's family surrendering to the United States authorities, the FBI... 17 people? Were the facts as reported, and if so, where does this decision come from, or are they colluding with the United States? How should we read it, Omar? Garcia Harfuch: I think it's very clear that when  it's very clear that when Ovidio  we must first highlight who detained Ovidio. He was arrested by Mexican authorities in a Mexican army operation where fellow special forces soldiers were killed. Once the Mexican army arrested Ovidio, Mexico handed him over... extradited him to the United States. Ovidio, as we all saw on the news, began negotiations with the United States Department of Justice, and it's clear that since his family was leaving for the United States, it was because of this negotiation or an opportunity that the Department of Justice itself granted him. Let's also remember that this conflict in Sinaloa is understood to be an issue between the brothers themselves, and includes Ovidio and Ovidio's brothers, where they pointed fingers at other groups in the criminal organization, and it's clear that this is what's happening. Journalist: So is it an agreement between a defendant in the United States and the authority that is prosecuting him? Garcia Harfuch: That's right. [...] Journalist: The 17 people, with the information you have  the 17 people who left were Mexican citizens who didn't have an arrest warrant. They were exercising their freedom to cross into the United States. Garcia Harfuch: That's right, and [authorities] were already waiting for them in the United States.

As such, per Garcia Harfuch, the family members did not appear to "surrender" to authorities, as no warrants were out for their arrest, but voluntarily crossed into the United States. It's unclear if the family members were under some sort of protective custody; their whereabouts, as of this writing, were unknown.

Terms of family's entrance into US unclear

Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, called on the Trump administration to provide more information on why the cartel family members entered the United States during a May 14 news conference and said the United States did not alert Mexican authorities ahead of time about the alleged deal.

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An excerpt from her comments are translated into English below:

We don't have official or public information that says why this family entered. We must recall the issue of extradition again, and yes, indeed, it is  there is a policy of [the U.S.] not to negotiate with terrorists. It was their decision to name some organized crime organizations [like the Sinaloa Cartel] as terrorists. So, let them report if there's an agreement or if there isn't an agreement... they have to report it and they have to explain this to the people of the United States as well... how it is that, if they're reaching an agreement, how they're doing it. And to Mexico, obviously.

Multiple news outlets reported that U.S. prosecutors and authorities declined to comment on the reported deal, including the Los Angeles Times, which also said the news outlet sent Guzman Lopez's attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman a message, and did not receive a response. Snopes reached out to DOJ and Lichtman as well and await a response.

Thus, while the evidence indicates that the Trump administration may have made a deal with a suspected Sinaloa Cartel drug lord, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, to bring 17 of his family members into the United States, many details remain unclear, making it impossible to rate this claim.

Snopes reporters Anna Rascouet-Paz and Jack Izzo contributed to the Spanish-English translations in this report.

Sources:

Coleman, Sharon Johnson. "UNITED STATES of AMERICA v. OVIDIO GUZMAN LOPEZ | NOTIFICATION of DOCKET ENTRY." CourtListener, 6 May 2025, storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.230809/gov.uscourts.ilnd.230809.1057.0.pdf. Accessed 16 May 2025.

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Drug Enforcement Administration. "National Drug Threat Assessment 2024 ." Https://Www.dea.gov, May 2024, www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/5.23.2024%20NDTA-updated.pdf. Accessed 16 May 2025.

El Universal. " 'Tienen Que Informar', Senala La Presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum Sobre El Ingreso de Familiares de Ovidio Guzman, Hijo de 'El Chapo', a EU; Aseguro Que No Tiene Informacion Oficial al Respecto Y Recordo Que Hay Investigaciones En Curso Sobre Ese Caso." X (Formerly Twitter), 14 May 2025, x.com/El_Universal_Mx/status/1922671340277878840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1922671340277878840%7Ctwgr%5E85c6b1f1d1527f2462eb988221d1b874a65c5ab4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmexiconewsdaily.com%2Fpolitics%2Fsheinbaum-demands-us-inform-el-chapo-family-border-crossing-wednesdays-mananera-recapped%2F. Accessed 16 May 2025.

Goudie, Chuck. "El Chapo Family Defects from Mexico in Deal Linked to Chicago Drug Case." NBC Chicago, 13 May 2025, www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/el-chapo-family-defects-from-mexico-in-deal-linked-to-chicago-drug-case/3744795/. Accessed 16 May 2025.

"Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, Sinaloa Cartel Leader, Sentenced to Life in Prison plus 30 Years." Justice.gov, 17 July 2019, www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-sinaloa-cartel-leader-sentenced-life-prison-plus-30-years. Accessed 16 May 2025.

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McDonnell, Patrick J. "Were 17 Members of El Chapo's Family Escorted into U.S. From Mexico?" Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2025, www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-05-13/were-17-members-of-el-chapo-guzmans-family-escorted-into-usa-from-mexico. Accessed 16 May 2025.

PIE DE NOTA | Con Luis Chaparro. "LUN 12 MAY | EXCLUSIVA: LA FAMILIA DEL CHAPO SE ENTREGA al GOBIERNO FEDERAL de LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS." YouTube, 12 May 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwUxktADEcs. Accessed 16 May 2025.

Radio Formula . "EXCLUSIVA  Omar Garcia Harfuch Explica La Entrega de La Familia de Ovidio Guzman al FBI: "Es Evidente Que al Estarse Yendo Su Familia a EU Es Por El Criterio de Oportunidad Que El Departamento de Justicia Le Da. Recordemos Que El Conflicto En Sina." Facebook.com, 13 May 2025, www.facebook.com/watch/?v=998925828895324. Accessed 16 May 2025.

Santucci, Jeanine. "Family Members of Drug Lord El Chapo Enter US, Mexican Officials Say." USA TODAY, 14 May 2025, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/05/14/el-chapo-family-enter-united-states/83619614007/. Accessed 16 May 2025.

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"Son of Joaquin Guzman Loera Aka 'El Chapo' Arraigned on Federal Criminal Charges Following His Extradition from Mexico to the United States for International Drug Trafficking." Justice.gov, 18 Sept. 2023, www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/son-joaquin-guzman-loera-aka-el-chapo-arraigned-federal-criminal-charges-following-his. Accessed 16 May 2025.

Staff, MND. "Sheinbaum Demands Answers on 'El Chapo' Family's Entry to US: Wednesday's Mananera Recapped." Mexico News Daily, 14 May 2025, mexiconewsdaily.com/politics/sheinbaum-demands-us-inform-el-chapo-family-border-crossing-wednesdays-mananera-recapped/. Accessed 16 May 2025.

Trump, Donald J. "Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists  the White House." The White House, 21 Jan. 2025, www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/designating-cartels-and-other-organizations-as-foreign-terrorist-organizations-and-specially-designated-global-terrorists/. Accessed 16 May 2025.

Yuhas, Alan. "Cartel Family Members Cross Border in Apparent Deal with U.S., Official Says." New York Times, 14 May 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/world/americas/mexico-cartel-chapo-family.html. Accessed 16 May 2025.
Statement: In the House bill, were not changing Medicaid, only cutting waste, fraud and abuse.

President Donald Trump made his way to Capitol Hill on May 20 as House Republicans drafted a bill that included many of his priorities. That bill contained significant changes to Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for lower-income Americans.

Trump told reporters that the legislation will only change Medicaid in ways that combat "waste, fraud and abuse," a phrase he repeated seven times over a couple minutes.

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"We're not doing any cutting of anything meaningful," Trump said. "The only thing we're cutting is waste, fraud and abuse.  We're not changing Medicaid and we're not changing Medicare and we're not changing Social Security."

The House passed the bill Thursday and it now moves to the Senate, where it could be changed. The House version doesnt directly target Social Security or Medicare. But it changes Medicaid, including in ways that align with Republican priorities.

Congress nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that at least 8.6 million people will lose coverage because of the changes.

"Relatively little of the bill is clearly related to trying to reduce fraud or error," said Leighton Ku, director of George Washington Universitys Center for Health Policy Research. "There are some minor provisions about things like looking for dead people who are enrolled or checking addresses. But the major provisions are not fraud, waste or error by any means. Theyre things that reflect policy preferences of the Republican architects."

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Robin Rudowitz, vice president and director of the Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured at the health policy research group KFF, agreed that the scope of the bills changes go further than Trump said. "The magnitude of the federal spending reductions and resulting coverage loss go well beyond rooting out fraud and abuse," she said.

The bills key provisions could be removed before final votes and enactment, while others may be added.

The White House did not respond to an inquiry for this fact-check.

How the federal government defines waste, fraud and abuse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that runs Medicaid, offers official definitions for these three terms:

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Fraud : "When someone knowingly deceives, conceals, or misrepresents to obtain money or property from any health care benefit program. Medicare or Medicaid fraud is considered a criminal act."

Waste : "Overusing services or other practices that directly or indirectly result in unnecessary costs to any health care benefit program. Examples of waste are conducting excessive office visits, prescribing more medications than necessary, and ordering excessive laboratory tests."

Abuse: "When health care providers or suppliers perform actions that directly or indirectly result in unnecessary costs to any health care benefit program. Abuse includes any practice that doesnt provide patients with medically necessary services or meet professionally recognized standards," such as overbilling or misusing billing codes.

Some bill provisions can be described as targeting waste, fraud and abuse

One provision in the bill requires states to confirm recipients Medicaid eligibility at least every six months, rather than every year under current law. Another would set stricter requirements for verifying enrollees addresses and other information.

Such efforts could save expenditures on ineligible people, and could be classified as a waste-prevention measure.

Other provisions are more ideological than focused on waste, fraud and abuse

Several of the bills highest-profile provisions are driven more by ideology  differences in how expansive the program should be, and what types of people should benefit.

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One of these provisions involves people in the United States illegally.

Because its already against the law to spend federal Medicaid funds on people illegally in the U.S., the bill takes a different approach: It seeks to make it harder for states to exclusively rely on state funds to cover immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Currently, 14 states and the District of Columbia cover children regardless of immigration status, and seven states plus D.C. cover at least some adults in the U.S. illegally, too.

For these states, the bill reduces the federal governments share of Medicaid payments under the Affordable Care Act expansion, from 90% to 80%.

In other words, if a state wants to keep covering people in the U.S. illegally, it will face a cut in the federal reimbursement rate for the coverage of U.S. citizens, not just immigrants here illegally. Budgetary pressures in these states could mean that some citizens also lose some of their benefits or their entire Medicaid coverage.

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Another provision involves work requirements. The bill would require individuals ages 19 to 64 receiving Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act expansion to be working or participating in qualifying activities (such as having a disability, being a caretaker for family members, or attending school) for at least 80 hours per month.

Research has found that the vast majority of people who would be required to work under similar requirements are already employed or have a qualifying exemption  yet many get thrown off Medicaid because they fail to keep up with the mandatory paperwork requirements.

"Work requirements are not about waste, fraud, and abuse  they are fundamentally changing the rules of who is eligible for the program, and they are adding an immense set of bureaucratic obstacles and red tape for eligible people to keep coverage," said Benjamin D. Sommers, a professor of health care economics and medicine at Harvard Universitys T. H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School.

A KFF analysis in March said that fraud occurs in Medicare as well as Medicaid, mostly by providers. "There are checks on fraud, waste, and abuse at both the federal and the state levels," KFF wrote.

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Another bill provision bans Medicaid funds from being spent on nonprofit organizations primarily engaged in family planning or reproductive services, which would affect Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortions.

Finally, at least two provisions focus on saving money. One would require, for the first time, that states impose $35 copays for many types of care. The other would limit retroactive coverage after applying for Medicaid to one month before application, down from 90 days. These provisions dont specify how theyd root out waste, fraud and abuse.

"The Medicaid savings in this bill are primarily from reducing program enrollment," Sommers said.

PolitiFact's ruling

Trump said that a House bill is "not changing Medicaid," only cutting "waste, fraud and abuse."

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The legislation includes provisions that can improve the detection of beneficiaries who arent eligible for coverage.

But other provisions change Medicaid to align with Trumps ideology and Republican priorities. The bill incentivizes states to stop using their own funds to cover people in the U.S. illegally; it requires people to work or do another approved activity to secure benefits; and it bans Medicaid payments to nonprofits such as Planned Parenthood, which provide abortions among other services.

Other changes aim to cut expenses, including the imposition of copays and a shorter window for retroactive coverage. Those provisions dont specify how theyd cut waste, fraud or abuse.

We rate the statement False.

Our sources

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Trump said GOP bill only targets Medicaid fraud and abuse. Thats False
Dr. Casey Means, a Stanford-educated surgeon and wellness influencer with no active medical license, is President Donald Trumps pick to become the next U.S. Surgeon General.

But what you might not know is that she is also a fan of the psychedelic drug called psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms.

Means says that she first took psychedelic mushrooms in 2021, the Associated Press reports. Means attributes psychedelics to helping her find love, and said the drugs can be a doorway to a different reality that is free from the limiting beliefs of my ego, feelings, and personal history. She also wrote in a recent book that people should consider psilocybin-assisted therapy, according to the AP.

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The drug is federally illegal. However, the Food and Drug Administration has approved psilocybin to be used as a breakthrough drug. This designation helps accelerate the development and review of medicines that have been shown to improve treatment for illnesses.

Clinicians study psilocybin in carefully-controlled experiments. However, a peer-reviewed study published last month shows usage has skyrocketed, particularly among adolescents and people over 30. In 2023, more adults used magic mushrooms than other recreational drugs such as cocaine, LSD, methamphetamine or illegal opioids, the study found.

Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, spoke to The Independent about the rise of psilocybin  and what researchers are still trying to figure out.

Dr. Casey Means (left) could be the next Surgeon General. Shes also a supporter of the use of magic mushrooms for different types of therapy (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

What do researchers know so far about magic mushrooms?

Psilocybin has been studied for its physical and psychological effects by researchers in medical settings.

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Garcia-Romeus own research explores how psilocybin can aid addiction treatment. The psychedelic medication showed really good success rates in helping people quit smoking when combined with therapy, he told The Independent.

Psilocybin has also been shown to treat depression, Garcia-Romeu said. The treatment is particularly effective in treating depression and anxiety in cancer patients who are approaching the end of their life, he added.

While psilocybin is known for its psychological effects and can treat mental health disorders, it also shows promise in treating a variety of physical illnesses.

Studies have shown the drug can help patients suffering from migraines, the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia and Lyme disease.

What do we still have to learn?

Theres still a lot we dont know about psilocybins effects on the body.

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Researchers still arent sure how exactly psilocybin works, Garcia-Romeu said, and dont know how or why psilocybin treats certain mental health conditions. Scientists also dont know how it causes certain biological changes, such as reducing inflammation, according to Garcia-Romeu.

We don't really know how or why one dose of the drug can have an antidepressant effect that lasts anywhere from six weeks or longer, he said.

Magic mushrooms can sometimes be used to help treat depression or addiction, but there's still lots that researchers don't know about the drug (Getty Images)

Researchers are also working to understand who these drugs are best able to help.

Whos going to be a person that responds well, and who's going to be a person that won't necessarily have a good treatment response? Garcia-Romeu said. Who is at risk of potentially developing problems after receiving these types of treatments?

What are the dangers of taking magic mushrooms?

While psilocybin cant cause you to overdose in the same way as drugs like fentanyl, alcohol and Xanax, it can trigger serious mental illnesses, especially in large amounts.

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It can cause very intense psychoactive effects, so when people are under the influence, they can become disoriented, they can become paranoid, they can become delusional, Garcia-Romeu said.

Psilocybin can also unlock mental illnesses that havent come to the surface yet, like schizophrenia or Bipolar I disorder, Garcia-Romeu explained. This typically happens in patients with a personal or family history of these disorders.

It could trigger these ongoing problems for weeks, months, or even years, Garcia-Romeu said. They could then end up having to deal with this sort of latent mental health issue that was underlying.

Theres also many different species of mushrooms, and getting them from a non-clinical environment can also mean not knowing exactly which type of mushroom youre ingesting.

What is the legal status of magic mushrooms?

At the federal level, psilocybin is considered a Schedule I drug. That means it has no accepted medical use and has a high potential for abuse. But, thanks to the FDAs breakthrough designation, researchers are learning more about how it can treat certain illnesses every day.

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Garcia-Romeu expects it could be widely legalized for medical use under a doctors supervision within a decade. Many people who report using it recreationally also have chronic pain or mental health conditions, and its believed the use is part of self-medication and management. But widespread legalization isnt going to happen any time soon, he said.

Legalization to the point where people would be able to go out and buy this like they would alcohol at a liquor store, I don't think that's going to happen in this country probably in our lifetime, he said.

There are also evolving policy conversations about psilocybin use for religious and cultural purposes. Psilocybin has been used by Indigenous communities for centuries.

Long before Western science or medicine knew anything about these drugs, they were being used as part of the spiritual and religious lives of Indigenous cultures in Central, South and North America, Garcia-Romeu said.

Thats something that will probably lead to more debate and policy discussions, and it's unclear how exactly that's going to shake out, he added.
Donald Trump went off on a characteristically bizarre tangent to talk about the dangers of trophy wives during a commencement speech at a military academy.

During his address to graduates at West Point, the president delving into a long-winded anecdote about famed real estate developer Bill Levitt, who he said made a tremendous amount of money but lost momentum when he divorced and remarried.

He ended up getting a divorce, found a new wife. Could you say a trophy wife? I guess we can say a trophy wife, Trump said.

Donald Trump used his commencement speech at West Point Academy to go off on a bizarre rant about the perils of marrying 'trophy wives'. / Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images

It didnt work out too well, he went on. But that doesnt work out too well, I must tell you, a lot of trophy wives, it doesnt it work. But it made him happy for a little while, at least. But he found a new wife.

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Trump need not necessarily have gone off on such a tangent to get his point across to new graduates at the famed New York military academy, arguably having prior form in this area himself.

The president himself has been married three times to women significantly younger than himself who were models at the time of getting engaged. / Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

The president has famously been married three times: first to Ivana Trump in 1977, then to Marla Maples in 1993, and most recently to Melania Trump, now First Lady, in 2005.

All three women were significantly younger than him, and aged between 28 and 34 at the time they were married, having also worked as professional models prior to getting engaged.
A shooting in South Los Angeles killed at least two people on Saturday evening, police confirmed, and two suspects have been taken into custody.

Officials said a call came into the L.A. Police Department at 6:24 p.m. reporting a multi-victim shooting in the Manchester Square neighborhood.

Officers responded to the area of Florence and Dalton avenues to investigate the call and found two victims dead at the scene and a third injured.

Officers are seen setting up an investigation for a fatal shooting in Manchester Square. May 2025. (OnSceneTV) Officers are seen setting up an investigation for a fatal shooting in Manchester Square. May 2025. (OnSceneTV) Officers are seen setting up an investigation for a fatal shooting in Manchester Square. May 2025. (OnSceneTV) Officers are seen setting up an investigation for a fatal shooting in Manchester Square. May 2025. (OnSceneTV) Officers are seen setting up an investigation for a fatal shooting in Manchester Square. May 2025. (Citizen.com)

In a social media post published just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday, the LAPD stated that the decedents are two men in their 20s. Their names were not released.

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The third victim was identified as a woman in her 20s; she is said to be in stable condition.

Following the incident, officers in the area located and arrested one suspect, the LAPD post reads. A second suspect was later taken into custody during a subsequent search within the established perimeter.

Neither of the suspects have been publicly named.

It was not immediately known whether the shooting was gang-related.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Two people are injured after a shooting on North High Street Saturday evening, Columbus dispatchers confirmed.

According to dispatchers, two victims were shot at North High Street and Buttles Avenue near the Shake Shack at around 9:15 p.m. Columbus dispatchers said two people were shot, both transported to nearby hospitals in stable condition. In a Sunday morning update, police said one of the victims was an adult and the other a juvenile.

NBC4/Cole Kovalchik NBC4/Cole Kovalchik NBC4/Cole Kovalchik

The shooting occurred just two blocks from Taco Fest at Goodale Park, which organizers confirmed was shut down early due to teenagers fighting.

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Police have closed North High Street between Warren Street and Buttles Avenue as they investigate. Columbus police confirmed one person has been detained as a suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 614-645-4141.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
TYLER, Texas (KETK)  East Texas will benefit from $8.5 billion in new state money once House Bill 2 is signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.

East Texas districts react to senates approval of school choice bill

The new legislation is a huge win for East Texas, Tyler ISDs Superintendent of Schools, Marty Crawford said after HB2 passed the Texas Senate on Friday.

The district will be able to get more money for teacher incentive payments to make sure that their students are getting the very best educators once HB2 becomes law.

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Its been a lot of work, and were very appreciative of everything theyve done down there in Austin, Crawford said. Were very excited and very appreciative of the work that theyve done to get us to this point. We think that what theyve been able to do for us is to carve out some efficiencies for us internally here locally, that well be able to handle it appropriately as we go on.

The $430 million thats allotted for school safety in HB2 is helping the district ensure the peace of mind of students and parents. Tyler ISD may also be able to help out staff that arent teachers.

Its still pretty fresh and all the nuances will be coming into play on this. Certainly, a lot of the allotments that are in there now will let us take care of some of these fixed costs that we have, Crawford said. There is a little bit of flexibility in there also, to where we can take care of some of our other educators that arent teachers. In other words, the bus drivers, the custodial staff, and the food service staff being able to do that is going to be imperative for us to go forward, because everybodys trying to make a living. Theyre in this wonderful profession of K-12 education in Texas, and I think that theyre going to be very happy with what were going to be able to put together as far as a compensation package, this next budget.

Texas House moves to eliminate STAAR test, change school accountability system

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House Bill 2 has been approved in the Senate with changes that will have to be approved by the house before the bill can be signed into law.

Its going to be a big win for Tyler ISD. Its going to be an even bigger win for all of East Texas, Crawford said. Its got to be approved. Then weve got to get it with our financial folks to see how much of an increase thats going to be for Tyler ISD.

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A man was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Sunday following an alleged attempt to firebomb a branch office of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The man, named Joseph Neumeyer, is a dual American and German citizen and was detained in Israel on May 19 after a hostile confrontation in which Neumeyer spit on a security guard in front of the office earlier that day, according to the Justice Department.

The guard tried and failed to detain Neumeyer, who ditched the backpack he was carrying to break free, the statement said.

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A search of the backpack he left behind at the embassy after the confrontation revealed three rudimentary improvised incendiary devices commonly known as Molotov cocktails, the statement added. Officials were able to track Neumeyer to his hotel, where he was arrested.

The Justice Department also said that Neumeyer, 28, posted the following on social media: Join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv. Death to America, death to Americans, and f--- the west.

He also made threats on social media to assassinate President Donald Trump, the statement added.

It wasn't clear if Neumeyer has retained a lawyer. Representatives of the Federal Defenders of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

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Neumeyer claims in his social media profiles, verified by NBC News, that he is the founder and CEO of a company called Atlas Light Co. It was not immediately clear what the company does, and Neumeyer claims to have founded a number of startups.

Recent postings on Facebook suggest discontent with the West, specifically with the U.S. and Trump.

Neumeyer arrived in Israel last month but didnt head to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv until May 19, the Justice Department said. It was not clear where in the country he was staying or what he was doing there prior to last week.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The Department will not tolerate such violence and will prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement after Israel turned Neumeyer over to the U.S. on Sunday.

FBI Director Kash Patel added in a statement, This despicable and violent behavior will not be tolerated at home or abroad, and the FBI, working with our partners, will bring him to face justice for his dangerous actions.

Neumeyer, who was deported to the U.S. by Israeli authorities, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

His arrest comes several days after two staffers who worked at the Israeli Embassy in Washington were killed leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum.

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The suspect in that shooting, Elias Rodriguez, was later charged with two counts of first-degree murder. According to videos taken at the scene and posted to social media, Rodriguez shouted Free, free Palestine following his arrest.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke the day after the shooting, with Netanyahu condemning the act as a horrifying antisemitic murder.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
An American citizen born in the United States was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers despite having a REAL ID. Photo courtesy Immigration and Customs Enforcement

May 25 (UPI) -- An American citizen born in the United States was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers despite having a REAL ID. He was later released from custody after providing his Social Security number.

The incident on Wednesday was first reported by Noticias Telemundo, which obtained video footage of a raid that led to the arrest of 25-year-old Leonardo Garcia Venegas at a job site in Alabama.

The video shows ICE officers grabbing Venegas and putting handcuffs on him before someone off-camera yelled that he was a citizen. He told the broadcaster that authorities took his ID from his wallet before handcuffing him and dismissed it as fake.

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Shelah Venegas gave permission to UPI to post the video from her Facebook account of the encounter.

"We all made sure we have the REAL ID and went through the protocols the administration is asking for," Shelah Venegas said. "He has his REAL ID and then they see him and I guess because his English isn't fluent and/or because he's brown, it's fake."

Shelah Venegas, in a post to social media, alleged that the federal authorities refused to let him identify himself and held him in handcuffs "for almost an hour" despite him yelling that he was a citizen.

The Department of Homeland Security alleged in a statement to NBC News that Garcia had interfered with an arrest that was being carried out at the job site.

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"He physically got in between agents and the subject they were attempting to arrest and refused to comply with numerous verbal commands," said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary.

The brief video shared by Noticias Telemundo and Shelah Venegas on social media does not appear to show Leonardo Garcia Venegas getting between two agents as described.

"Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties, including U.S. citizens, will of course face consequences which include arrest," McLaughlin said.

A spokesperson for the agency told Newsweek that "there was no mistake" made by authorities during the encounter.
A 28-year-old man was arrested for allegedly trying to firebomb the U.S. embassy branch in Tel Aviv, Israel, earlier this month and making threats against President Trump, federal prosecutors said Sunday.

Joseph Neumayer, who was born in Colorado and has U.S. and German citizenship, was taken into custody at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City by FBI special agents after he was deported from Israel.

According to the prosecutors, Neumayer traveled to Israel in April. On May 19, he arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv carrying a backpack. Without provocation, Neumayer allegedly spat at an embassy guard as he walked by and was able to flee as the guard attempted to detain him. He left his backpack outside the embassy after the tussle.

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A search of the backpack found three Molotov cocktails inside.

Local law enforcement tracked down the 28-year-old at his hotel, where he was arrested.

A look at the U.S. Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv, Israel, during a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. / Credit: Ohad Zwigenberg / AP

Investigators found that before he traveled to the embassy, Neumayer allegedly posted on social media: "join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv. Death to America, death to Americans, and f***k the west." Authorities said that Neumayer also posted threatening messages on social media targeting President Trump.

Israel deported Neumayer on Sunday.

After his arrest in New York City, Neumayer was charged with attempting to destroy, by means of fire or explosive, the U.S. Embassy. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

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"This defendant is charged with planning a devastating attack targeting our embassy in Israel, threatening death to Americans, and President Trump's life," Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a statement. "The Department will not tolerate such violence and will prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law."

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that Neumayer's alleged actions were "despicable and violent" and "will not be tolerated at home or abroad."

Delta Air Lines' 100th year takes flight

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The University of Florida Board of Trustees will meet Tuesday and likely approve Santa Ono as the schools new president.

The trustees will vote and then hold what a news release Friday described as a community announcement featuring Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hosseini and Dr. Santa Ono.

A search committee on May 4 announced that Ono, who was president of the University of Michigan, was the sole finalist for the UF post.

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Ono announced he would step down from the Michigan job after being named as the UF finalist. Ono also has served as president of the University of Cincinnati and the University of British Columbia.

The UF presidency opened last year when Ben Sasse announced his resignation after less than two years in the job.

Former President Kent Fuchs has served as interim president. If approved by the UF Board of Trustees, Onos appointment also would need a sign-off from the state university systems Board of Governors.

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Ukraine brought home 303 prisoners of war on May 25 in the final phase of a 1000-for-1000 prisoner exchange with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.

The prisoner exchange took place in three phases carried out over three days and was agreed on during peace talks held in Turkey on May 16, the first direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in three years.

"I thank the team that worked around the clock to successfully carry out this exchange. We will definitely bring back every single one of our people from Russian captivity," Zelensky wrote in a post on X.

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The returning prisoners included members of Ukraine's Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and State Special Transport Service, Zelensky stated.

Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs said that the released prisoners included 70 men who had defended Mariupol during the Russian siege of the port city in 2022.

The coordination headquarters added that 5,757 Ukrainian prisoners had been returned through negotiations and exchanges since March 2022, while another 536 Ukrainians had returned through other means.

The prisoner exchange was the only concrete agreement to arise out of the direct talks held last week.

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Ukraine and the United States have been pushing for Russia to agree to an unconditional ceasefire, but Russia "categorically" rejected the appeal in Turkey, according to First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Serhiy Kyslytsia, who attended the talks as a member of the Ukrainian delegation.

Read also: Russian missile, drone attack kills 12, injures over 60

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Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on the international community to intensify pressure on Russia to make it agree to an immediate ceasefire following a large-scale Russian airstrike on Ukrainian cities carried out on the night 24-25 May, which killed at least three children.

Source: Sybiha on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: Sybiha described the assault as one of the largest in recent weeks, involving hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. The attacks caused civilian deaths and injuries, including at least three children.

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Quote from Sybiha: "When the entire world calls for an end to the killing, Putin orders even more strikes, attacks, and murders of children. This once again emphasizes the imperative of a full, unconditional, and durable ceasefire for any meaningful peace effort. The world must pressure Russia to accept it and put an end to the killings immediately."

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that three children were killed in Zhytomyr Oblast during the attack.

Background: The assault prompted Poland to scramble fighter jets in response to the Russian missile barrage.

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Key developments on May 24-25:

Ukraine brings home 303 POWs in final phase of biggest prisoner swap with Russia

Russian missile, drone attack kills 12, injures 79

US silence 'encourages Putin', Zelensky says after massive Russian attack

Russia losing battlefield edge in war against Ukraine, WP reports

Russia will reveal peace terms to Ukraine after prisoner exchange, Lavrov says

Ukraine brings home 303 POWs in final phase of biggest prisoner swap with Russia

Ukraine brought home 303 prisoners of war on May 25 in the final phase of a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.

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The prisoner exchange took place in three phases carried out over three days and was agreed on during peace talks held in Turkey on May 16, the first direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in three years.

"I thank the team that worked around the clock to successfully carry out this exchange. We will definitely bring back every single one of our people from Russian captivity," Zelensky wrote in a post on X.

The returning prisoners included members of Ukraine's Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and State Special Transport Service, Zelensky stated.

Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs said that the released prisoners included 70 men who had defended Mariupol during the Russian siege of the port city in 2022.

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The coordination headquarters added that 5,757 Ukrainian prisoners had been returned through negotiations and exchanges since March 2022, while another 536 Ukrainians had returned through other means.

Read also: Largest-ever Ukrainian-Russian prisoner swap comes under fire for lacking Azov fighters, civilians

The prisoner exchange was the only concrete agreement to arise out of the direct talks held last week.

Ukraine and the United States have been pushing for Russia to agree to an unconditional ceasefire, but Russia "categorically" rejected the appeal in Turkey, according to First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Serhiy Kyslytsia, who attended the talks as a member of the Ukrainian delegation.

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Kyiv does not publish the figures for how many Russian POWs are currently in Ukrainian custody.

Ukraine has long advocated for an "all-for-all" exchange, but Russia has so far rejected the proposal.

Russian missile, drone attack kills 12, injures 79

Russia attacked Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions with drones and missiles overnight on May 25, killing 12 people, including three children, and injuring at least 79, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram.

Russia launched 69 missiles overnight and 298 drones, according to Ukraine's Air Force.

The Air Force reported that 45 cruise missiles were shot down by air defense and 266 drones were neutralized, while 22 locations recorded a direct strike.

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The attacks come one night after one of the heaviest Russian assaults on Kyiv throughout the full-scale war. The attack also coincides with Kyiv Day, a city holiday typically celebrated on the last Sunday in May.

Ukraine's Air Force warned late on May 24 that Russia had launched waves of drones towards multiple regions and also issued a ballistic missile warning shortly before midnight. Later in the night, an aerial alert went into effect for all Ukrainian regions, including the country's far-western oblasts.

According to Klymenko, Russians attacked the city of Kyiv, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Sumy, Poltava regions. More than 80 residential buildings have been damaged, he said.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the attack and called on the international community to further pressure Russia for a ceasefire.

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"When the entire world calls for an end to the killing, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin orders even more strikes, attacks, and murders of children. This once again emphasizes the imperative of a full, unconditional, and durable ceasefire for any meaningful peace effort," Sybiha wrote on X.

"The world must pressure Russia to accept it and put an end to the killings immediately."

Three children ages 8, 12 and 17 years old were killed in Zhytomyr Oblast, according to the State Emergency Service, while another 12 in the oblast were injured. Klymenko later added that all three children were from the same family, and both parents were hospitalized. The mother is in serious condition, he said.

During the attack, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, advised residents to take shelter.

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"The night will not be easy. There is a threat of the enemy using a large number of drones and missiles from strategic aircraft," Tkachenko warned as air defenses actively repelled drones over Kyiv.

Debris from a falling drone struck a student dormitory in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district, causing a fire, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Four people were injured and received medical treatment on the spot.

Another person injured in the Desnianskyi district received medical attention at the scene, Klitschko said, while a second victim in the area was hospitalized. A house in the city's Dniprovskyi district was also damaged. The Kyiv City Military Administration reported that a young woman in the district was injured with a broken leg.

A business center was damaged in the Shevchenkivskyi district, according to the administration.

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The 11 injured victims range in age from 18 to 62, the administration said.

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Outside the capital, four people in Kyiv Oblast were killed in the attacks and 34 more suffered injuries, the State Emergency Service reported.

In Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov also reported that drones struck the city's Osnovianskyi, Novobavarskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi districts. A civilian enterprise in the Osnovianskyi district was damaged while an office building was hit in the Shevchenkivskyi district.

Glass shattered in several apartment buildings amid the attacks, Terekhov said. A child was injured by glass fragments and is receiving medical treatment.

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Artem Semenikhin, the mayor of Konotop in Sumy Oblast, said Russia's overnight barrage was "probably the most massive and combined attack on our city since the Second World War."

Drones and missiles also hit multiple areas in the city of Chernihiv and the surrounding region, the State Emergency Service reported. Fires broke out at storage facilities and non-residential buildings, including one blaze that covered over 1,000 square meters. Information about casualties and damage is still being investigated.

In the southern city of Mykolaiv, one man was killed and five people injured when a drone hit a five-story residential building, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported. A teenager was among the injured victims.

In Ternopil, a western city less frequently targeted by Russian attacks, a Kalibr cruise missile struck an industrial facility and caused a fire, according to Governor Viacheslav Nehoda.

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Casualties and damage were also reported in Khmelnytskyi Oblast. Governor Serhii Tiurin said the attacks killed four people in the region and injured five others, in addition to destroying civilian infrastructure.

Poland scrambled fighter jets and activated air defenses, as it has previously done to secure its airspace during large-scale Russian attacks on Ukraine.

The previous night, Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile attack against Kyiv, injuring at least 15 people. The strikes caused explosions throughout the city and damaged residential buildings.

Russia continues to target residential neighborhoods in increasingly deadly aerial assaults while the Kremlin remains openly dismissive of international calls for a ceasefire.

Read also: Russians mock US and peace process with latest attacks on Ukraine, EU ambassador says

US silence 'encourages Putin', Zelensky says after massive Russian attack

Following a deadly overnight attack on May 25, Zelensky called for stronger sanctions on Russia and added that "Americas silence, and the silence of others around the world, only encourages Putin."

"Without really strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will definitely help," Zelensky wrote in a post on Telegram on May 25.

"The world knows all the weaknesses of the Russian economy. It is possible to stop the war, but only through the necessary force of pressure on Russia. Putin must be forced to think not about launching missiles, but about ending the war."

Trump has not publicly commented on the overnight attacks on May 24 and 25.

Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on May 16 in the first direct talks between the two countries in three years, but left without reaching an agreement on a ceasefire.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that Moscow had no interest in agreeing to a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying on May 21 that Russia "doesn't want this anymore."

Read also: Russia categorically rejected unconditional ceasefire in peace talks, Ukrainian official says

Russia losing battlefield edge in war against Ukraine, WP reports

Russia's military advantage against Ukraine is declining, the Washington Post (WP) reported on May 24, citing U.S., European, and Ukrainian officials and military experts.

While Russia's military difficulties could be an opportunity for Ukraine's allies to mount pressure against Moscow in hopes of securing a ceasefire, U.S. President Donald Trump has backed away from international sanctions efforts and appears increasingly unwilling to challenge Putin.

Moscow faces critical shortages of weapons and manpower, making the time ripe for escalated pressure, multiple officials told the WP, many speaking on the condition of anonymity.

"Russia is very gradually taking bits of territory still, but at an unsustainably high cost," said Richard Barrons, the former head of the United Kingdom's Joint Forces Command.

A Ukrainian security official told the WP that Russia was not able to gain ground despite its significant personnel advantages and that the slowed advance may be partly a result of Ukraine's incursion in Kursk Oblast, which aimed to divert Russia's military resources from the front lines.

"Russia is not able to take any ground, and this is the situation pretty much since the end of the Ukrainian counteroffensive," the official said, referring to Ukraine's attempt to retake Russian-occupied territories in 2023.

"Despite the fact that they still have three-to-one superiority in number of troops  and maybe even bigger in terms of (weapons) systems  it's still not enough."

Western experts also calculate that Russia's arsenal of tanks is likely to run out in the next few months, the WP reported.

"The Russians can continue fighting, but  the force will become more and more de-mechanized over time, and that does put a timeline on how long they can sustain the current way they operate," Jack Watling, a senior research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told the WP.

Barrons also said Russia was running out of opportunities to conduct major offensives in Ukraine.

"It is very unlikely now that the Russian military have the equipment, the people, and the training and logistics to mount an offensive that would break the Ukrainian line and  even if they did  to exploit it immediately," he said.

In light of these obstacles, coordinated pressure against Russia could be more effective now than any point since the eary days of the full-scale war, officials said.

According to a May report from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Putin still remains confident in Russia's ability to secure "ultimate victory" in Ukraine, including the full occupation of four Ukrainian regions.

This confidence is reflected in Russia's strategy of dragging out peace talks while escalating deadly attacks against Ukraine. Trump even admitted, just days after holding a two-hour phone conversation with the Russian leader, that Putin is not interested in peace because he believes he is winning the war.

"Putin believes that time is on his side, and Ukraine is bleeding faster than Russia," a senior European official told the WP.

But some officials suggested that Putin may be basing his confidence on reports from subordinates that understate Russia's increasing difficulties.

"I think they overestimate the current success of Russia," one senior European official said.

Zelensky called Putin's continued delays in the peace process "a mockery of the whole world" in remarks on May 23.

"And it's definitely time to put more pressure on Russia," he said.

Read also: Russia pushes forward in Donetsk Oblast, threatening Ukrainian pocket around Toretsk

Russia will reveal peace terms to Ukraine after prisoner exchange, Lavrov says

Lavrov announced on May 23 that Moscow will convey its peace terms to Kyiv immediately after the completion of the prisoner exchange between the two countries, which is currently ongoing.

Speaking to Russian state media, Lavrov disclosed that Moscow is "actively working" on a list of ceasefire conditions for the war in Ukraine. The list will be ready "as soon as the exchange of prisoners of war is completed," Lavrov said.

Following tumultuous negotiations in Istanbul on May 16  the first between the two countries since 2022  Ukraine and Russia agreed on a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange.

The exchange process started on May 23 and will continue through May 25. In the initial phase of the process, the two parties swapped 390 prisoners each, and an additional 307 prisoners each on May 24.

During the Istanbul talks, Ukraine and Russia also agreed to exchange documents detailing their respective ceasefire conditions.

Separately, Russia is preparing a "memorandum regarding a potential future peace treaty," which Russian President Vladimir Putin first mentioned during a recent call with United States President Donald Trump.

Kremlin officials have clarified that the memorandum is separate from the list of ceasefire conditions currently under preparation.

While Moscow's list of conditions have yet to be revealed, Russia has repeatedly reiterated maximalist demands, including that Ukraine accept the loss of Crimea and four eastern regions.

Earlier this week, on May 22, Lavrov also said that Moscow is uninterested in a ceasefire in Ukraine, insisting that the "root causes" of the war need to be resolved first.

A recent U.S. intelligence report also revealed that Russia is committed to waging war in Ukraine through the end of 2025, and its objectives in the war  Ukrainian neutrality and a partition of the Ukrainian state  have not changed.

These recent developments suggest that Russia is unwilling to negotiate in good faith, despite offering to share a list of ceasefire conditions after the prisoner exchange.

Read also: Lavrov dismisses Vatican as possible venue for Russia-Ukraine peace talks





















































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Light aircraft cannot currently be used to shoot down Shahed drones during night-time attacks, although the Ukrainian command is looking for ways to use them in the future, Ukraines Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat has said.

Source: Ihnat during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote: "The defence forces use all available methods to shoot [drones] down. As Ive already noted, fighter jets, helicopters, mobile fire groups and electronic warfare were all employed [last night], and Unmanned Systems Forces have been strengthening our drone air defence capabilities.

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Many experts have drawn attention to light aircraft. Weve actually been using them for a while. Yak-52 planes are quite effective when the weather and visibility allow it  mainly against reconnaissance UAVs.

But we shouldnt rely on light aircraft in this context, especially given that the Shaheds warhead has now been increased to up to 90 kg. Light aircraft simply cannot operate at night."

Details: Ihnat stressed, however, that Ukraine is actively seeking ways to adapt light aircraft so that they can intercept Shahed drones.

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Colonel Denys "Redis" Prokopenko, Commander of the Azov National Guard Brigade, has stated that not a single Azov fighter was included in the recent three-day prisoner exchange with Russia. He said he does not believe the Ukrainian authorities are interested in bringing them back.

Source: Prokopenko on Facebook

Quote from Prokopenko: "Not a single Azov fighter. Among the 1,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war exchanged today, there is not a single member of Azov. Yet some scumbag who asked prison guards for a knife to butcher our soldiers was swapped.

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This feels like a mockery of those who are in their fourth year of enduring inhumane conditions in Russian captivity, in the worst conditions. Its a mockery of their families, loved ones and brothers-in-arms. Its a mockery of those who were given guarantees and who have every right to be prioritised for swaps, as they were taken prisoner not of their own volition but [because they surrendered] by order of the high command.

Just days ago, Ukraine marked the third anniversary of the Mariupol garrisons withdrawal from Azovstal, hoping that the thousand-for-thousand swap would include fighters from the 12th Azov Brigade. Those expectations were not met."

Details: Prokopenko believes that Russias reluctance to release Azov fighters is not the only reason why they have been excluded from prisoner exchanges.

He argues that Ukraine should offer Russia individuals of greater significance than "some conscript from Omsk" to secure the release of Azov fighters.

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Quote from Prokopenko: "Ukraine is teeming with Russian agents  all the special services know this and need only an order to act.

I believe that priests from the [Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the] Moscow Patriarchate, who openly work for Russian intelligence, would be of greater interest to Russia than the ordinary soldiers theyre using to capture the lands of Ukraine...

...There are options; we just need to adapt and explore new approaches and configurations. Because the fact that not a single Azov fighter was among the thousand in this swap is a disgrace for our entire nation.

I do not believe the authorities are committed to bringing back Azov fighters, because the same individuals are now in their fourth year of handling exchanges ineffectively."

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Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev in Baku to discuss bilateral relations and the war against Ukraine.

Source: Andrii Sybiha on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: Sybiha described the talks as an "open and detailed discussion" covering Ukraine-Azerbaijan relations and international issues, with a focus on halting Russian aggression and securing a just and lasting peace. He thanked Aliyev for Azerbaijans consistent support for Ukraines territorial integrity and its humanitarian and energy assistance during the winter.

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The leaders also explored steps to strengthen their strategic partnership, with Azerbaijans participation in the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome on 10-11 July highlighted as a key milestone.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference, announced in 2023, aims to mobilise international support for Ukraines reconstruction amid ongoing Russian attacks.

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Ukrainian military intelligence operators, using attack drones, targeted and destroyed a Russian fuel train in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast on 24 May.

Source: Ukraines Defence Intelligence (DIU)

Details: DIU reported that precision strikes were carried out on the moving train along the Verkhnii TokmakMolochanskFedorivka railway section.

At least three fuel tanks were destroyed, disrupting the railway supply line used by Russian forces in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast and annexed Crimea.

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Ukraines General Staff has stated that the Ukrainian defence forces have captured 971 Russian service members since the beginning of the ongoing offensive in Russias Kursk Oblast.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook

Quote: "To free our people from the enemys torture chambers, the defence forces are relentlessly replenishing the POW exchange pool with Russian soldiers and officers.

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The Kursk offensive operation has been the most effective effort in this regard. Between 6 August 2024 and 25 May 2025, our defenders have captured 971 members of the Russian armed forces. The Ukrainian defence forces continue to conduct active operations in Kursk Oblast."

Details: The General Staff emphasised that a numerically superior adversary can only be defeated through unconventional approaches, describing the Kursk campaign as "an unexpected and asymmetric move whose success has been acknowledged internationally".

Quote: "The fight continues  for our territory and our people. Ukraine leaves no one behind."

Background:

On Friday 23 May, Ukraine and Russia conducted the first phase of the thousand-for-thousand prisoner exchange, resulting in the return of 390 Ukrainians  270 military personnel and 120 civilians.

On Saturday, a further 307 Ukrainian defenders, all men of private and sergeant rank, were brought back from Russian captivity.

On 25 May, Ukraine and Russia completed the third phase of the thousand-for-thousand prisoner exchange, liberating another 303 Ukrainian defenders.

Colonel Denys "Redis" Prokopenko, Commander of the Azov National Guard Brigade, has stated that not a single Azov fighter was included in the recent three-day prisoner exchange with Russia. He said he does not believe the Ukrainian authorities are interested in bringing them back.

Journalist Stanislav Aseyev has drawn attention to the plight of civilians who have been held in Russian captivity for eight years, pointing out that not one of them was among those released during the recent thousand-for-thousand prisoner exchange.

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Ukrainian intelligence has evidence confirming that China is supplying special chemicals, gunpowder and machinery to 20 military facilities in Russia.

Source: Oleh Ivashchenko, Head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, in an interview with Ukrinform

Quote: "We have information that China is supplying machinery, special chemicals, gunpowder and components specifically to military-designated facilities. We have verified data concerning 20 Russian plants."

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Details: Ivashchenko said there were also at least five recorded instances of aircraft-related cooperation between Russia and China in 2024-2025, involving equipment, spare parts and documentation. In six cases, large volumes of special chemicals were delivered.

He added that as of early 2025, 80% of the critical electronics used in Russian drones originated from China. These deliveries often involve relabelling, deceptive naming, and shell companies through which items required to manufacture microelectronics are shipped from China to Russia.

Background:

On 17 April, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated, citing intelligence reports, that China was supplying Russia with artillery and gunpowder and that Chinese actors were involved in manufacturing certain weapons on Russian territory.

Officially, Beijing has denied providing lethal aid to either side in Russias full-scale war against Ukraine.

China continues to present itself as a "neutral party" in the war, despite Western criticism that its close ties with Moscow provide Russia with crucial economic and diplomatic support.

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Six more working days.

Next Saturdays the deadline for Illinois state lawmakers to pass a new budget. Theyve got more issues than Iowa lawmakers did for their budget and they worked overtime in Des Moines.

Democrats in Illinois are trying to pass the largest budget in state history at the request of Gov. JB Pritzker  this while trying to close a shortfall of at least half a billion dollars, as well as uncertainty about how much support the state will get from the federal government.

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There are a lot of unanswered budget questions going into the last scheduled week of Illinois legislative session. Well try to get some answers this morning from State Sen. Mike Halpin and Rep. Tony McCcombie, also the House minority leader.

What are the chances the state adopts a basic budget by the deadline with the intent on coming back in session during the session to hammer out more details?

Were going to go the best we can, given what we know for a fact, here in Illinois, Halpin said.

This budget should be fine. I dont think we need to worry about the Trump administration affecting our going into a $1 billion deficit, McCombie said.

Question of the Week

Now we want to hear from you, too, and that brings us to our question of the week. What do you think about the possibility of new taxes on services and/or deliveries in Illinois to help balance the budget? Share your thoughts at 4therecord@whbf.com

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Local 4 News, your local election headquarters, is proud to present 4 The Record, a weekly news and public affairs program focused on the issues important to you. Its a program unlike any other here in the Quad Cities. Tune in each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as Jim Niedelman brings you up to speed on whats happening in the political arena, from Springfield, Des Moines, Washington, D.C. and right here at home.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  You've heard of twofers. Kenya Hutton is a threefer.

His parents are immigrants, hes a Black man and hes gay  at a moment in history when anti-immigrant fervor, racism and anti-LGBTQ feelings are rampant and amplified by Trump administration policies.

Hutton is hardly alone.

As members of the Black and Latino LGBTQ and transgender and other communities come to the nations capital for World Pride in the coming days, many are under siege from multiple directions thanks to their multiple identities. They will hold individualized programs and celebrations that blend into World Pride.

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Their mutual jeopardy will be a unifying theme. The celebrations, music, food, parades, plays and parties will unfold against a backdrop of human rights and political strategizing and, in some cases, discussions about how to survive in a climate that contains many people who do not want them around.

I always tell folks that DC was the perfect place to have World Pride," Hutton said. "We have so many different identity prides here in D.C., from Black Pride to Trans Pride to API Pride, Latinx Pride, Military Pride, Womens Pride, Silver Pride, we have so many different groups of people that have their own pride celebration.

Looking for solutions to an intersectional problem

Frankie Miranda, the first openly gay president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation, says immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community have been in triage mode for months as they defend a multiapproach attack on many members of our community from different sides.

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Miranda, who is Puerto Rican, said immigrant families are being separated and the LGBTQ community targeted. After years of progress, those efforts are being eroded and fundamental rights challenged and taken away, he said. "Its a reminder of how much work we still have ahead and of how we must work in an intersectional way.

Miranda urged Pride events to have direct calls to action and take a more political approach this year, including by looking to the 2026 elections.

Susan Appleton, professor of women, gender. and sexuality studies at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, said the nations culture and society, including law, have always regulated gender, race and other identities. But, she said, "I think were in a very unusual time when the targets have become very explicit and when for many years we havent seen the lack of empathy that we see now.

But I do think its encouraging to me to see that there is a vigorous resistance," she said. "I dont know whether it will accomplish anything, but I think it is important to make sure that all voices are heard.

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That people are facing multiple grievances, she said, now shows its not sufficient to look at race alone or gender alone or sexuality alone but all those factors. They intersect and "create unique vectors of oppression.

People at the intersections between the Latino community and immigrant communities face attacks from all sides, said Dee Tum-Monge, a board member for the Latinx History Project, the steering organization for Latinx Pride. World Pride is aiming to create spaces focused around community care and political organizing while still celebrating our joy, they say.

The focus, Tum-Monge said, is shifting away from just voting and federal action to work that attendees can do at local levels. Amid mounting threats to immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community, Tum-Monge said organizers are particularly concerned about security and will be watching for international participants who may face obstacles traveling.

Statements as diverse as those making them

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Although official events are kicking off now, programs that have begun suggest how diverse activities will be. The scene last week was almost solemn as people walked along the National Mall in sight of the Capitol, reading messages on some of the hundreds of quilts made by transgender people from around the country.

The Freedom to Be quilt project was there to raise awareness of the transgender community, which has been under fire from President Donald Trump. The messages ranged from defiance to hopes for acceptance. I hope there are days when you fall in love with being alive," said one. And on another: THERES A LAND THAT I SEE WHERE THE CHILDREN SHOULD BE FREE."

Abdool Corlette, head of brand for the American Civil Liberties Union and a co-creator of the project, said a message needed to be sent.

We are seeing across the board an attempt to erase trans folks from all public life," Corlette said. "And we knew that we need to take up space. We needed to memorialize peoples stories and do it in the literal backyard of the Capitol.

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Gillian Branstetter, his co-creator and communications strategist at the ACLU's Women's Project, said actions like the Republican president's executive order that affects military personnel are abstract to some but have real impacts in the transgender community where health care is threatened, along with the loss of jobs and threats of violence.

The scene was anything but solemn 3 miles north of the Mall, inside the student center at Howard University, one of the nation's renowned historically Black universities. It was festive and bright, filled with joy and shouts of encouragement and music as members of various groups  called houses  competed in events that included fashion modeling and dance at the Cirque du Slay Ball.

One attendee, John Smith III (stage name IconFatty Prodigy), said the balls are modeled on Cirque du Soleil and are about community and safe spaces. Iran Paylor (stage name Bang Garcon) said the houses are places set up by LGBTQ communities to give safe spaces to others estranged from their families and ostracized within the Black community when they came out.

Black Pride is a key center of gravity

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D.C. Black Pride began in 1975 at the ClubHouse, founded by members of the city's LGBTQ community. Over the years, an event around Memorial Day became a tradition. The ClubHouse closed in 1990, but three members of the community kept the tradition going. The first Black Gay and Lesbian Pride event was held on May 25, 1991.

Hutton is the president and CEO of the Center for Black Equity, founded in 1999 as a way to bring together all of the Black pride movements that were being created around the country following the model in Washington. There are 54 in the United States and 12 internationally, he said.

As a Black gay man, Hutton already had battles on multiple fronts. Now there is an additional category to worry about.

"I'm also a child of immigrants, just to add that on top of my intersections, he said. Im always paying attention to immigration conversations. Its very hard navigating the world right now.

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But, he said, his responsibility is to use the access he has developed over the years to create safe spaces. "So even though it is difficult to navigate and listen to the news every day, I also understand that Ive been given this task.

The job has been hard this year. Sponsors have pulled out of the celebrations and he knows some international travelers are not coming due to fear they will have difficulties with law enforcement.

Hutton understands why various groups want individual activities; one version will not accommodate all audiences. But the cornerstone of Black pride is community. We have the opportunity to really showcase all of these communities to the world, he said.

In the end, he said, he wants one message to resound after the gathering of communities: Were not going anywhere.

Well continue pushing our rights forward, not just for us in America, Hutton said. As someone told me, when America sneezes, the world catches a cold. So we have to make sure that America doesnt catch a cold.
A U.S. man was arrested on Sunday for attempting to firebomb the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said that Joseph Neumayer, a dual U.S. and German citizen, was arrested on Sunday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after he was deported from Israel.

The unsealed criminal complaint reveals that Neumayer, 28, initially arrived in Israel in April, but on May 19, he walked up to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv carrying a dark-colored backpack.

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Neumayer, a Colorado native, reportedly spat on an embassy guard and uttered profanities as he walked past. When a guard attempted to detain him, Neumayer broke free, leaving behind his backpack in the process.

A search of Neumayers backpack revealed three rudimentary improvised incendiary devices commonly known as Molotov cocktails, the DOJ said, noting officials later found the presence of flammable fluid in the devices.

Police arrested Neumayer in his hotel room located five blocks from the embassy, later discovering he posted on social media earlier in the day, join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv. Death to America, death to Americans, and fk the west.

Other social media accounts believed to belong to Neumayer revealed threats to assassinate President Trump. Some of the alleged posts also include threats to Elon Musk.

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This defendant is charged with planning a devastating attack targeting our embassy in Israel, threatening death to Americans, and President Trumps life, Attorney General Pam Bondi said. The Department will not tolerate such violence and will prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law.

FBI Director Kash Patel also condemned Neumayers actions.

This despicable and violent behavior will not be tolerated at home or abroad, and the FBI, working with our partners, will bring him to face justice for his dangerous actions, he said.

Joseph Nocella, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where Neumayer was arrested, said he sought to cause chaos and destruction at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

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His arrest and prosecution clearly show that my Office and the Department of Justice will not tolerate violence in our homeland or violence targeting U.S. interests abroad, he added.

Neumayer faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000, if he is convicted.

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Following a deadly overnight attack on May 25, President Volodymyr Zelensky called for stronger sanctions on Russia and added that "Americas silence, and the silence of others around the world, only encourages Putin."

Russia launched 69 missiles and 298 drones overnight on May 25, according to Ukraine's Air Force. The attack killed 12 people, including three children, and injured more than 60, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Rescuers worked in more than 30 Ukrainian villages and cities, reacting to the large-scale attack, Zelensky said. More than 22 direct strikes were recorded, with additional regions affected by falling debris, the Air Force said.

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"Without really strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will definitely help," Zelensky wrote in a post on Telegram on May 25.

"The world knows all the weaknesses of the Russian economy. It is possible to stop the war, but only through the necessary force of pressure on Russia. Putin must be forced to think not about launching missiles, but about ending the war."

Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on May 16 in the first direct talks between the two countries in three years, but left without reaching an agreement on a ceasefire.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that Moscow had no interest in agreeing to a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying on May 21 that Russia "doesn't want this anymore."

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Ukraine had also been rocked by one of the heaviest strikes of the war the night prior.

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Read also: Russian missile, drone attack kills at least 12 in Ukraine

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy to Syria on Saturday said he met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and commended the leader's steps taken regarding foreign fighters and relations with Israel.

Thomas Barrack, a special envoy to Syria and the current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, said in a statement that the two met in Istanbul on Saturday, and that he commended Sharaa for "taking meaningful steps" on foreign fighters as well as "relations with Israel."

The meeting comes after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration issued orders effectively lifting sanctions on Syria after its 14-year civil war. Syria welcomed the sanctions waiver, describing it as a "positive step".

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It mainly focused on following up with the implementation of the sanctions waiver, with Sharaa telling Barrack that sanctions remain a heavy burden on Syrians and hinder economic recovery efforts, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Sunday.

They also discussed means to support foreign investments in Syria, especially in the fields of energy and infrastructure, according to SANA.

The Syrian side expressed readiness to provide the necessary facilitation to attract investors and contribute in reconstruction efforts.

(Reporting by Jason Lange in Washington and Menna Alaa El-Din in Cairo; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Christopher Cushing)
On May 25th, 2020, the Minneapolis Police Department released a statement saying Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction. The man in question was George Floyd and he was murdered by Officer Derek Chauvin. That initial police statement was false. And the truth only came out because of a 17-year-old with a cell phone camera. But, it should not be the work of a civilian to hold law enforcement to account. A cell phone with a camera should not be the only defense against poli
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO)  The Falls Park Farmers Market looks to bring another promising season for vendors and visitors.

The farmers market runs from May until October every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Its located at the Falls Park picnic shelter in Sioux Falls.

Its the place to be in Sioux Falls on Saturday morning. I like to see all of the people out here kind of enjoying the morning, Cody Carper with Carper Sweet Corn and Produce said. Even on a cloudy day like this, its still a fun place to be.

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Carper said the weather has been good for the growing season so far.

As far as moisture, its sitting pretty good, Cody Carper said. I guess theres ups and downs.

A full list of vendors can be found here.

Seasonal events return to downtown Sioux Falls

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Venezuelans are casting their ballots in legislative and regional elections, but in a low turnout fuelled by disillusionment and frustration, under the shadow of a heightened government crackdown and opposition leaders calling for a boycott.

Sundays elections are the first to allow comprehensive voter participation since last years disputed presidential vote, which President Nicolas Maduro claimed to have won despite contradictory evidence.

It is also taking place two days after the government detained dozens of people, including a prominent opposition leader, and accused them of being linked to an alleged plot to hinder the vote.

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Members of the military throughout the day outnumbered voters at many polling centres in the capital, Caracas. No lines formed outside the polling stations, including the countrys largest  a stark contrast with the hundreds of people gathered around the same time for the July 28 presidential election.

Many people appeared to have lost faith in the electoral process. I am not going to vote after they stole the elections last year. For what? I dont want to be disappointed again, Caracas resident Paula Aranguren said.

In the eyes of the opposition, voter participation legitimises Maduros claim to power and what they brand as his governments repressive apparatus.

After the presidential election, 25 people were reportedly killed and more than 2,000 people were detained  including protesters, poll workers, political activists and minors  to quash dissent. The government also issued arrest warrants against opposition leaders, levelling charges against them ranging from conspiracy to falsifying records.

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Despite the risks, campaigning for some has remained a key form of resistance against the government.

History is full of evidence that voting is an instrument towards democracy, Henrique Capriles, a former opposition presidential candidate now running for a seat in the National Assembly, told Al Jazeera.

I believe the way we stood for our rights last year kept alive the peaceful fight for our constitution because voting is what we have left to manifest our rejection of Maduro and his government, Capriles said.

Henrique Capriles, opposition candidate for deputy of the National Assembly, meets supporters during a campaign event in Santa Teresa del Tuy, Venezuela [File: Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters]

Meanwhile, the ruling party is touting an overwhelming victory across the country, just as it has done in previous regional elections.

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A nationwide poll conducted from April 29 to May 4 by the Venezuela-based research firm Delphos showed only 15.9 percent of voters expressed a high probability of voting on Sunday.

Of those, 74.2 percent said they would vote for the candidates of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and its allies, while 13.8 percent said they would vote for contenders associated with two opposition leaders who are not boycotting the elections.

Maduro accuses the opposition of attempts to destabilise the country.

The death throes of fascism have tried to bring in mercenaries, and today, we have already captured more than 50 mercenaries who came in to plant bombs or launch violent attacks in the country, he told supporters before election day.

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Political analysts said the chances that free and fair elections would take place are practically nonexistent.

There wont be witnesses at the table, very few witnesses. Nobody wants to be a witness, political analyst Benigno Alarcon told Al Jazeera, adding that low voter turnout, no understanding of who the candidates are and the lack of international observers are likely going to make the elections unfair.

Some voters who cast ballots on Sunday said they did so out of fear of losing their government jobs or food and other state-controlled benefits.

Most of my friends arent going to vote, not even a blank vote, state employee Miguel Otero, 69, told The Associated Press news agency. But we must comply. We have to send the photo [showing] Im here at the polling station now.




(FOUNTAIN, Colo.)With Memorial Day around the corner, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet made time to meet with local veterans for a roundtable discussion in Fountain on Saturday, May 24. The discussion focused on the VA and the benefits and treatments veterans are currently receiving. Most expressed their own issues they experienced.

You can have a program thats been around for 150 years, and it still has some issues, said Travis Baker, the District Five Commander at the VFW in El Paso County.

Baker expressed his own problems and frustrations to Sen. Bennet in trying to get help, specifically focusing on just setting up an appointment.

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Scheduling appointments is a nightmare sometimes, Baker said. When you call and say, I need my annual checkup or my semiannual checkup, it can take you up to six or seven months.

For some veterans, they cannot afford to wait months and need treatment or surgery sooner rather than later. For Baker, it has cost him money out of his pocket.

Ive been going through some health issues the past couple of weeks, and Ive been trying to get my stuff taken care of, and I couldnt get it done through the VA because they didnt have any availability, Baker said. So, I had to go to the emergency room, and I had to pay to for those.

Baker is not the only as several veterans who were at the discussion shared experiences of long waits between appointments, along with not getting a proper diagnosis that identifies what is wrong with them. Sen. Bennet tells FOX21 News it is frustrating to hear this

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Its unacceptable that people in that room were saying, takes nine months to get in to see a heart doctor, Sen. Bennet said. Its unacceptable that it can take years on end to get a diagnosis.

Sen. Bennet believes this shows there is more work to be done in Washington, D.C., to make sure problems with the VA are cleaned up and veterans are getting treated sooner rather than later.

If you or someone you know served in the military and is looking for medical help or resources, click here to check out the resources offered by the VA.

I think the only way were going to change that is by making sure that were monitoring the speed with which theyre being responded to and that were passing legislation to create oversight from Congress, Sen. Bennet said.

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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 FOX21 News Colorado.
Again, the question is being asked: Are Bakersfield residents getting what they were promised by Measure N  the 1% sales tax hike voters approved in 2018?

Last month, Bakersfield city officials told the Public Safety Vital Services Measure Oversight Committee that much of the money this year will have to be spent on nondiscretionary things, including personnel expenses and transfers to the citys general fund to cover operational needs. Additional money is being reserved for capital projects, such as $4 million for street improvements along 18th and 19th streets, and $3 million for improvements on H Street.

Weve seen increases in insurance; weve seen increases in workers compensation; weve seen in vehicle equipment, other equipment and technology, City Manager Christian Clegg told the committee.

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The oversight committee was established as part of Measure N to assure voters that the 1% tax hike would be spent as promised, rather than absorbed into the citys general fund.

The committee is advisory only, with the final spending decisions left to Bakersfields elected City Council. Committee recommendations, which are developed during public meetings, do not have to be followed by council members.

Committee member Cathy Abernathy responded that she is concerned that Measure N money is being spent on a whole lot of staff that includes obligations to pay for such things as health care and pensions.

Two years ago, when the city realized a large unexpected increase in sales tax money, committee member Abernathy expressed the same concern about the citys proposed surplus spending.

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Lets honor what it was supposed to be about, which is police, Abernathy said in response to the citys spending proposal that included animal shelter improvements.

What we wanted to see was what can the money be spent on to make our town safer and to make it a more attractive community for business growth. Thats generally neighborhoods, roads, streets, that kind of work, not enhancing animal care, Abernathy said.

The Public Safety and Vital Services ballot measure that barely passed in 2018 read: "To prevent cuts/improve 911 emergency response, police/fire protection, anti-gang/drug units, neighborhood police patrols; rapid response to assaults, robberies, gang violence, home burglaries; crime prevention; address homelessness; retain, attract jobs/businesses; unrestricted general revenue purposes; shall the measure be adopted approving an ordinance establishing a one-cent sales tax providing $50,000,000 until ended by voters, requiring independent audits, citizens oversight, all funds for Bakersfield?"

Since passage, oversight committee members repeatedly have expressed concern that PSVS dollars were not being used as advertised to voters. Even the Kern County grand jury expressed concerns.

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But according to the city, staffing funded by PSVS dollars has included 189 positions in the police department; 27 in the fire department; 46 in development services, including code enforcement and homeless encampment clean up; 21 rangers to provide park security; 22 in technology services; 16 in economic and community development; 13 in public works; 12 in the city manager's office; five in human resources; and two in finance.

The Parks Department ranger force, which is separate from the Police Department, was established in 2023, when the city enjoyed a sales tax surplus. Startup of the program was estimated to cost $1 million, with the predicted annual cost of $2.4 million paid out of Measure N enhanced sales tax revenues.

Today, the citys sales tax revenues have remained either flat or declined across several industries, Bakersfield Finance Director Randy McKeegan told PVSV oversight committee members last month. Bakersfield also is expecting a $6.5 million decrease in sales tax revenues because some county residents were being incorrectly charged the citys higher tax rate for the past two years.

How City Council members ultimately decide to spend these decreasing tax revenues will determine public confidence in and support for the 1% tax hike voters approved in 2018.

Measure N was crafted to avoid sunsetting  a common requirement that voters must approve the continuance of a taxing measure every few years. Instead, Measure N specified it would continue until ended by voters. This leaves Measure N vulnerable to discontented voters, who may conclude that the money is not being spent as advertised.






Virginia Giuffre was cremated during a private funeral in Australia, one month after her death by suicide at age 41

Her loved ones recently gathered at the Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park in Padbury to say their final goodbyes

Virginia, who was one of the most outspoken accusers of convicted sex offenders Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as Prince Andrew, is survived by her three children, ages 19, 16 and 15







Virginia Giuffre has been laid to rest.

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Virginia's loved ones recently said their final goodbyes to her when she was cremated during a private funeral, PEOPLE can confirm. The West Australian, which was the first to report the news, said the service took place at the Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park in Padbury, Australia.

An exact date for the funeral for Virginia  who was one of the most outspoken accusers of convicted sex offenders Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as Prince Andrew  was not shared.

Family and friends gathered at the Australian cemetery a month after Virginia's death by suicide at age 41 on April 24.

Virginia's family did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Sunday, May 25.

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 Kauzlarich/Bloomberg via Getty Virginia Giuffre in 2019. Virginia Giuffre in 2019.

Virginia's family revealed the news of her death in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, expressing that she "lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking."

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"Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors," the family continued. "Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright. She will be missed beyond measure. The light of her life were her children Christian, Noah, and Emily."

Western Australia Police Force media liaison officer Shelby Brady later confirmed to PEOPLE that emergency services responded to a residence in Neergabby and found an unresponsive 41-year-old.

Emergency first aid was rendered, but the woman was declared dead at the scene. According to authorities, "early indications" showed that "the death is not suspicious."

Virginia's sister-in-law, Amanda Roberts, remembered her while speaking to PEOPLE shortly after her death.

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The world lost a fierce warrior. She wished for all survivors to get justice. That is who she was," said Amanda, adding through tears: "We lost our sister. Her children lost their mother, and her mother lost her daughter."

"She was one of the most beautiful souls you would ever have the chance to meet," Amanda continued of Virginia. "But I think sometimes, that load and that weight becomes too much to carry.

Amanda added that her husband, Sky Roberts, Virginia's brother, was staying with her when she died.

Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Virginia Giuffre. Virginia Giuffre.

Virginia's death came following a tumultuous start to 2025. On March 30, she said in an Instagram post that she was near death and in the hospital after a car she was in days earlier was struck by a school bus going more than 49 mph.

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Ive gone into kidney renal failure," Virginia wrote alongside a photo of herself lying in a hospital bed, her face seen covered in bruises. "Theyve given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology.

She then came forward days later with allegations of abuse against her husband of 22 years, Robert Giuffre, telling PEOPLE in an exclusive statement, "I was able to fight back against Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein who, abused and trafficked me. 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." (Robert's attorney declined to comment on the allegations.)

Sky and Amanda later told PEOPLE that Virginia had been having marital issues for a while and she separated from Robert  the father of her three children, ages 19, 16 and 15  sometime around August 2023.

Before her death, Virginia founded Speak Out, Act, Reclaim (SOAR), a non-profit organization that provides support for survivors of sexual assault.

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If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

Read the original article on People
Ann Marie Patterson-Powell (left) and Dr. Kyle Horton (right) discuss the nations obligation to veterans during a Voices for Veterans event in Fayetteville, N.C. (Screenshot from event video stream)

A panel of speakers at a Tuesday Voices for Veterans event recently agreed that America has a moral obligation to care for members of the military after they have completed their service.

The panelists remarks were in response to a question by moderator Michael McElroy, a political correspondent at Cardinal & Pine, the North Carolina online publication that hosted the event for the purpose of supporting North Carolinas veterans and military families.

Big VA cuts spark big worries

The comments came amid concerns about steep staffing cuts at Veterans Administration hospitals. VA staff and supporters contend proposed cuts will hinder the ability to adequately care for veterans. More than 80,000 positions  just over 17% of the roughly 470,000 people it employs  could be eliminated as part of a major restructuring of the federal governments second largest department.

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The Trump administration is thinking about numbers and not people when it proposes such deep cuts to the VA, said Ann Marie Patterson-Powell, a VA nurse.

Theyre not looking at the human side of it. Patterson-Powell said. We promised those who signed up and left their families, their homes  everything behind  to serve the country. We said, If you do this for me, were going to take care of you when you come back.

The nation must do for veterans what it said it would do with no strings attached, with no arguments, with no pushback, Patterson-Powell said.

(U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz defended the Trump administrations planned staffing cuts, saying, Were going to maintain VAs mission-essential jobs like doctors, nurses and claims processors, while phasing out non-mission essential roles like DEI officers.)

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Dr. Kyle Horton, founder of On Your Side Health, a nonprofit that addresses health care disparities and works to improve veterans care, said the nation has a sacred obligation to protect those who serve.

Those who wrote a blank check in service to this country with their lives do not deserve to be penny-pinched by Washington bureaucrats, Horton said.

Horton added: They dont deserve to be penny-pinched by Captain Bone Spurs in the White House [a reference to President Donald Trump, who obtained a medical excuse from serving in the Vietnam War due to bone spurs] right now and they dont deserve to be penny pinched by DOGE [the so-called Department of Government Efficiency] and [Elon] Musk who dont even know what theyre doing. Period.

Patterson-Powell said there is a push by the Trump administration to privatize the VA. That could be harmful to veterans who wouldnt receive the specialized care they now get at the VA, she said.

Scott Peoples (Screenshot from event video stream)

Scott Peoples, a retired Army captain, member of Veterans for Responsible Leadership (VFRL) and an advocate for free and fair elections, noted that America fights its wars with volunteers. The proposed budget VA budget cuts could make people think twice about making a commitment to serve, Peoples said.

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How we take care of them after service is kind of our Number One recruiting tool as well for future people who want to join the military, Peoples said.

He said the Trump administrations firing of VA staff members made him angry.

Every single one of those people got into it for the right reasons; wants to serve their country by taking care of our veterans and the way they have so inhumanely shrugged off cutting people with no transparency, just people receiving emails, people having moved their families across country [to work at the VA], is just despicable, Peoples said.

Grier Martin (Screenshot from event video stream)

Grier Martin, Secretary of the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, said the cuts would have a devastating impact on rural communities.

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If these cuts go through, youre going to see the VAs presence in rural areas start to dry out, Martin said. These are areas that are already starting to see their civilian hospitals close also.

The states decision to expand Medicaid has been helpful in helping some rural hospitals remain open, he said, but veterans will have difficulty finding care near home if the VAs presence is diminished.

If you live on the coast, youre not going to drive to Durham and youre probably not going to drive to Fayetteville to the VA hospital to get your care, Grier said.

Rep. Eric Ager (D-Buncombe) said the outpouring of concern and support for veterans gives him cause for hope amid threats of major cuts to the VA.

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That is how change happens, Ager said. It may not be immediate. It may not always be completely satisfying. But the fact that veterans are coming together, that the community is coming together to support veterans, I think will eventually lead to change.

Threats to democracy

A second panel discussion moderated by Cardinal & Pines managing editor Billy Ball, focused on threats to democracy and the evolving role of veterans as defenders of democracy.

Bobby Jones (Screenshot from event video stream)

Panelist Bobby Jones, president of VFRL and retired Navy commander, said he could see the cost of freedom in the faces of the veterans in the audience. Jones said the services the VA provides are essential to national security.

I know this panel is about national security, but my thing is you cannot have one without the other, Jones said. The VA has to be sound in order for us to have a proper national security apparatus.

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Jones was critical of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He said neither man understands the concept of service to country.

For the first time, I believe in American history, we have leadership that doesnt get it, that thinks the Constitution is nothing more than a suggestion, Jones said. Hell, even the South for the Civil War had the good sense to defect and secede before going against the Constitution.

America is in unparalleled, unprecedented times and veterans must step up to lead the country out the quagmire, Jones said.

Ball asked the panel to discuss the much-watched North Carolina Supreme Court race between Republican Jefferson Griffin and Allison Riggs, a Democrat. The outcome of the closely contested race wasnt resolved until this month after nearly six months. Griffin conceded after a federal judge ordered the state to certify Riggs election victory.

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Military and overseas votes were at the center of the election dispute. Griffin challenged the validity of some military and overseas absentee ballots in the 2024 contest.

To protect military and veterans families votes, really has to come from the voters, really has to come from political pressure, said Sean Wright, a former Army medic. We have to make it, as voters, unacceptable to take away the right to vote.

Rep. Terry Brown (D-Mecklenburg) said men and women who serve overseas have expectations that they will be treated with a certain amount of respect.

This election really showed how little the powers that be cared about that, Brown said. I like to think about it in terms of people that talk a good game, but they dont back it up.

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Brown said Americans cant afford to take a day off defending democracy.

We have to make sure thats its not just doing election season, its not just when there are votes on the line, its not just when a bad thing happens, Brown said. Its all the time that were making sure that yall are laser-focused on protecting against threats to our democracy.

Jay Carey, leader of Resist & Persist, a nonpartisan veterans advocacy organization, said the challenge to the state Supreme Court election was a test by the GOP to determine how much the judicial system and voters could stomach.

Carey, who garnered national attention after he was escorted out of U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards townhall meeting in Asheville in March, said there will be more challenges to valid election victories.

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Theyre [the challenges] are going to get more and more ridiculous, Carey said. Its going to tie up time and waste more money. Like I said, it was a test. They just wanted to see what they could do.

The discussion turned to talk of Trumps removing the militarys Judge Advocate Generals (JAG) and replacing them with what some panelists said are loyalists to the administration. JAGs advise commanders on legal matters and oversee the military judicial system.

Jones said the legal protections provided by JAGs are critical to defending the nation against internal threats he fears are coming from the Trump administration.

I cant stress the panic level enough on this, Jones said. All of the dominoes are falling. To those of us paying attention, its blatantly obvious. Any time theres a voice of dissent, they shut it down.

This story first appeared in the NC Newsline, a member with the Phoenix in the nonprofit States Newsroom.
For most of Tarrant County, the local election season is over. Yet in Forest Hill, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Kennedale and Mansfield, theres one seat that has gone to a runoff election.

For those five Tarrant city councils, there was one race in which no one candidate won over 50% of the votes. So, on June 7, the top two candidates will face off.

Early voting starts on Tuesday, May 27, and runs through Tuesday, June 3. Visit the Tarrant County Election Administration for early voting and Election Day polling places.

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Heres what will be on the ballot and what each candidate promises:

Forest Hill, Precinct 5

In the May 3 election, Brigette Matthis drew in 46.78% of the 838 votes and Keith R. Smith wrangled 41.77%. The third candidate, Willie Glaster got 11.46%. Matthis and Smith will be running against each other in the runoff.

Brigette Mathis: Mathiss Facebook page touts that its time for truth and action and that with Mathis, you can be the change. The page says that residents safety is her No. 1 priority and that she will talk about the issues the other council members ignore. Examples posted on Mathiss Facebook page include a shortage of police officers, high crime, low morale among current officers, and unqualified, overpaid city officials.

Mathis wants to bring integrity and transparency back into the city of Forest Hill. She said in one video that by solving the safety issue, bringing economic growth into the city would be made easier.

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Keith R. Smith: The incumbent, Smith was elected to the City Council in 2022 and selected as mayor pro tem. According to his biography on the citys website, Smith has focused on literacy for all ages in his 35 plus years as an educator. In his 2022 campaign, he ran with a vision of serving the children of our community, according to his biography.

Though he does not have a candidate Facebook page of his own, Forest Hill Mayor Stephanie Boardingham posted that Smith has brought unity and great leadership to the community. Boardingham said Smith supports her as mayor and the rest of the council, unlike the alternative.

Fort Worth, District 6

On May 3, Mia Hall was the front-runner with 46.80% of the 4,966 votes. Daryl R. Davis received 28.49%, Marshall Hobbs 21.57% and Adrian Devine Smith 3.14% of the ballots. Hall and Davis will be on the runoff ballot.

Daryl R. Davis: Previously the Crowley school board president, Davis says on his campaign website that he will fight for the communitys best interest and will continue to prioritize transparency, efficiency, accountability and results.

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Davis is the executive pastor of Inspiring Temple of Praise Church and the vice president of workforce development at UpSpire, a nonprofit focused on helping people overcome barriers to employment.

He said in a Star-Telegram survey that his focus as a council member would be on policies that make life better for the people who live, work and are educated here in District 6keeping neighborhoods safe, helping families keep more of what they earn, and ensuring that growth benefits the community.

Mia Hall: Halls website boasts her dedication to service in Fort Worth as a former FWISD principal, former Girls Inc. of Tarrant County board member and current member of the United Way of Tarrant County board. She is a Crowley school board member and previously served on the Fort Worth Zoning Commission.

Her priorities as a council member would be to keep neighborhoods safe, improve roads and infrastructure, enhance city services, champion education and foster economic development.

Kennedale, Precinct 3

In Kennedale, Kenneth Michels garnered 47.89% of the 760 votes. Amanda Hollins had 38.55% and Ryon Ray had 13.55%. Michels and Hollins will meet again on the June 7 ballot.

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Amanda Hollins: With 15 years in law enforcement, Hollinss vision for Kennedale includes strengthening community infrastructure, supporting local businesses, enhancing organizational efficiency, empowering future leaders, and advocating for ethical leadership.

Hollins is the president-elect of the East Fort Worth Business Association and the chief operating officer of the nonprofit Cars for Kids. With a commitment to being a voice for the whole community, Hollins said she aims to bring a business-minded, citizen-focused approach to City Council.

Kenneth Michels: Elected to City Council in 2022, Michels is a retired Kennedale firefighter. Before joining the City Council, he regularly attended council meetings and was a member of Keep Kennedale Beautiful Committee, Kennedale Parks Board, two Charter Planning Committees and the Utility and Infrastructure Board. He is also an active volunteer in the community.

Michelss priorities as a council member are economic development, infrastructure improvements, the maintenance and safety of parks, and continually improving his ability to serve the community.

Mansfield, Precinct 5

Melisa Perez received 39.79% of the 8,289 votes in the Mansfield Precinct 5 election. Right behind her, Todd A. Simmons received 35.58%. The two will face off again in the runoff election on June 7. The other two candidates, Lance Hood and Eric Rozak got 15.57% and 9.06% of the votes.

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Melisa Perez: A lifelong Mansfield resident, Perez is running on the pillars of ensuring responsible growth, strengthening public safety and supporting local businesses, according to her website.

Perez has served Mansfield in a number of capacities, but namely in the realms of economic development and community and faith-based service. Her vision for Mansfield is to guide the citys long-term growth with thoughtful planning, execution and effective communication with all stakeholders.

Todd A. Simmons: Simmons, a financial adviser, has involved himself in the Mansfield community through his church, on Mansfield school district committees and on the Methodist Mansfield Medical Center Advisory Board, according to his response to a Star-Telegram survey.

Simmons also said his priorities would be to fully evaluate any project proposed for fiscal and community impact; strive for diversifying Mansfields tax base and continue to lower the tax rate; ensure the public safety and municipal employees are earning a competitive salary.
2025 is a local election year. Dozens of races will appear on the Aug. 5 primary and the Nov. 4 general election ballots. The results will shape the future of the Tri-Cities for years to come.

As candidates campaign in the months ahead, voters should demand answers to critical questions.

Local races for city councils, county commissions, school boards and other governing bodies differ from big state and federal races. These are nonpartisan races, and the candidates are neighbors who want to serve their community.

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At a minimum, they deserve thanks for stepping up to do a job that can deliver more heartburn than peaceful nights. Things can get bad. Local officials increasingly receive threats and harassment, leading to burnout, resignations and retirements.

Voters therefore should look for candidates who possess the emotional and mental fortitude, not to mention the personal support network, to excel under such challenging circumstances.

The unfortunate reality is that the general distaste for politics that pervades American culture dissuades people from running. Too many races  dozens of them  are uncontested.

No candidate  incumbent or otherwise  deserves a free pass.

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Benton and Franklin Counties are among the fastest growing in the state, and could have 400,000 residents by 2040. Voters must ask candidates how they balance the need for growth and economic development with paying for services.

Should projects in Richlands Targeted Urban Area or at the Port of Kennewick receive millions in tax breaks now that will reduce future tax revenue?

Likewise, how will elected leaders ensure that growth enhances livability for all and that the Tri-Cities are prepared to house and employ those future residents?

Growth affects more than just city and county governments. School districts must adapt to changing demographics and funding  more or fewer students; more from low-income families or who speak English as a second language.

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How will elected school board members ensure that all students receive the quality education they deserve while school finances are in flux?

State funding is unpredictable lately, and federal support that increased during the pandemic has returned to normal. Some school districts overextended spending on recurring costs with those one-time dollars and now face deficits that taxpayers are reluctant to cover.

Debates over curriculum, religion and culture war issues have flared up locally. Voters should consider which candidates will seek to inject more controversy and more politics into schools and which will tamp down those flames.

Remember, most local offices are nonpartisan. Voters should ask candidates if they will act like it. Deciding whether to fill a pothole should not rely on being a Democrat or Republican.

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Every local governing body relies on support from Olympia, whether it be financial or policy. How will candidates work with state lawmakers to advance the needs of the Tri-Cities?

Can conservative local candidates temper their politics enough to find compromise with Democrats who control the state capital?

Internecine battles within Franklin County government illustrate how badly things can go when voters prioritize partisan agendas over temperament.

County commissioners, the sheriff and the auditor have let governance devolve into grudge matches, turf wars and legal investigations. Paying for lawyers and jail takeovers is a poor way to manage the publics tax dollars.

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Unlike statewide and federal elections, in a local election, voters have opportunities to engage directly with candidates. The people who run for school board, city council, county commission or any other local office are neighbors.

Voters can run into them at the grocery store, a local meeting, a candidate forum or just walking the dog. Candidates might go door-to-door and be ready to chat for a few minutes.

Take advantage of those encounters. There are a host of local issues that need strong leadership from residents who want to do right by their community and put in the necessary work.

If the Tri-Cities want better governance, the people must demand it, not just passively accept it or, worse, be apathetic when they dont get it.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Warsaw on Sunday to join mass political rallies, one week before pro-European candidate Rafa Trzaskowski and his conservative rival Karol Nawrocki face off in a presidential run-off.

Supporters of Warsaw Mayor Trzaskowski stood tightly packed together in front of the capital's city hall, waving red and white flags and shouting: "All of Poland is for Rafal."

Some 1.5 kilometres away, similar scenes unfolded at Charles de Gaulle Square, with a sea of Nawrocki supporters also waving Polish flags while chanting, "Karol, Karol," and "This is Poland," as loud music blared from loudspeakers.

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The two candidates are locked in an incredibly tight contest ahead of the run-off, with the latest polls suggesting a tie on 47% of the vote.

The election could have a decisive impact on Poland's political future, with the presidency holding sufficient powers to block Prime Minister Donald Tusk's reformist agenda.

Trzaskowski, from Tusk's Civic Coalition, finished first in last Sunday's first round with 31.36% of the vote.

But he faces a serious challenge from Nawrocki, a historian backed by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, who won 29.54% of the vote in the first round.

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Incumbent President Andrzej Duda, from PiS, has blocked many of the Tusk government's bills with his presidential veto.

Both camps hope Sunday's rallies will help them tip the scales in their favour. Premier Tusk took to X to say that some 500,000 people attended the rally in support of Trzaskowski.

The Onet outlet estimated some 130,000 to 160,000 participants, citing aerial footage.

Nawrocki's PiS party put the number of people at his rally at 150,000, while Onet said it had counted 70,000.

Poland remains deeply divided, and the outcome of the vote is expected to significantly impact the EU and NATO member's course both domestically and abroad.

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If Nawrocki comes out on top, he is expected to continue his predecessor's blockade, while Warsaw Mayor Trzaskowski is likely to clear the path for reforms initiated by Tusk, who lacks the necessary two-thirds majority in parliament to override a presidential veto.

"The president should work together with the government," high school graduate Bartlomiej Morawiek, who travelled from Krakow to attend the rally for Trzaskowski, told dpa. "We want to have a future, and I see that in further integration with Europe."

Attending the event for Nawrocki, Patryk Pilus covered his baby's ears amid the loud music.

"I am against Trzaskowski because I don't want all power to be in the hands of one political force," said the 36-year-old programmer from Torun.

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Pilus said he is annoyed with the Tusk government for delaying important projects such as the construction of a nuclear power plant and a major airport.

He considers Nawrocki's lack of political experience an advantage.

Nawrocki, 42, will be looking even further to the right ahead of Sunday's election, after the first round of voting saw a surprising surge in support for two right-wing extremist candidates.

Sawomir Mentzen and Grzegorz Braun came in third and fourth place last Sunday with 14.8% and 6.3% respectively. Although they were eliminated, they still may have a crucial influence on who wins in two weeks' time.

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Mentzen, a 38-year-old entrepreneur, has made his endorsement for the run-off conditional on a debate and policy commitments from the two remaining contenders.

Mentzen invited Trzaskowski and Nawrocki to debate separately on his YouTube channel, where he presented them with an eight-point plan for the candidates to sign.

The demands included pledges not to raise taxes, not to adopt the euro and not to deploy Polish troops to Ukraine. They must also refuse to approve laws that transfer powers from Polish government bodies to EU institutions.

While Nawrocki signed the plan, Trzaskowski engaged in a heated debate with Mentzen and refused to back the demands.

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The Warsaw mayor said ruling out the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO was out of the question for him: "[Russian President Vladimir] Putin only understands the language of strength. If Ukraine does not receive security guarantees, we will be next."

While this means he has likely alienated Mentzen's supporters, the pro-European candidate received support at his Warsaw rally from the recent winner of the presidential election in Romania, Nicusor Dan.

"The Romanian people have denied isolationism and Russian influence and opted for honesty, integrity and respect for the law," said the future president, promising good cooperation with Trzaskowski.
This Week in Louisiana Politics: Jail security, DOJ closes investigation, new crime lab

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First)  On This Week in Louisiana Politics, Gov. Jeff Landry signs an executive order for jail safety, the Department of Justice closes an investigation into the state police, a report analyzes the states response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the latest on a new state crime lab.

Heres a recap of the latest in Louisiana political news.

Landry signed an executive order to improve jail security after 10 Orleans Parish inmates escaped. He wants to implement transparency and accountability in criminal justice systems across the state.

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New Orleans jail system was troubled decades before 10 inmates made an audacious escape

The order includes Department of Corrections inmates being transferred to state-operated facilities, the Inspector General would oversee audits of case files, court clerks are asked to document continuance requests, and judges are asked to address unnecessary delays.

The DOJ closed its investigation into LSP and retracted allegations that state police violated peoples Fourth Amendment rights. The DOJ said LSP used excessive force against people who did not pose a safety risk to officers.

Im grateful that under Pam Bondis leadership, the Justice Department is taking a hard look at the biased, politically-motivated conduct of the Biden Administrations DOJ, said AG Liz Murrill. This report was issued two days before inauguration, with one days notice to the Governor and me, and zero opportunity to even read it, much less comment. Im thankful to President Donald Trump and the current Department of Justice team.

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How federal consent decrees have been used in police reform across the US

Louisiana lawmakers in the Select Committee on Homeland Security learned about how the state responded to the pandemic. Rep. Charles Owen (R-Rosepine), who presented the report, said individual rights were violated in the name of protecting the public.

It addressed our inaction as legislators for not stopping it when we could have, and the previous administrations overreach and its infringement on liberty as opposed to its fascination with protection over liberty, Owen said.

A new crime lab is in the works as over 11,000 murder cases dating back to 1965 remain unsolved.

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The new 118,000-square-foot lab would feature new technology, more conference rooms, an indoor gun range, and an analysis lab.

It is expected to be completed by 2026.

Louisiana Survey: Residents identify economy as most important problem

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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 Louisiana First News.
The Weeknd summoned musical rapture from the ruins of an otherworldly wasteland inside Ford Field on Saturday night.

Broad in imagination, grand in scope, the R&B superstars cinematic spectacular played out for a packed and exuberant crowd at the downtown stadium to kick off a two-night Detroit stand.

The concert was part of the Weeknds long, ever-morphing After Hours Til Dawn Tour, which originally brought him to Ford Field in 2022. Saturdays show deepened the post-apocalyptic chill of that night three years ago; the crumbling cityscape that surrounded him then has given way to the rubble of fallen buildings and a vast video backdrop crawling with trippy visuals.

The Weeknd performs at Ford Field in Detroit on May 24, 2025, part of the final North American leg of the After Hours Til Dawn Tour.

Returning to the no-expense-spared production were dozens of mysterious, red-cloaked figures who solemnly crept across the stage for much of the evening in a kind of surreal druid ritual. The shows new cross-shaped runway configuration featured a towering, sexy-robot statue designed by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama.

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Still, amid the cyberpunk dystopia, a Saturday night party extravaganza blossomed. Songs flowed into one another like a live mixtape, with fans across the stadium belting along ecstatically as each new tune arrived. There was less aloofness in the Weeknds presence this time, as he played to the crowd with frequent exclamations of Detroit! and interacted with fans in the front rows.

New to the proceedings were 11 numbers from Hurry Up Tomorrow, his recent sixth album, part of a set list that mingled crowd-pleasing hits with deeper cuts to service the diehards.

The Weeknd performs at Ford Field in Detroit on May 24, 2025, part of the final North American leg of the After Hours Til Dawn Tour.

Night one at Ford Field drew a slew of fans from neighboring Canada, including many from the Weeknds Toronto hometown, where hell play a pair of shows in July. It was part of a lively and crowded night in downtown Detroit, including a Tigers game next door, the riverside Movement festival and its array of associated parties, and preparations for next weekends Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

The Weeknd was in strong voice for most of the night, though its clear the 35-year-old has begun adapting his falsetto-rich studio style to suit the rigors of a global tour. It all unfolded atop a shimmering instrumental soundscape led by keyboardist Mike Dean, who deftly manned a corner of the stage amid his battery of synths.

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Ford Field is the second stop on the tours fourth and final leg, though it came more than two weeks after opening night in Arizona. That down time was occupied with the May 16 premiere of Hurry Up Tomorrow, the Weeknd-starring companion film to the new album, and he took the opportunity to shake up the set list, swapping in the old-school fan faves Kiss Land and High for This among other tweaks.

Following the dark, twinkling show opener The Abyss, the 2-hour, 5-minute set tapped the Weeknds assorted sonic shades: futuristic club pop (Take My Breath), slow burners (Creepin, Niagara Falls), warm and melodic new wave (Save Your Tears, Less than Zero), simmering anxiety turned into galloping salvation ("Baptized in Fear"), lush throwbacks drenched in '80s charms (Out of Time, I Feel it Coming).

The Weeknd performs at Ford Field in Detroit on May 24, 2025, part of the final North American leg of the After Hours Til Dawn Tour.

Rapper Playboy Carti, who had been a bit of an odd fit as opening act, returned to the stage to join the Weeknd to revisit their recent collabs Timeless and Rather Lie.

Blinding Lights  the eternally infectious, dayglo-streaked hit that stands as the most-streamed song in history  was the inevitable climax late in the show. It was followed by a wind-down that ultimately culminated with Moth to a Flame and a few final fiery blasts from the flame projectors that had been busy across the stadium all night.

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The Weeknd and company will do it again Sunday night at Ford Field as the After Hours Til Dawn tour kicks into high gear for its final run across North America. (Note for ticketholders: The Weeknd took the stage Saturday at 9:12 p.m.)

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: The Weeknd finds magic in the dark to kick off two-night Detroit stand
The final post on X made by Yaron Lischinsky, the 28-year-old Israeli diplomat who was gunned down with his girlfriend in Washington DC on Wednesday night, drew attention to a blood libel.

All UN organisations have obligations to be neutral and impartial, the post said. Your reports are founded on lies and on Hamas numbers.

The smear that so appalled him was the lurid claim that 14,000 babies in Gaza would die within 48 hours. Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, had made it the day before on Radio 4s Today programme. Social media lit up in excitement.

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People love tall stories of Jewish baby killers. Later that day, the smear was repeated in Parliament by no fewer than 13 enthusiastic MPs  seven from the Labour Party, three Liberal Democrats, the Green Party leader, a Plaid Cymru representative and a Gaza Independent  when they gathered to give Israel a kicking.

This was the notorious debate in which David Lammy blustered that history will judge the Jewish state for the outrage of defending its people against jihadism and refusing to give up before winning. Hamas had already applauded Lammys principled stance.

Yet while parliamentarians were merrily repeating the obviously fishy 14,000 babies claim, it was being debunked by the BBC. They questioned the UN about it, prompting frantic backpedalling. Initially, a spokesman said aid was needed ideally within the next 48 hours, which felt rather less life-or-death than we had been led to believe.

It then emerged that the claim was based upon a UN report saying that 14,000 children between the ages of four and six may suffer malnutrition by March 2026.

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No babies. No 48 hours. No acute malnutrition, in fact; that was merely a projection of what may happen if nothing changed for a year.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Downplaying the suffering in the war zone of Gaza would be an ugly thing. But it is equally important to deal with reality, not to filter everything through a tissue of Israelophobic lies.

The awful truth is that civilians, including babies, lose their lives in warfare. According to the UN, the global average is nine non-combatant casualties for every combatant killed. When the RAF joined American airforce and Iraqi and Kurdish troops to obliterate Islamic State in Mosul in 2017, an Amnesty report described it as a civilian catastrophe.

In March, a UN report revealed that half of all children under five in Yemen, thats 540,000 boys and girls, are acutely malnourished, a condition described as agonising, life-threatening and entirely preventable, by a humanitarian official. Did anybody care? Clearly, theres something about Jews and the blood of babies that gets people going.

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Ironically enough, Lischinsky and his girlfriend, Sarah Milgrim, 26, had just attended an event exploring practical solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza when they were murdered.

They were both wounded at first, then shot dead at point blank range. Milgrim, who had obtained a masters degree from the UN University of Peace and had spent her summers working for a Palestinian-Israeli peace initiative, was crawling away when the final bullet came. She will never learn that a few days before, her boyfriend had bought her an engagement ring.

Did their alleged killer, a Gaza activist from Chicago by the name of Elias Rodriguez, believe that 14,000 Palestinian babies were dying when he pulled the trigger? We will never know. But we can fairly assume that such propaganda inflames anti-Semitism globally and places Jews in danger.

By rights, these MPs should retract and apologise or lose the whip. But Im hardly holding my breath.

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West Villagers are up in arms over a churchs plan to build a new $11 million mission at a historic NYC street corner, arguing it would lure even more junkies and vagrants to the already besieged area.

The Church of St. Luke in the Fields plans to erect a 4,400-square-foot building on the iconic corner of Christopher and Hudson streets  on the same block as a swanky school  complete with Narcan kits and free meals, to serve up to 300 hobos and drug addicts.

Residents were not feeling charitable towards the scheme, which still needs to go in front of Manhattans community board, wholl issue a recommendation to the city whether to green-light construction.

Homelessness and drug use has shot up in the peaceful neighborhood since the pandemic. Helayne Seidman

Some fear the mission will devolve into a shooting gallery for junkies in broad daylight.

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There is absolutely no way to justify a safe injection site within blocks of three schools, raged West Village resident Kathleen Walters.

Not only is there a school on the churchs grounds  St Lukes elementary and middle school  but there are two other schools around the corner  PS3 Charrette school across the street on Hudson and the West Village Community School one block away.

The Church of Saint Luke is on Hudson Street in the West Village, near the corner of Christopher Street. J.C. Rice

And thats got parents fuming.

Whats been frustrating is that multiple parent groups and neighbors have tried to open a dialogue with the church about safety, scale, and transparency  especially given the proximity to several schools and those efforts have been met with silence, said Cameron Neilson.

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Neilson called a petition, which has garnered more than 500 signatures, a last resort to get heard given the churchs silence.

Crime in the West Village skyrocketed 80% in 2022, continuing to climb through 2024, when major felonies surged to 1,789, up 16% from 2019. Residents have since begged for more cops from the 6th Precinct to patrol the streets.

There is a school on the church grounds for children in pre-K to 8th grade. J.C. Rice

The church plans to have Narcan  used to reverse opioid overdoses  readily available for potential overdoses, train staff on dealing with addicts and give out free lunches.

It currently serves about 40 people a week, most of them vagrants and junkies.

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It would greatly enhance our service to these weekday guests if there was a dedicated outreach space with a direct street-level entrance and space to wait beyond the stoop, rector Mother Caroline Stacey said in a letter to parishioners

People have been smoking crack and shooting up in broad daylight in the neighborhood, residents say. Helayne Seidman

Could this statement serve as an invitation to weekday guests, when schools are in session, to shoot up near St. Luke in the Fields because along with Narcan, the church states elsewhere in the letter that it also provides a sandwich, two snacks, bottled water along with some food for later and often individualized clothing ?  concerned neighbors said in the petition.

The planned space could potentially hold up to 300 people.

Vanessa Warren, president of the Washington Place Block Association, said the mission helps create an environment that welcomes addicts.

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To help addicts, you dont provide an abundance of resources that make it easy for them to continue using. However, the point of St. Lukes new mission is exactly that.

She continued: The village is going to become an enclave of enablers if we dont stop confusing compassion with enabling. Anyone who has real experience with friends or family in active drug addiction knows that this is the absolute opposite way to behave, it is alien to common sense.

The church did not respond to The Posts request for comment.






Luka Magnotta murdered a Canadian student, Jun Lin, in May 2012

The Canadian killer was previously known online for making videos in which he killed kittens in gruesome manners

He fled to Europe after the murder but was later extradited and sentenced to life in prison, where he has continued to make headlines







Luka Magnotta was one of the most wanted men in the world in 2012, and his infamy only grew when Netflix released the 2019 docuseries Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer.

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The show followed cyber-sleuths' attempts at finding Magnotta after he posted videos of himself killing kittens online. Magnotta ultimately escalated his violence from animal cruelty to murder when he killed and dismembered a Canadian student, Jun Lin, in May 2012.

Magnotta posted a video of the gruesome slaying and mailed Lin's body parts to Canadian government officials before fleeing the country for Europe, per The Guardian.

An international manhunt ensued for Magnotta, who was also accused of defiling Lin's corpse.

Here's what to know about where Luka Magnotta is now.

Who is Luka Magnotta?

REUTERS/Montreal Police/Handout Luka Rocco Magnotta Luka Rocco Magnotta

Magnotta was born Eric Clinton Newman on July 24, 1982, in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, to Anna Yourkin and Donald Newman, per the National Post.

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The Montreal Gazette reported that, according to a psychiatrist's notes, Yourkin and Newman were teen parents who didn't send Magnotta to school until sixth grade. Per the outlet, Magnotta's parents divorced in 1994 after Newman was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Magnotta alleged that his mother would frequently lock her children outside and kill their pets.

When he was a teenager, Magnotta was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after he claimed to have begun hearing voices. He ultimately dropped out of school and entered a group home for psychiatric care in 1999.

The criminal was convicted of fraud in 2004 after racking up nearly $17,000 on a woman's credit card, The Guardian reported. Per the National Post, he was also charged with sexually assaulting the woman, but the charge was dismissed.

In 2006, Magnotta officially changed his name to Luka Rocco Magnotta in an effort to start a new life, CBC News reported. He was then hospitalized several times in various Ontario hospitals, per Global News, for various mental and physical health problems.

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At the time, Magnotta attempted a career in modeling, adult films and reality TV.

In 2007, Magnotta filed for bankruptcy, the Vancouver Sun reported.

Who was Jun Lin?

MICHEL VIATTEAU/AFP/Getty A makeshift memorial for Lin Jun on June 11, 2012 in Montreal, Canada A makeshift memorial for Lin Jun on June 11, 2012 in Montreal, Canada

Jun Lin, also known as Justin Lin, was an international student from Wuhan, China, who moved to Canada to pursue a degree in computer science, per the Toronto Star.

Lin was previously married to a woman and divorced, per CBC News. When he moved to Canada, CTV News reported, he began dating fellow permanent resident Lin Feng from late 2010 to May 2012.

They lived together while they dated, with Feng later testifying in court that he aided Lin financially at times.

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Feng added that Lin's parents were allegedly pressuring him to marry a woman and didn't know that Lin was gay and in a romantic relationship with him. Feng also noted that after they broke up, they remained friends and texted regularly.

Lin was last seen alive on the evening of May 24, 2012, when he was seen on a security camera with Magnotta entering his Montreal apartment building, Global News reported.

What did Luka Magnotta do?

AP Luka Rocco Magnotta Luka Rocco Magnotta

Magnotta began posting disturbing videos online in 2010, including several in which he drowned and suffocated kittens. Internet sleuths tracked Magnotta down and labeled him as "The Vacuum Kitten Killer" and reported him to police, according to CNN.

He initially denied that he was the perpetrator, but later confessed to the crimes in a 2011 email to The Sun, in which he also hinted that his next victim wouldn't be an animal.

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In May 2012, Magnotta murdered and dismembered Lin in his own apartment. He then mailed one of Lin's severed feet to Canada's Conservative Party and a severed hand to Canada's Liberal Party.

Lin's torso was found in a suitcase in a Montreal apartment building where Magnotta lived at the time. Magnotta fled Canada after the murder, wearing a wig and boarding a flight to Paris, Global News reported. Police initially struggled to find Lin's head, according to CTV News, but later discovered it in a park.

How did Luka Magnotta get caught?

Luca Teuchmann/Getty People stand outside of an Internet cafe where murder suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta was recognized and arrested on June 4, 2012 in Berlin, Germany People stand outside of an Internet cafe where murder suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta was recognized and arrested on June 4, 2012 in Berlin, Germany

On May 29, the superintendent of Magnotta's apartment in Montreal called police after he found a human torso in a suitcase. Police on the scene found garbage bags filled with a dead puppy, blood-stained clothing, a circular saw, knives and human limbs, as well as Magnotta's ID, per Global News.

Investigators initially thought Magnotta may have been the victim, as the torso hadn't yet been identified, but later that night, they saw a video online of him stabbing and dismembering Lin, feeding parts of his corpse to a dog and committing acts of necrophilia, titled "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick."

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They also noticed that in surveillance footage from after the slaying, Magnotta was wearing the same shirt Lin was in when he was last seen alive.

Days later, a forensic biologist found that Lin's blood and DNA were found all over Magnotta's apartment.

While Canadian investigators pieced together clues, Magnotta partied for several days in Berlin with a man named Frank Rubert, whom he met online.

According to Global News, on June 4, Magnotta went to an Internet cafe in Berlin, where he read news stories about himself. While he was there, Rubert recognized his face on the front page of a newspaper  and so did the employee working at the front desk of the cafe, who called the police.

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Magnotta was detained just outside the establishment that afternoon, initially denying his identity to police before admitting, "You got me." He was extradited back to Canada two weeks later and arrested.

What was Luka Magnotta's sentence?

AP An artist's sketch shows Luka Rocco Magnotta at the Montreal Courthouse, Tuesday, December 23, 2014. An artist's sketch shows Luka Rocco Magnotta at the Montreal Courthouse, Tuesday, December 23, 2014.

In December 2014, a jury convicted Magnotta of first-degree murder, committing an indignity to a human body, publishing obscene material and mailing obscene and indecent material.

He was also convicted of criminally harassing then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament, according to Global News.

Magnotta was sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole after 25 years for the first-degree murder charge, plus an additional 19 years for the other charges.

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After the jury announced the verdict, the prosecutor read a statement from Lin's father on behalf of his family.

"In one night, we lost a lifetime of hope, our futures, parts of our past," the statement read. "We do not want to tell our story because it is too sad to repeat. We cannot talk much about Lin Jun without talking about his murder. The murder has robbed us not only of Lin Jun but our ability to think and talk about him without feeling pain and shame."



Where is Luka Magnotta now?

ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Luka Magnotta arrives at Mirabel Airport, Montreal, Canada on June 19, 2012 Luka Magnotta arrives at Mirabel Airport, Montreal, Canada on June 19, 2012

Magnotta began his prison sentence at a maximum security prison in Port-Cartier, Quebec, according to CTV News.

Seven months later, in July 2015, Magnotta reportedly placed a personal ad for a "Prince Charming" romantic partner on a website that attempts to link convicts. The ad was removed weeks later after the site creator said she received a letter in which he said he "found what he was looking for," per CTV News.

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Magnotta reportedly planned to marry another inmate from New Brunswick, Canada, two years later, though Vice reported that they wouldn't legally be able to consummate their relationship.

In 2018, Magnotta's mother co-authored My Son, the Killer with author Brian Whitney. In the book, Magnotta spoke out publicly for the first time since his conviction, telling Whitney (via the Toronto Sun) that he regretted his defense strategy.

"It's very annoying. I never wanted anything to do with the NCR [not criminally responsible] defense," Magnotta said. "I have no mental illness whatsoever. I had to go with it, even though I didnt want to, but my lawyers pressured me into it."

In 2022, Magnotta was transferred to the medium-security facility La Macaza Institution, per CBC.

According to CTV, Magnotta is currently imprisoned there and will be eligible for day parole on June 4, 2034, and for full parole on June 4, 2037.



Read the original article on People
The White House has said it is monitoring the case of Lucy Connolly in an escalation of free speech tensions with Sir Keir Starmer.

State department officials are examining the treatment of Connolly, the wife of a Conservative councillor, who was jailed for 31 months over a social media post about the Southport attacks.

Judges threw out an appeal brought by the 42-year-old last week, meaning she will not be released before August.

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Campaigners raised her case with Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, as part of a wider effort to challenge what they regard as draconian hate speech laws across Europe.

A spokesman for the state department said: We can confirm that we are monitoring this matter.

The United States supports freedom of expression at home and abroad, and remains concerned about infringements on freedom of expression.

It is the latest sign of Donald Trumps willingness to intervene in domestic British affairs amid a growing transatlantic rift over the protection of freedom of speech.

On Saturday, The Telegraph revealed Mr Trump sent US officials to meet five British pro-life activists over censorship concerns.

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The diplomats from the US bureau of democracy, human rights and labor (DRL) travelled to London in March in an effort to affirm the importance of freedom of expression in the UK and across Europe.

They met with officials from the Foreign Office and challenged Ofcom on the Online Safety Act, which is thought to be a point of contention in the White House.

Marco Rubio, whose department has taken an increased interest in the protection of free speech in the UK - Umit Bektas/ AFP

Since then, Connollys case has raised eyebrows of Trump administration officials who question her conviction and the length of her sentence.

British politicians who have criticised her sentence were praised by the White House for its intervention.

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Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, said: Lucy Connolly is effectively a political prisoner and should be freed immediately. She made an ill-judged tweet, soon deleted.

That the US is investigating this case is a sad indictment of the dire state of free speech under Two-Tier Keir. Free speech is in crisis under Labour.

Suella Braverman described Lucy Connolly as effectively a political prisoner - Jack Taylor/Getty

Connolly expressed her outrage on social media platform X hours after Axel Rudakubana murdered three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport.

She posted: Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f---ing hotels full of the b------s for all I care, while youre at it, take the treacherous government politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these [Southport] families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.

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Connolly deleted the post less than four hours later, but by then it had been viewed 310,000 times. She was arrested on Aug 6 following widespread riots across the country over the stabbing attack, and later jailed for 31 months.

Connolly, who has no previous convictions, also sent another tweet commenting on a sword attack, which read: I bet my house it was one of these boat invaders.

Last week, the Court of Appeal judges said they did not accept that the original sentence for inciting racial hatred was manifestly excessive.

The judges also said they did not accept that Connolly had entered her guilty plea without fully understanding what it entailed.

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Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: In recent months, shoplifters with hundreds of prior convictions have avoided prison. A domestic abuser with 52 prior offences got off with just a suspended sentence, as did a paedophile with 110,000 indecent images of children.

And yet Lucy Connolly has received a 31-month prison sentence for an appalling  albeit hastily deleted  message on social media. How on earth can you spend longer in prison for a tweet than violent crime? This crazy disparity will only fuel perception that we have a two-tier justice system where the law is enforced selectively.

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader and an ally of Mr Trump, said: Our American Republican friends seem to care more about free speech in the United Kingdom than our own government.

North Korea of the North Sea

Lord Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, which helped fund Connollys appeal, said: This is the third national humiliation in a week under Sir Keir Starmers premiership.

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Has it really come to this? That the US government now has to monitor human rights abuses in the United Kingdom?

Britain is rapidly becoming the North Korea of the North Sea.

Sir Keir has been forced to defend Britains record of free speech in recent months, which has become a point of tension with Trump administration officials.

During his meeting in the Oval Office in February, the Prime Minister claimed there had been free speech for a very, very long time in the UK, and it will last for a very, very long time Certainly we wouldnt want to reach across US citizens, and we dont, and thats absolutely right. But in relation to free speech in the UK, Im very proud of our history there.

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In a speech at the Munich security conference in February, JD Vance, the US vice-president, cited British pro-life campaigner Adam Smith-Connor, who was convicted for breaching a buffer zone outside an abortion clinic, suggesting free speech in Britain and across Europe was in retreat.

No case has raised concerns in Washington more than the prosecution of Livia Tossici-Bolt, an anti-abortion campaigner whose case threatened to jeopardise Sir Keirs trade deal with the United States.

The 64-year-old praised the Trump administration for its support after she was handed a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay 20,026 in costs for breaching a buffer zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.

Her case alarmed leaders within the US state department, which made the highly unusual step of warning Sir Keir that it was monitoring developments closely.

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At the time, a source familiar with trade negotiations insisted Ms Tossici-Bolts arrest was being considered amid Britains attempt to win an exemption from US tariffs, saying no free trade without free speech.

Spokesmen for the Foreign Office and the Home Office declined to comment.

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What Happened to Property Tax Cuts?

It all seemed so easy back in January.

Delivering property tax relief and reform for Kansan homeowners was atop every Kansas legislators list as if Moses himself was delivering them on stone tablets from Mount Sinai.

An expanded Republican supermajority, riding high off Novembers victory party rhetoric, blustered that property taxes were job No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.

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Senate President Ty Masterson chiseled it to the very top of his GOP tablets, daring Gov. Laura Kellys compliance. And when three property tax bills passed out of committee within the first weeks of the session, it appeared the mountain was moving to Moses just as promised.

Three months later, Moses came back down with broken tablets and a t-shirt, I went to the mountain top and all I got were these crummy 1.5 mills.

So, what in the holy land happened?

 Lawmakers grossly oversold their agency  It shouldnt be a big secret by now that the state can only be so transformative with property taxes. They controlled a miniscule one percent  1.5 mills  portion of your property tax bill for state and university building maintenance. In the end, it was the only unilateral thing they could play with and eliminated it to their credit. The fact it only saves $35 on a $200,000 house is a kick in the shins to vulnerable homeowners. Other bills like HB 2011 and the Dems SB 217 targeted the other portion of your bill under State auspices  20 mills for local schools  but the juice was not worth the squeeze.

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 Dueling chambers  For some reason, the Senate revived the same 3% cap on property value increases the House rejected last year. House leaders rejected it again, calling the constitutional amendment gimmicky, given that it doesnt force cities to cut any property tax. Instead, the House deftly proposed an innovative $60 million fund to incentivize local governments to lower property taxes (HB 2396/ASTRA fund). One stick. One carrot. One philosophical logjam.

 The well is running dry  As time wore on, enough lawmakers realized they were either unwilling, or unable, to cash checks theyd have to write for property tax relief. This session came on the heels of a massive signature $1.3 billion tax cut in 2024, including twice as much property tax relief. Dont forget, for every dollar of property tax relief they had to backfill with an equal dollar of income/sales tax revenue so schools and public building maintenance didnt suffer. With the specter of state coffers going red by 2028, the well is drying up like the Ogallala aquifer.

 The flat tax okey doke  With everyone spellbound on property taxes, Republican leaders pulled a classic okey doke ball fake very late in the session, by slipping past a Kelly veto block to deliver a phased-in 4% flat income tax. Kelly proclaimed it the kiss of death for the Kansas budget as it sucked the well even drier for property tax relief and unmasked conservatives true colors putting income tax cuts first.

In the end, there was no Promised Land. But maybe thats the lesson.

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The State will not part the Red Sea meddling with mill rates. Not now.

The real issue, and their real power, lies in property assessment reform which they control through Kansas statutes and the county appraisal system.

Thats a talk they could walk.

Bill Fiander is a lecturer at Washburn University in Topeka, specializing in public administration, urban planning, and state/local government.






Last week, Donald Trump confronted Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, and accused his country of a genocide against white farmers. Fact-checkers swung into action: wrong on all counts! Whites make up about seven per cent of the population and less than two per cent of murder victims. The clear majority of those killed on farms are black. Trump uses the word genocide lightly and cynically.

But then its always been surprisingly elastic. You might think genocide means an attempt to physically exterminate an entire people, as in the Holocaust, but the United Nations applies it to either the whole or part of a community; persecution can be physical or mental; and it might be achieved by creating intolerable conditions.

White South Africans feel the latter point definitely applies to them  given recent laws that discriminate in employment and make it easier to seize their land  so why are their claims not being heard more sympathetically? Either lived experience matters or it does not.

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Well, one feature of our culture of subjectivity is a tendency towards double-standard. We care deeply, but we pick and choose what we care about.

Governments were notoriously slow to identify the genocide of Christians in Africa; ethnic cleansing in Sudan or Azerbaijan will never get a shout-out at Eurovision. By contrast, Israel is routinely accused of genocide  as is Britain, for its former empire, or Commonwealth countries vis-a-vis indigenous peoples.

White South Africans are thus the latest in a long line of minorities to demand their day in court, and telling them a lot of other people are getting murdered in South Africa as well is not quite the slam dunk that the defence seems to think.

Indeed there was something distasteful about the speed by which fact-checkers proved that the whites to whom Trump has granted asylum are mistaken  people, remember, who say they are fleeing for their lives. The affair, wrote one journalist, is treated by South Africans as a joke.

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Is the same humour on show when grown men pose as children to get asylum in the UK? No, and it shouldnt be: the principle of asylum is that we take a claim seriously till it is disproved. Perhaps white South Africans have exaggerated the threat to their community, but its odd that the first instinct of so many Westerners is to diminish or ironise what we would normally say isnt very funny.

In 2020, in a case that resulted in violent protests, farm manager Brendin Horner was tied to a pole, stabbed and strangled to death. He was just 21 years old.

No doubt some commentators harbour the view that if bad stuff happens to white South Africans, they have it coming given what went on under apartheid. It is undeniably true that when the racist regime died, whites lost political power yet retained economic dominance. They still control three quarters of private land.

South Africa would have benefited from a two-party, class-based politics that tussled between capitalist and social democratic responses to inequality. What it got was a single-party crime syndicate called the African National Congress, which, through theft and incompetence, has left 33 per cent of its beloved people unemployed. In 2023, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported a queer fact: South Africa now exports more copper than its mines produce. How is this possible? Locals steal it and sell it on the black market. They strip it out of railway lines and power cables, even from the wiring in hospitals.

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The result of such decay? The rise of small parties espousing anti-white sentiment under the guise of socialism. In 2024, nearly 10 per cent of South Africans voted for the Economic Freedom Fighters  a Marxist party whose leader, Julius Malema, famously sang Kill the Boer. If some whites want out, its because they can see where things are going.

They leave one racial powder keg for another. Trump has attempted to put a ban on global asylum seekers while accepting a handful of whites whose peril is disputed  an obviously racist policy that exploits the Right-wing backlash against Black Lives Matter. The Maga crowd thinks: Americans used to say all lives matter, then the Democrats decided that black lives actually matter more. So, here comes the correction. We shall say, white lives matter, too, and restore balance to the force.

Very often, Trump doesnt correct the liberal zeitgeist so much as he appropriates, inverts and exaggerates it. The Left wants a fight about race? Fine: hell declare war and drop an A-bomb. Borders are closed, critical race theory is banned in schools. I get why liberals hate Trump for this, but its frustrating that they cannot see their own part in fuelling the phenomenon  that he exploits the moral confusion they have sown in public life. The post-Holocaust, post-Civil Rights ideal was that society would try its level best to be colour-blind. It was a myth, yes; but a good myth. The Left chose to blow it up. Patriotic meritocracy was replaced with grievance, redistribution, anti-racism. As identity becomes a factor in our politics, groups scrabble for champions, and Trump offers himself to whites.

In a sense, we are all South African now: in America, and in Britain, the state is no longer seen as a neutral referee but a castle to capture. Among the chattering classes, universalist principles  the old thou shalt nots applied to all with no caveats  are replaced with a hierarchy of suffering (causes to endorse, causes to ignore) that masks the revival of ancient prejudices and animosities.

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Have you noticed a growing ambiguity around killing? The word but trails behind death like a shady lawyer. Over a thousand Jews were killed on October 7, but Israel is occupying Arab land. Nine children were killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza, but Hamas started the war. George Floyd was killed by a cop, but he did buy a pack of smokes with a counterfeit bill. And whites are killed on farms, but so are black people. Plus these Afrikaners are so difficult! Plus I read on a website that you have to understand the context

There might be no greater insult than being told to keep a murder in perspective, yet this is precisely what moral sophisticates are doing. I offer an alternative. Let us call all murder a sin and respect its victims, whatever their race or religion.

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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  The Wichita Police Department is investigating a shooting that left a pregnant 20-year-old woman dead early Sunday morning.

Just before 4:30 a.m., officers responded to a report of a shooting in the 700 block of S. Laura St.

When they arrived, they found 20-year-old Naomi Oglesby of Wichita suffering from a gunshot wound. She was transported to a local hospital, where she later died. Doctors were able to deliver her baby.

Police in the 700 block of S. Laura St. on May 25, 2025 (KSN Photo)

Police arrested a 19-year-old man at the scene. He is known to the victim and is facing a charge of first-degree murder.

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If anyone has any information, they are asked to call detectives at 316-268-4407 or 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.

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. To watch our shows live on our website, 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 KSN-TV.
U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, will be among the speakers at Mondays Memorial Day event.

The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at Cleburne Memorial Park Cemetery, 405 Waters St.

Williams will deliver the mornings keynote address. On hand also will be members of Cleburne American Legion Post 50, American Legion Auxiliary and Sons of the American Legion.

Members of the Cleburne Fire Department will lead the Pledge of Allegiance while Cleburne Police Chief Rob Severance will deliver the ceremonys opening prayer.

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This ceremony is one I look forward to every year, Severance said. It brings a very respectful and important opportunity for us to honor those who have given everything to protect our country and our way of life.

Severance encouraged residents to attend the ceremony.

It really is a very beautiful and moving ceremony especially if youve never seen it before, Severance said. All the volunteers and city staff work hard every year to present an interesting and dignified program. Certainly I think its a program people should attend and bring their kids to.

The Star-Spangled Banner, Taps and other music and readings fill out the ceremony. The ceremony also includes a POW/MIA table with an explanation of each items significance and a Military Child Ceremonial Table.

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SAL Commander Henry Kulow will present Remembrance of Wars Past and Cleburne Chamber of Commerce President Tracy Thomas will deliver a veterans perspective on Memorial Day.

Toward the end of the ceremony, Williams and a child will place a wreath on the grave of a veteran.

We wish to convey our thanks to the Cleburne Memorial Cemetery staff for allowing us to again host this program here and giving their time to all of us on their day off, Cleburne American Legion Auxiliary member Marti Peters said. We also express our gratitude to the Cleburne Fire Department for their help in setting up this program and to all the others who volunteered their time to make this program possible.

Peters also urged residents to attend.

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For many, Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer with swimming, cookouts and family fun, Peters said. Those are all important things and should be enjoyed. But we should all also take time to remember the true purpose of Memorial Day and to honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we cherish and enjoy, and to remember their families too.

Following the ceremony, attendees are invited to partake of complimentary punch and cookies at American Legion Post 50, 313 W. Chambers St.
WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn.  Under billowing skies and the occasional roar of a plane from Bradley International Airport, hundreds of visitors sat in World War II-era planes and honored local veterans as part of the New England Air Museums Winged Victory event on Saturday.

The event, named for Connecticuts own 43rd Infantry Division 169th Regiment, was staffed with re-enactors of the 169th Regiment who wore military-green uniforms, brandished WWII-era weapons, and set up an outdoor field camp packed with period water tanks and food rations. Some members of the group are descended from soldiers who fought in the unit, including Doug Crawford, 58, whose father, Charles B. Crawford, was a technician in F Company. The 169th regiment fought in multiple campaigns during World War II, including Guadalcanal.

Sisters Emma and Amanda Loefflad of Tolland, Connecticut, wore vintage clothing and custom dresses to portray citizens during the war. Its a very different world now and people dress so differently, Emma said. You put a lot of effort into wearing this every day.

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At noon, the museum held a short memorial to honor all fallen soldiers.

We gather here not to glorify war but to honor the sacrifice of those who gave their last full measure of devotion in the cause of freedom, Crawford said in his opening remarks.

Crawford has been participating in military reenactments for over twenty years, he said, and his son, Mason, 23, of Tolland, Connecticut, has taken after him as a way to honor his grandfather, Charles, who passed away in 2014.

Its kind of a way to connect with him now that hes not here and to show people what he went through, Mason said. These were kids going into war.

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Affixed to his uniform was a poppy pin, a symbol of remembrance taken from John McCraes poem, In Flanders Fields, which was recited during the museums memorial ceremony.

The museum also hosted Robert Garabedian, 100, of Tolland, Connecticut, who served in the Army Air Corps during WWII and flew P-40 and P-47 fighter jets. He sat at a table in front of a 1945 Republican P-47 D Thunderbolt and told visitors his story. Garabedian trained in New Mexico and overseas, and had been scheduled to participate in the invasion of Japan as a fighter pilot. Those plans were scrapped after the United States dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and effectively ended the war.

Garabedian called it an honor to attend the ceremony and pay tribute to fellow soldiers and those who built the planes he flew. But he also considered the futility of war in general.

War is a terrible way to settle disputes, he said. Garabedian has 12 children and a total of 71 grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren, and wants them to live in a peaceful world.

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We have to share with others, Garabedian said. We have to give them a chance. We have to listen with respect to what their problems are and, instead of adding to them, try to help solve them.

More Western Mass. Content

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Winton Lake is open again for the Memorial Day holiday after a brief closure caused by a sewage leak.

The lake is reopened to all recreational activities, including canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding and fishing, Great Parks officials announced May 24. Swimming has always been prohibited in the lake.

After the source of the contamination was stopped, water testing found the E. coli levels to be below both state and federal standards, leading Hamilton County Public Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman to lift his previous recommendation to avoid the lake.

Winton Lake is reopened to all recreational activities, including canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding and fishing.

It is OK to boat, fish and recreate at the lake," Kesterman said in a news release. "We still recommend good hand hygiene after water recreation."

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Metropolitan Sewer District officials believe a sanitary sewer line, which transports sewage from homes, about a mile north of Winton Woods leaked sewage into a creek that fed into Winton Lake. Water testing soon found elevated E. Coli levels in the lake.

Great Parks officials followed health officials recommendations after the "concerning" discharge and suspended all recreational activities May 20.

Winton Woods is a 2,529-acre park located in Springfield Township and Greenhills, north of Cincinnati. Its 113-site campground abuts the lake, which runs through the park.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Winton Lake reopens for recreational activities after sewage leak
DARE COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY)  A woman faces several drug-related charges following a traffic stop in Buxton, North Carolina, on Monday, according to police.

On May 19, a Dare County Sheriffs Office K-9 Unit conducted a sniff on a vehicle in Buxton and positively indicated to the presence of an illegal substance.

Deputies searched the vehicle and seized marijuana, an altered cannabis substance and marijuana paraphernalia.

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Lola Wyche, 26, was arrested and charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Lola Wyche (Courtesy: Dare County Sheriffs Office)

She was issued a $2,000 secured bond.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
AGAWAM, Mass. (WWLP)  A woman has died as a result of a crash involving a car and motorcycle in Agawam Saturday evening.

The Agawam Police Department stated in a press release that at approximately 5:09 p.m. on Saturday, officers received a report of a serious motor vehicle crash at the intersection of Suffield Street and Adams Street.

West Springfield rideout honors man who died in I-91 motorcycle accident

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The crash involved one vehicle and one motorcycle, and officers arriving in the area found an unresponsive 26-year-old woman with severe injuries. The Agawam Fire Department assisted and brought the victim to Baystate Medical Center, where she later died from her injuries.

The crash is currently being investigated by the Agawam Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services Division, and the Hampden County District Attorneys Office.

The identity of the victim has not been released at this time. 22News will provide updates 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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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP.






A North Carolina woman found a 1938 Virginia Tech class ring in a Starbucks parking lot

Determined to track down the ring's owner, she did some online research that eventually led her to Laura Stoy

Stoy's father, Larry Garst  who died a year ago  had been wearing his late father Wallace Garst's ring when it was lost







A routine coffee run set one North Carolina woman on an emotional quest in the name of doing a good deed.

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Lori Rhew was visiting a Starbucks in Wilmington when she noticed "a shiny object" on the ground in the corner of the parking lot. She went to take a closer look and saw that it was a 1938 Virginia Tech class ring. "I thought, This is a beautiful ring,' " she recalled to local news outlet WECT.

Knowing that the jewelry piece likely meant a lot to the person who lost it, Rhew was determined to track down the owner.

Im a sentimental person and I appreciate family heirlooms, she told the outlet. So, it just didnt feel right to get rid of it or sell it or give it away.

After examining the ring with a magnifying glass and doing some online research, she identified the ring's owner as Wallace Garst, a man who had died years ago.

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The internet will tell you just about anything, Rhew said of her detective efforts.

She also learned that Wallace had a son, named Larry Garst. "I thought, 'This has to be who had this ring,' " Rhew told WECT.

WECT News 6/Youtube The 1938 Virginia Tech class ring originally belonging to Wallace Garst The 1938 Virginia Tech class ring originally belonging to Wallace Garst

Her hunch was confirmed when she discovered an online obituary for Larry  amazingly featuring a photo of him wearing the class ring.

I just could not believe it, Rhew recalled of her reaction.

The obituary then led her to Laura Stoy, Larry's only daughter. Rhew called Stoy and told her she had something that belonged to her late dad, who had died a year ago.

I was a little overwhelmed with emotion, said Stoy, who also recently lost her mother. I think he wore the ring because it made him carry [a piece of] his father around with him."

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She described being reunited with her dad's ring as "serendipitous."

I really feel like it was serendipitous that my dad was reaching out. He knew I had been thinking about him and he was popping in to say, Im here,  Stoy told WECT.

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.

WECT News 6/Youtube Lori Rhew (left) and Laura Story (right). Lori Rhew (left) and Laura Story (right).

She and Rhew  whose act of kindness made it all possible  have bonded over their unexpected connection and since become friends.

I think Lori represents the good in the world and that there are nice people out there and the universe has a way of trying to connect people even when theyre gone, and Lori was a great connection, Stoy told WECT.

For Rhew, it was simply about doing what's right. Its a great feeling to do the right thing, she said.

Read the original article on People
ETOWAH COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT)  A woman was killed in a single-vehicle crash that occurred in Etowah County on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Lisa Fitts, 40, was killed when the car she was a passenger in left the roadway and struck a culvert. After the initial impact, the vehicle overturned and struck a house. Fitts, of Boaz, died at the scene.

Police investigating after woman fatally struck by multiple vehicles in Moody

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The driver of the vehicle, Kevin Owens, of Boaz, was injured and transported to a hospital for treatment. The crash occurred at around 4:25 p.m. on Whitesboro Road near Beech Street. Troopers with ALEA Highway Patrol Division investigated the crash.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42.
A 73-year-old resident of the village of Kizomys in Kherson Oblast was killed in a Russian attack on Friday 23 May.

Source: Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration

Details: Prokudin reported that Russian forces opened fire on Kizomys on 23 May, causing fatal injuries to the 73-year-old woman.

Background: Six civilians were killed and another 21 injured in Russian attacks in Donetsk and Kherson oblasts on 23 May.

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Did you know that women business owners were unable to apply for a business loan at most traditional banks without a male cosigneruntil 1988?

It seems impossible that this prevalent lending practice existed only 37 years ago. But thanks to the Womens Business Ownership Act (HR 5050), which was championed by the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), women can now secure the necessary capital to grow their businesses without the assistance of a man.

The National Association of Women Business Owners celebrates 50 years of advocacy

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NAWBO was founded in 1975 by a group of women business owners who were unable to join many professional organizations that were, at the time, exclusively for men. One of NAWBOs founding members, Susan Hager, famously said, Get a seat at the table or build your own table, and make sure to include other women.

Naima Walker owner of Germantown Pub Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. Walker is one of the founding members of The Nashville Black Hospitality Group, a new organization dedicated to supporting Black-owned businesses.

That tenet rings as true today as it did at NAWBOs founding. It also serves as the principle by which the organization advocates for the needs of women business owners.

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More: Metro Nashville evaluates its support for minority, women-owned businesses

NAWBO represents all women business owners across geographies, industries, and sizes, and regardless of political affiliation. In fact, we encourage and support bipartisan legislation focused on building and strengthening a sustainable business economy.

Women business owners contribute significantly to the U.S. economy, adding $3.3 trillion in 2024. According to the 2025 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses Report by Wells Fargo, closing the revenue gap between women and men-owned businesses could generate an additional $10.2 trillion in economic activity.

A view of the Nashville skyline from the Nissan stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, May 6, 2025.

The NAWBO Nashville chapter started in 1993 and is a powerful community of women entrepreneurs who share resources, collaborate and support one another in their business growth. We believe women business owners dont have to go it alonethey can tap into local and national networks to help them build their businesses, create jobs and contribute to the local economy.

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More: Black business owners organize to attract Nashville tourism dollars, attention

This year, NAWBO will host its annual Womens Business Conference in Washington, D.C., June 5-8, 2025. The event will bring together thousands of women business owners to expand their network, attend educational sessions, and commemorate the organizations 50th Anniversary.

Women business owners need Congressional support to continue growing

The national conference also includes an Advocacy Day for members to meet with U.S. representatives and senators to share the issues most impacting women business owners, as well as the following calls to action:

Congress must make access to technology and digital tools available on the federal level, and publicize them to help women business owners expand market share.

Congress must continue to support specific programs such as the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) program, which has helped women enter the federal procurement system and scale their businesses.

NAWBO believes Congress should look at ways to ensure small businesses can continue to thrive through the use of independent contractors.

NAWBO urges Congress to consider legislation that can help small businesses offer employee benefits by increasing access to existing federal and state benefits portals.

NAWBO hopes Congress can work toward a bipartisan solution that gives small businesses an option to access a paid leave system that works financially for themselves and their workforce.

Congress needs to codify a definition of a microbusiness.

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Women entrepreneurs need community, support and a voice on The Hill to grow their businesses. We invite you to join us locally in Nashville and nationally in Washington, D.C. as we celebrate 50 years of collective progress.

Danielle McGee Gibson

Danielle McGee Gibson is Advocacy Chair, NAWBO Nashville and the CEO of Black Business Boom.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Women entrepreneurs need support. NAWBO gives it | Opinion
In 2023, Sheldon Ekirch was diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy, which makes her limbs and muscles feel as if theyre on fire. Specialists recommended a series of infusions to ease her pain, but her insurer refused to pay for the expensive treatment, which it says is not considered medically necessary. (Ryan M. Kelly for KFF Health News)

HENRICO, Virginia  Sheldon Ekirch spends a lot of time on hold with her health insurance company.

Sometimes, as the minutes tick by and her frustration mounts, Ekirch, 30, opens a meditation app on her phone. It was recommended by her psychologist to help with the depression associated with a stressful and painful medical disorder.

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In 2023, Ekirch was diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy, a condition that makes her limbs and muscles feel as if theyre on fire. Now she takes more than a dozen prescriptions to manage chronic pain and other symptoms, including insomnia.

I dont feel like I am the person I was a year-and-a-half ago, said Ekirch, who was on the cusp of launching her law career, before getting sick. Like, my body isnt my own.

Ekirch said specialists have suggested that a series of infusions made from blood plasma called intravenous immunoglobulin  IVIG, for short  could ease, or potentially eradicate, her near-constant pain. But Ekirchs insurance company has repeatedly denied coverage for the treatment, according to documents provided by the patient.

Patients with Ekirchs condition dont always respond to IVIG, but she said she deserves to try it, even though it could cost more than $100,000.

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Im paying a lot of money for health insurance, said Ekirch, who pays more than $600 a month in premiums. I dont understand why they wont help me, why my life means so little to them.

For patient advocates and health economists, cases like Ekirchs illustrate why prior authorization has become such a chronic pain point for patients and doctors. For 50 years, insurers have employed prior authorization, they say, to reduce wasteful health care spending, prevent unnecessary treatment, and guard against potential harm.

The practice differs by insurance company and plan, but the rules often require patients or their doctors to request permission from the patients health insurance company before proceeding with a drug, treatment, or medical procedure.

The insurance industry provides little information about how often prior authorization is used. Transparency requirements established by the federal government to shed light on the use of prior authorization by private insurers havent been broadly enforced, said Justin Lo, a senior researcher for the Program on Patient and Consumer Protections at KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.

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Yet its widely acknowledged that prior authorization tends to disproportionately impact some of the sickest people who need the most expensive care. And despite bipartisan support to reform the system, as well as recent attempts by health insurance companies to ease the burden for patients and doctors, some tactics have met skepticism.

Some insurers efforts to improve prior authorization practices arent as helpful as they would seem, said Judson Ivy, CEO of Ensemble Health Partners, a revenue cycle management company.

When you really dive deep, he said, these improvements dont seem to touch the services and procedures, such as CT scans, that get caught up in prior authorization so frequently. When we started looking into it, he said, it was almost a PR stunt.

The Tipping Point

When Arman Shahriars father was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in 2023, his fathers oncologist ordered a whole-body PET scan to determine the cancers stage. The scan was denied by a company called EviCore by Evernorth, a Cigna subsidiary that makes prior authorization decisions.

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Shahriar, an internal medicine resident, said he spent hours on the phone with his fathers insurer, arguing that the latest medical guidelines supported the scan. The imaging request was eventually approved. But his fathers scan was delayed several weeks  and multiple appointments were scheduled, then canceled during the time-consuming process  while the family feared the cancer would continue to spread.

EviCore by Evernorth spokesperson Madeline Ziomek wrote in an emailed statement that incomplete clinical information provided by physicians is a leading cause of such denials. The company is actively developing new ways to make the submission process simpler and faster for physicians, Ziomek said.

In the meantime, Shahriar, who often struggles to navigate prior authorization for his patients, accused the confusing system of artificially creating problems in peoples lives at the wrong time.

If families with physicians are struggling through this, how do other people navigate it? And the short answer is, they cant, said Shahriar, who wrote about his fathers case in an essay published last year by JAMA Oncology. Were kind of reaching a tipping point where were realizing, collectively, something needs to be done.

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The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk in December prompted an outpouring of grief among those who knew him, but it also became a platform for public outrage about the methods insurance companies use to deny treatment.

An Emerson College poll conducted in mid-December found 41% of 18- to 29-year-olds thought the actions of Thompsons killer were at least somewhat acceptable. In a NORC survey from the University of Chicago conducted in December, two-thirds of respondents indicated that insurance company profits, and their denials for health care coverage, contributed a great deal/moderate amount to the killing. Instagram accounts established in support of Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Maryland suspect accused of murder and terrorism, have attracted thousands of followers.

The past several weeks have further challenged us to even more intensely listen to the public narrative about our industry, Cigna Group CEO David Cordani said during an earnings call on Jan. 30. Cigna is focused on making prior authorizations faster and simpler, he added.

The first Trump administration and the Biden administration put forth policies designed to improve prior authorization for some patients by mandating that insurers set up electronic systems and shortening the time companies may take to issue decisions, among other fixes. Hundreds of House Democrats and Republicans signed on to co-sponsor a bill last year that would establish new prior authorization rules for Medicare Advantage plans. In January, Republican congressman Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey introduced a federal bill to abolish the use of prior authorization altogether.

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Meanwhile, many states have passed legislation to regulate the use of prior authorization. Some laws require insurers to publish data about prior authorization denials with the intention of making a confusing system more transparent. Reform bills are under consideration by state legislatures in Hawaii and elsewhere. A bill in Virginia approved by the governor March 18 takes effect July 1. Other states, including Texas, have established gold card programs that ease prior authorization requirements for some physicians by allowing doctors with a track record of approvals to bypass the rules.

No one from AHIP, an insurance industry lobbying group formerly known as Americas Health Insurance Plans, was available to be interviewed on the record about proposed prior authorization legislation for this article.

But changes wouldnt guarantee that the most vulnerable patients would be spared from future insurance denials or the complex appeals process set up by insurers. Some doctors and advocates for patients are skeptical that prior authorization can be fixed as long as insurers are accountable to shareholders.

Kindyl Boyer, director of advocacy for the nonprofit Infusion Access Foundation, remains hopeful the system can be improved but likened some efforts to playing Whac-A-Mole. Ultimately, insurance companies are going to find a different way to make more money, she said.

In the weeks following Thompsons killing, UnitedHealthcare was trying to refute an onslaught of what it called highly inaccurate and grossly misleading information about its practices when another incident landed the company back in the spotlight. On Jan. 7, Elisabeth Potter, a breast reconstruction surgeon in Austin, Texas, posted a video on social media criticizing the company for questioning whether one of her patients who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was undergoing surgery that day needed to be admitted as an inpatient. The video amassed millions of views. In the days following her post, UnitedHealthcare hired a high-profile law firm to demand a correction and public apology from Potter. In an interview with KFF Health News, Potter would not discuss details about the dispute, but she stood by what she said in her original video. I told the truth, Potter said. The facts of the incident remain in dispute. But the level of attention it received online illustrates how frustrated and vocal many people have become about insurance company tactics since Thompsons killing, said Matthew Zachary, a former cancer patient and the host of Out of Patients, a podcast that aims to amplify the experiences of patients. For years, doctors and patients have taken to social media to shame health insurers into approving treatment. But in recent months, Zachary said, horror stories about prior authorization shared widely online have created unified anger. Most people thought they were alone in the victimization, Zachary said. Now they know theyre not. Data published in January by KFF found that prior authorization is particularly burdensome for patients covered by Medicare Advantage plans. In 2023, virtually all Medicare Advantage enrollees were covered by plans that required prior authorization, while people enrolled in traditional Medicare were much less likely to encounter it, said Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, an associate director at KFFs Program on Medicare Policy. Furthermore, she said, Medicare Advantage enrollees were more likely to face prior authorization for higher-cost services, including inpatient hospital stays, skilled nursing facility stays, and chemotherapy. But Neil Parikh, national chief medical officer for medical management at UnitedHealthcare, explained prior authorization rules apply to fewer than 2% of the claims the company pays. He added that 99% of the time UnitedHealthcare members dont need prior authorization or requests are approved very, very quickly. Recently, he said, a team at UnitedHealthcare was reviewing a prior authorization request for an orthopedic procedure when they discovered the surgeon planned to operate on the wrong side of the patients body. UnitedHealthcare caught the mistake in time, he recounted. This is a real-life example of why prior authorization can really help, Parikh said. Even so, he said, UnitedHealthcare aims to make the process less burdensome by removing prior authorization requirements for some services, rendering instant decisions for certain requests, and establishing a national gold card program, among other refinements. Cigna also announced changes designed to improve prior authorization in the months since Thompsons killing. Brian was an incredible friend and colleague to many, many of us, and we are deeply saddened by his passing, Parikh said. Its truly a sad occasion. [subhed] The Final Denial

During the summer of 2023, Ekirch was working full time and preparing to take the bar exam when she noticed numbness and tingling in her arms and legs. Eventually, she started experiencing a burning sensation throughout her body.

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That fall, a Richmond-area neurologist said her symptoms were consistent with small fiber neuropathy, and, in early 2024, a rheumatologist recommended IVIG to ease her pain. Since then, other specialists, including neurologists at the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University, have said she may benefit from the same treatment.

Theres no guarantee it will work. A randomized controlled trial published in 2021 found pain levels in patients who received IVIG werent significantly different from the placebo group, while an older study found patients responded remarkably well.

Its hard because I look at my peers from law school and high school  theyre having families, excelling in their career, living their life. And most days I am just struggling, just to get out of bed, said Ekirch, frustrated that Anthem continues to deny her claim.

In a prepared statement, Kersha Cartwright, a spokesperson for Anthems parent company, Elevance Health, said Ekirchs request for IVIG treatment was denied because it did not meet the established medical criteria for effectiveness in treating small fiber neuropathy.

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On Feb. 17, her treatment was denied by Anthem for the final time. Ekirch said her patient advocate, a nurse who works for Anthem, suggested she reach out to the drug manufacturer about patient charity programs.

This is absolutely crazy, Ekirch said. This is someone from Anthem telling me to plead with a pharmacy company to give me this drug when Anthem should be covering it.

Her only hope now lies with the Virginia State Corporation Commission Bureau of Insurance, a state agency that resolves prior authorization disputes between patients and health insurance companies. She found out through a Facebook group for patients with small fiber neuropathy that the Bureau of Insurance has overturned an IVIG denial before. In late March, Ekirch was anxiously waiting to hear the agencys decision about her case.

I dont want to get my hopes up too much, though, she said. I feel like this entire process, Ive been let down by it.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
The executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme is urging that more aid be allowed into Gaza as Israel continues its renewed offensive on the territory.

"Right now, we have 500,000 people inside of Gaza that are extremely food insecure, and could be on the verge of famine if we don't help bring them back from that," Cindy McCain told CBS' Margaret Brennan on Sunday on "Face the Nation."

"We need to get in, and we need to get in at scale, not just a few dribble of the trucks right now, as I said, it's a drop in the bucket," she said.

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Israel launched an 11-week block on aid to Gaza after the collapse of negotiations to extend an early 2025 ceasefire. But even though food is now coming back in, McCain told Brennan that it isn't enough. 600 aid trucks a day entered Gaza during the ceasefire. Now, that number is at around 100 trucks a day, she said.

And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's revived military offensive into Gaza to root out Hamas only further complicates matters, while threatening to deteriorate a worsening humanitarian situation on the ground.

"The roads that are the better roads, the ones that can get us further along, aren't open at all," McCain said. "It's complicated right now and again, I will tell anybody who will listen, we need to get in and get in at scale and be allowed to feed these people before further catastrophe occurs."

McCain disputed the notion that Hamas is behind a recent spate of lootings of aid trucks, chalking that up to "poor souls" that "are really, really, really desperate."

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McCain, the widow of former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said she has not seen details of a purported U.S.-Israeli plan that would replace the U.N. with hubs run by American companies and security contractors. Israel has pushed to assert more control over aid distribution in Gaza. But McCain maintained that her organization is best placed to lead operations.

"I've not seen a plan from anybody," McCain told Brennan. "We continue to operate, doing what we do best, and we are the largest and the best at what we do, I might add."

She added: "We really don't know what's coming around the bend. We will continue to operate. We will work with anybody, if it will feed people."
May 25A beachgoer saved a woman who was drowning on Long Sands Beach in York on Saturday afternoon.

The York Police and Fire departments responded to a report of a possible drowning at Long Sands Beach in the area of the Stones Throw Hotel and Restaurant around 3:45 p.m. Saturday, according to a news release.

By the time first responders arrived, a bystander had already jumped into action, removed the drowning victim from the water and performed CPR on her, according to the news release.

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The 20-year-old woman was breathing on her own again when she was transported to York Hospital for further treatment. Her condition was not released.

Neither person's name was released by authorities.

Last summer, lifeguards at some of Maine's most popular beaches reported that an increasing number of swimmers were requiring rescue from the water, in large part because of an increase in potentially deadly rip currents.

Experts told the Press Herald at the time that the severe winter storms that walloped Maine in late 2023 and early 2024 reshaped the underwater topography of the surf zone, creating largely invisible underwater troughs and sandbars that are fertile ground for the formation of rip currents.

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At least 12 people died and dozens were injured in overnight Russian drone attacks across Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday, while the warring sides completed their largest prisoner swap so far.

Kiev regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said three people had died and two children were among at least 10 of those injured.

Emergency services and medical teams were working across the region, Kalashnyk wrote on Telegram.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched some 300 drone attacks and some 70 strikes with missiles and cruise missiles on Ukraine during the night.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said debris from a falling drone had hit a student dormitory, while a house had been damaged in another incident.

Teymur Tkachenko, head of the city's military administration, said dozens of kamikaze drones had flown over Kiev. Air defence had been deployed to repel the attacks, he wrote on Telegram.

In the southern city of Mykolaiv, one person was killed and five others were injured when a drone hit a residential building, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported.

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In the western region of Khmelnytskyi, at least four people had been killed following Russian shelling, the head of the region's administration Sergii Tiurin wrote on Facebook.

Five others had been injured and taken to hospital, one of them in serious condition, he wrote.

Six residential buildings had been destroyed and more than 20 houses damaged in the attacks, he added.

Russian drone attacks were also reported from Kharkiv in the east and the port city of Odessa.

The previous night, at least 15 people were injured after Russian drone attacks on Kiev. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 250 drone attacks and airstrikes with 14 ballistic missiles were recorded.

Largest prisoner swap complete

Russia and Ukraine also each released a further 303 people in their largest prisoner exchange to date, the Russian Defence Ministry and Ukrainian President Zelensky said on Sunday.

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This was the third part of an exchange agreed in Istanbul on May 16 during direct talks between the two sides. In total, each have released 1,000 prisoners since Friday.

The exchange began with the release of 390 prisoners, followed by 307 the next day.

Of the Ukrainians returned on Saturday, 273 were taken prisoner by Russia in the Donetsk region, a large number of them in 2022, Zelensky said. Others were captured by the Russians in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions.

Zelensky has reiterated he is determined to secure the release of all Ukrainians being held in Russia.

Moscow said the Russian soldiers are currently in Belarus, receiving psychological and medical assistance.

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"All Russian military personnel will be taken to the Russian Federation for treatment and rehabilitation," the ministry noted.

The swap was the only concrete result of the first direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations since 2022, which had been encouraged by US President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched some 300 drone attacks and some 70 strikes with missiles and cruise missiles on Ukraine during the night.

Those figures would make it the worst drone attacks since the war began in 2022. Authorities said at least 12 people were killed in different parts of the country and dozens more were injured.

Rescue workers are on duty in more than 30 Ukrainian cities and villages, Zelensky said in his post on X. Children are among the dead, he added.

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The air force reported 298 drone attacks. The previous highest number, reported in Ukrainian media, was 289 aerial objects on May 18.

"Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia. Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day," Zelensky said.

"The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. Silence of America, silence of others around the world only encourage [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," he wrote.

"The war can be stopped, but only through the necessary force of pressure on Russia. Putin must be forced to think not about launching missiles, but about ending the war," Zelensky said.
President Donald Trump, at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Ariz., on Feb. 19, 2020, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking in Jerusalem on Jan. 23, 2020. Credit - Jim Watson and Emmanuel Dunand/AFPGetty Images

Russia has rebuked President Donald Trumps characterization of Vladimir Putin as absolutely crazy, attributing the U.S. leaders remarks to emotional overload following one of Russias most extensive aerial assault on Ukraine since the war began.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged U.S. involvement in facilitating peace negotiations but suggested that heightened emotions were influencing public statements.

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We are really grateful to the Americans and to President Trump personally for their assistance in organising and launching this negotiation process," Peskov said. At the same time, this is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions."

Read more: How Putin Missed His Shot at Peace

Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey on Sunday, Trump sharply criticised Putins conduct. "I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people. I don't know what the hell happened to Putin, I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all. We're in the middle of talking, and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities, I don't like it at all. I'm very surprised."

When asked about possible next steps, he replied: "We'll see what we're going to do."

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Trump reiterated his remarks later in a post on Truth Social: "[Putin] has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and Im not just talking about soldiers."

"Ive always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe thats proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia," he said.

He also criticised Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying: "Likewise, President Zelensky is doing his country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I dont like it, and it better stop."

Read more: Trump Discovers the War in Ukraine May Be Too Complicated to Fix

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On Monday morning, Zelensky said that Russia had launched 355 drones to attack regions spanning from Chernihiv to Khmelnytskyi. Nine cruise missiles were also used by Russias military, marking the third night of attack by drones and missiles.

Like any criminal, Russia can only be constrained by force. Only through strength  the strength of the United States, of Europe, of all nations that value life  can these attacks be stopped and real peace achieved, Zelensky said.

He also called for an increase in sanctions against Russia: Russia must end its war. And for that to happen, we must deprive them of the resources that fuel their will to fight.

A day earlier, the Ukrainian leader criticised America for its silence, saying Russias actions cannot be ignored.

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French President Emmanuel Macron expressed similar sentiment, saying he hoped that Trumps anger towards Putin translates into action, when asked by reporters about the situation.

Read more: Exclusive: Zelensky on Trump, Putin, and the Endgame in Ukraine

Zelensky is expected to visit Berlin on Wednesday and meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, though the meeting has not been publicly confirmed. Merz has been a strong ally to the country, travelling to Kyiv earlier in May to commit to sanctioning Russia with new measures if it did not enter a ceasefire agreement within 30 days.

Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also condemned Russias recent actions, stating: During the day Putin talks about negotiations, then he bombs Ukraine during the night," she told reporters during a meeting of Nordic leaders, Reuters reports.

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Meanwhile, Russias Defense Ministry said its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed 95 Ukrainian drones.

Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, later took to X and called for an immediate cease-fire.

"This is Kyiv. The indiscriminate killing of women and children at night in their homes is a clear violation of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols designed to protect innocents. These attacks are shameful. Stop the killing. Cease-fire now," he said.

This is Kyiv. The indiscriminate killing of women and children at night in their homes is a clear violation of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols designed to protect innocents. These attacks are shameful. Stop the killing. Ceasefire now. pic.twitter.com/89XRWZcP21  Keith Kellogg (@generalkellogg) May 25, 2025

The overnight strikes cast a shadow over the prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday. "303 Ukrainian defenders are home. The third part of the 1000-for-1000 exchange deal, agreed upon in Turkey, has been completed," Zelensky said.

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Each country agreed to release 1,000 prisoners of warthe largest swap of the war so farduring peace talks between Russia and Ukraine delegates in Turkey on Friday, May 16. The countries respective leaders were notably absent from the talks, after Putin rejected Zelenskys offer for an in-person sit-down and did not accompany the Russian delegation to Turkey.

Trump announced on May 19 that ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine would begin immediately, following what he described as an excellent two-hour phone call with Putin. As planned, Trump went on to call Zelensky and other European leaders.

After speaking with Trump, Zelensky said on social media that it was a defining moment.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky clashed in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28, 2025. Saul LoebGetty Images

Zelenskys latest remarks come amid ongoing tensions between U.S. and Ukrainian leadership. On Feb. 28, Zelensky and Trump engaged in a heated discussion in the Oval Office, which was filmed for the world to see. The pair clashed when discussing efforts for a Russia-Ukraine cease-fire.

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The two have since moved forward and have held productive talks, most notably when they sat down together ahead of Pope Francis funeral in the Vatican on April 26, sharing their first face-to-face conversation since the White House debacle. Following that conversation in Rome, Zelensky took to social media and expressed hope for future talks and relations.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following a new record-breaking Russian attack, has called for more sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter)

Details: Zelenskyy said that almost 300 drones and 70 missiles targeted the city of Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, as well as Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy oblasts.

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Quote: "Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia. Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day. The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. Silence of America, silence of others around the world only encourage Putin.

Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help. Determination matters now  the determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace. The world knows all the weaknesses of the Russian economy. The war can be stopped, but only through the necessary force of pressure on Russia. Putin must be forced to think not about launching missiles, but about ending the war."

Background:

Russian forces launched a combined airstrike on Ukraine on the night of 24-25 May, deploying 367 airborne weapons. More than 310 of them were either destroyed or disappeared from radar (without causing adverse effects).

During the large-scale Russian attack on Saturday, Zelenskyy also recalled that Kyiv had proposed a ceasefire many times.

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Stephanie Gai, an attorney with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, uses the floor at the end of a hallway outside of the Seattle Immigration Court to help an immigrant finish their asylum application on Thursday. (Nick Wagner / The Seattle Times)
New Delhi: Power major NTPC Ltd on Saturday reported a 22.6 per cent sequential surge in consolidated net profit at Rs 5,778 crore in Q4 FY25. The revenue stood at Rs 43,903.7 crore, up 6 per cent from Rs 41,368 crore in the third quarter (Q3).

NTPC, which operates under the Ministry of Power, is Indias largest power generation company. The company also informed that the Board has approved a final dividend of Rs 3.35 per share for its investors. This is in addition to the two interim dividends of Rs 2.5 per share each paid in November and February.

On year-on-year basis, the state-run power major reported a 4 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 5,778 crore for the March quarter, compared to Rs 5,556.4 crore in the same period last year. The shares of the company ended nearly a per cent in the green on Friday.

Earlier this week, NTPC Green Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the state-run power giant NTPC, announced that its consolidated net profit nearly tripled in Q4 FY25, rising by 188 per cent to Rs 233.21 crore compared to Rs 80.95 crore in the same quarter last fiscal (Q4 FY24).

Compared to the previous quarter, the profit soared by an even higher 255 per cent from Rs 65.61 crore in December 2024 (Q3), according to its stock exchange filing. The companys consolidated revenue from operations also showed strong growth. It increased by 22.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) from Rs 508.14 crore in the March 2024 quarter to Rs 622.27 crore in the quarter under review (Q4 FY25).

NTPC Green Energy is a company focused on renewable energy projects, pursuing growth through both organic development and acquisitions. As of March 2025, the government held an 89.01 per cent stake in the firm.
Akali Dal councillor Harjinder Singh Bahman was shot dead in a targeted attack in Amritsar on Saturday. According to Punjab Police, the assailantsriding a motorcycleopened fire on Bahman while he was en route to a destination in the city.

Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Harpal Singh Randhawa confirmed the incident, stating, "While Harjinder Singh was on his way, a motorcycle carrying three to four individuals approached him and opened fire. He succumbed to his injuries while being taken to the hospital."

VIDEO | Akali Councillor Harjinder Singh Bahman shot dead in Amritsar. Punjab Police ADCP Harpal Singh Randhawa says, "While Harjinder Singh was on his way, a motorcycle carrying three to four individuals approached him and opened fire. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to pic.twitter.com/R2Q5H8457s  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 25, 2025

The councillors family members told police that the same individuals had allegedly attacked his residence earlier and had issued direct threats to his life.
COVID-19 Cases in India: Amid the fear of the spread of Covid-19 in Karnataka, the state government has directed authorities to stock up necessary testing kits for the coming month. However, the state government said on Saturday that there is no need for any concerns in this regard.

State Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said, "I have directed officials to stock up on necessary testing kits. Preparations have been made to ensure the availability of 5,000 RT-PCR and 5,000 VDRL testing kits, which will be required for the coming month."

Instructions have been issued to mandatorily conduct Covid tests for those admitted to hospitals with respiratory issues or heart-related ailments, he added.

In the past week, there has been a slight increase in COVID-positive cases, especially in Bengaluru.

The state government is taking precautionary measures, and there is no need for the people of the state to panic, Minister Rao said.

"It is advisable for pregnant women and new mothers to wear masks in public places. Among the 35 Covid-positive individuals identified in the state, none have developed severe symptoms. Only mild symptoms have been observed. Therefore, the public need not worry and can continue with their daily lives as usual," he clarified.

"There has been a slight rise in Covid-positive cases in the state over the past week, with a total of 35 people testing positive for the infection, of which 32 cases have been reported from Bengaluru alone," Minister Rao added.

The Minister said that there is no need for the public to panic about the emergence of Covid-19. The state Health department has issued the necessary guidelines in this regard, he added.

The state's Covid-19 technical committee held a meeting on Friday and discussed the recent Covid-19 cases detected in Karnataka. "We have taken precautionary steps and are in touch with the Central government as well," the Minister said.

He also noted that instructions have been given to mandatorily conduct Covid tests in cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), and for patients admitted to hospitals with respiratory and heart-related issues. Samples must be collected and tested for Covid-19 in such cases, he added.

The Minister advised pregnant and postpartum women to wear masks in crowded areas. "There is no need for anyone to panic. Covid-19 has re-emerged, but if people follow the Health department's guidelines and take precautions, that is sufficient," he said.

"Wearing masks has not been made mandatory for everyone as of now. Only pregnant and postpartum women have been advised to wear them. Maintaining hygiene and using hand sanitizers is strongly recommended. There are no travel restrictions, and people can go about their daily lives as usual. The media should avoid creating panic. Instead, let the media focus on creating awareness among the public," Minister Rao added.

He also said that instructions have been given to stock up enough testing kits for the coming month. Tests will be conducted only when necessary, he added. Although, Bengaluru has reported 32 Covid-positive cases and there has been a slight increase over the past week, the situation is under close monitoring, the Minister said.

"There is no cause for alarm at this point," he assured.
New Delhi: A coup in Bangladesh appears imminent, as interim leader Muhammad Yunus refuses to step down or hold early elections. Yunus, who has been running the interim government, reportedly has no intention of conducting elections anytime soon. However, Army Chief General Waqar Uz Zaman has issued a final ultimatum  warning Yunus that national elections must be held before December.

General Waqar has reportedly made it clear that after this point, the Army will only recognise and report to an elected government. If Yunus refuses to comply, the military is likely to remove him and push for elections by December 2025. These developments strongly indicate that Bangladesh is once again edging toward a military-backed power shift.

Reports, quoting top intelligence sources say that General Waqar firmly believes that only an elected government should make strategic decisions, not unelected, imposed figures like Yunus. The Army chief considers the current civilian-led structure under Yunus to be a threat to national security, especially with civilians trying to use the military for non-military governance.

Anger Over U.S.-Backed Appointments

Tensions escalated when Yunus appointed a new National Security Advisor, reportedly pro-American, during the absence of the Army chief. This move has further angered the military.

In addition, the Army has strongly opposed Yunuss proposals regarding a humanitarian corridor to Myanmars Rakhine State and the introduction of foreign management at Chattogram (Chittagong) Port.

Reports claim that the military has effectively rejected both the humanitarian corridor project and the idea of foreign control over the strategic port.

Whats the Armys Plan?

General Waqar is now advocating for elections in December 2025. He supports the idea of forming a coalition government involving a new faction from both the Opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas Awami League.

He reportedly has no objections to a coalition and sees it as a viable path forward. This stance aligns with BNPs longstanding demand for elections by December.

Even Jamaat Turns Away

Yunus is reportedly now seeking support from the Jamaat-e-Islami. However, even Jamaat appears to have distanced itself, agreeing that only an elected government can serve the countrys interests.

The chief advisor is rapidly losing both political and military support. With no reliable political backing left and growing dissatisfaction within the armed forces, the reports suggest Yunuss grip on power is weakening fast.

Jamaat, too, has made it clear that it prefers participating in elections under a democratically elected regime.
India is seeing a slow rise in COVID-19 cases in various states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Delhi, which has caused health authorities to release advisories requesting public vigilance. The Union Health Ministry states that there are presently 257 active COVID-19 cases in the country, most of which are mild and can be managed at home.

The spike, however not a cause for alarm, has put health authorities on their toes, particularly since sporadic cases are being reported in varying regions. Kerala has the most active cases at 95, followed by Tamil Nadu with 66 and Maharashtra at 56. The other states reporting low yet significant case numbers include Karnataka (13), Puducherry (10), Gujarat (7), and Delhi (5).

COVID-19 Active Case Count By State (as of May 25):

Kerala: 95

Tamil Nadu: 66

Maharashtra: 56

Karnataka: 13

Puducherry: 10

Gujarat: 7

Delhi: 5

Rajasthan: 2

Haryana, Sikkim, West Bengal: 1 each

In an interview with ANI, Dr. Suranjit Chatterjee, Senior Consultant of Internal Medicine in Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said that the situation is not such that it can bring panic. "At the moment, the situation is under control. These are sporadic cases, and even those are mild. No hospitalisation is being required," he added. Dr. Chatterjee further added that COVID-19 is now acting like a seasonal flu and can be treated with simple care.

COVID-19 Fatalities Reported

Although for the most part cases have been mild, two fatalities have recently been reported. In Maharashtra's Thane district, a 21-year-old diabetic patient died of the virus, the second COVID-19 fatality reported in the state. An 84-year-old comorbid patient in Karnataka also died from an infection complication.

New Variants Under Watch

Two new variants of COVID-19  NB.1.8.1 (identified in Gujarat) and LF.7 (found in Tamil Nadu)have been identified. Although neither has been declared a variant of concern, both are being closely monitored by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Advisory From Health Ministry

The Union Health Ministry suggested basic precautions, particularly in public or populated spaces. Citizens have been instructed to:

Use masks in populated areas

Practice normal hand hygiene

Don't travel if feeling unwell

Although the increase in cases has not caused panic, authorities remain vigilant to ensure that the spread is contained.




New Delhi: External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar, during his recent visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, conveyed 'Indias appreciation' for the German governments expression of solidarity and support to India in the fight against terrorism.

A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) read, "In his meeting with Chancellor Merz, EAM conveyed the warm greetings and best wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the new federal government in Germany. Chancellor Merz expressed strong support for further deepening the increasingly multifaceted India-Germany Strategic Partnership across diverse sectors. EAM also conveyed Indias appreciation for the German governments expression of solidarity and support to India in the fight against terrorism."

"During his visit, EAM had extensive discussions with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul covering the full spectrum of bilateral cooperation. The two sides also reaffirmed their shared commitment to further expand collaboration in key strategic areas, including defence, digital technologies, AI, green and sustainable development, and talent mobility. They also exchanged perspectives on regional and global developments, reaffirming their countries shared position on combating terrorism without exception, upholding international law, and promoting a multipolar, rules-based international order," the statement further added.

During their extensive discussion, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and EAM Dr S Jaishankar also launched the official logo commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership.

EAM S Jaishankar also focused on further strengthening India-Germany and India-EU trade and investment ties during his visit to the country. He discussed the progress in the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership, including in the field of Green Hydrogen and the infrastructure sector, and Railways, with Katherine Reiche, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs & Energy.

EAM participated in a high-level Think Tank dialogue at the DGAP (German Council on Foreign Relations), engaging with thought leaders and experts on foreign and security policy to advance India-Germany's strategic partnership in promoting global security and stability.

Taking to the social media platform X, Jaishankar appreciated Germany's contribution to deepening the partnership between the countries.

He wrote, "A good interaction today with representatives of the Indian community in Germany. Appreciated their contribution to our deepening partnership. Urged them to share the India Story. And help realize the full potential of our ties."

A good interaction today with representatives of the Indian community in Germany.



Appreciated their contribution to our deepening partnership. Urged them to share the India Story. And help realize the full potential of our ties.



pic.twitter.com/fyGMt7V8ID  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 24, 2025

Dr. S. Jaishankar was on an official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany from 2224 May. His visit to Germany marked a significant milestone in the India-Germany Strategic Partnership, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The visit aimed to further deepen bilateral cooperation and explore new opportunities in various sectors.

The visit is also reflective of the high priority both sides attach to bilateral ties. It led to renewed engagement with the newly constituted German government, injecting fresh momentum into the India-Germany Strategic Partnership and reaffirming the commitment of both sides to further strengthening political, economic, technological, and people-to-people ties between India and Germany. Germany is a strong votary for furthering India-EU ties, including for the expeditious conclusion of the FTA.
Liberia-flagged container vessel capsizes: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in a major rescue operation saved the lives of all 24 crew onboard a Liberia-flagged container vessel, MSC ELSA 3, which developed a severe 26-degree tilt approximately 38 nautical miles southwest of Kochi on Saturday.

The incident occurred after the vessel departed from Vizhinjam Port on May 23, en route to Kochi, when the vessel's operator, MSC Ship Management, alerted Indian authorities to the situation and requested urgent assistance.

The rescue operation was completed on Sunday morning at around 08.30 am, the Indian Coast Guard informed in a thread of posts on the social media platform X.

"Update as of 0830 hrs on 25 May 25:- In the early hours of 25 May 25, the vessel capsized rapidly, reportedly due to flooding in one of the holds. 03 crew remaining onboard abandoned ship and were rescued by INS Sujata, which joined operations last evening. All crew remain safe, and ICG is conducting an assessment of the situation and issuing an advisory to state authorities accordingly. Further updates follow," the post read.

Update as of 0830 hrs on 25 May 25:-



In the early hours of 25 May 25, the vessel capsized rapidly reportedly due to flooding in one of the holds. 03 crew remaining onboard abandoned ship and were rescued by INS Sujata, which joined operations last evening.



All crew remain safe  Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) May 25, 2025

The ICG aircraft were deployed with additional liferafts near the listing vessel for the rescue operations. Meanwhile, the DG Shipping, in coordination with ICG, issued urgent directives to the ships managers to initiate salvage operations to stabilize the vessel and avert further risks.

@IndiaCoastGuard #MRCC, #Mumbai received a Distress Alert regarding Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3 developing 26 list approx 38 nautical miles southwest of #Kochi. Vessel departed #Vizhinjam Port on 23 May 25, bound for #Kochi with ETA 24 May 25. #ICG is actively pic.twitter.com/U7SzOBsE9h  Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) May 24, 2025

Further updates on distressed Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3:

21 crew members rescued, 03 crew members (Captain, Chief Engineer & 2nd Engineer) remain onboard to assist planned salvage operation. @IndiaCoastGuard ships & aircraft continue monitoring the situation.  Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) May 24, 2025

The Indian Coast Guard also posted a close-up video of the distressed Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3.

The developing situation on Saturday was being monitored closely by the ICG to prevent loss of life and damage to the environment, said a press note.

Here are some of the visuals from the rescue operation by the Indian Coast Guard:

Indian coast guard rescues foreign nationals stuck onboard a liberia-flagged container ship that tilted in Arabian Sea. https://t.co/y0RMLUCNUY pic.twitter.com/m2seSmGFRZ  Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) May 25, 2025
The Indian Navy carried out a swift medical evacuation of a critically ill 7-year-old child from Agatti Island in Lakshadweep on Sunday, officials said.

Following an urgent request from the Union Territory of Lakshadweep administration, a Naval Dornier aircraft was immediately dispatched from INS Garuda in Kochi at 3:00 in the afternoon, despite challenging weather conditions. The child, accompanied by parents, was successfully airlifted and brought to Kochi at 6:00 in the evening.

According to a release issued by the Indian Navy, the patient was promptly shifted to a civil hospital for further medical treatment upon arrival.

The operation highlights the Indian Navy's commitment to respond to emergencies and provide assistance - "Anytime, Anywhere."

Indian Coast Guard on Sunday continued its rescue operations to rescue crew of a Liberia-flagged container vessel that had capzised in the Arabian Sea after developing a severe tilt following its departure from the Vizhinjam port in Kerala a day ago.

According to officials involved in the operation, 21 of the 24 crew members onboard have been rescued so far, while the Captain, Chief engineer, and second engineer remained onboard to facilitate planned salvage operations.

The Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3 developed a severe 26-degree tilt on Saturday around 38 nautical miles southwest of Kochi, according to the Coast Guard PRO.

The crew onboard the Coast Guard vessel reported to be hale and hearty.

The Coast Guard PRO stated the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy are maintaining their positions to monitor the situation of the vessel.

Further, they said, the ship is now in a state of equilibrium, with no further listing observed. Indian Navy are currently making assessments to determine if the vessel can be towed, aiming to prevent additional environmental damage.

The 184-metre-long ship had departed from Vizhinjam Port on May 23 and was expected to reach Kochi on May 24.
India-Pakistan Conflict: The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) that once garnered pats on the back for diplomacy between India and Pakistan has been in abeyance for a month. New Delhi's decision that terror and water cannot flow together made a critical point in relations between the two arch-rivals. The Indus Water Treaty has survived multiple conflicts between the two nations, besides thousands of terror attacks.

However, the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the IWT, and there wasn't much left for Pakistan to do in the case. India has maintained that the Indus Water Treaty will be in abeyance until Pakistan "credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism." The Indus River system is made of multiple rivers, including the Indus, Chenab, Beas, Jhelum, Sutlej, and Ravi.

What Is IWT?

In 1951, Pakistan raised the water dispute with India in the United Nations, following which the World Bank started the mediation. After nine years of discussions and negotiations, the Indus Water Treaty was signed in 1960 by then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Pakistani President Mohammad Ayub Khan.

Since then, India and Pakistan have been in several conflicts, including four wars- the First Kashmir War (1947), the Second War (1965), the War of Liberation of Bangladesh (1971), and the Kargil War (1999). Besides, there have been almost three decades of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism plaguing Jammu and Kashmir.

While Pakistan is trying to take the Indus Water Treaty Suspension issue to every corner of the world, it has got support from its all-weather allies, Turkey and China. There have been apprehensions that just like what India did to Pakistan with the IWT, China may do it with India, using the Brahmaputra river, which originates in Tibet and flows to India via China.

Can China Use Brahmaputra Against India?

Although Pakistan wants China to punish India using the Brahmaputra river, Beijing is unlikely to do so in the current scenario, since the reasons for the conflict between India and Pakistan are different from the reasons for skirmishes between India and China.

When asked if China could interpret the Indus Water Treaty suspension as a signal to increase pressure on India through the Brahmaputra, former diplomat and defence expert Deepak Vohra said that the issue about the Brahmaputra has been talked about for a long time. "China has been threatening to build a huge dam, the largest in the world, on the Brahmaputra. They haven't started work yet," said Vohra, while saying that IWT and Brahamputra issues are not linked.

He added that the issues between India and China are on the border demarcation, but with Pakistan, the issues are related to fueling cross-border terrorism.

Does India Have Right To Suspend IWT?

The former diplomat said that when the Indus Water Treaty was inked, India was pretty young back then, and gave away a very large share of water to Pakistan. He informed that while the Indus Water Treaty does not have a clause for amendment, the treaty can be invalidated. "According to the Geneva Convention or the Geneva Law on Treaties, often called Treaty on Treaties, if the circumstances in which a treaty was signed are materially, demographically, politically, or socially altered, then the said treaty can be invalidated," said Vohra.

He continued, "For all practical purposes, the treaty is dead. It's not going to be revived. We have said that if Pakistan demonstrates its commitment to give up terrorism, then India will see what to do. Pakistan is not going to give it up, and therefore, the treaty is not going to be revived."

Vohra said that the IWT has virtually been abrogated except for nomenclature. "Keeping it in abeyance is the same as abrogating it, except for the nomenclature. And we can always tell people who curse and abuse us that it's in abeyance, and has not been terminated," he added.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reiterated his appeal to the citizens to actively participate in the upcoming International Yoga Day on June 21 and lauded the efforts of the Andhra Pradesh government for promoting yoga culture through its YogAndhra Abhiyan campaign.

While addressing the 122nd edition of his monthly radio programme, Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said, "Less than a month is left for 'International Yoga Day'. This occasion reminds us that if you are still away from yoga, join yoga now. Yoga will change the way you live your life. Friends, since the beginning of 'Yoga Day' on June 21, 2015, attraction towards it has risen continuously."

He noted the growing global enthusiasm for yoga, saying, "This time also, the zeal and enthusiasm among people all over the world about 'Yoga Day' is amply visible. Myriad institutions are sharing their preparations. The pictures from past years have been very inspiring. We have seen that during these years, people in various countries have made Yoga Chain or Yoga Ring."

"There are many pictures that depict four generations doing yoga together. Many people have chosen iconic places in their city for yoga. You can also think of celebrating Yoga Day in some interesting way this time," he said.

Referring to Andhra Pradesh's YogAndhra Abhiyan, the Prime Minister said, "Its objective is to develop the yoga culture in the entire state. Under this campaign, a pool of 10 lakh people practising yoga is being created. I will get an opportunity to participate in the 'Yoga Day' programme in Visakhapatnam this year."

The Prime Minister expressed happiness about youth participation in yoga and said, "I am happy to know that this time too our young friends are going to perform yoga at iconic places related to the heritage of the country. Many youth have pledged to create a record and become a part of the Yoga Chain."

He also mentioned that the private and corporate sectors are embracing the yoga culture in innovative ways.

"Our corporations are also not lagging in this. Some institutions have set aside a separate place for yoga practice in their offices. Some startups have set up 'office yoga hours'. Some people are preparing to go to villages and teach yoga. This awareness of people about health and fitness gives me immense joy," PM Modi said.

Alongside yoga, PM Modi also spoke about the recent advancements in the field of Ayurveda and traditional medicine.

"Just yesterday, i.e., on May 24, an MoU was signed in the presence of the WHO Director General and my friend, Tulsi Bhai. Along with this agreement, work has started on a dedicated traditional medicine module under the International Classification of Health Interventions. This initiative will help in making AYUSH reach a maximum number of people across the world scientifically," he added.

PM Modi also mentioned 'sugar boards' being installed in several CBSE-affiliated schools to make people aware of the sugar intake and encourage healthy living.

"You must have seen blackboards in schools, but now 'sugar boards' are also being installed in some schools -- not blackboard, but sugar board! This unique initiative of CBSE aims to make children aware of their sugar intake. By understanding how much sugar should be consumed and how much sugar is being consumed, children have started choosing healthy options themselves. This is a unique effort, and its impact will also be very positive. It can prove to be very helpful in inculcating healthy lifestyle habits from childhood. Many parents have appreciated it, and I believe that such initiatives should also be taken in offices, canteens, and institutions. After all, if there is health, there is everything. Fit India is the foundation of a strong India," PM Modi mentioned.
New Delhi: Is Pakistan running spy networks with immunity from its manicured lawns in New Delhi under the guise of diplomacy? Revelations from top intelligence sources claim that the Pakistan High Commission is serving as a covert command centre for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)  turning visa desks into espionage recruitment hubs and exploiting diplomatic immunity to wage a silent war on Indian soil.

The visa counters, which allegedly work for undercover ISI operatives, are not just stamping papers. They are screening citizens for potential saboteurs and a network of informants. Requesting a local SIM card from applicants, a seemingly mundane ask, becomes the entry ticket into a spider web of espionage. A yes marks you as pliable. The next thing you know, you are passing military site photos or GPS coordinates to people you will never meet.

The ISI has reportedly turned the high commission into a tactical operation zone. Public-facing departments such as visa issuance and grievance redressal have become strategic placement points. Their mission is to exploit and recruit operatives. Embedded within the mission and protected by diplomatic immunity, ISI agents are mapping Indias security infrastructure.

Sources claim the staff have been zeroing in on economically marginalised and and aggrieved communities in states like Uttar Pradesh whwre there is social unrest, poverty and employment. Their pitch? Not ideology, but opportunity. Poverty and injustice become pressure points and are weaponised by trained handlers who know exactly what buttons to push.

People are being lured into espionage without even knowing they are part of larger conspiracy, said a source and added, Some know exactly what they are doing.

It often starts with the High Commissions visa office. In the name of document verification and paperwork delays, ISI officials allegedly examine applicants pliability.

Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotras arrest is just the beginning. She allegedly filmed vlogs from security-sensitive areas and masked surveillance as social content. She is not alone. Reports suggest a surge in social media influencers moonlighting as unwitting informants  traded like tokens in a deadly intelligence game.

Consider this: Mohammad Tarif, a resident of Nuh district, allegedly confessed to giving a SIM card to a High Commission employee. He reportedly even crossed into Pakistan. His case is not an outlier, it is a blueprint.

Once you are in, the tasks escalate  survey troop movement, snap border fencing, report train schedules, etc. It is death by a thousand favors, each more damning than the last.

Protected by the Vienna Convention, embassy staff cannot be easily persecuted or even interrogated even if intelligence agencies identify their roles in espionage. This immunity leads ISI operatives to act with impunity.

To keep their operations away from the radar, ISI handlers rarely contact recruits directly in India. Instead, they funnel commands through middlemen based in countries like Nepal and the UAE. This layered system makes detection almost impossible, until someone slips.

So, for how long will India tolerate what appears to be a foreign intelligence outfit operating with immunity under the veil of diplomacy? This is not only a border issue. It is a national security crisis festering in Lutyens Delhi. And if the allegations are true, India is not dealing with diplomacy. It is fighting a silent invasion.
After the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Yadav expelled his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav from the party for six years, Jan Suraaj's founder and poll-strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor weighed in and asked what Bihar has to do with this expulsion.

Speaking to reporters, Kishor added that if Lalu Yadav declares someone from the 'Yadav caste' as the CM face, except Tejashwi Yadav, Jan Suraaj will show support to the RJD.

ANI quoted Kishor as saying, "What does Bihar have to do with Lalu Yadav expelling someone from the party and family? Did Lalu Yadav say that if there is any able person from the Yadav caste, he will make him the leader? Even now, Lalu Yadav wants Tejashwi Yadav to be the CM. If today Lalu Yadav declares someone from the Yadav caste as the CM face, except Tejashwi Yadav, Jan Suraaj will support him. In reality, these parties that are doing the politics of caste are doing the politics of family."

#WATCH | RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav expels his elder son, Tej Pratap Yadav, from the party for 6 years and also removes him from the family.



In Bihar's Vaishali, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor says, "What Bihar has to do with Lalu Yadav expelling someone from the party and pic.twitter.com/vhaLuSsBP0  ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

Also Read: Lalu Yadav Expels Son Tej Pratap Yadav From RJD For 6 Years, After Social Media Frenzy

Earlier, the RJD Supremo had posted on X that he had removed Tej Pratap Yadav from the party and family. He has been expelled from the party for six years.

"Ignoring moral values in personal life weakens our collective struggle for social justice. The activities, public conduct and irresponsible behavior of the eldest son are not in accordance with our family values and traditions. Therefore, due to the above circumstances, I remove him from the party and family. From now on, he will not have any role of any kind in the party and family. He is expelled from the party for 6 years," Lalu wrote in Hindi.

This expulsion came a day after a picture of Tej Pratap Yadav with his rumored partner went viral on social media. Although he later clarified his X handle that his social media accounts were hacked, and his pictures were being wrongly edited.

The Assembly elections in Bihar are scheduled for later this year.

(with ANI inputs)
The Congress-led government in Karnataka on Sunday revoked the suspension of 18 BJP MLAs, following a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Speaker U.T. Khader.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil, and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, R. Ashoka, according to an official release.

A consensus was reached in the meeting to revoke the suspension order. The decision was taken considering that two months had passed since the suspension, the suspended MLAs had expressed regret over their conduct, and had given an assurance that they would ensure better conduct in future Assembly sessions.

Commenting on the development, Ashoka said: "The Speaker had been in touch with us over the matter for the last 15 days. I had also met him several times, and the issue was brought to the notice of the Chief Minister."

I also spoke to Minister H. K. Patil about the matter twice. I made it clear that the Legislative Assembly cannot serve its purpose if only members of the ruling party are present. The Opposition plays an important role. I clearly stated that without revoking the suspension, the Opposition would not participate in any legislative activity," he said.

"Such incidents have occurred many times in the Assembly. Our MLAs had expressed regret for protesting near the Speakers Chair. It should have ended there. Suspending them for six months was not a good decision; it set a bad precedent and would have affected future sessions," he added.

We discussed everything in detail during the hour-long meeting. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is also the Leader of the House, stated that the suspension could be revoked since the members had expressed regret over their conduct, he said.

"Likewise, Deputy CM Shivakumar and Minister Patil also spoke in favour of revoking the suspension. The Speaker, who is set to leave for the Haj pilgrimage on Monday, wanted to make a decision before his departure. Our MLAs, who are part of various committees, were not participating in committee activities. Hence, the decision was taken to ensure the smooth functioning of the Assembly," Ashoka stated.

The 18 BJP MLAs were suspended for six months, with immediate effect, on March 21 on charges of showing disrespect to the Speakers Chair.

The suspension came after the MLAs disrupted proceedings by staging a protest in the well of the House, demanding a judicial or CBI probe into the alleged honey trap attempt involving Minister for Cooperation, K.N. Rajanna.

The Speaker had announced the suspension of the MLAs - former Deputy Chief Minister C. N. Ashwath Narayan, Doddanagouda H. Patil, S.R. Vishwanath, Byrathi Basavaraj, M.R. Patil, Channabasappa, B. Suresh Gowda, Umanath Kotayan, Sharan Salagar, Shailendra Beldal, C.K. Ramamurthy, Yashpal S. Suvarna, Harish B.P., Y. Bharat Shetty, N. Munirathna, Basavaraj Muttimud, Dhiraj Muniraj, and Chandru Lamani - and directed them to leave the house. However, BJP members gathered in the well of the house and strongly protested the move.

The suspended members were literally lifted out of the Assembly by marshals after the house was adjourned, creating a huge furore in the state.
New Delhi: With China being reportedly behind it, Pakistan is quietly but aggressively boosting its nuclear arsenal. The revelation has been made by a new World Threat Assessment by U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency. Pakistan continues to see India, as per the report, not as a rival but as an existential threat.

Released on May 25, the pulls no punches. It says that that the Pakistans military is not only revamping its nuclear stockpile but also acquiring materials and technology required for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) from foreign suppliers  especially from China. These transfers  the report suggests  are routed through the UAE, Turkey, Singapore and Hong Kong to make them harder to trace.

Pakistans Game Plan

It is not only nukes, Pakistans military focus is also on cross-border skirmishes with neighbours, upgrading its nuclear command and control and acquiring advanced tech to support WMD capabilities.

And India? Pakistan  the report makes it crystal clear  continues to see India as a fundamental threat to its existence. With an aim to counter-balance Indias superior conventional forces, Islamabad is pursuing development of battlefield nuclear weapons.

Chinas Double-Edged Role

Despite being Pakistans largest military supplier, the report highlights, the relation between Beijing and Islamabad is far from smooth. Why? An increasing number of attacks on Chinese nationals working in Pakistan has soured relations between the two nations.

Although China is investing in Pakistan, yet it is also losing patience with the Islamabads inability to protect Beijings nationals lives on its soil.

India Responds With Firepower

India is not seemingly sitting quietly. The U.S. highlights New Delhis swift response to late April Pahalgam terror attack. Indian armed forces launched a precision strike on terror-linked infrastructures inside Pakistan and that escalated fast. From May 7 to 10, militaries from both sides exchanged missiles, drones, loitering munitions and heavy artillery fire. Though the exchange was intense, yet, by May 10, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire.

Strategic Depth Over Tactical Noise

India also seems to work smarter. The report notes New Delhis rising push to enter into defence partnerships across the Indian Ocean region. It is a strategy to contain Chinas increasing influence.

There is a progress even on Chinas front. New Delhi and Beijing both have agreed to disengage troops from two contentious points along the eastern Ladakh border. But let us be clear: the underlying border dispute still remains unresolved.

Now a Missile Statement

Indias military upgradation is not only about border skirmishes, the report hails New Delhis push for self-reliance in defence production under the Made in India initiative. Take for instance, commissioning of a second nuclear-powered submarine, development of Agni-V with MIRVs (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) and testing of Agni-I Prime (a medium-range ballistic missile).

Russia Still in Picture

In spite of reducing new arms purchases, India has not severed ties with Russia. The report says that New Delhi may maintain its strategic defence ties with Moscow through 2025 because of its ongoing dependence on Russian spare parts for existing platforms.

In nut shell, though Pakistan is arming itself up with the support of China, India is not only responding but also evolving. From indigenous defence development to strategic alliances and battlefield strikes, New Delhi is crafting a response  which is not only about todays threats but also tomorrows dominance.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sunday, hailed the valour of India's armed forces during 'Operation Sindoor', a military operation launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, and asserted that the operation is a testament to India's resolve, courage, and transformation.

While addressing the 122nd episode of his monthly radio programme, Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi underscored that the entire country is united against terrorism and is determined and filled with anger.

"Today, the entire country is united against terrorism, is filled with anger, and is determined. Today, this is the resolve of every Indian: we have to end terrorism. The valour displayed by our forces during Operation Sindoor has made every Indian proud."

Highlighting the valour of the armed forces, PM said, "The valour displayed by our forces during 'Operation Sindoor' has made every Indian proud. The precision with which our forces destroyed the terrorist hideouts across the border is amazing. This operation has given new confidence and enthusiasm to the fight against terror across the world."

During the address, PM Modi also threw light upon the success of indigenous weapons used during the 'Operation Sindoor', stating, "Our soldiers destroyed the terror bases; it was their indomitable courage, and it included the power of weapons, equipment, and technology made in India. It also had the resolve of 'self-reliant India'. The sweat of our engineers, our technicians, and everyone involved in this victory."

Speaking about the 'Operation Sindoor', the Prime Minister emphasised that it is not just a military mission, but a picture of India's resolve, courage, and changing India, and this picture has filled the entire country with patriotic feelings and coloured it in the tricolour.

"The precision and accuracy with which our forces destroyed the terrorist hideouts across the border is extraordinary. Operation Sindoor is not just a military mission; it is a picture of our resolve, courage, and a transforming India, and this picture has infused the whole country with a sense of patriotism and has painted it in the hues of the tricolour," the PM said.

During his address to the nation, PM Modi said that Operation Sindoor has sparked a sense of patriotism across the country, with many citizens participating in 'Tiranga Yatras' to pay respects to the armed forces. The operation has also inspired a renewed energy for "Vocal for Local," with people pledging to support Indian-made products. Some notable outcomes include.

"Tiranga Yatras were organized across cities, villages, and towns, with thousands holding the national flag to honor our armed forces. In many places, youth enthusiastically joined civil defense efforts, with notable participation in cities like Chandigarh, where videos showcasing their dedication went viral," he noted.

PM Modi stated, "In a heartwarming display of patriotism, many families across India have named their newborns 'Sindoor' in tribute to Operation Sindoor. In Katihar, Bihar, one family named their baby girl Sindoor, symbolizing both patriotic sentiment and emotional unity. Similarly, in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, 17 newborn girls were named Sindoor, with parents considering it an honor to pay tribute to the nation. This trend reflects a surge in patriotic pride following India's military operation against terror camps in Pakistan."

PM Modi said that the operation has set a new precedent in India's counter-terrorism strategy, showcasing a measured approach that balances military action with restraint.
New Delhi: A leaked internal report from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has blown the lid off the massive damage inflicted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) during Operation Sindoor. The report exposes that Islamabad had so far managed to keep tightly under wraps.

The document reveals that the IAFs strikes severely damaged at least seven Pakistani airbases, key command and communication centres, power grids and the countrys digital military network infrastructure.

The Nur Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi suffered the heaviest damage, with its entire digital system reportedly obliterated. Other critical installations hit include Mushaf Airbase in Sargodha, Minhas Airbase in Kamra, Faisal Airbase in Karachi, MM Alam Airbase in Lodhran, Masroor Airbase in Karachi, Islamabad Airbase and even the PAF Headquarters, including its central command centre in Islamabad.

Report Lays It Bare

Based on post-strike assessments, the leaked document outlines the immediate need for repairs and recovery across all affected facilities. It calls for urgent restoration of equipment, digital systems and operational capacity.

The report reveals that the elite DA-20 electronic warfare jet, operated by the 24 Squadron Blinders from Nur Khan Airbase, was critically hit. The aircraft plays an important role in radar jamming and electronic warfare.

Several high-value aircraft, including AW-139 helicopters, sustained damage. The entire electronic warfare capability at MM Alam Airbase is said to have been rendered non-functional.

According to the internal report, the operations limited scope still managed to expose the fragility of Pakistans military infrastructure. The repairs and emergency responses were not pre-planned. They were triggered after India launched Operation Sindoor in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Power Grids, Cyber Systems in Shambles

The report mentions critical damage to Pakistan Air Forces cyber capabilities, mission planning systems and data processing infrastructure. Nur Khan, MM Alam and Faisal airbases have urgently requested vehicle-mounted power generators of 500 KVA and 45 KVA, which are typically used when permanent infrastructure is destroyed.

In addition, there are requests for Intel i9 processors, Nvidia A6000 GPUs, servers, RAID storage systems and network controllers  a clear indication of the level of technological collapse.

Minhas Airbase has asked for CNC machines, welding machines and hydraulic presses to repair damaged airframes  suggesting that structural damage was also extensive.

A Telling Blow

What makes the revelations even more striking is the contrast between the limited nature of Indias operation and the extensive damage suffered by Pakistan. Despite the strikes being targeted and restrained, the ripple effect was large enough to paralyse critical military functions  especially electronic warfare capabilities.

This internal report lays bare the shocking vulnerability of Pakistans Air Force and delivers a powerful message  if this was Indias limited response, a full-scale assault would be catastrophic for Pakistans military infrastructure.

Once dependent on denial, media blackout and propaganda, Pakistan now finds itself exposed by its own internal documents  a devastating PR disaster and a sobering reminder of its strategic weakness.

India has spoken not with words, but with precision airstrikes. And the message is loud and clear: the old rules no longer apply.
Recent satellite imagery suggests that Pakistans strategically important Nur Khan airbase sustained more extensive damage during Indias Operation Sindoor than previously believed. Nur Khan, a vital hub for Pakistans drone and VIP air fleet, is located in Rawalpindi, less than 25 kilometres from Islamabad. The base is a high-value target, housing key assets of the Pakistan Air Force.

A review of Nur Khan Airbase, Pakistan, reveals the entire complex near Indias strike location has now been demolished, suggesting the strikes effect went beyond the two special-purpose truckspossibly presenting a broader footprint of the damage, defence analyst Damien Symon posted on X.

A fresh assessment reveals that a large complex near the strike site has been demolished, expanding the perceived impact of the Indian Air Forces precision strikes.

According to The Intel Lab, which shared the latest satellite visuals, the destruction appears to go beyond the previously reported damage to two special-purpose trucks. Earlier reports based on satellite analysis indicated that India carried out precision strikes between May 8 and 10, targeting infrastructure and ground support systems at the Rawalpindi-based airbase. The attack was viewed as both strategic and symbolic, as the base lies close to the Pakistan Armys headquarters and serves as the command centre for air mobility operations. These operations include Saab Erieye airborne early warning systems, C-130 transport aircraft, and IL-78 mid-air refuelling planes, which are critical for logistics, surveillance, and operational coordination.

The base also houses Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones and Pakistans indigenous Shahpar-I drones, used for targeting and surveillance missions.

Nur Khan is central to Pakistans drone warfare strategy and hosts the countrys elite pilot training and VIP fleet, including the presidential aircraft. The scale of the strike has exposed significant vulnerabilities in Pakistans air defence system.

Adding to the narrative, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently revealed that he was awakened in the early hours of May 11 by army chief General Syed Asim Munir, who informed him that Indian ballistic missiles had hit multiple airbases, including Nur Khan.

Recently, Sharif said during a public meeting that he had received a call from General Munir at 2:30 a.m. on a secure line. He told him that India had just launched ballistic missiles, and one of them fell at Nur Khan Airport. He was speaking on Youm-e-Tashakur (Day of Thanks).

According to Sharif, Pakistan retaliated by striking Indian locations, including Pathankot and Udhampur. The escalation followed the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan. In response, Pakistan attempted missile attacks on May 8, 9, and 10.

On May 10, Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry confirmed in a 4 a.m. press conference that India had targeted Nur Khan (Rawalpindi), Murid (Chakwal), and Rafiqui (Jhang) airbases. His statement confirms that Nur Khan was one of the closest Indian strike points to Islamabad. By the evening of May 10, both sides announced that they had agreed to de-escalate the confrontation after four days of intense military engagement across the border.
The All-Party Delegation, led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Baijayant Jay Panda, met Abdul Nabi Salman, the First Deputy Speaker of the Council of Representatives, on Sunday. Earlier, the delegation also held a meeting with Bahrain's Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa. The Delegation would carry forth to the world Indias strong message of zero-tolerance against terrorism.

Talking to the news agency ANI, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi revealed the topics that were raised by the Delegation in Bahrain as a part of Indias anti-terrorism push.

Here are the top points that were brought up:

1- Terror Attacks In India

In today's meeting, we presented India's side. We told them that for many years, terrorists aided and trained by Pakistan have been carrying out terror attacks in India, and many people have lost their lives. We gave them all the data. Be it Mumbai blast, train blast, suicide attack in front of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Pulwama, Pathankot attack Owaisi said.

He added that India told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in December 2023 that The Resistance Front (TRF) should be banned.

2- Asim Munirs Speech

ANI quoted the AIMIM Chief as saying, We also talked about Asim Munir's speech on April 15, what he said about Kashmir. Pakistan's involvement is also proved by the fact that after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the TRF organisation admitted it twice.

3- Pak Trying To Create Instability: Owaisi

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, "We are saying that India does not want this, but the neighbouring country is trying to create instability in India. It is trying to increase hatred between Hindus and Muslims in India. These terrorists come from there. So, a very good meeting was held.

4- Push For Bringing Pak Back On FATF Grey List

Owaisi stated that the Delegation also said in the meeting that Pakistan should be brought back on the grey list. He added, Bahrain is going to be a member of the Security Council in 2026-27, so it was better from that point of view as well.

FATF is the Financial Action Task Force, the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.

5- Efforts To Destablish

Owaisi told ANI, We told them (the Bahrain government) that the efforts being made to destabilise India are not right. Neither is it good for South Asia, nor for the region. They also said that many people from different parts of India live here, so they all agreed that the people of India have made a huge contribution here. We also put forward our point.

All-Party Delegation To Bahrain

The Indian Embassy in Bahrain said that the two sides discussed issues of mutual interest.

"As part of the visit, MP Jayant Jay Panda and the accompanying parliamentary delegation met Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, where they discussed a number of issues of mutual interest, and emphasized India's commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms," Indian Embassy in Bahrain posted on X.

The all-party delegation, led by BJP's Baijayant Jay Panda, includes AIMIM MP Owaisi, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP Phangnon Konyak, BJP MP Rekha Sharma, BJP MP Satnam Singh Sandhu, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, and former Indian diplomat Harsh Shringla.

Indias All-Party Outreach

It was announced that in the context of Operation Sindoor and India's continued fight against cross-border terrorism, seven All-Party Delegations will visit key partner countries, including members of the UNSC. Meetings in several countries are underway.

The seven delegations aim to brief various countries on India's response to the gruesome April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism.

The seven group of delegations will visit Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, the UK, France, Germany, the EU, Italy, Denmark, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Singapore, the UAE, Liberia, Congo, Sierra Leone, the US, Panama, Guyana, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, Russia, Egypt, Qatar, Ethiopia, and South Africa.

Pakistan had launched drone and missile attacks in the Indian territory after the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Later, a ceasefire agreement was reached after the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of Pakistan contacted his Indian counterpart.

(with ANI inputs)
New Delhi: A high-stakes Indian flight, carrying an Operation Sindoor delegation, circled over Moscow skies as drones swarmed the Russian capital on Thursday night. It forced a tense delay just as anti-terror message was about to land.

Led by DMK MP Kanimozhi, the delegation was en route to the city as part of Indias global outreach to justify its precision military strike against Pakistan and expose the neighbours deep rooted terror networks.

Just before the landing, Moscows skies suddenly turned hostile. The flight had to hover in the air for around 45 minutes in the middle of drone strikes by Ukraine Finally, the aircraft eventually touched down safely.

Indias Battle Narrative Goes Global

Kanimozhis delegation includes NCP MP Jawed Ashraf, AAP MP Ashok Kumar Mittal, RJD MP Pred Chand Gupta, BJP MP Captain Brijesh Chowkta, NCP MP Mian Altaf Ahmad, SP MP Rajeev Rai and former Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri.

On arrival at Moscows Domodedovo Airport the Honble Members of Parliament @KanimozhiDMK , @RajeevRai , @CaptBrijesh , @guptapc50 , @DrAshokKMittal and Ambassador @ambmanjeevpuri , welcomed by Ambassador @vkumar1969 . A busy schedule of meetings and interactions awaits them in pic.twitter.com/p5fStqNYnh  India in Russia (@IndEmbMoscow) May 22, 2025

What is their mission? Take Indias case against Pakistans terror hubs, its role in the April 22 Pahalgam attack and Indias bold military response to the international stage. The operation shattered several Pakistani digital warfare systems and airbases.

In addition to Russia, the delegation will also visit Spain, Latvia, Greece and Slovenia to rally support and present classified visuals of dismantled Pakistani terror launch pads.

Drone Chaos in Moscow

Meanwhile, the drone attack launched by Ukraine against Moscow was one of the most intense in months. Over 100 drones were launched  with 35 directly targeting Moscow.

Russia claimed it intercepted most of the drones, but it disrupted the air traffic and caused panic across the capital.

#WATCH | Moscow, Russia: Russia's Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, led by Andrei Denisov - First Deputy Chair of the Committee, holds a meeting with the all-party delegation led by DMK MP Kanimozhi in Moscow. India's Ambassador to Russia, Vinay Kumar and pic.twitter.com/oQ0BSlG8EV  ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2025

According to Russias defence ministry, its air defence systems intercepted and shattered 105 drones.

Moscows Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confimed another barrage of 11 drones was intercepted and neatralised as they neared the capital.

Symbolic Irony?

Fighting to expose Pakistans use of proxy terrorism, the Indian delegation, in a twist laced with irony, found itself momentarily caught in the middle of ongoing war between two countries where covert operations and drone warfare dominate the battlefield.

But the mission of India is clear  take Operation Sindoor ahead of military objectives and reframe the global conversation around terrorism, preemptive action and accountability. And therefore, the sky full of drones could not stop that message from landing.
Echoing Indias resolve of zero tolerance against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asserted that no one in Pakistan can take India for granted and kill Indians without facing consequences.

Tharoor, leader of an all-party delegation to the United States, on Saturday (local time) emphasised that Operation Sindoor, carried out by the Armed Forces to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack, marks a new normal in India's approach to combating terrorism.

"There has now got to be a new normal. No one sitting in Pakistan is going to be allowed to believe that they can just walk across the border and kill our citizens with impunity. There will be a price to pay, and that price has been going up systematically," he said.

Tharoor said that New Delhi conveyed a clear message to Islamabad to stop hostilities, but it chose to respond with indiscriminate shelling, killing 19 civilians and injuring 59, including Carmelite nuns and Sikhs worshipping in a Gurudwara.

"It was officially conveyed to Pakistan to stop that act. There is a regular hotline between the two directors general of military operations. The message was conveyed that this was the intent, that it was pointed out that no military targets, no civilian targets, and no governmental targets had been hit, not even by accident. And that the message therefore had been delivered exactly and precisely to the terrorists and their handlers," he said.

"Nonetheless, Pakistan chose to respond and respond, I'm sorry to say, with indiscriminate shelling across the border on the very first day and night, which sadly killed 19 civilians and grievously injured 59 others, including Carmelite nuns in a convent and Sikhs worshipping in a gurudwara. And others who happened to simply be in the line of fire because they lived in districts adjoining the Pakistani border," he said.

However, after this incident, the Congress veteran said, India retaliated by hitting 11 Pakistani military targets, including a well-known air base near Pakistan's military headquarters.

"When this happened, India had no choice but to retaliate in kind. The matters got worse the next day as the Pakistanis followed up artillery shelling with a serious invasion of drones and missiles. India's air defences were able to hold them off, but in turn India returned the compliment and on the night of 10th May, India hit 11 Pakistani military targets, including a rather well-known air base that's just 1.5 kilometres away from the military headquarters of Pakistan and Rawalpindi," he said.

Tharoor said that after this attack by India, Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations called the Indian side and asked for a cessation of offensives  something that India always supported.

"The following morning, we got a call that our director general of military operations got a call from the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations saying they'd like to stop this, and we said we've been saying all along. We didn't want to start anything. We were just sending a message to terrorists. You started; we replied. If you stop, we'll stop," he said.

Tharoor said that although India bemoans the loss of lives, it also indicates a renewed sense of determination.

"And they stopped. There was an 88-hour war. We look back on that with a great deal of frustration because it needn't have happened at all. Lives have been lost, but at the same time, we look back on this experience with a steely and renewed sense of determination," he said.

The all-party delegation to the United States, Guyana, Panama, Brazil, and Colombia led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor comprises Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar K Lata (all from BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena), and former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

The delegation was welcomed by the Indian Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra.

In a post on X, the Indian Consulate in New York said, "Carrying forth to the world India's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism! The All-Party Delegation, led by Dr Shashi Tharoor welcomed by Amb. Vinay Mohan Kwatra in New York."

The Tharoor-led delegation engaged with prominent think tanks, academic institutions, and members of the media in New York, highlighting the strategic ties between India and the United States and underscoring collaborative efforts to tackle the evolving threat of terrorism. The delegation conveyed India's firm message of zero tolerance and unified national resolve against terrorism.

The delegation will project India's national consensus and firm stance on combating terrorism in all its forms. They will carry India's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism to the global community during their outreach.
All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba was attacked by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday after she accidentally called the recent counter-terror operation 'Operation Sindoor' 'Operation Blue Star' while addressing a media gathering at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi.

In her comments to the press, Lamba called on the government to summon a session of Parliament to apprise lawmakers of what she erroneously referred to as "Operation Blue Star," a nod to the 1984 military operation inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar  a touchy topic in Indian political annals.

Lamba in her statement blamed BJP leaders of politicising the latest military operation and glossing over the victims of the Poonch terror attack, while seeking credit for 'Operation Sindoor'. She also screened a video of BJP MP Vijay Shah making objectionable comments about Colonel Sophiya Qureshi.

Joining her criticism, Lamba quoted Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, who stated that the Indian military forces and the country bow down before Prime Minister Narendra Modi for directing Operation Sindoor, which was conducted following a terror attack attributed to Pakistan.

Upon realising her error, Lamba admitted the gaffe, saying, "The issues I raised were so serious that BJP leaders listened carefully and even noted every word. I thank them for that." In a sarcastic reply, she said, "If I mistakenly say something other than Operation Sindoor once, the BJP uses it to divert attention from the real issues."

This is not ignorance

It is mischief and deliberate



Not slip of tongue but slip of mindset



Undermine our forces is Congress objective



Alka Lamba does it after Kharge ji, Manjunath , Channi and others..



Op Bluestar? pic.twitter.com/BmBh0Erfn0  Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) May 25, 2025

The BJP was swift to pounce on the gaffe, with the party's spokesman Shehzad Poonawala denouncing Lamba's remark. "This is not ignorance, it is deliberate mischief  not a slip of the tongue, but a slip of mindset," Poonawala tweeted on X (formerly Twitter), blaming the Congress for discrediting the armed forces.

The political controversy takes place at a time of increased sensitivity ever since India conducted recent counter-terror raids and the larger national debate regarding politicisation of military actions.
Delhi Weather: Severe waterlogging and thunderstorms were witnessed in several parts of Delhi on Sunday morning as heavy rainfall in the wee hours threw normal life out of gear in the city. Areas affected include Moti Bagh, Minto Road, and near Delhi Airport Terminal 1.

Following the heavy rainfall, Delhi Airport issued a passenger advisory informing that some flights have been impacted due to the prevailing weather conditions. "Due to adverse weather conditions last night, some flights have been impacted. Passengers are advised to check their flight status regularly and stay in touch with airline staff for updates," the Delhi Airport advisory read.

Delhi Airport issued a passenger advisory at 06:50 am



"Due to adverse weather conditions last night, some flights have been impacted. Passengers are advised to check their flight status regularly and stay in touch with airline staff for updates." pic.twitter.com/o90N268q6x  ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

Multiple visuals surfaced from several parts of the national capital, where people were seen braving waterlogging with cars cutting through submerged roads.

#WATCH | Severe waterlogging witnessed at Subroto Park area after heavy rain lashed Delhi pic.twitter.com/RONLcfmdo4  ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

Vehicles were seen submerged in water in several areas due to waterlogging. A bus and a car were submerged in water in the Delhi Cantt area due to heavy rains, causing severe waterlogging in several parts of the National Capital.

#WATCH | Delhi | A bus and a car are submerged in water in the Delhi Cantt area after heavy rains caused severe waterlogging in several parts of the National Capital pic.twitter.com/QTiB4OThIO  ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

In another visual that surfaced from Delhi's Minto Road, a car was seen submerged due to severe waterlogging caused by incessant rainfall.

#WATCH | A car submerged as heavy rainfall causes severe waterlogging in parts of Delhi.



(Visuals from Minto Road) pic.twitter.com/HmRv09CEpV  ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2025

The heavy downpour across Delhi-NCR came hours after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for the region and nearby areas, warning of strong thunderstorms, rain, and high-speed winds over the next two to three hours.

The weather department, in its bulletin, has also predicted that Delhi will continue to witness showers accompanied by thunderstorms throughout the next week. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 40 degrees Celsius with high chances of cloudy skies.



The red alert is part of a Nowcast warning based on the current weather conditions. According to the IMD, a thunderstorm cell is approaching Delhi and adjoining areas from the west/northwest. Under its influence, severe thunderstorm or dust-raising wind activity accompanied by frequent lightning and gusty winds (speed reaching 40-60 km/h or more) will likely affect parts of the city in the next 1 to 2 hours.

In the wake of the inclement weather, the weather department urged residents to take necessary precautions and cautioned people to avoid open spaces and not to take shelter under trees. They have also asked citizens to avoid weak walls or unstable structures and stay away from water bodies.

Recently, on Wednesday, a cloud mass entered North Delhi and moved south-southeastwards, triggering a dust storm and strong winds. The winds blew at speeds of 50-60 kmph, gusting up to 70 kmph, accompanied by light rainfall earlier in the evening.

Power disruptions were reported in several areas across the capital after an intense dust storm, followed by thunderstorms, hail, and rain lashed parts of Delhi.
New Delhi: National sweetheart and pan-India star Rashmika Mandanna is grabbing headlines yet again, this time for her charming appearance alongside the mischievous alien Stitch in Disneys live-action summer release, Lilo & Stitch. The actress, who recently introduced Stitch as her BFF, has now sparked even more curiosity with a heartwarming photo of the duo, igniting speculation about what surprises lie ahead.

Rashmika, who lends her persona to the beloved character Lilo, has been actively promoting the film, with fans buzzing over the adorable chemistry between her and the animated icon. Released in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, the live-action adaptation is currently in theatres and has generated significant excitement among Disney lovers and Rashmikas loyal fanbase alike.

The actresss summer is heating up beyond Disney, as she gears up for a major role in Maddock Films Thama, joining the studios successful horror-comedy universe, known for Stree, Bhediya, and Munjya. Starring opposite Ayushmann Khurrana, the film is touted as one of this years most anticipated releases.

Rashmikas calendar is packed with blockbusters, including Kubera with Dhanush and the much-awaited Pushpa 3, where she reprises her role as Srivalli. Her upcoming films The Girlfriend and Rainbow also promise emotionally rich performances, further showcasing her versatility and expanding reach as one of Indias most dynamic stars.

Despite her packed schedule, Rashmika continues to connect with fans, offering behind-the-scenes glimpses and updates from her shoots.
Mumbai: Actress Triptii Dimri is on cloud nine as she has once again joined forces with 'Animal' director Sandeep Reddy Vanga for her next. The diva has been roped in for the filmmaker's much-anticipated flick "Spirit".

Sharing one of the biggest professional updates in her career to date, Triptii wrote on her Instagram handle, "Still sinking in.So grateful to be trusted with this journey Thank you @sandeepreddy.vanga ..honoured to be a part of your vision."

The 'Bulbbul' actress will be seen sharing screen space with Prabhas in this ambitious project. "Spirit" will mark Triptii's first professional association with the 'Baahubali' actor.

Triptii will be replacing Deepika Padukone as the leading lady for "Spirit". Recently, reports surfaced that Deepika has backed out from Sandeep Reddy Vanga's next.

While the reason for her exit is not known, if the reports are to be believed, the director was discouraged by the long list of demands from the diva, which reportedly included limited working hours, a significant paycheck, and a share in the films profits.

"Spirit" was supposed to be Deepika's second collaboration with Prabhas after "Kalki 2898 AD" last year.

Produced by T-Series in collaboration with Bhadrakali Pictures, Prabhas is expected to play a fierce and intense cop in "Spirit".

Presently in the pre-production stage, the movie is likely to go on floors in 2025.

Up next, Triptii will be seen in Shazia Iqbal's "Dhadak 2", where she will be seen opposite Siddhant Chaturvedi. Presented by Zee Studios, Dharma Productions, and Cloud 9 Pictures, the movie is an official sequel to the 2018 hit "Dhadak", which marked the debut of both Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter.

Furthermore, Triptii has an exciting lineup with promising projects such as "Arjun Ustara", alongside Shahid Kapoor, "Ma Behan" with Madhuri Dixit, "Animal Park", co-starring Ranbir Kapoor, and an untitled movie starring 'KGF' star Yash.
Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 303 prisoners on Sunday, completing the largest prisoner exchange under an agreement reached during their recent talks in Istanbul, Turkiye.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that 303 Russian servicemen have "returned from Kiev-controlled territory," while an equivalent number of Ukrainian prisoners have also been freed.

Among those released were personnel from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X, Xinhua news agency reported.

The freed Russian prisoners are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, where they are being provided with necessary psychological and medical assistance, said the Russian Defence Ministry.

Following their direct negotiations in Istanbul on May 16, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each, marking the largest prisoner swap since the start of the conflict in 2022.

On Friday, both sides exchanged 270 soldiers and 120 civilians, followed by a 307-for-307 swap of military personnel on Saturday.

The three-day exchange of prisoners was the 65th swap of captives between the two sides since the start of the conflict and the sixth of its kind this year, according to Ukraine's Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
A prophecy from Japanese manga creator and claimed clairvoyant Ryo Tatsuki has instigated global fear and a dramatic drop in travel bookings to Japan, mainly from East Asia. The artist's prophecy of a disastrous tsunami in July 2025, supposedly derived from repeated dreams, went viral, resulting in a 50% fall in tourist bookings in some areas, according to The Japan Daily.

Tourism Impact And Public Anxiety

The dire prediction, fueled by social media and online influencers, has hit hardest at travel from such nations as South Korea and China, leading airlines and tour operators to modify flight timetables and packages. The tourism industry of Japan, already dealing with post-pandemic recovery efforts, is now coping with the consequences of a spate of doomsday rumors.

Tourism Impact And Public Anxiety

The dire prediction, fueled by social media and online influencers, has hit hardest at travel from such nations as South Korea and China, leading airlines and tour operators to modify flight timetables and packages. The tourism industry of Japan, already dealing with post-pandemic recovery efforts, is now coping with the consequences of a spate of doomsday rumors.

Who Is Ryo Tatsuki?

Ryo Tatsuki became cult famous through her illustrated novel The Future I Saw, originally published in 1999. The novel, which combines manga narrative with diary-like accounts of her prophetic nightmares, developed cult status following a number of her earlier predictions seeming to correspond with actual events.

Tatsuki's forecasts are presented in a minimal, matter-of-fact style without dramatic interpretation, which many followers believe added credibility. Her 2021 update included a forewarning of a devastating undersea rupture between Japan and the Philippines in July 2025, expected to unleash a tsunami and possible volcanic activity. The apocalyptic nature of the prediction has earned her comparisons to the late mystic Baba Vanga.

Experts Denounce Prediction As Unscientific

But seismologists and disaster specialists have refuted the prophecy strongly. University of Tokyo disaster prevention expert Sekiya Naoya said, "There is no way, with todays science, to predict exactly when and where an earthquake will occur." He cautioned against believing the assertion, saying any shaking during the forecasted time period would be coincidental as reported by news agency India Today.

Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai also made a public statement on April 23, calling on people to reject "groundless and destructive" rumors, which he claimed were harming local economies and shattering the reputation of Japan's travel industry.

Government And Industry Response

To counter the increasing hysteria, Japanese authorities and tourism organisations are stepping in to combat the dissemination of misinformation. Emergency communication efforts have been launched, and regional administrations are actively communicating with members of the public with a view to reestablishing confidence in the official weather and geological predictions.

Despite the viral traction of Tatsuki's prediction, scientific consensus remains firm: natural disasters cannot be predicted with specific dates, and panic rooted in pseudoscience serves only to harm public confidence and economic stability.

As Japan braces for the peak of its summer travel season, authorities continue to monitor the situation while advocating for calm and critical thinking amid rising online speculation.
New Delhi: The Donald Trump administration's controversy with Harvard University escalated as the US President, Sunday, defended his government's move to block the university's ability to enroll international students. He claimed that Harvard, which has a significant international student population, isn't transparent about these students despite repeated requests for information.

This fresh attack comes after a judge suspended the Trump government's action, sparking a heated debate about academic freedom and immigration policies.

In a post on Truth Social, the US President wrote, "Why isnt Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their students education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that!"

Training his gun further on the university, he added, "We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isnt exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!"

The controversy sparked on Friday after the Trump administration revoked Harvard's right to enroll foreign students, citing the university's refusal to comply with government demands. Harvard has called the move "unlawful" and is working to provide guidance and support to its international students and scholars.

The decision has significant implications for Harvard's 6,800 international students, who make up over a quarter of the university's student body. These students may need to shift to another university to maintain their non-immigrant status or risk deportation. The controversy highlights the complex relationship between the US government and private universities, raising questions about the government's authority to dictate student enrollment.
Near the beginning of his sermon one Sunday in February, after an anti-abortion activist had told congregants of the latest effort to change Nebraska's constitution to grant rights to eggs, embryos and fetuses, an Omaha pastor addressed attendees who, he said, appeared "uncomfortable" in the face of "the church's call to end abortion."

"I want to tell you something: That's not who you are," Alex Hall, a founding pastor at Revival Church in central Omaha, told his parishioners over the subdued accompaniment of an organist playing in the background.

"Because you're a child of God, and a child of God loves what is righteous and hates what is evil," he said, his voice rising. "There's a demon inside of you. There's a devil inside of you that's been planted from this world. Right now, I just want to pray for deliverance over you."

It is here, at a 4-year-old startup church and at pulpits across the state, where Nebraska's most devout anti-abortion advocates hope to sow an amendment to the state's constitution that would effectively outlaw abortions at any stage of pregnancy with no exceptions.

Grassroots advocates with the anti-abortion group Choose Life Now  including Rose Kohl, an Omaha woman who had shared her message with her fellow congregants at Revival Church ahead of Hall's sermon in February  filed paperwork in January with Nebraska's secretary of state to begin circulating a petition that would do just that.

The petition, which volunteer canvassers began collecting signatures for in February, would replace the 12-week abortion ban Nebraska voters approved in November with new language in the state's constitution.

"A preborn child at every stage of development is a person, the proposed amendment reads. Wherever under Nebraska law the term person is used or implied, it shall include such a child.

Because Choose Life Now is seeking to amend the state constitution, circulators will need to gather valid signatures from 10% of registered voters  more than 125,000 Nebraskans, including at least 5% of voters in 38 of the state's 93 counties  before next July to crack the 2026 ballot.

Every successful petition effort in Nebraska in the past decade has spent $1.5 million or more on gathering signatures and campaigning.

But the Choose Life Now campaign  which had $2,275 on hand at the end of April, according to the latest state campaign finance records  hopes to take a different path to the ballot: through Nebraska's churches.

"Those of us on the team have already contacted the pastor of the church that we attend, and my church already preached an amazing sermon on it," Kohl said in an interview Friday, referring to Hall's sermon in February.

"We are planning to send a letter to all the churches in Nebraska," she said, later adding: "We haven't done that yet, but that definitely is our plan."

The group launched a last-minute bid to gain ballot access with an identical amendment last year but came up short in a failure organizers attributed to their short runway and limited funding. Choose Life Now had fewer than three months to collect more than 120,000 signatures with zero paid circulators.

Meanwhile, rival campaigns seeking to establish the 12-week abortion ban and the right to abortion access "until fetal viability" combined to raise nearly $25 million ahead of November's election. Both proposals gained ballot access, making Nebraskans the first voters in the country to face an either-or vote on abortion access.

Voters chose the 12-week ban, which received $830,000 from the Wisconsin-based nonprofit Catholic Vote and was boosted by religious organizations in the state, including the Nebraska Catholic Conference, which spent at least $112,608 on postcards, mailers or signage supporting the 12-week ban and donated staff time to the campaign.

But Kohl said those groups got it wrong.

"I would say the churches were deceived," she said. "That campaign worked really hard to tell people they had to pick one or the other, which was a lie. They could say no to both."

Now, Choose Life Now is on what Kohl cast as a divine mission to right that wrong, to give Nebraskans a chance to undo the vote in which, she said, "the people chose death."

For Kohl, it's a choice Nebraska has been paying for.

She pointed to strong storms that have wreaked millions of dollars in damage in the state in recent years, and to the extreme and worsening drought that has rattled the state's agricultural industry, as she described her group's ballot campaign in terms more spiritual than political.

"We as a state need to repent from all of the murder of children," Kohl said, calling the state's 12-week ban a greenlight for more than 90% of abortions.

"We need to wake up and repent of that," she said. "That's why we're going to the churches, so that people can hear some truth and think through the things."

It's unclear, for now, how Nebraska's churches at large will take the message.

But at Kohl's church in central Omaha, that is beside the point.

"There are political leaders in our country that have told the church, 'You need to stay out of it' and ... '(abortion) is actually a good thing. It's a positive thing," Hall said in his February sermon, before comparing abortions to the child sacrifice depicted in the Bible to the Canaanite god Moloch.

"They put a good spin on it, and they make it sound good and they clean it up. No. It's a lie from the devil. We're placing our children on the hands of Moloch and watching them burn."

"Don't let the leaders of our country twist it," he added. "We don't make compromises."
"Everybody talks about that the cardinals would never choose an American pope just because of being American, being so powerful politically ... but it was a beautiful surprise," Camacho said.

Camacho said he believes Leo's experiences serving in South America and traveling the world as the leader of the Augustinians give Leo "a broader view of the universal church."

"I think he has a very great missionary heart, and that's a beautiful thing," Camacho said. "I think that will be, probably, his guiding principle to shepherd the Church into a church that is missionary. Even in his opening remarks, he talks about the need to build bridges of communication, justice and peace, and to do great dialogue between the Church and the world and everyone, and knowing that we are in the hands of God."

Camacho added that Leo's family's immigrant background, having a Spanish mother and a French and Italian father, may make him relate more to immigrants and "those in the margins."

Kimberly Gardner, chief advancement officer of Siena Catholic Schools of Racine, said the announcement of the new pope is a "very exciting time, not only for Siena Catholic schools, but Catholics all around the world."

The new pope visited Kenosha in October 1999 as the provincial of the Augustinians when Holy Rosary Parish marked the 65th anniversary of the Augustinian presence in the parish. The Augustinians began serving the parish in 1934. Held in conjunction with parishs 95th anniversary, the event included a number of Augustinians who served at Holy Rosary returning for the celebration. As provincial, Prevost was serving as the elected leader of a specific geographical province within the Order of Saint Augustine. These provinces are similar to dioceses in the church, each with a designated area and a leader. The provincials role is to guide and oversee the friars within their province, promoting the orders mission and values. Tom Rizzo of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Kenosha said when Prevost served as prior general of the Order of St. Augustine, he issued and signed a certificate honoring Rizzos uncle and aunt, Robert and Rosalie Gentile, for their long service to Holy Rosary Parish. The certificate recognized the Gentiles as affiliate members of the Augustinian Order and it hangs in the Desimone Hall at Holy Rosary. Bill Kintis, deacon at Mt. Carmel, was very pleased with the selection of the first American-born pontiff. I was totally excited about the selection, especially with someone at a younger age. He will be there a while so it will be great for the church, Kintis said. We definitely wish him the very best. I think he will do an awesome job. St. Joseph Catholic Academy rejoices joyfully with the Universal Church for what God has done in giving us a new successor to St. Peter, said the SJCA President Matthew Rizzo in Kenosha. Understanding our new Holy Fathers path to the papacy in his mission in service to people and commitment to peace, it renews in us our own call to be missionaries of the Gospel. There is also a special pride and connection with him here in Kenosha, where as a member of the Mother of Good Counsel Province of the Augustinian Order, Pope Leo belongs to the same order that faithfully served Our Lady of Holy Rosary  one of our 10 supporting parishes  for many years. We honor the memory of Pope Francis and now rejoice with Leo XIV, asking God to grant him the wisdom and peace of heart to shepherd well."
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Neuropathy, a disorder in which damage to nerves can impair sensation and movement, has many causes, including infection. Now, researchers from the UK have identified distinct genetic changes in a newly-discovered neuropathy and believe that their work will provide insights into the causal mechanism and why some previously healthy people develop neuropathies after infection whereas others do not.

At the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics, Dr. Rob Harkness, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, explained how the researchers were alerted to the case of a child in intensive care who had been fit and well until seven months old.

Following a mild fever and rash, she became very floppy and weak, needed help with her breathing and died before reaching her first birthday. A similar pattern had affected two of her elder brothers.

"At that point we undertook a genetic discovery study. We identified a change in a gene that we thought was likely to be the cause but it wasn't until around ten years later that we identified a second affected family with changes in the same gene with a similar clinical historyrapid neuropathy following a mild infection. Now we know of 12 affected families with changes in this gene," says Dr. Harkness.

The physical effects caused by changes in this gene are similar to those seen in patients with the neuropathy called Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can also be triggered by infections including Epstein-Barr virus and the bacterium campylobacter. The condition can start in people who are completely healthy and cause them to develop weakness of the legs that can spread to the whole body, including affecting their breathing.

"We hope that our discovery will provide insights into the mechanisms that cause the problem. The experiments we have undertaken on cells from patients show similar features to those seen in motor neuron disease (MND), and we may be able to use knowledge gained in research on MND to help patients affected by this newly-defined condition, and vice versa," Dr. Harkness says.

"Unfortunately, there are currently no effective prevention strategies for such neuropathies, but our greater understanding of the causes of these conditions will be the first step towards developing treatments."

The new results allow a rapid, accurate diagnosis rather than numerous lengthy and expensive investigations. They will already permit preconception testing of individuals at risk of having an affected child so that this can inform their future reproductive choices.

Since the researchers began to publicize their work, more families across the world have been identified, leading them to believe that the rare condition is more common than they originally believed. They are continuing their work by making nerves from skin cells donated by affected people, allowing them to understand why this disorder affects the nervous system specifically, and to test potential treatments.

"We are also mirroring these studies using fruit flies," says Dr. Harkness.

"Our hypothesis that there would be a change to a single gene responsible for this particular neuropathy was correct. However, we could not predict which gene it would be and what its role was.

"Now we know that the gene we identified is vital in controlling how proteins and nucleic acids move between the cell nucleus and the cytoplasm, the gelatinous liquid filling the inside of the cell. This movement is very sensitively controlled and extremely susceptible to stress, temperature and infection in patients with this condition, and when it affects the nerves, they cannot be repaired."

Chair of the conference, Professor Alexandre Reymond, said, "This is a textbook example of gene-environment interaction. All of us carry in our respective genomes small alterations (genetic variants) that put us at risk of environmental changes, in this case specific infections."

More information: Abstract no. 4666: Genetic risk of axonal neuropathy following infection
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For the first time, traces of the West Nile virus have been found in mosquitoes in the UK, according to a report published this week by the UK Health Security Agency.

Here's what you need to know about the virus and the disease it causes.

What is West Nile virus?

West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne virus first identified in Uganda in 1937. It belongs to the same viral family as dengue and yellow fever. The virus is most commonly transmitted by Culex mosquitoes, particularly the species Culex pipiens, which mainly feeds on birds.

Birds are the primary host for West Nile virus, and the virus spreads in a cycle from infected birds to mosquitoes and then back to birds. Occasionally, mosquitoes can transmit the virus to humans or other animals.

Most human infectionsaround 80%cause no symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they are usually mild: fever, fatigue, headaches, body aches and sometimes nausea. But in rare cases, around one in 150 infections, the virus can cause severe illness, including encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis. Older adults, especially those over 50, are most at risk of serious complications.

The virus cannot normally be spread from person to person, though rare cases of transmission have occurred through blood transfusions or from mother to baby during pregnancy.

How did it get to the UK?

Although the exact route isn't known, experts believe the virus may have arrived in the UK via migratory birds infected elsewhere. The mosquitoes probably picked up the virus after feeding on these birds during their northward journey.

The detection was made as part of a routine mosquito surveillance program run by the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Mosquitoes collected from marshlands in south-east England tested positive in PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, which detect fragments of the virus's genetic material.

It's important to note that a positive PCR test doesn't necessarily mean the virus is infectious. After a mosquito becomes infected, the virus needs timeseveral daysto multiply inside the mosquito before it can be transmitted. And this process is highly temperature dependent.

Can the virus spread in the UK?

The UK's relatively cool climate has, until now, helped keep mosquito-borne diseases at bay. At summer temperatures of around 15C, it can take up to 100 days for the virus to develop inside a mosquitolonger than the insect's lifespan. In contrast, in hotter climates (above 30C), this process can take just a few days.

For a local outbreak to occur, there would need to be a critical mass of infected birds and mosquitoes, with enough warm weather to sustain multiple cycles of transmission. So far, that hasn't happened in the UK.

But climate change could alter the equation. With rising global temperatures and longer, hotter summers, the conditions that allow viruses such as West Nile to spread may become more common in the UK.

What's happening elsewhere?

West Nile virus was once limited to Africa and the Middle East but has spread significantly in recent decades. Large outbreaks have been recorded in countries including Greece, Romania, Israel, Russia and the US.

The US outbreak began in New York City in 1999 when an unusual number of birds were found dead in a city zoo. A veterinary pathologist at the Bronx Zoo, Tracey McNamara, helped link the bird deaths to the human illnesses being reported.

Since then, the virus has spread across most of the US, Canada and parts of South America, resulting in over 60,000 reported human cases, 28,000 hospitalizations and more than 3,000 deaths.

In 2024, 19 European countries reported a total of 1,436 local cases, most in men over 65, with 125 deaths. Most were in Italy, Greece and Spaincountries with hot, mosquito-friendly summers.

Outbreaks were also reported in birds and horses, which are both susceptible to the virus.

Should UK residents be concerned?

While the detection of West Nile virus in UK mosquitoes is noteworthy, experts emphasize that the public health risk remains very low. No human cases have been reported in the UK to date, and current summer temperatures are not yet conducive to sustained transmission.

The greater risk for most British people probably comes from travelparticularly to southern Europe, where cases are rising.

Travelers are advised to take standard mosquito precautions: wear light-colored clothing, long sleeves and trousers, and use insect repellent, especially in the evening when mosquitoes are most active.

For now, the virus is unlikely to spread widely in the UK. But as climate patterns shift, continued surveillance and public awareness will be key to staying ahead of the risk.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
China ready to work with Indonesia on risks: Li Qiang

Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China stands ready to join Indonesia in addressing risks and challenges, and consolidating cooperation on the economy, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, maritime affairs and security.



Li made the remarks during talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta.



During Li's visit, China and Indonesia reached a series of cooperation agreements in tourism, exports of agricultural products, traditional medicine, investment, strategic commerce and media.



After Indonesia, Li will travel to Malaysia and attend the Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council-China Summit in Kuala Lumpur this week. (Xinhua)
Jalandhar Central Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Raman Arora, arrested in a corruption case, has been sent to five days of remand by the court. His lawyer has alleged that the case is politically motivated. AAP MLA Raman Arora has been sent on a 5-day Punjab Vigilance Bureau remand on corruption charges. Raman Arora was presented before the court on Saturday after his arrest. The vigilance department had asked for 10 days of remand, but the court granted five. His counsel, Advocate Darshan Singh Dyal, said the case appears to be a "political vendetta." He claimed that the items recovered from Arora's house, including gold, Rs 6 lakh in cash, and several documents, were already listed in the affidavit Arora submitted during the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections. Speaking to ANI, AAP MLA Raman Arora's counsel, Adv Darshan Singh Dyal, said, "This case seems like a political vendetta...The statement of Sukhdev, who has been in police remand for the last 8 days, has been recorded...The alleged jewellery and cash recovered from his place are included in the list from where he contested past elections. He had these things with himself before being an MLA...He has been sent to remand for 5 days..." Advocate Dyal added that Arora's name is not mentioned in any of the 123 FIRs related to the arrest of ATP (Assistant Town Planner) Sukhdev Vashisht. The FIR only states that a person demanded money but does not name anyone specifically. He also said there is no evidence or recorded statement that Arora made any deal or demanded bribes. Late last night, Arora's medical examination was conducted at the Civil Hospital in Jalandhar, but he was not taken out of the car. Meanwhile, the police visited his house again this morning to search his home and car. The vigilance team also questioned Arora's personal assistants (PAs), Rohit Kapoor and Honey Bhatia. Rohit told officials he only looked after police-related matters. A late-night raid at Honey Bhatia's house led to the recovery of a pen drive, laptop, and several documents. The vigilance also raided the house of a local commission agent, Mahesh Makhija, in Charanjitpura and took him in for questioning. (ANI)
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to impose a ban on apple imports from Turkey and Azerbaijan. He also discussed the state's proposal to share the cost of Kangra Airport expansion equally with the Centre, and sought financial assistance amid ongoing reforms. Speaking to the mediapersons following the 10th NITI Aayog Governing Council Meeting, Sukhu said, "...I spoke to PM Modi that the prices of our orchards fall due to imported apples, which causes losses. I also requested that a ban be imposed on apples from Turkey and Azerbaijan. He said that he would see to it that the import of apples does not cause orchardists of Himachal Pradesh to suffer losses... I also spoke to him about the expansion of Kangra Airport, and that 50 per cent of the expansion cost will be covered by us while the remaining 50 per cent by the centre." Raising environmental concerns, Sukhu told the Planning Commission that Himachal's 68 per cent forest land and 28 per cent forest cover had been overlooked in Finance Commission parameters, adding that the cold deserts in the region were not being recognised as forest land, thereby depriving the state of its fair dues. He further added, "I also said that our power projects, which receive loan waivers, should pay 50 per cent royalty to the state... I told him that our state is undergoing some reforms, so our financial condition is not good. So the state should be given some financial assistance... I told the Planning Commission that our forest land is 68 per cent, and our forest cover is 28 per cent. We have not been done justice in the parameters set by the Finance Commission. In the Niti Aayog meeting, we raised this point that our cold deserts are not counted as forest land..." Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 10th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Saturday. It was attended by Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors representing 24 States and 7 UTs. This year's theme was Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat@2047. The meeting commenced with a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, in which 26 people were killed. (ANI)
A red alert was issued for the South Konkan districts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg on Saturday as a depression system crossed near Ratnagiri and Dapoli, bringing heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and strong winds. According to Shubhangi A Bhute, Scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD), "the depression brought heavy to very heavy rainfall to several regions in Maharashtra. The weather office also alerted coastal districts and warned fishermen against venturing into the sea due to rough conditions." The IMD said, "A red alert has been given to South Konkan...Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg are looking at the depression which has already crossed between Ratnagiri and Dapoli." The red alert indicated the possibility of extremely heavy rainfall in isolated places in these districts. Raigad was also placed under an orange alert, while Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar were issued a yellow warning, forecasting moderate to heavy showers in these areas. A fisherman's warning was also issued along the Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts, as the sea conditions remained unsafe due to the active monsoon system in the Arabian Sea. "We have given a Fisherman's Warning Alert for South Konkan along with the entire Maharashtra and Gujarat region, looking at the active monsoon season," said Bhute. Bhute further added, "Yes, the monsoon has been active till now in South India, and conditions are favourable for the first onset of monsoon in Maharashtra." The IMD estimated that within two to three days, the monsoon could officially arrive in the state, with rainfall already advancing up to Karwar. Besides the coastal Konkan belt, Satara and Kolhapur districts in western Maharashtra were also put on red alert, with forecasts warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in some parts. The rest of the districts in the state were issued yellow alerts, advising caution. "A low-pressure area near Ratnagiri has crossed Ratnagiri and Dapoli. Based on the 8:30 am weather observation, red alerts have been issued for Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Satara, and Kolhapur," Bhute added. (ANI)
Leader of the all-party delegation, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, gave the message to the world that the Indian delegation has come forth to communicate that we will not be sitting quietly against the forces of evil which attacked India. He gave a call to the global community for standing together with mutual solidarity and strength against the menace of terrorism. He delivered the remarks while speaking to the media outside the 9/11 Memorial. Tharoor said that the visit to the 9/11 memorial is a solemn reminder of how, just like the US, India has been subjected to terrorism. "We ourselves in India have been subject to the same wounds that you are seeing the scars of today in this very moving memorial. We have come in a spirit of solidarity, we have come at the same time on a mission." The delegation, which is presently in the United States, will also visit Guyana, Panama, Brazil, and Colombia. Tharoor said, "In these countries we are hoping to be able to explain to the world how important it is for all of us to stand together against the scourge of terrorism. Just as the US showed such resolution and determination in the wake of 9/11, so too our country has stood up against the forces of evil who attacked us on the April 22. We hope that a lesson has been learned by those who perpetrated this attack and by those who finance, train, equip, and direct them. But we want to communicate to the world that we will not be sitting quietly if this is repeated. We want the world to understand that this is not a time for indifference, but for mutual strength and mutual solidarity, so that we can all unitedly stand up for the values that the United States has always cherished- the values of democracy, of human freedom, of diversity, of coexistence of people of different communities, none of which sadly is on the agenda of those who conducted such attacks." Speaking about how India has been subjected to terror acts time and again, Tharoor underlined that "Perpetrators of terror should indeed be brought to justice, and we are not going to stop our hunt for those who did this latest atrocity". He said, "We need to think about where these people are based, where they have safe havens, where they are trained, equipped, financed, guided, armed, and often directly directed. To perpetrate these horrors, and they too should be accountable for what they have been doing." Expressing his views on the sanctioning of terror organisations by the UN, Tharoor mentioned, "I think there are something like 52 individuals and organisations based in Pakistan that at one time or the other have been listed by the UN Sanctions Committee... There is something much more direct that needs to be done, and we are not going to confine ourselves only to listings, to diplomacy, to the production of international dossiers. We are also going to exercise our right to self-defence, which every country recognises". Speaking about his expectations from the Indian diaspora, Tharoor expressed confidence in their abilities to influence and shape the public opinion. He said, "You are a very influential diaspora in this country. You are not just numerous. You are prosperous... You have an influential voice. You're active in public life. You're active in politics... We would like you to help sensitise public opinion and political opinion in this country about what is going on and how wrong it is, and certainly we would expect the diaspora to partake of the messaging that we are here to do... you are actually a force multiplier for us as well. We come and go, but you live here, and we want you certainly to please remind people around you of what the challenges are that India is facing". The all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor comprises Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejaswi Surya, Bhubaneswar K Lata (all from BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena) and Former Indian Ambassador to the US,Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The delegation will project India's national consensus and firm stance on combating terrorism in all its forms. They will carry India's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism to the global community during their outreach. (ANI)
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Democratic Progressive Azad Party Chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is part of the all-party delegation led by BJP MP Baijayant Jay Panda, said that probably the number of terrorists that are living in Pakistan is more than the number of terrorists residing all over the world. Azad added that he is happy to see people of all religions living peacefully there. He further said that although Indian leaders may belong to different political parties but they are united as Indians here. Speaking to ANI, Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "...I am happy to see that it (Bahrain) looks like mini India. The people from every religion live here. There are no restrictions...Regarding our political intention, we might belong to different political parties in India, but here we come as Indians...Pakistan was formed on the basis of religion. However, eastern Pakistan (Bangladesh) and western Pakistan were not able to stay united...But in our country, people from all religions stay united. We live in peace and harmony...If we see, probably the number of terrorists that are living in Pakistan is more than the number of terrorists residing all over the world..." While, former Indian Envoy Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who is also a part of the same all-party delegation visiting Bahrain, said that India and Bahrain share a strong commitment to fighting terrorism. He recalled that both countries signed an agreement on counter-terrorism in 2015 and later set up a joint security dialogue in 2019. He added that regular communication between the security agencies of both nations will continue, and Bahrain is fully committed to working with India to combat terrorism in all its forms. "We already have a dialogue on security with Bahrain. We signed an agreement on fighting terrorism with Bahrain in 2015. Subsequently, in 2019, we made the decision to establish a joint dialogue on security. If you see during the Prime Minister's visit, the joint statement reflects a very strong commitment from both sides. I think there is a very strong sense of commitment to fighting terrorism, including through regular exchanges between the two sides. So I think those channels of communication between our concerned security agencies will continue. Obviously, diplomatic ties are very important, and those will. Also, I think reinforcing this sense of Bahrain's wanting to cooperate with us on the fight against terrorism," Shringla said. The delegation, led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, also includes Nishikant Dubey MP, BJP; Phangnon Konyak, MP, BJP; Rekha Sharma MP, NJP; AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi; Satnam Singh Sandhu MP; Ghulam Nabi Azad; and Ambassador Harsh Shringla. The delegation aims to brief international partners on India's response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism while engaging with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Algeria. The multi-party delegation, consisting of seven groups led by one MP each, has been initiated to counter global misinformation and highlight India's zero-tolerance policy on terrorism. (ANI)
Member of the all-party delegation led by Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, affirmed the objective of Operation Sindoor and described the "paradigm shift" in India's policy against terror. While speaking to ANI, Swaraj said, "Operation Sindoor was not only a military operation, but a new resolve for justice which India has presented before the world. Even in today's Mann ki Baat episode, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about made-in-India technology and made-in-India weapons." She noted, "There paradigm shift in India's policy regarding terror, where it has been said that terror and talks will not go together, blood and water will not flow together, Trade and terror cannot happen simultaneously". "This is the new example India has set in front of the world on this global war against terrorism. In this regard, the all-party delegation first went UAE and now to various West African countries like, Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone." Describing the visit to the UAE, BJP MP Swaraj hailed the support received from various quarters of the Emirati society. She said, "UAE has played the role of a solid friend. Along with India, given the message of unequivocal support. It has given complete support and the kind of support which we got there, not only from the leadership but also the Indian diaspora was worth noticing and made the hearts joyous." Swaraj also underlined that the world is understanding the emotion behind the motto of Operation Sindoor. "Operation Sindoor has made it clear that Sindoor is no longer a synonym for 'Shringaar', but also a reflection of bravery and power." Swaraj is a member of the all-party delegation projects India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It will convey to the world the country's strong message of zero tolerance for terrorism. India had launched Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. India launched precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Indian Armed Forces responded effectively to subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases. The two countries have reached an understanding to stop military action following a call made by Pakistan's DGMO to his Indian counterpart. (ANI)
The all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor arrived in Georgetown, Guyana, where it was received with great fervour and enthusiasm by the members of the Indian diaspora. Upon arrival, Tharoor congratulated the people of Guyana in advance for their Independence day celebrations, and shared the purpose of the visit of the all-party delegation. Addressing the diaspora, Tharoor said that the delegation was in transit in New York City where it paid tributes at the 9/11 Memorial. He underlined that the visit to the Memorial showed India's solidarity with victims of terrorism in that city. "I think this is something that unites many of us from around the world." Speaking about the interactions which will take place in Guyana, Tharoor mentioned, "We are having meetings with the Prime Minister, the Vice President, other ministers, Foreign Minister. We're also hoping to see some MPs". Tharoor highlighted in his remarks, "Our message is very clear. We have to stand against terrorism wherever it comes. We have to not only bring the evil killers to justice, but we must also seriously challenge those who are financing them, training them, equipping them, directing them to do their evil." Noting that India has been suffering from terrorism for four decades, he said that India has reached a point of "resolved determination" against terrorism. "We will never let anybody believe they can just walk across the border and kill our civilians or kill anybody in our country and get away with impunity... We feel we have to actually show them there is a price to be paid. That is the message that the government of India is sending and that all of us are echoing, which is that for us the time has come for a new normal against terrorism." Tharoor in his remarks, urged the diaspora for their support. He said, "We are seeking all of you to join us in expressing support, in strength, in resolve, and in response to this kind of action if it happens again in the future. So this is the purpose of our trip. We are looking forward to joining the celebrations on your fifty-ninth Independence Day, and I thank you all very much for joining us today". The all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will project India's national consensus and firm stance on combating terrorism in all its forms. They will carry India's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism to the global community during their outreach. The delegation aims to brief international partners on India's response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism. Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack by Pak-sponsored terrorists in which 26 people were killed. Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. (ANI)
TOKYO, May 25 (News On Japan) - A video archive from a recent AI conference has been released, offering a look into the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence through candid remarks from leading engineers and entrepreneurs.

The event, tied to the Horiemon AI initiative, drew strong interest from both professionals and the general public, reflecting the growing attention surrounding AI development in Japan. One of the featured speakers, engineer Ano, explained that while he had long worked in fields like natural language processing and neural networks, he only began identifying himself as an AI engineer around the time of the Tochichisen campaign. He acknowledged that the term now serves as a kind of marketing label and encouraged others in the industry to adopt it, especially given the accelerating visibility and relevance of AI in daily life.

The discussion centered on the dizzying pace of innovation, with panelists highlighting how global giants like OpenAI and Anthropic are locked in a high-stakes race supported by massive funding from governments and large investors. Despite these resources, open-source models are catching up quickly. What was once thought to be a one-year gap between closed and open developments has narrowed to as little as five months, shrinking further as AI systems begin updating and training themselves. This collapse in the development cycle has raised doubts about the long-term value of expensive proprietary efforts, as similar tools emerge quickly at far lower cost through open collaboration.

Speakers also addressed the growing legal and ethical tensions surrounding generative AI. Although companies like OpenAI initially adhered strictly to compliance and copyright standards, new tools now allow for the creation of images in the style of well-known studios such as Ghibli, blurring the boundaries of artistic ownership. While some developers attempt to observe legal norms, others have adopted an aggressive posturereleasing tools that mimic protected aesthetics without restraint. Questions were raised about whether styles or artistic flavors can or should be protected, with several participants noting that if such protections were formalized, they could end up restricting not only machines but also human creators working in similar styles.

These concerns extended beyond visual art to include food and music. The discussion referenced well-known chefs who protested imitation of their signature dishes online, despite the fact that recipes themselves are not protected under copyright law. Similarly, an Indian programmer reportedly attempted to register every conceivable short melody as open source, effectively blocking others from copyrighting them in the future. Other developers have published libraries of common musical progressions, challenging traditional licensing models and contributing to a broader redefinition of creative ownership in the age of AI.

The conversation also touched on the geopolitical dimensions of AI development. Panelists speculated that the industry could eventually consolidate into a battle between one U.S. and one Chinese firm, especially as private capital becomes exhausted and national security concerns drive state investment. In this scenario, AI tools could become commoditized worldwide, with Japan and other nations relying on paid access to foreign platforms. Meanwhile, Chinas open-source strategy may provide Japanese firms with near-term benefits, but long-term consequences remain uncertain. Some expressed concern that AI models built with Chinese ideological filters could proliferate across the Global South, subtly reshaping global narratives by omitting or altering politically sensitive content such as the Tiananmen Square protests.

Yet despite these risks, speakers noted that language and behavior models can still be fine-tuned. Japanese companies like CyberAgent were able to adjust publicly released Chinese models within weeks, enabling them to answer questions that had been deliberately censored. The panel concluded that while current AI tools are largely reactiveable to recall or suppress informationthey will eventually evolve into systems capable of making decisions and performing tasks autonomously. As AI transitions from knowledge to labor, its adoption will depend largely on cost. Panelists pointed to labor-intensive sectors like food factories, where automation remains limited not due to technology, but because human labor is still cheaper. Once that cost balance tips, they argued, the shift to AI-powered robots in areas such as caregiving and household tasks will accelerate rapidly.

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TOKYO, May 26 (News On Japan) - Emojis have evolved into a shared shorthand for emotion and intent, shaping not only how people text, but how they relate to one another online. Now, as NTT Docomo prepares to retire its original emoji set after 26 years, it marks the end of a uniquely Japanese chapter in the global story of digital expression.

NTT Docomo will officially end support for its original emoji designs, bringing to a close a 26-year chapter that began with the launch of the i-mode internet service in 1999. Starting with devices released in late June, users of Android models will no longer see the Docomo-specific emoji, with Samsung devices following suit from July. By October, software updates will phase them out entirely from existing compatible models.

Originally introduced to address character limits on early mobile phones, emojis allowed users to express emotions visually in a single characterrevolutionizing mobile communication in Japan. Their popularity quickly spread, and they became a global phenomenon. In 2016, the Museum of Modern Art in New York even featured them as a new form of digital communication.

At the time of their release, Docomos emojis were so influential that users reportedly switched carriers just to access them. A lack of cross-platform compatibility meant messages with emojis sometimes appeared garbled on non-Docomo phones, pushing users to join the same network to communicate effectively. As emoji became a key driver in user migration, Docomos market share surged in the early 2000s.

However, usage has declined in recent years, particularly with the rise of LINE and other messaging apps. According to Docomo, many users now rely on Googles standardized emoji sets, such as the familiar yellow-faced icons. Feedback from customers also pointed to frustration when emojis from Google were converted into the outdated Docomo style. The company concluded that its original emojis had fulfilled their role.

A 2024 survey by Tokyo Koka University showed that just 13.2% of incoming college students still use carrier-based email, a sharp drop from 71.4% in 2014. Most communication now occurs on apps like LINE, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), particularly among younger generations.

Yet emoji use among youth remains high. A survey showed that over 90% of people in their teens and twenties use emojis daily, with many using them more than seven times a day. Interestingly, usage patterns differ by contextyoung people tend to use emojis with superiors to appear polite, while avoiding them in casual conversations with friends. In some companies, new employee training even includes guidance on emoji usage to avoid appearing cold or curt in professional communications.

When seniors omit emojis in messages, younger recipients often interpret it as distant, unfriendly, or even angry. To address this, some companies have incorporated emoji etiquette into onboarding sessions to foster smoother intergenerational communication.

A new real-time texting app called Giffsy is also gaining traction among youth. It functions like a phone call, but with live text chat, allowing users to share moments in real time without speaking aloud. The appeal lies in sharing time and space together, even silentlya trend that highlights changing expectations for digital intimacy.

As Docomo closes the curtain on its era-defining emoji, Japans youth continue to reshape digital expression, proving that even tiny symbols can leave a massive cultural footprint.

Source: ABCTVnews
TOKYO, May 26 (News On Japan) - Children increasingly face exposure to inappropriate online ads even when accessing seemingly harmless websites such as cooking or game guides. In one notable case reported in March, users who opened a recipe site to cook with their children were startled by sudden sexually suggestive advertisements.

Several website operators were forced to apologize and withdraw the offending ads, but the issue is far from limited to recipe sites. Similar complaints have surfaced regarding toy shopping sites, game strategy pages, and even school-distributed learning tablets.

Site operators claim the problem stems from third-party advertising networks beyond their direct control. These networks act as intermediaries between advertisers and host websites, automatically selecting ad content based on algorithms that favor high viewership potential. As a result, even sites that do not cater to adult content may inadvertently display such ads.

IT journalist Suzuki explained that some ad networks are more rigorous in filtering inappropriate content, while others may allow ads that skirt the boundaries of legality. Explicit sexual imagery is typically prohibited, but ads implying sexual situationssuch as provocative cartoons or suggestive wordingoften fall into a gray area and evade filters.

The core issue lies in the lack of consistent oversight. Websites often cannot see or review the specific ads being shown, especially when automated delivery systems are in place. Suzuki pointed out that ads with sexual suggestions are more likely to be widely circulated due to their high click-through rates. Importantly, these ads can appear even if users have never visited adult sites.

Overseas, some countries are taking stronger action. The UKs Advertising Standards Authority reviews citizen complaints and can order ad removals, publicly naming companies that refuse. In China, advertising laws strictly prohibit sexually explicit ads, with violators facing hefty fines or even business suspension. Suzuki noted that Japan is lagging behind such efforts, although global awareness of the need to protect minors is increasing.

One proposed solution is "zoning" of internet adscompletely banning adult-themed ads from websites accessible to all ages. An online petition for such measures in Japan recently collected over 100,000 signatures. Supporters argue that while content guidelines exist, they lack legal enforceability.

However, obstacles remain. Individual website ownersparticularly hobbyists reliant on ad revenuemay find it difficult to implement strict filters. And despite voluntary efforts by some networks, self-regulation alone risks enabling bad actors to profit by bypassing standards. Suzuki emphasized that without industry-wide enforcement or penalties, non-compliant advertisers are unlikely to change.

Meanwhile, ruling-party lawmaker Yamada has expressed concern that overregulation may infringe on freedom of expression. He advocates voluntary measures such as ad-blocking apps and user requests to advertisers, rather than new laws. Suzuki countered that personal efforts alone are insufficient, as users cannot predict or preemptively block every inappropriate ad.

The challenge is compounded by a race for profits in online advertising. With fierce competition, content is increasingly sensationalized to attract clicks. Unless clear boundaries are establishedboth technically and legallychildren will remain at risk of unwanted exposure.

As immediate steps, Suzuki suggests parents install ad-blocking browsers or applications, even if they are paid, and educate children about digital literacy. Teaching children not to click suspicious links and preparing them to handle exposure responsibly are crucial. Until robust regulation is in place, he said, families must treat smartphones as educational tools, much like teaching a child to ride a bikewith close guidance and caution.

Source: ABCTVnews
HOKKAIDO, May 26 (News On Japan) - While working as a civil servant in Sapporo, Mitsuhiko Kamata spent decades capturing the natural beauty of Hokkaido through his lens. Now, having taken early retirement after 35 years, he has dedicated himself full time to pursuing the fleeting, miraculous moments found in naturemoments he believes must rise to the level of art to truly move the viewer.

Kamata has gained attention for his stunning images that resemble scenes from a paintingmisty soba fields in Horokanai, stormy dusk skies in Wakkanai, and rare light phenomena on snow-covered plains. These are not chance discoveries. He returns to the same locations time and again, often enduring freezing temperatures and long hikes, waiting for the perfect confluence of light, weather, and composition.

His first major outing of 2025 took place in March in Rikubetsu, known as Japans coldest town. If the temperature drops below minus 15C and the sun comes out, theres a good chance well see it, he said, targeting a rare winter phenomenon called diamond dust. That morning, with conditions aligning at minus 18C, Kamata captured a spectacular sun pillarsunlight refracting off suspended ice crystals to form a glowing vertical beamtitling the photo "Sun Pillar Pouring onto Frost-Covered Trees".

Later, a second trip in May took him to Muroran. There, at a secluded coastal spot called Houraimonreachable only at low tide and after descending a rope-lined mountain pathhe photographed jagged volcanic rock shaped by waves into a natural arch. As the sun set, the scene transformed, and Kamata noted how the landscape's moods shift each time he visits.

On the drive back toward Sapporo, Kamata stopped at a stream near Chitose known to anglers but rarely photographed. As sunlight filtered through the forest canopy, illuminating the Mamachi River, he captured what he described as a moment that glowed while I was driving past.

In early summer, Kamata visited Shujitsu Hill near Asahikawa, a sweeping vista backdropped by the Tokachi mountain range. There he met up with Fumiaki Nishikawa, a younger photographer who once shadowed Kamata and now calls him his mentor. Together, they photographed expansive hills at dawn and duskgolden fields dotted with running herds of Ezo deer.

One of Kamatas final shots of the day came unexpectedly: a tractor churning soil, smoke drifting across a dusky farm field. "That haze from tillingtheres something painterly about it," he remarked. In his hands, even an ordinary rural scene became a piece of visual poetry.

Though Kamata used to spend about 70 days a year on photography while working, he estimates only three or four shots annually reached the level he strives for. Now, with more time and fewer constraints, he hopes to increase that number and devote every free moment to the craft. As long as Im healthy, I want to keep chasing those rare, breathtaking moments, he said.

Kamatas pursuit of the extraordinary continues to transform the everyday into something timelessfragments of nature captured with the eye of an artist and the patience of a seasoned hunter of light.

Source: UHB
May 26 (News On Japan) - A small celestial body made headlines earlier this year when it was briefly thought to pose a threat to Earth. But the true stars of this story are not those 60-meter objects zipping past our planet, but two massive asteroidsCeres and Vestaeach hundreds of kilometers wide and orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.

Ceres was discovered on January 1, 1801, by Giuseppe Piazzi at the Palermo Observatory in Sicily. It marked the beginning of the 19th century with the first identification of an asteroid, a category of celestial body that now exceeds 1.4 million known examples. Ceres was later reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union, no longer technically an asteroid under current definitions.

Following Ceres, a series of large asteroids were discovered over the next decadesPallas, Juno, Vestamostly by German astronomers. By the end of the 19th century, 463 had been cataloged. Among them, Vesta, discovered in 1807 by Heinrich Olbers, remains particularly significant not only for its brightness but for its continued relevance in planetary science.

While Ceres is the largest asteroid, Vesta is the brightest seen from Earth. This is due not only to its proximity and size but also to its high albedoa measure of surface reflectivity. Ceres reflects just 9% of the light that hits it, while Vesta reflects 42%, making it 4.7 times more reflective than Ceres and sometimes visible to the naked eye under dark skies.

Both Ceres and Vesta were visited by NASAs Dawn mission, which launched in September 2007. After using Earth and Mars for gravity assists, Dawn entered orbit around Vesta in July 2011, conducting detailed observations for over a year. In September 2012, it departed for Ceres, arriving in March 2015. Though initially scheduled for a six-month survey, Dawn spent more than three years studying the dwarf planet until contact was lost in October 2018 when it ran out of fuel.

The Dawn mission revealed significant differences between the two bodies. Vesta, roughly 570 km across, has a fast rotation period of 5 hours and 20 minutes, giving it a short "day" compared to Earth. Ceres, at about 960 km in diameter, rotates every 9 hours and takes 4 years and 7 months to orbit the Sun. Ceres also exhibits unusual bright spots on its surface, later confirmed to be salt deposits that reflect sunlight strongly.

Currently, Vesta is approaching a favorable position for observation. From around May 23rd, it will appear in the southern sky near the constellations Virgo and Libra at around 10 p.m., particularly from locations with low light pollution. Though faint, it can be seen with binoculars or small telescopes, and astronomy enthusiasts may even spot it without aid under ideal conditions.

Vestas continued visibility and scientific importance underscore its unique role. With Ceres now classified as a dwarf planet, Vesta and Pallas remain the largest official asteroids. Some researchers suggest that Vesta may also be reclassified in the future as studies of its structure and behavior continue.

As the number of identified asteroids surpasses 1.44 million, and with more than 750,000 officially cataloged, the solar systems so-called "minor planets" are proving to be anything but minorfor scientists and stargazers alike.

Source: BIZ
TOKYO, May 26 (News On Japan) - SoftBank Group, which oversees major operations including telecom company SoftBank and the Vision Fund investment vehicle, has set out an ambitious plan involving over 1 trillion yen in investments since January.

In an interview conducted shortly after the companys earnings announcement, Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto outlined how these large-scale projects will be supported financially.

SoftBank recently returned to profitability for the first time in four years, a headline that attracted media attention. But Goto emphasized that quarterly profits have little bearing on the companys true value. "As an investment holding company, our valuation comes from the sum of the valuations of our portfolio, not our profit-and-loss statement," he said. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that reporting a profit "does feel good."

In a volatile market environment, Goto underscored that SoftBanks most critical metric is Net Asset Value (NAV), which reflects the total value of its assets minus liabilities. "It's what weve consistently highlighted as the key indicator," he said. "Our focus is not on quarterly earnings but on asset quality and balance sheet stability."

Recent market swings, he added, are not cause for alarm. "Were not day traders. What matters is the long-term trend in our portfolio growth over the past 20 to 30 years."

Goto also addressed the companys approach to managing liabilities. SoftBank maintains a leverage policy of around 25%, referring to what he calls the Loan to Value ratio. The company is committed to transparency on repayment capacity to reassure both equity and debt investors.

Despite a rise in the valuation of some Vision Fund holdings, SoftBanks own market capitalization remains about half of its NAV. Goto attributes this gap to two main factors. First, many of the assets in Vision Fund remain unlisted, making them difficult for investors to evaluate. Second, investors still have limited visibility into SoftBanks overall investment strategy.

Goto acknowledged that full transparency is not always possible. "There are strategic elements we can't reveal  our 'secret sauce,' so to speak. Even companies like Coca-Cola dont disclose how they make the syrup."

The resulting information gap, however, tends to deepen the discount in market valuation. "Closing that gap is something we work on, but simply buying back shares isn't a structural fix."

SoftBank has already conducted around 5 trillion yen in share buybacks over the past five years, among the largest in Japan. However, Goto stressed that buybacks are not a cure-all. "Capital allocation must prioritize growing asset value through new investments."

That said, the company continues to weigh capital allocation options: share buybacks, debt reduction, or reinvestment. "Right now, were leaning toward new investments," Goto said, pointing to recent large-scale projects underway.

The challenge lies in balancing growth, shareholder returns, and financial safety  a core issue at the heart of management decisions. Given the scale of investment needed, Goto said that maintaining a robust balance sheet is critical. "Our leverage strategy demands that we put financial stability above all else."

SoftBank is expected to further outline its investment roadmap in the coming months, with Goto hinting at more efforts to communicate strategy and asset value to investors. "To build confidence, we must demonstrate that our asset value will keep rising."

Source: BIZ
May 26 (News On Japan) - A Kobe University professor has solved one of the most perplexing unsolved problems in applied mathematics, opening the door to technologies once thought impossible. Kenjiro Kimura, who also serves as CEO of Integral Geometry Science, proved a global inverse problem in wave scattering theorya feat no one had accomplished beforeand used it to develop what is being called the world's first non-invasive internal imaging technology.

This advancement could lead to revolutionary applications, including pain-free breast cancer screening and even technology to detect and prevent the explosive failures of lithium-ion batteries, a growing fire hazard worldwide.

At the heart of Kimuras work is the so-called inverse problem of wave scatteringdetermining the shape and properties of an object based only on how waves scatter after hitting it. Though the concept is simplesend waves, measure how they scatter, then reconstruct the objects interiorthe mathematical underpinnings are immensely complex. Kimura spent ten years developing a proof that accurately models how wave patterns interact with hidden objects in space. Using this model, waves bouncing off internal structures can be translated into visible images, creating a kind of "mathematical X-ray."

In a televised discussion with novelist Jin Mayama, Kimura explained the breakthrough using diagrams and equations, though even the host admitted it was difficult to grasp. Kimura likened the process to transmitting and receiving waves across space, then combining all the returning signals into a readable pattern. What once seemed like impossible noise became, in Kimuras hands, a solvable puzzle with real-world impact.

While many associate mathematicians with abstract thinking and numerical theory, Kimura views mathematics as a tool to make invisible phenomena visible. He insists that creating usable technology is not just a personal mission but a form of artistic expression. His equations, he says, are not just calculations but works of art. He recalled the moment he discovered the solution with disbelief: "I thought, this cant be right," he said, describing the thrill of verifying the result and realizing its potential.

Kimuras inventions are now moving from theory into global use, with commercialization already underway. But more than fame or fortune, Kimura emphasizes a deeper motivation: he wants his work to be used and appreciated. "All of it is a masterpiece," he said. "If someone insults the work, Ill get angry. Id rather take it back than have it misused."

He sees the next 1,000 years as unlikely to produce a better equation, and yet insists his motivation is not ego but convictionproof that mathematical brilliance, when matched with a vision for the real world, can reshape the future.

Source: BIZ
In February, hundreds of people packed into the Iowa Capitol rotunda, shouting, chanting and waving transgender pride flags as Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate chambers passed a bill removing gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

Shortly after, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the legislation, making Iowa the first state to remove a protected class from a states civil code.

While this was one of the most contentious and widely followed events of the 2025 legislative session, it also coincided with another historic benchmark for the state: the 60th anniversary of the Iowa Civil Rights Act

Over a month later, in a much emptier and quieter rotunda, staff from the Iowa Office of Civil Rights stood at a table, speaking to passersby and handing out literature highlighting the work they do for civil rights in Iowa to mark the acts April 29 anniversary.

Signed in 1965, the Iowa Civil Rights Act provides legal protection for discrimination against protected classes regarding housing, employment, education, public services and accommodations, banking and more.

While this years anniversary took on a more low-key tone, a much larger event was held a decade ago for the acts 50th year.

As the act quietly turns 60, some who were involved in its formation and continuation reflect on where it is at today and worry about where it will stand in the future.

Iowas civil rights legacy

In 1851, Iowa became the third state in the country to overturn a ban on interracial marriage, decades before other Midwestern states followed suit.

After that, Iowa continued to be a leading state in the country in civil rights. In 1868, an Iowa Supreme Court ruling integrated Iowa's schools 96 years before the U.S. Supreme Courts Brown v. Board of Ed. decision did the same thing.

In 2009, Iowa became the fourth state, and the first in the Midwest, to legalize same-sex marriage before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized it nationally in 2015.

We have been in the forefront for centuries, really going back to the 1800s in terms of civil rights, and it's always surprised people when they hear that history, said Alicia Claypool, founder of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa and former chair of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. We have that foundation, and yet here we are, nearly two centuries later.

Iowa civil rights lawyer Roxanne Conlin remembers the passage of the Iowa Civil Rights Act in 1965. Six years later, she ended up litigating the first court case, Iron Workers Local No. 67 v. Hart, under the act as an attorney in the early days of her legal career.

Despite the acts passage, Conlin said that it took a while for Iowa to adhere to it.

It took a very long time, Conlin said. The law existed, people did not know about the law, people did not follow the law.

Since 1965, lawmakers have amended the act to add a slate of protected classes, including sex in 1970, disability and age in 1972 and sexual orientation and gender identity in 2007.

Removing gender identity

During the 2024 legislative session, a bill proposing the removal of gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act was introduced, but failed to get any lawmakers to advance it out of a three-person subcommittee.

This year, a similar bill was passed by both chambers and signed by the governor within just more than a week of its introduction.

Republican lawmakers argued that legal protections for transgender Iowans guaranteed by the Civil Rights Act have made some spaces, including bathrooms and locker rooms, more dangerous for women.

The removal of gender identity as a protected class means that transgender rights are not elevated of both women and other citizens. The hyperbolic argument that taking this step will cause discrimination does not hold up to scrutiny or common sense, Republican Rep. Steven Holt, of Denison, the bills floor manager in the House, said during debate on the legislation in February. The legislature of Iowa created the Civil Rights Code, and we believe it is absolutely within our authority to change it. Obvious in our authority to add classes to the Civil Rights Code is our authority to alter that same code and remove what had previously been put there by prior legislatures.

After the removal of gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act goes into effect on July 1, complaints of alleged illegal discrimination based on gender identity to the Iowa Office of Human Rights that happened on June 30 or up to 300 days before then will still be taken up by the office, according to the office.

Gender identity and sexual orientation were placed in the Iowa Civil Rights Act in 2007, when Democrats controlled the Legislature and the governors office. Currently, Republican majorities give the GOP full control of the state lawmaking process.

Ralph Rosenberg, a former Democratic state legislator who served in the Iowa House and Senate in the 1980s and 1990s as well as the director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission from 2003 through 2010, was part of a coalition that worked to add gender identity protections to the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

Having that law in place meant that we had a policy set by the state, by government, saying this is what the law of the land is, Rosenberg said. The schools wanted to obey it, and they also understood the sensitivities of a lot of the schools just becoming aware of the trans community.

Democratic Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, of Ames, was the floor manager of the bill, tallying the votes it had to pass and introducing it on the floor of the House. She still has the big notebook she used to track where lawmakers fell on the legislation.

It was such a huge honor to do that, to be selected to be the person to manage that bill. Pat Murphy was the speaker of the House at the time, and he said, You know what, that there's never going to be anything bigger  this is the biggest thing you'll ever do, and he was right, Wessel-Kroeschell said.

Nearly two decades later in the same chamber, Wessel-Kroeschell watched as what she helped pass was struck down. She noted a shift in tone around the issue as well as other LGBTQ+-related legislation, adding that when she worked on the bills passage, there was an outpouring of public support, including from the business community.

We've just found over the last few years that so many people are afraid to even register in favor or in opposition to a bill. They are simply putting undecided down, Wessel-Kroeschell said. Ive been on both ends of it. Its kind of unbelievable.

Five Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against the bill in the House, including Rep. Norlin Mommsen, of DeWitt.

I voted against removing gender identity from the civil rights code because I'm concerned it could lead to discrimination of some people, Mommsen said. I just am against discrimination, no matter what you call it. That's one of the things I've tried to be here, is consistent.

This wasnt the first time Mommsen backed the Iowa Civil Rights Act on the House floor. In 2015, he was one of six Republicans who signed onto a House resolution honoring the 50th anniversary of the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which failed to advance.

Iowa Office of Civil Rights

Along with establishing civil rights protections, the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1965 also created the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, which enforces the act, provides conflict resolution services including mediation and conciliation for civil rights matters and works to prevent discrimination by providing training and education to the public.

Kristin Stiffler, who Reynolds appointed as the director of the Iowa Office of Civil Rights in 2023, said during the commissions 60th year, the office hired an outreach coordinator and plans on holding more educational events across the state this year.

We are really focusing on, especially the 60th, to really help people understand what our office, our agency does in regards to how we fulfill our mission and support Iowans, Stiffler said. What our main mission is, is to provide impartial, fact-driven, investigative legal reports.

Last year, the office completed almost 1,500 legal investigations at different stages within its process, Stiffler said.

The office has experienced changes in the last few years. In Reynolds 2023 government realignment bill, the office became an attached unit of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. Last year, the legislature passed a bill that shifted the Iowa Civil Rights Commission under the Office of Civil Rights.

Stiffler said this shift aligned the office with a change made in 1977 when commission appointment power was shifted to the governor and the new law didnt alter how the office or commission functioned.

We're going in the exact opposite direction of that legacy

When he served in the Iowa Legislature, Rosenberg said the tone around LGBTQ+ issues was vastly different compared to today. He said that although bills expanding LGBTQ+ rights didnt have broad bipartisan support, including adding gender identity to the Iowa Civil Rights Act, more lawmakers were willing to listen and consider the legislation.

There was not this hatred which has really been fomented in the last 10 years, which is really disturbing. And it's disturbing because people haven't pushed back, Rosenberg said. We didn't have the hatred. We just had questions, as people during the debate would ask me things, or when we were debating HIV/AIDS legislation and hate crimes laws, people were more curious.

Keenan Crow, director of Policy and Advocacy at One Iowa, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, has lobbied at the Iowa Capitol for nearly a decade. Compared to the first LGBTQ+-related bill they worked with lawmakers on relating to AIDS, Crow said there has been a shift in how lawmakers approach these issues.

It feels more like a cynical political calculation interacting up there these days than it does about trying to figure out where the evidence points us and what policy would be best for our state, Crow said. Now it's like, well, what policy will be best for me getting reelected and for fundraising?

Crow added that they know many Iowans are leaving the state after gender identity protections were removed from the Iowa Civil Rights Act, including One Iowa Board members.

It's almost like we're going in the exact opposite direction of that legacy that we established for hundreds of years, Crow said. There's  a lot of folks who are understandably scared, who are worried about themselves, about their families.

Claypool said she wouldnt be surprised if removing gender identity from the act is the first domino, with other classes following in future legislative sessions. She says, despite recent changes, she still has hope for the future of the act.

There have been hundreds of people that have worked on these issues over the decades, and some of them are gone now, and I just don't want us to forget about all the people that have fought for justice and equality in our state, Claypool said. We need, we need younger people to, you know, pick up the mantle and carry us forward.
The Central African Republic has joined 33 African nations in adopting the Enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS), the IMFs intermediate standard for harmonizing macroeconomic data publication. This move highlights a critical challenge facing African economies: balancing international transparency requirements with local political constraints.

The IMF classifies 52 African countries into three statistical tiers. At the apex sits the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), adopted by only seven African nations including Morocco, South Africa, and Senegal. This elite tier demands rapid data publication, external verification, and rigorous quality controls, offering access to preferential sovereign financing.

The middle tier, e-GDDS, encompasses 34 countries prioritizing structured transparency through centralized publication platforms and standardized metadata. Meanwhile, nine countries remain in the classical GDDS framework, reflecting institutional and technical limitations.

However, recent events in Senegal expose the systems fundamental weakness. Despite adhering to the stringent SDDS standard, Senegals government allegedly manipulated public accounts to meet debt ratios, prompting the IMF to freeze its financial support program. This scandal reveals that technical standards cannot guarantee data integrity when political will is lacking.

The Senegal case offers African nations four crucial lessons: statistical standards must be reinforced by strong local institutions including audit courts and investigative media; civil society should participate in verification processes; standards improve data accessibility, not necessarily integrity; and comprehensive governance reforms remain essential.

As one opposition figure in Cote dIvoire questioned, similar vulnerabilities may exist across the continent where political pressures to maintain favorable economic indicators clash with transparency requirements.
Oil-rich but war-torn Libya is teetering on the edge of a fuel supply crisis, with more than $1 billion in unpaid dues for imported fuel threatening to disrupt deliveries and deepen the countrys economic woes.

The state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) has warned that international suppliers are growing increasingly reluctant to continue shipments without payment guarantees.

The mounting arrears, largely accumulated over the past year, reflect the broader dysfunction of Libyas fractured political and financial institutions.

Despite being home to Africas largest proven oil reserves, Libya has long relied on imported refined fuel to meet domestic demand, due to its limited refining capacity. But the countrys ability to pay for those imports has been hampered by a budget deadlock between rival governments in the east and west, each vying for control of national revenues.

NOC, which has tried to remain neutral amid Libyas political divisions, has been forced to dip into its own revenues to cover fuel costs. But those funds are running dry. Officials warn that unless the central bank releases emergency financing soon, fuel shortages could hit major cities within weeks.

The crisis comes as Libyans already face soaring food prices, power outages, and a deteriorating healthcare system. In Tripoli, long lines have begun forming at gas stations, reviving memories of past shortages that sparked unrest.

International observers say the situation underscores the urgent need for a political settlement and financial transparency. Libyas oil wealth should be a stabilizing force, said one Western diplomat. Instead, its being squandered in a zero-sum game between rival factions.

As the summer heat intensifies and demand for electricity spikes, the risk of a full-blown fuel crisis looms large, one that could further destabilize a country still struggling to emerge from a decade of conflict.
A US Congressional delegation led by Representative Ronny Jackson met with Rachid Talbi Alami, Speaker of Moroccos House of Representatives, to discuss regional security and bilateral cooperation.

Jackson, a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees, led the delegation in a working lunch focused on shared strategic priorities, including security in the Sahel, Atlantic cooperation, and parliamentary diplomacy.

The meeting underscored Moroccos role as a key US ally in North Africa, with both sides reaffirming their commitment to strengthening ties through a shared vision of collective security and regional stability.

Jackson praised Moroccos leadership in promoting continental stability, while Talbi Alami emphasized the importance of regular dialogue to deepen U.S.Morocco parliamentary and strategic relations

The visit coincides with the conclusion of African Lion 2025, the largest annual joint military exercise on the African continent, co-led by the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces and the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). Held from May 12 to 23, the drills spanned six Moroccan regions and involved over 30 nations, including NATO members and African partners.

The exercises featured air, land, and sea operations, special forces training, and humanitarian missions, reinforcing Moroccos role as a strategic defense partner in North Africa. U.S. officials emphasized the importance of Moroccos stability and leadership in regional security, particularly in the Sahel and Atlantic corridors.
Algeria is reportedly seeking a $3 billion loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to finance a major railway infrastructure project. The loan is still pending approval by the banks governing board, which includes key stakeholders such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, countries whose diplomatic ties with Algeria have been strained in recent years.

The move has raised eyebrows among observers, given President Abdelmadjid Tebbounes repeated public opposition to foreign borrowing. He has often framed foreign debt as a threat to national sovereignty. In 2021, Tebboune stated that Algeria rejected external financing to preserve its anachronistic positions on Western Sahara and Palestine.

However, Algerias economic realities are becoming harder to ignore. The country is classified as high-risk by international lenders, making any potential borrowing costly.

Despite this, the government has long used economic sovereignty as a smokescreen to justify avoiding foreign debt. This has included unconventional measures such as direct central bank financing, import restrictions, monetary expansion, and incorporating the informal sector into GDP calculations to inflate economic performance.

Economists argue that foreign debt, when used to fund productive investments and structural reforms, can be a valuable tool for economic diversification, particularly for Algeria, whose economy remains heavily dependent on volatile oil and gas revenues. Yet, the government has shown little appetite for reform, preferring to maintain social stability through subsidies and public spending to the detriment of long-term financial stability.

With oil prices down more than 20% since the start of 2025, Algeria faces mounting fiscal pressure and a projected record budget deficit. The governments resistance to reform and reliance on outdated economic levers may soon prove unsustainable.
Ecuador announced plans to open an embassy in Morocco, which will be Ecuadors first diplomatic representation in the Maghreb.

The announcement was made at a press briefing by Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabriela Sommerfeld following a meeting Saturday in Quito with his Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita, who represented King Mohammed VI at the official investiture ceremony of re-elected President Daniel Noboa.

Bourita on his part noted that this marks the first visit by a Moroccan foreign minister to Ecuador since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1988, calling the visit a historic moment for our bilateral relations.

Our two countries have opened a new chapter in their bilateral relations following President Noboas decision in October 2024 to suspend relations with the so-called SADR () Bourita added, noting that from that point forward, and on instructions of King Mohammed VI and President Noboa, the two countries, that are geographically distant, but very close on several issues, signed a roadmap to promote South-South ties.

We have developed cooperation in many areas of common interest, including the economic, agricultural, and human dimensions, through granting scholarships, Bourita said.

On the sidelines of the investiture ceremony, Bourita was received in audience by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, to whom he conveyed the Kings congratulations on his re-election to the helm of his country.

He told the media afterwards that Ecuador is currently embarking on a new phase under the leadership of President Noboa. He added that the Kingdom of Morocco is here to express the clear keenness of His Majesty the King to support the President in his efforts to strengthen bilateral relations, particularly in the economic, commercial, and security fields.

The investiture ceremony took place at the headquarters of the Legislative Assembly and was attended by several Heads of State and Government, Presidents of legislative institutions, governments representatives, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited to Ecuador.
As the U.S. tariff threats have prompted Canada to seek alternative export markets for its oil and gas, even the province of Quebec in eastern Canadawhich ditched an LNG export plan four years agois entertaining the idea once again.

While an LNG project on Canadas West Coast is close to startup and more LNG projects on the Pacific Coast are being supported by major LNG traders, the East Coast on the Atlantic is receiving little attention.

This may be rightly so, according to one advocacy group, Investors for Paris Compliance, which said in a report this week that there isnt a business case for LNG exports via Canadas East Coast.

The U.S. tariff threat was a wake-up call for Canadian policymakers that the federal and provincial governments may have too hastily scrapped over the past decade Alberta-to-coast pipeline projects that could have diversified Canadas oil and gas exports.

Energy East, which would have delivered oil from Alberta east to Ontario and Quebec shores, was scrapped by the provincial and federal governments, and so was the GNL Quebec project, initially proposed in 2015 to transport via a 750 km (466-mile) pipeline natural gas from the west to Saguenay in Quebec for LNG exports to international markets. GNL Quebec, however, was ditched in 2021. First, the province of Quebec refused to authorize it, and then the federal government refused to authorize it the following yearon environmental grounds.

Related: Suriname Votes for President Who Will Oversee Newly-Found Oil Wealth

Earlier this year, amid soured relations with Canadas top trade partner, the United States, the Quebec government signaled it would be open to reviving the Quebec LNG project to help Canada reduce its dependence on the U.S. market for its oil and gas exports.

But the idea of potentially resurrecting the LNG export project on the East Coast could be dead in the water because the business rationale just isnt there, according to Investors for Paris Compliance.

The groups report highlighted various reasons why shipping LNG from Canadas East Coast would not be profitable due to structural shifts in global LNG markets, while the Quebec LNG projects costs would now be double compared to the estimates made in 2018. Back then, the cost estimate was US$12.2 billion (C$16.9 billion), and was likely underestimated. Applying the overrun factors observed with LNG Canada Phase 1 and Coastal Gaslink to GNL Quebecs estimate, the projects actual cost could be up to twice the original estimate, or upwards of US$23.8 billion (C$33 billion), Investors for Paris Compliances report says.

Moreover, the key market for LNG shipping from Canadas Atlantic coast  Europe  has been reducing demand for gas, also due to the energy crisis earlier this decade, while Asia has easier access to LNG than from Canadas East Coast. The wave of new LNG projects out of the U.S. and Qatar in the next three years would also dampen the business case for a costly project in the eastern shores of Canada, according to the advocacy group.

While there is a need to diversify and strengthen our economy, this needs to be based on sound business opportunities, reads Investors for Paris Compliances report.

For savvy investors, improving East-West electricity integration, investing in critical minerals, and developing high-speed passenger rail are economic opportunities worth pursuing.

To boost Canadian oil and gas exports to markets other than the U.S., large energy companies seek investment and business opportunities on the West Coast.

For example, crude flows from the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline have materially shifted since the relations between the United States and Canada soured under U.S. President Donald Trump. China has now become the biggest buyer of Canadian crude shipped via the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline, according to data from Kpler cited by Reuters.

In the gas business, the Shell-led LNG Canada at Kitimat, British Columbia, has received its first import cargo of liquefied gas that it will use for equipment testing as the facility nears completion, scheduled for later this year.

In a boost to another proposed LNG project in Canadas northwest, TotalEnergies this week signed an agreement to buy 2 million tons per annum (Mtpa) of liquefied natural gas from the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG project over a 20-year period, subject to final investment decision. The French energy major has also taken a 5% equity stake in Western LNG, the project's developer and future operator. The acquisition grants TotalEnergies the option to increase its stake in Western LNG and/or take a direct stake in the plant up to approximately 10% when the final investment decision is made.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
The conflict in Ukraine has strategic implications for US efforts to focus on China, and the article suggests that failing to resolve the Ukraine situation effectively could embolden Chinas actions.

Trumps direct, personalized approach to diplomacy with Russia, particularly with Vladimir Putin, has been a point of contention and may inadvertently play into Putins strategic goals.

Donald Trumps hardline stance on NATO and the war in Ukraine have pushed European nations to significantly increase their defense spending and preparedness.

Successive US administrations have long lobbied European allies to shoulder their fair burden for joint defense, but US President Donald Trump has taken a more bottom-line driven approach to NATO, publicly questioning why the United States should pay for the defense of rich European nations.

And that tough rhetoric has shaken Europe out of its decades-long national security slumber, according to Russian-American scholar Leon Aron. Germany, the second-largest economy in NATO after the United States, in March passed reforms that would allow it to unlock billions in defense funding.

Trump woke up Europe, whether he intended or not, Aron told RFE/RL. The Europeans don't like it, but actually, the end result was, I think, salutary.

RFE/RL spoke with Aron, a senior fellow at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, as part of a series of interviews called America's Foreign Policy Shifts.

Aron said that Trump alone would not have gotten Europe to scale up on defense. Russian President Vladimir Putins decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, unleashing the biggest war on the continent in 80 years, was an essential element, Aron argued.

The combination of Trump and Ukraine, I think, moved them to really seriously contemplate the enormous delinquency in their national defenses, Aron said in a wide-ranging interview.

If a decade ago, only three European members of NATO spent 2 percent of economic output on defense, the agreed-upon minimum, today only a few dont. However, Europes underinvestment in its own defense in the three decades following the end of the Cold War has left a mark, Aron said.

As Trump seeks to shift some military power from the European theater to the Asia-Pacific region to deter China, allies will struggle to compensate, he said.

It will take the Europeans years to fill the hole left by the United States, Aron said. Theyre definitely awakened, but how they can technically arrange this very steep increase in their defense allocations remains to be seen.

Aron, who was born in Moscow, focuses on US-Russia relations and Russian domestic policy.

From 2014 to 2020, he served on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversaw the operations of US government-funded news outlets, including RFE/RL. He was a Russia advisor to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney during the latters unsuccessful bid as the Republican Partys 2012 presidential candidate.

Ukraine War

Amid US wars against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, Romney in 2012 said that Russia  and not international terrorism  was Washingtons number one geopolitical foe. Two years later, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the seizure of Crimea, starting a war with Ukraine that expanded with the full-scale invasion eight years later.

Since beginning his second term, Trump has been pushing aggressively for a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine. After a flurry of diplomacy failed to convince Putin to agree to the 30-day cease-fire he was demanding, Trump said on May 16 that he needed to meet the Kremlin leader to end the conflict.

I dont believe anything will happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together, Trump told reporters.

Three days later, the US president held a third call with Putin, and it appeared to end with Trump siding with the Russian leaders position; namely, that a cease-fire can only come after Moscow and Kyiv reach an agreement on territorial control and peacekeepers among other issues.

Russia and Ukraine are so far apart on the issues that it may take months at best for them to agree to a deal. Putin is widely believed to be buying time because his forces have momentum on the battlefield, and he has yet to achieve any major war aims, despite illegally laying claim to five regions of Ukraine.

Trump conceded late last month that Putin might be playing him for time and threatened to further sanction Russia. Nonetheless, he spun the May 19 call as a success even as the Kremlin leader appeared to get his way.

How far Putin can push Trump is probably the pivotal issue in this whole situation, Aron said.

Managing Russia

Aron said Trump, like nearly every U.S. president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, is drawn to the idea of managing relations with Moscow.

There is something almost religious about this, he said. Trump is no different in that respect.

However, unlike his predecessors, Trump doesnt delegate the Russia portfolio to seasoned diplomats, instead preferring a more personalized approach. Trump tapped his friend, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, who has no government experience, to carry out the talks with Russia. But that hands-on style, Aron said, may be playing into Putins strategy.

Contrary to what Trump thinks, I believe Putin feels he can play him, Aron said. All he has to do is periodically massage his ego, periodically wave to him from the Kremlin, and things will go his way. Unfortunately, so far, its working.

Putins war aims havent narrowed, Aron said. The Kremlin leader still aims to conquer Ukraine even though the costs of continuing the war are staggering. Agreeing to a cease-fire at the current line of conflict holds risks for his popularity, Aron said, even as many Russians want the war to end.

He has to look at his domestic situation and decide how hes going to explain to his people the loss of what is now approaching probably close to a million soldiers, injured or killed, for essentially getting what they had to begin with: Donetsk, Luhansk, part of Zaporizhzhya, and a couple of slivers of land.

Putin would need to further tighten the screws on the Russian people in the event of such a peace agreement. So far, repression has kept a lid on Russian public anger.

At this point, he feels he has control of the situation, Aron said. Moving toward peace contains some very serious risks for him.

Trump should alter his position and backstop a European-led peacekeeping force to monitor any eventual deal, Aron said. If Putin continues to drag his feet, Trump should ramp up sanctions on Russias oil industry, including targeting the countrys oil shipping fleet.

"That's a very tangible blow to Putin, he said. This may move him toward at least contemplating peace seriously.

China Watching

But the long war in Ukraine has strategic implications beyond Europe, particularly for Trumps broader goal of focusing US policy on China, he said.

Precisely because I assume the Trump administration wants to avoid a war with China over Taiwan, it ought to press Putin to settle for something that is not an outright defeat for Ukraine, Aron said.

He said that rewarding Russian aggression could embolden Beijing  and pointed to Chinas role in sustaining the war.

Without China, there wouldnt be this war, Aron said. China essentially finances at least half of Russian battlefield expenses by purchasing Russian oil. Xi Jinping continues to maintain that lifeline.

Meanwhile, Trumps protectionist trade policies could undermine the very alliances needed to confront China, Aron argued. Trump accused allies and adversaries alike of taking advantage of the United States through unfair trade practices and imposed 10 percent tariffs on most countries.

If the American market is curtailed by tariffs, Europe -- especially Germany -- may turn back to China, Aron said. Germany became richer over the past three decades by sending exports to China, primarily cars, but also other luxury items. They pulled back after seeing Xis policies, but they may be forced to go back.

It is a similar situation in the Global South, where the United States, China, and Russia have been vying for influence. Countries such as Vietnam, Congo, and Zimbabwe could also pivot toward China if they lose access to the US market, he said.

Trump is also seeking to curtail US involvement abroad, slashing US international aid and reportedly planning to cut the diplomatic presence in Africa. While some Trump supporters have dismissed Africa as strategically unimportant, Aron said that retreating from the continent would be a mistake.

Its not just that Russia and China would rush in to fill the gap, international terrorist groups would too, he added, pointing to Nigeria and Mali, where militant Islamic groups are active.

Presence itself matters hugely symbolically, he said.

The Trump administration has defended the policies, saying it is trying to align US aid and investment with its foreign policy goals.

By RFE/RL

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
By State Representative Lucetta Elmer, Shelly Boshart Davis, and Anna Scharf,

May 21, 2025

House Democrats on the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee passed Senate Bill 916A which would make Oregon the first state in the nation to allow public employees to receive unemployment benefits while on strike.

This vote comes after the House Speaker, Majority Leader, House Republican Leader, and all Members of the Oregon House of Representatives received a letter from the Superintendents of Oregons largest school districts asking legislators to oppose Senate Bill 916A.

The letter was signed by Superintendents from the following School Districts: Beaverton, Bend-La-Pine, Gresham-Barlow, Hillsboro, Medford, Portland, Salem-Keizer, and Tigard-Tualatin.

We must share the serious financial strain and administrative burden this bill would place on school districts especially during a time of profound fiscal uncertainty. The core of our concern is simple: every public dollar intended for education must be spent in a way that directly benefits students, said the Superintendents in their letter.

Todays vote comes just days after Washington State passed legislation allowing striking workers to receive unemployment  with the major caveat that public employees are barred from striking, according to their state law. As a measure of good faith, House Republicans proposed the -A15 Amendment which would have aligned Oregon with Washington State in the following ways:

Added a two-week disqualification period, with a one week waiting period. As currently drafted, Senate Bill 916A only allows for a one-week disqualification, and a one-week waiting period.



Capped the number of weeks benefits could be received to 6 weeks. As currently drafted, striking workers in Oregon could receive up to 26-weeks of benefits, except during a recession or as the economy begins to recover from a recession  when workers are least likely to strike.



Ensured that the Oregon Employment Department would have to report back to the Legislature annually on the prevalence of strikes in the state and the cost of benefits for striking workers. As currently drafted, there is no such required report. The Oregon Employment Department would only report back to the Legislature as requested.



Stated that the measure would only be effective until 2035 to examine its effectiveness. As currently drafted, there is no expiration date for the measure.



During the committee, House Republicans also made a motion to send Senate Bill 916A to the House Committee on Rules for further discussion. This motion was voted down along party lines.

Oregon ranks 48th for business friendliness and 45th among all states for public school quality. I am disappointed that instead of addressing these harsh realities, the Majority Party has doubled down on another failed policy that will only hurt our cities, counties, schools, and private businesses, said Representative Lucetta Elmer (R-McMinnville).

Without a doubt, this legislation will hurt Oregon students. We should be listening to our School Administrators who steward our education dollars instead of prioritizing political donors, said Representative Shelly Boshart Davis (R-Albany).

Either we are concerned about the well-being of our students, our lagging education results, and our chronic rates of absenteeism or we arent. It is hard for me to fathom that Democratic Legislators are willing to turn a blind eye to their very own Superintendents and our students  but here we are, said Representative Anna Scharf (R-Amity).

House Republicans have served notice of a Minority Report


By Taxpayers Association of Oregon

OregonWatchdog.com

The suspect behind the cold-blooded murder of two people outside a Jewish Museum in Washington D.C. yelled out I did this for Gaza. Free Palestine. Theres only one solution. Intifada revolution.

During the pr-Hamas takeover over the Portland State University library, there were posters on campus and banners that touted intifada which is a call to war against Jewish people and innocent civilians. Please note the artistic Molotov cocktail in the banner.

Also, on the PSU campus were posters calling for arson.

 If you appreciate this alert then support our efforts: Contribute online at OregonWatchdog.com (learn about a Charitable Tax Deduction or Political Tax Credit options to promote liberty).
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Since 2008, the U.S. has spent over US$3 billion to help stabilize Mexico and stem its surge in extreme violence. The U.S. gun industry and interest group lobbyists have undercut these efforts by advocating for lax regulation and enforcement. This has created mayhem south of the border, and its effects have ricocheted to the U.S., boosting illegal drug trade and organized crime.

Meanwhile, the federal block on firearm trace data sharing established by the 2003 Tiahrt Amendments makes it difficult to track the illegal U.S.-Mexico firearms trade in order to study these effects.

We are a professor of economic development and an investigative journalist, and we have spent a year sifting through documents to follow the flow of illicit weapons trafficked from the U.S. to Mexico and quantify what this flow has wrought.

Here's how we did it.

Pulling together the data

We gathered records from many sources to create a database of firearms that were sold by licensed U.S. firearm dealers, then trafficked to Mexico. These businesses are licensed by the U.S. government to sell or manufacture and sell firearms and ammunition in the U.S., and they include independent gun shops, chain stores and pawnshops.

We gathered two sets of data that were obtained through an information request to Mexico's Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, known as SEDENA, and curated by Stop U.S. Arms to Mexico:

Nearly 133,000 firearms seized by Mexican authorities from January 2010 to March 1, 2023.

Nearly 5,700 firearms purchased by Mexican police from 20032019.

We combined firearms trace data records from two other sources:

Information leaked from the Mexican government by the hacktivist group Guacamaya in 2022 that included gun trace data from November 2018 to December 2020 from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' National Center for Analysis, Planning and Intelligence. This dataset contains information about more than 24,000 firearms; 15,000 of them were purchased in the U.S.

A dataset we generated from 100 U.S. court cases that involved small arms trafficking from the U.S. to Mexico and contains information on more than 4,200 firearms. It includes many contextual details not found in the leaked data. For instance, roughly 1,900 instances include a date of purchase.

Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly.

Of the 28,000 records in the combined trace records, nearly 13,000 were linked to specific licensed firearm dealer addresses in the U.S. In most years, the ATF was unable to determine the final purchaser in about half of its traces of U.S.-sourced firearms recovered in Mexico. We removed records that appeared to be dead ends tied to large manufacturer addresses and were left with 9,014 records that we could confidently say were fully traced back to specific firearm sellers.

We also used a dataset of firearms violations originally acquired from the ATF by the nonprofit advocacy group Brady: United Against Gun Violence through a Freedom of Information Act request for its Gun Store Transparency Project. The 4,000 code violations of federal firearm laws between 2015 and 2018 are from ATF inspection reports and include warning letters, warning conferences and license revocation recommendations.

Using these four datasets, a previous estimate and two other studies, we modeled the number of guns trafficked across the border into Mexico annually. This allowed us to understand the characteristics of firearm trafficking to Mexico from multiple angles.

We had two main objectives:

To estimate how many guns were trafficked annually.

To determine what effect regulation measures might have on the trafficking flow.

Weapons flow

We started our analysis with a weapons count using what is known as a capture-recapture method. This type of count is often used to estimate the number of animals in the wild, where it is impossible to do a complete tally: A sample of the population is captured, tagged and released, then a second sample is taken to see how many tagged individuals are recaptured.

We applied this method to the SEDENA and leaked ATF data. The SEDENA dataset contains weapons seized by the Mexican army, while the leaked ATF dataset contains guns seized by Mexican agencies. For an ideal capture-recapture comparison, the leaked data would include all SEDENA records, but only 26.5% overlap. Although imperfect, this allowed us to develop econometric equations to estimate the annual circulation of illicit firearms in Mexico.

We combined this with estimates derived from five other sources:

We used a method analogous to a political polling average, which also combines multiple sources, to model the likely trafficking rate. Our model estimated that between 72,819 and 258,101 firearms were sold in the U.S. and trafficked to Mexico in 2022.

This led us to a middle-range estimate of 135,000 firearms trafficked from the U.S. to Mexico in 2022.

To get an idea of the effects this flow of weapons has on the people living in Mexico, we compared our trafficking estimate with data on homicides in Mexico from the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime, via the World Bank, for 19902022.

We refined our model by looking at the difference in that relationship during the 19942004 U.S. federal assault weapons ban. This showed that a 1% increase in trafficking leads to a 0.48% rise in homicide rates. More than two-thirds of firearms recovered in Mexico and traced to a purchaser originate from the United States, according to ATF figures. Our model showed that only around 6% of these weapons were legally imported.

We hypothesized that high numbers of illegal seizures might lead police to buy more firearms, and heavily armed police might push criminals to acquire more weapons, creating an arms race. Our test results supported this theory: We found that an average 10% increase in police firearm orders from 20062018 led to a 1.4% rise, on average, in illegal arms seizures the following year.

And, conversely, a 10% rise in illegal arms seizures in each of those years corresponded to an 18.5% increase in police firearm orders the next year. The economic climate and non-firearm crime rates might also be related to police firearm purchases, but we did not control for these factors.

Regulation and enforcement

We also used the court case data to track the dates guns were purchased in the U.S. and the dates they were recovered, often en route to or in Mexico. This allowed us to verify the leaked ATF data. We excluded weapons purchased or sold for trafficking to Mexico solely through the influence of undercover law enforcement officers.

Around 2,900 guns in the court case data had a serial number, and 19 of them matched with the leaked ATF gun trace data. Details in the court records, such as the location of recovery in Mexico or the dealer where the guns were purchased, were identical to the details in the leaked data. The 19 matches were from nine court cases across five states, and the court cases were generated independently from the leaked data. This confirmed the leaked data's authenticity.

We also used the trace data to test eight firearm laws that require reporting at the point of sale, to test what effect these laws might have on gun trafficking to Mexico.

We calculated the probability of a gun staying on the illicit market. We controlled for possible spillover effects such as gun sales suppression in one state pushing buyers to neighboring states. One of our calculations used distances between states to measure the influence of gun sales and laws across states.

We found:

Most firearms laws reduce the amount of time guns spend on the illicit market.

Purge laws, which stipulate that the gun shop owner or the state retain purchase or background check records, result in a 126% to 257% greater likelihood of an illicit gun being recovered on any given day.

More gun laws in surrounding states increases the likelihood by about 1.9% that guns sold in a state are recovered in that state.

Our findings align with previous studies showing that stronger gun purchase laws in the U.S. reduce the number of firearms that end up in illicit markets at national and state levels.

We also hypothesized that some of the federal firearms licensees associated with weapons records in the data would already be known to law enforcement and that we might be able to gauge the impact of enforcement actions.

To test this, we used the Brady dataset of ATF firearms dealer code violations from 20142018 to match traced firearms to licensees.

We analyzed the data using three different approaches, and all three showed that more citations for violation of firearms laws lead to fewer illicit guns.

In addition, we found that from 20142018:

ATF citations reduced the number of guns sold to traffickers by 20% to 44%.

Licensees who received enforcement actionswarning letters, warning conferences or license-revocation warningshad contributed between 5% and 21% more guns to U.S.-Mexico traffic than licensees with no regulatory action.

The ATF issued enforcement actions to about 12% of firearm licensees each year.

Back in the U.S.

There were over 75,000 federally licensed firearms dealers regulated by the ATF in the United States in 2024, including independent stores, chain stores, pawnbrokers and manufacturers.

Many traffickers and firearm licensees in the court and ATF trace datasets are linked to crime in the U.S. We matched nearly 300 of the illicit weapons in these datasets to licensees in the ATF's Demand Letter 2 program, which tracks licensees who have sold 25 or more guns within a year that were recovered from U.S. crime scenes within three years of being sold.

For the two years of data we obtained, about one-fifth of the businesses in the Demand program list in 2022 and 2023 were matched to Mexican crime guns. The overlap suggests that the effects we found for Mexican crime guns, including more compliance checks leading to fewer illicit guns, apply to the illicit U.S. market as well.

More information: Read the full investigation: Mexican drug cartels use hundreds of thousands of guns bought from licensed US gun shopsfueling violence in Mexico, drugs in the US and migration at the border

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
BRIGANTINE  The hardest part of founding and operating a rescue sanctuary is starting out, Bob Schoelkopf said.

He had to work different jobs just to pay the bills and feed the animals being taken care of at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. Then the help came, and it made the job at least a little bit easier.

On Saturday morning, Schoelkopf was honored in front of family and friends with a street sign dedication  Bob Schoelkopf Drive  at the center on Brigantine Boulevard.

After 47 years, the job of rescuing marine wildlife every year doesnt get easier, but the ability to do it for so long is something Schoelkopf expressed gratitude toward Saturday.

A lot of the people here today are volunteers or had been volunteers over the years, and that makes me feel good, said Schoelkopf, 78, who lives in Galloway Township with his wife of 37 years, Sheila Dean. Honoring me is also honoring all those people who helped us in the past.

Schoelkopf retired as the centers first director at the end of 2022. Dean, who shared co-director duties for several years with Schoelkopf, is the current director until she plans to retire, she said.

This is nice that the city did this for us, said Dean, 77.

The MMSC has had over a thousand people work there in nearly 50 years, from people who were trained in marine life rescue to volunteers. Theyve been able to save thousands of animals over 1,800 miles of coastline the length of New Jersey, including the beaches and back bays.

The center works with whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals and sea turtles. Winter is when the center sees the most seals, with fewer than 10 in some years, and more than 100 in others. Right now, there are nine seals recovering at the center, Dean said.

The nonprofit relies heavily on donations and fundraising events. Its been a challenge lasting this long, Dean said.

I find it amazing were still here, Dean said. I can remember some years we almost closed. There was no money. We had a couple employees but did most of the work ourselves. We used volunteers, but there was a point where (Bob and I), to quote, stopped taking a salary. ... We had to cut off all expenses.

The center does a lot of online fundraising, like $5 Fridays or a chance to donate money to a specific seal. Last month, the center held a fundraiser in Smithville called Lunch for a Porpoise. The annual charity run that Schoelkopf started over 10 years ago will be a virtual run this year, Dean said.

For a list of fundraising events, go to mmsc.org/upcoming-fundraisers.

Only cordial to people

Schoelkopf started working at an aquarium in Atlantic City after returning from Vietnam, where he served as a Navy Corpsman attached to the special operations Recon Marines.

While working as a manager at Steel Pier, he was often called to help marine life in distress.

In March 1976, he helped a pygmy sperm whale that washed ashore. City workers trying to tow it back into the water by its tail. Eventually, the Coast Guard was able to slide an inflatable rafter under the injured animal and bring it to the Coast Guard base, where they named the whale Semper Paratus  the Latin motto of that branch meaning always ready. Despite around-the-clock care by Schoelkopf, the Coast Guard and a team of vets, the whale died three days later.

That was the vision for what would become the center today, with this one small whale in need, said Kevin Schaffer, a board of directors chairperson who shared Schoelkopfs story with the crowd.

Two years later, the stranding center was born in Atlantic City. In 1983, it moved to Brigantine thanks to help from the citys beach patrol to secure a location and prep the building, which belongs to the Brigantine Historical Museum.

There were too many rescues over the years for Schoelkopf to choose a most memorable.

There was a rescue around New Years Eve in 1989 or 1990, when he went down to Maryland to rescue a whale. While battling frigid conditions, they were able to put a line on the whale and successfully tow it out to sea.

Another rescue, a right whale at Island Beach State Park in Berkeley Township, Ocean County, was on the beach. When Schoelkopf went in to tie a chain around it to be towed back out to sea, a wave came in, lifted the whale and caused a suction that pulled him under.

I had to wait until the waves settled down and let (the whale) up to pull me out again, he said with a laugh.

Dolphins have been Schoelkopfs favorite animal hes gotten to interact with over the years. He jokes that hes cordial to people but loves the animals.

One of the hardest parts about retiring is the daily interaction with the animals. On Saturday, the first thing he did before the ceremony was go visit the seals that are under the centers care.

Its hard not to feel some type of emotion toward these animals that the center will get to know over a course of six weeks or more, depending on the injuries, he said.

When you get to release them and turn them loose and watch them swim away, thats gratitude. It makes you feel good, he said.
The bells of the Virginia War Memorial Carillon, at the center of Byrd Park, pealed for the first time shortly after 11 a.m. on Oct. 15, 1932, as carillonneur Anton Brees honored the 3,700 Virginians who died in World War I with the melody of My Country Tis of Thee.

Thousands filled Byrd Park to witness the dedication of the Carillon, the 240-foot-tall Georgian revival tower, containing 53 bronze bells of varying sizes, built to honor the servicemen and women of Virginia who died in the World War. Following addresses, prayers and an invocation, Brees once again let the bells ring out through the park, first with Onward Christian Soldiers, then The Long, Long Trail, and Chopins Piano Sonata No. 2, better known as the Funeral March.

Virginias Carillon, a singing tower visualized by orators as a source of perpetual music in perpetual honor of men who died with a song in their hearts, was consecrated yesterday as a World War memorial before a crowd of 15,000 persons who heard a dedicatory prayer that the bells may ring out the thousand years of old, and ring in the thousand years of peace, reads an Oct. 16, 1932, story in the Times-Dispatch.

The project to build the Carillon was eight years in the making, and finally dedicated 14 years after the end of the war. Initially proposed in 1924, the shape of the state war memorial became a topic of ongoing debate in the two years that followed. Business leader Granville Valentine spearheaded a campaign for the monument to be a carillon, which sparked further debate.

Members of the public by and large supported the idea of a carillon, including many who wrote letters to the Times-Dispatch to voice their endorsement, including the suitably named Mary Bell Perkins, who wrote on Oct. 27, 1925, we are going to put our best  heart and mind and energy  into our work for a singing tower.

However, the construction of the Carillon did meet some opposition early on. The Virginia Chapter American Institute of Architects opposed the idea on the grounds that a carillon is not a proper form of war memorial.

Members of the General Assembly also received anonymous circulars, believed to have been distributed by members of the Ku Klux Klan, which opposed in particular the idea of using English-made bells in its construction.

The Times-Dispatch, meanwhile, endorsed the idea early on in an editorial.

A carillon is the only memorial which could be a constant reminder to thousands in Virginia outside Richmond, reads a story in the June 9, 1925, Times-Dispatch. Any shaft, any arch, any temple, and statue, any monument would be and could be only a reminder to those who could see it. A carillon, whose singing bells would sound throughout the land, would be as constant a reminder to the people of all Virginias grand divisions as to the people of Richmond.

On March 12, 1926, the state legislature approved the construction of the memorial, though they opted to defer construction for two years because of a lack of funds to carry it out.

Finally in March 1928, the General Assembly appropriated the funds to have it built, with the measure allowing for a contract not to exceed $250,000 to pay for its construction.

The design for the memorial was carried out by architecture firm Carneal, Johnston & Wright, along with engineering consultants Cram & Ferguson. The bells were cast by John Taylor & Co. in England.

In May 1932, only months before the monument was dedicated, the City Planning Commission discussed further plans to improve the area surrounding the Carillon, including a semi-circular driveway to facilitate the movement of crowds, as well as a 400-foot-long reflecting pool north of the monument. Funds initially were to be drawn from the Department of Public Works.

These improvements never came to pass, as the Great Depression hampered the citys ability to fund them. However, the federal Works Project Administration took over some of the work in 1939, including landscaping and paving of walkways.

Over the years, the Carillon has undergone several stages of restoration, including in 1970, when the bells of the Carillon were recast from their original metal and made more robust. After the casting, the smallest bell  formerly 8 pounds  weighed a heartier 20 pounds. On May 20, 1970, carillonneur Beverly Keith gave the first performance of the recast bells.

The Carillon recently underwent another round of restoration in 2018 in time for the centennial Armistice Day celebration in Byrd Park.

The Carillon is listed as a Virginia Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.
Richmond Mayor Danny Avulas appointment of a new chief administrative officer will be the most consequential decision he makes in office.

Avula will introduce his choice on June 6. If the first several months of his tenure have made anything clear, its that the lack of an experienced and effective CAO to oversee a competent, transparent city government free of corruption undermines the perception of RVA as a city on the rise.

Richmonds history, culture and increasingly shiny facade cannot conceal the chronic City Hall dysfunction that has bled into Avulas tenure and become so acute that, yet again  as in the January water crisis  Richmond finds itself borrowing expertise from neighboring Henrico County.

The city announced Friday that W. Brandon Hinton, Henricos deputy county manager for administration, will be on loan from the county for a couple of months to serve as Richmonds acting deputy CAO of finance and administration. Meanwhile, interim CAO Sabrina Joy-Hogg is resigning to take a job as a deputy city manager in Newport News, following conflicting explanations of how real estate tax bills typically sent to mortgage lenders landed with baffled residents.

An Avula mayoralty will not be successful if he cannot instill confidence among residents and Richmonds regional partners that the city can competently carry out core functions and communicate promptly in a crisis, which didnt happen with the catastrophic failure of the water system and a more recent hiccup involving fluoride levels.

Richmond, since switching to its strong mayor form of government two decades ago, has been plagued by too much turnover at the CAO position and, more recently, too little experience.

Avula and his new CAO have a heavy lift ahead.

The course were trying to be on is the course that is open to change, transparent, responsive to the needs of the citys residents ... steady, calm, said Mira Signer, Avulas press secretary.

The person that Avula brings on as CAO will be about partnership, be about solving problems, not running away from complexity, with an attitude of, Look, were going to look for the problems, were going to find them and were going to fix them. And thats going to require humility and honesty.

The next CAO, she said, will have deep experience and share Avulas service-mindset belief that we can get through the difficult times  kind of a belief and hope in whatever Richmonds future may be despite the very checkered past, she said.

So yes, experience is absolutely a box that will be checked, along with that humility and find it and fix it attitude. Thats what we need, whether its core services, sidewalks, or still having deep racial divides that need to be more fully addressed and healed.

A sampling of opinions of local government observers shows a desire that the new CAO fashion a City Hall that masters the basics.

Veteran political analyst Bob Holsworth said its Avulas responsibility to establish the culture and tone of city government, and he has work to do in this regard, separate and discrete from hiring an administrator. It appears that a common dimension in several of the screwups has been the reluctance of mid-level bureaucrats to communicate about problems up the chain of command.

Holsworth said the new CAO should have demonstrated success infusing a problem-solving orientation across all levels of a government organization. I think it would be also be helpful to have an administrator who has a commitment to be publicly transparent about customer service, measuring and publicizing the areas where city government is doing well and where it needs to improve.

And despite the level of support for national searches, I believe it is important for the new administrator to have a level of familiarity with the distinctive local government framework and culture of Virginia state government, Holsworth said. Its difficult to hit the ground running when itll take you a year or more to understand the environment in which youre operating.

Viola Baskerville, a former Richmond City Council member, state delegate and secretary of administration under then-Gov. Tim Kaine, said she hopes the next CAO has a proven track record; that they have strong financial acumen and keen budget oversight abilities essential to advising the mayor on how to allocate limited taxpayer resources. I would like to see someone who thinks strategically and who has the ability to equally, effectively engage city employees as well as City Council and Richmond citizens.

Angela Fontaine, co-chair of the task force that established Richmonds Civilian Review Board, said the city needs a CAO with demonstrated experience in crisis leadership and modernizing city operations, someone who combines strong financial oversight with clear communication. We deserve a CAO who views transparency not as an obligation, but as a cornerstone of effective governance.

Richard Meagher, a professor of political science at Randolph-Macon College, cited the need for someone who has experience in city or county management, sure, but also someone with a track record of culture change, of process improvement, of doing the hard and even tedious work of making a service bureaucracy more responsive and efficient.

By the way, we definitely do not need an evangelist for the public sector should be more like the private sector  someone who has cleaned house by firing a bunch of people or outsourced to private companies. Thats not Avulas style or, seemingly, intention, so I doubt well get that, he said.

Meagher said hed be surprised if the new CAO is not a person of color, both due to the history of Richmond and the more general history of municipal government as a center of Black power and employment in American cities since the Civil Rights Movement. Culture change is hard enough, and I wonder if any white person, especially an outsider, would have the credibility among city workers to bring the transformative change thats necessary.

Considerations of race in hiring have been not only rendered toxic in the current political environment; theyve been criminalized. Just ask Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, the subject of a specious Department of Justice probe into whether he has engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race.

All of which makes Meaghers point more relevant. Amid the stridently anti-Black actions of President Donald Trump, the city needs a CAO whose empathy for Richmonds most vulnerable populations is unimpeachable.

Too many residents have been left behind, or even displaced, by the gentrifying force that has been the Richmond renaissance. Impoverished people will be under even more duress as the political right administers draconian cuts to education and access to food, housing and health care.

Richmond, and even the relatively affluent surrounding counties, will feel the strain of these cuts. The working relationship between Richmond and Henrico should be viewed as an opportunity for our areas regional partners to launch a long-overdue conversation about consolidation  a dialogue less constrained by the politics of race as Richmond becomes whiter and its surrounding counties, Blacker and browner. Our inefficient independent cities structure, unique to Virginia, is a luxury we can no longer afford.

Itd be tremendous if Avula and his next CAO can place Richmond government squarely on a path to transparency, and the competent, efficient delivery of core services.

But any transformation of city government must lead with compassion, in a nation thats less so every day.
Oversupply creates significant demand slowdown in Tulum real estate market

Tulum, Q.R.  Demand in the Tulum real estate market has faced a 40 percent slowdown caused by an oversupply of housing units. Mario Antonio San Miguel Herrera, the new President of the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals (AMPI) says the oversupply has created an imbalance between supply and demand.

Unlike places such as Playa del Carmen where real estate activity has remained more level, Tulum experienced a development boom following the COVID-19 pandemic. San Miguel Herrera said that boom saturated the market.

We estimate a 40 percent drop in purchase interest since then, he said. The excess of available units has also impacted the rental market with many properties remaining vacant or reporting very low turnover.

He says the market has been overwhelmed mostly with the construction of one and two bedroom apartments particularly since 2024.San Miguel Herrera says he is, however, optimistic about the medium-term of the Tulum market.

With the opening of the Tulum International Airport and Tren Maya connection, there could be new opportunities to revitalize the real estate sector provided external factors influencing global investment are addressed.

With favorable macroeconomic conditions, Tulum could enter a new phase of real estate development, but this time, in a more orderly and strategic manner, he said.
Passenger train alone not profitable: Authorities say cargo service will be fundamental to Tren Maya success

Riviera Maya, Q.R.  Cargo will be a fundamental component in the financial success of the Maya Train says the companys director. On its own as a passenger train, it is not profitable.

General Oscar David Lozano Aguila, General Director of Tren Maya, acknowledges that passenger operations alone are not profitable and that it is urgent to complement that service with freight transportation.

General Oscar David Lozano Aguila

Freight operation is a fundamental component which is why we need to recover the infrastructure that already exists with the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railway, he said. Lozano Aguila acknowledged that passenger operation alone is not profitable and that freight operations are necessary to reach its estimated break-even point by 2030.

No company anywhere in the world that serves passengers on a rail system is profitable. Thats a reality and a fact, thats why the Mexican government is committed to supplementing passenger transport.

To achieve the break-even point, we need freight. Its a fundamental component, which is why we need to restore the freight infrastructure that already exists with the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railway. We are working intensively to carry out this project, he explained.

Last month, President Claudia Sheinbaum launched construction of the freight infrastructure for the Maya Train which will allow this rail system to transport passengers and goods with the goal of strengthening the development of southeastern Mexico.

President Claudia Sheinbaum, center, waves the starting flag for Maya Train freight construction.

Were giving the green light for the Maya Train to become not just a passenger train, but a freight train. How important is this? Well, freight transports different types of goods and passenger trains transport people.

So, since its also a freight train, it will allow all of southeastern Mexico to achieve even more development than what has been achieved with the Maya Train, which is primarily a tourism development.

The freight train will provide enormous potential for transporting what is produced elsewhere in the country or here in the southeast, in the most efficient way possible, Sheinbaum said during the April 20 announcement.

Maya Train freight work has begun toward the Port of Progreso, Yucatan.

She said that the details of the Maya Train are being finalized, especially related to the archaeological sites and part of the overhead lines that are being completed. And at the same time, the Maya Freight Train is already under construction heading toward Progreso.

Brigadier General Alejandro Gomez Vargas, head of the Maya Trains Coordination, Delivery and Reception Center, said that the cargo service will begin in 2026 and will be incorporated into the Port of Progreso.

Brigadier General Alejandro Gomez Vargas

Were going to gradually develop cargo capacity, but by September 2024 well have everything we need. Were interested in boosting the cargo coming through the Trans-Isthmian corridor, and if we can join forces with the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railway, well surely generate business for the rest of the companies, he said.

Gomez Vargas announced that this project will have four multimodal terminals in Palenque, Progreso, Cancun and Chetumal, as well as the same number of yards in Escarcega, Pomunch, Valladolid and Xpujil, and a rail operations center in Poxila.

For the service, the plan is to have 12 road locomotives, seven yard locomotives and 550 cars. This infrastructure will constitute a robust freight transportation system that will generate development and increase employment in the communities that are integrated into the Mayan Train route, he stated.

Gomez Vargas said when the Maya Train begins cargo operations, they will transfer cargo in Bacala, a municipality adjacent to Palenque. The completed freight train project will move fuel, steel, cement, grains, perishables and automobiles.
Stranded American vessel rescued by Marina off Isla Mujeres mainland

Isla Mujeres, Q.R.  Marina personnel rescued seven after locating a stranded vessel more than a mile off the mainland coast of Isla Mujeres. Six Americans and one Mexican were located on private boat Only For One after it was left drifting late Friday night due to engine failure.

The Secretariat of the Navy reported that through the Fifth Naval Region, naval personnel provided support to seven people who were aboard a vessel approximately one nautical mile (1.8 kilometers) east of the mainland of Isla Mujeres.

This action was carried out when the Command and Control Room of the Fifth Naval Region received a report of a vessel named Only For One, which had experienced engine failure and was carrying seven people on board, one of whom was a Mexican national and the rest of whom were American nationals.

As a result of the above, and in order to safeguard human life at sea, an Interceptor Patrol from the Fifth Naval Region was deployed, which located and towed the aforementioned vessel. The passengers were transferred to the Advanced Naval Station in Playa Linda, the Secretariat reported.

Once they arrived in safe harbor, Naval Health personnel performed a medical examination and found them all to be in good health so they subsequently left on their own, the Secretariat added.
Yucatan police filter out Cancun fugitive on the run since 2018

Cancun, Q.R.  A fugitive from Quintana Roo on the run since 2018 has been taken into custody in the neighboring state of Yucatan. The Secretary of Public Security (SSP) Yucatan says fugitive Francisco Javier N was captured in a highway police filter Friday and returned to the state.

The fugitive, an alleged leader of a criminal cell operating in Quintana Roo, was arrested from a police filter along a section of Merida-Cancun highway. According to the SSP, the 36 year old from Tabasco is wanted in Quintana Roo for multiple offenses including firearms, extortion and homicide.

In a Saturday statement, the Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP) said the leader of a criminal group in the state of Quintana Roo, who had been a fugitive from justice since 2018, was captured in Yucatan by members of the Ministry of Public Security (SSP) in coordination with the Attorney Generals Office (FGR).

He is Francisco Javier N, alias Fefe, 36, originally from the state of Tabasco, and faces various charges for possession of firearms and explosives, possession of firearms for the exclusive use of the Army, extortion, collection of derecho de piso and homicide.

The individual was identified and detained at a Ministry of Public Security checkpoint on the Merida-Cancun federal toll highway. Following his arrest, Yucatan authorities handed him over to agents of the Criminal Investigation Agency to be brought before the District Judge of the Federal Criminal Justice Center, based in Cancun, who issued a re-arrest warrant.
WALL LAKE, Iowa  The office of Duane "Speed" Herrig, the longtime owner of Cookies BBQ, is strewn with awards from any number of reputable barbecue and food service institutions: American Royal, Kansas City Barbecue Society, Iowa Grocers Association.

A test kitchen for his company's diverse array of products houses an award for "Best Barbecue Sauce on the Planet." He's gotten to serve food to former President George W. Bush and his company's line of sauces, salsas and seasonings are sold all throughout the country.

So naturally he'll get some version of the question: When are you going to retire?

"It's fun. I've been at it 47 years. People want to know how long you're going to do it and I'm going to go part time at 140. It's just a lot of fun," he told The Journal in late January.

In summer 2024, at the ripe age of 86, Herrig, who took over sales for the company in 1977, was in the 18-wheeler Cookies Rib Wagon as much as he possibly could be. Either every week, or two weeks with an off week, he was going to stores all throughout the Midwest and doing hundreds of racks of pork ribs. Naturally, those come seasoned with Cookies flavor enhancer and glazed with sauce at the end. He aims for a temp of 175 to 180 degrees between the bones.

"Gotta be thick-skinned to be out on the Rib Wagon," he joked.

Not that he's gotten a lot of guff from the people he has served up. Herrig said he can count on one hand the times people he's cooked ribs for didn't like what they had. In one case, someone complained about them being "too tender," Herrig recalled.

During the colder months, Herrig, who got his nickname for his years of building racing engines, might be found walking through the Cookies facility in Wall Lake and chatting with employees, some of whom have been with the business for 40 years. There are giant vats at the factory that are at least 10 feet tall, buckets of liquid smoke, 50 pound bags of brown sugar and granulated sugar, and machines to bottle, seal, cap, label and then box up one of their sauces. A bottle comes out of the dispensing machine every second. Even though they do one sauce and one bottle size at a time, Herrig said the site can churn out 1,500 to 2,000 gallons a day for smaller containers and close to 6,000 gallons a day for manufacturer products.

Herrig said what's most crucial to making good barbecue sauce, especially if it's small batch, is equipment that is good and clean to start with.

"I look inside some of those smokers and they can tell me all they want to about: 'Oh, you've got to have that in there for flavor.' No. You don't need that in there for flavor. Our smoker, that holds about 108 racks of ribs, when we come back from an event it goes through our wash rack. We've special solutions that clean all the smoke off. It looks brand new."

Sauce isn't all that Herrig lent advice to The Journal about during a tour with him. He also lent his perspective on barbecuing techniques, pairing sauce with meat, types of wood to go with and more. Here's what he had to say:

Cookies Bar "B" "Q" Sauce Duane "Speed" Herrig, left, president of Cookies Food Products, talks with employee Laike Reiter Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the company's facil

The original sauce, what all goes into that?

That's secret ingredients. The original, where the company got its name, was a guy named LD Cook. Hence the Cookies. That's the only one he had. That's still the same recipe. He developed it in 1974/1975 and then we built the plant here in Wall Lake like in 1976. The original still is the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and then the blend of spices and stuff. We don't use any fillers. There's a lot of beet powder other companies use to extend like tomato paste ... We just stayed with the old recipe. It works, people use it and like it and we haven't changed it.

With the original sauce, what would you recommend pairing that with?

Well, if I'm going to do pulled pork and ribs, I prefer our sweet hickory. It's go a little pineapple juice concentrate in it. With beans, I like the original. If I'm going to like ground turkey, I like our Western style. It's got a little bit more spice to it and ground turkey, to be quite honest, doesn't have a lot of flavor. And it needs something to pick it up.

How long do you do your pulled pork for?

I'll season it with our flavor enhancer and then smoke it. And normally to get it to where you can pull it apart real easy you have to be around 185 degrees. The USDA temp is 145 but it won't fall apart at 145. I use a cut called boneless rib ends. You can use Boston butts or pork shoulder. The same thing with briskets. Some briskets and pork butts will be tender at 185 and some you might have to take up to 200 or 205 before they get fall apart tender.

Cookies Bar "B" "Q" Sauce Jacob Murley laughs while packaging bottles of wing sauce after Duane "Speed" Herrig, president of Cookies Food Products, not shown, joked wit

What differentiates the Western style from the original and what would pair it with?

It's got a little bit of minced onion and a little bit of jalapeno pepper powder in it. That gives it just a little bit of a kick. Ground turkey, a lot of people like it on other things too but for me, it really picks up that flat flavor. Ground turkey needs a good shot of flavor enhancer and some Western style barbecue sauce. Now like leftover turkey, dice it up, and I make a white chili out of it or like a sour cream turkey enchilada.

How was it getting inducted into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame?

Guy Fieri got inducted when I did. It was just kind of neat. I'm basically a mechanic, I used to build racing engines and did a lot of stuff like that and I said: Some dumb old Yankee mechanic gets in the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame.

What's a good use for the sweet and spicy sauce?

I like that on burgers. It's got the molasses and the jalapeno pepper and stuff in it. And I love it on hamburgers, pork burgers. It's got a nice kick to it. I like to do it on ribs once in a while as well as pulled pork but it's definitely spicier.

Cookies Bar "B" "Q" Sauce Duane "Speed" Herrig, president of Cookies Food Products, poses with a pallet of several of his company's sauces Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at Coo

How long are you doing ribs for?

I do them more by the internal temp of the rib. Pork ribs. Beef ribs are too expensive and you're buying so much bone. People will say: 'How do you do ribs?' And then I'll explain how I do them and they'll say: 'You've got your smoker too hot.' You asked me how I did them. You do them however you want to do them. People say: 'You got to peel the membrane off of them.' You think I'm going to peel the membrane off of 500 racks of ribs every weekend you're smoking something weird in your pipe because we never pull the membrane off. And I've never had anybody say anything because that membrane just turns to paper thin and light. A lot of times it basically just falls away because we usually run our smoke 250 to 275. You can bump it up to 300. You want to get that 175-185 between the bones and then they'll be nice and tender.

You all launched a Korean Stir Fry sauce in 2018. What made you want to branch out to that sauce?

I felt that there's a little different flavor profile and I just thought it would be a good shot, another thing to kind of branch into. We also make a pizza sauce just for food service. But the Korean sauce, I love it on ribs and pulled pork. It's really versatile. I tell everybody that it's stir fry in a bottle. You don't have to do a whole bunch of this or that. I prefer that if I grab a bottle of it, (add) some sesame oil. I feel it gives a little more flavor to it. I just think it makes a good change in the menu. Always remember that pallbearers don't get paid by the pound so we just as well eat whatever we want.
150 years ago: 1875

Bonus Egg: Judge Allison has a hen that lays two eggs at a pop. She produced a very large egg the other day, and upon breaking it, another egg, perfect as any ever seen, was found inside of it. Both eggs contained yolks.

Hero of the school: Charley Atwood was awarded the prize card at the Douglas Street School yesterday for writing the best letter, and now he is the hero of that institution.

Loafers Need to Straighten Up: If the boys who loaf around the corner at Sixth and Pearl streets do not find some other place to perpetuate their meanness they will be prosecuted.

Colts Swam Across the River: A farmer from Nebraska crossed the river Saturday afternoon with his team, and in order to reduce ferryage expenses he left two colts on the other side, but before he returned the colts escaped from their keeper and took to the river. They struck in opposite of Pearl Street and landed at the mouth of the Floyd, safe and sound. One of them was only fifteen days old.

125 years ago: 1900

Another Has Smallpox: One more case of smallpox has turned up, George W. Rexford, 721 Wall St., being the third victim of the disease in Sioux City, and his case is more serious than either of the other two cases which have been reported. Rexford is a son-in-law of Mrs. Richardson, whose case was the first to break out in Sioux City. He had been in the house with his sick mother-in-law until last Saturday, when the house was fumigated, and he was given his liberty. He went to Emerson, Neb., where he noticed eruptions on his body. He rode back to Sioux City on an engine, and proceeded directly to his home. Yesterday City Health Officer Phillips was called from his home to look at the case. He found Rexford's body badly covered with sores.

Fire Threatens Sloan Buildings: Quite a little excitement was produced last evening by the exploding of a gasoline lamp in Miller Bros.' restaurant in Sloan. The lamp was quickly hurled into the street, but not before a fire had started on the floor. The flames were quickly smothered and very little damage done. Had the flames succeeded in getting headway the whole block would have gone, as the buildings are so close together, most of them having adjoining walls.

100 years ago: 1925

$100,000 Pens at Stockyards: Work is being rushed on improvements at the Sioux City Stockyards, which will cost at least $100,000, H.H. Burdick, superintendent of the yards, stated Sunday. The work was delayed some because of the lack of material, but with the arrival of the equipment the work now will be pressed to its conclusion in time for the rush of business in the autumn. The improvements will consist of tearing out the small and out-of-date cattle pens in the central part of the yard, just west of the Exchange building, and the erection of large modern enclosures covering 14,000 square feet.

Streetcar and Auto Collide: Two persons are at St. Joseph's Hospital, suffering from severe cuts and bruises, and four others suffered minor injuries, when an automobile in which they were riding was struck by a Riverside streetcar at West Second and Cook streets late Sunday afternoon. The victims were Miss Jennie Morrison, Yankton, S.D., Donald Volin, Gayville, S.D., Miss Florence Thompson, Yankton, S.D., Clifford Hill and Charles Jeglum, Gayville, S.D. The young men and women had driven from Yankton to attend a theatrical performance. The side curtains of the touring car in which they were riding were said to have obstructed the vision of the driver, who could not see the approaching streetcar.

75 years ago: 1950

Thrifty Market to Open Third Store in Sioux City: Ben and Paul Lelchook, owners, announce the opening of Thrifty Market No. 3 at 1911 Grandview Blvd., in the Sioux apartment building. The new food store will be under the management of Sol Herzoff who has been in the grocery business for 20 years. The firm also operates Thrifty Market No. 1 at 1401 Center St. and Thrifty Market No. 2 at 423 West Third St.

Nifty 'Lefty,' Billy Miller to Join Soos: The Sioux City Soos have acquired lefthanded pitcher Billy Miller by option from the parent New York Giants club, General Manager Mike Murphy announced Tuesday. Miller last season pitched for Knoxville of the Class B Tristate league, compiling a record of 17 wins and 11 losses for a club which finished with less than a .500 average. Miller was considered by Giants Manager Leo Durocher to be one of the outstanding southpaw pitching prospects in the minor leagues.

50 years ago: 1975

I Like Sioux City: Second-graders at Lincoln School were assigned a project by their teachers, Mrs. Stephanie Brink and Mrs. Lynette Spencer, to write and draw pictures of things they do and do not like about Sioux City.

The following are some of the students' submissions:

"The best thing I like in Sioux City is the City Hall. Know why? Because I always like to see what time it is. The thing I hate is the crowded traffic because there is too much noise! The stinkiest thing in Sioux City is the Stock yards, because there are lots of pigs and hogs. And also I like the auditorium." - Barry Kelly

"I like Sioux City and the river Mississippy. Floyed monument is nice. It has all cind of places to go to like pennys, yoncers and all chinds of stors." - Laurie Stoddard

"I like Sioux City because War Eagle's Grave is here and so is the Statue of Liberty. The Missuri River runs through Sioux City. The Floyd Monuement is in Sioux City. Sioux City is my favorite city. The airport in Sioux City is big." - Beth Prichard

25 years ago: 2000

Decree Requires IBP to Reduce Toxic Emissions: IBP Inc. signed a partial consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice Wednesday to take immediate measures to reduce hydrogen sulfide emissions at its Dakota City meatpacking plant and tannery. IBP announced the agreement Friday. The company said Wednesday the decree is a "formalization" of actions it has been planning and actually began two months ago, referring to grading work for covered wastewater treatment lagoons. The lagoons are among measures required by the decree, a civil action. The decree obligates the company to take immediate action to reduce emissions because of what the Justice Department says is an "imminent threat to public health." Had the company not agreed, Justice would have taken "unilateral action," a government official said.
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Death, Sex & Money, hosted by the inimitable Anna Sale, moved to Slate from its longtime home at WNYC a little over a year ago. After it landed here, one of the first DSM episodes to come out explored intuition, and Annas own turn toward tarot and other woo-woo ideas and practices to help navigate a personal rough patch. To celebrate DSMs Slate birthday, and show our respect for unconventional tools to help navigate modern life, weve created a guide to DSM episodes based on the zodiac. Whether youre a roaring Leo like myself, or a perceptive Virgo like Anna, you can find your best episode matches on the topics of sex, death, or money right here. (And, of course, you can listen to any episode you want, regardless of sign!) Weve also plucked out some of Annas probing celebrity interviews by star sign (did you know Fran Lebowitz is a Scorpio?). Navigating 10-plus years of a podcast can be daunting, but perhaps the stars can tell you where to start? Personally, I want to listen to all of these (again). Happy listening! Hillary Frey, Slate editor in chief

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Aquarians are known to be open-minded, independent, confident, and quirky. They like to solve problems, and are often described as the most humanitarian of all the signs.

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Episodes:

Death: My Father Planned His Death; I Didnt Stop Him finds Jason Armstrong sharing the deeply personal story of his fathers decision to end his life on his own terms. Aquarians value independence and progressive thinking, so this episodes exploration of autonomy in death resonates deeply with their love of challenging conventional norms.

Sex: Sex Parties and Shakespeare With Carvell Wallace is a rich, emotionally layered conversation about love, sex, trauma, consent, and personal transformation. Carvellco-host of Slates How To! podcastshares how love became a healing force in his life, shaped by both intellectual depth and radical vulnerability. Aquarius listeners will find this episode inspiring and affirming, and reflective of their longing to love differently.

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Money: Whos Driving Your Uber? explores the experiences of an immigrant Uber driver dealing with financial instability, culture shock, and interactions with a sometimes hostile public. This episode resonates because it isnt just about one mans hustle, but is a meditation on labor, identity, and survival in a broken system. It speaks to the Aquarian mind: analytical, principled, and quietly rebellious.

Celebrity interviews:

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Pisces tend to be extremely loving, compassionate, and empathetic. As the dreamers and visionaries of the zodiac, theyre guided by big imaginations and strong intuition.

Episodes:

Death: Dead People Dont Have Any Secrets follows Amanda as she uncovers her late husband Sams many secrets after his deathsecrets that reshape her understanding of him and complicate her grieving process. Listeners with strong Pisces energy will appreciate the soulful, layered nature of this story where love, grief, mystery, and truth are entangled in a way that doesnt come with easy explanations or answers.

Sex: Finding Love, and a Kidney, on Tinderwhen Its a match! takes on a whole new meaning. A chance swipe on an app becomes a testament to human goodness and the capacity of love to transform lives. Pisces are guided by empathy and intuition, making this story of loves transformative power through unexpected connections especially poignant for them.

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Money: A New York City Mover Who Carries More Than Your Boxes. Adonis Williams isnt just moving boxes, hes absorbing the emotional weight of transitions, breakups, deaths, and new beginnings. This compassionate and empathetic story reflects Pisces natural role as caretakers and visionaries. Like Pisces, Adonis intuits the unspoken feelings behind each transition and helps guide others through vulnerable moments. Even when it goes unnoticed.

Celebrity interviews:

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Aries are the boldest of the bunch. They are confident and energetic natural leaders, and are always ready to take charge.

Episodes:

Death: 15 Years Later, An Iraq Veteran Looks Back is a reflective conversation with Thom Tran, a veteran navigating trauma, identity, purpose, and healing long after his time in combat. This story captures Aries fiery resilience and refusal to be defined by trauma, mirroring their instinct to confront challenges head-on and turn adversity into action. Aries boldness and leadership come through in the veterans reclaiming of identity and purpose.

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Sex: Leaving the Extreme Right, and a Marriage, Behind features Tasha Adams story of extricating herself from a high-stakes, deeply controlling marriage with Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers. The storys emphasis on reclaiming power and challenging a dominant partner reflects Aries bold, self-liberating instincts. (Also, here is the update to this episode.)

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Money: A Father and Daughter Talk About Layoffs goes deep into the emotional and practical implications of job loss, covering the vulnerability and complexity of familial relationships during times of financial uncertainty. This raw conversation challenges Aries to balance their natural decisiveness with vulnerability, while also pushing them to engage with the softer, more reflective side of resilience.

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Tauruses are as stubborn as the bull that represents them, but that stubbornness also makes them incredibly loyal, grounded, and steady. They love comfort, crave consistency, and stick by the people they trust.

Episodes:

Death: Conversations With My Dead Mother offers a deeply resonant emotional journey rooted in loyalty, love, and the quiet ache of unresolved tension. For Tauruses, who value stability and enduring connection, Rachels determination to hold on to her bond with her mother through grief and frustration will feel especially true to their steadfast, devoted nature.

Sex: The Weight of Love explores how weight, body image, and physical changes intersect with intimacy, communication, self-worth, and love in romantic relationships. Listeners share stories of how navigating body size has influenced closeness, shame, resilience, and sometimes breakups. This episode taps into Tauruses love for comfort, exploring how body image impacts intimacy, and highlighting their need for steady, accepting love.

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Money: The two-part Death, Sex & Money series Our Student Loan Secrets, Part 1 and Part 2 dives into the emotional, relational, and psychological weight of student debt. Taurus craves financial security and predictability, and this series exposes the vulnerability and anxiety student debt brings, while also helping them see that theyre not alone, and that theres strength in talking openly about money.

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Though they sometimes get an unfair reputation for being two-faced, Geminis are sharp, curious, and highly adaptable. They thrive in new situations and are natural communicators who like to keep things interesting.

Episodes:

Death: Laughing About Hard Things finds Anna talking to comedians Guy Branum and Carl Tart, author Chanel Miller, and a veterinarian specializing in at-home euthanasia about the special kind of comedy born of something sad. This episode mirrors a Geminis inner landscape: witty, layered, emotionally agile, and always looking to understand the world through words and laughter, even in the darkest moments.

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Sex: Secrets, Turn-Ons, and Fantasies: Your Stories About Porn features listener stories about secret hard drives, fantasy plot lines, illegal downloads, titillating Tumblr feeds, and giving porn up completely. This episodes diverse stories mirror Geminis restless curiosity and appreciation for multiple perspectives on desire and secrecy.

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Money: A Bitcoin Mogul Goes Broke chronicles the rise and fall of Charlie Shrem, a cryptocurrency pioneer who made a fortune in Bitcoin, lost everything, and served time in prisonall before turning 30. Geminis adaptable and quick-thinking nature resonates with this tale of high-risk ambition, sudden downfall, and reinvention, embodying their love for unpredictable, fast-moving stories. For Geminis, its an intellectual thrill ride.

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Cancers are the natural caregivers of the zodiac. Theyre intuitive and sensitive, able to navigate their own emotionsand otherswith great care and understanding.

Episodes:

Death: How to Say Goodbye to Your Pets features listener stories of lovingand losingyour beloved animal companions. The episodes compassionate, practical approach to grieving beloved pets mirrors how Cancers process loss, with deep feeling, quiet strength, and a need for gentle, meaningful rituals that honor emotional bonds.

Sex: The Movies That Taught Us What Sex Could Be highlights listeners stories about the movies they saw that taught them about sex. These emotionally rich, nostalgic reflections on formative movie moments echo Cancers instinct to look to the past for emotional insight and understanding. Its an intimate, validating listen for a sign that finds meaning in memory.

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Money: I Did Surrogacy for Money and Now Im Starting Over features Sarah Short, who became a surrogate to pay off debt, navigated divorce, and is now rebuilding her life and business. Sarahs decision to become a surrogate isnt just about money, its about using her body in service of another family while trying to stabilize her own. This episode affirms Cancers caretaking nature, capturing the complexity of making decisions that are both personal and professional.

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Leos are known for their bold confidence and strong presence. Fierce and loyal like lions, they also have big hearts and a surprisingly sensitive, playful side. They bring warmth, passion, and, yes, a bit of drama that inspires the people around them.

Episodes:

Death: Four Interviews and a Funeral features a Death, Sex & Money memorial service (which happened before the show made the move to join Slate, and we thought it would be appropriate to have somewhere on this guide). A Podcast Memorial Service functions not only as a farewell to a beloved show but as a tribute to the impact it had on peoples lives. For Leo listeners, its a celebration of what came before, and a reminder of the beauty in closure done with courage, heart, and flair.

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Sex: Babygirl Director Wants Women Not to Suppress Their Beast is a conversation with Halina Reijn about her film Babygirl, the spicy age-gap romance starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson that explores power imbalances and primal urges. Halina Reijns unapologetic storytelling, together with the erotic, theatrical energy of Babygirl, appeals to the Leos love of provocative, stylish narratives that challenge norms.

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Money: This Elvis Impersonator Does It For Love  and Money, about Las Vegas Elvis impersonator Brendan Paul, who marries up to 75 couples a day, embodies a unique blend of performance, tradition, and emotional connection. Leos are often drawn to professions where they can shine and feel pride in what they do. Pauls ability to turn a performance into a successful business mirrors how a Leo might approach work: Make it something youre proud to put your name on.

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Virgos take a systematic, thoughtful approach to life. Theyre detail-oriented, organized, and love bringing order to chaos. Practical and dependable, they find satisfaction in being useful and helping others solve problems.

Episodes:

Death: When Breast Cancer Pauses Life at 35 features Kate Pickerts experience of being diagnosed with cancer at a young age. She reflects on her efforts to maintain normalcy during treatment, her decision not to tell her young daughter about her illness, and how her perspective on mortality has evolved. For Virgos, whose strengths lie in their ability to stay composed under pressure, to care deeply for others, and to navigate life with thoughtful precision, this episode offers a powerful emotional mirror.

Sex: I Wanted to Be a Good Girl  tells Andreas story of growing up in a conservative evangelical community in Texas, navigating strict teachings about sex and purity, and reckoning with the consequences of defying those teachings. Andreas story, told with thoughtful reflection on how her upbringing influenced her adult life, resonates with Virgos tendency to dissect personal history in search of meaning and improvement.

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Money: My Eating Disorder Turned Into an Obsession With Money: This episode delves into Vivians journey, where her battle with an eating disorder transformed into an obsession with budgeting and saving. Virgo listeners will relate to the way she tries to find comfort and control through routines, numbers, and structure, and also the challenge of learning to loosen the grip and let life flow a little more. This episode speaks to the tension between discipline and self-compassion that Virgos often navigate.

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Libras are the social butterflies of the zodiac, always seeking connection and harmony. Theyre known for being balanced, incredibly diplomatic, and naturally charming.

Episodes:

Death: One Mans Meticulous Quest to Cure Grief tells the story of Cody Delistraty, who lost his mother in his early 20s and responded by turning his grief into a research project centered on one question: Can grief be cured? He talks to Anna about the various remedies he tried, what worked, and what lessons he learned along the way. The episode explores the idea that healing isnt linear, and for Libras, it confirms that making space for both sorrow and understanding is not only possible, but often necessary.

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Sex: This Senator Saved My Love Life is a charming and reflective story about a breakup that took an unexpected turn thanks to the intervention of Alan Simpson, a former U.S. senator. Following Simpsons wise and humorous advice, Anna herself reconsidered what she wanted in love and ultimately reunited with her partner. Alan Simpsons surprising role as a voice of perspective and harmony in a moment of romantic uncertainty reflects Libras belief in diplomacy, second chances, and connection.

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Money: When Daddy Dates Pay the Bills features a candid conversation with a young woman who works as a sugar baby, dating older men in exchange for money, gifts, and support. She discusses the emotional and transactional boundaries of her relationships, and the societal taboos that come with them. This episode speaks to Libras fascination with the complexities of love, power, and value in relationships, especially when those relationships upend societal norms.

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Scorpios can be very intense, but this often manifests in positive traits like loyalty and passion. They feel things deeply and are known for having a strong sixth sense, giving them a natural intuition that guides their decisions.

Episodes:

Death: Finding Meaning After My Husbands Public Death features Terry reflecting on the devastating loss of his husband, David Buckel, who died by self-immolation as a form of protest against climate change. Scorpios will appreciate this episodes depth, its exploration of death as both an ending and a beginning, and its focus on navigating private grief within a larger societal narrative.

Sex: Cut Loose: Your Breakup Stories features a collection of listener-submitted breakup tales, encompassing experiences of being left, initiating the breakup, and navigating the ambiguous aftermath. Scorpios may find this episode particularly compelling; it spotlights their intrinsic understanding of the complexities of emotional bonds, passion, and the transformative power of letting go.

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Money: Your Inheritance Stories: When Death, Family, and Money Mix dives into the emotional and ethical complexities surrounding inheritance and explores how money passed down after death can become a symbol of loyalty, power, guilt, or obligation. The episode echoes a deeply held Scorpio truth: Money is never just money when its tied up with love, loss, and legacy.

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Sagittarians are natural travelers, always chasing their next adventure. Theyre lively, intelligent, and refreshingly honest, often speaking their minds with infectious enthusiasm (and no filter).

Episodes:

Death: When Grief Looks Like \_()_/ features Rachel Wards frank account of navigating unexpected widowhood in her early 30s. Rachels journey through grief, questioning societal expectations and seeking personal understanding, aligns with Sagittariuss philosophical nature; this episode encapsulates the signs resilience, introspection, honesty, and ability to find meaning and humor amidst lifes challenges.

Sex: Your One-Night Stand Stories is a compilation of candid, often humorous and tender stories of fleeting romantic encounters, connections that are intense, impulsive, and temporary. Sagittarians are seekers of adventure, truth, and new experiences; theyre more interested in what was felt than what was promised. This episode celebrates exactly thatthe beauty of brief encounters.

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Money: Married With No Kids and a Ranching Business With No Heirs features Albert and Sue Sommers, a couple who married in their 40s and manage a century-old family ranch in Wyoming. Facing the reality of having no heirs, they make the unconventional decision to pass their ranch to a non-family-member to preserve its legacy. Sagittarians value freedom and meaning over material gain, so this unconventional approach to legacy and financial stewardship speaks to their adventurous and principled spirit.

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Capricorns have a strong moral compass and like to follow the rules. Theyre also extremely practical and ambitious, always focused on reaching their goals.

Episodes:

Death: An End-of-Life Doctors Shocking Loss focuses on Dr. Bonnie Chen, a palliative care physician who spent her career guiding patients and families through the process of dying. But when her 16-month-old son Benji died suddenly in 2022, she found herself on the other side of the medical system. Dr. Chens grief, while emotionally devastating, is also processed through her role as a doctorshe doesnt retreat from her work, but rather lets it evolve through loss. This resonates with Capricorns instinct to rebuild meaning through action and purpose, even in the wake of devastation.

Sex: How a Betrayed Spouse Became an Infidelity Expert features Lauren LaRusso explaining how a betrayal in her own marriage led to a lot of reflectionand a whole new career path. This episode, with its therapeutic lens and focus on understanding what causes infidelity, speaks to Capricorns need to make sense of pain and turn it into something constructive.

Money: A Former Debt Collectors Unpaid Bill follows Angelas journey from working as a debt collector for 15 years to facing her own financial challenges after being banned from the industry. Angelas initial career in debt collection, and her subsequent financial struggles, highlight the importance of financial management, a core concern for Capricorns. They may find this episode particularly compelling as it echoes their intrinsic pull toward responsibility, resilience, and personal growth.

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Trainer Noel Daley was on the mark at The Meadowlands on Saturday, May 24 as he schooled the winners of both $308,219 New Jersey Sire Stakes finals for three-year-olds on the pace.

In the dash for colts and geldings, Smooth Dream had to work harder than he had in any start this year, but the gelded son of Cattlewash-Dreamlands Latte proved up the challenge, wearing down an ultra-game Manolete at the wire by a hard-fought neck.

Manolete, off a leg two score in a lifetime-best 1:50.3, went right to the top from post one and had the top at the quarter in :27.4 and half in :56.2.

Driver Todd McCarthy activated Smooth Dream, the 1-5 favourite, from the three-hole and started to make his way toward the leader at the five-eighths. Manolete, the 4-1 second choice, upped the tempo, hitting three-quarters in 1:24, but it still appeared that Smooth Dream would lift his seasonal record to five wins in as many starts with ease, just like in his prior four outings.

But this time it wouldnt come easily.

Manolete dug in the entire stretch drive as Smooth Dream gave his all racing alongside. It appeared Manolete actually battled his way to a slight edge with a sixteenth to go, but at the wire it would be Smooth Dream prevailing by a neck in 1:50.3. Making History was third.

My horse has been super since hes come back this year, said McCarthy. I give all credit to Noel. Hes done a great job with him. I was happy [with a three-hole trip]. I thought if I could get away close, Id be content to come first-over with him. Im just glad it worked out.

Manolete never stopped fighting to the end. Hes a hard horse to get by.

Youre learning about him just like Im learning about him, said Daley of Smooth Dream, who moved into his barn at the start of the year. Im glad that Todd did what he did. I didnt want him on the front. He fought on well.

The sibling to 2021 Canadian Horse of the Year Desperate Man, Smooth Dream (pictured above) is now five-for-eight in his career, good for earnings of $273,184 for owners Bay Pond Racing Stable, CTC Stable and KDP Stable LLC. He paid $2.60 to win.

Normally, post position one is not a desirable spot to leave from at The Big M, but driver Andy McCarthy used the inside starting berth to his advantage in the split for fillies, going wire-to-wire with Worklifebalance in a thrilling finish that saw her a nose to the good at the wire in 1:51.4.

She dug down deep by the wire, said winning driver Andy McCarthy. I was proud of her.

Worklifebalance (Cattlewash-Ubettergo) was away quickly from the inside and led at the quarter in :27.3 as 7-2 third choice Beach Babe was in the pocket and 3-5 public choice Reckless Abandon third. A :29.2 rated second fraction no doubt helped Worklifebalance as after she reached the half in :57, the action started to heat up.

Reckless Abandon (Todd McCarthy) abandoned the three-hole at the five-eighths, forcing Yannick Gingras hand with Beach Babe, who vacated the pocket to go after the leader while giving the favourite a live tow. After three-quarters was timed in 1:24.2, the race was on.

Worklifebalance turned for home with the lead with Beach Babe slowly but steadily making up ground as Reckless Abandon failed to find the necessary late pop to get close racing in the three lane. In a slugfest to the wire, Worklifebalance held on by the smallest of margins over a stubborn Beach Babe with Reckless Abandon third.

I wanted to step her out of there a little bit, said Andy McCarthy. Either the two-hole or on the front. Shes very fast, and proved tonight she can do it both ways.

Owned by CTC Stable, KDP Stable LLC and Manklin Creek LLC, Worklifebalance lifted her lifetime numbers to three wins from 13 starts, good for earnings of $279,767. As the 9-5 second choice, she paid $5.80 to win.

DIAL PROVES VERSATILE: Making her first start on North American soil, the Ake Svanstedt-trained and driven Swedish import Dial Square S made her way to the top after the quarter, fought off a ferocious challenge from 9-5 favourite M Ms Dream down the backstretch, and prevailed by a long nose over a fast-closing Elista Hanover to take the $54,795 first leg of the Miss Versatility for open mare trotters.

The five-year-old by Ready Cash-Eileen Boko stopped the clock in 1:51.3 in her 2025 debut, erasing all memories of a 2024 that saw her go winless in seven tries. As the 7-2 fourth choice, she returned $9.40 to win.

TROTTERS ON PARADE: In addition to the two NJSS finals for sophomore pacers, there were six $34,247 opening leg sire stakes divisions for three-year-old trotters, three for colts and geldings and three for fillies.

The colt and gelding winners were:

Travolta Hanover (Muscle Hill-Twice A Night), driver Dexter Dunn, trainer Nancy Takter, winning time 1:54.4, paying $5.20 as the 8-5 second choice

Hidalgo (Muscle Hill-Brooklyn), Gingras, Ron Burke, 1:53.1, $5.40 as the 8-5 second choice

Precise Landing (Tactical Landing-Southwind Tesla), Tim Tetrick, Dan Daley, 1:54, $64.60 as the 31-1 fifth choice

The victorious fillies were:

Champagne Problems (Tactical Landing-Miss Caviar), Dunn, Takter, 1:53.3, $3.60 as the 4-5 favourite

What A Bid Hanover (Muscle Hill-What A Knockout), Svanstedt, Svanstedt, 1:53.4, $2.60 as the 1-5 favourite

Deja Blu (Muscle Hill-Atlanta), Gingras, Takter, 1:53, $5.60 as the 9-5 second choice

A LITTLE MORE: Four drivers combined to win 11 races on the night. Dunn led the way with three victories, followed by Brett Beckwith, Svanstedt, Gingras and Todd McCarthy with two apiece.  Takter led the trainers with three walks down victory lane.  All-source betting totaled $3,594,870, the second biggest night of business this year at The Big M.  Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m.

(with files from The Meadowlands)
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:

Billionaire Elon Musk remains a close advisor to US President Donald Trump, to whose campaign he contributed more than $235 million.

Social media platform X was hit by a two-hour outage Saturday, prompting owner Elon Musk to say he needs to spend more time focusing on his companies.

His statement echoed comments earlier this month suggesting he would reduce his role in US President Donald Trump's administration.

The world's richest person has an extraordinarily full plate as owner/CEO of X, xAI (developer of the AI-powered chatbot Grok), electric-car maker Tesla and rocket builder SpaceXnot to mention his recent polarizing efforts to help Trump slash the size of the US federal government.

As backlash to those cuts grew and Tesla share prices slipped, Musk began drawing away from the government role, confirming last week that he was down to one or two days a week at the so-called "Department of Government Efficiency."

Still, the man who contributed more than $235 million to Trump's election campaign remains a close advisor to the US president, attending an Oval Office meeting with the South African president on Wednesday.

After the X outage on Saturday, Musk suggested that he may have been away from his companies for too long.

"As evidenced by the X uptime issues this week, major operational improvements need to be made," he said.

"The failover redundancy should have worked, but did not."

X had largely returned to normal service by 11:00 am US Eastern time (1500 GMT) Saturday.

The SITE Intelligence Group reported that hacker-activist group DieNet had claimed responsibility for the outage.

DieNet, it said, had called the attack a "test" of its so-called Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) capabilitiesflooding the system with online traffic to make it inaccessible to legitimate users.

AFP was unable to independently verify DieNet's claim of responsibility, and X did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the outage.

'Super focused'

"Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms," Musk posted on X.

"I must be super focused on X/xAI and Tesla (plus Starship launch next week), as we have critical technologies rolling out."

SpaceX announced Friday that it plans to attempt a new launch of its mega-rocket Starship next week. Still under development, Starship exploded in flight during two previous launches.

Starship is key to Musk's long-term plans to colonize Mars, and SpaceX has been betting on the launch of numerous Starship prototypesdespite the explosive failuresto quickly identify and address problems.

The South African-born billionaire has for weeks been signaling that he would reduce his political role to refocus on his businesses.

Early this month, Musk acknowledged that his ambitious effort to slash US federal spending did not fully reach its goals, despite tens of thousands of job cuts and drastic budget reductions.

This week, he said he would pull back from spending his fortune on politics, although he did not rule out backing future causes "if I see a reason."

Of his recent political donations, he said, "I did what needed to be done."

 2025 AFP
Bilateral trade between Trinidad and Tobago and India reached a record TT$1.2 billion (US$368.96 million) in the last fiscal year, according to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

She disclosed this as she announced that her Government aims to expand exports to tap into Indias market of 1.4 billion consumers, and will pursue a Partial Scope Trade Agreementthe first from a Caricom countrywhile laying the foundation for a new Bilateral Investment Treaty.
ON Thursday night, when hosted at the Diplomatic Centre, Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared an experience that has been preserved by the nations diaspora for 180 years.

In images that have since gone viral, Modi was seen eating on the leaves of the sohari (Calathea lutea).

In a social media post to Angelo Bissessarsinghs Virtual Museum of Trinidad and Tobago Facebook page, Patricia Bissessar said the serving of food on the leaves of the sohari is a practice rooted in Indo-Trinidadian cultural heritage, particularly among the Hindu community.
This years Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) results have revealed a concerning learning gap among primary school students, Education Minister Dr Michael Dowlath has said.

Speaking at a recognition ceremony for the top five performers in the 2025 SEA yesterday at the ministrys head office in Port of Spain, Dowlath said the data will be analysed for better performance moving forward.
Last Tuesday, Gwynne Dyer headlined his Express column Stupid old men. You could substitute all sorts of adjectives before the words, old men, to describe the characteristics of the cohort that has had the most influence on the world we inhabit. Greedy, self-righteous, racist, arrogant, selfish, a multitude of negative words readily suit the clique.

At first, angrily thinking about the subject of todays column, I was focusing on Caribbean men in leadership positions who have been sleazy lechers, foisting themselves on hapless females and males with impunity.
In 2022, Arizona spent $196 million on a border wall built by stacking about 2,200 shipping containers  about half to install it and the rest to take it down five months later.

On Thursday, House Republicans approved $12 billion to reimburse states for border security spending during Joe Bidens presidency. That move could allow Arizona to recoup some of the money spent on that short-lived barrier installed  and dismantled  by former Gov. Doug Ducey.

Leaders in many states from both parties have complained about footing the bill for border security because Biden wasnt doing enough.

Duceys successor, Gov. Katie Hobbs, billed her fellow Democrat for $513 million in late 2023 to cover Arizonas spending on border security in the nearly three years since hed taken office.

The $12 billion pot is part of the massive measure that President Donald Trump and House Republicans refer to as One Big Beautiful Bill. The House approved the bill by a single vote, 215-214, with no Democratic support.

Its unclear how the funds would be divided among Arizona and other states. The measure doesnt specify a formula, leaving that to the Department of Homeland Security.

States would submit requests for repayment for outlays starting Jan. 21, 2021  the day after Biden became president.

Texas will probably get the most, having spent more than $11 billion.

Ducey ordered the states border barrier in August 2022 to plug gaps in the wall built during Trumps first term. Biden halted construction of that wall.

A contractor hired by the state stacked 40-foot shipping containers in Yuma and Cochise counties and near Nogales.

The barrier drew national attention when a Univision journalist posted a photo showing two containers on their side near Yuma. That was one day after the governor declared a gap there had been successfully filled.

The U.S. Departments of the Interior and Agriculture warned that Arizona was using federal land without permission. Eventually, the Justice Department asked a court to step in.

In December 2022, two weeks before leaving office, Ducey agreed to take down the barrier. The state also paid the Forest Service $2.1 million to repair environmental damage.

Hobbss office did not respond to requests for comment on the House bill and the prospect of federal reimbursement.

The six Arizona Republicans in the House supported the bill, though Rep. David Schweikert of Fountain Hills missed the vote, held around 7 a.m. Thursday after a rare overnight session.

The bill exceeds 1,000 pages. Other provisions would extend Trumps 2017 tax cuts, expand work requirements for Medicaid, cut food stamp spending and add $5 billion for border security and deportations.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott and other leaders routinely slammed Biden for failing to seal the border.

Two months into Bidens term, Abbott launched Operation Lone Star, deploying state troopers and the National Guard. Texas installed razor wire along the Rio Grande and a buoy barrier.

House Republicans from Texas, notably Rep. Chip Roy, a leading holdout on the overall big beautiful bill, insisted on the reimbursement provision.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, lauded the House bill as a good starting point.
James D. Watts Jr. Tulsa World Scene Reporter Follow James D. Watts Jr. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

The way Zoe Jensen sees it, the production of Wicked that Tulsa audiences will see beginning this week is a brand-new show.

Last week, during the musicals run in Salt Lake City, producers brought in an almost completely new cast of principal performers. Jensen made her debut as Glinda, the future Good Witch of the Land of Oz, and Jessie Davidson stepped out for the first time in green skin and pointy hat as Elphaba, who tends to haunt the western sky of this magic land created by L. Frank Baum and reimagined by Gregory Maguire in his novel that was adapted into the blockbuster musical Wicked.

So Tulsa is going to be the first city where we are opening as the cast of Wicked, Jensen said. Were looking at it as our true debut, and we are so excited to come there.

Celebrity Attractions is closing out its 2024-25 season with Wicked, which begins a 24-performance run Wednesday, May 28, at the Tulsa PAC.

Set during the days before a girl named Dorothy happened to drop in on the Land of Oz, Wicked tells the origin story of the young woman who grows up to be known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba (Davidson) is an outcast wherever she goes, thanks to her green skin, a rejection she endeavors to counter with her sharp intelligence and even sharper tongue.

She is practically the exact opposite of Glinda (Jensen), the perky, popular blonde who starts as Elphabas tormentor but soon develops a more congenial, if more complex, relationship with her green-skinned friend. But that friendship is tested as the two women must deal with forces beyond their control that threaten to destroy not just their bond, but the very fabric of Oz itself.

Written by composer Stephen Schwarz and dramatist Winnie Holzman, Wicked debuted on Broadway in 2003, with Broken Arrow native Kristin Chenoweth originating the role of Glinda. The Broadway production is still running and is the fourth-longest running show in Broadway history.

That hasnt affected the shows popularity on tour, at least as far as Tulsa audiences are concerned. This is the fifth time Celebrity Attractions has presented Wicked in Tulsa, in multiple-week engagements to accommodate audience demand.

It is rare thing for a production to bring a completely new cast into a show on tour, but Davidson and Jensen said it has helped make the process much easier.

We had about four weeks of rehearsal, which is an usually long amount of prep time before joining an existing show, Davidson said. So we got to totally create our version of this story. The chemistry among this group was there from day one. Thats something you really cant plan for, so we were lucky that we just all hit it off right away.

And it did help, because we were all finding all of these specific moments together rather than trying to slot ourselves into an already existing production, she said. And were fortunately that the ensemble of this show is very strong, because that gives the rest of a great foundation on which to build what we want to do with this story and these characters.

Ive been in situations where Im the only principal coming to a show, Jensen said. That can be wonderful, because everyone around you knows what theyre doing. But you have to negotiate to find your own way into an established show, which can be difficult even when everyone in the cast is friendly and welcoming. So this is so special, and a really great opportunity.

Coming to Oz

Davidson said she was in the fifth grade when her mother took her out of school one Wednesday afternoon to attend a matinee performance of the first national tour of Wicked.

I will never forget the feeling of walking out of that theater and just feeling like something epic had happened to me, she said. It was more than just being overwhelmed by the show itself. I saw, I think, the first glimmer of what it feels like to be an artist, and to know that a message that youre sharing on stage can reach people in deep ways. It was such a game-changer for me.

Jensen said she was a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz and has read most of the books Baum wrote about Oz and its inhabitants.

When I first heard about Wicked, I was interested just because it was sort of an origin story for The Wizard of Oz, she said. But when I actually saw Wicked for the first time, it blew my mind. It really changed everything for me. It instantly became my favorite show, and its still my favorite show of all time.

I listened to the soundtrack constantly because its really almost a manual for singing, Jensen said. Some days I would sing along with the Glinda parts; other days Id sing the Elphaba parts. Its just such a deep, beautiful show that its really no surprise that it inspires so many people.

Davidson said she was drawn to the character of Elphaba, seeing her as really an activist. And to play her, I really had to determine whats important to me as a person  friendships, relationships in my life, and what persons or idea would I be willing to go to the ends of the earth to fight for.

Jensen said playing Glinda was always her dream, although she wasnt sure it would be a role that would come her way.

I actually auditioned for both Glinda and Elphaba, because both roles suited me vocally, Jensen said. But I really, really wanted to play Glinda because I just felt like her personality was closer to mine than Elphaba. And if theres anything that Ive learned while rehearsing is that Im definitely more of a Glinda than an Elphaba.

But I never thought Id be considered for Glinda because nobodys going to want to see me as a blonde, she said, laughing.

Hair, makeup, chemistry

Then, Jensen said, she saw herself in the blonde wig she wears as Glinda and changed her mind.

Im obviously not a natural blonde, she said. But the wig and hair department with the show did such a fabulous job finding the perfect blonde wig for me. And the second I put that wig on and give it a little Glinda toss, I thought, Oh, yeah, Im definitely going to have fun being a blonde.

Becoming Elphaba takes a bit more than a wig. All of Davidsons exposed skin has to be covered with the unique green makeup that is the characters defining physical characteristic.

You might think it takes a long time to get made up as Elphaba, but it only takes a half an hour, Davidson said. Its actually a very calming process  you kind of feel like youre a house being painted, but its really a calming moment before the show that I get with my makeup artist and my hair designer. Were able to kind of reflect on the day and take a moment of peace and be connected before going out, which is like being shot out of a cannon.

While this is the first time Davidson and Jensen have worked together, they were not strangers when they began rehearsals.

We both were in the Broadway production of Six, although my last day in the show coincided with her first day in the show, Jensen said. That was the extent of our working together before this show, but we did hit it off. She was, I think, the first person I called when I got the role as Glinda because I knew she had already been cast as Elphaba.

We had this instant chemistry, she said. Our first week in rehearsal was just the two of us, and it was like nonstop emotions from crying to laughing. On top of that, I think that we both realize that we need each other in this process, and that our relationship is very crucial to this show. I really dont think I would be able to do this show without her.

People in awe of the magic of theater

While the chemistry between the characters of Elphaba and Glinda, and the actresses who play them, is crucial to the success of Wicked, one of the shows iconic moments belongs to the character of Elphaba alone  Defying Gravity, the anthemic number that closes Act Two.

During the song, Elphaba is elevated several yards above the floor, and while Davidson can share no details about how this moment of stage magic is achieved, shes more than happy to describe what its like.

Going into it, I was a little bit nervous because Im a tiny bit afraid of heights, she said, laughing. I really didnt know what to expect, but the first time I was lifted up  it was just magical. I really cant even describe it well. But you truly feel as if youre flying over the middle of the audience.

I was worried it would make it harder to sing, but in fact, the opposite is true, Davidson said. Its so dramatic to be lifted into the air that it makes you feel so much more connected to what youre singing.

And there is one moment in the Defying Gravity number that provides Davidson with a unique perspective on the impact of the song.

When the lights go out at the end of the song, you can see the audience, she said, Mary Kate Morrissey, whos played Elphaba in the past, first commented on this, and its true  there is nothing more riveting than to be able to see people in awe of the magic of theater. Thats why every time I do this number, I cant help but think, This is so amazing.

Musical "Wicked," presented by Celebrity Attractions 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, and Tuesday-Thursday, June 3-5 and 10-12; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 29; 8 p.m. Friday, May 30, June 6 and 13; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 31, June 7 and 14; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 1, 8 and 15, at the Tulsa PAC, 101 E. Third St. Tickets: $84.25-$224.25. 918-596-7111, tulsapac.com
BARTLESVILLE  Even trees made of concrete and copper that have escaped the crowded forest to preside over a prairie city need to have their roots carefully tended.

The new owners of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Price Tower in Bartlesville discovered soon after taking ownership of the building earlier this month that if the sale had been delayed as much as a week or two, the results could have been catastrophic.

So much of the machinery that runs this building is in the basement, said John Snyder, whose family, doing business as McFarlin Building LLC, was the sole bidder on the Price Tower when the building went up for sale as part of a bankruptcy auction that was slated for May 6.

When we first went down (into the Price Tower basement) in January, I saw there was about 6 inches of water, he said. But there was a lot of rainy weather between January and April 28, when we learned that we were the only bidder. I came here right away to see how much water there was in the basement, and it was easily 20 to 24 inches deep.

Snyder said the Price Tower basement elevation is below the local water table. Under normal circumstances, this would not be a problem, as the building is equipped with a groundwater pump system that keeps water from flooding the towers basement.

However, in August, the building was shuttered and all utilities, including the electricity that powers the pump system, were switched off. The record rainfall northeastern Oklahoma experienced in April meant groundwater levels rose a good deal.

Were pretty certain thats where most of the water came from, and weve been able to get it pumped out, Snyder said. But if the water would have got another inch and a half deeper, it would have reached the transformers  and there are more than 30 transformers in the basement here, some of which are really big, super expensive and hard to get.

And if you activate a wet transformer, he said, itll blow up and maybe catch everything around it on fire. Thats the absolute worst case scenario, but it was a possibility. So it was really a fortunate thing that we were able to get the building when we did.

Even so, said Snyders daughter, Macy Snyder-Amatucci, Weve seen worse.

Many historic buildings that need renovation usually have been sitting derelict for decades. That was the case with what up to now has been the most closely watched project the Snyders have taken on: Tulsas downtown Mayo Hotel, which had been abandoned for close to 20 years when they bought it in 2001.

We really didnt have a plan about what we wanted to do when we purchased (the Mayo), other than knowing we werent going to let it be torn down, said Snyder-Amatucci, who serves as president of Brickhugger, the familys commercial development company, as well as Beautiful Hospitality.

The great thing about the Price Tower project is that isnt the case, she said. It will certainly have its challenges, just like every other historic renovation project weve done. But this is really more of a restoration project. We are not going to be moving any walls or putting up sheet rock. Well be restoring all the details that Frank Lloyd Wright put into this building so that it represents what he wanted this building to be.

Snyder-Amatucci said they are working closely with the National Park Service, which oversees the National Register of Historic Places, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy to restore the tower as completely as possible.

The Price Tower opened in 1956 and served as the offices of the H.C. Price Co. for many years. From the beginning it was designed to be a multi-use facility, with residential and commercial spaces. In recent years, the tower housed a boutique hotel, a restaurant and bar, gallery spaces for art exhibits, and a recreation of how the Price Co. offices looked in the 1950s.

Snyder-Amatucci said the family had had its eye on the Price Tower for some time. John Snyder, who for many years was the Oklahoma division president of Manhattan Construction, said he first truly became aware of the cachet the Price Tower has around the world when he met with Cesar Pelli, the internationally acclaimed architect who designed Tulsas BOK Center.

I got to meet him at one of his first visits to Tulsa, and I remember that he said he wanted to see two buildings, Snyder recalled. One was Boston Avenue (United Methodist Church). The other was the Price Tower. He would get down on his hands and knees to look at details, run his hands over the walls, and things like that. It was like he was visiting a shrine, almost, and that made a real impression on me.

The Snyders originally planned to purchase the Price Tower in May 2024, entering into a purchase agreement with Copper Tree Inc. and Green Copper Holdings, entities run by former owner Cynthia Blanchard. The price was $1.4 million.

Blanchard signed the agreement but later claimed that last-minute demands by the Snyders led her to terminate the agreement. The Price Tower was then listed as for sale by an online commercial real estate business, but it was later pulled from auction.

In January, Washington County District Judge Russel Vaclaw ruled that the original purchase agreement was valid and that the Snyders were the rightful owners. But Blanchard declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy the day after the ruling, which led to the Price Towers becoming part of a bankruptcy auction.

The Snyders $1.4 million offer served as the stalking horse bid, the starting point for any subsequent bids. Some 900 potential buyers were invited to submit bids for the tower; none did, and the Snyders were again declared the rightful owners.

Its been such an up-and-down experience that we never thought it was a done deal until we had the actual keys in our hands, Snyder-Amatucci said.

She added that in one way, it is good thing that the family did not take possession of the tower in May 2024.

Our plan had been to continue to operate the building as a hotel and do the restoration work around that, Snyder-Amatucci said. Now were able to focus completely on restoring the building to how it should be. We think we should be ready to re-open to the public in about two years.

Snyder said the plan for the Price Tower is to retain the 19-room Inn at Price Tower hotel, and everything else is to be back-filled with apartments. One thing weve learned from the Mayo, which has 76 apartments, is that what really unleashes a buildings potential is having people there all the time. Were going to have restaurant and bar areas that will be accessible to residents, and there will always be something going on.

The family also plans to maintain the recreation of the Price Co. offices on the upper floors and have exhibit areas to showcase some of the art and artifacts of the tower.

When people come to stay here, we want it to be an experience, Snyder-Amatucci said.

Its an experience that people are eager to have, she added.

I was here the other day, and there were so many people coming to the door, wanting to check into the hotel, she said. I explained that we were closed but gave them all tours, gave them my business card, and now Im getting all these emails from them, telling me how they cant wait to stay in Price Tower.
After the tragic death of her mother, a young Liza Minnelli seeks mentors to help polish her raw talent. Monday on DocPlay.

The Last of Us Max

Max Four Corners ABC

ABC The Floor 9

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Max Farmer Wants a Wife 7

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Monty Pythons Terry Gilliam tackles the dystopian future in his hyper-stylized masterpiece Brazil. Brazil follows Sam, the son of an aristocrat who is content living his life as a bureaucrat in the future government, until he has prophetic dreams of grandeur that involve him saving a damsel from evil masked creatures of darkness. While investigating a bureaucratic mix-up, Sam sees from afar the woman from his dream. In pursuit of her, he gets mixed up in underground terror networks, mistaken identity, and rebellion. Gilliams view of the future is a bureaucratic hellhole where the workers follow blindly, and the rest of the population is poor, and the ones who can afford a comfortable life only identify themselves through their consumption of products, as well as the ever-constant race of keeping up with the Joneses to a sometimes-fatal result.

The future depicted in Brazil is comparable to the already-existing oeuvre of dystopian fiction. He pulls from the literary canon, in particular Kafka, in his depictions of mindless bureaucracy. Obviously, theres some 1984 in the depiction of the constant surveillance state. The story of a bureaucrat falling in love with a potential enemy of the state is reminiscent of the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. The design of Sams apartments automated systems reminds me of a handful of Ray Bradbury shorts. I would count this as a gorgeously dour cumulation of all the previously mentioned dystopias and wrapped into one truly exemplary cinematic experience.

The film seems somewhat quaint in its representation of the future, mostly in that the world would still be run by bureaucrats instead of being almost fully automated as it is today. The world Gilliam portrays did get right the constant surveillance state and the consumeristic distractions, which are hinted at throughout the background of the picture. The most prescient aspect of this world is how an unnamed terror network causes constant attacks and mayhem. The attacks themselves arent prescient in and of themselves, but the response of the everyday person is truly chilling. Theres one scene where Sam is having dinner with his mother and her friends when a bomb goes off in part of the restaurant, the non-exploded patrons just ignore the mayhem as the maitre d puts up barriers while apologizing for the interruption of the wealthy peoples meal. This is very reflective of the social media eras ability to witness violence during the quotidian barrage of advertisements and consuming content. While portions of this film are reminiscent of the old school sci-fi dystopia of the 20th century, it still holds up as a grand spectacle of the horrifying near future.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Brazil from Criterion includes three discs: One 4K UHD of the film, a Blu-ray that includes the film as well, and a second Blu-ray that contains the bonus features. The three discs are housed in a clear case, which includes the artwork from the previous Blu-ray release by Criterion. There is also a booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Sterritt.
HA NOI -- Vietnam Airlines has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with leading Vietnamese technology firm FPT Corporation to accelerate its digital transformation and elevate the airline's customer experience and operational excellence.

Under this comprehensive strategic partnership, the two companies will jointly develop and deploy cutting-edge technologiessuch as Generative AI, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Blockchain, and IoTto transform Vietnam Airlines into a digitally driven enterprise. This includes launching a next-generation e-commerce platform designed to offer a smarter, more personalised passenger experience, while boosting ancillary revenue and expanding service offerings.

Key initiatives include AI-powered customer engagement, integrated digital platforms, cloud-based infrastructure and scalable data centres, Customer Data Platform (CDP) and mobile-first e-commerce experiences.

A standout feature of the collaboration is a loyalty integration between Vietnam Airlines mileage program and FPTs ecosystem, allowing customers to use their points across FPTs educational and retail services.

The agreement also outlines co-investment in technology development, shared IP ownership, and revenue sharing from scalable aviation solutions, with potential for regional and global expansion.

ang Ngoc Hoa, Chairman of Vietnam Airlines said: This partnership with FPT is a bold step toward our goal of becoming the leading digital airline in the Asia-Pacific by 2030 and supports Viet Nams innovation-driven national strategy under Resolution No. 57.

Dr. Truong Gia Binh, Chairman of FPT said: Together with Vietnam Airlines, we will push the boundaries of innovation and AI adoption to not only transform the airline but also contribute to Viet Nams broader digital ambitions. - VNS
By Ly Ly Cao

HA NOI  Given the evolving landscape of global monetary security and technological cooperation, El Salvador has expressed a strong interest in partnering with Viet Nams Q&T Hi-tech Polymer, a company rapidly gaining international recognition for its advanced technology used in banknote printing.

During a recent visit on May 20, the Ambassador of El Salvador to Viet Nam, Ruben Omar Orozco Burgos, toured the Q&T production facility.

The visit was not only ceremonial but also deeply strategic, fostering an open dialogue about potential bilateral collaboration in the sensitive and sovereign domain of currency production.

Q&Ts leadership emphasised the significance of this visit as a milestone in forging international partnerships around secure, sustainable and technologically advanced currency solutions.

"At Q&T, we take pride in our cutting-edge technology and unwavering commitment to quality, which enable us to produce polymer substrates that are not only durable and secure but also environmentally conscious," Luong Ngoc Anh, chairman of Q&T, noted, stressing the firms dedication to innovation and excellence.

Q&T has emerged as a leading Vietnamese manufacturer of polymer banknote substrates, an area of rising importance as nations seek more secure and long-lasting alternatives to traditional paper currency.

This innovative material offers superior resistance to moisture, wear and counterfeiting, qualities that are especially valued in regions with challenging climate conditions and high currency circulation rates.

Expertise in polymer currency

The National Banknote Printing Plant of Viet Nam, the countrys sole authorised entity for printing both paper and polymer currency, has had a productive relationship with Q&T.

Over the last three years, Q&T's polymer substrate has been subjected to rigorous testing and practical application by the plant. The results have been encouraging.

The polymer base supplied by Q&T has proven to meet all technical and security standards set by our Institute of Physics, said Nguyen uc Cuong, Chairman of the National Banknote Printing Plant of Viet Nam.

Its compatibility with our current printing systems and its high resistance to Viet Nams humid climate are clear advantages.

He further elaborated on the products superior ink adhesion and visual clarity, emphasising that the substrate maintains image sharpness and resists fading during circulation.

Cuong also acknowledged Q&T's ongoing research and integration of anti-counterfeit technologies, including transparent windows, active imagery and 3D features, all of which enhance the security of modern banknotes.

"We are confident that Q&T is fully capable of supplying polymer substrates that meet the highest requirements of central banks and minting facilities around the world," Cuong said.

Ambassador Burgos remarks underscored El Salvadors growing interest in diversifying its monetary infrastructure and exploring regional and global partners capable of providing innovative solutions.

"Im deeply impressed by Q&Ts development and their advanced printing and security technology," he said.

"Although El Salvador currently uses the US dollar and has legalised Bitcoin, any future changes to our monetary system would certainly lead me to advise our government to explore cooperation with Q&T."

This statement is especially significant given the geopolitical importance of national currency sovereignty.

El Salvadors ambassador acknowledged the sensitive nature of currency production and lauded Viet Nams progress in asserting full control over its monetary printing capabilities in just two decades, a benchmark of national maturity and technological self-reliance.

He also extended an invitation to Q&T, expressing hope that the Vietnamese firm could visit El Salvador and other Latin American countries to initiate direct discussions with local monetary authorities.

"I hope that one day Q&T can visit the banknote printing facilities in my homeland and even consider setting up a base there to supply materials regionally," he added.

Ngoc Anh graciously expressed gratitude for the ambassadors invitation and set a visit to the country later this year.

For Q&T, expansion into Latin America would not only bolster its global presence but also affirm its role as a reliable provider of high-tech, secure solutions for currency production.  BIZHUB/VNS
HCM CITY  Artificial intelligence (AI) is profoundly reshaping healthcare systems, from supporting clinical decisions and analysing medical images to enabling personalised treatments and optimising hospital operations.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tang Chi Thuong, director of the HCM City Department of Health, highlighted these developments at the AI in Health Conference 2025 organised by the department and the HCM City Computer Association (HCA), in collaboration with Nim & Partners Communication and other partners in HCM City on May 23.

The conference aimed to explore the potential and impact of AI on Viet Nams healthcare landscape, with a focus on developing a "Smart Healthcare" system in HCM City. Over 700 attendees participated, including government officials, medical professionals, technology experts, and business leaders.

Thuong emphasised that The citys health sector has identified AI as one of the core drivers in building a modern, intelligent, and patient-centred healthcare system.

The city has incorporated AI into its Smart Healthcare Strategy for the 20212025 period, with a vision toward 2030, and is currently applying AI across numerous hospitals and specialised centres, he said.

We do not see AI as a replacement for healthcare professionals, but rather as an intelligent assistant that can enhance clinical quality, personalise care, streamline workflows, and improve patient experiences, he added.

He also stressed the importance of digital transformation, particularly through the implementation of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and the development of an intelligent emergency medical dispatch system. These are foundational elements of smart healthcare, yet remain challenging for many hospitals.

Dr. Thuong expressed appreciation that the conference featured sessions dedicated to crucial topics, highlighting that insights from international experts could help identify feasible and practical pathways for digital transformation.

According to Lam Nguyen Hai Long, chairman of HCA, AI is increasingly used in healthcare for a wide range of applications: analysing medical imaging data, detecting early signs of illness, supporting robotic surgeries, managing medical records, offering remote patient care through chatbots, and predicting disease outbreaks using population data.

These applications help expand access to healthcare services across all social strata and regions, especially in areas with limited human resources and infrastructure, he said.

In her keynote presentation, Dr. Angela Pratt, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Viet Nam, highlighted both the opportunities and the risks associated with AI in healthcare. She said that digital technologies, including AI, would hold the potential to revolutionise 21st-century healthcare.

"AI is already being used in Viet Nam to analyse diagnostic indicators and optimise treatment plans for cancer patients. Robotic surgery is also gaining ground, helping hospitals deliver more precise, minimally invasive procedures," she noted.

However, she warned that these advancements must be handled responsibly.

Like all new technology, AI holds enormous potential for improving the health of millions of people around the world, but like all technology it can also be misused and cause harm, she said, quoting WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

She spoke about two major risks. The first is equity gaps. Unequal access to digital tools can widen health disparities, especially in areas with low digital literacy or internet access.

She recommended enhancing digital literacy and ensuring that AI tools reach those who need them most, transforming challenges into opportunities to improve public health.

The second risk is data privacy and cybersecurity. AI systems rely on vast amounts of sensitive personal health data. Strong privacy and cybersecurity measures are critical to build trust in digital health systems.

To fully harness AIs benefits while managing its risks, WHO recommends six core principles for governments and health leaders.

They are building trust (ensuring transparency in AI system development and use), applying risk-based oversight tailored to the level of risk posed by different AI applications, ensuring inclusive and secure data management, keeping health professionals in decision-making roles, integrating data system, and promoting multilateral cooperation to ensure equitable and ethical adoption of AI.

The conference also featured presentations on the latest AI technologies and trends in diagnostics, treatment, hospital administration, and public health. Discussion panels addressed ethical concerns, legal challenges, and the practicalities of implementing AI in Viet Nams healthcare environment.

Long said the conference WAS expected to become an annual, large-scale, and professional forum. It would serve as a platform for experts, policymakers, and businesses to exchange knowledge and contribute to the advancement of a smart healthcare system in Viet Nam.  VNS
KUALA LUMPUR  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held working sessions with prominent Malaysian corporations and business associations in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, to promote related investment and collaboration in Viet Nam.

The PM, who is on an official visit to Malaysia, received senior executives of Gamuda Land, the property development arm of Malaysias engineering and construction giant Gamuda Berhad.

Dato' Chow Chee Wah, Chairman of Gamuda Land, said that the company had invested over US$5 billion in Viet Nam across sectors such as infrastructure, construction, and real estate. He expressed the groups desire for continued support from the Vietnamese Government to expand its business operations within the country.

PM Chinh commended Gamuda's contributions to the development of urban infrastructure in Viet Nam, and welcomed its intention to broaden investment. He encouraged the company to explore new business models and sectors, to develop smart city models, and to share its expertise in smart urban management with Vietnamese state agencies and enterprises.

The leader affirmed the Vietnamese Government's commitment to creating a favourable and lawful investment environment for Malaysian enterprises to operate effectively and sustainably.

Earlier the same day, PM Chinh met with Tony Fernandes, Founder and CEO of Capital A, a multi-sector conglomerate best known for operating the low-cost airline AirAsia.

Fernandes expressed interest in strengthening cooperation with Viet Nam to enhance the operational capacity of Vietravel Airlines  a subsidiary of the major Vietnamese tour operator Vietravel  and to explore opportunities for collaboration with Vietnamese partners in e-commerce, logistics, and advanced payment technologies.

Acknowledging the group's successful operations and support in Viet Nam, the PM suggested Capital A consider increasing direct flights between Viet Nam and Malaysia to support business connectivity and boost bilateral tourism.

He also welcomed collaboration to support Vietravel Airlines and urged the group to seek partnerships with Vietnamese entities, explore market opportunities, and share insights on cost-efficient aircraft management and emission reduction, contributing to green growth and sustainable development.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese Government leader received Anthony Tan, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Grab, alongside senior executives of the Southeast Asian technology firm. Grab currently provides ride-hailing, delivery, and digital payment services across 50 provinces and cities in Viet Nam.

The PM praised Grabs role in advancing Viet Nams digital transformation through the provision of AI-driven tools to citizens and businesses.

He encouraged the company to continue expanding its investment, introduce new business models, and pioneer digital transformation practices integrating IT and artificial intelligence. PM Chinh also called on Grab to share best practices in operations and management with Vietnamese regulators and enterprises, towards sustainable cooperation and development.

On the same day, PM Chinh received Datuk Ng Yih Pyng, President of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM).

Datuk Ng Yih Pyng shared that the ACCCIM, established in 1921, represents over 110,000 direct and indirect members, including companies, individuals, and trade associations across Malaysias Chinese business community.

The association hoped to help strengthen MalaysiaViet Nam cooperation, particularly in areas such as digital transformation, investment, innovation, and sustainable development, he said.

PM Chinh highly valued the role of the ACCCIM, calling on it to expand collaboration and encourage its members to invest and do business in Viet Nam. He also asked the association to strengthen its role as a bridge between the Malaysian and Vietnamese business communities while promoting bilateral cooperation in priority areas, including innovation, green technology, and sustainable development.

He also suggested the ACCCIM work closely with Vietnamese partners to implement investment and trade promotion as well as technology transfer activities in such fields as digital transformation, smart agriculture, logistics, and renewable energy. The organisation was also asked to further explore investment opportunities in Viet Nam, particularly in renewable energy, information technology, and digital technology.

During his meeting with President of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KLSICCI) Nivas Ragavan, PM Chinh spoke highly of the chambers fruitful operations in Malaysia, expressing his hope for stronger investment cooperation, particularly in key Vietnamese localities such as HCM City, a Nang, and Ha Noi.

Providing information on Viet Nams socio-economic situation, especially its priorities, he suggested the chamber make use of its extensive network to promote the connectivity of Vietnamese and Indian businesses, focusing on innovation, AI, fintech, and green technology.

The leader praised the results and potential of Viet NamIndia economic cooperation, urging the KLSICCI to work closely with the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance and other relevant agencies to consider investment opportunities in Viet Nam. He also encouraged it to help Vietnamese firms connect with Malaysian businesses and KLSICCI members to carry out joint projects in priority sectors like renewable energy, information technology, and digital technology.

He highlighted Viet Nams efforts to improve its investment climate and boost administrative reform toward greater transparency and reduced compliance costs, and to develop strategic infrastructure to reduce costs and increase competitiveness for products and businesses.

The Vietnamese Government was committed to accompanying and creating favourable conditions for foreign investors, including Malaysian enterprises, to operate efficiently and sustainably to bring about prosperity for both sides in the coming time, he said.

Receiving Y.M Tengku Dato' Dr. Hishammuddin Zaizi Bin Y.A.M. Tengku Bendahara Azman Shah Alhaj, a member of the Selangor Royal Family, who regularly sponsors activities of the MalaysiaViet Nam Friendship Association (MVFA), PM Chinh said that the nearly-40,000-strong Vietnamese community in Malaysia had carried out many practical and effective activities, acting as a bridge to foster the Viet NamMalaysia relationship in an increasingly substantive and fruitful manner.

The Vietnamese Government leader expressed his hope for Azman Shah Alhaj's regular, long-term, and sustainable support for the MVFA's activities. He also encouraged the expansion of people-to-people and business-to-business exchanges between the two countries, thus fostering cooperation and investment links.  VNA/VNS
KUALA LUMPUR - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, his spouse, and a high-level delegation of Viet Nam, landed in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night, beginning an official visit to Malaysia and attendance at the 46th ASEAN Summit and related high-level meetings.

The trip, from May 24 to 28, is made at the invitation of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his spouse.

PM Chinh and his entourage were welcomed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport by Minister of National Unity Aaron Ago Dagang, Malaysian Ambassador to Viet Nam Dato Tan Yang Thai, and other officials of Malaysia, along with Vietnamese Ambassador inh Ngoc Linh, staff of the Vietnamese Embassy, and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Malaysia.

This marks the first official visit to Malaysia by a Vietnamese PM in a decade, and the first visit by a key Vietnamese leader since the two countries elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in November last year.

According to Ambassador Linh, PM Chinh is scheduled to hold talks and meetings with Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim and other high-ranking leaders. They will share views on their respective national developments and engage in in-depth discussions on strategic visions to advance bilateral relations.

Economic, trade, and investment ties remain a cornerstone of the Viet Nam - Malaysia relationship. Within ASEAN, Malaysia is now Viet Nams second largest trade partner and third largest investor. In 2024, two-way trade hit US$14.2 billion, up 20 per cent from 2023, moving closer to the target of $18 billion, the diplomat noted.

The 46th ASEAN Summit is the first high-level summit hosted under Malaysias 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship themed Inclusive and Sustainable. In addition to ASEAN leaders' plenary sessions, the occasion will see the 2nd ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit.

According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs o Hung Viet, also head of ASEAN SOM of Viet Nam, the trip carries a clear message of Viet Nams responsibility and readiness to contribute to the bloc's collective efforts.

It demonstrates Viet Nams strong support for Malaysias role as the ASEAN Chair this year and reflects the shared determination to build a community that embodies sustainability, inclusiveness, solidarity and strength while consolidating ASEANs central role in regional peace and stability. VNA/VNS
HA NOI The nation on Sunday morning bid farewell to a highly prestigious leader and a bright model of studying and following President Ho Chi Minhs ideology, moral example, and style - former Politburo member and former State President Tran uc Luong.

A memorial service was held for the former leader in the national mourning etiquette at the National Funeral Hall, No 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street in Ha Noi.

At the same time, the service also took place at the Reunification Hall in HCM City and Hall T50 of the Military Command of central Quang Ngai Province, Luong's hometown.

The memorial service at the National Funeral Hall saw the presence of Party General Secretary To Lam, State President Luong Cuong, and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man. Others at the event included former Party General Secretary Nong uc Manh, former State President Truong Tan Sang, former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and many other incumbent and former leaders of the Party and State.

Pany Yathotou, member of the Politburo of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party and Vice President of Laos, and Men Sam An, Vice President of the Cambodian Peoples Party, President of the National Council of the Solidarity Front for the Development of Cambodian Motherland and Chairwoman of the Cambodia  Viet Nam Friendship Association, also attended the event.

Officials present at the Reunification Hall in HCM City included Politburo member and Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen, former State President Nguyen Minh Triet, and many incumbent and former officials of the Party, State, and Viet Nam Fatherland Front.

The event in Quang Ngai was attended by Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Bui Thi Quynh Van, former State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, incumbent and former officials, along with a large number of locals.

In the funeral oration, State President Luong Cuong said Tran uc Luong had made significant contributions to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation. He was a highly prestigious leader and a bright model of studying and following President Ho Chi Minhs ideology, moral example, and style.

He had always upheld a high sense of responsibility, set a good example, and maintained the solidarity and unity within the Party. He had put the interests of the Party and the nation first and above all, and also won the respect and affection from comrades, compatriots, and international friends.

With 65 years of Party membership and over 50 years of revolutionary activities, Tran uc Luong had made unceasing efforts to contribute his utmost to the Party and nations glorious revolutionary cause as well as the peoples happiness.

In recognition of his substantial dedications, Tran uc Luong was honoured with the Gold Star Order, the 65-year Party membership badge, and many other noble decorations and titles by the Party, the State, and other countries.

Concluding the remarks, President Cuong noted: Farewell, Comrade! The entire Party, people, and army will stay united and exert all-out efforts to continue following the glorious revolutionary path chosen by the Party, beloved Uncle Ho and our people; firmly adhere to Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's ideology; remain steadfast in national independence and socialism; highly promote patriotism, confidence, self-reliance, resilience, and the strength of great national solidarity; and comprehensively and synchronously promote the oi moi (Renewal) process, enabling the country to firmly advance to a new era  that of strong, prosperous development of our beloved Vietnamese nation.

President Cuong also offered the deepest condolences to the bereaved family over the irreparable loss.

Representing the bereaved family, Tran Tuan Anh, son of the deceased, expressed gratitude to incumbent and former leaders of the Party, State, and Viet Nam Fatherland Front, along with representatives of localities, agencies and organisations, senior leaders of other countries, international friends, diplomatic corps, and people for offering condolences and escorting his father to the last resting place. He also thanked health professionals who cared for his father.

After that, leaders and former leaders of the Party, State and Viet Nam Fatherland Front, the bereaved family, representatives of ministries, sectors and organisations, comrades, and people walked around the casket to bid the last farewell to former President Tran uc Luong.

Later, the hearse carrying the national flag-covered casket left the National Funeral Hall and passed through the streets of Ha Noi before arriving at Noi Bai International Airport to return to his hometown in Quang Ngai.

The burial service will be held at 3pm the same day at the cemetery in Pho Khanh Commune of uc Pho Township, Quang Ngai Province.

Over the two days of national mourning, 830 delegations with about 10,500 people representing ministries, sectors, organisations, localities, units, the peoples armed forces, diplomatic corps, international organisations and friends, and the public came to the National Funeral Hall, the Reunification Hall, and Hall T50 to pay homage to the late leader.  VNA/VNS
HA NOI  International delegations have come to the National Funeral Hall at No 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street in Ha Noi to pay their respects to former State President Tran uc Luong, who passed away on May 20.

A Lao delegation was led by Vice President Pany Yathotou on May 24, who wrote in the condolence book that Comrade Tran uc Luong was an outstanding leader and a shining example of unwavering loyalty of the Party, State, and people of Viet Nam. He was also a close friend and comrade of our Party, State, and people.

Pany Yathotou praised the former State President for his significant contributions to strengthening and nurturing the friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties and States over the years.

His passing is a great loss to the Vietnamese Party, State, and people, as well as to the Party, State, and people of Laos, she said.

Men Sam An, Vice President of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), who also serves as President of the National Council of the Solidarity Front for the Development of Cambodia Motherland (SFDCM) and Chairwoman of the CambodiaViet Nam Friendship Association, also wrote that the CPP extends its deepest condolences over the passing of former State President Tran uc Luong.

Leading the diplomatic corps in Ha Noi to pay tribute to former State President Tran uc Luong, Palestinian Ambassador Saadi Salama said: We honour his contributions and extend our sympathies to his family, the leadership and the people of Viet Nam.

On May 24, more than 60 ambassadors and charges daffaires from foreign embassies in Viet Nam gathered at the International Conference Centre in Ha Noi to pay tribute to former State President Tran uc Luong.

On its official Facebook page, the US Embassy in Viet Nam said: The US Mission in Viet Nam extends its deepest condolences on the passing of Tran uc Luong, former President of Viet Nam.

Tran uc Luong played a significant role in advancing US-Viet Nam relations and reconciliation. He welcomed the first visit by a US President to Viet Nam following the normalisation of diplomatic ties, a historic milestone that opened the door to greater cooperation and mutual understanding between our two nations.

During his tenure, Viet Nam continued strong reforms that helped build significant economic growth and development for the country. We offer our sympathies to Tran uc Luongs family and to the people of Viet Nam.

The Australian and French embassies in Viet Nam also extended condolences to the Vietnamese Government and people on their Facebook pages.

A state funeral for former Politburo member and former State President Tran uc Luong was held at the National Funeral Hall on Saturday morning with the national mourning etiquette.

The memorial service for comrade Tran uc Luong was solemnly held at 7am on Sunday at the National Funeral Hall.

The burial ceremony will take place at 3pm the same day in his hometown in Pho Khanh Commune, uc Pho Township, the central province of Quang Ngai.  VNA/VNS
KUALA LUMPUR  Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his spouse hosted a welcome ceremony for Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh, his spouse, and the high-ranking delegation of Viet Nam in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday afternoon.

The Vietnamese leader is paying an official visit to Malaysia and attending the 46th ASEAN Summit and related summits there from May 24 to 28.

Following the welcome ceremony, the two PMs led the countries delegations in bilateral talks.

This is the first visit to Malaysia by a Vietnamese PM in 10 years, and the first by a key leader of Viet Nam after the two countries elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in November 2024.

For over half a century, the Viet NamMalaysia relations have been flourishing across the board, especially since they set up the strategic partnership in August 2015 and the comprehensive strategic partnership in November 2024.

Bilateral political and diplomatic relations are marked with high-level mutual visits and engagements between their Party, Government, State, and parliamentary leaders, along with people-to-people exchanges.

Leaders of both countries have paid attention to promoting bilateral cooperation mechanisms. The two sides have also maintained close coordination at regional and international forums like ASEAN, the United Nations, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Economic and trade cooperation is one of the bright spots of bilateral ties. Malaysia is the third largest trading partner of Viet Nam in ASEAN and the ninth largest in the world.

Their trade has been growing continuously, hitting $14.2 billion in 2024, up 20 per cent from 2023 and hoped to reach US$18 billion this year. With $13 billion in registered investment capital, Malaysia currently ranks 10th among 143 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam.

Securitydefence ties have also been enhanced, while collaboration in labour, culture, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges has recorded fruitful results. The nearly 40,000 Vietnamese people in Malaysia are serving as a bridge helping strengthen the two countries connections.

PM Chinhs official visit to Malaysia is of great significance as it aims to concurrently promote solidarity among ASEAN member states and demonstrate Viet Nams consistent foreign policy of treasuring the friendly neighbourliness and comprehensive strategic partnership with Malaysia.

The trip is meant to reinforce the political foundation and create more momentum for fostering the two countries partnership in all aspects. The two sides are expected to discuss major orientations and concrete measures to implement the newly established comprehensive strategic partnership for the sake of the two peoples, as well as for peace, stability, and development in the region and the world.  VNA/VNS
KUALA LUMPUR  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse met with staff of the Vietnamese Embassy and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Malaysia on Sunday morning as part of his official visit to the country and attendance at the 46th ASEAN Summit and related high-level meetings in Kuala Lumpur.

The Government leader affirmed that the Party, State, and Government always paid close attention to overseas Vietnamese communities, including those in Malaysia, considering them an inseparable part of the nation.

He highlighted the fruitful development of Viet NamMalaysia relations across fields, especially following the upgrade to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Updating the community on Viet Nams outstanding socio-economic achievements and the dynamic external activities of Party and State leaders, the PM affirmed the Party and States policies aimed to support overseas Vietnamese (OVs) in securing legal status, building stable lives, and integrating into host societies.

These efforts helped strengthen national solidarity and encourage the overseas community to actively contribute to the homelands national construction and defence, he noted, adding that relevant agencies also worked to address issues of concern raised by expatriates, including matters related to immigration, land, housing, and citizenship.

He noted the Party and State had been improving various mechanisms and policies to better support OVs, expressing his hope that the community would continue to thrive, integrate well, respect local laws, and serve as a strong bridge for fostering Viet NamMalaysia friendship, making more contributions to the homelands development.

The PM promised that in his upcoming meetings with Malaysias high-ranking leaders, he would propose continued support and favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study, and work stably in Malaysia, integrate further, and contribute to the host countrys development and bilateral relations.

At the meeting, representatives from the MalaysiaViet Nam Friendship Association (MVFA), Vietnamese businesses, and the Vietnamese community in Malaysia expressed appreciation for the attention and support from the Vietnamese Party, State, and Government toward OVs, particularly those in Malaysia. They noted that recent improvements in policies on immigration, land, housing, and citizenship created more favourable conditions for the community.

They expressed their belief that with the sound guidelines of the Party and State, and the Governments strong and decisive direction, Viet Nam is poised for breakthroughs, entering a new era - that of the nation's rise.

They also urged Vietnamese authorities to work with the Malaysian side to create more favourable conditions for Vietnamese citizens to live, work, and study in Malaysia  ideally enjoying certain rights similar to locals. The community also expressed interest in strengthening business and student networks, promoting cultural exchange, and establishing a Vietnamese language centre in Malaysia.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia inh Ngoc Linh, nearly 40,000 Vietnamese are currently living, studying, and working in Malaysia. The Vietnamese community is generally united, hardworking, and supportive of one another. They abide by both Vietnamese and Malaysian laws, integrate well into local society, and maintain a strong sense of patriotism and national pride, always staying connected to their homeland.

Many overseas Vietnamese have established successful businesses and restaurants, with a growing number of entrepreneurs and intellectuals achieving notable success, contributing positively to Malaysias socio-economic development, and serving as bridges promoting trade and investment between the two countries.  VNA/VNS
HA NOI  State President Luong Cuong on Sunday hosted a reception for Men Sam An, Vice President of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), who led a high-level Cambodian delegation to pay tribute to and attend the memorial service for former State President Tran uc Luong.

The host extended heartfelt thanks to King Norodom Sihamoni, President of the CPP and President of the Senate Hun Sen, and other senior Cambodian leaders for their condolences and for sending a delegation to pay respects to the former Vietnamese leader. He said that this gesture reflected Cambodia's sincere affection for and close-knit bond with Viet Nam and the deceased personally.

The Vietnamese State leader expressed his belief that, building on the strong foundation laid by generations of leaders and peoples of both countries, including Luongs great contributions, the Viet NamCambodia relationship will continue to grow sustainably and effectively for the benefit of both nations.

Men Sam An, who also serves as President of the National Council of the Solidarity Front for the Development of Cambodia Motherland and Chairwoman of the CambodiaViet Nam Friendship Association, extended her deepest condolences to the Party, State, and people of Viet Nam, as well as to the bereaved family.

Tran uc Luong was a respected leader who had made significant contributions to Viet Nams national construction and development, she stressed, affirming that Cambodia would always remember and appreciate his great dedication to promoting the close friendship between the two countries and their peoples.

President Cuong highly valued the Cambodian officials important contributions to the friendship and solidarity between the peoples of Viet Nam and Cambodia, showing his hope that Men Sam An would continue playing an active role in advancing the partnership and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

Men Sam An recalled the assistance given to Cambodia by generations of Vietnamese leaders and people, affirming that had it not been for Viet Nams support, there would not have been a Cambodia like it is today.

Regarding measures for stepping up Viet NamCambodia relations in the time ahead, the two sides agreed to actively implement agreements reached by high-ranking leaders during the meeting of top leaders of the three Parties of Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos in February this year, as well as on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification of Viet Nam.

The two sides also underscored the importance of the traditional solidarity, close bonds, and mutual support between Viet Nam and Cambodia, as well as among Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos, especially amid current regional and global uncertainties.

They affirmed that the bilateral and trilateral relationships had stood the test of time and continued to grow for the sake of each country, contributing to peace, stability, and development in the region and the world.

The Cambodian official congratulated Viet Nam on its development achievements, expressing her strong confidence that Viet Nam would realise the goals set by the Party and State, including becoming a modern and upper-middle income country by 2030  the centenary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, and a high-income developed socialist country by 2045  the 100th founding anniversary of the nation.  VNA/VNS
KUALA LUMPUR  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended and delivered a keynote address at the ASEAN Leadership and Partnership Forum (ALPF) held in Kuala Lumpur on May 25, where he was honoured with the Distinguished ASEAN Leader Award for 2025 by the KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific.

In his remarks, the Vietnamese PM underscored the need for stronger solidarity among nations and businesses, as well as the importance of multilateralism as a foundation for jointly addressing global and national challenges, contributing to advancing social progress and equality, and equitable development among nations, with the spirit of leaving no one behind.

The Government leader also highlighted the pioneering role of the business community in building a resilient ASEAN of fast and sustainable development, aiming to bring prosperity and happiness to its people.

He called for stronger connectivity among enterprises to further connect ASEAN economies and boost their engagement with the global economy. He also underlined the constructive role of governments in acting as enablers who design and implement policies to ensure peace, stability, cooperation, and development.

During the forum, PM Chinh shared Viet Nams significant achievements over the past four decades of its oi Moi (Renewal) process, along with major development orientations aimed at boosting fast, breakthrough, and sustainable development and securing an 8 per cent GDP growth rate in 2025 and double-digit expansion in subsequent years.

To that end, he said, Viet Nam was focusing on three strategic breakthroughs in institution, infrastructure, and human resources. It was simultaneously advancing the four pillars of science-technology development, innovation, and digital transformation; law making and enforcement; private economic sector development; and international integration. The country was also restructuring its administrative apparatus to create new growth spaces.

The PM affirmed Viet Nams strong commitment to ensuring investors' property rights, freedom of business, and equal access to resources, and to protecting the rights and legitimate interests of all economic actors. He made clear that civil and economic relations would not be criminalised, and that economic tools would be prioritised in handling business-related matters.

Also at the annual forum, KSI President Michael Yeoh and other speakers praised Viet Nam as one of the fastest-growing economies and a rising star in ASEAN. They lauded the countrys active role over the past 30 years of ASEAN membership in building an independent and resilient ASEAN Community.

With its central role in regional economic integration and participation in multilateral free trade agreements, the country offered investors access to diverse markets and supply chains across the region. Therefore, investing in Viet Nam not only meant investing in a dynamic, stable, and fast-growing economy but also served as a strategic step to connect with a region of over 700 million people  one of the leading growth engines in the region and the world, they added.

At the event, PM Chinh was formally conferred the Distinguished ASEAN Leader Award 2025 by the KSI. He expressed his sincere gratitude, stating that the award belonged to the Vietnamese people and nation, and that it was his honour to receive it on their behalf.

On this occasion, on behalf of the Party and State of Viet Nam, the leader extended heartfelt appreciation to the governments and people of bloc member states, as well as to ASEAN business communities, for their solidarity, cooperation, and support which have contributed to Viet Nams achievements.  VNA/VNS
KUALA LUMPUR  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim held successful talks yesterday on specific projects and initiatives to implement bilateral agreements and cooperation mechanisms between the two countries and ASEAN, notably an electricity network connecting Viet Nam, Malaysia and the broader Southeast Asian region.

The two leaders hosted a press conference in Kuala Lumpur following their talks on Sunday afternoon.

Underscoring the long-standing friendship, PM Ibrahim expressed admiration for Viet Nams fight for independence and national development.

Praising the recent diplomatic upgrade to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Viet Nam and Malaysia, he said he was confident their bilateral ties would continue to see robust growth in the near future, especially in trade, investment, tourism, agriculture, education and training and maritime cooperation, along with joint efforts to address shared concerns.

PM Chinh noted that the fruitful discussion between the two leaders reflected mutual understanding, shared perspectives, and determination to deepen bilateral ties in a comprehensive, inclusive, substantive and increasingly effective manner that aligns with their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The two sides agreed to soon finalise an action programme to promote collaboration between the two countries for the 202530 period and to establish a regular meeting mechanism between the two government leaders.

They also agreed to enhance cooperation in defence and security, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in each country and across the region.

Economic, trade and investment cooperation between Viet Nam and Malaysia has emerged as a highlight of the bilateral ties, with two-way trade reaching US$14.2 billion in 2024. Malaysia remains among the top 10 foreign investors in Viet Nam, with total registered capital exceeding $13 billion.

They agreed to work toward raising bilateral trade turnover to $20 billion by 2030 in a balanced manner, in addition to minimising trade barriers, facilitating imports and exports of strengths, such as agricultural and aquatic products, food, electronic components and construction materials. They also agreed to expand cooperation in digital economy, circular economy and green economy.

In addition to high-level meetings, the two countries also agreed to strengthen cooperation and exchanges in national defence-security, and considered establishing cooperation mechanisms between the two countries naval, air force and coast guard forces.

They also agreed to collaborate in combating terrorism and transnational crimes and to enhance coordination in countering terrorist and reactionary organisations, emphasising that no individual or organisation should be allowed to use one countrys territory to undermine the other.

The two PMs stressed the importance of maritime and ocean cooperation and agreed to explore the establishment of a consultation mechanism on maritime issues and a hotline to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and to support Viet Nam in lifting the European Commissions yellow card warning on its fisheries sector.

Both leaders committed to advancing negotiations on a substantive and effective Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) based on international laws, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Viet Nam and Malaysia also agreed to promote strong cooperation in economics, trade, and investment, particularly in agriculture, food production and Halal product manufacturing, as well as in tourism, culture and people-to-people exchanges.

PM Chinh expressed appreciation towards Malaysias support for the Vietnamese community in Malaysia and its recognition of the MalaysiaViet Nam Friendship Association (MVFA).

He also underscored Viet Nams high regard for Malaysias role and efforts as the incoming ASEAN Chair in 2025, especially in promoting ASEANs centrality and fostering a united and cohesive bloc amid global uncertainties.

The Vietnamese leader expressed his belief that Malaysia would successfully assume the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025 and host the 46th ASEAN Summit and related events such as ASEANGulf Cooperation Council and ASEAN - China, thereby expanding the scope and scale of cooperation for peace, stability, collaboration, and development in the region and the world.

PM Chinh stressed that Viet Nam aimed to foster connections between the two economies and ASEAN, linking businesses, people and infrastructure to ensure stability, peace, cooperation and sustainable development alongside social progress, equity and welfare.

He said that Viet Nam - Malaysia relations have made great strides following the upgrade to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This visit conveyed a message of trust, political determination and commitment to turning agreements and statements into concrete, measurable outcomes, he added.

On the same day, the two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of several key cooperation documents, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between state utility Viet Nam Electricity (EVN) and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) of Malaysia; and two letters of intent on cooperation, each between the National University of Malaysia with the Viet Nam National University  Ha Noi, and with the Viet Nam National University  HCM City.

During the visit, PM Chinh also met Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah, President of Dewan Negara (upper house of Malaysian Parliament), and Tan Sri Dato' Johari Bin Abdul, Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat (lower house).  VNS
HA NOI  Friends of Viet Nam around the world have paid their final respects to former Politburo member and former State President Tran uc Luong at respect-paying services held by the Vietnamese embassies.

Luong, who served as the State President of Viet Nam from 1997 to 2006, passed away at his home in Ha Noi on May 20. He was 88.

On the morning of Saturday (local time), the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia opened a book of condolence and held a ceremony in tribute to the late leader.

The event in Moscow drew a large number of participants, including representatives from Vietnamese organisations in Russia, embassies of ASEAN, African, and European countries, the EU Delegation in Moscow, the Soviet Peace Fund, and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Deputy Chair of the Russian Federal Assemblys Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Bair Zhamsuyev wrote in the book of condolence what he described as the immense efforts by Tran uc Luong in Viet Nams national development and in the enhancement of the traditional friendship between the two countries, contributing significantly to the positive trajectory of bilateral relations.

On the same day, the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium and Luxembourg  the Vietnamese Delegation to the European Union held a similar tribute event. Attendees included ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from several embassies such as those of China, Japan, Laos, and Indonesia. Various EU institutions, including the European External Action Service (EEAS), also sent messages of condolence.

On behalf of the EEAS, Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific Paola Pampaloni conveyed her condolences in a message, stating that former President Luongs strategic vision and diplomatic acumen played a crucial role in shaping Viet Nams international standing. During his tenure, he guided Viet Nam into the World Trade Organization (WTO), promoted global trade relations, and helped lay the solid cornerstone for the comprehensive partnership between Viet Nam and the EU.

In the UK, the Vietnamese Embassy hosted a ceremony attended by all staff of the embassy and representative offices, members of the Vietnamese community, and representatives from the British Government, diplomatic corps, international organisations, and friends of Viet Nam in the UK.

In Prague, the Czech Republic, the Vietnamese Embassy held the respect-paying ceremony on two days, May 24-25. The event was attended by a wide cross-section of the Vietnamese community, international friends, and representatives of local organisations and institutions.

Also on the two days, the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia, along with the Vietnamese Consulates General in Sydney and Perth, opened books of condolence and held tribute services. Local government representatives, foreign diplomats, and members of the Vietnamese community came to pay their respects and offer condolences.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Italy also began a two-day respect-paying service on the morning of Saturday. Representatives from the host government, along with ambassadors and diplomats from other embassies in Rome, extended their heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, as well as to the Vietnamese Party, State, and people.

On Friday afternoon in the US (local time), the Permanent Mission of Viet Nam to the United Nations solemnly held a memorial service in honour of the former President. The ceremony was attended by all officials and staff of the mission and other Vietnamese representative offices in New York.

Throughout the day, numerous international delegations visited the mission to pay tribute, sign the book of condolence, and express their sympathies. These included the permanent representatives to the UN of Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Ethiopia, Timor-Leste, and the Holy See, among others. The book of condolence will remain open until the end of May 27.

On the afternoon of Saturday (local time), the Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria also held a solemn respect-paying ceremony and opened a book of condolence. Representatives from the embassies of Russia, China, and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, among others, attended and offered condolences. The event is scheduled to continue until midday on May 26.

Condolences from Asia, Americas

The Vietnamese embassies in China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand on Saturday held respect-paying ceremonies for former Politburo member and former State President Tran uc Luong.

In Beijing, the ceremony was attended by senior representatives from various Chinese ministries, departments, associations, and organisations. They paid their respect and wrote in the book of condolence, recognising the significant contributions by the late leader to Viet Nams national development and to the advancement of Viet NamChina relations.

Over 30 ambassadors, charges daffaires, and representatives of diplomatic missions and international organisations in Beijing also attended the event or sent condolences to the embassy.

Later that day, on behalf of the Chinese Party, Government, and people, Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping conveyed a message of condolence to Vietnamese Party General Secretary To Lam and State President Luong Cuong. He described Tran uc Luong as an outstanding leader of the Vietnamese Party and State, and acknowledged his crucial role in Viet Nams national development and oi moi (renewal) process.

The Consulate General of Viet Nam in Hong Kong and Macau (China) also held a similar ceremony in Hong Kong. Attendees included Deputy Commissioner Pan Yundong of the Commissioners Office of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the special administrative region, Lao Consul General Ammala Saenchonghack, and representatives from the Indonesian Consulate General.

In Tokyo, the ambassadors of Cuba, Laos, and Sri Lanka, along with representatives from the Vietnamese Associations' Union, the Vietnamese Youth and Student Association in Japan, and other community organisations paid tribute to the late leader by offering incense and signing the condolence book.

In Singapore, Loy Hui Chien, Director-General for Southeast Asia II at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, joined the embassys ceremony. In the condolence book, he noted that former President Luong had ably steered Viet Nam through the post-Doi moi period and the Asian financial crisis, while promoting the countrys integration with ASEAN and the wider global community.

Representatives and envoys from several embassies, including those of Laos, Cuba, China, India, Australia, Peru, and Myanmar, along with members of the Vietnamese community and student associations, also took part in the solemn occasion.

In Kuala Lumpur, alongside the Vietnamese embassys respect-paying event, the countries participating in the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), held on the same day, also extended condolences. Member states expressed their profound condolences to the Vietnamese Party, State, and people, and acknowledged Tran uc Luongs contributions to the region and to ASEAN, particularly in the first years of Viet Nams membership.

Earlier, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had sent the Malaysian Governments and peoples deepest condolences to the bereaved family and the people of Viet Nam.

At the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok, the ambassadors from Russia, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Cambodia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Oman, and Nigeria came to pay their tribute. Representatives from the ThailandViet Nam Friendship Association, along with executives from major Thai corporations such as the CP Group, Amata, and Central Group, were also in attendance.

Staff of the Vietnamese Embassy, representatives of Vietnamese agencies and the Vietnamese community in Cuba, along with Cuban and international friends, also expressed deep sorrow over the death of former Politburo member and former State President Tran uc Luong.

Dozens of high-ranking local officials, representatives from social organisations, and members of diplomatic corps in Cuba visited the Vietnamese Embassy to offer condolences to the Party, State, and people of Viet Nam over this great loss.

Writing in the condolence book, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez said that the passing of Comrade Tran uc Luong is an immense loss for both the Cuban and Vietnamese peoples.

The Cuban leader emphasised that the late Vietnamese State leader will be forever remembered for his example and contributions to the Vietnamese revolution and the prosperity of the Vietnamese people, as well as his efforts in strengthening the long-standing relations and special brotherhood between Cuba and Viet Nam.

On behalf of the Party, State, and people of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez extended his deepest condolences to the Party, State, and people of Viet Nam, as well as to the bereaved family.

Leading a delegation from the Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Minister Senior Lieutenant General Alvaro Lopez Miera sent heartfelt condolences to the Vietnamese Party, State, and people, sharing in their great loss.

Victor Gaute, Vice President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), also showed his sympathy over the passing of Tran uc Luong, who had made valuable contributions to the faithful and exemplary CubaViet Nam relationship.

The embassy held a solemn respect-paying ceremony and opened a condolence book on May 24-25 to pay tribute to the former leader.

Similar ceremonies are held by the Vietnamese embassies in the US and Canada on the same days.

Many international delegations, including the ambassadors of Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste, and Belarus to the US, paid their homage to, signed the condolence book, and expressed condolences on the passing of the former State leader of Viet Nam.

Meanwhile, in his writing in the condolence book at the Vietnamese Embassy in Canada, Charge d'Affaires of Russia Oleg Shapovalov said Tran uc Luong is remembered not only for his contributions to Viet Nam, but also for his commitment to enhancing the friendship between Viet Nam and Russia.

He affirmed that Luongs leadership helped lay a stepping stone for the dynamic cooperative relationship between the two countries today.

Apart from the respect-paying ceremony on May 24-25, the embassy will continue opening the condolence book on May 26 so that Cambodian agencies and organisations, along with foreign diplomatic corps in Ottawa can come to extend condolences.  VNA/VNS
KUALA LUMPUR  Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son led a Vietnamese delegation to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting, the meeting of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) Commission, the 29th ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) Council Meeting, and the 36th ASEAN Coordinating Council Meeting, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sunday.

In his speech, Son expressed his gratitude for the condolences and kind sentiments extended by representatives of the countries on the passing of former State President Tran uc Luong.

He spoke highly of Malaysias role as ASEAN Chair in guiding the regional cooperation process at a pivotal moment for the bloc, noting that the current context, marked by more complex difficulties and challenges than before, requires ASEAN and its member states to stand closely together and give the highest priority to the community-building process.

The ASEAN Community Vision 2045, along with new cooperation strategies, would serve as a framework for joint action, proactive adaptation, and enhanced development in the region, Son said, stressing the need for ASEAN to strengthen its resilience, particularly economic resilience, to withstand external shocks.

The Vietnamese official noted that ASEANs external relations should follow a consistent and focused approach aligned with the blocs long-term strategic priorities.

Noting the complex developments of emerging security challenges, Son emphasised the urgent need to strengthen cooperation at both regional and global levels. The official expressed his hope that countries would support and participate in the signing ceremony of the UN Convention against Cybercrime in Ha Noi, scheduled for late October 2025.

He also proposed the development of an ASEAN Declaration on enhancing cooperation in the pursuit of wanted criminals, aiming to gradually position ASEAN as a model in combating transnational crime.

Son and other delegates exchanged views and reaffirmed ASEAN's principled stance on regional and international issues. He also suggested ASEAN explore new approaches and measures to more effectively implement the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar.

Highly evaluating Timor-Lestes efforts, Son reaffirmed Viet Nams support for Timor-Lestes early accession to ASEAN. He said that drawing from 30 years of experience as a member of ASEAN, Viet Nam understood the challenges involved and stood ready to assist the country both in the preparation process and in implementing membership obligations in the first years of joining ASEAN.

Regarding preparation for the ASEAN Summit scheduled for May 2627, Malaysia announced that all organisational arrangements had been completed.

The participating ministers reviewed and agreed to submit for ASEAN leaders adoption the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future.

Reviewing the blueprints for building the ASEAN Community in the 2016-25 period, they emphasised the need to promote lessons learned over the past 10 years, especially strengthening the blocs solidarity and centrality, demonstrating a strong common voice and enhancing the effectiveness of ASEAN-led mechanisms.

They called for the prompt concretisation of the ASEAN Vision 2045 and associated strategies, including the development of sectoral cooperation programme and the prioritisation of enhancing ASEANs capacity to respond to non-traditional security challenges. They also agreed to strengthen intra-bloc trade and investment, tap into the potential of science and technology, the digital and green economies, and expand connectivity with partners on the basis of mutual benefit.

The ministers also engaged in in-depth discussions on regional and international issues, reaffirming ASEANs common stance and principles. They underlined the necessity of fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) [internationally known as the South China Sea] and continuing to accelerate negotiations on an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the waters (COC) that is in line with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).  VNA/VNS
KUALA  Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim held talks in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, discussing measures for enhancing the two countries relations in the time ahead.

The event took place as part of PM Chinhs official visit to Malaysia, during which he will also attend the 46th ASEAN Summit and related summits.

PM Ibrahim offered condolences to the State and people of Viet Nam over the passing of former State President Tran uc Luong.

Welcoming PM Chinh, his spouse, and the high-ranking delegation of Viet Nam, the host expressed his admiration for Viet Nams struggle for national independence and reunification, along with its remarkable achievements during the oi moi (renewal) and development process, including the sustained stable economic growth, improved business climate, and better living standards for the people.

He said he believes that under the clear-sighted leadership of the high-ranking leaders of Viet Nam, the Vietnamese people will reap more successes on the development path, soon realising the goal of becoming a modern industrialised country by 2045.

PM Chinh conveyed regards from Party General Secretary To Lam, State President Luong Cuong, and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to the king and other leaders of Malaysia. He also invited Malaysia to send a delegation to the ceremony marking Viet Nams 80th National Day anniversary in Ha Noi this September.

PM Chinh thanked his host for the positive remarks about Viet Nam, affirming that Viet Nam always values and wishes to further strengthen the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Malaysia.

He emphasised that his visit aims to create new momentum to further deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, especially as the two sides have just agreed to finalise the action plan for implementing this partnership in the 20252030 period. It is also meant to convey a message of both countries strong determination to cooperate and pursue resilient and sustainable development, actively contributing to peace, stability, and development in the region.

Sharing about Viet Nams achievements during its oi moi process, the Vietnamese Government leader said the country is striving to implement major tasks, including streamlining the political apparatus and reforming institutional frameworks to unlock all resources for development; identifying science - technology development, innovation, and digital transformation as the top breakthroughs to be made; strongly promoting the role of the private economic sector; and accelerating the renewal process while integrating into the international community in a proactive, extensive, and effective manner.

The two sides showed their satisfaction with the development of bilateral relations in the recent past, especially since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in November 2024.

Accordingly, political and diplomatic ties have been increasingly strengthened. Economic, trade, and investment cooperation remains a highlight in the relationship, with bilateral trade reaching US$14.2 billion in 2024. Malaysia remains among the top 10 foreign investors in Viet Nam, with total registered capital exceeding $13 billion.

Both sides acknowledged cooperation progress in defence  security, energy, education  training, science  technology, tourism, labour, and people-to-people exchange.

They noted the cooperation agreements signed between the Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi and the Viet Nam National University, HCM City, and the National University of Malaysia on this occasion.

Regarding future cooperation, the two sides consented to step up delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels and across all channels, and move towards establishing a flexible annual exchange mechanism between the two countries high-ranking leaders.

They will continue effectively implementing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and strive to raise bilateral trade turnover to $20 billion by 2030 in a balanced manner.

They also committed to minimising trade barriers, facilitating import and export of key potential and strong sectors such as agricultural and aquatic products, food, electronic components, and construction materials, while expanding cooperation in digital economy, circular economy, and green economy.

PM Chinh affirmed that Viet Nam is ready to supply Malaysia with a stable and long-term rice source and suggested Malaysia help Viet Nam in the halal industry, urging an early signing of a cooperation document in this field.

The leaders concurred to strengthen collaboration in defence and security, and to push ahead with the signing of related agreements, and exchanged views on boosting cooperation in defence industry and training.

They agreed to establish cooperation mechanisms between the two countries naval, air force, and coast guard forces; to coordinate efforts in counterterrorism and combating transnational crimes; and to enhance collaboration against terrorist and reactionary groups. They emphasised that no individual or organisation is permitted to use one countrys territory to act against the other.

The two PMs stressed the importance of maritime and ocean cooperation and agreed to consider establishing a consultation mechanism on maritime issues and a hotline to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Their agreement also covered support for Viet Nam to soon have the European Commissions yellow card warning against its seafood sector lifted.

The leaders concurred to enhance cooperation in various other fields. They said they will consider expediting the signing of new air transport and tourism cooperation agreements, increasing flight frequency, and strengthening partnerships in education, training, labour, agriculture, culture, and sports.

PM Chinh thanked the Malaysian Government and called for its maintenance of favourable conditions for the Vietnamese expatriate communitys long-term, stable life, work, and study. He also encouraged Malaysia to support the activities of the Malaysia  Viet Nam Friendship Association, contributing to stronger people-to-people ties.

On regional and multilateral cooperation, the two sides highlighted mutual support in candidatures for international organisations. PM Chinh once again affirmed that Viet Nam will closely coordinate with Malaysia  the ASEAN Chair this year  and with other member states to implement the set priorities, towards building a sustainable and inclusive bloc.

The two Government leaders agreed to maintain ASEANs common stance on the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) issue, to continue coordination in the next phase of negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the waters (COC), and to make active contributions to building a substantive, effective document in line with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).  VNA/VNS
HA NOI  President of France Emmanuel Macron and his spouse Brigitte Macron arrived in Ha Noi evening, beginning a state visit to Viet Nam until Tuesday at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Luong Cuong.

Chairman of the Vietnamese Presidents Office Le Khanh Hai, Chairman of the Ha Noi Peoples Committee Tran Sy Thanh, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang, and Vietnamese Ambassador to France inh Toan Thang welcomed the French delegation at Noi Bai International Airport.

President Macrons entourage include Minister of the Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty Eric Lombard, Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, Minister attached to the Minister for the Interior Francois-Noel Buffet, Minister of State for Francophonie and International Partnerships attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Thani Mohamed Soilihi, and French Ambassador to Viet Nam Olivier Brochet.

Vietnamese Ambassador to France inh Toan Thang said during the visit, the two sides are set to discuss many fields and concrete projects to promote cooperation priorities such as economy  trade  investment, defence  security, innovation, science  technology, education  training, and health care. The new cooperation agreements expected to be signed during the trip will create more momentum and an important legal basis for bilateral cooperation in the years to come.

Meanwhile, French Ambassador to Viet Nam Olivier Brochet said President Macrons state visit holds great significance for the two countries relations. Viet Nam is the first destination of the French leaders tour of three Southeast Asian nations, with the other two being Indonesia and Singapore.

During a visit to France by Party General Secretary To Lam in October 2024, the two countries elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Eight months later, President Macron is now paying a state visit to Viet Nam which aims to once again affirm the vigorous growth of bilateral relations as well as the newly established partnership.  VNA/VNS
Former US marine John Hoysradt was dispatched to Viet Nam in 1966, four months after his 18th birthday, and stationed at a Nang airbase. Hoysradt saw combat in some of the fiercest battles in the central region during the Viet Nam War. He returned to Viet Nam in 2019 and again in 2022. Now, he helps in groups such as Veterans for Peace and assists children at orphanages.

The former US soldier told Viet Nam News reporter Cong Thanh about his journey back to central Viet Nam and his ambition to live happily ever after.

Four months after my 18th birthday, in May 1966, I landed at the airbase in a Nang. From there, we were transported by truck to Chu Lai, a military base in Quang Nam. I spent approximately one and a half months with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. I was then transferred north to ong Ha Town, where I joined the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines.

Around mid-July 1966 we went on the biggest military operation of that time. It was called Operation Hastings and lasted about three weeks. We were then ordered South, southwest of a Nang, to regroup and retrain.

Our battalion area was set up and remained there until sometime in November 1967. From a Nang we ran many operations out of there, including areas like Loc Son Mountain and Go Noi Island. The latter was a very scary place, and if anybody who was there ever tells you they werent scared, they are not telling you the truth.

My section and I were attached to Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines sent to an outpost on a hill known as Loc Son Mountain in mid-January of 1967.

On the morning of April 21, I watched a patrol go down the hill, walk across the rice paddies toward Binh Son and, as the patrol entered the tree line out of my sight, all hell broke loose.

From what I now understand, approximately two divisions of the North Viet Nam Army were in the process of trying to overrun us. The fierce fighting went on for two days, and I only remember parts of it. I remember one of my men with blood running down his forehead, another accidentally double fed a mortar tube.

I dont remember leaving the hilltop, but we had to leave by chopper. Its really something how the mind protects you and blocks things out that it doesnt want you to remember.

These were a few of the operations we were involved in: Operation Oregon, Operation Deckhouse, and more, some of which I dont remember the names of.

It was around November 1967 when we left a Nang and moved north to Con Tien in Quang Tri Province, where I stayed until mid-January 1968, approximately two weeks before the Tet Offensive broke out.

Post-war return

I returned to Viet Nam alone in 2019. I was looking for closure when I did so. During the war I was a marine, but really an 18-year-old kid, and you had to grow up fast.

I landed in HCM City. While back in the States, I had been corresponding with a Vietnamese woman for about four months, and then we met. She was beautiful, as all Vietnamese women are, she was intelligent, had a great personality and was fun to be around.

During the stay from March to October we dated and enjoyed Viet Nam by meeting new friends, both Vietnamese and foreigners, and taking trips, but then I had to go back to the US, planning on being there for maybe two months.

Unfortunately, the pandemic meant I did not return until almost two years later, in March 2022.

During those two years, we continued to correspond through texting and video calls. I fell in love with her. And upon returning to Viet Nam, I married her, but unfortunately it did not work out.

In September 2023, I decided I was going to move from HCM City. Its a beautiful city but its becoming too crowded and expensive, and there is definitely too much smog. I had in mind Nha Trang or a Nang.

After several occasions of travelling back-and-forth between the two locations, I decided I was going to move to Nha Trang. I lived there for three months. It is very beautiful, but for me was just a little too boring, and so it was time to try and see what a Nang was like. I moved to a Nang in December 2023.

I had been in contact with a Vietnamese woman who wanted me to meet her husband, so the first night here I met with them and two other couples, the husbands were American and the wives were Vietnamese.

We went out to dinner and had a great time, and that was just the beginning. I got an apartment, made new friends and learned the culture. Then I started corresponding with a lady who lived in o Son Town, in the northern city of Hai Phong.

In March 2024, after a period of corresponding, we decided I would go to Hai Phong and meet her and her family. We fell in love. A month later, we were married in o Son Town. We just celebrated our first anniversary last month.

One thing about friendship with Vietnamese, they are very loyal, dedicated people, and definitely true friends. Ive learned so much about the Vietnamese culture, especially their dedication to family.

Since moving to a Nang, I have tried to become more involved in helpful groups, such as Veterans for Peace and looking after children at orphanages. Being involved with them is a dream.

I think most foreigners who have lived here for any amount of time know that it is a safe place. So I think I have found a place that I can call home. I can enjoy life with my wife, and we want to continue to help the community, especially the children and the needy. VNS
Despite its small size, Be (Small) Island attracts tourists with its wild, tranquil natural beauty and clear blue waters reminiscent of the Maldives.

Small Island, also known as An Binh Island or Cu lao Bo Bai, is an island commune in Ly Son District of Quang Ngai Province. Located about three nautical miles from Big Island  the central hub of the island district  Small Island retains its peaceful, rustic charm, making it a compelling destination for visitors.

Covering an area of just 0.69 sq.km, the island is home to more than 100 households. Tourists can reach Small Island from Big Island via speedboat in approximately 15 minutes. While it offers fewer accommodation and dining options compared to Big Island, it maintains its wild, serene beauty.

The beaches surrounding the island are emerald green and crystal clear water, with long stretches of white sand. Visitors often affectionately compare the sea here to the Maldives.

Back Beach is the most renowned spot on the island. Although small, the beach boasts clear water, allowing visitors to see the sea floor. In addition to swimming, guests can enjoy scuba diving to explore coral reefs, kayaking and boating around the island.

Another popular destination is Dua (Coconut) Beach, known for its blue waters and rolling waves. The coastline features rocks formed from volcanic sediments millions of years ago.

In recent years, the islanders have embraced tourism by offering homestays and rustic motels, designed to harmonise with the natural landscape. The old walls of the island have been adorned with murals depicting nature and coastal life.

Life on Small Island is simple and rustic. The small houses face the sea, and residents primarily earn their living through fishing and cultivating vegetables, onions and garlic.

The ideal time to explore this island district is from April to August each year, when the weather is sunny, rain is minimal and the sea is calm. From September to December, the island enters its rainy season, characterised by heavy storms and rough seas, which can temporarily suspend boat services and tourism activities. From late December to April, Ly Son experiences its remarkable green moss season. VNS
Violinist-craftsman Nguyen Xuan Huy has long been respected as one of Viet Nams talented string musicians. But his name is now making waves for a completely different reason: he may be the first person in the world to create fully playable violins from porcelain. Huy shares with Viet Nam News reporter Le Huong about his creative journey.

Inner Sanctum: Why did you want to make a violin from porcelain?

Ive been making wooden violins for years, and Ive always loved the process - its delicate, complex, and deeply rewarding. But once I had made enough and understood the craft thoroughly, I began asking myself: Can I do more? Can I create something different - something that lasts longer, carries an artistic soul, and pushes boundaries?

I'm also an artist by nature. I love to paint and sculpt. So I thought: why not combine music and visual art? Thats how the idea of using porcelain came about. Its a challenging material, yes, but it also offers a sense of permanence and artistic freedom. I could engrave, paint, or decorate it however I liked. And so, I began this journey with no knowledge of ceramics - just an idea.

Inner Sanctum: How did you begin turning that idea into reality?

At first, I was starting from zero - how to work with clay, fire it, or glaze it. All I had was my background in violin-making and a strong desire to learn. I started visiting ceramics workshops, talking to experienced artisans, and trying to learn as much as I could.

But porcelain is extremely difficult to work with. A violin has complex curves and must be thin enough to produce sound, yet strong enough not to break. During firing, the material can warp, crack, or shrink. Ceramics experts call this fire transformation - you never really know how the shape will change inside the kiln.

I spent years experimenting, refining molds, and testing different clay formulas. The learning curve was steep. There were many failures. I began working on this in 2014, and it wasnt until 2017 that I created my first fully functional porcelain violin.

Inner Sanctum: What is the process of making a porcelain violin like?

It's a very long and delicate process. First, I make a wooden prototype, then I make a plaster mold from it. After that, I pour in liquid kaolin clay. Once it sets, I carefully remove the mold, dry it, and do a preliminary firing. Then comes the hand-carving, fine tuning, glazing, and the final firing.

But it doesnt end there. After completing the ceramic body, I still have to assemble the components - the fingerboard, pegs, bridge, and strings. All of these must be adjusted precisely so that the violin can produce music. Unlike wooden violins, which can be reshaped or repaired during the working process, porcelain is unforgiving. One crack or defect means starting from scratch.

Each porcelain violin takes months to complete. And even then, there's no guarantee it wont break during firing. Thats why, after more than a decade, Ive only successfully made six pieces.

Inner Sanctum: How does a porcelain violin sound compared to a wooden one?

Porcelain has a very distinct sound. Its bright, clear, and somewhat crystalline - different from the warm, deep resonance of wood. Some people, especially those familiar with ceramics, tap the violin and say it sounds like stone or even immature ceramic. But thats because inside the violin are all the usual acoustic structures: sound posts, bass bars, and other parts that are designed to absorb and control sound.

In fact, if a violin rings too much when you tap it, thats usually a bad sign - it means it wont resonate properly when played. A well-made violin tends to absorb sound when tapped and releases it when bowed. Thats the principle I follow with the porcelain ones as well.

So while the sound is different, its still rich and unique. Its not better or worse - its just another voice, another texture. And that, to me, is exciting.

Inner Sanctum: Do you think porcelain violins can be used in daily musical practice or performances?

Porcelain violins arent meant for everyday practice or concerts. Theyre not as practical as wooden violins when it comes to performance. Their strength lies in their artistic and collectible value. They are pieces of art - sculptures that also happen to produce sound.

What makes them special is that theyre playable artworks. You can decorate them with paintings and engravings. Thats something you cant really do with a wooden violin without affecting the sound quality.

Inner Sanctum: What has the reaction been like to your work so far?

The reaction has been really encouraging. In October 2024, I donated a porcelain violin to the Heritage Museum in Hue. It was part of a special set - a trio of art pieces, including two violins and one decorative sculpture. Before that, I gave a violin to the former Emperor of Japan. Its now displayed in the imperial palace.

These moments mean a lot to me. They tell me that what Im doing has cultural and artistic value beyond just music. In the future, I hope to see my violins displayed in major museums - perhaps in France, Russia, or other countries that deeply appreciate both classical music and fine arts.

Im also working on registering a world record, since as far as I know, no one else has made a playable porcelain violin before. It would be an honour to have that recognition for Viet Nam. VNS
Life unfolded Saturday morning at the Washington Avenue bridge. Walkers, runners, bikers, pets, parents and toddlers made themselves at home along the peaceful Brazos River, enjoying the start of Memorial Day weekend.

Early Friday evening, the mood at that spot downtown was different. Dozens attended ceremonies honoring the 83 people from Waco and McLennan County who lost their lives in Vietnam. The mostly older crowd, many dressed in attire reflecting their affiliation with veterans organizations, seemed to relish another opportunity to thank and remember those who died.

The Waco Vietnam Veterans Memorial served as the setting. Perhaps appropriately, directly across the river stands the memorial to Wacos own Doris Miller, a sailor honored with the Navy Cross for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Miller was killed in action two years later, in November 1943, when a Japanese torpedo sunk his ship, the USS Liscome Bay, in the Pacific Ocean. Only 272 of some 900 crew members survived the explosion.

Memorial Day is to honor veterans who did not come back, not all veterans, said Gary Urban, president of a local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter, who served as Fridays master of ceremonies. When someone says, Have a happy Memorial Day, Im not sure how to respond. But thats OK. They dont know.

Urban, 77, grew up in Kansas, served in the U.S. Force from 1967 to 1991 and served two tours of duty in Vietnam between 1969 and 1972. He said military service runs in his family. His father, Fredrick, was stationed in London with the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. One uncle was wounded during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; another served as a prison guard during the occupation of Japan following World War II; and yet another uncle served in Korea. Urbans son, Matthew, did a tour in Iraq.

I certainly hope so, Urban said, asked if the public still honors its veterans and appreciates their sacrifice. They certainly seemed to appreciate what our program was all about. It was unusual in that we had an agenda, but people kept coming up and asking if they could speak, which was fine.

Urban expressed disappointment an electrical cord serving the loudspeaker system malfunctioned, creating audio challenges. He chuckled about a constant roar near the venue, saying, I think a motorcycle went in circles.

But we got her done, Urban said. Itll be better next year.

Speakers read aloud the names of locals who died in Vietnam. Some impromptu participants chose to honor personal acquaintances, sometimes mentioning the location and circumstances of their deaths and how long they had been deployed to Vietnam when they were killed.

Emotion overcame one speaker during his telling. He said so many friends lost their lives in Vietnam he could not name them all.

The memorial service included readings of the Prayer for Peace and Pledge of Allegiance, and presentation of the colors by Young Marines of Central Texas.

Youve earned the right

Longtime local veterans advocate Bill Mahon, confined to a wheelchair, played taps to conclude the ceremony. Several attendees shook his hand afterward and said they enjoyed the poem he read and his taps rendition.

Mahon, 74, served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1989. An explosion during action in Vietnam fractured his spine, Mahon having landed far away from where the tank blew up. Chronic pain afflicted him for years. Doctors told him in 2000 his spine was collapsing. He underwent six spinal fusions, and the last one left him paralyzed. About six years ago, he said, the pain became unbearable. Doctors granted his request to surgically remove his legs.

I wish I had had that done years earlier, said Mahon, who still has a few aches and pains but nothing close to his previous discomfort.

Born and raised in Elizabeth, N.J., Mahon said he dropped out of high school to join the Army. He said he was stationed near the Laos/Vietnam border when his senior class was graduating back home in New Jersey.

They were walking the stage, and I was walking the hills, said Mahon, who added he pursued and received his GED diploma while still in Vietnam.

Mahon said he lies awake at night thinking about Vietnam, the whole mess, and sometimes jots down his ruminations  thus his nickname, The Scribbler.

Mahon said more Vietnam veterans live in Waco and Central Texas than some may believe. But many are not open about their war experiences.

Sometimes I wonder if Im too old to be wearing everything I wear, this cap, for example, that says Im a Vietnam vet, said Mahon, stopping to chat following Fridays ceremony in his wheelchair near Wacos Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which was designed in 1988 and dedicated in 2004.

I posed that question online, and the response was overwhelming, he said. I was told, Youve earned the right to wear anything you want, so do it.

Monday service

Memorial Day services will continue at 9 a.m. Monday, when the Doris Miller Veterans Affairs Medical Center will host retired Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony McAdoo, U.S. Army. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

In case of bad weather, activities will move to Stracke Auditorium, Building 6 on the medical center grounds located at Memorial Drive and New Road.
Wales accused of piggybacking on Westminster renters rights bill

Senedd members denounced the ill-judged, regrettable and unacceptable decision to piggyback on the UK renters rights bill but held their noses to vote for it nonetheless.

Mike Hedges, in his role as chair of the legislation committee, expressed concerns about the Senedd consenting to the UK Government making law in a devolved area.

He said the Welsh Government provided no clear rationale for piggybacking on a UK bill, adding that a bill tailored to Wales needs could have already become law by autumn 2024.

This would have meant that the benefits of the legislation could have been felt sooner by citizens in Wales, said the Labour Senedd member.

Moreover, the provisions could have been consulted on by Senedd committees and subject to more debate and scrutiny, with a view to producing better outcomes.

Fait accompli

The renters rights bill, described as the most significant change to the private rented sector in decades, amends two Senedd Acts  with little input from elected members in Cardiff Bay.

Mr Hedges warned: The Senedd is in effect being provided with a fait accompli: vote in favour or risk losing important legislation on housing.

This is even though the bills provisions for Wales have not been the subject of rigorous policy development, detailed scrutiny by members of the Senedd with knowledge of Welsh housing issues nor consultation with stakeholders.

During a debate on a legislative consent motion on May 20, Mr Hedges criticised the lack of a formal Welsh Government consultation on a bill that creates new criminal offences.

He added: In the committees view, the decision to pursue provisions for Wales in the UK Governments bill on grounds of expediency was a miscalculation and ill-judged.

Sacrifices

The former Swansea council chief pointed out that using a UK bill meant Welsh ministers could avoid the need to prepare relevant impact assessments.

Expressing the committees scepticism of claims the bill would have no financial implications, he said using UK bills has become a matter of convenience for the Welsh Government.

Mr Hedges concluded: The approach, which excludes the Senedd as a legislature and stakeholders in Wales, represents a regrettable and unwelcome approach to devolution.

Wales housing minister Jayne Bryant responded: Practically, we could not deliver within the timeframe of this bill without making sacrifices elsewhere.

We could have looked to deliver a discrete bill but it would have been delivered further down the line and Im not prepared to make tenants in Wales who are being discriminated against wait and nor did I want to jeopardise other important legislation.

Unacceptable

Ms Bryant, who was appointed in July 2024, stressed the need to balance Senedd scrutiny against the need to deliver positive changes for Wales, which I believe this bill offers.

She pointed out that there was nothing to stop people or organisations in Wales responding to the UK Governments consultation.

Her Labour colleague Alun Davies intervened: This is essentially an argument to go back to the pre-2011, 1999 settlement, that theres no need for Welsh consultation.

The Blaenau Gwent Senedd member said: That is unacceptable, minister, Im afraid. Its absolutely unacceptable to speak to our parliament in that way.

Members here have the absolute right to scrutinise legislation. Its why we are elected here. Its why the Welsh Government fought for and achieved a referendum on full primary powers and we should be afforded the opportunity to exercise those.

But he said he would vote along party lines, prompting roars of laughter around the chamber.

Pet peeve

Fellow Labour backbencher John Griffiths was disappointed a new right in the bill for tenants to request permission to keep pets would not extend to Wales.

Landlords in England would not be able to unreasonably withhold consent. We would like to see Welsh tenants afforded the same rights, said Mr Griffiths, the housing committee chair.

Laura Anne Jones, the Conservatives shadow housing secretary, opposed the bill due to concerns surrounding a potential ban on so-called no-fault evictions.

She said: Scotland abolished no-fault evictions in 2017 and theres been increasing hostility resulting in 22,000 rental properties being taken off the market last year.

Senedd members backed legislative consent for the bill, 37-14, with the Tories and Rhys ab Owen  who sits as an independent  voting against.

By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter
With scammers getting sneakier than ever, shredding documents with sensitive information can help keep your identity secure.

With this in mind, the Truckee Police are partnering with Keep Truckee Green to host the town's annual Community Shred Event on Saturday, June 7th.

Neighbors can bring their shreddables to the Truckee Town Hall parking lot, located at 10183 Truckee Airport Road, between 10:00 a.m. and noon.

The event is free, but shredding is limited to 100 pounds per household.

Accepted types of shreddable documents include:

Paper

Colored Paper

File folders

Transparencies

Window envelopes

To note for anyone planning to participate: Staples and paperclips do not need to be removed from the documents you wish to shred.

For more information, visit Keep Truckee Green on Facebook.
The Sparks Fire Department is asking the public to stay away from the area of Schist Road in Sparks as they investigate a fire.

Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District is working with SFD on the fire, located on the 7000 block of Schist Drive, near the Andelin Family Farm in Sparks.

According to a release from SFD, approximately eight fire units were on scene.

No injuries have been reported as a result of the fire, and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

This is a developing story - we will provide updates as we receive them.
More than 30 people have now been identified in the recent Reno High vandalism case.

The WCSD says there are two separate but parallel investigations: a criminal investigation by the WCSD School Police Department and an administrative investigation by WCSD. These investigations are extensive and ongoing.

The investigations have identified 30+ people connected to the incident. The WCSD says not all of the people are students at Reno High School.

The WCSD says as a result of the administrative investigation, disciplinary actions continue to be taken based on each person's level of involvement. Consequences range from suspension from classes for the remainder of the school year to the loss of privileges, including but not limited to the ability to participate in graduation ceremonies. Due to federal privacy laws, the WCSD is not able to share specific numbers or identities of students who have been disciplined.

Prior to the incident, the WCSD says hundreds of students were on campus for scheduled senior activities. Most people left when the planned activities concluded; however, a large group later returned, causing the damage.

Officers are interviewing witnesses and people involved, reviewing footage from more than 40 surveillance cameras, looking at social media to identify potential witnesses, reviewing cell phone videos, following up on anonymous tips, and analyzing other evidence.

MAY 29, 6:20 P.M. UPDATE:

An investigation into vandalism at Reno High School has resulted in the identification and disciplining of multiple individuals involved in the acts.

In a message to families, Reno High School Principal Mike Nakashima said those students and their families have been notified of disciplinary action, including suspension for the remainder of the school year and a loss of privileges, including the ability to participate in graduation ceremonies.

Federal privacy laws prevent the school from revealing the exact number of people who have been disciplined.

The actions taken by the school are different from the criminal investigation being conducted by School Police, which is ongoing, the principal said.

He also said that people with information that may be helpful can share it via SafeVoice.

---

MAY 29, 10:40 A.M. UPDATE:

The Washoe County School District has created a webpage to update the community about the ongoing investigation into Reno High's vandalism.

Superintendent Joe Ernst says, "WCSD School Police are conducting a comprehensive review of all available evidence. The investigation requires careful examination of multiple witnesses, suspects, and extensive video surveillance, which takes time."

Although Reno City councilman Devon Reese previously estimated damage at $100,000+, Ernst says a full assessment and "cost of repairs is still being completed. Any dollar amount that may exist publicly is premature at this time."

Once the investigation is complete, those involved could either be disciplined by school officials, or criminally cited or charged, dependent on a review by the Washoe County District Attorney's Office. From there, criminal punishment will be decided by the suspect(s) age. If they are under 18, those involved will be handled by the juvenile justice system - and if they are over 18, they will go through the adult criminal system, which could mean public trials and possible imprisonment.

Ernst says the WCSD has received many anonymous tips they continue to follow up on and offer options for people to offer information -

Reach out to School Police via phone, email, or in person to provide information (775-348-0285).

Call the SafeVoice hotline at 1-833-216-SAFE (7233) to speak with trained professionals available 24/7.

You can read more below -

May 27, 2025:

Reno High School's principal says that counseling and support is now available for students after last week's vandalism.

In a message sent to families, Principal Mike Nakashima added that the investigation remains ongoing - after Reno City councilman Devon Reese said that vandals caused $100,000 in damage at the high school last week.

"I have full faith and confidence in the investigation being conducted by our Washoe County School District School Police, and those who perpetrated these acts against our school will be held accountable..."

He ended his message reminding families of the school's 'core values': respect, honor and strength.

"Let us move forward together with clarity, accountability, and compassion. We will take steps to ensure our school remains a place of learning, not of hate. And to those who feel hurt or targetedwe see you, we support you, and we will stand with you. ...This is our RHS community. Let us honor it with our actions."

If you have any information that can help authorities, call or text your anonymous tip to Secret Witness at 775-322-4900.

You can read Principal Nakashima's full message below -

May 26. 2025:

A Reno City councilman says he's calling for a full investigation after vandals caused $100,000+ in damage at Reno High School last week.

On Facebook, Devon Reese (Ward 5) says, "This is not who we are as a city, and it will not be tolerated. I am calling for a full investigation and will support any measures necessary to hold those responsible accountable. Our schools must be places of learning and inclusionnot fear and hate."

Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve agreed in her own statement saying that the vandalism involving racial slurs and extreme property damage is absolutely unacceptable and has no place in our city. I want to make it clear: this behavior does not reflect the values of our community.

She went on to say that Reno Police is providing resources to the Washoe County School District Police.

We will not tolerate acts of hate in our city, and we will send a clear and united message that Reno stands against racism and discrimination in all forms.

If you have any information that can help authorities, call or text your anonymous tip to Secret Witness at 775-322-4900.

May 24, 2025:

The Washoe County School District has released a statement regarding the recent vandalism and damage at Reno High School.

In the release, Superintendent Joe Ernst and Board President Beth Smith say they are "deeply disturbed and disheartened by the recent vandalism."

You can find the full text of the statement below:

"The Washoe County School District unequivocally condemns hate speech in all forms within our schools. Our educational institutions must be places where every student, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or background, feels safe, valued, and respected. Hate speech undermines the very principles of inclusion, respect, and equality that are central to the mission of our schools and our guiding principles.

We are deeply disturbed and disheartened by the recent vandalism at Reno High School. Such actions are criminal and are an attack on the values of respect, honor, and strength for which Reno High School stands.

The Washoe County School District School Police is continuing its thorough investigation. The safety and well-being of our students, staff, and families remain our top priority. The district has and will continue to provide support, resources and counseling services to those impacted by these acts."

The district is asking anyone who may have information about the break-in or vandalism to contact Washoe County School District Police through Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900.

Original Story (5/23/2025, 11:54 a.m.):

Reno High School officials canceled the senior assembly scheduled for Friday following an overnight break-in and acts of vandalism on campus.

The Washoe County School District notified parents and guardians about the incident in a Connect Ed call, stating that the break-in is under investigation and the school is working with local authorities to identify those responsible.

While the damage is being assessed and cleaned up, certain areas of the school will remain closed, the school stated.

Classes will continue as scheduled, and officials said they are taking necessary steps to restore full operations.

The safety and security of our students and staff remains our top priority, the message continued.

School administrators said they understand the significance of senior events and will provide updates on alternative plans for the assembly in the coming days.

The president of the Washoe School Board, Beth Smith, recently posted a statement to Facebook regarding the vandalism, saying:

"Hate symbolism and racial slurs have no place in our schools. The recent acts of vandalism and destruction at Reno High School are unacceptable and deeply hurtful. I stand united with our community against racism and antisemitism. Parents, please use this as an opportunity to talk openly with your kids so they understand the impact of hate and our shared responsibility to fiercely denounce it in every form."

This is a developing story - we will update you with new information as it becomes available.
A person visits the spot of George Floyd's murder at George Floyd Square on the five-year anniversary of Floyd's death, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) AP

Police reform and civil rights activists joined thousands of ordinary people Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of George Floyds murder nationwide and to decry the Trump administration for setting their efforts back decades.

In Alabama, Birmingham activists planned an event at Kelly Ingram Park to commemorate Floyd and other people killed by law enforcement.

Bring a photo of anyone you know who has lost their life to police violence, a flyer for the event instructed.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said at a Houston graveside service that Floyd represented all of those who are defenseless against people who thought they could put their knee on our neck.

He compared Floyds killing to that of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black child who was abducted and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman.

What Emmett Till was in his time, George Floyd has been for this time in history, Sharpton said.

In a park about 2 miles away from the gravesite, a memorial service was set to take place, followed by five hours of music, preaching and poetry readings and a balloon release.

Events started Friday in Minneapolis with concerts, a street festival and a self-care fair, and culminate with a worship service, gospel music concert and candlelight vigil on Sunday.

Five years ago, thousands of people gathered across Alabama in events that were largely peaceful, but also sparked some property damage, arrests and attacks on media members.

"George Floyd should be alive. Five years later, his name is still a mirrorforcing America to confront its reflection," Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin posted on Facebook Sunday.

The 2025 remembrances come at a fraught moment for activists, who had hoped the worldwide protests that followed Floyds murder on May 25, 2020, would lead to permanent police reform across the U.S. and a continued focus on racial justice issues.

Events in Minneapolis center around George Floyd Square, the intersection where police Officer Derek Chauvin used his knee to pin Floyds neck to the pavement for 9 1/2 minutes, even as the 46-year-old Black mans cried I cant breathe. Even with Minneapolis officials promises to remake the police department, some activists contend the progress has come at a glacial pace.

We understand that change takes time, Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said in a statement last week. However, the progress being claimed by the city is not being felt in the streets.

The Trump administration moved Wednesday to cancel settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville that called for an overhaul of their police departments following the Floyds murder and the killing of Breonna Taylor. Under Democratic President Joe Biden, the U.S. Justice Department had aggressively pushed for aggressive oversight of local police it had accused of widespread abuses.

Trump has also declared an end to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government and his administration is using federal funds as leverage to force local governments, universities and public school districts to do the same.

Republican-led states, including Alabama, also have accelerated their efforts to stamp out DEI initiatives.
A copy of a portion of the records request of a police incident report on the Dec. 25, 2023, swatting incident at U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville's home in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla. records from the Walton County Sheriff's Department in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.

Want to find out how much money your mayor makes? How about a copy of that building permit for the large structure going up around the corner?

Cities, counties, and states must provide that information under open records laws - whether its a journalist or just a curious citizen asking.

But whether you get the information immediately, weeks or months later, or not at all, many times depends on where you live.

When a reporter called the Walton County Sheriffs Department in Florida last month for records about a swatting incident at U.S. Sen. Tommy Tubervilles beach house, there was no red tape.

A quick phone call, a follow-up email, and the documents were in hand.

In neighboring Alabama, its a different story.

AL.coms request to the University of Alabama for the name of the group leasing Coleman Coliseum for President Donald Trumps rally sat unanswered for two weeks. The eventual response that arrived on May 6, five days after the event in the form of a one-line response: There are no public documents responsive to your open records.

The sharp contrast between these neighboring states reveals a deeper divide in public records transparency, a divide that leaves Alabama at the bottom of most rankings. It also represents a long-standing clash between one states open government ethos and Alabamas entrenched culture of secrecy.

Florida and Alabama are famous for their differences, said Tom Arenberg, journalism instructor at the University of Alabama. Despite being neighbors, Florida government agencies are among the most responsive in the nation while Alabamas are among the least.

There may be hope for improvement in Alabamas transparency laws. One year after response times were codified into state law, state lawmakers could revisit the issue next spring.

One consideration could include whether response times should be tightened even further and if state law on open records should apply to quasi-governmental agencies like industrial development boards.

I think we can do better, said Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, who sponsored SB270 passed into law last spring that was praised by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey as the most significant amendment to Alabamas public records law in over 50 years.

I find it extremely disturbing that Alabama ranks so poorly, Orr said. We rank so poorly when compared to other states which tells me we could certainly do a lot better. Its extremely important that citizens have access to government records and documents that certainly affect them and their lives.

Concerning data

If recent research is any indication, there is plenty of room for improvement.

Alabama, according to available analysis on open records compliance, ranks dead last.

According to the non-profit MuckRock, Alabamas compliance rate  the average number of days it takes for an agency to fulfill an open records request  is 187 days. Only the District of Columbia, where records requests also often include federal agencies, has a longer average wait period.

The data is disappointing but not surprising, said Evans Bailey, an attorney with the Alabama Press Association. Our open records law is pretty outdated even with the current updates. It doesnt have the features you see in other states encouraging compliance.

MuckRock, which provides the public assistance in filing government requests through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), dives even deeper into its state-by-state analysis to reveal some poor performances:

Some state agencies have a poor response record. Alabama Department of Corrections has a 3.23% success rate, according to MuckRock, and it assesses a fee on requesters more than 50% of the time.

City police agencies have poor success rates. The average response time for a Birmingham police record is over 200 days, with a success rate at 1.7%. In Mobile, the police take an average of 312 days to respond to a request for a success rate of 2.44%.

Some state agencies do a better job of responding. The Alabama Department of Public Health, on average, takes 30 days to respond and has a success rate of 17.2%. But similar departments in states like Idaho and Nebraska  both Republican-dominated states which are at the top of the compliance rankings  have a higher success rate.

The University of Alabama averages 59 days for a request, at a success rate of 19.2%. Universities in states that rank much higher than Alabama in compliance include the University of Nebraska at 33%, Indiana University at 38.5%, and the University of Florida at 50%.

Examining the law

David Cuillier, director of Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida and whose data research has long focused on open records compliance, said that Alabama has a long way to go to dig itself out from the bottom.

Cuillier compiled over 50,000 requests of all government levels utilizing MuckRocks data from 2010-2018 and found that Alabamas compliance rate was 10 percent  lowest in the nation.

Worse yet, he criticizes the 2024 law for making open records access more problematic than it ever has been.

While its great to have a governor who says they will support transparency, the updates didnt really move the needle for Alabama, Cuillier said.

The new Alabama law includes some key concerns that he cites:

*The deadlines for a substantive response either fulfilling or denying a records request under SB270 is 15 days. Cuillier said that kind of wait is extremely long compared to other states.

Research suggests states with such long deadlines end up with longer lag times compared to states that dont enshrine deadlines into law, Cuillier said.

He said the allowance in SB270 for agencies to extend the deadline in 15-day increment is one of the worst provisions in the country.

Of the 39 states with a response time limit, 27 do not allow agencies an extension. Only seven states have a response time longer than the 15 days set in Alabama.

*The law also allows a public employee to require a requester to pay a reasonable fee for any public record.

Cuillier said that can lead to abuse. The state should not charge any copy fees, or at least only for the actual cost of materials, such as paper and toner, he said.

*Alabama is one of nine states that require individuals requesting public records to be state residents.

Cuillier calls it a terrible practice that only a handful of states continue to employ.

*Agencies are still responsible for determining the validity of a request, and can ignore those that are vague, ambiguous, overly broad and unreasonable in scope.

That is extremely broad and will be abused extensively, Cuillier said. Its up to the government to decide what is unreasonable? This is not the right way to deal with vexatious requests.

Legal fees

Cuillier found in 2019 that the overall strength of a states public records law did not correlate to actual compliance. However, he did link one legal provision to compliance in the form of mandatory attorney fee-shifting, where the government as the losing party in a public records lawsuit must pay the attorneys fees of the plaintiff.

If there were serious repercussions for non-compliance, then agencies are more likely to take the law seriously, he said.

Orr said he would be open to the provision.

I certainly wouldnt have a problem with it if the government entity is stonewalling and forcing someone wanting records to go to court, he said. Then the government should pay if they lose in court.

Bailey, with the Press Association, said he believes an attorney fee-shifting provision is a good idea but that it could be legally tricky.

The Alabama Constitution provides for state immunity from civil lawsuits, and the Alabama State Supreme Court has prevented attorneys fee from being awarded to plaintiffs in cases that have not involved the Open Meetings Act.

There may be a way to do it by statute, but you have to do it the right way, if that is the route the Legislature decides to take, Bailey said.

Cultural issue

State Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, on the floor of the Alabama Senate during the final day of the spring 2025 legislative session on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at the Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala. John Sharp

Cuillier said that a states political culture, and not necessarily partisan makeup, determines the strength of open records compliance and transparency in government.

States that rank atop compliance ratings include those that have had longer Republican trifectas than Alabama. A trifecta is a term in which one political party holds majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and the governors office.

Idaho is the No. 1 state for compliance tied with Washington and has had a GOP trifecta in place for 31 years. Alabamas GOP trifecta has existed for 15 years.

The poorest transparency appears to be regional and focused on the South. Along with Alabama, states ranking in the bottom for open records compliance include Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Georgia.

Florida has also been dropping in the rankings which Cuillier wrote about in a piece published for The Conversation in March.

He attributed the drop to the decline of newspapers, fewer reporters pushing for public records, and fewer editors advocating for transparency.

More than 1,100 exemptions have been passed to Floridas Sunshine Law, copy fees have increased, and compliance rates have dropped in recent years.

The issue, Cuillier argues, is nationwide as secrecy creep spreads through the country and as compliance rates have plummeted in America from about 50 percent a decade ago to about one-third.

The stakes are high, he argued, from the ramifications on democracy to the the societal costs of inefficient government.

Bailey said that the public sometimes has a hard time conceptualizing the benefits of open records beyond a desire from the media.

It may not benefit them personally, but it may benefit society in the form of a smooth and ethical way of running things as a whole, Bailey said.

Orr said hes committed to making additional changes, encouraging compliance and dislodging Alabama from the bottom of the rankings.

He said he is concerned with mischief in the process, where individuals make unreasonable record requests that just create problems for government entities and can become problematic for local governments if a large number of requests are made.

Beyond that, he said, we want something that is reasonable but tight and increases the accountability in government. Im committed to continuing the process.
The family of a victim of a deadly boat crash during a bass fishing tournament has filed a wrongful death suit against Major League Fishing and the pilot of the boat.

In April, three people died when a boat collided with another vessel on Smith Lake in Cullman County, during an event that was part of the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals tournament series.

In a complaint filed Friday in Cullman County, the family of one of the men killed said that Major League Fishing was negligent and should not have allowed high-speed boats to operate in foggy, crowded conditions.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Association said at the time that a Nitro bass boat had hit a center console boat, and that three people aboard the latter were pronounced dead on the scene: Joe M. Broom, 58, of Altoona; John K. Clark, 44, of Cullman; and Jeffrey C. Little, 62, or Mississippi.

Broom was a grandfather and served on the town council of Snead.

No one ever had a bad thing to say about him, Mayor Tim Kent told media after his death. He always put the Town of Snead and its people first. They are deeply saddened and shocked. He will be missed.

Brooms estate filed the lawsuit against Major League Fishing, LLC, the operator of the tournament; Flint Davis, a Georgia man who was operating the Nitro bass boat; and Gary Holcombe, who the complaint said was the owner-operator of the center console boat.

Broadly, the suit alleges that Major League Fishing failed to exercise reasonable care as the tours second day opened: By organizing and incentivizing high-speed boat operation in foggy, congested conditions on a public waterway shared with recreational and guided fishing vessels, MLF created a foreseeable risk of serious injury or death, it alleges. In the early morning hours of April 16, 2025, dense fog, mist or clouds covered parts of Lewis Smith Lake. MLF nonetheless commenced the days launch without delay, limitations, speed limits or public safety warnings.

The suit alleges that at the start of the day, Tournament anglers launched at the scheduled start time, with many, including Davis, traveling at excessive and unsafe speeds. It claims that Davis and Holcombe didnt take enough care while they were in high-traffic areas with low visibility.

Holcombe, Flint and at least one other person were treated at hospitals for injuries suffered in the crash.

As of Sunday, court records indicated that Major League Fishing, Davis and Holcombe had not yet filed responses in court.

After the crash, Major League Fishing Executive Vice President and General Manager Kathy Fennel said the incident was a heartbreaking moment for our entire organization and that our deepest condolences go out to the families and friends of those affected by this tragedy.

The organization also canceled the remainder of the tournament.

The suit seeks rulings on a range of counts including negligence and wrongful death.

Rules for the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include a clause that prohibits boat operation in an unsafe or unsportsmanlike manner. The rules also require that safe boating must be observed at all times, and say that the tournament director is empowered to shorten, postpone of cancel events due to unsafe weather or water conditions.

Tournament rules also specify that participating boats must carry insurance, as well as a camera providing a view of the boats front deck that tournament officials can monitor throughout the day.

Whether the camera aboard Davis boat was recovered and whether it can provide footage of the crash has not been revealed.
Nearly 300 people attended a rally in Birmingham on March 7, 2025, to protest federal pauses to NIH and other research funding. Rebecca Griesbach | AL.com

As the Trump administration cut billions of dollars in federal funding to scientific research, thousands of scientists in the U.S. lost their jobs or grants  and governments and universities around the world spotted an opportunity.

The Canada Leads program, launched in April, hopes to foster the next generation of innovators by bringing early-career biomedical researchers north of the border.

Australias Global Talent Attraction Program, announced in April, promises competitive salaries and relocation packages.

Since World War II, the U.S. has invested huge amounts of money in scientific research conducted at independent universities and federal agencies. That funding helped the U.S. to become the worlds leading scientific power  and has led to the invention of cell phones and the internet as well as new ways to treat cancer, heart disease and strokes, noted Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of the journal Science.

But today that system is being shaken.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has pointed to what it calls waste and inefficiency in federal science spending and made major cuts to staff levels and grant funding at the National Science Foundation,the National Institutes of Health, NASA and other agencies, as well as slashing research dollars that flow to some private universities.

Alabama universities have lost at least $35 million in federal grant funding. Other faculty and researchers are dealing with paused grants and canceled collaborations.

The White House budget proposal for next year calls to cut the NIH budget by roughly 40% and the National Science Foundations by 55%.

The Trump administration is spending its first few months reviewing the previous administrations projects, identifying waste, and realigning our research spending to match the American peoples priorities and continue our innovative dominance, said White House spokesperson Kush Desai.

Already, several universities have announced hiring freezes, laid off staff or stopped admitting new graduate students. On Thursday, the Trump administration revoked Harvard Universitys ability to enroll international students, though a judge put that on hold.

Research institutions abroad are watching with concern for collaborations that depend on colleagues in the U.S.  but they also see opportunities to potentially poach talent.

There are threats to science ... south of the border, said Brad Wouters, of University Health Network, Canadas leading hospital and medical research center, which launched the Canada Leads recruitment drive. Theres a whole pool of talent, a whole cohort that is being affected by this moment.

Promising a safe place to do science

Universities worldwide are always trying to recruit from one another, just as tech companies and businesses in other fields do. Whats unusual about the current moment is that many global recruiters are targeting researchers by promising something that seems newly threatened: academic freedom.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this month that the European Union intends to enshrine freedom of scientific research into law. She spoke at the launch of the blocs Choose Europe for Science  which was in the works before the Trump administration cuts but has sought to capitalize on the moment.

Eric Berton, president of Aix-Marseille University, expressed a similar sentiment after launching the institutions Safe Place for Science program.

Our American research colleagues are not particularly interested by money, he said of applicants. What they want above all is to be able to continue their research and that their academic freedom be preserved.

Will the US see brain drain?

Its too early to say how many scientists will choose to leave the U.S. It will take months for universities to review applications and dole out funding, and longer for researchers to uproot their lives.

Plus, the American lead in funding research and development is enormous  and even significant cuts may leave crucial programs standing. The U.S. has been the worlds leading funder of R&D  including government, university and private investment  for decades. In 2023, the country funded 29% of the worlds R&D, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

But some institutions abroad are reporting significant early interest from researchers in the U.S. Nearly half of the applications to Safe Place for Science  139 out of 300 total  came from U.S.-based scientists, including AI researchers and astrophysicists.

U.S.-based applicants in this years recruitment round for Frances Institute of Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology roughly doubled over last year.

At the Max Planck Society in Germany, the Lise Meitner Excellence Program  aimed at young female researchers  drew triple the number of applications from U.S.-based scientists this year as last year.

Recruiters who work with companies and nonprofits say they see a similar trend.

Natalie Derry, a U.K.-based managing partner of the Global Emerging Sciences Practice at recruiter WittKieffer, said her team has seen a 25% to 35% increase in applicants from the U.S. cold-calling about open positions. When they reach out to scientists currently based in the U.S., we are getting a much higher hit rate of people showing interest.

Still, there are practical hurdles to overcome for would-be continent-hoppers, she said. That can include language hurdles, arranging childcare or eldercare, and significant differences in national pension or retirement programs.

Community ties

Brandon Coventry never thought he would consider a scientific career outside the United States. But federal funding cuts and questions over whether new grants will materialize have left him unsure. While reluctant to leave his family and friends, hes applied to faculty positions in Canada and France.

Ive never wanted to necessarily leave the United States, but this is a serious contender for me, said Coventry, who is a postdoctoral fellow studying neural implants at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

But its not easy to pick up and move a scientific career  let alone a life.

Marianna Zhang was studying how children develop race and gender stereotypes as a postdoctoral fellow at New York University when her National Science Foundation grant was canceled. She said it felt like America as a country was no longer interested in studying questions like mine.

Still, she wasnt sure of her next move. Its no easy solution, just fleeing and escaping to another country, she said.

The recruitment programs range in ambition, from those trying to attract a dozen researchers to a single university to the continent-wide Choose Europe initiative.

But its unclear if the total amount of funding and new positions offered could match whats being shed in the U.S.

A global vacuum

Even as universities and institutes think about recruiting talent from the U.S., theres more apprehension than glee at the funding cuts.

Science is a global endeavor, said Patrick Cramer, head of the Max Planck Society, noting that datasets and discoveries are often shared among international collaborators.

One aim of recruitment drives is to to help prevent the loss of talent to the global scientific community, he said.

Researchers worldwide will suffer if collaborations are shut down and databases taken offline, scientists say.

The U.S. was always an example, in both science and education, said Patrick Schultz, president of Frances Institute of Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology. So the cuts and policies were very frightening also for us because it was an example for the whole world.

___

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.
The U.S. social safety net would be jolted if the budget bill backed by President Donald Trump and passed Thursday by the House of Representatives becomes law.

It would impose work requirements for low-income adults to receive Medicaid health insurance. It would add more rules to access food assistance.

Supporters of the bill say the moves will save money, root out waste and encourage personal responsibility.

Alabamas congressional delegation voted along party lines Thursday, with Republican Reps. Robert Aderholt, Jerry Carl, Barry Moore, Dale Strong and Gary Palmer voting to pass and Reps. Shomari Figures and Terri Sewell voting to oppose.

A preliminary estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by 8.6 million over a decade.

The measure, which also includes tax cuts, passed the House by one vote and could have provisions reworked again as it heads to the Senate.

Heres a look at the potential impact.

Medicaid work requirements

Most people would need to work, and pass through a series of checkpoints, in order to get Medicaid health insurance.

Starting next year, many able-bodied Medicaid enrollees under 65 would be required to show that they work, volunteer or go to school in exchange for the health insurance coverage.

Some people who receive Medicaid were worried Thursday that they could see their coverage end, even if it is not immediately clear whether they might be covered by an exception.

Raquel Vasquez, a former cook who is battling two types of cancer and has diabetes, said she believes she could be affected because she has not been able to qualify for Social Security disability benefits. I cannot even afford this life now because of my disabilities, said the 41-year-old Bakersfield, California, resident. But my country wont even help me.

About 92% of people enrolled in Medicaid are already working, caregiving, attending school or disabled. That leaves about 8% of 71 million adult enrollees who would need to meet the new requirement. An estimated 5 million people are likely to lose coverage altogether, according to previous estimates of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office.

Only Arkansas has had a work requirement that kicks people off for noncompliance. More than 18,000 lost coverage after it kicked in 2018, and the program was later blocked by federal courts.

The people of Arkansas are generous and we want to help those who cannot help themselves, but we have no interest in helping those who are unwilling to help themselves, said Arkansas Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, a Republican. Im glad the federal government is starting to align with our thinking.

Increased eligibility checks and red tape related to work requirements may result in some people wrongly getting booted off, said Eduardo Conrado, the president of Ascension, a health care system that operates hospitals across 10 states.

That could spell trouble for rural hospitals, in particular, who will see their small pool of patients go from paying for their emergency care with Medicaid coverage to not paying anything at all. Hospitals could have to eat their costs.

Adding work requirements is not just a policy change, its a shift away from the purpose of the program, Conrado said of the rule.

That is also a concern for Sandy Heller, of Marion, Massachusetts.

Her 37-year-old son, Craig, has Down syndrome and other complicated medical needs.

She worries the changes would make it harder for hospitals in out-of-the-way places like hers to stay afloat and offer the services he could need.

If they dont, he would have to travel about 90 minutes for care.

It could mean life and death for my son if he needed that medical care, Heller said.

Stricter food assistance programs

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, already requires work for some of its roughly 42 million recipients.

Adults ages 18-54 who are physically and mentally able and dont have dependents must work, volunteer or participate in training programs for at least 80 hours a month, or else be limited to just three months of benefits in a three-year period.

The legislation passed by the House would raise the work requirement to age 65 and also extend it to parents without children younger than age 7. The bill also would limit the ability to waive work requirements in areas with high unemployment rates.

The combination of those changes could put 6 million adults at risk of losing SNAP benefits, according to the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Like work requirements for Medicaid, those for SNAP tend to cause a decrease in participation without increasing employment, according to an April report by the Brookings Institutions Hamilton Project.

Health care for undocumented immigrants

States that cover immigrants lacking legal status would lose federal funds

Under the bill, the federal government would punish states that use their own state dollars to provide Medicaid-covered services to immigrants lacking legal status or to provide subsidies to help them buy health insurance.

Some states that provide that sort of coverage extend it only to children.

Those states would see federal funding for the Medicaid expansion population  typically low-income adults  drop from 90% to 80%.

That could mean states pull back that Medicaid coverage to avoid the federal penalty, said Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown Universitys Center for Children and Families.

KFF said the provision could affect 14 states that cover children regardless of their immigration status.

This month the Democratic governor of one of them  Californias Gavin Newsom  announced a plan to freeze new enrollments of adults in state-funded health care for immigrants who do not have legal status as a budget-balancing measure.
Summer tanagers arrive in Alabama in the spring and spend the summer breeding in forests. The summer tanager is one of the "Beautiful Birds of Alabama," a series highlighting some of the state's most unique birds. (Photo by K.A. Turner | kturner@al.com) K.A. Turner

These bright red birds are back and ready to haunt the forests of Alabama for the summer.

Summer tanagers will hang around to breed until temperatures start to drop in the fall.

With vibrant colors that stand out against the green tree canopy, summer tanagers are the only completely red birds in all of North America, according to Cornell University.

Its just such a vibrant contrast between the red of the summer tanager and the green, said Greg Harber with Alabama Audubon, the local chapter of the national birder group.

Unlike many bird species, the female summer tanagers are almost as vibrant as the males. They are bright yellow, though slightly smaller than the males. Immature males are a splotchy red and yellow mix.

Their near relative, the scarlet tanager, can also be found in Alabama during the spring and summer. But scarlet tanagers have black wings and are a deeper red than summer tanagers.

In April, summer tanagers arrived back in Alabama and much of the southeast. Starting in October, the birds will begin migrating to Central and South America, where they will spend the winter.

You generally wont see summer tanagers in your backyard, except during their migration, Harber said. Youll have to go to a wooded area to try and see them.

Harber recommends Oak Mountain State Park near Birmingham, Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, or Guntersville State Park.

Summer tanagers like to hang out in the tops of trees, chasing insects for food. The birds specialize in catching bees and wasps without getting stung. After catching bees, the birds will rub them against the tree to remove the stinger before eating them, according to Cornell.

It may be difficult to see summer tanagers, since they move rather slowly. Most of the time, they stay hidden in the treetops. Still, in the summer, they have been spotted often in Alabama. Since 2024, there have been more than 1,300 sightings of the birds logged in eBird, an online website for bird enthusiasts.

It may be best to try and listen for the summer tanager, rather than wait to see it. If youre wondering if the bird youre hearing is a summer tanager, pay attention to the length of the song  theirs is a bit longer than a robins. After the song is over, youll hear the bird chirp its signature call, a pit-ti-tuck sound.

While the Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks song is like a robin that took opera lessons, Harber said, the summer tanagers song is like a robin with a sore throat.

When I teach classes on birds and bird songs, what I try to do is to get people familiar with the American robin, because we see them almost every day, Harber said. What I always try to do if Im kind of stewing over, Is that an American robin or is that a summer tanager? If you just listen a little bit longer, invariably the summer tanager is going to give you a pit-ti-tuck.

If youre looking to draw summer tanagers to your backyard, you may try planting a red or white mulberry tree, or another tree with lots of berries. Adding a water feature might help too, Harber said.
Education Above All Foundation and Tanmeyah Partner to Combat Youth Unemployment in Egypt

New programme to support 305000 youth in establishing and expanding small enterprises across key economic sectors.

Education Above All Foundations Silatech programme in collaboration with Tanmeyah a subsidiary of EFG Holding and a leading provider of innovative and integrated financial solutions for small business owners and entrepreneurs partnered to launch the Youth Self-Employment Initiative to tackle Egypts youth unemployment crisis. The 3.5-year initiative will economically empower 305000 young Egyptians by providing access to financing financial literacy training and business development support to establish and expand micro and small enterprises across key economic sectors.

Egypts labour market faces significant challenges with youth unemployment rates remaining high despite government efforts to create 800000 new jobs annually. Recognising the crucial role of the said enterprises in fostering economic growth comprising 98% of private businesses the Youth Self-Employment Initiative aims to bridge the existing financial gap by enhancing financial access and business sustainability for young entrepreneurs.

A key component of the initiative is the introduction of a Partial Loss Credit Guarantee Facility designed to reduce lending risks and expand financing opportunities to underbanked young entrepreneurs. As a result the number of active youth beneficiaries is projected to grow to 305000 by the projects completion.

To promote sustainability a specialised green financing product will support businesses in agriculture and renewable energy sectors. Additionally mobile branches will extend financial services to rural and remote areas fostering greater financial inclusion. The initiative will also provide financial literacy training through personalised education sessions and digital outreach equipping youth with essential financial management skills to improve business sustainability and success rates.

Hassan Al Mulla Executive Director of the Silatech programme at Education Above All Foundation emphasized the initiatives transformative potential saying At Silatech programme we believe that empowering youth is the cornerstone of prosperous societies. Through this initiative in Egypt we aim to foster an enabling economic environment that equips young people to overcome challenges and realize their ambitions by improving access to finance and entrepreneurial training. Our vision is to support a new generation of Egyptian entrepreneurs capable of driving economic growth and advancing sustainable development across their nation.

Jinu Johnson CEO and Managing Director of Tanmeyah commented At Tanmeyah we are committed to driving economic growth and fostering entrepreneurship among Egypt's youth. This initiative is a testament to our dedication to providing essential financial services and support to young entrepreneurs enabling them to build sustainable businesses and contribute to the nation's economic development. By leveraging our expertise and resources we aim to create lasting impact and empower the next generation of leaders.

Aligned with Egypts Vision 2030 the Youth Self-Employment Initiative supports national efforts to reduce youth unemployment and promote economic diversification. By integrating green finance solutions the initiative also contributes to Egypts climate action goals by encouraging environmentally responsible business practices.

Through this strategic partnership the EAA Foundations Silatech programme and Tanmeyah reaffirmed their commitment to creating long-term economic opportunities for Egypts youth empowering them with the skills and financial tools necessary to build sustainable livelihoods and drive the nations economic growth.
As I see it, there were three big stories this week: the medias pretense that it was ignorant of Bidens infirmities when it mattered; the cold-blooded assassination in D.C. of two young employees of the Israeli embassy, and the presidents refusal to join in the whitewashing of the genocide in South Africa. Examination of the details of these events reveals beyond the possibility of doubt that the mainstream press here and abroad is guided by anti-truth, antisemitic, anti-white, and anti-Western civilization animus. The press deserves a harsh reckoning: ignore them, drive down circulation and views, expose their lies and agenda.

Press: Like Sergeant Schultz, They Saw Nothing, Knew Nothing

The announcement this week that former President Biden has late-stage prostate cancer revived last weeks claim by Jake Tapper and others that they were unaware of Bidens obvious infirmities while he ran for president and served as the zombie head of the auto pen corps. Utter nonsense. We all saw it, and there are many videos of Tapper and other media figures telling us to ignore the evidence of our own eyes. In doing so, as I explain, they played into the hands of those like Congressman James Clyburn who wished to destroy us with leftist policies and personnel.

Dr. Randall Bock reveals the timeline of the scam to invest in the Oval Office a malleable blank slate.

In the lead-up to the 2020 South Carolina primary, James Clyburns endorsement of Joe Biden was a (necessary) masterstroke, rooted in Bidens malleability and desperation. Clyburn saw Biden as a blank slate -- his name recognition from the Obama years made him electable, yet his lackluster campaign and advanced age (77) rendered him pliable to party insiders demands. Conversely Biden in his last hurrah and with his tremendous and unjustified ego needed Clyburn. Clyburn leveraged Bidens need for Black voter support to push for progressive policies. Bidens age and perceived infirmity werent liabilities but assets, positioning him as an immediate, one-term lame-duck as well as empty vessel for a Trojan horse strategy: a Black VP -- ultimately Kamala Harris -- who could ascend to power if Bidens health or mental acuity faltered, ensuring a de facto Black leader while maintaining a familiar, moderate face for the actual ticket. post-South Carolina all the other candidates were paid off in material or promises and immediately dropped out. Super Tuesday was a dud. And this was not so much "deep state" as the perversely powerful strongest characteristic of the Democrats, coalescence for power over principal. timeline: February 26, 2020: Rep. James Clyburn endorses Joe Biden in South Carolina, three days before the states primary. He tells NBC he wants a running mate who can excite the base, hinting at a promised Black VP. February 29, 2020: Biden wins the South Carolina primary decisively via Black voters, credits Clyburns endorsement. March 13, 2020: Post-South Carolina momentum shifts to Biden. Everyone drops out, but Sanders, consolidating support around Biden.

The endgame was always to ease the incompetent and unlikeable Kamala Harris into the White House.

So it seems the deep state took a career politician with dementia & cancer, staged a riot to certify his mathematically improbable election, arrested anyone who contested it, sanctioned an invasion, weaponized the courts, silenced speech, and turned the US into sodom & Gomorrah.

Ignore the presss make-believe mea culpa:

The press has decided to spend a couple months on what I'd call "circular self-rehabilitation through self-criticism." It's a modified log-rolling technique with fake confession & interrogation elements which will end w/ a Declaration of Purification & a round of self-applause.

The South African Genocide and the Trump Ambush

Daniel Jupp has the best analysis of the press airbrushing the genocide against whites in South Africa. He makes hash of the claim that President Trump ambushed the president of South Africa with fake evidence of genocide when the latter sought a meeting to beg for funding, and the press claimed Trump was racist for granting refugee status to white South African farmers.

Its of a piece with the demonization of Israelis and Jews, which is unsurprising if youve been sentient. He lifts the veil of sanctity the press placed over Nelson Mandela, who refused to ever rule out terrorism, Murdering women and children, planting bombs, putting rubber tyres on people then setting them alight, was all OK if it was a black majority fighting a white minority. There were innocent and decent whites who were never acknowledged or credited by the press, just as murderous and racist blacks were never called to account. The ANC was unable to govern, crime increased, and politically connected black families suddenly became very, very wealthy. The incidence of rape of all South African women is hideously high.

Its not only possible but certain that racism and hate can flow in any direction from any source, and its equally certain that the positions of victim and oppressor are not fixed for eternity but shift by circumstance and change. South Africa today is not an example for the world. It has neither peace nor reconciliation. It has some of the most disgustingly casual attitudes to rape and extreme violence on the planet, and it is a living hell for the current white victims of racism there. But western mainstream media would prefer to cling to their simplistic, idiotic fantasy of post apartheid success, because the idea that only whites are ever evil is dear to them, and innocent suffering families who are white, are not. If someone shows you real footage of actual genocide and your reaction is President Trump disgustingly ambushes the South African President or if someone shows you a family with little kids fleeing murder and torture and property seizures, ready to join your nation and waving your nations flag, and your reaction is they arent real refugees because they are white, then you are the conspiracy theorist, you are the morally dead uncaring one, and you are the western media and the kind of thoughtless western citizen who believes the western media. And maybe South Africas racial politics wasnt quite as simple and clear cut as you thought it was.

The Press Lies Create a Permission Structure to Target Jews Everywhere

Sarah Milgram and Yaron Lischinsky were assassinated in cold blood outside the Jewish Museum in D.C. The admitted assassin, Elias Rodriguez, traveled with weapons from Chicago to D.C. with the intent to kill. That he was aided by others is not idle speculation on my part. He seems to have known when and where this event would take place and whom he wished to target. Reportedly, the FBI has searched his Chicago apartment and should be aware by now with whom he was in contact and their role, if any.

In media accounts, violent political acts are the hallmark of the Right. In fact, like BLM, Antifa, and the university rioters, Rodriguez was part of, coddled by, and supported by the Left.

Melanie Phillips accurately places the blame on Rodriguez, but others also have blood on their hands:

It was inevitable that the pre-pogrom climate created by the globalise the intifada mobs in the streets and on campus over the past 19 months would result in murder. On Wednesday night, this became a sickening reality when two young Israel embassy staffers in Washington, DC were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum by a man shouting, I did it for Gaza! This is what Free Palestine! looks like. The murderer pulled the trigger. But many others have the blood of these two innocents, reportedly soon to have become engaged, on their hands. The university principals who have allowed hate mobs on campus to incite the murder of Jews and destruction of Israel, week in, week out; the politicians who have allowed the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Iranian extremists to spread their influence throughout western civil society; the media and all those who relentlessly demonise Israel with blood libels and murderous lies, including the British, French and Canadian governments that this week threatened to punish Israel for defending itself -- these all bear responsibility for what happened in Washington. This week, another falsehood about Israels war in Gaza was added to the relentless incitement against the Jewish state. This one came from the UNs emergency co-ordinator, Tom Fletcher, who told the BBC that 14,000 babies will die in 48 hours from malnutrition. A moments thought would suggest that such a synchronised mass mortality event was simply incredible. The media, however, parroted it as valid. It duly spread like wildfire. Countless Israel-haters leapt upon it to validate their loathing. In a poisonous debate about Gaza in Britains House of Commons, members of parliament referred to it no fewer than 13 times. It soon turned out, however, that it was indeed nonsense. As the BBC later clarified, Fletcher had misrepresented a claim made on May 12 by the UNs IPC food classification system -- a claim that was itself highly questionable -- that an estimated 14,100 severe cases of acute malnutrition were expected to occur among Gazan children aged between 6 and 59 months from April 2025 to March 2026. So two days actually turned out to be one year, and 14,000 certain deaths turned out to be 14,000 possible cases of malnutrition. [snip] What we do know is that the United Nations and the entire global humanitarian establishment constitute a bubbling sewer of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish hatred. False claims of imminent famine and starvation in Gaza have been made on a regular basis since the very start of the war. Its an emotive blood libel that has incited murderous hysteria of the kind that led to the gunning down of the young couple on Wednesday night. The famine and starvation never materialised. Instead, video footage has regularly been shown on social media showing Gazas markets and shops groaning with food. [snip] Some of this hunger is indeed real. But its been caused not by a dearth of food entering Gaza but by Hamas stealing it for themselves or selling it on the black market at prices the Gazans cant afford. The global humanitarian establishment, however, speaks with one voice to tell the world that Israel is wantonly killing children and causing the Gazans to starve. People assume that the humanitarian establishment is inspired by the most pure and elevated motives of compassion and justice. So they believe absolutely every statement it makes about famine, starvation and the cruelty of Israel. On this issue, however, the humanitarian establishment is the voice of bigoted hatred. It subjects Israel to a campaign of demonisation and delegitimisation that it inflicts upon no other people, country or group anywhere else in the world. The United Nations is the worlds principal engine of these falsehoods and distortions. It routinely pumps out Hamas statistics that turn out to have no basis in reality; it both draws upon and feeds in turn the malevolent untruths issued by bodies such as the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the big NGOs like Amnesty and Human Rights Watch. The consequences of this behaviour go far beyond harming the State of Israel to put every Jew at risk and to trap the West inside a sinister mindset that undermines civilisation itself.

Institutions created to make sure atrocities like the Holocaust never happen again have been captured by leftists and Islamists to do everything to make it happen again. The indigenous people of Israel -- the Jews -- are targeted as colonizers, and the victims, the Israelis, are painted as the oppressors. In a brilliant essay Phillips shows how weve gone through a looking glass where for the Western liberal antisemitism has become a moral obligation. Read it all.

Bari Weiss also weighs in on how the venomous, untrue statements about Israel and its supporters have created a permission structure for violence against jews in America.

As if on cue, the leftists at Columbia University praise Rodriguez.
We left my last essay with a conundrum. What was my Irish Setter supposed to do when he caught the UPS truck? Or in political terms, What do the Democrats want to do with the power they are so ardently seeking to seize? Even so great a thinker as historian Victor Davis Hanson admits to being a bit puzzled by this.

After days of pondering, I found myself listening to that late great philosopher, Dame Olivia Newton-John, when she instructed us in song to get metaphysical. And this takes us straight into theories of meaning.

In his 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Jordan Peterson emphasizes that it is essential for the individual to pursue a single aim higher than oneself. Meaning emerges from aligning ones daily actions with a long-term vision that serves others or a greater good. And that is almost always service to God in some form or another. As Peterson notes (timestamp 9:00), If theres no unifying [single] super-ordinate goal, the state of psychological affairs that obtains is one of confusion, anxiety, and social disunity.

Note that the absence of higher service leads to personal chaos. Power itself is not service. It is a tool for service. Ultimately, this takes us to theology.

The oldest manuscript we have of Deuteronomy 32:8-9, the Dead Sea Scrolls, points out that the division of humanity into warring tribes at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) placed each of those tribes under the authority of individual rebellious elohim, celestial beings created by YHWH, the One True God.* Each of them chose to rebel in order to be, as described by Isaiah 14:13-14, like the Most High, on a throne above the Most High. In short, they gave up service to their exclusive higher purpose in exchange for a quarrelsome Me, Me, Me life.

This is the status of the modern left. Various constructions, such as the post-modern my truth, point out that the left has no Pole Star for service. At this point, please forgive me if I leave out your favorite example. There are simply too many. Every example has a single key element. The individual is supreme, and there are no exceptions. Any suggestion that the leftist must submit to any higher authority is met with violent opposition, or, in the face of irresistible enforcement, some form of psychological decompensation. We are all familiar with the leftist protester screaming at the sky.

YouTube screen grab.

This person has, for some reason, found her truth completely rejected by others or contradicted by reality. Lacking any sort of higher purpose, she is completely bereft of her security. Primal fear rules her life at this moment.

This set of circumstances clarifies the Democrats scramble for power. If you hold the keys to power, at whatever level, you are supreme. You cannot be challenged.

Consider the divine right of kings to rule. King James I of England was formerly James VI of Scotland and ascended to that throne after conspiring with Elizabeth I of England to have his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, beheaded. He later became King of England when Elizabeth died.

That paragraph is a precis of the left. James did not actually believe in the divine right, since he conspired in his mothers death. But once he became King of England, he was more than happy to execute William Tyndale for translating the Bible into English. He banned the Geneva Bible (translated into English by scholars in Geneva, then smuggled into England) because it had marginal notes that denied the divine right of kings to rule. When the clamor for an English Bible became too great, he gave in, but directed the translators to avoid those offensive marginal notes. The result was the first edition of the Authorized Version, also known as the King James Bible.

Note the nub of the argument. King James was willing to do whatever he needed to gain power, just like todays Democrats. Once in power, he did everything to ensure that he remained immune to any sort of accusations. So when he declined to pay the translators and sent the printing job to his buddy, no one dared challenge him. No one had the power to do so. The history of England is one of slow, incremental steps to reduce the kings power, while slowly growing the power of the non-royal elites. In the end, there is little difference who is in power.

In the US, examples jump out from every corner. Anthony Fauci, even though he constantly contradicted himself, was The Science, and could not be questioned. He was propped up by the media and the Democrat party power brokers. His immunity led to immense personal profit from his ownership interest in vaccine and medication patents (shared by his patrons). The fact that both were manifestly detrimental to others was irrelevant.

Moving to the lowest level of power, a child in school who claims to be trans-whatever has now acquired power and the immunity that accompanies it. He deadnamed me! You didnt use my proper pronouns! This person, who has not done anything worthy of such privilege, has arrogated it to himself. And if he hasnt earned it, hes associated himself with a movement that says he doesnt need to earn it. This makes him power-adjacent, and the affinity group creates immunity.

Of course, the ultimate level of privilege and immunity currently comes from claiming that ones opponents are white racists and suffer from white privilege. Anything that smacks of meritocracy must be demeaned into oblivion by such an approach.

There is no way to exhaust the examples. The attempt would only exhaust my Dear Readers. But the key elements of the Democrats power grabs are becoming clear. We need to allow ourselves to look beyond the various machinations to consider why they dont want us to look behind the curtain.

The Democrats insatiable appetite for power comes from a bottomless pit of meaninglessness. Only by gaining power over others can a leftist create the appearance of meaning for himself. But that meaning is a mirage, sustained only by a transient immunity conferred by the momentary possession of power. That void of meaning is manifested in a complete abdication of any service to the public.

When Donald Trump gives up his life, fortune, and sacred honor to improve the lot of Americans (MAGA!), it is an existential threat to the leftists who have built lives on raw power and the immunity that derives from it.

On the other hand, Christians and others on the right serve a true higher cause. They dont serve it perfectly, as that has only been done once. But they have true meaning in their lives because of that service. Leftists see that and work hard to destroy it because the light of true service shines into their darkness, revealing it for the emptiness it really is.

Ultimately, the faux power will fail. As YHWH says in Psalm 82:6-7 (quoted by Jesus in John 10:34), I said, You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High. Nevertheless, you will die like men, and fall like any one of the princes. (Psa 82:6-7 NAS).

Will we be able to reclaim some of those who have fallen into the pit of depravity, or are they so fully committed to the evil elohim that they simply cannot allow themselves to leave the dark side? My crystal ball is cloudy, so for now, we must spare no effort to right the ship of state and, in the words of Herman Cain, Save the saveable.

_____________________

*A more complete discussion of this is best found in Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches About the Unseen World - and Why It Matters by the late Dr. Michael S. Heiser. His more academic treatment of the subject is The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible.

Ted Noel is a retired physician who posts on social media as Doctor Ted. His occasional Doctor Teds Prescription podcast is available on multiple podcast channels.
Sometimes what is absent from a conversation is, or can be as important, as what is present. (See, e.g., Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes story, The Adventure of Silver Blaze.) The same is true for museums: Sometimes, whats not in a museum tells as powerful a story as what can be found in the museum.

To use a current example, in a 2020 interview, Jake Tapper told Lara Trump, I think you were mocking his (Bidens) stutter, and I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebodys cognitive decline. The interesting silent part, to me, is who gave Jake Tapper standing to diagnose the absence of cognitive decline? It is said that Tapper later apologized to Lara Trump. Who knows? We only have his word.

Seal from the Reign of Hezekiah, who ruled in the first half of the 7th century BCE, by Ruben Betanzo S. CC BY-SA 3.0.

The prompt for this essay was a Joseph Klein piece in Front Page Magazine. It could have been any one of scores of similar articles. I just decided to write this after reading that one.

Klein writes,

Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old pro-Hamas supporter from Chicago, allegedly shot to death two Israeli Embassy employees who were leaving a reception on May 21st at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.

We all know the drill. Evil Jews, Europeans all, came to the ancient homeland of the so-called Palestinians, like, yesterday and uprooted them from their ancient homeland, colonized it and have occupied it for a couple hundred years at most as filthy, white, colonizing, newcomer scum are wont to do.

Putting the murders aside for the moment, what is most interesting is the part about the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC.

What is that? What artifacts and exhibits are housed in the Capital Jewish Museum in DC?

Per AI (Chat GPT) which I continue to dislike:

The Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. explores the Jewish experience in the national capital region through historical artifacts, photographs, and interactive exhibits. Heres a look at some of its collections and exhibitions: Artifacts & Collections Washingtons Oldest Synagogue  The museum incorporates Adas Israel, the citys first purpose-built synagogue, originally dedicated in 1876. Historic Photographs & Documents  Over 24,000 digital and print photographs, 1,050 objects, and 800 linear feet of archival materials from the 1850s to the present. Jewish Business & Community Records  Personal papers, oral histories, and organizational records documenting Jewish life in D.C.. Matchbox from President Carters Hanukkah Event (1979)  A unique artifact from a White House Hanukkah celebration.

Current & Ongoing Exhibitions LGBTJews in the Federal City  A landmark exhibition exploring Jewish LGBTQ+ activism, culture, and legal milestones in D.C. (May 16, 2025  Jan 4, 2026). What is Jewish Washington?  A deep dive into Jewish life in D.C., featuring interactive maps, historic photographs, and artifacts. Connect. Reflect. Act.  An immersive exhibit encouraging visitors to engage with Jewish history and social justice themes.



Nothing before 1850?, I asked the AInterlocutor?

Great question! While the Capital Jewish Museum primarily focuses on Jewish life in Washington, D.C., starting in the mid-19th century, it does feature items reflecting earlier Jewish history in the region. However, compared to broader Jewish museums, its collection does not emphasize pre-1850 artifacts as much. If youre looking for older Jewish artifacts, you might want to explore:

The Jewish Museum (New York City)  Houses ancient manuscripts, religious objects, and medieval artifacts.

The Skirball Cultural Center (Los Angeles)  Features archaeological finds dating back to biblical times.

The National Museum of American Jewish History (Philadelphia)  Covers colonial-era Jewish history in America.

I basically stopped there, since the Skirball Cultural Center in LA featured finds dating back to biblical times. Biblical times date back to 4 millennia ago or more. Beats 1850.

So the next logical question is, What museums are there to the history of the Palestinians, where are they and what is in their collections? CHATTY CHATGPT, again (links from the original):

There are several museums dedicated to Palestinian history, culture, and heritage, each with unique collections showcasing art, artifacts, and historical narratives. Here are a few notable ones: 1. The Palestinian Museum  Birzeit, Palestine Focus: Palestinian history, art, and cultural heritage.

Collection Highlights: Thobes (traditional embroidered dresses) Historical documents and artifacts Contemporary Palestinian art

More Info: Visit the Palestinian Museum 2. Museum of the Palestinian People  Washington, D.C., USA Focus: Palestinian identity, history, and diaspora.

Collection Highlights: Objects spanning 200 years of Palestinian history Artifacts from Palestinian exile and refugee camps Textiles, embroidery, and cultural items

More Info: Learn about the Museum of the Palestinian People 3. Birzeit University Museum  Birzeit, Palestine Focus: Palestinian ethnography, textiles, and historical artifacts.

Collection Highlights: Tawfiq Canaan Palestinian Amulet Collection (1,380+ pieces) Textiles Collection (historic Palestinian embroidered clothing) Archaeological and cultural artifacts

More Info: Explore Birzeit University Museum

And what are the Historical Documents and Archives at Birzeit? Tell me AI:

Over 200 years of Palestinian life documented through photographs, letters, diaries, and publications.

The Palestinian Museum Digital Archive  A collection of endangered, dispersed, and inaccessible documents from 1800 to the present.

Primary documents related to Palestinian resistance, daily life, and cultural heritage As it turns out, the so-called Palestinians can muster but 200 years of history.

So this human detritus supporter of the so-called Palestinians killed two Jews to Free, Free Palestine, so the people who can only come up with 200 years of history in their less than a handful of museums can get land from the people who have been there for ~4 millennia.

The sad lesson of human excrement supporting the so-called Palestinians is learned from the murder of two much more worthwhile Jews.

An ongoing lesson is learned from what is not said aloud  there is no museum because there is no history to this contrivance of a faux nation/people.

Perhaps had the alleged murderer  and his historically-/mentally-/cognitively- impaired ilk  known this, two people would still be alive and he would have realized that Palestine (really, the ~23% that remained after 77% was taken from the Jews by the Brits) is free.

It is called Israel.
Were all familiar with the old philosophical question asking, If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? In other words, do things actually happen if we dont notice them? For infants, they dont, which is why peek-a-boo is such a fun game. If they dont see you, youre gone, making your visual return magical.

But does the same principle apply to world events? What if theres a massive pro-Hamas rally in Switzerland, followed by a violent attack on a synagogue and the U.S. Embassy, but no American media news outlet covers it? Did it happen? Does it matter?

If you go to the mainstream media, the only recent newsy Switzerland headline is that the State Department issued a warning about travel to Switzerland:

The United States Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs has issued a Level 1 Travel Advisory for the country of Switzerland. The agency did not provide any immediate cause on why the travel advisory was published on May 20, but it says to exercise normal precautions in Switzerland. There have been recent protests and demonstrations during the recent Eurovision Song Contest, according to a report from French news outlet France 24. However, it is not confirmed that these protests prompted the United States to publish the travel advisory.



The agency does; however, link to a detailed security report, which spotlights recent protests and a medium crime threat in the city of Geneva.

Recent protests? I dont see anything about protests in the MSM. Heres a screengrab taken at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday of the most recent stories at CNN about Switzerland:

And heres a 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday screengrab from NBC News:

Same goes for NPR at the same time:

And, of course, the same is true for ABC News (same time and date):

Disappointingly, FOX News seems to be no better, although it is not easy to tell because the search results are not in chronological order:

Print media were no better. Heres the New York Times (same time and date):

Considering the NY Timess sleaziness, especially when it comes to matters that affect the survival of the Western world, I expect nothing in the way of actual news or decency from it.

And this is the WaPo (same date, same time):

The WaPo is the darkness in which democracy dies, as are all those outlets.

I say that because, if one pays attention to posts on X, theres a reason the State Department added Switzerland, once one of the worlds safest countries, to its travel advisory list. Yesterday, there was a huge pro-Hamas rally in Bern and an open-warfare-in-the-streets attack on a synagogue and the U.S. embassy in Switzerland, a country in which over 5% of the population is now Muslim:

The protesters also tried reaching the American Embassy. The state department is calling all Americans to avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/ICDNSs9Fyg  Elad Simchayoff (@Elad_Si) May 24, 2025 Scenes from a pro-Palestine rally held in Bern, Switzerland pic.twitter.com/KXFyq6LhQX  PALESTINE ONLINE  (@OnlinePalEng) May 25, 2025 Police in Bern, Switzerland, fired rubber bullets and used water cannons to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters. pic.twitter.com/qJjGYc8PRS  Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) May 25, 2025

The American media are determined to keep blinders on the public. They want to create a bubble in which Trump is Hitler, white people are brownshirts, and brown people, no matter what theyre doing, are peaceful additions to Western societies that are evil and rotten to the core. The same media that lied about COVID and spent four years covering for a sick, demented man in the White House now dedicate themselves to hiding anything that could be seen as challenging that bubble. (And no, I do not know why FOX News is in this disreputable company when it comes to this story.)

And we wonder why two young people were slaughtered at a Jewish museum in our nations capital...

Image: X screen grab.
Seattle is one of the most leftist cities in America. In the last election, 87% of Seattle residents voted for Kamala, which gives you a pretty good idea about the citys politics. Nevertheless, there are still conservative Christians there, and some of them, being law-abiding citizens, got a permit to hold a gathering in a local park, during which they advanced traditional ideas such as opposing abortions and the fantasy of so-called transgenderism.

When those Christians got attacked by radical Antifa activists, Seattles mayor blamed them. As weve long seen, when the left has power, free speech is fine, as long as people with whom the leftist disagrees arent the ones exercising that right.

A charismatic Christian group got a permit to hold a Dont Mess With Our Kids rally at Seattles Cal Anderson Park. As noted, the point of the rally was to oppose abortion and to argue that transgenderism is not real and not for children.

A leftist group called RadicalWomenSeattle declared that family values are fascist, and demanded that, in an effort to keep your Bibles off our bodies, its followers should picket the rally:

To absolutely no ones surprise, the black-clad, masked radicals got violent. The police ended up arresting 22 adults and one minor, all who seem to have come from the leftist cohort, not the Christian side of the rally:

NOW: Several arrests during a chaotic counter-protest at a Christian church event in Cal Anderson Park.



'On Fire Ministries' planned the rally to oppose abortion and promote their views on gender. Pro-trans rights protesters gathered to oppose.



(Language warning)@komonews pic.twitter.com/CPkt7tOo4W  Jeremy Harris (@JeremyHarrisTV) May 24, 2025

So far, this is a dog bites man story: Conservatives legally and peacefully gather to exercise their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly, only to have leftists violently attack them.

What makes this story a little different is the mayors reaction. Seattles mayor is Bruce Harrell, who's mostly a doctrinaire leftist. He has moments of rationality (maybe criminal illegal aliens should be deported, maybe building high density housing isnt always a good thing), but mostly hes on board with the agenda...and never more so than when it comes to saying that free speech is a good thing for everyone except those with whom he disagrees, especially when it comes to protecting so-called transgenderism:

Seattle is proud of our reputation as a welcoming, inclusive city for LGBTQ+ communities, and we stand with our trans neighbors when they face bigotry and injustice. Todays far-right rally was held here for this very reason  to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our citys values, in the heart of Seattles most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood. When the humanity of trans people and those who have been historically marginalized is questioned, we triumph by demonstrating our values through our words and peaceful protest  we lose our voice when this is disrupted by violence, chaos, and confusion. Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protestors group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did. While there are broad First Amendment requirements around permitting events under free speech protections, I am directing the Parks Department to review all of the circumstances of this application to understand whether there were legal location alternatives or other adjustments that could have been pursued. The Police Department will complete an after-action report of this event, including understanding preparation, crowd management tactics, and review of arrests and citations. I am grateful for those who make their voices heard in support of our neighbors without resorting to violence. In the face of an extreme right-wing national effort to attack our trans and LGBTQ+ communities, Seattle will continue to stand unwavering in our embrace of diversity, love for our neighbors, and commitment to justice and fairness. (Emphasis mine.)

In other words, Christians touting traditional values had no right to be in a public park. The hecklers veto should always triumph.

There is a single defining hallmark of narcissism: Its never your fault. Years ago, a friend told me that her husband claimed that she started all the fights in the marriage. He freely conceded that he verbally abused her. The problem, he said, was that she challenged the abuse. Life would have been peaceful had she just accepted what he dished out.

Weve seen the same thing when it comes to whats happening now regarding Israel: Nobody denies that both military and civilian men from Gaza raided Israel on October 7, 2023, slaughtering over 1,200 people (the equivalent in America would be 28,300 people) and seizing over 200 more. Thats not the problem, say leftists and Muslims. The problem is that Israel responded. There would have been peace had Israel just accepted its role as blood-soaked victim.

And of course, the mayor of Seattle makes it clear that LGBTQ+ ideologies and free speech are awesome, and that the real problem is that someone at City Hall screwed up, giving conservatives the opportunity to use their free speech to protest LGBTQ+ ideologies.

The hallmark of leftism is narcissism, and heres something every psychiatrist will tell you: Narcissists cant be fixed, because the nature of the problem is a defensive worldview that is impenetrable to honesty, rationality, or empathy.

Image: X screen grab.
A year ago, Joe Bidens speech at West Point celebrated the American militarys service to other countries. Today, President Trump delivered a speech that made clear that American military exists to serve America, and that it cannot be weakened by woke ideas. The drive-by media were appropriately horrified.

You can read the entire Biden speech here, but the key part, to my mind, was his boasting about what the American military does...for other countries:

The U.S. military is supporting Ukraine.

The U.S. military is opposing Putin, whom Biden put in his place when they met in Switzerland (doubtful).

The U.S. military built a pier in the Mediterranean. (That pier lasted 20 days, killed one service member, and injured 62 others, all at a cost of $230-320 million.)

A consortium of nations led by a West Point general helped Israel repel an Iranian attack.

The U.S. has put together alliances in the South Pacific, although Biden never explained why this matters. (Presumably to fend off Chinas depredations in those waters.)

As an afterthought, Biden added that the U.S. struck Iran-backed militants after they successfully killed three members of the Army reserve in Jordan, and that, for the first time in a decade, rates of sexual assault and harassment declined.

Donald Trump had a different take when he gave his speech, which can be summed up with this 30-second clip (and do note his Make America Great Again hat, which is entirely realistic for those who are prepared to give their lives to America):

"The job of the US Armed Forces is not to host drag shows, to transform foreign cultures, or to spread democracy ... at the point of a gun," says @POTUS.



"The militarys job is to dominate any foe and annihilate any threat to America  ANYWHERE, ANY TIME, and ANY PLACE." pic.twitter.com/u1dv6mCAzQ  Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 24, 2025

We know that Trump can and will have military partnerships with other nations if doing so defends the homeland. However, that roledefending the homeland-- works only if the military is a lethal fighting force that kills bad people. Thats the goal. In the same vein, Trump boasted about the militarys lethal defensive weapons, something that should deeply interest those who are going to be officers in that military.

Of course, the speech was also about West Point and the cadets who are graduating, including those whose fathers sacrificed for the nation, and those who were themselves able to do extraordinary things, and the President generously shared time with them.

Less sterling was Trumps typical self-praise (You will become officers in the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known, and I know because I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the military, and we rebuilt it like nobody has ever rebuilt it before), but hes also rightunlike Bidens false Annapolis self-praise. The same went for his less-than-gracious sideswipe at Obama for letting military secrets end up in Russian hands, but thats Trumpand again, it was true.

The draggiest part of the speech came when Trump, trying to urge momentum to the graduates, told a long, discursive story about a real estate titan and his trophy wives. This was not only dull, but leftists correctly noted that there was no way to make trophy wives work in a graduation speech at West Point, even when warning against them.

But, as always, leftists like to get tangled in the inevitable Trumpian weeds so that they can avoid the big pointsand the big point was that the American military is for Americas protection, not for social justice. Thats the part that the leftists hate.

Reuters: At West Point, Trump rips DEI policies in rally-style speech

President Donald Trump ripped U.S. diversity and inclusion policies, knocked NATO, and took credit for building up the military on Saturday in a campaign-style commencement speech at the prestigious West Point Military Academy in New York. Trump, wearing a suit and his signature red "Make America Great Again" cap, mixed advice to "work hard" with a list of his top grievances about cultural and political issues while speaking to a stadium filled with cadets, family members and a largely supportive crowd.

(I love that admission at the end about the largely supportive crowd. Trump, as always, knew his audience.)

Politico: Trump MAGAfies West Point

President Donald Trump addressed West Point graduates in a Saturday morning speech that quickly veered from remarks about American military prowess to what sounded more like a political rally  tying an institution refashioned under his administrations anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies to his broader political agenda.

In other words, he told the cadets what they areand are notfighting for.

And my favorite, the WaPo, which spells out with perfect clarity the West Point it dreams of, versus the West Point of Trumps presidency:

When President Donald Trump last addressed the graduating class of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, protests inspired by the police killing of George Floyd swept the country  forcing a reckoning on college campuses that extended to the storied institution. Then, school officials directed cadets to spend an academic year exploring how to unearth and confront racism, sexism, and other biases that persist at this academy and that undermine American society. Now, five years later, the academy has banished talk of systemic inequity, abolished student affinity clubs for women and minorities, and instructed faculty to purge terms such as feminist and systemic racism from syllabi, all at the order of their commander in chief. Returning to address graduates on Saturday, he arrived at a different West Point: one his administration has swiftly reshaped to reflect his worldview. You are the first West Point graduates of the golden age of America, Trump said, adding later, Weve turned it around.

The Democrats and their media mouthpieces dont hate it when Trump waffles on about trophy wives; they hate it when he makes America strong. But those cadets who gave their all during four years in West Point must have appreciated greatly being told that they would be defending their country with every resource available, rather than defending other countries alongside sexually confused men in skirts.

YouTube screen grab.
According to some media outlets, President Trump seems to be disappointed with Netanyahus continued war in Gaza. Trump, it appears, cannot understand why the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) could beat three Arab armies, plus auxiliaries from four other Arabs states in six days, while it has taken the IDF a year and seven months to deal with Hamas in Gaza - a terrorist organization  and no match for the IDF. That being said, he has given Israel a green light for a crushing campaign against the terror group.

While Trumps agenda is to end conflicts as quickly as possible and, get on with making America rich again, he fails to grasp the delicate situation regarding the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. The IDF has exercised extreme caution in order to prevent any accidental harm to the hostages, which has, as a result, slowed progress. The reality is, Israel may have to end the war or, at the very least, agree to an extended cease-fire, in order to get the hostages home.

The Biden administrations opposition to an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation in Rafah was also a factor in slowing down the progress of Israels campaign in Gaza. Biden was also against the IDF positioning itself in the Philadelphi Corridor, which the Hamas terrorists used, in collusion with Egyptian authorities, to smuggle arms into Gaza.

Israel paused its campaign against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) on several occasions in order to secure the release of hostages. In addition, the mobilization of a large number of reservists to deal with Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon, necessitated transferring some forces from Gaza and moving them north. Iranian proxies initiated another front in Judea and Samaria, requiring Israel to further deplete IDF forces from Gaza.

All that notwithstanding, the motivation and skills of the IDF soldiers were able to turn around a situation that appeared to be Israels weakness and vulnerability.

Watching Israeli TV, the Iranians and their proxies concluded that the large and angry demonstrations in Israel, along with the refusal of some pilots and other IDF personnel to serve, were an indication that Israel was imploding internally. The Arab media were gleeful at what they saw, failing to understand that in a democracy such expressions are possible.

The October 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of 251 into Gazas dungeons, prompted large numbers of IDF reservists to volunteer for the fight even before they were called. The surge of reservist soldiers exceeded all expectations. The same Israelis who might have protested the Judicial reforms of the Netanyahu government, were eager to fight and die for their country.

By the end of year 2024, Israel managed to restore its deterrence. The leadership of both Hamas and Hezbollah were wiped out and, their missile arsenals were depleted and/or completely destroyed. Hezbollahs leader, Hassan Nasrallah, perished in an Israeli attack that destroyed his underground bunker in South Beirut. Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, who masterminded October 7th, was killed in Khan Yunis. Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas political leader, was eliminated in Tehran, during a visit to Iran.

The fanatical Islamist ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamas and PIJ, cannot be wiped out. Similarly, bombing Irans nuclear facilities will not end the threat from Iran. The regime could very well restore its nuclear program since it has the know-how and the will to do it. Bombing its nuclear sites, even if fully successful, would only delay. Thus, the Ayatollahs regime would continue to constitute an existential threat to Israel. Therefore, the only way to alter the threat is by supporting regime change.

If a coalition, led by the US, could disarm Hamas and PIJ operatives and send them into exile to some Arab states, and all the Israeli hostages were safely returned, a final deal could be made. Israel would end the war in Gaza, withdraw the IDF troops from most of Gaza but keep a security zone inside the Strip, such as the Philadelphi Corridor.

The economic and emotional burden imposed on the IDF soldiers has been heavy and difficult to endure. Many of the IDF reserve combat soldiers have served hundreds of successive days in close combat. They are physically and psychologically exhausted. At home, their wives and children have had to endure without the family bread winner, as their businesses have suffered in the process. And yet the determination and motivation of the soldiers and their families remain strong.

This week this writer met with a group of wounded Israeli combat soldiers who are touring a number of Jewish communities. Itay, a 20-years old Golani brigade fighter whose body was perforated by shrapnel survived thanks to the efficiency of the army medics and doctors. When asked if Israel should end the war in Gaza he replied, Not until we have wiped out the Hamas killers Captain Kayam, 25, a combat engineer officer who was critically wounded when the structure he entered in order to rescue two of his soldiers was detonated by a booby trap. When he was carried onto the helicopter he couldnt breathe because a fragment entered his neck. The medic thought he wouldnt pull through but the team worked quickly and they reversed their decision, taking him to the hospital instead of the mortuary. Capt. Kayams life was saved. He did, however, spend more than twelve months in the hospital undergoing dozens of operations. Both young men are now miraculously walking, breathing, and functioning. When asked if Israel should end the war in Gaza, Kayam stated resolutely, Not until we have eliminated Hamas in Gaza, and all of our hostages are returned.

President Trump wants to end wars and conflicts, as does Israel. However, knowing that Hamas and its patron, the Islamic Republic of Iran, seek to eradicate Israel and the US means this conflict is bigger than war in Gaza. The war in Gaza can end only when the hostages are returned, and Hamas and PIJ terrorists surrender their arms and leave Gaza.

Image via Pxbarn.
A 33-year-old Florida woman reportedly assaulted an elderly man for wearing a MAGA hatbeat the MAGA out of him!

For democracy!

Laura Elizabeth Garrett demanded to know why the man was a Trump supporter before striking him on the back of the head with a can. Moreover, Garrett allegedly assaulted a police officer while he was trying to arrest her. She now faces charges that include: battery on a person 65 years old or older, battery on a law enforcement officer, and obstructing or resisting an officer without violence. She may have tried to beat the MAGA out of the man, but Im sure she did it to save our democracy. You can bet she sees herself as a victim of the white patriarchy.

Meanwhile, at a recent press conference, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson labeled President Trump a monster for launching a federal Department of Justice investigation against him for racial discrimination.

Johnson accused Trump of being a racist and stated that Trump is most comfortable around people who think and look like him.

And this is the same guy who recently noted that he tries to hire only black people because they are more generous than whites. It appears Johnson is the one who is most comfortable around people who think and look like him.

Not far away, Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was indicted by a federal grand jury for helping an illegal alien evade ICE agents.

According to the FBI, Judge Dugan obstructed an immigration arrest operation when she became angry upon finding out that ICE agents were waiting outside of her courtroom last week to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal alien involved in a domestic abuse case she was overseeing.

So Dugan (allegedly) directed Flores-Ruiz to exit the courthouse through a private jury door to evade arrest.

By her actions, Dugan is saying, Forget interpreting the law, I am the law! (See also, Fauci, Dr., I am science.)

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administrations effort to overhaul and reorganize 20 agencies in the Executive Branch.

Among other things, Illstons order blocked any attempt by the president to reduce the size of the agencies.

Because one unelected judges decree overrules the desire of a duly-elected president to decide what happens in the entire federal government.

Is Trump even allowed to rearrange the furniture in the White House? Judges?

Moving along, several members of the media have lately tried to convince us that they were the real victims of the massive, years-long campaign to portray President Biden as a sentient and competent being, despite the fact that we all saw him: attempting to shake hands with people who werent there, trying to find a way off a stage, hailing those who had already passed, wandering off into the rainforest, speaking gibberish, and falling down  and up  stairs  and pretty much everything else.

Yet those in the mainstream media wanted us to believe Grandpa Joe from Scranton was sharp as the proverbial tack.

Incredibly, some clown named Joe Scarborough went so far as to state: Start your tape right now, cause Im about to tell you the truth. And F.U. if you cant handle the truth. This version of Biden  intellectually, analytically  is the best Biden ever. Not a close second, and Ive known him for years, the Brzezinskis have known him for fifty years. If it werent the truth, I wouldnt say it.

Wow. Pre-emptively cussing out those that might have the temerity to disagree with him, with The Narrative.

Classy.

Scarborough and Jake Tapper have subsequently recanted their earlier beliefs, fervently held as they were, and have essentially admitted that Biden was, in fact, a dead husk of a moth-eaten sock-puppet, in the words of Mark Steyn.

Yet, after years of shamelessly shilling for the Biden administration, they now assert that they were targeted victims of it. Preposterous. The truth is, we the American people were targeted victims of the Biden coverup, those who controlled him  and of the very media outlets and personalities that are now desperately trying to distance themselves from the disaster.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
If I were a recent arrival from another planet, and I wanted to learn the value system of Earths inhabitants, how would I begin my search? Suppose I had landed in the United States and decided to check out how humans communicated with each other each day. Since my research of these beings indicated that they turned to television news to be informed of significant events, Id turn it on to get an idea of how they think. Id see a man at the podium, who, Id soon realize was the chosen leader of the country, talking about his vision to make the country better.

He was saying that he is fulfilling the promises he made when he was elected by a majority of the voters who live in the country. This leader, who I learned is called President Trump, was illustrating that he stopped the illegal invasion at the border, which was causing death and destruction to hundreds of thousands of innocent people in the country that elected him. Additionally, this man was actively taking part in ending wars that were taking the lives of millions in other countries. As I listened more closely, I heard him say that, as the elected Chief Executive, he has authorized his appointed emissaries to seek out and identify massive government corruption in the form of waste, fraud and abuse in numerous agencies.

Moreover, this newly elected leader has designated someone to determine why so many inhabitants of the nation are suffering from numerous ailments, most of which are being worsened by the use of chemicals being sold to them as cures or temporary relief from pain. The designee will also investigate why so many people are physically unfit, morbidly obese, and addicted to harmful lifestyles. He intends to educate the public about the numerous food additives that contain toxic substances, which are processed, glamorized in television and magazine commercials, and marketed to unwary consumers. The goal is to improve the health and vitality of the entire population. The person in charge of this enormous challenge is a man whose personal fitness demonstrates the commitment he hopes will serve as an inspiration to others.

As for the future prosperity of this land I arrived on, the new leader was securing trillions of dollars of investment from some of the wealthiest areas of the planet. Furthermore, he was tirelessly working to lower the burden of monetary payments, which they call taxes, that industrious inhabitants are forced to render to the governing authority. During his address, he talked about the price reductions in many of the goods and services that have already taken place since he took office. While watching and listening to the proposals of the leader to make the country stronger, healthier, and more economically sound, I felt certain that this country was in the capable hands of a wise leader.

Eager to learn more about this world Im visiting, I touched a button on the remote device and began watching another news program. Suddenly, everything I had just learned was being contradicted by those who appeared to be enemies of the new leader. Their words were hateful and abusive toward the man named Trump, and they were calling on people to violently resist everything he was doing. I saw videos of angry demonstrators, screaming hysterically as they denounced the changes being made in their country. They called Trump a dictator for halting the criminal invasion of their own country. To my utter confusion, they demanded that he stop arresting and deporting those who had endangered innocent people by smuggling children, women, and drugs across the border to be sold for profit.

I continued to be astonished when I saw other elected representatives, in sections of the country, referring to its leader as a racist, even as some of the most prominent black and brown leaders fully endorse him. I began to wonder why an otherwise civilized and intelligent species could be so contrary about the relevant issues affecting their future and the future of their progeny. Their reasoning process was especially strange when I considered that they are residents of the most affluent and powerful combination of beings on their planet. What I learned caused me to wonder about the stability of their country, when many of them are apparently so deranged that they struggle viciously against a leader who is bringing more abundance to their lives.

If this is how the greatest country on their planet uses its intellect, I can only imagine how primitive the rest of the species behave in their respective territories. Having been sent here from another galaxy, to determine if our advanced civilization could further the goals of the only rotating orb with a form of life in the Milky Way, I must inform my leaders to pass by the third rock from the sun. Evidently, they have not evolved enough to appreciate anyone or anything that would improve their existence.

Image via Needpix.
There is some interesting news from the world of smart TVs, but it might not be for the better. Google has confirmed a significant change that could impact the performance of future affordable Google TV devices and televisions: theyre lowering the RAM requirements. This move clearly aims to make Google TV more accessible and cheaper. However, it raises some serious questions about how well these devices will actually perform.

Google reduces RAM requirements for affordable Google TV devices

Lets break it down. Google TV is essentially a custom skin or overlay that sits on top of Android TV. It offers a more personalized and content-focused experience. Back in November, Google had already trimmed the minimum RAM requirement for Android TV devices down to 1GB. However, for Google TV itself, they maintained a stricter 2GB RAM minimum, presumably to ensure a smoother experience with its added features.

But now, Google confirmed that they will allow the launch of low RAM Google TVs. This indicates that even these devices, with their richer interface, might soon run on less memory. This is where the concerns begin. If youve ever used an affordable Android TV or Google TV device, you might have noticed that they can already be a bit sluggish or prone to lag. Streaming apps like Netflix and Prime Video, while working, can sometimes struggle on devices with limited resources. You can notice this even on thenow discontinuedChromecast with Google TV dongles.

Potential consequences

The worry is that with even less RAM, these future devices could perform significantly worse. Imagine trying to navigate menus, switch between apps, or simply stream content on a device thats constantly fighting for memory. The goal to make smart TVs more affordable and widely available is laudable. But sacrificing performance too much could lead to a frustrating user experience for many.

So, while cheaper Google TVs might sound appealing on the surface, its worth being mindful of the potential trade-offs. The convenience of a smart TV could be overshadowed by a less-than-responsive interface if these new, lower-RAM devices struggle to keep up. Hopefully the change is due to the company optimizing Google TV to run much better.
Since his second presidential election this year, Donald Trump has made it his main goal to bring American companies back to the United States. To achieve this, he has adopted a strategy based on tariffs, among other measures. Apple, one of the largest tech firms in the countryand the worldhasnt been too enthusiastic about the matter. That said, Apple could be subject to Trumps 25% import tariff on its iPhone devices.

President Donald Trump has been vocal recently about the topic. I have reiterated the 25% import tax on smartphones if theyre not manufactured on US soil. Of course, this includes Apples beloved iPhone. Plus, Samsung and other smartphone makers would face similar tariffs if their products arent Made in USA.

Trumps 25% tariff wants to bring iPhone production back to the United States

So, whats behind this? The goal is clear: to boost American manufacturing and bring jobs back home. Trump has openly stated hes told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he expects iPhones sold in the US to be built domestically, not in places like India or anywhere else. If companies dont comply, that 25% tariff would kick in.

This comes at an interesting time for Apple. The tech giant has been actively diversifying its supply chain, moving some iPhone production away from China to other countries like India and Vietnam. This strategy aims to reduce reliance on any single manufacturing hub. However, Trumps latest remarks suggest that this global diversification isnt enough. The SU president wants production specifically in the United States.

But heres where it gets complicated. Shifting iPhone manufacturing entirely to the US is a monumental task. Experts point out that the country currently lacks the vast ecosystem of suppliers, specialized manufacturing facilities, and the sheer scale of skilled labor that exists in Asia. An iPhone is made up of thousands of parts from dozens of countries, and recreating that intricate supply chain domestically would be incredibly challenging and costly.

Prices could rise irremediably

What could this mean for consumers? If these tariffs are implemented and passed onto buyers, your next iPhone could see a significant price hike. Some reports indicate that assembling an iPhone in India costs around $30. Meanwhile, the same process in the US could soar to around $390 due to labor cost differences. Even with a 25% tariff, manufacturing in places like India might still be more cost-effective for Apple than moving production to the US.

Ultimately, this ongoing discussion highlights the complex interplay between global supply chains, political goals, and the economics of consumer technology. The future of where your iPhone comes from is still being written. However, these new tariff threats certainly add a compelling chapter to the story.
Alan Yentob, who has died aged 78, was an influential BBC executive who steered the creative vision of the corporation before controversy led to him stepping down from his role.

Born in London on March 11 1947, to an Iraqi-Jewish family, Yentob was sent to board at a cathedral school in Cambridgeshire as a young boy before studying law at the University of Leeds.

He joined the BBC in 1968 as a trainee at the World Service where he worked his way through the ranks to become the corporations head of music and arts in 1985.

Alan Yentob and Philippa Walker at a ceremony to celebrate the wedding of Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall (John Stillwell/PA)

In 1987 he was promoted to controller of BBC2 where he revitalised the channel by commissioning hugely successful shows such as Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Dame Joanna Lumley, arts series The Late Show and comedy quiz show, Have I Got News For You.

In 1993 he became the official controller of BBC1. His drama commissions ranged from Middlemarch and Pride And Prejudice  which made actor Colin Firth a heartthrob  to Ballykissangel, while wielding an axe to the failing Spain-set soap Eldorado.

He also presented shows for the BBC, including a series on the life of artist Leonardo da Vinci, starring Sir Mark Rylance, and a regular arts series, Imagine, from 2003.

Artist Marina Abramovic, novelist Bernardine Evaristo and Oscar-winning actor Marlon Brando were among the famous faces who had episodes devoted to their lives and careers.

The King then Prince of Wales, speaking to Alan Yentob at the Dominion Theatre in London (Sean Dempsey/PA)

Yentob was appointed creative director, to oversee the BBCs creative strategy, in 2004 and he also served as chairman of the board of trustees for Kids Company, founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh, from 2003 until the collapse of the charity in 2015.

Yentob faced scrutiny over his role as well as claims he tried to influence coverage at the corporation of its troubles.

He always insisted there was no conflict of interest in his decision to call Newsnight about its investigation into Kids Company and had not abused my position at the BBC.

He is said to have phoned the BBC Two programme in July 2015 as it prepared to broadcast a report suggesting the government would withhold further funding unless its founder, Ms Batmanghelidjh, stood down.

The charity folded on August 5 2015 just six days after receiving a 3 million grant in a final bid to keep it afloat.

Alan Yentob attending a VIP screening of The Beatles: Get Back (Yui Mok/PA)

In December that year Yentob stepped down from his job at the BBC, saying the speculation over his conduct had been proving a serious distraction.

Also in 2015, Yentob was awarded 85,000 in phone-hacking damages from Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).

In spite of the Kids Company controversy, he continued to present programmes for the BBC, interviewing figures including Sir Stephen Fry and Bob Geldof.

In a BBC Two programme in 2024 he spoke to author Sir Salman Rushdie about the devastating effects of the onstage knife attack that left him blind in one eye.

Yentob was married to TV producer Philippa Walker and the couple had two children together.

He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from De Montfort University, Leicester, in 2005 and in 2024 he was formally made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the King for services to the arts and media.
Chinas Peoples Liberation Army has exploded from a small military into one of the largest and most powerful in the world - Greg Baker /Getty Images

When one of Pakistans Chinese-made fighter jets fired a missile over the Kashmiri mountains and shot down one of Indias French-built Rafale fighters, Western officials took note.

It marked the first time the West had seen the Chinese JC-10 aircraft and PL-15 missiles be deployed in active combat.

Western officials have since pored over the details of this clash, asking what this means about Chinas military capabilities and whether Xi Jinpings nation has finally caught up with the West.

Over the past 25 years, Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has exploded from a small military that had to generate its own revenue by growing crops to one of the largest and most powerful in the world.

China is the strongest its ever been, said Brigadier General Doug Wickert, the 412th Test Wing commander in the United States air force. It has fairly aggressively built a very large force thats been specifically developed to counter our strengths.

Today, the PLA boasts almost a million more troops than the United States and over a thousand more tanks. It has built its navy into the largest in the world with approximately 400 warships and stacked its air force with nearly 2,000 fighter jets.

Beijing has also drastically expanded its intelligence capabilities to the point where deputy CIA Director Michael Ellis claimed earlier this week that China has become an existential threat to American security in a way we really have never confronted before.

A video of Chinese President Xi Jinping reviewing a military parade at the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing - Greg Baker/AFP

However, while China is stronger today than it has been previously, a look into its actual capabilities show that the PLA still lags in skill and experience and has a tendency to fall one step behind its more seasoned competitor.

The numbers dont tell the whole story, noted Gen Wickert. Chinas military has grown in numbers as well as sophistication, but there are still some areas where we have technological advantage.

Every year, a wide array of expos and shows are held across China, which show off the arsenal of one of the most opaque and secretive armed forces in the world.

In November, China hosted its annual Zhuhai Air Show where it showcased the J-20 stealth fighter jets, seen as direct competitors to one of the US strongest fighters, the F-35 Lightning II, and capable of carrying air-to-air missiles like the PL-15s used by Pakistan against India.

2405 F-35 vs J-20

The HQ-19 anti-ballistic missile system was also on display, as was the new SS-UAV Jiu Tan drone carrier, capable of releasing swarms of Kamikaze attack drones at once, which will set sail on its maiden voyage next month.

More recently at the World Radar Expo last week, China trumpeted a new JY-27V radar, which state media claims can detect American fifth-generation stealth fighters, including the F-35 Lightning II.

Chinas navy is also rumoured to be developing a new supercarrier, similar to the USS Gerald Ford, which would be larger than any existing vessel in its fleet.

And the army is said to be developing a new 4th generation light tank, which would host cannons capable of firing multiple ammunition types.

The USS Gerald R Ford can launch jets from four places on the carriers deck, while Chinas Fujian, third and most advanced carrier to date, can only launch from three

However, most worrying to the US is Beijings rapid advancement of its nuclear capabilities.

From 2023 to 2024, it added 100 more warheads to its arsenal, rising from 500 to 600, and the country is expected to have more than 1,000 by 2030.

According to experts, at least 400 of these are intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the US from the Chinese mainland, including the DF-41, which can travel between 12,000 to 15,000 kilometres.

While the US, with 3,700 warheads in its arsenal, continues to hold an advantage, the American government has expressed concern over Beijings rapid speed.

During a senate address in April, US Senator Roger Wicker noted that Chinas nuclear expansion is now at a pace that far outstrips our own.

Timothy Heath, a senior defence researcher and China expert at RAND Corp, explained that Beijings nuclear progress is likely part of its deterrence posture.

Its a sign that they dont want to get into a conventional fight with the US, said Mr Heath. Having a nuclear inventory is a way to warn the US not to start a fight.

Beyond its nuclear inventory, there are areas where Chinese advancements are rivalling the US.

According to Mr Heath, hypersonic missiles could be one domain in which the PLA has surpassed the US in technology. He also noted that Beijing has become a world player in the world market for military drones, though other experts like Gen Wickert dont agree that there is yet any technology where China is ahead.

The PLAs developments have been particularly concerning in the context of a potential conflict over Taiwan  the only possible scenario in which the US and Chinese armies could face one another.

Credit: PLA Eastern Theatre Command

Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan, which the government in Taipei rejects, and has threatened to invade the island on numerous occasions. As a key arms supplier to Taiwan, former US president Joe Biden had said that the US would come to the countrys defence, but Donald Trump has refused to offer a clear position on the issue.

Mr Heath explains that Chinas proximity to Taiwan gives it an advantage because Beijing would have immediate access to all ground-based systems. Meanwhile, the US would have to project power from an ocean away.

At the senate address in April, Mr Wicker noted that China is now capable of denying US air superiority in the first island chain, referring to the string of islands in the Pacific, which include parts of Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo. This means that Chinas surface-to-air missiles are now capable of shooting down any US aircraft in the event of a war.

Washington has also sounded the alarm over Chinas cyberwarfare capabilities. In a recent speech at a university in California, Gen Wickert said China had managed to infiltrate the USs electrical grid and plant malware on SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems, which monitor critical infrastructure like electricity, water and gas distribution.

China has gained access to those systems and mapped them, and that is certainly concerning. That is considered an act of war  if a country were to use that access to disrupt or damage our infrastructure, Gen Wickert told The Telegraph.

President Xi speaks after reviewing the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army navy fleet in the South China Sea - Li Gang/AP

The PLA was not always such a fierce competitor. In the 1990s, when Western countries were investing trillions of pounds into their armies, the PLA didnt even have enough money to sustain itself.

It had a very small budget from the government and was essentially dependent on money-making activities to fund itself, said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and the former Director for China at the US Department of Defence.

This meant the PLA was investing in factories and services and logistics businesses and in rural areas they would even grow their own food.

The Dalian shipbuilding facility in Liaoning Province, China, where a new nuclear-powered carrier could be developed - Maxar

While it has come a long way in the decades since, the PLA continues to face significant challenges, which experts say have stopped it from reaching parity with the US.

For one, the US military is tried and tested on the battlefield, having fought in several conflicts around the world from Iraq to Afghanistan, while the PLA has not fought a war in decades.

Chinas armed forces also struggle with integration. While the US military is a fully joint force, meaning the different services  from the air force to the navy  work closely together, the PLA remains disjointed.

Kitsch Liao, the associate director of the Atlantic Councils Global China Hub, noted that the PLAs readiness levels, which measure preparedness for active combat, are also lower than the USs.

If the US wants to bomb one site, they can assign one aircraft. They dont need another aircraft on standby in case the jet breaks down. The US used to do this in the 1960s and China still has to do that, said Mr Liao.

The USs air force readiness for the last year was just over 60 per cent, which is relatively poor, according to Mr Liao, but Chinas score, which is not made public, is believed to be even lower.

Imitate rather than innovate

Chinas defence limitations stem in part from the PLAs inherent structure as an extension of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

Unlike militaries in the US or the UK, which are separate from any political entity, the PLA was established to serve the communist party and its primary objective today is to keep the party in power.

Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, explained that it would be equivalent to if in the US the Republicans had their own army and the Democrats had their own army.

Given the PLAs role in the party, it often focuses its development on political issues rather than security concerns, as evidenced by its fixation on Taiwan, which does not pose any immediate threat to China.

The PLA is also hampered by its tendency to imitate rather than innovate. Rather than developing its own cutting-edge hardware, China relies on following closely behind its American counterparts, which makes it very difficult to match or overtake the US.

Theyre always one step behind because their methodology for catching up has been technology theft and acquisition, said Mr Thompson.

China has always benchmarked itself on other forces and ironically that means that in many cases it cant actually catch up.
Kemi Badenoch called the report about the car use nonsense and dismissed allegations that shed undermined national security - Jeff Overs/BBC

Kemi Badenoch has denied undermining national security by using a private hire vehicle and driver while serving in Cabinet.

The Tory leader called a report that claimed she refused an official government car service (GCS) vehicle, favouring the private black Jaguar XJ, despite official warnings nonsense.

The Sunday Times reported that the then trade secretary used a taxpayer-funded car from a private firm based in her constituency until the general election.

Officials reportedly issued a number of warnings over a two-year period saying her actions were not recommended and that no other minister had such an arrangement. There were also concerns raised that a private firm vehicle could be bugged.

Mrs Badenoch reportedly fell out with a GCS driver, a civil servant, after she blamed him for arriving 21 minutes late to her first cabinet meeting and disputing the directions.

She also reportedly claimed it was not feasible or fair to make the driver, who lived over two hours away from her south-west London home, travel that far to collect her.

Kemi Badenoch used the Jaguar, pictured behind her, when she was trade minister - Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Asked why she ignored security advice about the vehicle, she told the BBCs Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: I never ignored security advice.

The driver was security cleared, actually recommended by GCS. It was a contract that had been in place for about five years, and I renewed that contract.

A memo was sent by someone who was unfamiliar with the contract, asking about security concerns, and other civil servants said there were no security concerns, and thats the end of the matter.

She said that the leaking of the memo without seeing the full picture of the story was destructive.

She added: Ive never, ever, ever put myself in a situation where security was reduced, and also it would not have been allowed in the first place.

There is no way that the department would have allowed me to be carrying official secret documents in a car that wasnt security cleared. Its a nonsense story.

Labour has demanded Mrs Badenoch reveal the cost of the extravagant arrangement.

A party spokesman said: Kemi Badenoch must explain why she hired a private chauffeur at taxpayers expense rather than relying on the government car service like other ministers.

No allowance for millionaire pensioners

Mrs Badenoch also told the programme that she did not believe that millionaire pensioners should receive the winter fuel payment, after being asked whether she would restore it in full if she entered No 10.

It comes as the Government announced a partial U-turn on the scrapping of the winter fuel allowance for almost 10 million pensioners.

Sir Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that he would be looking to extend the eligibility of the allowance, beyond just those with an income of less than 11,800 a year and on pension credit.

Asked if Mrs Badenoch would go further and reinstate the payments in full if she got back into power, she said: Right now, we should just restore it.

There is no system at the moment to figure out how to stop millionaires from getting it. For what its worth, I dont think that people who are millionaires should get it.

But right now, we have been voting in Parliament to restore the winter fuel payment.
Empty tables at a restaurant in Cannes after the power cut hit - Sameer al-Doumy/AFP

Two anarchist groups claimed responsibility for a massive power cut that hit the French Riviera over the weekend, saying the sabotage was aimed at disrupting the Cannes Film Festival.

Power was lost for five hours on the final day of the festival on Saturday, knocking out traffic lights and ATMs and forcing organisers to use backup generators. Local officials said the causes behind the power cut were a suspected arson attack on a substation and vandalism of an electricity pylon.

The headquarters of the festival switched to a backup power supply. Full power was subsequently restored, allowing Saturday nights closing ceremony to go ahead as planned.

In an anonymous letter published online on Sunday, the two groups said they were behind the outage.

The aim of the action was not only to disrupt the festival, but also to deprive all industrial establishments of electricity, the anarchist groups reportedly wrote in their letter.

Were not on a film set, but cut! seemed to sum up our desire to turn off this deadly system, they added, according to a police source.

Malicious act

Damien Savarzeix, the public prosecutor in Grasse, said on Saturday that three of the four pillars of a pylon on the high-voltage line in Villeneuve-Loubet, which supplies power to part of the area, including Cannes, were sawn off in a malicious act.

Electricity workers then switched off the line to allow the work to be carried out, indirectly causing a power cut that left 160,000 homes without electricity throughout the day.

Following the Cannes incident, a blaze then hit an electricity transformer in the west of the city of Nice on Saturday night, knocking out power to 45,000 homes in the city and the surrounding region, the offices of the mayor and local prosecutors said.

I vigorously condemn these criminal acts hitting our country, said Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, on X. In the coming days, we are reinforcing the [security camera] network around the citys strategic electric sites.

Power was restored around dawn, officials and the Enedis grid company said.

At Cannes, the Palme dOr went to A Simple Accident directed by Jafar Panahi, an Iranian filmmaker who was barred from leaving the state in 2018 when he earned a best screenplay prize.

Jafar Panahi won the Palme DOr award for A Simple Accident - Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Stephane Cardinale - Corbis

Mr Panahi has been imprisoned several times and went on a hunger strike in 2023 amid a state ban on his filmmaking.

Jean-Noel Barrot, Frances foreign minister, said his Cannes award was a further gesture of resistance against the Iranian regimes oppression.

On Sunday, Iran summoned the French charge daffaires in Tehran over what it called the ministers insulting remarks and unfounded allegations.
Joe Biden walks past gravestones on his way to church - Toby Canham for The Telegraph

Battered and bruised by a week of revelations about his health, Joe Biden took comfort in a familiar routine and attended evening mass on Saturday.

His slimmed-down motorcade  just two black SUVs  drove up just as the bells at St Josephs on the Brandywine, near his Delaware home, finished tolling.

Just as he has done for decades, as senator, vice president and president, he attended five oclock mass, arriving with just his security detail.

He wore a blue blazer and slip-on trainers for his visit, walking past gravestones on his way to the church entrance, offering a cheque for the collection and a hug to a church official.

Joe Biden attends mass at the St Joseph on the Brandywine church near his home in Greenville - Toby Canham for The Telegraph

Afterwards he emerged with his sister Valerie, and spent 20 minutes greeting and talking with parishioners, who said he appeared strong and was finding comfort in his faith.

Mgr John Hopkins said: Hes been part of this community for what... 40, 50 years. This is a place where he can be at peace.

A week earlier Mr Biden, 82, revealed that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

During the past week, a book was also published that contains extraordinary allegations that he had struggled to recognise friends or aides at times during his four years in office, while his top officials battled to keep him in power.

The details threaten to derail post-presidential plans to build his legacy with a library and to cash in with a memoir and lucrative speaking engagements.

Donors are reportedly lukewarm on supporting his library and a slew of strategists told The Telegraph that Mr Biden has become a political liability ahead of crucial midterm elections next year.

Joe Biden speaks to parishioners with his sister Valerie after attending a service - Toby Canham for The Telegraph

In the meantime, he has been adjusting to civilian life by returning to a routine well-known to residents around his home in Greenville, an upmarket neighbourhood outside Wilmington, where he built a family home in the 1990s on four acres of land.

He has become a regular sight at the railway station, travelling back and forth to Washington, DC. He has posed for selfies at a nearby cafe, shopped at a drugstore, collected takeout from his favourite diner and browsed the rails at a menswear store where he is famous for rarely making purchases.

President Biden yesterday visited caffe Brewhaha in Greenville, suburb of Willmington, Delaware.



Source of photo: Brewhaha pic.twitter.com/YHLbq150PA  Biden Activities Tracker (@BidenActivities) May 7, 2025

He visited a JoS A Bank store about three weeks ago, according to Johnnie Morrison, the stores manager. Mr Morrison said staff had gotten used to seeing Secret Service agents turn up minutes before the former president.

Mr Biden browsed the shirts, suits, socks and underpants before leaving empty-handed.

Mr Morrison said: Its what he always does. Its like a habit.

Its like he does it to get out of the house and get a bit of peace and quiet.

He did the same while he was president. His press pool, waiting outside on a bus, often reported that he had visited the store and left without having bought anything.

Mr Morrison added that the man who visited the store bore little resemblance to the old man he saw on television.

He said: Im not seeing that doddery old man. Im seeing a very sharp individual.

Mr Biden has been described as a local hero of Greenville, Delaware

Residents have closed ranks around one of their own. But Mr Bidens mental acuity and fitness for office have been under intense scrutiny.

Original Sin, by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, was published last week and it claims to lay out exactly who knew what about Mr Bidens growing frailty, as well as the truth about the former presidents delayed decision to drop out of the election last year.

It revealed that Mr Biden did not recognise George Clooney, someone he had known for decades, at a fundraiser that the actor was throwing in the then presidents honour.

And staff even discussed the possibility that Mr Biden might have to use a wheelchair during a second term.

The book said: Given Bidens age, [his physician Dr Kevin] OConnor also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery.

The former president is now seen as a liability in his own party.

A slew of strategists and donors told The Telegraph that he should stay out of the limelight as Democrats prepare for midterm elections next year.

One strategist said: The best thing he can do is stay home and let a new generation move forward.

This has put a dent in Mr Bidens plans to raise money for a library, which some now fear may not open in his lifetime.

For now, it means that he is spending more time in Greenville, where he remains a beloved figure, even among those who wish he had admitted his shortcomings earlier and never run for re-election.

The former presidents son, who died in 2015, is buried in Greenville - Toby Canham for The Telegraph

Hes a local hero, said Peggy Barker, a retired marketing executive, who described running into Mr Biden at restaurants for decades.

But she said she felt sadness for a man whose health was clearly in decline.

She stopped to talk outside a Walgreens drugstore, which is about a seven-minute drive from Mr Bidens home and where he is often seen.

A cashier said: He was in a couple of weeks ago.

Another member of staff said he was a regular.

She said: Hell buy anything, a pack of paper plates, a drink, just normal stuff like anyone would buy. Its like he does it to feel normal.

He returned to political life last month, giving a speech in Chicago, during which he accused the Trump administration of taking a hatchet to the social security system.

Prior to Original Sins publication, he conducted a handful of prebuttal interviews

He told ABCs The View: They are wrong. Theres nothing to sustain that.

Yet, most of his time has been spent with family.

Mr Biden has been spending more time in Greenville recently - Toby Canham for The Telegraph

On Thursday, the former president travelled to Connecticut for the graduation of one of his grandchildren.

His staff laid out some details of his post-presidential life, describing how he has been taking the train back and forth to Washington for meetings.

Evidence of his travel can be found easily enough at Wilmingtons Joseph R Biden Jr railway station.

A member of train cleaning staff waiting to board the next Amtrak service south said: Look, look, I have a selfie.

Amtrak Joe

He scrolled through the images on his phone to show Mr Biden  nicknamed Amtrak Joe because he would ride the train back and forth to Delaware every day when he was a senator  all smiles in a navy suit.

In a video, dated March 31, he walks down the platform surrounded by Secret Service agents, carrying his own briefcase.

To me he looked great, said the Amtrak worker, who declined to give his name for fear of getting into trouble.

However, he spent most of the past weekend, which included Memorial Day, at home.

None of his regular Greenville haunts reported a sighting.

He was last seen in Brewhaha, a coffee shop, two weeks ago.

And staff at the Charcoal Pit, where he has dined for decades, said he had picked up a takeaway on the Wednesday before last  his usual is a cheesesteak sandwich and its famous black and white triple malted shake.

Chris, a 17-year-old student, sitting with a friend in one of the diners booths beneath a photograph of Mr Biden with the restaurants manager said: I just dont understand how he could have had cancer for so long.

And then he voiced the question that is on everybodys mind: Were the Bidens keeping his illness a secret?

That may be why he dropped out, he said, before returning his attention to the sort of giant sandwiches for which the place is famous.
Marshall Munetsi produced a stunning strike to help Wolves come from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Brentford who saw their faint European dreams end.

Both sides were far from perfect in a first half which made for an entertaining affair, with Bryan Mbeumo opening the scoring for Brentford with his 20th goal of the campaign.

Amid all the action, the Wolves fans were referencing Manchester United with their songs, aimed at Matheus Cunha who was possibly playing his last match for the club ahead of an anticipated summer move to the Red Devils.

Wolves forced the issue in the second half in a bid to avoid a fourth successive defeat and the hosts got a deserved equaliser thanks to Munetsis bullet finish in the 75th minute.

The result saw Wolves finish in 16th place, below United on goal difference, while Brentford signed off the campaign in 10th and outside the European spots.

Cunha looked the brightest player through the early stages on what could be his last appearance in the black and gold of Wolves and his header forced Mark Flekken into his first save.

The hosts started in rampant fashion, and Nelson Semedo, another player who could also be out of Molineux by the time next season starts, lashed wide before a tame effort on target was easily saved by Flekken.

It did not take long for Thomas Franks side to warm into the contest though, Wolves keeper Jose Sa having his first meaningful save to make when he kept out Kevin Schade after he had danced inside and tried his luck.

Wolves were the creators of their own downfall as the visitors took the lead in the 20th minute.

The hosts tried to play it quick from the back but Rayan Ait-Nouri was caught in possession and the Bees swarmed forward, with an initial strike bouncing out to Christian Norgaard who picked out Mbeumo to open the scoring.

Brentford could have made it two before the break. Wolves wanted a foul when Cunha was brought down at one end, but play continued and Brentford broke forward with Yoane Wissa. He played the ball into Keane Lewis-Potter but, having been one-on-one with Sa, he made a mess of his end product.

Flekken remained busy throughout the first 45 minutes and he was on hand to keep out Cunhas half-volley from range before stopping Semedo from similar distance soon after.

Brentford had another chance to double their lead at the end of an entertaining first half when Wissa took a cross down down well and stabbed towards goal. Sa did not know much about it but did enough to keep the ball out.

Wolves came flying out of the traps in the second period and should have been on level terms as Munetsis ball across found an unmarked Goncalo Guedes but he could only scuff wide of the target.

Molineux erupted with 15 minutes to go with an equaliser.

A long ball up the field was headed down by Jorgen Strand Larsen and into the path of Munetsi who rifled past Flekken with a magnificent first-time finish from 20 yards into the top corner.
Former BBC executive and TV presenter Alan Yentob has died at the age of 78, his family has announced.

Yentob joined the BBC as a trainee in 1968 and held positions as controller of BBC One and BBC Two, director of television, head of music and arts, as well as the director of BBC drama, entertainment and childrens.

A statement from his family, released by the BBC, said Yentob died on Saturday May 24.

His wife Philippa Walker said: For Jacob, Bella and I every day with Alan held the promise of something unexpected. Our life was exciting, he was exciting.

Alan Yentob being made a CBE by the King (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

He was curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body. But more than that, he was the kindest of men and a profoundly moral man. He leaves in his wake a trail of love a mile wide.

During his tenure at BBC2, he was credited with the revitalisation of the channel with commissions like Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Dame Joanna Lumley, arts series The Late Show and Have I Got News For You, which later moved to BBC One.

He also launched CBBC and CBeebies.

His drama commissions included Middlemarch and Pride And Prejudice  which cemented actor Colin Firths status as a heartthrob  as well as Ballykissangel, and he also took the decision to cancel Spanish-set soap Eldorado in 1993.

He also previously edited and presented the arts documentary series Imagine from 2003.

Alan Yentob with an Emmy for the BBC show The Kumars At No42 (Rich Lee/PA)

In 2015 he stepped down as BBC creative director, saying at the time that his role at the charity Kids Company was a serious distraction.

Yentob, who was chairman of trustees at the charity, faced scrutiny over his role as well as claims he tried to influence coverage at the corporation of its troubles.

He always insisted there was no conflict of interest in his decision to call Newsnight about its investigation into Kids Company and had not abused my position at the BBC.

The BBCs director-general Tim Davie said: Alan Yentob was a towering figure in British broadcasting and the arts. A creative force and a cultural visionary, he shaped decades of programming at the BBC and beyond, with a passion for storytelling and public service that leave a lasting legacy.

For nearly 60 years Alan championed originality, risk-taking and artistic ambition. From Arena to Imagine, from commissioning groundbreaking drama to giving emerging voices a platform, his influence is woven into the fabric of British cultural life.

He believed profoundly in the BBCs role as a home for creativity, curiosity and the arts  accessible to all.

But Alan was more than a pioneering creative  he was an unforgettable presence. Engaging, witty and endlessly curious, he brought energy and warmth to every conversation. He was generous with his time, fierce in his convictions, and full of joy in the work of others.

To work with Alan was to be inspired and encouraged to think bigger. He had a rare gift for identifying talent and lifting others up  a mentor and champion to so many across the worlds of television, film and theatre.

Above all, Alan was a true original. His passion wasnt performative  it was personal. He believed in the power of culture to enrich, challenge and connect us.

We have lost one of the great creative spirits of our time. But his programmes, his voice, and the generations he inspired, will live on.

Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. Alan will be hugely missed as a friend, a colleague, and one of the defining figures in the story of British culture.

Yentob was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from De Montfort University, Leicester in 2005.

In 2024 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the King for services to the arts and media.

BBC Radio 4 presenter, Amol Rajan, paid tribute to Yentob with a video on Instagram and a caption that described him as such a unique and kind man: an improbable impresario from unlikely origins who became a towering figure in the culture of post-war Britain.

Alan Yentob held positions as controller of BBC One and BBC Two (Yui Mok/PA)

Modern Art never had a more loyal ally. His shows were always brilliant, often masterpieces, sometimes seminal. So much of Britains best TV over 5 decades came via his desk. That was public Alan. In private, he was magnetic, zealous, and very funny, with a mesmerising voice and mischievous chuckle.

He oozed fortitude until the very last.

He had his foibles and failures, but Alan Yentob was one of the most generous, influential, singular, passionate, supportive, creative and loved men of his generation.

John Simpson, presenter of the BBC News programme Unspun World, said on X: Very sad to hear that my good friend Alan Yentob has died. He was such good company, and a wonderful interviewer and documentary maker. I shall miss him greatly.

ITV News political editor, Robert Peston, also paid tribute to the late broadcaster, saying: I am sad to learn of the death of Alan Yentob. To have been so influential for so long at the BBC, through its many travails and changes of personnel, was quite remarkable, with no modern precedent. Sincere condolences to his family.

James Reatchlous, founder and executive chairman of Two Daughters Entertainment, where Yentob worked in the past few years as creative director and board director, said everyone there was devastated by the news.

Alan was a loyal friend, a passionate supporter of Two Daughters, and someone whose creativity, wisdom, and generosity of spirit had a profound influence on our company, he said.

His belief in our vision helped shape who we are today. Through his extraordinary career and deep relationships across the creative world, Alan brought remarkable talent into our orbit  including legends like Mel Brooks and Tim Rice, who joined recent projects thanks to his encouragement and belief in our work.

He will be deeply missed by everyone who knew and worked with him.
Were proud of her, and she did exactly what she was supposed to do, the girls jiu-jitsu instructor said. Photograph: LordHenriVoton/Getty Images

A 13-year-old California girl is reminding the public that knowing self-defense can save ones life after she reportedly used her martial arts training to fend off a stranger who tried to assault her  breaking the grown mans ankle in the process.

The girl, whose name has not been widely shared, recently had to fight to protect herself three years since she began attending jiu-jitsu classes in Carmel, California, about 75 miles (120km) from San Jose, the local news station KSBW reported.

Her jiu-jitsu instructor, Michael Blackburn, told the outlet that the teen was walking home from school on 6 May when a man she did not know stepped out from between two parked cars and tried to punch her in the face.

The girl immediately turned to her training to defend herself, as Blackburn put it.

She punched him, she  got him in a headlock, kneed him a couple of times, spun him around, threw him on the ground, said Blackburn, who teaches jiu-jitsu at the Carmel Youth Center. And she had stepped on his foot doing all this  and when she threw him to the ground, she broke his ankle.

The girl managed to run home safely. Meanwhile, her assailant fled. Police were not immediately able to identify a suspect in the foiled attack  and asked anyone in the quaint beach community with a population of about 3,100 to come forward if they had potentially helpful information.

Were doing everything we can to figure out who this person [is who] is responsible for what happened, the local police department commander, Todd Trayer, told KSBW.

Trayer added that investigators surmise the man may have been under the influence of an intoxicant or dealing with some other personal issues.

Blackburn, for his part, said it broke his heart that his student was forced to face down such danger. However, he said to KSBW, he was grateful his student had mastered how to protect herself with jiu-jitsu, a Japanese style of weaponless fighting that emphasizes subduing opponents with holds, throws and paralyzing strikes.

Were proud of her, and she did exactly what she was supposed to do, Blackburn said. You have to fight in class like youre going to protect yourself on the street.

The girl said she hopes her story inspires others to learn self-defense, according to KSBW.

Meanwhile, though they were shocked that one of their own could endure such frightening circumstances, residents said they indeed found inspiration in the girls bravery.

I think it was amazing what she did, longtime Carmel resident Richard Cushman said to KION, another local news outlet. Its fantastic, but its horrible what happened.

The Carmel Youth Centers chief executive officer, Keith Padgett, added to KION that the girl had authored a great story of survival.

A young person taking charge of their life and not letting anything happen to them  its a sad story but a great ending, Padgett remarked.
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of betraying the islanders as he signed away their homeland after 200 years of British rule - Belinda Jiao

Chagossian migrants are moving to Britain en masse over Sir Keir Starmers deal to hand their homeland over to Mauritius.

Major airports have seen a significant influx of incoming families over recent months, many of whom appear to have rushed through their decision to move to the UK.

One council has warned that dealing with the surge will require financial support from the Government.

Chagossians were granted British citizenship by Sir Tony Blair in 2002, meaning that they have the right to move to live and work in the UK.

Sir Keir was this week accused of betraying the islanders as he signed away the Indian Ocean archipelago after 200 years of British rule. Under the deal, No 10 has handed control of the islands to Mauritius, which has never previously owned them and is 1,500 miles distant.

Britain will then lease back the biggest island, Diego Garcia, which is home to a joint UK-US military base, for 99 years at a cost of 30 billion.

The pact has attracted criticism over both security concerns and the lack of consultation with Chagossians who hope to ultimately move home.

Hillingdon Council, which covers Heathrow, said it had seen a surge in Chagossians arriving since talks on the deal started in October.

It said that some 187 people from the islands arrived in the last quarter of last year, whilst a further 156 have come in since the beginning of this year.

Many are arriving without any plans for employment or housing, suggesting that they have chosen to leave in a hurry over concerns about their future.

The revelations will prove embarrassing for Downing Street and will further add to negative publicity around the deal, which critics say was unnecessary.

An 11th-hour appeal to halt Starmers Chagos deal failed at the Royal Courts of Justice on Thursday - Belinda Jiao for The Telegraph

Cllr Ian Edwards, the leader of Tory-run Hillingdon, said the influx was so great that it needed more support from the Government to cover its costs.

He said that anecdotal evidence from those arriving was that they had left Mauritius because of the decision around the transfer of the Chagos Islands.

Increasingly we are hearing, and its being evidenced, that they dont wish to become Mauritian citizens so the alternative is come to the UK, he said.

Chagossians were awarded British citizenship in recognition of the fact that they were forced to leave their homeland in the 1960s to make way for the Diego Garcia military base. Many of those evicted moved to Mauritius, with others going to the Seychelles.

Hillingdon Council said it was seeing a significant number of families arrive from the Chagos Islands via Heathrow without onward travel plans and seeking housing support.

Because they are British citizens the council has a duty to provide them with support, but central funding only covers 10 days of housing costs.

Many families are having to be put up in private rented accommodation for six months or more until they have settled, with the council picking up the tab  projected to be 1.2 million a year with further arrivals expected.

It is understood that significant numbers of Chagossians have also been arriving at Manchester and Gatwick airports in recent months.

A government spokesman said: We work in partnership with local authorities to ensure they are able to support arrivals in their area.

Government funding is available to support local authorities in circumstances where arrival numbers are creating local pressures that are unmanageable within normal local contingency arrangements.

While some Chagossians have opposed the handing over of the archipelago others based in Mauritius have supported the agreement.

The Mauritius based Chagos Refugees Group said in response to the deal that the majority of island-born Chagossians and their descendants backed it.

Olivier Bancoult, its president, said: This agreement marks the end of colonial occupation, but it must not herald the start of a new silence.

Alongside Mauritian sovereignty, there must now be clear guarantees for Chagossian rights  for memory, for justice, and above all, for the future.

Mauritius passed a law in 2021 which criminalised misrepresenting the sovereignty of Mauritius over any part of its territory including Chagos.
Keir Starmers personal favourability rating was -31 in May, down 38 points since the election. Composite: PA / The Guardian / Guardian design

Opinion polls dont always provide a precise picture of voters mood  and the next general election is still four years away. But Labour strategists will doubtless be poring over the data, and its not pretty.

Analysis by the Guardian found Labours drop in the opinion polls in its first 10 months of power is the largest of any newly elected UK government in 40 years.

Whether it is losing a majority of the seats it contested in the local elections or dropping behind Reform UK in recent polling, there are several warning signs that Labour is facing an increasingly disenchanted public.

Strategists are split on the significance of the poll ratings so early into the term, and whether this will prove to be a permanent blot against Keir Starmers government or whether it can bounce back with a few years of gradual improvement.

However, as Labours poll ratings slip further  the latest monthly polling average put the party on 23% in May  concerns are growing that time is already running out.

There have only been two other times in the last 40 years when Labour has been so unpopular: in 2009, when Gordon Brown was dealing with the financial crash a year before he was ousted from government, and in 2019, when Jeremy Corbyn was months away from being defeated by Boris Johnson in a landslide election result.

The slip in polling ratings for Labour since the 2024 general election is the worst for any government since 1983, when data from PollBase begins. Labour has dropped from polling at 37.5% in July 2024 to 25.2% in March 2025  a fall of 12.3 points in just eight months.

Before this, the biggest recorded drop in popularity for a new government was in 1992, when John Majors Conservatives fell 7.7 points in 10 months.

One glimmer of hope for Starmer is that the Conservatives have failed to capitalise in any meaningful way, gaining just 1.5 points. The main beneficiary of this lack of trust in the two main parties has been Nigel Farages Reform UK.

Aside from the party positions in the polls, the ratings for the prime minister himself are also worrying. Starmers favourability rating was -31 in May, according to data from Ipsoss Political Pulse. While that was a slight improvement on February, it was still one of his lowest ratings since becoming prime minister.

Starmers drop in favourability across the 10 months since the general election, of 38 points, is similar to that of Boris Johnson in the 10 months to February 2022, at the height of the Partygate scandal. This ultimately led to Johnson having to resign as prime minister, and the Conservatives never really recovered their poll ratings after that.

Ipsoss director of politics, Keiran Pedley, said: With up to four years until the next general election, a comeback is certainly possible. However, if Starmer wants to remain in No 10 beyond that election, he will have to persuade the public his government is delivering on key issues like the economy, cost of living and public services and that Labours plans for the future, above others, are the right ones for Britain.

Polling on policy areas also makes for troubling reading for the government. Data from YouGov shows that the public think immigration, the economy and health are the three biggest problems facing the UK in May. Crime, defence and housing are next on the list.

The proportion of the public who think Labour can handle each of these six problems the best has dropped since the party took power. The biggest drops were recorded in health, housing and the economy. Each of these are areas that Starmer identified as ones he wanted his government to improve, but so far the public remain unconvinced.

In July 2024, 29% of people thought Labour would handle the economy best; now that proportion is now just 16%. Labour is now behind both the Conservatives and other parties collectively on the economy. YouGov did not break out support for Reform in these policy areas, but it can be assumed that the recent rise in support for other parties can be in part attributable to its rise in support.

Joe Twyman, the founder and director of the public opinion consultancy Deltapoll, said: If Labour are going to restore their position in the polls, they need to restore trust in these key areas. At the moment theyre not  but at the same time, it could be reasonably argued that no party really is. This is a problem but also an opportunity for them.

Labour is not winning the blame game on the economy  something that it put a lot of emphasis on in its early days of power with the chancellor Rachel Reeves claims of a 22bn hole of unfunded commitments for 2024.

Among those who view the economy negatively, Ipsos polling shows that the decisions of Starmer and Reeves are seen as the biggest contributing factor (56%)  more significant than the Covid-19 pandemic and Russias invasion of Ukraine.

When looking at where Labours 2024 voting coalition is at now, we can see why there may be confusion about how to target these voters. Different polling companies have slightly different figures on this, but one thing is clear: the Liberal Democrats and Reform are each claiming about one-tenth of Labours 2024 voters. The Greens are polling at about 5-10% among this voting group, and the Conservatives are picking up a nominal amount.

Losing votes in three directions  to the left, the right and to the centre  presents a significant challenge for Labour, in that there is not a clear way to easily target the voters it is losing.

Polling experts agree that the fall in ratings across the board  whether its about parties, personalities or policies  is cause for concern.

Prof Sir John Curtice, of the University of Strathclyde, said: You need to define what a government is about. Starmer has come into government posing as your friendly neighbourhood plumber. Hes said hes going to repair broken pipes of the economy, fix the broken heating of the health system. The trouble is, the public wants an architect who will have a vision to build a new building, rather than fixing the old.

He argued that while Labour is losing voters, there is still hope  if the party can find a way to position itself where it wants to be.

The world is different  in a world of five-party politics, you might only need 30% to win a general election, he said. If the plumber can eventually fix things in three or four years, people might be sufficiently happy that they return. In the meantime, you have Farage voicing peoples discontent.
Convicted criminals doing painting and decorating. Community-based sentences should  have a positive impact on recidivism. Photograph: Roger Bamber/Alamy

Re your article (Judges told to favour community alternatives over short prison sentences, 20 May), those given short custodial sentences risk losing their job and home, and there can be a negative impact on family relationships. Being released from prison homeless, unemployed and estranged from family increases the chances of reoffending. Community-based sentences should reduce this and have a positive impact on recidivism.

Judith Feline

Former governor, HMP Maidstone, Kent

 I couldnt agree more with Patrick Grant (Buy less!: why Sewing Bees Patrick Grant wants us to stop shopping, 19 May). In 2018, I started an experiment to not buy any clothes for a year  it lasted three years, well into the pandemic. I had begun the new year with throwing out 19 pairs of shoes, all with some disrepair. I now buy very few new things. Buying quality is the key, rather than fashionable items. Oxfam will give you a 5 Marks & Spencer voucher if you donate at least one item of M&S clothing.

Angela Vnoucek

Shrewsbury, Shropshire

 Instead of demolishing the 25m Brexit food control post in Portsmouth (Report, 31 May), perhaps it could be used to store all the red tape created for UK businesses as a result of Boris Johnsons Brexit deal. A museum dedicated to Brexit.

Paresh Motla

Thame, Oxfordshire

 Melanie van Niekirks letter (23 May) brought a smile to my face and reminded me of the time when discussing saucepans, my wife asked our friend how he finds his induction hob? In the kitchen on the left as soon as you enter, was his prompt repost.

Dr Guru Singh

Loughborough, Leicestershire

 Have an opinion on anything youve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Ukrainian firefighters at work after a massive Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv. Photograph: AP

Ukraine has condemned US silence after Russia carried out its largest air raid in three years of war, with a second straight night of massive drone and ballistic missile strikes killing at least 12 people, including three children.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the US to speak out against the Russian attacks, after Ukrainian officials confirmed Moscow had launched 298 drones and 69 missiles in multiple waves on sites across the country.

The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin, Ukraines president wrote on Telegram. Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia.

Russias defence ministry said its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Related: US silence as Russia steps up attacks on Ukraine highlights Trumps failure

The attacks came as the two countries completed their biggest prisoner swap since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with 1,000 captured soldiers and civilian prisoners exchanged by each side.

The scale of the latest aerial assault on Ukraine, and the number of civilian victims, prompted the EUs top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, to call for the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war.

She said on X: Last nights attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine. Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed  We need the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war.

Kallas was echoed by Estonias foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna. Another night of Russia demonstrating its ongoing aim to wipe Ukraine off the map with swarms of drones & missiles  including ballistic ones. Putin continues this until the pressure becomes unbearable. Its in our hands to make him stop, he wrote on X.

Keith Kellogg, the USs special envoy for Ukraine, condemned the attacks but without any mention of Russia or Putin. The indiscriminate killing of women and children at night in their homes is a clear violation of the 1977 Geneva peace protocols designed to protect innocents. These attacks are shameful. Stop the killing. Ceasefire now, he wrote on X.

Late on Sunday, Donald Trump expressed deep unhappiness at the bombing of Ukraine, saying: Im not happy with Putin.

I dont know whats wrong with him. What the hell happened to him? Right? Hes killing a lot of people. Im not happy about that, Trump told reporters at the airport in Morristown, New Jersey, as he prepared to return to Washington.

Asked if he was considering more sanctions on Russia, Trump replied: Absolutely.

Russian strikes hit locations across Ukraine on Saturday night into Sunday, from the southern coast and east to the west. Four people were reported dead in the western Khmelnytskyi region, four in the Kyiv region and one in Mykolaiv in the south.

In Markhalivka village, just south-west of Kyiv, where most of a residential street was destroyed, Tetiana Iankovska, 65, told AFP: We saw the whole street was on fire.

Another retiree who survived the strikes, Oleskandr, 64, said he had no faith in diplomacy. We dont need talks but weapons, a lot of weapons, to stop them [the Russians]. Because Russia understands only force, nothing else, he said.

Emergency services said four people were killed and 16 injured in the Kyiv region, including three children, in the massive night attack. The children were later identified as siblings: Stanislav, Roman and Tamara Martyniuk, who died when their family home in Zhytomyr region was struck.

Kyivs mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of its outside walls was on fire.

Odesa, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Konotop, Chernihiv, Ternopil and Kharkiv were also hit, according to local media reports.

The intensity and frequency of this weekends strikes contrasted sharply with Trumps claim that Vladimir Putin was interested in peace.

The attacks meant Kyiv Day  celebrated on the last Sunday in May  began with exhausted people sheltered in bunkers, metro stations and basements.

With waves of drones beginning at about midnight on Saturday, accompanied by warnings of ballistic missile launches as the night wore on, a Guardian reporter in Kyiv heard three drones reach the centre of the city, despite action by air defences, and the sound of loud detonations.

There are claims that Russia has upgraded its missiles with radar decoys and evasive tactics to make them harder to intercept by Ukraines air defence systems.

Russian authorities reported that a dozen drones flying towards Moscow had been shot down.

Related: In Ukraine, I saw Trumps peace deal wouldnt just trade away land  but lives, memories and homes | Timothy Garton Ash

The attack on Kyiv began with Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the citys military administration, warning the night will not be easy as residents tracked waves of launches on air raid warning apps.

At one point, Tkachenko reported more than a dozen Russian drones were flying around the capital. Some of the drones over Kyiv and the surrounding area have already been dealt with. But the new ones are still entering the capital, he posted.

Ukraine and its European allies have sought to push Moscow into signing a 30-day ceasefire as a first step to negotiating an end to the war. In a blow to their efforts, Trump this week declined to place further sanctions on Moscow for not agreeing to an immediate pause in fighting, as Kyiv had wanted.

Zelenskyys chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram: Without pressure, nothing will change and Russia and its allies will only build up forces for such murders in western countries. Moscow will fight as long as it has the ability to produce weapons.
President Donald Trump

When Donald Trump dispatched State Department officials to Britain to investigate free speech, their meetings with officials and scrutiny of the Online Safety Act were noted. It has now been revealed that they also met campaigners arrested for silent protests outside abortion clinics.

It is easy to see how such arrests would trigger concern among US Republicans, and indeed among many in Britain regardless of their views on abortion. As the Metropolitan Polices arrest of a Jewish man for holding a sign satirising Hezbollah has demonstrated, our officers cannot be trusted to police political speech fairly.

As politicians are fond of noting, the Western alliance is built on shared values, and freedom of expression is at least in theory held in common esteem by the United Kingdom and the United States. Yet while the UK has signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights and the US has not, it is in the UK that human rights law has narrowed its focus to the interests of criminals and the undermining of borders while free expression is eroded by politicians trying to maintain a grip on a country they have made almost ungovernable.

The virtue of free speech is that good ideas can compete with bad. There is no guarantee that they will win. Equally, there is no guarantee that ideas we currently dismiss hold no merit; the attempts at establishing an official truth during the Covid pandemic, and the frequency with which the expert class was proved wrong, should attest to that. The process of distributed truth-seeking in the public sphere may not always succeed, but it is likely to do so far more frequently than a system operated solely by the centre.

More to the point, it is damaging not only to the legitimacy of a democratic system for its survival to be based on increasingly strict policing of thought and communication, but also to its stability. Had British politicians heeded concerns earlier, we would not be in our current mess. Ignoring feedback allowed errors to mount, with the result that rectification is now proving difficult and costly.

It is still necessary. If the country Westminster has built is so fragile that social media posts can shake its foundations, the solution is not to curb the rights of the population but to understand how Britain has been destabilised, and how it can be fixed. It is shameful that this may only be recognised after the embarrassment of international investigations.
26 May 2025 at 0:01 am

The state department would not say whether a visa exception would be made for Israeli students - SGSAN/The Mega Agency

Dozens of Israeli students risk being thrown out of the US following Donald Trumps move to bar foreigners from enrolling at Harvard University.

Foreign students would lose their legal status if they did not transfer to another university, the department of homeland security (DHS) said last week.

The DHS previously threatened Harvard with the move if the university did not change its hiring, admissions and teaching practices to fight anti-Semitism.

The department also claimed the university created an unsafe campus by failing to address the issue.

The state department, which is responsible for issuing visas, declined to say whether an exception would be made for Israeli students.

The administrations plan is currently on hold following a legal challenge by Harvard and a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the judge hearing the case.

There are 160 Israelis enrolled in academic programmes at Harvard. It is understood that around 80 are likely to be affected by a revocation of visas.

Trumps move could substantially harm the very Jewish students and scholars it purports to protect, says Rabbi Jason Rubenstein

Critics argued Mr Trumps move against the university, after he froze more than $2 billion (1.5 billion) of federal funding in April, would harm the Jewish students he claimed to be protecting.

Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, head of Harvard Hillel, the universitys Jewish hub, said it meant veterans of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) could lose their visas as a result of the decision.

The current, escalating federal assault against Harvard  is neither focused nor measured, and stands to substantially harm the very Jewish students and scholars it purports to protect, he told Jewish Insider.

Barak Sella, an Israeli academic at Harvard, said the move would damage the entire higher education system and do little to tackle anti-Semitism on college campuses.

Never did any Jewish [organisation] ask to ban the ability to accept foreign students, especially when a lot of the anti-Semitism is perpetrated by American citizens, he said.

Allison Burroughs, a judge in Boston, Massachusetts, issued the TRO against the governments move on Friday, saying Harvard had shown it would cause immediate and irreparable injury.

Donald Trump is bullying Americas oldest university into surrendering its academic independence, says Harvards president Alan Garber

The university had argued earlier in the week that Mr Trump had sought to erase a quarter of Harvards student body with the stroke of a pen.

Alan Garber, the president of Harvard, claimed in an open letter that the effort to bar international students was part of a series of measures by Mr Trump to bully Americas oldest university into surrendering its academic independence.

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said the Trump administration was holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, anti-Semitism and co-ordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.

She continued: Harvard had plenty of opportunities to do the right thing. It refused.

They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Programme certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law.

Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.

A state department spokesman said: The Trump administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process.

We cannot preview future visa-related decisions, which are made on a case-by-case basis, based on the individual facts relevant to the case.

The DHS has been approached for comment.
The families of those killed in a Chinook helicopter crash on the Mull of Kintyre in 1994 have demanded the release of documents that have been sealed for 100 years, saying they deserve answers about what really happened.

RAF Chinook ZD576 was carrying 25 British intelligence personnel from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to a conference at Fort George near Inverness when it crashed in foggy weather on June 2, 1994.

All 25 passengers  made up of personnel from MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army  were killed, along with the helicopters four crew members.

The incident remains one of the RAFs worst peacetime losses of life.

Nearly 31 years on from the crash, many of the bereaved families have written an open letter to the Government renewing calls for a public inquiry into the incident.

They have also called for the full release of documents that have been locked away until 2094 by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), something revealed in a BBC documentary last year.

Andy Tobias, who was eight when his father Lt Col John Tobias, 41, was killed, said the secrecy raises questions about what really happened.

I lost my father, and part of my childhood, because he was put on board a helicopter that had been deemed unairworthy and should never have taken off, he said, speaking publicly about the incident for the first time.

In my view, its nothing short of corporate manslaughter.

I have tried for many years to put this crash, and my familys unnecessary loss, behind me  but learning that the MoD has sealed away the archive until after all of us will be long gone seriously raises my concerns about what really happened and who knew what.

Why the secrecy? Why did my father and 28 others die? We want answers.

Following the crash, the Chinooks pilots, Flight Lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, were accused of gross negligence, but this verdict was overturned by the UK Government 17 years later, following a campaign by the families.

Andy Tobias, right, with brother Matt and father Lt Col John Tobias, who was killed in the crash aged 41 (Chinook Justice Campaign/PA)

A subsequent review by Lord Philip set out numerous concerns raised by those who worked on the Chinooks, with the MoDs testing centre at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire declaring the Chinook Mk2 helicopters unairworthy prior to the crash.

Esme Sparks, who was just seven when her father Major Gary Sparks lost his life, said it had been a shock to learn about the existence of the documents.

Why on earth would they be sealed for so long if there was not something being hidden? Who or what is being protected?, she said, also speaking publicly for the first time.

My whole family wants answers and action because my daddy was denied his right to life  put in danger by the MoD on an aircraft deemed not airworthy.

We are furious that the Government and the MoD is refusing to listen or to meet us.

Our request for a meeting with the defence minister was summarily dismissed with platitudes. What happened to their duty of candour promises?

The open letter states the Chinook Justice Campaign  which includes most of the bereaved families  formally requested a public inquiry on October 9 2024, but that this was rejected by the minister for veterans and people Alistair Carns on December 17.

Esme Sparks, right, with her brother Paddy, left, sister Lucy and father Major Gary Sparks (Chinook Justice Campaign/PA)

It adds that the minister has not yet responded to a subsequent request for a meeting.

The letter also describes the huge concern and upset the sealed documents have caused to the bereaved families.

The papers will not be released until 2094, long after the spouses and children of those killed have themselves passed away, it states.

It is unbearable to us as bereaved families to know that this sealed information could give us the answers we need.

The letter adds: Wives, children, and families left behind deserve answers about why our loved ones never came home.

They would never have boarded the helicopter had they known it was not airworthy.

They would have had long, full lives and would have lived to see their children and grandchildren grow up.

An MoD spokesperson said: The Mull of Kintyre crash was a tragic accident and our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died.
The federal judges plan would move security personnel away from the Department of Justice, led by Pam Bondi. Photograph: Abaca/Rex/Shutterstock

Federal judges are discussing a proposal that would shift the armed security personnel responsible for their safety away from the Department of Justice (DoJ) and under their own control, as fears mount that the Trump administration is failing to protect them from a rising tide of hostility.

The Wall Street Journal revealed on Sunday that the idea of creating their own armed security detail emerged at a meeting of about 50 federal judges two months ago. A security committee at the twice-yearly judicial conference, a policymaking body for federal judges, raised concerns about the increasing number of threats against judges following Trumps relentless criticism of court rulings against his policies.

Related: US judges who rule against Trump are being barraged with abuse and threats, experts warn

Under the current system, federal judges are protected by the US Marshals Service, which is managed by the justice department. According to the Wall Street Journal, those participating at the March conference expressed worries that Trump might instruct the marshals to withdraw security protection from a judge who ruled against him.

Amid those anxieties, the idea surfaced that federal judges should form their own armed security force. That would involve bringing the US Marshals Service under the direct control of the head of the judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts.

At present, marshals fall under the remit of Pam Bondi, the US attorney general. Bondi was appointed by the president and is a Trump loyalist.

She has made clear she will be guided by him  breaking a decades-long norm that kept the White House at arms length from the DoJ to ensure law enforcement and prosecutorial independence.

John Coughenour, a federal judge in the western district of Washington, told the Journal that he thought the transfer of the marshals out of Trumps and into judicial control was a wonderful idea. He added: Theres never been any reason in the 43 years that Ive been on the bench to worry that the Marshals Service would do whatever was appropriate  until recent years.

Coughenour is one of a growing number of judges who have faced security threats in the wake of Trumps deluge of invective. In February the judge issued an order blocking Trumps attempt to end birthright citizenship for children born on US soil to parents lacking legal status in the country.

The judge was then targeted by a swatting attack, in which a false emergency call is made to police and a Swat team is sent out to an individuals home in response.

Senior Democrats have demanded an investigation into a spate of dozens of pizza deliveries to the homes of federal judges. The actions are seen as intimidatory, as it shows judges that their private addresses are known.

Related: The authoritarian playbook: Trump targets judges, lawyers  and law itself

Federal judges have found themselves on the frontlines of constitutional battles over Trumps executive orders relating to such contentious issues as birthright citizenship, the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and the dismissal of tens of thousands of federal employees. So far, there have been 249 legal challenges to Trump administration actions, according to a Just Security tracker.

Trump has used his social media platform Truth Social to lash out at named judges who have blocked his policies on grounds that they violate the US constitution or law. When Judge James Boasberg objected to the deportation of Venezuelans to El Salvador in the absence of due process, the president called him a radical left lunatic and said he should be impeached. Boasberg was first appointed to the federal bench by Republican George W Bush.

The White House provided the Journal with a statement from the justice department. It said that marshals would continue to protect the safety and security of federal judges and that any other suggestion was absurd.
The Iranian director Jafar Panahi, winner of the Palme dOr, at the Cannes film festival. Photograph: Jp Pariente/SIPA/Shutterstock

French authorities have launched an investigation into a power blackout blamed on sabotage that affected at least 45,000 people, just a day after a similar outage disrupted the final day of the Cannes film festival.

Authorities in Nice said an electrical transformer had been set on fire in the west of the city in the early hours of Sunday, with power restored later in the day. A day earlier, a separate blaze, believed to have been started by arson, contributed to a power cut that hit Cannes.

The first power cut affected 160,000 households, knocking out traffic lights and cash machines throughout the French Riviera. Broadcaster BFMTV reported that the incident was made worse as three of the four pillars of an electricity pylon in the region had also been cut with a saw.

Writing on social media on Sunday, the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, said he strongly denounced the malicious acts. He said power had been quickly restored, with local and national police mobilised. He added that the city would make surveillance camera images available to investigators and would reinforce the camera network around the citys strategic electric sites.

Commenting on the power cuts that hit Cannes, before the latest fire, Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes region, told BFMTV there were certain elements that were not a coincidence but would not comment further, as an investigation led by the national prosecutors office was under way. He said authorities had taken additional security measures.

The power outage hit the Cannes film festival headquarters, interrupting several screenings, but the closing ceremony went ahead thanks to backup generators. The top prize was won by the dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi for his drama It Was Just an Accident, inspired by his time spent imprisoned by the Iranian regime.

Iranian authorities met the 64-year-old directors victory with silence, for his film in which five people confront the man they believe tortured them in prison. After winning the Palme dOr, Panahi, who has been jailed multiple times, made an appeal for national unity.

On Sunday, however, Iran summoned the French charge daffaires in Tehran over insulting comments made by Frances foreign minister.

Following the insulting remarks and unfounded allegations by the French minister  the charge daffaires of that country in Tehran has been summoned to the ministry, state news agency IRNA reported. Jean-Noel Barrot had called the film a gesture of resistance against the Iranian regimes oppression.

Authorities said they did not believe the power cuts were a specific threat against the Cannes film festival and have not commented on the possible perpetrators.

The rightwing French MEP Eric Ciotti, who represents the region in the national assembly, described the incidents as sabotage and terrorist acts. Ciotti, who was briefly leader of the mainstream rightwing Les Republicains party, said the damage was extremely serious and could endanger lives. These terrorist attacks must be fought relentlessly, he wrote on X.

European officials have said that criminal groups working for foreign powers, notably Russia, were behind a spate of acts of sabotage across the continent, such as fires in supermarkets and shopping centres, cyber-attacks, beatings and antisemitic graffiti.

As public awareness of sabotage has advanced, so purveyors of disinformation have sought to take advantage. Recent power outages in Spain were attributed to Russia in fake online articles. The causes of a recent blaze at an electricity substation in London that forced Heathrow airport to shut down, causing travel chaos, remains unknown, although suspicious activity has been ruled out.
Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said he wants complete control of the Gaza Strip - Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

The Israeli army said on Sunday that it planned to capture 75 per cent of Gaza and push Palestinian civilians into three designated zones.

Though Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has repeatedly said he wants to control the whole of the Gaza Strip, the armys announcement on Sunday offers the first details of a plan to boost its control from 40 per cent currently.

The army estimates it will take about two months to create three zones for civilians in Gaza; one in the Mawasi area along the southern coast; a second in Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat in central Gaza; and a third in and around Gaza City in the north.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say that about a million people reside in Gaza City, 700,000 in the Mawasi area and 300,000-350,000 in central Gaza.

The focus will also shift from trying to kill Hamas fighters to capturing their territory and destroying their infrastructure.

Though the move suggests a possible reduction in violence, the forcible displacement of civilians into designated spaces is unlikely to help repair relations with Israels allies, who in recent weeks have issued scathing criticism of its offensive.

The IDF said they have killed about 800 Hamas members since they launched an offensive against the terror group in early March.

An Israeli official told The Telegraph earlier this year that some 20,000 terrorists had been killed between Oct 7 and the ceasefire in January this year.

Around 25 per cent of the estimated 600 miles of tunnels in Gaza have been destroyed by the army since Oct 7, most of which, the army claims, were being used for offensive means and weapons manufacturing.

Many of the remaining tunnels are used by Hamas to move around Gaza, the army says.

On Sunday, IDF chief Eyal Zamir visited Khan Younis in southern Gaza, promising that the war wouldnt be endless.

An Israeli tank near the southern Israeli border with Gaza on May 20 - Xinhua/Shutterstock

You dismantled the Rafah Brigade  and now is the time to dismantle the Khan Yunis Brigade, Mr Zamir told Israeli soldiers.

Hamas is under immense pressure  it has lost most of its assets and its command and control. This is not an endless war  we aim to end it by achieving its objectives. Were aiming for the decisive defeat of Hamas, he added.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by Israel and the US, is expected to begin operating in southern Gaza on Monday, where Israel is building three Hamas free distribution zones.

A fourth distribution site will be located in the Netzarim Corridor area of central Gaza. Israel estimates that each site will be able to serve 300,000 Palestinians each week, with a representative of a Palestinian family collecting a food supply for five days from the GHF.
Jussie Smollett talks to media before leaving court in Chicago in 2019. Photograph: Paul Beaty/AP

Jussie Smollett, the actor who claimed to be a victim of a 2019 hate crime but was later charged with having staged the attack, has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against him by the city of Chicago with a donation to charity.

The actor said on a post on Instagram that he made a $50,000 donation to the Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts, a Chicago-based non-profit that works with art and city youth. He will additionally make a $10,000 donation to the Chicago Torture Justice Center, which helps victims of abuse by Chicago police.

Every dollar we receive goes towards repairing decades of racialized state violence by providing no-cost therapy, a community space, an organizing home, and other services to survivors of police torture and violence, the Chicago Torture Justice Center said in an Instagram post confirming Smolletts donation. This generous donation from Mr Smollett is so meaningful and deeply impactful.

This settlement brings to an end a six-year-long legal battle between Chicago and Smollett, in which the city sought to recuperate funds used to investigate Smolletts claims.

Smollett, a Black and gay actor well-known for his performance in the television show Empire, said in 2019 that two masked men in Chicago jumped him, poured bleach on him, placed a rope around his neck, and called him homophobic and racist slurs. But two extras from his show told police the actor had paid them to stage the attack.

Smollett was charged with disorderly conduct for falsely saying he was the victim of a hate crime. All charges were dropped after his legal team cut a deal with prosecutors  Smollett paid the city $10,000 and agreed to perform community service.

The city of Chicago, in turn, sued Smollett for the cost of the investigation, saying it totaled $130,000. Smollett counter-sued the city, denying he staged the attack.

Smollett was indicted in 2020 after the case was revived by a special prosecutor and was convicted of falsely reporting an attack. But in November, the supreme court of Illinois overturned the conviction , ruling the actor had been unjustly prosecuted after prosecutors had agreed to drop the charges in 2019 in exchange for Smollett agreeing to forfeit a $10,000 bond and perform 15 hours of community service.

Smollett continues to deny that he staged the attack.

Over six years ago, after it was reported I had been jumped, City Officials in Chicago set out to convince the public that I willfully set [up] an assault against myself, Smollett wrote on Instagram on Friday. This false narrative has left a stain on my character that will not soon disappear.

Smollett also claimed that he had been exonerated by the Illinois Supreme Court, but the judges wrote that they decided to overturn the case based on the procedural issue of a due process violation, and made no finding on the underlying facts in the case.
Kamala Harris at the Australian Real Estate Conference on the Gold Coast. She criticised Elon Musk without naming the Tesla CEO. Photograph: Social Focus Media

Kamala Harris has criticised Elon Musk, noted its important that we remember the 1930s and raised concerns about AI when speaking to an audience of 4,500 real estate agents at an industry conference on the Gold Coast.

The former US vice-president, who is visiting Australia for the first time, was the guest of honour at the 2025 Australian Real Estate Conference on Sunday.

She was interviewed for an hour on stage by the real estate industry veteran John McGrath.

Without naming Musk, she cited the Trump administration adviser as an example of a person holding this misplaced idea that the sign of the strength of a leader is who you beat down.

Related: Expert calls Musks Doge involvement one of the greatest brand destructions

There was someone that is very popular these days, at least in the press, who suggested that it is a sign of the weakness of western civilisations to have empathy, she said.

Imagine. No, its a sign of strength to have some level of curiosity and concern and care about the wellbeing of others.

Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, criticised Harriss Democratic administration and its attitude to immigrants in an interview with the podcaster Joe Rogan released in March.

The fundamental weakness of western civilisation is empathy, the empathy exploit, Musk said. Theyre exploiting a bug in western civilisation, which is the empathy response.

Introduced by McGrath as one of the most successful women in history with her best work ahead of her, Harris joked: I am unemployed right now. She walked on and off the stage to a standing ovation and the strains of Beyonces Halo.

Harris spoke about her upbringing and career. She shared anecdotes from her time as California attorney general negotiating with the JP Morgan Chase chief executive, Jamie Dimon.

She did not mention by name Donald Trump, or JD Vance, or her narrow defeat at Novembers US presidential election.

Harris concluded with thinly veiled remarks about the new US administrations foreign and trade policies.

I do worry, frankly, about whats happening right now in the world, she said.

I do worry that it is important that we remember history. Its important that we remember the 1930s. Its important that we remember that history has taught us that isolation does not equal insulation

It is important that we understand and remember history, which taught us the interdependence and interconnection between nations.

History that has taught us the importance of relationships of trust, of the importance of friendships, integrity, honesty.

She tried to turn personal anecdotes  many taken from her 2019 book  into life lessons for those attending the conference.

Harris said she had often become the first woman in a job  despite discouragement.

I dont hear no. I eat no for breakfast. I dont hear no until maybe the tenth time. I cant begin to tell you the number of times it has been explicitly or implicitly said to me  its not your time. Youre not ready, theyre not ready.

Related: Biden destroyed Harris bid by staying in race too long, top adviser says in book

Dont you listen. And this is again what I mean about applauding ambition.

She said Americans distrusted AI because it threatened jobs and risked spreading misinformation.

It is important to celebrate innovation but, again this may be just the prosecutor in me, one must ask also: are there vulnerable people and are we doing what we can to ensure theyre safe?

Other speakers at the conference included the British entrepreneur and podcaster Steven Bartlett and the Sydney real estate agent David Walker.

AREC is being held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. It runs until Monday. Organisers would not disclose how much speakers were paid.
25 May 2025 at 2:01 am

Decades of waste and bureaucracy are being ended on Britains railways, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander declared, as a renationalisation programme begins.

Services previously run by South Western Railway (SWR) are the first to be brought under public control by the Labour Government on Sunday.

They are now the responsibility of DfT (Department for Transport) Operator.

All other services run by private companies will be renationalised as contracts reach the end of their minimum terms.

The next operators services to be brought under public control will be c2c  which runs between London and Essex  on July 20, with Greater Anglia being renationalised in October.

The process is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027.

Britains railway services were privatised in the mid-1990s.

On a visit to a train depot in Bournemouth earlier this week, Ms Alexander said: I really do feel that this is a new dawn for our railways.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said weve always been clear that public ownership isnt a silver bullet (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Were going to wave goodbye to 30 years worth of inefficiency, waste, passenger frustration, and were going to step really confidently towards a new future for the railways.

Of course, change isnt going to happen overnight.

Weve always been clear that public ownership isnt a silver bullet, but we are really firing this starting gun in that race for a truly 21st-century railway, and that does mean refocusing away from private profit and towards the public good.

She added: We will sweep away those decades of waste and bureaucracy, and we really, really will deliver great services for Britains travelling public.

The new Great British Railways branding includes a union flag and the double arrow rail logo (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Office of Rail and Road (ORR) figures show the equivalent of 4% of services in Britain were cancelled in the year to April 26.

For SWR, the figure was 3%.

Renationalised services will be integrated into Great British Railways (GBR), a new public sector body which will also oversee rail infrastructure.

Legislation to enable the creation of GBR is expected to be introduced in Parliament later this year.

Shadow GBR has been established to ensure closer collaboration within the industry.

Richard Bowker, former boss of the Strategic Rail Authority, which was a public body providing strategic direction for the industry between 2001 and 2005, said it is quite easy to be sceptical about the overhaul but he believes there is real potential here for things to get better.

South Western Railway's train services will be the first to come under public control next year under the new Public Ownership Act. We're committed to creating a reliable rail network that puts customers first. pic.twitter.com/efFVzFbWYC  Department for Transport (@transportgovuk) December 4, 2024

Mr Bowker, who presents rail podcast Green Signals, went on: It has become overly complex, and I think bringing together track and train more now is a pragmatic and sensible thing to do.

The key with this will not really be who owns it. Are the people that are going to be running it day to day going to be genuinely empowered to make the right decisions to run the railway?

Weve got plenty of very, very able managers, but over the last five years  particularly since Covid when franchises effectively went bust and national rail contracts were put in place  there has been a huge amount of centralised control, and its quite stifling.

Johnbosco Nwogbo, of public ownership campaign group We Own It, said: Today is a great day for passengers because our railway is finally beginning its journey back to putting us, our communities and our planet before the profits of private shareholders.

But the job is not yet done. The Government still has to get public ownership right, so that it really delivers for people.

PA news agency analysis found the renationalisation of SWR services means a third of journeys are on publicly owned services.

That is based on the ORRs passenger journey data for 2024.

Services that were already under public ownership are LNER, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express.

GBR branding has been added to one train previously operated by SWR.

It features part of a union flag, the double arrow symbol that is synonymous with Britains railways, and the words Great British Railways coming soon.

Ms Alexander meets local school children during a visit to the South Western Railway Bournemouth Traincare Depot (Andrew Matthews/PA)

More trains will be given the branding over the coming months and years.

But the DfT said publicly owned services will need to meet tough performance standards to be rebranded Great British Railways.

These standards will cover factors such as punctuality, reliability and the experience of passengers.

The DfT said its renationalisation policy will save taxpayers up to 150 million per year in fees previously paid to private companies which ran services.

The first SWR service under public ownership on Sunday will be a rail replacement bus.

Following the implementation of renationalisation at 2am, passengers travelling on the 5.36am service from Woking to London Waterloo will change onto a bus at Surbiton because of engineering work.

Ms Alexander is expected to travel on the first renationalised service from London Waterloo, which will be the 6.14am train to Shepperton, Surrey.
Many home workers may soon be on a video conference mode all day - Gary Burchell

Home workers are being kept under watch almost constantly by some companies through a form of video monitoring partly designed to prevent staff from slacking.

The practice, known as body doubling, encourages remote workers to remain on all-day video calls with one or more colleagues, essentially carrying out their tasks in the presence of others.

While they do not necessarily need to interact, the on-screen presence of others allows employers to have more oversight over staff and ensure they remain at their desks.

Originally developed as a support tool for children with ADHD, body doubling is now being promoted by some human resources departments as an aid for adults who work from home.

Employers experimenting with the system have reported that it improved the output of home workers.

Advocates also claimed it can reduce feelings of isolation among staff.



A study by the University of East London, which surveyed 101 users of the virtual co-working platform Flown, found that the majority said the method improved concentration and productivity.

Alice Lang, a senior digital PR executive at Marketing Signals, uses body doubling twice a week. I love working remotely and appreciate the flexibility it brings, but I do sometimes miss the everyday chat that comes with an office, she told The Times.

Body doubling feels like the perfect middle ground for people like me. I still get to work from home, but with some company when I need it. Its also been great for keeping me focused, especially on days when motivation is a bit low.

However, one remote worker at a firm that recently introduced body doubling said it smacked of Big Brother.

The employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said: Sometimes it feels a bit much. I dont really want someone monitoring my every move. It can feel quite Big Brother-y being watched in your own home for hours at a time.

William Arruda, a workplace consultant, said the system has its pitfalls.

He said employees could fall into the chit-chat trap, adding there was also the potential for privacy problems.

Mr Arruda said the model would not suit all employees and should be optional because some people thrive in silence and solitude.

He added: I do think it could feel a bit uncomfortable if it were something imposed by a company. Its nice having the flexibility to do it, or not, depending on how Im feeling.

The rise in working from home since the pandemic has repeatedly been blamed for Britains sluggish productivity growth.

Lord Rose, the former chairman of Asda, has claimed the rise in people working from home has set Britains economy back by 20 years.



In January, when asked if the UK could afford to work from home, Lord Rose told BBC Ones Panorama programme: I dont believe it can.

This country is in a parlous place, we have regressed in this country in terms of working practices, productivity and in terms of the countrys wellbeing, I think, by 20 years in the last four.

We are creating a whole generation and probably a generation beyond that of people who are used to actually not doing what I call proper work.

I believe that productivity is less good if you work from home. I believe that your personal development suffers, that youre not going to develop as well as you might if youve been in the workplace as long as I have.
The Royal Navy and RAF will soon be ready to put robots on the front line after a successful battlefield test of the technology, the Government has said.

The Ministry of Defence has spoken of rapid progress in developing combat uses for artificial intelligence-powered assistance for pilots and sailors following a five-day trial, the largest of its kind ever conducted.

One of the main uses of AI in the field will be automatic detection of targets and assistance commanding military vehicles.

The MoD has also said that using AI on the battlefield will also reduce cognitive load for service men and women. Cognitive load refers to the multiple systems that, for example, a pilot needs to pay attention.

A pilot in control of a plane is expected to fly, analyse potential threats and manage communication systems. The Government claims the AI-powered battlefield tech that was successfully tested will be able to do much of this, reducing the pilots cognitive load.

The trial, which took place in early March in Portland Harbour, Dorset, involved relying on AI in several mission-based scenarios and testing its effectiveness compared to human combatants.

It raises the prospect of robotic combatants eventually replacing human roles in parts of the Armed Forces, though sources said the possibility was still a little way away.

The trial came under the remit of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership between Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

American and Australian military experts were also present during the practice missions, though no representatives from Canada or New Zealand attended.

Maria Eagle, the Defence Minister, suggested that after the successful trial the new technology could soon be deployed on the front line.

Maria Eagle said AI has the potential to impact enhance our war-fighting ability - Andrew Milligan/PA

Defence experts in government have also said the rollout of AI on the battlefield will give British forces operational advantage and improve mission success.

AI and drone technology are expected to feature prominently in this years Strategic Defence Review, which will set out equipment and manpower priorities for the Armed Forces.

In November the Government warned that Britain was in an AI arms race with Vladimir Putins Russia.

In a speech on defence Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said of AI as we develop this technology theres a danger it could be weaponised against us. Because our adversaries are also looking at how to use AI on the physical and cyber battlefield.

The Government recently announced that a fleet of AI-powered battlefield robots would be built in a new plant in south-west England.

Keeping Britain secure

Ms Eagle said: We can all see how AI has the potential to impact our lives and enhance our war-fighting ability, and UK defence is embracing this leap forward in technology to better support our personnel on the front line.

Significant trials like this, working with international and industry partners, demonstrate the rapid progress were making to utilise new technology for keeping Britain secure at home and strong abroad.

Dr Paul Hollinshead, the head of the MoDs Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), said: This innovative trial represents a significant advancement in how we develop and test defence technologies. By bringing together multiple domains and partners, were not just collecting data  were creating the foundation for mission success and operational advantage that will protect our forces for decades to come.
Shabana Mahmood is exploring making chemical castration mandatory for some offenders - Danny Lawson/PA

Probation staff have been told not to use the phrase chemical castration in conversations with paedophiles and sex offenders in case it upsets them.

Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, announced this week that 20 prisons would trial voluntary chemical castration.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, she described the process as providing medication to manage problematic sexual arousal.

It has now been reported that probation officers have been told to use the same phrasing when speaking to sex offenders.

A source told The Sun: We have been told we cant use the word chemical castration when talking to sex offenders and instead have to say medication to manage problematic sexual arousal.

We were told its in case the word castration upsets them  it beggars belief.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: This phrase is simply the medical term for this treatment.

Ms Mahmood has signalled the pilot scheme is the first step towards potentially changing the law to force offenders to take the medication, telling MPs: I am exploring whether mandating the approach is possible.

Alex Davies-Jones, the justice minister, suggested prisoners could be forced to do so in the same way as when patients are sectioned under the Mental Health Act to enable doctors to administer the drugs.

Another option would be to make chemical castration a condition of freed sex offenders licences and send them back to jail if they refuse.

Scheme is voluntary

Chemical castration is already being piloted in prisons in south-west England, where 34 prisoners a month receive sexual-suppression drugs.

The scheme is voluntary, as is such treatment in Germany, France, Sweden and Denmark. It is mandatory in Poland, Kazakhstan and some US states.

The MoJ pointed to research showing that the drugs can cut reoffending rates by up to 60 per cent.

Problematic sexual arousal can be reduced by chemical suppressants and prescribed medication, but it would not be relevant for some sex offenders such as rapists who are driven by power and control, rather than sexual preoccupation.

However, the MoJ is facing a backlash from doctors as it presses ahead.

Prof Don Grubin, who advised the Government on the initial trial, said he was opposed to mandatory prescribing as it goes against long-standing medical principles of consent.

If you are talking about mandatory prescribing, there would be a lot of resistance from doctors because you would be asking them to prescribe not to patients but to reduce risk for society. So they become agents of social control, which is something we have always resisted, Prof Grubin said.
Protesters at the University of Manchester on May 4, 2024 - Martin Pope/Martin Pope

An accusation that Israel has committed genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza has been dropped by students at the University of Manchester following a backlash.

The 2,000-word motion, which expresses solidarity with Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war, was withdrawn earlier this week.

It was lodged with the universitys student union (UMSU) by a student from the universitys Friends of Palestine group several months ago.

The motion accuses Israel in its entirety of being an apartheid settler-colonial state committing ongoing genocide against Palestinians and recognises that as an occupied nation, the people of Palestine have the right to armed resistance under international law.

It also urged full support for the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement against Israel.

In addition, the motion argues that a two-state solution has become impossible due to the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine and advocates for a single, free, multi-faith Palestinian state.

Manchester Universitys Friends of Israel Society was outraged by the motion and wrote to the UMSU, setting out why the proposal and the procedure for considering it were unlawful. It said the statement contained false and one-sided allegations.

In March, a debate took place, and Jewish students put forward nine amendments to the motion, but these were rejected.

These included one that would have recognised Hamas as a terrorist organisation and another calling on Hamas to release the remaining hostages it still holds captive. A third urged the student union to refrain from glorifying violence against Israeli civilians.

Jewish students held a silent protest outside the building where the meeting took place, holding pictures of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were held hostage in Gaza by Hamas.

Commenting on the motion being withdrawn, Jonathan Turner, chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKFLI), who worked with the Friends of Israel Society on getting the motion dropped, said: We are very pleased with this outcome, which clearly results from drawing attention to the student unions legal obligations.

Student unions must conduct political debates fairly, must not discriminate against Jewish or Israeli students, and must not engage in political campaigns outside their charitable objects.

We congratulate Naomi Brookarsh, president of the Israel Society at Manchester University, on her work resisting this attempt to misuse the student union to intimidate Jewish students and other students who support Israel.

A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), who also wrote to the union and university to express concerns, told The Telegraph: Manchester University Students Union disregarded the concerns of Jewish students and regulations for charities when it tried to advance this reckless and divisive motion.

Whether or not it is meant as such here, the phrase armed resistance is commonly used in this context as a euphemism for terrorism and the destruction of the Jewish state.

At a minimum, this motion aspired to deprive the Jewish people of their right to self-determination.

These motions do nothing to change things in the Middle East but contribute to the ostracisation of Jewish students on campus.

This motion never should have been even drafted, let alone put forward. Jewish students have the same right to feel safe on their campus as any other group.

We wrote to the students union and are pleased to see that the motion has been withdrawn, even if there was no remorse in the withdrawal statement.

We will continue to tackle extremism and antisemitism on university campuses wherever we find it.

In a statement, the UMSU apologised for the length of time it took to consider the motion and said: We will be reviewing our democratic processes as a result.

It added: We stand in full solidarity with the Palestinian resistance to ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The double standards held over colonised people compared to those doing the colonising are absurd.

Those in support of Palestinian liberation are required to constantly qualify their support of basic human rights, whilst Israel continues its extermination, starvation and conquest of Palestinians undeterred.

It went on to criticise charity law, which it said prevented students unions from taking principled positions and resourcing campaigns on the most pressing issues of our day.

In a statement issued previously, the University of Manchester said it considered aspects of this motion to be wholly unacceptable.

It added that it had raised serious concerns with the students union regarding its wording, particularly where it risks undermining the principles of equality, safety, and wellbeing.

A spokesperson from the University of Manchester said: Students Union motions are independent of the university and there is no obligation to implement them, but we raised concerns about the proposed motion and are pleased that students took these seriously.

The conflict in Gaza is deeply distressing for many in our community. As a university, we are committed to upholding free speech and fostering respectful debate within the law.
Christian Adams cartoon

Future historians should not waste time arguing about when exactly it became inevitable that Britain would surrender its sovereignty over one of the worlds most formidable military bases.

I can tell them now: 12.55pm Eastern Daylight Time on May 22 2019. At that moment, the United Nations General Assembly in New York passed a Resolution demanding Britains withdrawal from the Chagos Islands, including the base on Diego Garcia.

This decision, endorsing an earlier opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), made Britains departure a racing certainty.

Why? Not because either measure carried the full force of international law. The whole point about General Assembly Resolutions and ICJ opinions is that they are not binding.

No, the real reason why we were sure to yield eventually is that the sacred dogma of British diplomats allowed for no other outcome.

I spent nearly eight years in the Foreign Office and Downing Street, including five in the Foreign Secretarys Private Office, witnessing British diplomacy in action. I can tell you that your representatives really do believe in what they call the rules-based international system, meaning the assembly of laws and institutions created after 1945 to restrain the behaviour of states.

If the UN and an international court say that Britain should relinquish this or that territory, then our diplomats will advise that we must obey.

Can the Foreign Secretary overrule them? Of course, but Foreign Secretaries come and go. Eventually there will be one who gives way and David Lammy is clearly that man.

His officials will have told him that we cannot preserve the international order unless we are prepared to live by its strictures. They will have cautioned that defiance would invite the charge of double standards from the countries of the Global South.

They will have warned that if we are going to rally these nations against Russias invasion of Ukraine as a breach of international law, then we have to obey the law ourselves.

So dont fall for Sir Keir Starmers claim that the deal handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is really about guaranteeing the future of the military facility or protecting national security. That argument has been retro-fitted to a decision based above all on a sincere devotion to the international system.

What should we make of this venerated dogma of British diplomacy? In my former life, I would ask our officials: is upholding the system and obeying the rules an end in itself? What about the national interest?

They would reply that there was no contradiction. We have an interest in preserving this world order because, alongside America, we built it. The system gives the UK outsized influence, through permanent membership of the Security Council. And now that we are no longer a superpower, the rules protect our safety too.

But look where this rigid thinking has led us. We have just agreed to relinquish sovereignty over a military asset described by the Prime Minister as unique and vital and right at the foundation of our security.

And we have done it without being under any legal obligation. Has any other country in history been doctrinaire and purist enough to give up sovereign territory on this basis? Which other nation would change the status of a crucial military facility for this reason?

Do not underestimate how extraordinary Britains behaviour is. Many states refuse to negotiate over what they consider sovereign territory. Some, like Ukraine, have constitutions that forbid governments from sacrificing even a square inch, no matter what the UN might say.

Will Britains purism make us uniquely virtuous or uniquely vulnerable? Anyone who has endured the self-serving cant of the nations of the Global South will know the answer.

They cannot fail to see how the Chagos agreement has lowered the bar for challenging the UK. A country with a grievance does not need to get a binding judgement against us; an advisory opinion plus a General Assembly Resolution will do.

That is not as hard as you might think: Africa and the Caribbean together are close to a majority of the UN. If Mauritius could extract 58 islands and one military base without even winning a definitive ruling, then the message is that British diplomats will not resist a former colony on a mission, however extravagant the demand.

And what about Russia and China? What does it say about Britains resolve if two non-binding international decisions are enough to make us terminate our sovereignty over a unique and vital base?

The great irony is that our diplomats think they are being modern and forward-looking, yet all around them the world has changed. It made sense to uphold the rules-based international system when America was with us. But today our biggest ally no longer even pretends to believe in this cause.

There might once have been a case for winning international support through scrupulous obedience to global courts and conventions. Yet Russia is now tearing Europes largest country to pieces. Faced with Putins aggression, purity and virtue get you nowhere. All that counts is power and will.

Never mind preserving the entire international order, if we get through the next 20 years without Russia waging general war on Europe, or China coming to blows with America, that will represent success.

Preserving peace will require the West to subordinate everything else to deterring Russia and China. How does it help when Britain sacrifices sovereignty over a base that commands the Indian Ocean while making itself more vulnerable to endless new challenges from the Global South?

The truth is that the Chagos agreement is the last gasp of the old world, when the West was dominant after the Cold War, and we could afford to sign up to every international court and convention.

Remarkably, our diplomats still cling to the mindset of that era. Unless they change, the danger is that our adversaries will be bolder and fiercer and we might end up in a war that we could have avoided if we had been stronger earlier. If so, there will be absolutely nothing left of the international order.

By striving to preserve perfection, our outdated diplomats increase the risk that we will lose it all.
Northland shopping centre in Melbourne was locked down on Sunday afternoon. Photograph: Chicken7/Wikimedia Commons

A major Melbourne shopping centre has been locked down as Victoria police responded to reports of two rival groups fighting each other with knives.

A man in his 20s was taken to Royal Melbourne hospital in a serious but stable condition with upper body injuries on Sunday afternoon. Three people at the shopping centre were treated for anxiety, with one customer reporting chaos and confusion.

In a statement, Victoria police said two people aged 16 and 15 were arrested after the brawl. It was alleged that the fight, which began in the shopping centres food court, was targeted, and those involved knew each other.

The pair were charged late on Sunday with affray, intentionally cause injury, possess controlled weapon and use controlled weapon. They were remanded to appear at a childrens court at a later date.

Emergency services were called to the shopping centre in Preston at about 2.30pm after reports of opposing groups fighting  some armed with knives.

Images shared on social media showed one man carrying a large blade and customers taking shelter in shops with closed doors. Guardian Australia has not independently verified those photos.

Related: Kamala Harris takes swipe at Musk and warns world to remember the 1930s at Gold Coast real estate conference

The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated, but it is believed the incident was targeted and parties are believed to be known to each other, a police spokesperson said.

Investigators are keen to speak with anyone in the area at the time who may have witnessed the altercation.

The shopping centre remained locked down at 4pm on Sunday.

Victoria polices Supt Kelly Lawson described the alleged incident as disgraceful and said it would have been absolutely frightening for those at the shopping centre.

What I want to do is reassure the community that this was not just some random thing that happened, it was a pre-organised gang meet-up, Lawson said. It was a planned event.

Police believe another incident on Saturday prompted the two groups to meet at Northland. They allege the fight may have been an act of retaliation by one of the groups.

Lawson said police arrested one person within six minutes of receiving the initial report. She praised the actions of shop managers who worked to protect and comfort people locked down in stores.

One machete was found at the shopping centre. Police were working to identify eight other people allegedly involved in the incident.

Investigators would remain at the shopping centre on Sunday night gathering intelligence but were working to ensure it would reopen on Monday.

Michael Pavlou, who was at Northland with his three-year-old son, described scenes of panic and confusion.

As I walked out of Coles, I saw a group of people running, Pavlou said.

They looked young. At first, I thought they may have stolen something. But then I noticed more people running and then everyone running.

As we started running, I turned to the person next to me and said whats going on? They said Someone has got a machete. I had my son in the trolley with our groceries.

Pavlou said he did not see the incident that sparked the chaos. He said people were running through Myer and the food court.

When you see that many people running in a shopping centre, its not good, Pavlou said.

You dont want to stick around and see whats happening.

There was confusion. There was definitely panic. Everyone was trying to get out. The car park became gridlock. After getting out, we started hearing sirens and a helicopter.

Victoria police urged anyone who witnessed the incident or had relevant footage to contact Crime Stoppers.
Nazrin Abdul

Transport is far more than the movement of people and goodsit is a foundation of national development, a catalyst for trade and innovation, and a key to regional stability and global integration. In todays world, resilient, efficient, and sustainable transport systems are essential to withstand the growing threats posed by natural disasters, pandemics, cyberattacks, and geopolitical tensions.

It was against this backdrop that the International Transport Forum (ITF) Summit convened in Leipzig, Germany, from May 2123, 2025, bringing together more than 1,200 representatives from over 80 countries to explore the future of transport under the theme Transport Sustainability Against Global Shocks.

This years summit marked a historic milestone for Azerbaijan, as the presidency of the ITF was officially transferred from Chile to Azerbaijan for the 20252026 term.

This prestigious appointment is more than ceremonial. It places Azerbaijan at the centre of global discussions on transport resilience, innovation, and sustainability. As a full member of the ITF since 1998, Azerbaijans elevation to the presidency reflects the countrys growing influence and achievements in regional and international logistics.

Transport systems are not just about moving people or goodsthey are fundamental to a nations economic growth, regional integration, and social cohesion. Efficient transport infrastructure reduces trade costs, enhances access to markets, creates jobs, and facilitates emergency response in times of crisis. In a globalised world, countries that can move fasterliterally and figurativelytend to grow faster.

Azerbaijans geographical position as a crossroads between Europe and Asia gives it natural strategic value. But geography alone is not enough. Through extensive investment in roads, railways, ports, and digital infrastructure, Azerbaijan has actively transformed itself into a pivotal transport hub, defying the conventional wisdom that only coastal nations can dominate regional logistics.

President Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan is indispensable to Eurasian transport

In a speech dedicated to Azerbaijans transport policy, President Ilham Aliyev emphasised that todays Eurasian transport map is incomplete without Azerbaijan. With both the East-West and North-South corridors traversing its territory, Azerbaijan is a linchpin for trade routes connecting China to Europe and Russia to the Middle East.

President Aliyev highlighted that, despite lacking access to open seas, Azerbaijan has created one of the most efficient transport infrastructures in the region. Projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the planned Zangazur Corridor, which gained international attention following Azerbaijans victory in the Second Garabagh War, illustrate the countrys determination to create lasting transport solutions with regional impact.

Infrastructure is not only concrete and steel, the President said. It is a tool for economic development, regional cooperation, and social inclusion.

President Aliyev also detailed Azerbaijans achievements over the last two decades: more than 21,000 kilometres of highways constructed or upgraded, 335 bridges, 45 tunnels, and over 3,000 kilometres of railway lines built or modernised. The Absheron Circular Line and the acquisition of new rolling stock reflect the country's commitment to modernisation.

Digital transformation: Bakus Digital Twin leads the way

Azerbaijans approach to transport goes beyond traditional infrastructure. At the ITF Summit, Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rahman Hummatov highlighted the countrys bold steps in urban digitalisation, particularly the development of a Digital Twin for Baku.

This cutting-edge project creates a virtual replica of the city, using data collected from mobile operators, navigation systems, and public transport networks, amounting to hundreds of terabytes. It simulates movement patterns, identifies congestion hotspots, and tests the impact of future infrastructure projects before they are built. The result is a scientifically grounded, cost-effective, and strategic approach to urban planning.

Already, over 20 major infrastructure projects have been modelled using the digital twin, enabling evidence-based prioritisation. This forward-looking methodology underscores Bakus ambition to join the ranks of global smart cities.
People protesting against the winter fuel payment cuts at the Labour conference last year. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Keir Starmer could set out more details of the winter fuel allowance U-turn at the spending review next month, Angela Rayner has suggested.

However, the deputy prime minister said she could not guarantee the payment would be restored in time for this winter, amid reports that the Treasury is looking at restoring the allowance to all but the richest pensioners.

I think that weve got the upcoming spending review, and Im sure that the chancellor will set it out when weve got the opportunity, at the first opportunity, she will set out what well be able to do, Rayner said.

Asked on Sky News if more detail would come at the spending review in less than a fortnight, she said: I mean, the prime minister has announced it, so logically to me that indicates that the prime minister wants to do something in this area. And if the prime minister wants to do that, Im sure the chancellor is going to look at how we can achieve that.

This week the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, is due to make a speech in which he will attempt to outflank Labour on welfare  calling for the restoration of the full winter fuel allowance and the end of the two-child benefit limit.

Related: As a Labour MP who voted against winter fuel cuts, Im glad the PM has seen sense | Jon Trickett

The prime minister told MPs in the Commons on Wednesday that he would look again at the 11,500 threshold over which pensioners are no longer eligible for the allowance. It comes after a huge backlash from voters at the local elections against one of the most unpopular measures announced by the government.

Starmer is also said to be convinced of the need to lift the two-child benefit cap as a response to the governments child poverty taskforce, now delayed until the autumn.

The prime minister had previously said details of the reversal would be set out at the next fiscal event  meaning the budget in the autumn. A No 10 spokesperson said: As the economy recovers, we want more people to feel the benefits of that in their everyday lives. Thats why we would like to expand the number of pensioners who are eligible for winter fuel payment when possible.

Asked on the BBC if the government would bring back the allowance in full for pensioners, Rayner said it would depend on the state of the economy and said she cant guarantee it would return in time for winter.

The Sunday Times reported that civil servants had raised concerns about their ability to build a new system of payment allocations for pensioners in time for the winter, because of ageing computer systems.

Related: No 10 completely tone deaf on harm caused by winter fuel cut, critics say

Farage will set out plans to woo working-class Labour voters in a speech this coming week, the Sunday Telegraph reported. He will say: Its going to be these very same working people that will vote Reform at the next election and kick Labour out of government.

The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, speaking on the BBCs Laura Kuenssberg programme, said the Conservatives would immediately restore the winter fuel allowance to all pensioners but would keep the two-child benefit limit. She called for the immediate restoration of the winter fuel payment.

We would never have taken the winter fuel away. We kept it for 14 years, we brought in the triple lock, we look after pensioners, she said.

But Badenoch defended the two-child benefit cap, calling it absolutely the right thing to do.

Badenoch said Farage was making empty promises to gain power, telling Sky News that Farage as prime minister would be very bad for this country. She said: Nigel Farage is someone who is going to say whatever he wants in order to get into power. I am taking the hard road  Im not going to do that.

She added: Hes making the same mistake that Keir Starmer made of making promises, and then theyll get into government and cant deliver it.
An Russian oil tanker sails behind a rock in the Baltic Sea. - Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

On the bridge of the Jaguar, the ship radio crackles into life.

This is [an] Estonian warship, says a voice speaking in English. Follow my instructions. Alter your course to 105 immediately.

So begins the most nerve-wracking confrontation with a Russian shadow fleet vessel since the start of the war.

We are met by helicopters, says a voice speaking in Russian on board the Jaguar, a 20-year-old tanker en route back to Russia from the Indian port of Sikka, where it had likely deposited a sanctions-busting cargo of oil.

In the video taken from the bridge, Hindi-speaking crew members worriedly report that a military vessel is also heading towards the stern of the ship.

The cause of the Jaguars troubles lay in its lack of an international flag, a prerequisite for maritime navigation and the surest legal ground for a boarding operation.

Days earlier, it had taken down a Gabonese standard, shortly before the ship was sanctioned by the UK.

The clip published online by Margarita Simonyan, the chief of state-owned RT, formerly Russia Today, has been edited to make the timeline of events unclear.

But what is known is that the Jaguar refused the order of the Estonian navy  and ploughed on towards its destination, the Russian port Primorsk.

An Estonian patrol vessel, EML Raju, aborted its plan to board the far-larger craft and carry out an inspection.

Had it followed through, the situation might have spiralled because also visible in the clip is the arrival of a Russian Su-35 fighter jet  the first time Moscow has sent military forces to protect the rusty fleet it relies on to fund its war effort.

Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, said: Russia has crossed the Rubicon now. It is showing that the shadow fleet is important enough that its willing to publicly admit that it is linked to the government.

During the May 13 confrontation, the Russian jet entered Estonian airspace for around a minute. It was met swiftly by Portuguese F-16s from the Nato air policing mission.

But the incident is rippling alarm across the West and inviting questions over just how far its relatively sparse naval forces can challenge the fleet of uninsured tankers that criss-cross its seas every day.

Gintautas Paluckas, the Lithuanian prime minister, said that while Russias military protection of Baltic Sea tankers revealed nothing we couldnt or shouldnt have known, it showed that the risk of serious escalation is increasing with every step.

At least half of the seaborne oil sold by Russia is carried on its shadow fleet, providing a huge chunk of the 740 billion that Moscow has earned from fossil fuel exports since February 2022.

The flow, however, has lately been disrupted by western sanctions.

Some 706 vessels have now been sanctioned across the EU, UK and US, according to research by shipping journal Lloyds List, which is around ten per cent of the total tanker fleet at sea. The share of Russian oil exported by the shadow fleet is falling, down to 53 per cent in April, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Helsinki-based think tank.

On April 11, Estonia detained the Kiwala, another shadow fleet vessel flying without a flag. On Christmas day, Finnish commandos boarded the Eagle-S, suspected of severing under-sea cables.

In response, the Kremlin is signalling that it is ready to fight for the smooth passage of its black gold.

Dmitry Peskov, its chief spokesman, said the deployment of an Su-35 showed Russia was ready to respond harshly and warned that all measures could be taken to prevent what he called piracy.

Nikolai Patrushev, a senior Putin aide, warned: Hotheads in London and Brussels need to understand this clearly.

In mid-April, Russias Baltic Fleet carried out a series of drills explicitly showcasing its ability to prevent the boarding of civilian ships. Eleven warships and a kilo-class submarine took part, alongside fighter jets.

The coastal states are winning in their efforts to curtail the shadow fleet because they have clearly rattled Russia, according to Ms Braw. But Russias military deployment is now causing concern, simply because they have no way of knowing how any incident will develop.

Estonias navy is formed from just eight ships. It was outmatched on May 13, Juri Saska, the former commander, told news outlet ERR. The boarding operation was called off because it was deemed unreasonable or unfeasible, he said, adding: The navy doesnt have the kind of equipped, armed vessels needed to carry out a forced operation like this.

Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank, said Moscow lacks the naval strength to escort every one of its shadow fleet vessels. However, it is likely to intervene in situations where a new threshold is set.

Estonias interdictions of the two Russian shadow fleet vessels have come in the waters of its Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ), which stretches 200 miles off the coast and provides sovereign rights to exploration and maritime conversation. Any serious effort to interfere with passage through such waters would pose a serious problem for Moscow.

Hanno Pevkur, Estonias defence minister, has called for all sanctioned ships to be barred from entering EEZ waters, as they are blocked from European ports. But this is considered a non-starter because it would unravel the international principle of freedom of navigation.

Estonian forces originally sought to board the Jaguar tanker using a patrol vessel - Maritime Optima

Kestutis Budrys, the Lithuanian foreign minister, believes that the West should at least tighten the system. He has also called for Nato to expand its Baltic Sentry programme from protecting undersea infrastructure to countering the shadow fleet.

Margus Tsahkna, the Estonian foreign minister, told The Telegraph: Controlling the shadow fleet is not just about maritime security  its about striking the core of the fuel of Russias military operations.

If Russia wants to step up its military protection of the shadow fleet, it has several options, according to Mr Kaushal. Its vessels could turn on their firing radar, the last step before opening fire. They could seek to block boarding operations, or jam them electronically.

Western ships might also be detained on entering Russian waters. One Greek vessel was briefly held when it did so on a pre-approved route shortly after the Jaguar incident, although the circumstances there remain unclear.

Between flagless vessels, the entry of the Russian military and growing western resolve, the seas cargo routes have rarely been so dangerous.

And Tom Sharpe, a former Royal Navy officer, thinks the problem is not going away any time soon. He said: This is such a difficult problem, given the size of the ocean, the number of warships we dont have, the number of dark fleet ships they do have, and the fact that we insist on playing by the rules.
Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem

Israel is now grappling with possibly the last phases of eliminating the Hamas terrorist threat. Instead of support from a unified West determined to extirpate terrorism, however, Jerusalem is under attack for attempting exactly that. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was horrified by Israels recent escalation. Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the dark new phase in this conflict, suspended trade negotiations with Israel, and said it should agree to a cease-fire to free remaining hostages, as if that were Jerusalems only legitimate objective.

Last week, a gunman in Washington brutally murdered two Israeli embassy employees, chanting free, free Palestine while being arrested. Thereafter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Starmer and others were on the wrong side of justice, humanity and history. Starmer has not responded. Before he does, he should at least check the history.

Immediately after Hamass barbaric October 7, 2023, invasion, Netanyahu declared that Israel would seek Hamass political and military destruction. This was an entirely legitimate exercise of UN Charter Article 51, which affirms the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense.

Jerusalem was not limited to a proportional response, something comparable to the Hamas terrorist attack, any more than America was limited to a proportional response to Pearl Harbor. States are entitled not merely to repel threats, but to destroy them, as the allies did to Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

Moreover, clear from the outset and becoming clearer by the day as new information emerges, Hamass attack was part of Irans ring of fire strategy against Israel, a strategy implemented by the Quds Force of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Just to remind, Quds is an Arabic term for Jerusalem, celebrated on Ramadans last day by Palestinians as Quds Day. Implementing its ring strategy, Tehran created or fostered a chain of terrorist groups: Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Shia militias in Iraq. Bashar al-Assads Syria was a key ally.

The anti-Israel strategy unfolded across the Middle East immediately after October 7. From the beginning, Israel saw Gaza as part of a wider war, not merely a discrete conflict. Now far more evident than at the outset, however, is the wars economic dimension, a critical factor long before October 7.

Iran and other regional states, groups and individuals provided billions of dollars, directly and through international agencies like UNRWA, ostensibly for humanitarian aid. Tragically, however, as we now know, Hamas diverted much of these humanitarian resources to build Gazas underground fortress of tunnel networks; armed itself to the hilt (including with missile arsenals capable of menacing all Israel); and effectively mobilised most Gazans to serve as human shields for that fortress. If Hamas kept adequate records that can be recovered, the story will embarrass those who enabled this massive fraud, particularly in the West.

Meanwhile, Jerusalem is pursuing its post-October 7 goals, which must include eliminating all potential assets, in cash or in kind, Hamas can use to retain control over Gazas population. Working through UNRWA over decades, Hamas seized control over the distribution of virtually all humanitarian supplies entering Gaza. Credible reports (and Hamas records, if recovered) demonstrate how the terrorists rewarded their cadres at the expense of others, using control over the internal distribution of supplies in Gaza to cement their political control.

This pattern is nothing new. After the first Gulf War, Saddam Hussein used the UNs Oil for Food programme to gain control over Iraqs population. As originally conceived, an intrusive UN presence would use Iraqs oil revenues for humanitarian aid to its people, thus ensuring the non-political delivery of assistance to the truly needy, while also demonstrating to Iraqis that Saddam had effectively lost control of his country. He repeatedly rejected this model, until the Clinton administration conceded that his regime would disburse Oil-for-Food aid. That mistake helped Saddam reinforce his authoritarian grip, repress Kurds and other dissidents, and again threaten his neighbours,

Hamas has thus simply been following Saddams plan. Israel, by contrast, has followed principles Herbert Hoover first articulated in World War I when he organised relief programs in Europe, starting in Belgium. Hoover ordered that no aid would go to combatants, and that his volunteers would distribute the aid, or at least rigorously monitor delivery to prevent diversion to combatants.

Hamas scorned Hoovers principles, and continues to do so. Comments by Starmer, Lammy and others ignore both the reality in Gaza today and Hoovers wise admonitions about ensuring that relief goes to those who actually need it, not those who use the aid to oppress them.

Israel has a plan to aid Gazans, backed by Washington but opposed by the UN. Instead of criticising Israel, Starmer should support and help perfect Jerusalems plan and thereby properly deliver humanitarian assistance.

The only way Gazans can ever be free is to eliminate the curse of Hamas. And because Gaza is part of Irans larger war against Israel and the West, that will happen only when Iranians are free of the ayatollahs. That should be our common goal.

John Bolton is a former US National Security Adviser
Nicola Sturgeon says she has received more misogynistic abuse over trans rights than about any other policy throughout her political career - Getty

Nicola Sturgeon has argued the law on the definition of a woman may need to be changed to accommodate trans people after complaining that a Supreme Court ruling had been massively over-interpreted.

The former first minister of Scotland did not dispute that the court was correct that the definition of woman in the Equality Act 2010 was based on biological sex.

But she argued that this could be changed to give trans people access to female-only areas as it was up to politicians to decide what the law should be or has to be.

She said the law has to change if trans peoples lives become almost impossible and cited comments from Baroness Hale, the first female president of the Supreme Court.

Lady Hale said last week that theres nothing in that judgment that says that you cant have gender-neutral loos and Ms Sturgeon argued that this showed that the ruling had been massively over-interpreted.

The former SNP leader made the comments this weekend at the How the Light Gets In festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, adding that she had received more misogynistic abuse as a result of this issue than any other.

Ms Sturgeon said this was ironic but pledged to always be an ally to trans people no matter how difficult that might be.

But For Women Scotland (FWS), the feminist group that won the Supreme Court case against the SNP government, said the real misreading of the law had come from trans activists who have spun the most outrageous interpretations.

Ms Sturgeons government tried the Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill, which would have allowed biological men to change legal gender by simply signing a declaration.

The legislation was passed at Holyrood but vetoed by the UK Government over concerns it undermined womens safe spaces.

But it has emerged that swathes of Scotlands public sector adopted self-ID all the same, allowing trans people access to female toilets and changing rooms.

Experts have warned these practices will have to be scrapped following the Supreme Courts ruling in April that the definition of a woman is based on biological sex, and does not include trans women.

Ms Sturgeon has previously claimed some opponents of the GRR Bill were transphobic. In January 2023, the month before she stepped down as first minister, she said: Youll also find that theyre deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly some of them racist as well.

Earlier this month she said she fundamentally disagreed that she should apologise for the Bill, saying FWS did not represent every woman in the country.

The Sunday Times reported that Ms Sturgeon told the festival that some of the immediate reaction to the ruling had been over-interpreted.

But if it is the case that the judgment means we have to move to a situation where trans lives are almost impossible to live then, Im sorry, but the law has to change because that is not an acceptable way to be, she said.

Ms Sturgeon added: Many of those on the other side [of the issue] say it is all about protecting women. Isnt it ironic that I have probably had more misogynistic abuse as a result of this issue that on any other issue in my entire political career? Go figure.

But Susan Smith, a director of FWS, said: It would be quite ironic, although not unexpected, if the first female first minister was resolutely sticking to the notion that biological sex is some nebulous concept.

Trans law is easy to follow

Dr Lucy Hunter Blackburn, of policy analysts Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, said the courts ruling was easy to follow and organisations should follow the Scottish Parliament by taking steps straight away to comply with the law.

She added: They need to read the judgment, obtain their own legal advice and ignore the former first minister, whose contributions on this subject remain as unhelpful as ever.

Humza Yousaf, Ms Sturgeons successor as first minister, also admitted that the manner in which the SNP tried to introduce gender self-ID in Scotland was a mistake.

Mr Yousaf told Times Radio: The way we handled that, it clearly was a mistake. Theres no two ways about it and not taking people on that journey with us.

He said he still supported reforming the over-medicalised process for trans people to change gender but admitted we could have handled it a lot better, I think that self-evident.
An emotional Trent Alexander-Arnold said lifting the Premier League trophy at Anfield was the best day of his life and he never felt so loved after the fans change of heart towards him.

The defender was brought on for the start of the second half of the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace and, unlike his last home appearance when he was booed after announcing his was leaving at the end of his contract, he was warmly welcomed.

By the time the Premier League trophy was presented after the full-time whistle fans had decided that was the time to cheer the academy graduate, who is ending a 20-year association with the club ahead of an expected move to Real Madrid.

Alexander-Arnold waved to the crowd and kissed the badge on his shirt, before being afforded a lot of time with the Premier League trophy on the lap of honour with the Kop roaring their approval when he hoisted it in front of them.

I didnt know what to expect stepping out at Anfield after what had happened a few weeks ago, he told Sky Sports.

I wanted to play for the club one more time and he (Arne Slot) trusted me to play. To get the reception I got means more than anything.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is leaving Liverpool (PA)

Ive played hundreds of games for the club but Ive never felt so loved and cared for than today.

Hand on my heart I hope one day the fans will be able to recognise the hard work and everything I have done for the team.

There wasnt a day, minute, second that I didnt think about the team. Twenty years is a very long time time but Ive loved every single minute of it. The ups and the downs.

Its been an honour and privilege to be part of.

Ill remember this day. Its very special for me. It goes down as the best day of my life.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot praised the fans for the send-off they gave Alexander-Arnold after the previous acrimony.

They were brilliant again today as they were throughout the whole season, as they were towards Trent, he said.

Florian Wirtz has attracted interest (Bradley Collyer/PA)

It also helped what an unbelievable half he played.

The passes he played were, if you make a highlight (reel) out of this, it would take you three, four or five minutes.

I am very happy for him and everyone in and around the club that things worked out the way they did.

Everybody could see how difficult he had it after the game. That tells you how hard it is to leave a club like this. N

Thats all we can try to do, to make it so hard for the players to leave.

A move to sign a replacement, although not a like-for-like option, is well advanced with a deal for Jeremie Frimpong, with Liverpool also pursuing a potential club-record 125million deal for his Bayern Leverkusen team-mate Florian Wirtz.

I just want good players and ideally, you sign them as soon as you can, Slot added.

There is so much hard work already done behind the scenes this season to find out which targets we have and try to sign them.

Radical changes you will not see because that would be a bit weird if we won the league.

We need to improve with this team but if we are able to bring new players in, maybe you have to adapt to their qualities as well. But it will never be drastic.

Palace boss Oliver Glasner, having won the FA Cup, still wants more.

I think we have not reached our ceiling as a team, definitely not, but therefore it needs really hard work, he said
Ukraine and Russia have completed a 1,000 for 1,000 prisoner swap after three days of exchanges, amid heavy Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian cities.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Sunday that the final 303 Ukrainian captives scheduled to be released had been returned from Russia in the final stage of the largest-ever such swap between the warring countries.

Today, warriors of our Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service are returning home, Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram app.

He wrote on X: I thank the team that worked around the clock to successfully carry out this exchange. We will definitely bring back every single one of our people from Russian captivity.

Images of the release, which the two sides agreed on in Istanbul just over a week ago, showed returned prisoners with shaved heads, many wrapped in flags, being reunited with loved ones in Ukraine.

The exchange was the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians.

Ukraines Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of PoWs said those released included 70 men who had been involved in the defence of Mariupol during the Russian siege in 2022.

Russia also confirmed that the final exchange had been completed, saying on Sunday it had exchanged 303 Ukrainian prisoners of war for the same number of Russian soldiers held by Kyiv.

In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements reached in Istanbul on May 16, the Russian and Ukrainian sides have (over the weekend) carried out the exchange of 1,000 people for 1,000 people, Russias defence ministry said.

While some had initially hoped that the exchange, which began on Friday, could open the way to at least a temporary ceasefire, two consecutive days of massive Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine, which on Sunday killed 12 people and injured scores more, have undermined that prospect.
Wet weekend weather is expected to continue into the Monday bank holiday, ending a record-breaking dry spring.

While the UK will not see a washout for everybody, meteorologist Becky Mitchell said, heavy rain is expected by the evening.

England had its driest start to spring in March and April since 1956, with half the expected rainfall in April and only a quarter of the long-term average in March, Met Office figures show.

According to the forecaster, until Friday night, Leuchars in Fife went 34 days without rain, while people in Bradford, West Yorkshire, did not see rain for 31 days.

Meteorologist Becky Mitchell said: The bank holiday Monday is pretty dry to start with, but we will see increasingly wet weather moving in from the west later in the day.

As we head through into the early evening were seeing heavy rain pushing into western areas, particularly Northern Ireland.

After a bright start for many on bank holiday Monday, showers will develop from the west, giving way to some more persistent rain into the afternoon  pic.twitter.com/OSunLmfn6F  Met Office (@metoffice) May 25, 2025

The south of Scotland, north west England and part of Wales will see rather heavy rain from around 3pm.

So its not a washout for everybody, but theres some heavy rain coming in during the afternoon to western areas.

Many places will see around 10-20mm and likely up to 40mm across Wales and north west England.

It will be quite windy in some areas tomorrow.

Stronger winds will develop particularly across the north and south west of England and Wales, these areas could see in the region of 40-50mph at times.

So just be aware if anyones out camping or doing any outdoor activities in the later part of the afternoon it will turn increasingly windy in these areas.

Regions in southern England are expected to reach 17C on Monday, but Scottish temperatures will remain in the low teens.

This week we could see temperatures push to the low 20s in the south, and at the end of the week we can see drier and more settled weather develop in southern England and Wales, Ms Mitchell said.

Temperatures are average for this time of year, were looking at mid to high teens across the UK.

When you add on a brisk breeze it will feel chilly in some sports.

There are currently no weather warnings in place but strong winds could disrupt outdoor activity plans over the bank holiday Monday, forecasters warn.
Elon Musk listens as Donald Trump meets with South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI/Shutterstock

The Oval Office was crowded, with reporters cautioned not to collide with the Resolute Desk. Standing beside them, dressed in black, was Elon Musk, billionaire ally of Donald Trump and head of his government efficiency drive.

Elon is from South Africa  I dont want to get Elon involved, the US president told his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, during a discussion about crime against white farmers. He actually came here on a different subject: sending rockets to Mars. He likes that better.

Musks silence during the fraught hour-long meeting was a small but telling reminder of his shift in Trumps orbit. He remains close to the president and welcome in the West Wing. He also paid a second visit to the Pentagon this week. But a relationship that many forecast would end in an explosive collision of egos seems instead to be undergoing an inexorable tapering off.

On Monday, the Politico website published an analysis under the headline Why has Elon Musk disappeared from the spotlight? It found a sharp drop in the number of times that Trump posted about Musk on his Truth Social platform, from an average of four times a week in February and March to zero since the start of April.

Related: Move fast and destroy things: 100 chaotic days of Elon Musk in the White House

In February, Politico said, Trumps fundraising operation invoked Musk in fundraising emails almost every day, with one message reading: I love Elon Musk! The media wants to drive us apart, and its not working. Hes great. But such mentions abruptly halted in early March, with the exception of one email in May advertising a Gulf of America hat that Musk had worn.

In addition, White House officials no longer fill their social media feeds with Musk-related content. Reporters seldom ask about him at the White House press briefing. Members of Congress are giving his name a wide berth.

Musk seems to be taking the hint. This week, the Tesla chief executive confirmed that he had reduced his role as the unofficial head of the so-called department of government efficiency (Doge) to just two days a week, and will also cut his political spending substantially  the latest public signal that he is shifting his attention back to his business empire amid growing investor concerns.

It is a dramatic shift from the first weeks of Trumps second term, when Musk attended the inauguration, was a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago, appeared alongside Trump in the Oval Office and gave a joint interview on Fox News full of mutual admiration. Doge dominated media headlines as it took a chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy.

It seemed that Trump was dazzled by the worlds richest person, who sends rockets into space and spent at least $250m to support his election campaign last year. In March, the president even turned the White House south lawn into a temporary Tesla showroom, displaying five of the electric vehicles and promising to buy one himself.

But the polls told their own story. Last month, a national survey by Marquette University Law School found approval of how Musk is handling his work at Doge at 41% with disapproval at 58%. About 60% of those polled had an unfavourable view of Musk himself, compared with 38% who were favourably disposed to him.

Ro Khanna, a Democratic member of Congress who has known Musk for more than a decade, commented: As his numbers declined, so did Trumps interest. Trump discards people when their ratings fall and its very transactional. Its nothing more than an initial fascination and a sense of being discarded.

Khanna, whose congressional district sits in the heart of Californias Silicon Valley, had predicted from the outset that Musk was not going to last more than four or five months: I said hes going to get frustrated, exhausted and Washington will win  not him  in terms of how the town works.

At that time, Khanna was hoping that Doge would make cuts at the Pentagon. Instead, it flouted the constitution to slash the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Education, the Internal Revenue Service and other targets.

I said theres no way hes going to get anywhere close to $2tn of cuts; he didnt even get close to a trillion; its about $81bn. He learned the lesson that a lot of very successful business leaders learn, that democracy is much tougher than they imagine and doesnt bend to their will, Khanna said.

Indeed, Musk continues to hit roadblocks. On Wednesday, the US Institute of Peace retook control of its headquarters after a federal judge said the firing of its board and employees by Doge was illegal. On Thursday, a federal judge in San Francisco said Trump cannot restructure and downsize the US government without the consent of Congress and that she would probably extend her ruling blocking federal agencies from implementing mass layoffs.

Even so, Doge has already enacted deep cuts to the workforce and spending and, in some cases, sought to shutter entire agencies, causing untold damage to the fabric of government.

For example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) is not ready for next months start of the hurricane season, according to an internal agency review reported by CNN. The disaster relief agency, which employs more than 20,000 workers, has lost roughly 30% of its full-time staff to layoffs and Doge buyouts.

Khanna warned: Were going to be living with the consequences for years to come because unfortunately theyve managed to totally destroy USAID, theyve destroyed NIH [the National Institutes of Health], theyve destroyed FDA [the Food and Drug Administration], theyve destroyed EPA [the Environmental Protection Agency], theyve hollowed out so much of the state department and its going to take a generation to rebuild.

Im hoping that the damage will stop. We have to see what will continue but hopefully therell be no more sledgehammer to these institutions.

Even conservatives who believe in downsizing government share the concerns. Rick Tyler, a political strategist who has worked on Republican campaigns, said: What theyre trying to do is make the government smaller, which I applaud, but they are not making it more efficient because there has been no vision, no plan to actually make the government operate with fewer people and less money. There is no redesign. This is just slash and burn.

Tesla, which is the major source of Musks wealth, has suffered significant brand damage and lost sales due to his political work, particularly with Trump. He has also expressed support for the far-right, anti-immigration AfD party in Germany. Tesla dealerships have become scenes of protest and vandalism in the US and beyond.

It may be that Musk met his political Waterloo in Wisconsin. His spending of at least $3m helped make Wisconsins supreme court race the most expensive of its kind in US history. He even made a personal appearance in Green Bay the weekend before the election wearing a cheesehead hat  popular with fans of the NFLs Green Bay Packers  and personally handed out cheques for $1m to supporters.

But the candidate he backed lost by 10 percentage points. Democrats had used his intervention to successfully mobilise voters in an election dubbed People vs Musk.

This week, Musk told Bloombergs Qatar Economic Forum in Doha: In terms of political spending, Im going to do a lot less in the future. The Wisconsin Democratic party chair, Ben Wikler, told the Associated Press: The people have won. The biggest funder in Republican politics is taking his toys and going home.

Evidently, Musk and his chainsaw have become a political liability for Republicans seeking re-election in next years midterms. Democrats in races across the country are expected to use Musk as a political boogeyman in attack ads on their opponents.

Tyler observed: The polling numbers, Trump suffering politically, which would hurt his party, which is going to hurt his agenda, caused enough strife that Im sure he heard from enough members to say, could we just not talk about Elon Musk any more?

Wendy Schiller, a political science professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, added: It was a trial balloon on how they would reduce federal employees. If it worked and people thought it was great, maybe they would keep going with or without Musk, but they used him as the front person for it and the punching bag. When it backfired, they cut him loose. Not surprising at all.

There is nobody that you can sincerely believe Donald Trump thinks is important to his popularity or his standing in a positive way because he believes he generates all that himself. And I dont think hes wrong about that. But if you become a liability, youre gone pretty quickly.
Lucy Connolly will not be released before August after judges threw out an appeal against her sentence

The White House has said it is monitoring the case of Lucy Connolly in an escalation of free speech tensions with Sir Keir Starmer.

State department officials are examining the treatment of Connolly, the wife of a Conservative councillor, who was jailed for 31 months over a social media post about the Southport attacks.

Judges threw out an appeal brought by the 42-year-old last week, meaning she will not be released before August.

Campaigners raised her case with Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, as part of a wider effort to challenge what they regard as draconian hate speech laws across Europe.

A spokesman for the state department said: We can confirm that we are monitoring this matter.

The United States supports freedom of expression at home and abroad, and remains concerned about infringements on freedom of expression.

It is the latest sign of Donald Trumps willingness to intervene in domestic British affairs amid a growing transatlantic rift over the protection of freedom of speech.

On Saturday, The Telegraph revealed Mr Trump sent US officials to meet five British pro-life activists over censorship concerns.

The diplomats from the US bureau of democracy, human rights and labor (DRL) travelled to London in March in an effort to affirm the importance of freedom of expression in the UK and across Europe.

They met with officials from the Foreign Office and challenged Ofcom on the Online Safety Act, which is thought to be a point of contention in the White House.

Marco Rubio, whose department has taken an increased interest in the protection of free speech in the UK - Umit Bektas/ AFP

Since then, Connollys case has raised eyebrows of Trump administration officials who question her conviction and the length of her sentence.

British politicians who have criticised her sentence were praised by the White House for its intervention.

Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, said: Lucy Connolly is effectively a political prisoner and should be freed immediately. She made an ill-judged tweet, soon deleted.

That the US is investigating this case is a sad indictment of the dire state of free speech under Two-Tier Keir. Free speech is in crisis under Labour.

Suella Braverman described Lucy Connolly as effectively a political prisoner - Jack Taylor/Getty

Connolly expressed her outrage on social media platform X hours after Axel Rudakubana murdered three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport.

She posted: Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f---ing hotels full of the b------s for all I care, while youre at it, take the treacherous government politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these [Southport] families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.

Connolly deleted the post less than four hours later, but by then it had been viewed 310,000 times. She was arrested on Aug 6 following widespread riots across the country over the stabbing attack, and later jailed for 31 months.

Connolly, who has no previous convictions, also sent another tweet commenting on a sword attack, which read: I bet my house it was one of these boat invaders.

Last week, the Court of Appeal judges said they did not accept that the original sentence for inciting racial hatred was manifestly excessive.

The judges also said they did not accept that Connolly had entered her guilty plea without fully understanding what it entailed.

Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: In recent months, shoplifters with hundreds of prior convictions have avoided prison. A domestic abuser with 52 prior offences got off with just a suspended sentence, as did a paedophile with 110,000 indecent images of children.

And yet Lucy Connolly has received a 31-month prison sentence for an appalling  albeit hastily deleted  message on social media. How on earth can you spend longer in prison for a tweet than violent crime? This crazy disparity will only fuel perception that we have a two-tier justice system where the law is enforced selectively.

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader and an ally of Mr Trump, said: Our American Republican friends seem to care more about free speech in the United Kingdom than our own government.

North Korea of the North Sea

Lord Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, which helped fund Connollys appeal, said: This is the third national humiliation in a week under Sir Keir Starmers premiership.

Has it really come to this? That the US government now has to monitor human rights abuses in the United Kingdom?

Britain is rapidly becoming the North Korea of the North Sea.

Sir Keir has been forced to defend Britains record of free speech in recent months, which has become a point of tension with Trump administration officials.

During his meeting in the Oval Office in February, the Prime Minister claimed there had been free speech for a very, very long time in the UK, and it will last for a very, very long time Certainly we wouldnt want to reach across US citizens, and we dont, and thats absolutely right. But in relation to free speech in the UK, Im very proud of our history there.

In a speech at the Munich security conference in February, JD Vance, the US vice-president, cited British pro-life campaigner Adam Smith-Connor, who was convicted for breaching a buffer zone outside an abortion clinic, suggesting free speech in Britain and across Europe was in retreat.

No case has raised concerns in Washington more than the prosecution of Livia Tossici-Bolt, an anti-abortion campaigner whose case threatened to jeopardise Sir Keirs trade deal with the United States.

The 64-year-old praised the Trump administration for its support after she was handed a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay 20,026 in costs for breaching a buffer zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.

Her case alarmed leaders within the US state department, which made the highly unusual step of warning Sir Keir that it was monitoring developments closely.

At the time, a source familiar with trade negotiations insisted Ms Tossici-Bolts arrest was being considered amid Britains attempt to win an exemption from US tariffs, saying no free trade without free speech.

Spokesmen for the Foreign Office and the Home Office declined to comment.
Getty A stock illustration of sperm being injected into an egg cell







Ten children diagnosed with cancer had the same sperm donor with a rare genetic variant

The mutation was found in some of the donor's sperm, which was used by at least 67 total families, according to the sperm bank that supplied it

The situation led a biologist to call for a limit to the number of births or families for a single donor







After 10 children developed cancer, some of their families traced the diagnoses back to a singular sperm donor with a rare genetic variant.

The situation began when two of the childrens families reached out to their respective fertility clinics after the kids were diagnosed with cancers linked to a rare genetic mutation, according to a new report from The Guardian. The report was published on May 23, one day before Dr. Edwige Kasper, a French biologist, presented the case at the European Society of Human Genetics conference in Milan.

European Sperm Bank, which supplied the sperm, confirmed that the rare variant  which Kaspers lab concluded was likely to cause Li-Fraumeni syndrome, an inherited predisposition to cancer  was found in some of the sperm, according to The Guardian. And more than two children were affected.

Separate but simultaneous investigations revealed that the variant, found in a gene called TP53, was present in 23 total children, 10 of whom had already been diagnosed with leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other cancers, the outlet reported.

Though 10 kids have been diagnosed thus far, the company also confirmed that the donors sperm was used to conceive many more children.

European Sperm Bank  which recruits sperm donors in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, according to its website  said that more than 67 kids were conceived using the donors sperm, and that all relevant fertility clinics were alerted to the situation. (It did not, however, confirm the exact number, citing a company privacy policy.)

European Sperm Bank did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment on Sunday, May 25.

Getty A stock image of frozen storage at a sperm bank

A spokesperson for the company, Julie Paulli Budtz, told The Guardian the company is deeply affected by this case.

Budtz also said that, even with thorough testing prior to sperm donation, it is scientifically simply not possible to detect disease-causing mutations in a persons gene pool if you dont know what you are looking for.



Even if testing had unearthed the mutation, it was not yet linked to cancer in 2008 (the time of the donation) and would not have been detectable through standard screening procedures, The Guardian reported. The outlet also said the donor is in good health.

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.

Given the recent diagnoses linked to a single donor, however, Kasper argues that there should be a limit on the number of births or families for a single donor instated across Europe.

Speaking with The Guardian, the biologist said: We cant do whole-genome sequencing for all sperm donors  Im not arguing for that. But this is the abnormal dissemination of genetic disease. Not every man has 75 children across Europe.

That figure is a reference to European Sperm Banks self-imposed limit. Reacting to calls for a limit placed on the number of children conceived with the sperm of a single donor, Budtz told The Guardian, We welcome continued dialogue on setting an internationally mandated family limit and have advocated for this on several occasions.

This is also why we have proactively implemented our own international limit of 75 families per donor, Budtz added.

Read the original article on People
The names of two more people who were killed when the small private jet on which they were passengers crashed into a San Diego, California, neighborhood last week were released on Sunday.

The San Diego Medical Examiner confirmed that 41-year-old Dominic Christopher Damian and 24-year-old Kendall Fortner were among the six people aboard a Cessna 550 jet that crash and burst into flames early Thursday morning in dense fog near Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport.

Everyone aboard the plane died, officials said.

PHOTO: A view shows a damage house and vehicle at the crash scene, after a small civilian aircraft went down in a military neighborhood in San Diego, May 22, 2025. (KGTV)

Eight people on the ground were injured, including five who were treated for smoke inhalation, officials said. Multiple homes were destroyed and several vehicles were damaged, authorities said.

The crash occurred about 3:45 a.m. when the private jet clipped powerlines and crashed in San Diego's Murphy Canyon neighborhood seconds before it was to land at the Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport, according to an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the NTSB.

PHOTO: A small plane is seen under a tree after it crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, setting several homes on fire and forcing evacuations along several blocks, May 22, 2025. (KGTV)

On Friday, the Medical Examiner confirmed the identities of three of the people aboard the aircraft who were killed as 42-year-old David Shapiro, 25-year-old Emma Huke, and 36-year-old Celina Kenyon.

MORE: Music agency co-founder among dead in San Diego plane crash

The identity of the sixth person killed in the cash has not been publicly confirmed by officials.

Shapiro was the co-founder of the music talent agency Sound Talent Group, the company said in an earlier statement.

The company's statement identified Fortner as a booking associate with the agency but Fortner's identity wasn't officially confirmed by the medical examiner until Sunday.

PHOTO: Among those killed were 42-year-old Dave Shapiro, the co-founder of the Sound Talent Group; 24-year-old Kendall Fortner; and 25-year-old Emma Huke. (Courtesy Sound Talent Group; the Fortner Family; the Huke Family)

Huke also worked for the talent agency as a booking associate, according to the agency.

The plane was flying from Wichita, Kansas, to San Diego when it crashed, officials said. The plane originated in Teterboro, New Jersey, according to FlightRadar24 records. The plane stopped to refuel in Wichita, Kansas, before flying on to San Diego, according to FlightRadar24.

San Diego Assistant Fire Chief of Emergency Operations Dan Eddy said at a news conference on Thursday that there was dense fog in the area at the time of the crash.

In air traffic control audio transmissions minutes before the crash, the pilot was recorded asking about the weather conditions, according to LiveATC.net.

The NTSB said that the airport's weather reporting system as well as runway lights were both not functioning at the time of the crash.

ABC News' Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.

2 more victims of private jet crash in San Diego identified by coroner originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD

Photographer: Brie Goldman, Food Stylist: Annie Probst, Prop Stylist: Breanna Ghazali

End the week with an easy meatless meal thats full of flavor! Each of these vegetarian dinner recipes requires 25 minutes of active time or less, so you can enjoy the end of the weekend at your own pace. Whether it's a comforting soup, a creamy pasta dish or a few veggie tacos, each bite of these meals is healthy and flavorful. Recipes like our Crispy Sheet-Pan Black Bean Tacos and Roasted Veggies with Halloumi & Chickpeas will have you feeling satisfied and ready for the week ahead.







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Love any of these recipes? Tap "Save" to add them to MyRecipes, your new, free recipe box for EatingWell.







Baked Feta & Veggie Soup

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Lydia Purcell

This baked feta and veggie soup is a creamy, flavorful dish that highlights the best seasonal produce. Fresh peas have a sweet and vibrant flavor, while baked feta is roasted until it melts into the soup, creating a rich, tangy contrast to the fresh vegetables.

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Arroz con Habichuelas Guisadas

Photographer: Brie Goldman, Food Stylist: Annie Probst, Prop Stylist: Breanna Ghazali

Arroz con Habichuelas Guisadas is a classic Puerto Rican dish celebrated for its rich, comforting flavors. The beans are stewed in an aromatic broth that gets its flavor from recaito and herbs like culantro and cilantro. Served over tender white rice, its a hearty and warming meal.

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Crispy Sheet-Pan Black Bean Tacos

Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Abby Armstrong

Baked to crispy perfection on your trusty sheet pan, these tacos are packed with seasoned black beans and melty cheese and served with a creamy chipotle crema, making them a fuss-free meal the whole family will love!

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Spinach, Broccoli & Mushroom Quiche

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist: Claire Spollen

This quiche is a high-protein dish that works well as a light dinner when served with a side salad or alongside roasted vegetables. Its the best way to get your veggies and protein all in one easy dish!

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Roasted Veggies with Halloumi & Chickpeas

Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Claire Spollen, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer

This sheet-pan halloumi, chickpea and veggie recipe is perfect for a weeknight dinner with easy cleanup. Chickpeas and halloumi provide protein to make this dish filling and satisfying. Roasting everything on the same sheet pan creates crispy, caramelized bites that meld beautifully with the creamy yogurt spread underneath.

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High-Protein Pasta Salad

Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle

Crunchy cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers and red onions are all mixed together in a heart-healthy vinaigrette for a dish that is as delicious as it is eye-catching. Chickpea pasta, whole chickpeas and fresh mozzarella pearls add to the dishs protein.

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Cauliflower alla Vodka

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Clarie Spollen

This cauliflower alla vodka is the plant-based meal you need right now! Cauliflower soaks up the creamy vodka sauce beautifully, making it a satisfying alternative to pasta.

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Roasted Potato Tzatziki Bowls

Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist Christina Daley

Crispy, golden roasted potatoes are the centerpiece of these tasty bowls, accompanied by a tangy, herb-packed tzatziki sauce at the base. Loaded with fresh veggies like cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and red onion with a side of chickpeas, these bowls deliver big on flavor and nutrition.

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Cheesy White Bean & Rice Skillet

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel

This cheesy skillet is the ultimate one-pan wonder. The rice forms a crispy golden layer at the bottom, adding a satisfying crunch to every bite. Aromatic seasonings combine with tender white beans, while a blanket of melted provolone on top brings on ooey-gooey perfection.

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Get Your Greens Quiche

photographer: Jen Causey, food stylist: Julian Hensarling, prop stylist: Josh Hoggle

This crustless quiche is packed with nutrient-rich collard greens and broccoli, making it a delicious way to enjoy more veggies. Paired with nutty Gruyere cheese, the result is a quiche that comes together effortlessly and is a great make-ahead option.

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Creamy Lemon-Parmesan Broccoli & White Beans

photographer: Jen Causey, food stylist: Julian Hensarling, prop stylist: Josh Hoggle

This hearty dish combines tender broccoli and creamy white beans in a velvety lemon-Parmesan sauce with a bubbly, cheesy top. Serve it alongside a crisp green salad for a meal that feels like a warm hug on your plate.

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Roasted Veggie & Black Bean Bowls

Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Pricilla Montiel, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer

These hearty bowls featuring sweet potatoes, poblano peppers and red onion are bursting with bold flavors. Add a tangy scoop of guacamole, a sprinkle of fresh cilantro and more of your favorite toppings and youll have a vibrant, satisfying dinner for your regular rotation.

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Curried Butter Beans

photographer: Jen Causey, food stylist: Julian Hensarling, prop stylist: Josh Hoggle

Tender butter beans combine with red curry paste and aromatic spices in this hearty, plant-based dish. Enjoy it on its own or serve it over brown rice or whole-grain noodles for a more filling meal.

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Baked Creamed Spinach Pasta

Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Pricilla Montiel, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer

This crowd-pleasing dish combines the velvety richness of creamed spinach with tender pasta, all baked to bubbly perfection. Its an easy, satisfying meal thats perfect for busy weeknights. Pair it with a crisp green salad and some garlic bread for a dinner that everyone will rave about.

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Marry Me White Bean & Spinach Skillet

Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Abby Armstrong, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey

By swapping in fiber-packed white beans and spinach as the main ingredients, weve given Marry Me Chicken a vegetarian spin. Youll want to sop up every last bit of sauce, so serve this with a nice hunk of crusty whole-grain bread.

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Brothy Lemon-Garlic Beans

Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Amanda Holstein, Prop Stylist: Abby Armstrong

The creamy beans soak up the garlicky, lemon-infused broth that is perfectly sopped up with a piece of toasted whole-wheat bread. For a little extra flair, finish the dish with a drizzle of good olive oilor, for a creamier take, a dollop of Greek-style yogurt.

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Baked Tomato & Feta Rice

Robby Lozano

Juicy roasted tomatoes and creamy melted feta are the stars in this flavorful casserole. Made in just one baking dish, this hearty dinner is the perfect choice for weeknights when you want minimal cleanup.

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Sweet Potato-Black Bean Tostadas

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley

These sweet potato tostadas pack in plenty of plant-based protein, combining hearty black beans and nutrient-packed sweet potatoes for a satisfying and flavorful meal.

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Grilled Zucchini & Halloumi Pitas

Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless

This grilled halloumi pita is loaded with tender-crisp zucchini, fresh tomatoes and smoky halloumi cheese. You can prepare this sandwich inside using a grill pan, or outside using a gas grill.

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Chickpeas alla Vodka

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hauser

Chickpeas are swimming in a creamy vodka sauce that gets enhancements from sauteed garlic, onion and vibrant green baby kale. Crispy, toasted whole-wheat bread is perfect for dipping. You can customize this dish easily by using chard or spinach in place of kale.

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Penne with Zucchini & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Courtesy Photo

This dish is inspired by Chef Maria Grazias signature zucchini pasta. This version stays close to the original, with plenty of zucchini getting caramelized until the flavor intensifies.

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No-Cook White Bean & Spinach Caprese Salad

This easy salad features the classic combination of juicy tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, fragrant basil and tangy balsamic vinegar, but adds tender white beans and fresh baby spinach to the mix.

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Spaghetti with Creamy Lemon-Spinach Sauce

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle

Give your veggie servings a boost with this easy spaghetti with spinach sauce recipe. Loosely inspired by the flavors of classic pesto, this vibrant pasta packs in plenty of spinach and basil with a garnish of nutty walnuts and savory Parmesan cheese.

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Marry Me Chickpeas

Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle, Food Stylist: Renu Dhar

We put a vegetarian spin on Marry Me Chicken, a dish typically consisting of chicken coated in a sun-dried tomato cream sauce, by swapping in fiber-packed chickpeas as the main ingredient. From the creamy chickpeas to the umami-laden sun-dried tomatoes, youll want to sop up every last bit of sauce.

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Creamy Caramelized Cabbage Pasta

Photographer: Grant Webster, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Lexi Juhl

In this comforting vegetarian dinner, cabbage is sauteed in butter until it caramelizes, imparting a subtle sweetness to the dish. A light, creamy sauce coats both the cabbage and the pasta.

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Read the original article on EATINGWELL
Five skiers were found dead on the Adler Glacier near the resort town of Zermatt, Switzerland, Canton Valais Police announced May 25.

The victims were discovered by an Air Zermatt search flight near the Rimpfischhorn mountain, prompted by two skiers who were climbing the mountain alerting local police to four abandoned skis around 4:30 p.m. local time. Three bodies were discovered "on an avalanche cone," and the other two were found on an area of snow above them, according to the helicopter operator.

Zermatt, Switzerland seen on October 30, 2024.

Canton Valais Police did not identify the victims in the Sunday statement, saying that the Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the accident.

Zermatt is one of Switzerland's premier Alpine resort towns, visited by affluent British and other European skiers, according to Reuters. It is approximately 128 miles southeast of Geneva and 127 miles northwest of Milan, Italy.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 5 skiers found dead on Swiss mountain
Universal/courtesy Everett Collection Alan Alda and Carol Burnett in 1981's 'The Four Seasons'







Alan Alda is looking back on his time making the 1981 film, The Four Seasons, in this week's issue of PEOPLE

He recounts a time when he met with Carol Burnett for lunch at a Chinese restaurant while they were making the film  and the hilarity that ensued

Alda says he and Burnett and the rest of the cast developed a real friendship ahead of filming the movie







Alan Alda is recalling a memorable meal he once had with Carol Burnett.

During a break in filming 1981's The Four Seasons together, the beloved M*A*S*H actor, 89, says he and Burnett, 92, met up for lunch at a Chinese restaurant.

"There was a dish of moo shu pork on the table, and it had vegetables wrapped up in a pancake," Alda tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "At one point Carol stood up, held the pancake up and let the whole thing unroll and said: 'It's a message from the king.'"

Before filming began on the movie, which he also directed, Alda says he got to spend three weeks rehearsing and "trading stories" with Burnett and the rest of the cast, which also included Rita Moreno.

"Most of that time was spent getting to know each other, having dinner together, having lunch together," he says. "There was a lot of laughing and admiring one another's work. When everybody really engages, the ease of real old friendship comes out [on screen], which is important for that story, because you have to believe that a friendship is being jeopardized. It was a very happy shoot."

Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch/Shutterstock Carol Burnett and Alan Alda at the Emmys in 1987

Alda similarly had a great experience shooting Tina Fey's new Netflix series adaption of The Four Seasons, in which he makes a surprise cameo.

"I'm so happy for Tina," says Alda. "The movie meant a lot to me, and people are reacting to her work very much as they did to mine."

Jason Mendez/Getty Tina Fey and Alan Alda on April 27, 2025

In the original film Alda plays controlling lawyer Jack Burroughs. In Fey's series Will Forte plays a reimagined version of Alda's role, while Alda appears as one of the character's fathers.

During a scene with Fey and Colman Domingo, his character offers them some hilarious marriage advice: Every once in a while ... [my wife would] say, Congratulations! Take off your pants, its a sex day. You might think of trying that with your spouse.

Courtesy of Netflix Alan Alda in Netflix's 'The Four Seasons'

Like his character, Alda regularly calls upon advice from his own wife of 68 years, Arlene, 92.

She always says, The secret to marriage is a short memory," he says. We both try to practice being there when were there: listening, answering, taking an interest. You can get used to somebody no matter who it is. I've always thought if the Pope and Mother Teresa were a couple, after a few years, they'd have to work it out."

The Four Seasons is streaming now on Netflix

Read the original article on People
Key takeaways

Banks have the right to close accounts for various reasons, including inactivity, low balance or suspicious activity.

Prompt action and communication with the bank are crucial if an account is unexpectedly closed.

The unexpected closure of a bank account can have a significant financial impact, making it important to take preventative measures.

Most of us rely on our bank accounts for managing our finances, paying bills and receiving a paycheck. So, when a bank closes an account unexpectedly  whether its a checking or savings account  it can be both inconvenient and worrying.

If youve experienced this, youre probably wondering why this happened to you and what you can do about it.

Here are some of the reasons a bank may close your account, what you can do next and how to avoid future bank account closures.

Why would a bank close your account?

Its important to understand that banks have the right to close accounts based on their discretion and internal policies. There are several reasons a bank might decide to close your account:

Inactivity or low activity over an extended period of time.

Having a zero or negative balance or suspicion of fraudulent activity.

Excessive bounced checks or overdraft fees.

Flagged for suspicious activities or violating the accounts policies.

What happens when a bank closes your account?

When a bank closes your account, several things can happen:

Youll receive any remaining balance: The bank typically mails you a check for the money left in your account.

It may be reported to ChexSystems : If the closure was due to suspected fraud or unpaid fees, it could affect your ability to open accounts elsewhere.

Automatic payments and deposits stop: Any scheduled transactions will fail, which could cause late fees or missed income.

What to do if your bank closes your account

If you find your bank account suddenly closed, its essential to take prompt action. Heres what you can do:

Contact the bank immediately: As soon as you become aware of the account closure, reach out to your bank. Ask them for the specific reasons for the closure and inquire about the procedure to collect any remaining funds. Stop direct deposits and automatic withdrawals: To avoid bouncing checks or missing bill payments, reroute your direct deposits to another account. Also, cancel any automatic payments linked to the closed account. Settle any outstanding balances: If your account was closed due to a negative balance, find out how to settle the amount. Clearing this debt is crucial to prevent it from being sent to a collection agency, which could harm your credit score. File a complaint if necessary: You can submit a complaint to the federal Office of the Comptrollers Customer Assistance Group if you believe your account was wrongly closed. Explore other banking options: Start looking for new banking options. If youre having difficulty opening a new account due to your banking history, consider second-chance bank accounts designed for customers with past banking issues. Monitor your accounts regularly: To avoid similar situations in the future, keep a close eye on your account activity. Set up alerts for low balances or unusual transactions and regularly review your bank statements for any errors. Keep documentation of all your interactions with the bank regarding the account closure. This includes notes from phone conversations and copies of written notices.

How to avoid a bank account closure

Prevention is the best option when it comes to avoiding bank account closures. Here are some proactive steps you can take:

Handle checks with caution: To prevent check fraud, be careful with how you handle checks. If you need to mail checks, take them directly to the post office. Avoid accepting checks from people you dont know. Stay in communication with your bank: Respond promptly to any communications from your bank. If you plan to make any significant financial changes, such as a large deposit or lifestyle shift, inform your bank ahead of time. Sign up for alerts and notifications: Enroll in your banks notification services. These alerts can help you monitor your account balance and transactions, helping you avoid falling below minimum balance requirements. Maintain account activity: Regular account activity demonstrates to the bank that your account is not a risk. Avoid keeping your account at a zero or negative balance and ensure you use your account regularly. Avoid high-risk transactions: If possible, avoid transactions or business activities that banks might consider high-risk, such as online gambling or certain types of sales.

By implementing these measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of an unexpected bank account closure. Remember, the key to a healthy banking relationship is communication, responsible usage and understanding your banks policies.

Bankrate's take

If youre in the position to open a new account, read Bankrates guide How to open a bank account. If you prefer doing your banking from your computer or smartphone, check out Bankrates primer How to open a bank account online.

FAQs about a closed bank account

Does a bank need to alert you to a closed account? While banks can close your account without prior notice, they typically will notify you after the fact to explain the closure and guide you on how to retrieve any remaining funds. Its crucial to reach out to your bank promptly if your account is closed to understand why and secure your balance.

What happens to the money in a bank account if closed? If your bank account is closed with a balance remaining, the bank will issue a refund, typically by mailing you a check. If the account is closed due to suspected criminal activity, the bank has the right to freeze your assets.

What happens when my bank account is locked? If your bank account is locked, you can still view your account and make deposits, but withdrawals and transfers are blocked. Autopay bills will also fail, as previously authorized transactions are stopped.

Bottom line

The unexpected closure of a bank account can be both inconvenient and worrying, but there are steps you can take to prevent it from happening. By staying informed, communicating with your bank and being responsible with your account, you can avoid the potential financial impact and maintain a healthy banking relationship.
Former President Biden said Friday he is feeling great almost a week after publicly announcing his prostate cancer diagnosis.

Biden made the comments from Connecticuts Bradley International Airport while visiting for his grandsons graduation, according to News8.

The remarks are the first spoken since Bidens Sunday acknowledgement of the aggressive prognosis.

On Monday, the longtime Democrat wrote a message to his followers thanking them for their support amid his health concerns.

Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places, the former president wrote.

Thank you for lifting us up with love and support, he added.

As Biden continues to retreat from the public spotlight, the Trump administration has drawn flames from the cancer diagnosis.

On Monday, Vice President Vance questioned the team around Biden while he was in office, suggesting staffers knew he was unfit to carry out the role of commander-in-chief.

You can separate the desire for him to have the right health outcome, with the recognition that whether it was doctors or whether there were staffers around the former president, I dont think he was able to do a good job for the American people, Vance told reporters.

Thats not politics, thats not because I disagreed with him on policy, thats because I dont think he was in good enough health. In some ways I blame him less than I blame the people around him, he continued.

Reporting from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson in the book, Original Sin: President Bidens Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, has echoed those comments signaling that Bidens inner circle shielded him from scrutiny over a cognitive decline during his last year in office.

The former president and his wife, Jill, have denied those allegations.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Marion Curtis / Starpix for Apple Original Films (2) Domhnall Gleeson; John Krasinski







Domhnall Gleeson revealed that he spoke with both John Krasinski and Steve Carell about taking a role in The Office spinoff, The Paper

"I'm so happy I did it because I think we have something really lovely," Gleeson told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview at the New York City premiere of Fountain of Youth on May 19

The Paper, which also stars Sabrina Impacciatore, is set to premiere in September on Peacock









John Krasinski is passing the torch  or in this case, the stapler  to Domhnall Gleeson.

Gleeson, 42, is set to star in The Office spinoff The Paper, and he told PEOPLE at the May 19 premiere of Fountain of Youth that Krasinski, 45, gave him some very simple advice about the role.

"He was wonderful. I mean, his big advice that he gave me was to do it," the Irish actor says.

"And the same with Steve Carell, another just wonderful actor who I'd worked with before. And their advice was, if it's Greg Daniels, you should do it because getting to work with him is a treat that not many people get to have," he continues, referring to the developer of both The Office and The Paper.

"And I'm so happy I did it because I think we have something really lovely. So I'm thrilled with it," he adds.

Aaron Epstein/Peacock; Byron Cohen/NBC Domhnall Gleeson in 'The Paper' as Ned; John Krasinski in 'The Office' as Jim

Gleeson says Krasinski and Carell's support  and their glowing reports of their own experiences working on The Office  made accepting the role that much more affirming.

"I mean, I like to think I would've got there on my own anyway, but certainly if [John] and Steve had been like, 'Don't do it, it's a nightmare,' I would've hightailed it, but they could not have been more positive about it, and I'm delighted I listened to them," he tells PEOPLE.

Carell, 62, previously revealed that he spoke to Gleeson before he signed on to the project.

"I know Domhnall Gleeson  who I did The Patient with  is going to be one of the leads. I know that for sure," Carell said while appearing on a June 2024 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.



"Hes an excellent actor. And he actually called me and asked, you know, Should I do this? Is this something  Did you enjoy it? I said, 'Of course,' " Carell continued, adding of Gleeson, "He's great."

Marion Curtis / Starpix for Apple Original Films Domhnall Gleeson attends the N.Y.C. premiere of 'Fountain of Youth' on May 19, 2025

NBC announced earlier this month that The Paper will premiere this September on Peacock as it shared a first look at the series. Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus) will star as Ned and Esmerelda, respectively, and The Office veteran Oscar Nunez will reprise his role as Oscar Martinez.

The mockumentary-style show will follow the staff of a dying Midwestern newspaper, The Truth Teller. "We are three members of a wonderful ensemble cast of underdog characters that are banding together to keep journalism alive," Gleeson told the audience at NBC's Upfront presentation in New York City on May 12.

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.

Aaron Epstein/Peacock Domhnall Gleeson stands on a desk in 'The Paper' pilot episode

"My character has the unwavering optimistic belief that he can turn The Truth Teller to the glory of its heyday," he added.

Nunez, 66, also took a moment to tell the crowd what enticed him back to The Office world.

"I told Mr. Greg Daniels that if Oscar came back, he would probably be living in a more bustling, cosmopolitan city. Greg heard me and he moved Oscar to Toledo, Ohio  which has three times the population of Scranton. So it was nice to be heard," he joked.

The Paper also stars Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Ramona Young, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman and Tim Key.



Read the original article on People
Four months ago, McKinley Archie was blindsided by the reality that his six-figure job with a trucking company where he'd worked for about 20 years was coming to a screeching halt.

Archie, 46, had been working at the now-defunct car hauling company Jack Cooper since 2004. He started there as a driver. He drove big rigs loaded with new Ford Motor Co. vehicles out of the automaker's Louisville Assembly Plant and Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships across the nation. He had worked his way up to steward at the Jack Cooper facility that served Louisville Assembly.

Life was good. Then came Jan. 2, the day that Ford  Jack Coopers second-largest customer behind General Motors  gave a 30-day notice to Jack Cooper that it was terminating its decades-long business with the hauler. Ford did not provide a reason. Archie and about 105 colleagues in Louisville suddenly knew they'd be losing what had been lucrative jobs.

"It wasnt McDonalds wage jobs  those were good jobs," Archie said, noting most of the drivers were earning more than $100,000 a year.

Then, one month later, GM ended its relationship with Jack Cooper after failing to reach a new contract. That put the nearly 100-year-old vehicle hauling company out of business, eliminating about 2,500 jobs nationally. In Michigan, more than 350 jobs ended when Ford and GM severed their contracts with Jack Cooper.

McKinley Archie is co-founder of Squirrelly LLC car hauling company. Archie is a former truck driver then steward for Jack Cooper until the company went under. So he and his business partners have been buying the haulers and using them for the overflow contract they have with Ford. He plans to have 35 trucks and haulers by July. Squirrelly has delivered nine loads of Ford Expeditions to Texas so far.

Through it all, Archie put on a brave face to mask his fear about how he'd provide for his family.

"As the steward, my coworkers looked to me for leadership and guidance, so I had to be strong for them on the outside. But internally, I didn't know what I was going to do either," Archie said. "Then, when I saw my mom, she said, 'What's wrong? Your face looks heavy?' I broke a couple tears and said, 'I don't know if I'll have a job.' She reminded me that I'm a child of God. He will take care of me. She said to suck it up, keep moving and it will all work out."

Digging up the seed cash

Archie said he listened to his mother's advice, drew on his faith and started mulling over a plan to survive this setback.

He knew that on Jan. 31, the Jack Cooper trucks had to be empty, so he wasted no time. In early February, he gathered together his lifelong band of "brothers from another mother" and proposed an idea.

"Weve been doing business for years, and we sat down and had a roundtable on how we can mitigate these losses," Archie said. "We decided to launch into the car hauling business."

Recent car recalls: Ford F-150, Broncos among over 280,000 vehicles recalled

The group has launched other business endeavors, such as in 2020, when they started bourbon-maker Black Bred Distillery in Louisville. They also run a home renovation business, Knox Construction, in Atlanta.

In February, the group launched Squirrelly LLC. The goal is to haul Ford vehicles from the Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships anywhere in the nation. Archie is the company's cofounder and chief compliance officer. The newly established hauler is based in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where some of the group live.

The business group consists of Archie, two other men and a woman. The three men grew up together and have known each other "from the cradle," Archie said. They went on first dates together and Archie even taught one of them how to drive. They met the woman later through friends. She brings with her an expertise on logistics, he said.

Archie describes the group as "multi-preneurs," meaning that they try to find opportunities across a range of fields. His two male partners have degrees in finance and one is a youth pastor with a master's degree in divinity, Archie said.

They decided on the name Squirrelly because we are all over the place. Thats our slogan," Archie said.

But they knew it would be no easy feat to start their own car hauling business. Archie said the plan has been to buy lightly used rigs from Jack Cooper. But each one carried a whopping price tag of $260,000. Then there is the cost for insurance on the rigs and for employees. He said they were able to lease some of the trucks to start, which helped get them going. So far, Squirrelly has bought 10 trucks and is scheduled to buy 25 more, he said.

"So it was quite a lot we had to raise, an arduous task for us," Archie said, saying all the capital came from the group's own resources, no outside funding. "We had to go into my backyard and dig up all my savings. Its hard to go even to a bank and say, 'give me $3 million to start a dream.' Now that were actually moving cars, maybe we can go back to them and show them proof of concept. But we bootstrapped all of it.

McKinley Archie is co-founder of Squirrelly LLC car hauling company. Archie is a former truck driver then steward for Jack Cooper until the company went under. So he and his business partners have been buying the haulers and using them for the overflow contract they have with Ford. He plans to have 35 trucks and haulers by July. Squirrelly has delivered nine loads of Ford Expeditions to Texas so far.

Looking to make his own deal

Squirrelly moved its first load of Ford vehicles on April 22 from Kentucky to Texas. Since then, it has hauled nine loads of the Ford Expedition SUV and F-Series Super Duty pickups from Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships in Texas and 17 loads to dealerships in Michigan. Archie said that's about 120 vehicles.

Its a great start for us," Archie said. "Of course, we want to get to the point where were moving 36 loads a day or better. Once we get our own inventory straight from the (automakers), thatll be better."

Ford spokeswoman Ursula Muller declined to comment about Squirrelly hauling Ford vehicles because the automaker has a policy not to comment on supplier contracts.

But Squirrelly is transporting the overflow work from other hauling companies because, under the Teamsters union contract, haulers must give overflow work to other unionized carriers, Archie said. Late last month, Squirrelly employees voted to join the Teamsters, the union confirmed.

A week later, a second unit of former Jack Cooper haulers rejoined the Teamsters Union. In a media release, Teamsters Local 964 in Ohio said a group of car haulers in Avon Lake, employed by Fleet Transport Corp., unionized with Local 964. Fleet Transport was launched last month to fill the void in that market left by Jack Coopers bankruptcy, the release said. Ford's Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake builds the F-Series Medium Duty and Super Duty pickups.

Squirrelly has six employees beyond the 10 former Jack Cooper drivers Squirrelly has hired, Archie said.

"My goal is to get most of those (drivers) back to work. Cassens Transport took a few of them," Archie said, noting that besides Cassens, other haulers for the Louisville plants include Precision Hauling and RCS Transportation.

Were the new kid on the block," Archie said. "Before Jack Cooper went out, those carriers were already there.

Archie said Squirrelly is looking to negotiate a direct contract with the Detroit automakers. In the meantime, he said it feels satisfying to be working again and able to employ others.

"Its a lot of pride to me personally to help my fellow brothers get back to work," Archie said. "I just thank God that He put me in a position to be able to do it. When it was happening and we were losing our jobs, I thought, 'Ill be all right because Ill start my own car hauling company.' Four months later, here we are actually moving vehicles.

Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Jack Cooper driver starts Squirrelly LLC, hauls Ford vehicles
Dr. Alaa al-Najjar left her ten children at home when she went to work in the emergency room at the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza. Hours later, the bodies of seven children arrived at the hospital, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. They were Dr. Najjars own children. The bodies of two more of her children  a 7-month-old and a 12-year-old who authorities presume to be dead  remain missing. - Clipped From Video

Dr. Alaa al-Najjar left her ten children at home on Friday when she went to work in the emergency room at the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza.

Hours later, the bodies of seven children - most of them badly burned - arrived at the hospital, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. They were Dr. Najjars own children, killed in an Israeli airstrike on her familys home, Gaza Civil Defense said. The bodies of two more of her children  a 7-month-old and a 12-year-old who authorities presume to be dead  remain missing.

Only one of her ten children, 11-year-old Adam, survived. Dr. Najjars husband Hamdi, himself a doctor, was also badly injured in the strike.

Civil defense and the health ministry say that the familys home, in a neighborhood of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, was targeted by an Israeli airstrike.

In response to a CNN request for comment, the Israeli military said aircraft had struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure adjacent to IDF troops in the area of Khan Younis. It said it was reviewing the claim civilians had been killed.

Israels military chief Eyal Zamir went to Khan Younis on Sunday, according to a statement from the IDF.

Hamas is under immense pressureit has lost most of its assets and its command and control. We will deploy every tool at our disposal to bring the hostages home, dismantle Hamas, and dismantle its rule, Zamir told troops, adding that the the military needs to now take down Hamas Khan Younis brigade.

Eve al-Najjar (left) and Raslan al-Najjar (right), who were both killed in an Israeli airstrike, pictured with their father, Dr. Hamdi al-Najjar (center). - Courtesy Al Najjar family

Palestinian doctor Alaa al-Najjar visits her injured husband Hamdi in the intensive care unit at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, after an Israeli airstrike hit their home. - Hani Alshaer/Anadolu/Getty Images

Gaza Civil Defense published graphic video from the scene of the strike. It showed medics lifting an injured man onto a stretcher as other first responders try to extinguish a fire engulfing the house. They recover the charred remains of several children from the debris and wrap them in white sheets.

Dr. Sahar al-Najjar, a niece, told CNN that Hamdi, 38, had dropped his wife at the hospital and gone to get food for his children. When he returned, he witnessed a missile strike on their home that failed to detonate. He rushed inside to rescue his children but was hit by a second Israeli strike.

My father went to rescue Uncle Hamdi but found Adam on the street and took him to the hospital. Uncle Hamdi was taken by civil defense, and the rest of the children were all charred, she said.

Last bottle of milk

Sahar said Dr. Alaa broke down when she showed the last bottle of breast milk she had expressed for her infant daughter, Sidra, whose body remains missing.

She told me today that her chest aches so much as she was breastfeeding, Sahar said on Sunday. Every day at work, Dr. Alaa pumped milk to provide for Sidra, and today she showed me the last bottle she prepared for her.

Dr. Alaa can barely speak. If you could see her face, you would understand her pain. She is only praying for her son and husband to recover.

When Adam, the sole surviving child, came out of the operating room, he called out for his sister Eve, saying, Theres blood on the tree. One of Adams arms is severely injured, and he will need another surgery in a few days. His father, Hamdi, remains in critical condition.

Adam al-Najjar (left), the sole surviving child of the al-Najjar family, pictured with his sisters Sidra (center) and Rival (right), who were both killed in an Israeli airstrike. - Courtesy Al Najjar family

The only surviving child of doctor Alaa al-Najjar lies in a hospital bed at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after an Israeli airstrike hit their home. - Hani Alshaer/Anadolu/Getty Images

In a condolence message to Dr. Najjar, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Israeli-occupied West Bank said she will always be remembered as the steadfast Palestinian woman and the noble doctor who heals the wounds of others while bearing her own pain in silence.

This horrific crime is not an isolated incident, but part of a systematic targeting of medical personnel and institutions, aimed at breaking the will of those standing steadfast in Gaza, it said.

Wiping out entire families

Munir al-Boursh, Director-General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said that Dr. Najjars husband had just returned home when the home was struck.

Nine of their children were killed: Yahya, Rakan, Raslan, Gebran, Eve, Rival, Sayden, Luqman, and Sidra, Boursh posted on X.

This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain. In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targetedIsraels aggression goes further, wiping out entire families, Boursh said.

Ahmad al-Farra, a doctor at the Nasser Medical Complex, told CNN that Dr. Najjar continued to work despite losing her children, while periodically checking on the condition of her husband and Adam.

Youssef Abu al-Reesh, a senior official at the Health Ministry, said Dr. Najjar had left her children at home to fulfill her duty and her calling toward all those sick children who have no place but Nasser Hospital.

Reesh said that when he arrived at the hospital, he had seen her standing tall, calm, patient, composed, with eyes full of acceptance. You could hear nothing from her but quiet murmurs of (glorification of God) and (seeking forgiveness).

Dr. Najjar, 38, is a pediatrician, but like most doctors in Gaza, she has been working in the emergency room during Israels onslaught on the territory.

As southern Gaza comes under renewed attack, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Sunday that two of its team members were killed in a strike on their home in Khan Younis on Saturday. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment on the strike.

Their killing points to the intolerable civilian death toll in Gaza, the ICRC said in a statement posted to X.

This story has been updated.

This article has been corrected to reflect the age of one of Dr. Alaa al-Najjars two missing children, who are believed to be dead.

CNNs Eyad Kourdi and Mohammad Al Sawalhi contributed to this report.

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A casual phone call home turned into a "terrifying" ordeal for Rosamund Pike when the beloved Gone Girl star found herself the victim of a violent mugging on a London street. The 46-year-old actress recounted the shocking attack, revealing she was punched in the face by a young thief on a bicycle who then snatched her mobile phone, leaving her bruised and her mother, fearing the worst after hearing a scream and then dead silence on the line.

Speaking with Magic Radio, Pike painted a vivid picture of the 15 minutes of terror, which began innocuously as she strolled, chatting with her mother. The suddenness of the assault was jarring, transforming a normal day into a scene of fear. I was on the phone to my mother, on a mobile phone walking along a road, and I was mugged, Pike explained. She highlighted the immediate terror her mother experienced: The phone was snatched so all she heard was me scream and a thud and the phone went dead.

The encounter wasn't just a grab-and-run; it turned violent in a heartbeat. Pike revealed the young thief didn't just target her phone  he targeted her. The attacker "punched her down the side of her cheek," she stated, the force of the blow most likely the 'thud' her mother heard before the line went dead. The thief then vanished, taking her mobile phone and leaving the acclaimed actress reeling on the pavement.

Pike shared the gut-wrenching moments that followed for her mother. Those seconds of silence, filled only with the echo of a scream and a sickening thud, must have "felt like an eternity," Pike acknowledged. The attacker wasn't a hidden threat, but chillingly brazen. Pike described the "mugger" as a "kid who sped past her on a bicycle."

Born and raised in the UK capital, Pike found herself shaken, phoneless, and nursing a painful bruise on her face in her own city. Beyond the shock and the injury, her immediate thoughts turned to her panic-stricken mother. Pike managed to walk to a nearby pub. From there, she was thankfully able to borrow a phone and make the vital call to reassure her mother that, while deeply shaken and bruised, she was physically safe.

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'Gone Girl' Actress Punched & Mugged in 'Terrifying' London Attack: 'All She Heard Was Me Scream' first appeared on Parade on May 25, 2025
A fighter loyal to the Sudanese army patrols a market area in Khartoum. (AFP - Getty Images file)

Wracked by violence in which thousands of civilians have been slaughtered, aid camps burned to the ground and hundreds of children raped, Africas largest war has torn Sudan apart and forced more than 12 million people from their homes.

The cataclysmic battle for supremacy has pitted the Sudanese military, controlled by the countrys top commander, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Daglo Mousa  a former camel dealer widely known as Hemedti.

The conflict has created the worlds biggest humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations, which says at least 24,000 people have been killed, though activists say the number is far higher.

Both sides face war crimes accusations from the United States, which sanctioned the northeast African nation's government for using chemical weapons Thursday  a claim it denied.

The RSF meanwhile, has denied accusations of ethnic cleansing in the country where some 30.4 million people  over two thirds of the total population  are in need of assistance, from health to food and other forms of humanitarian support, according to a February report from the United Nations refugee agency.

After the war entered its third year last month, NBC News spoke to three people who have been caught in the crossfire.

You just have to walk

Around seven months pregnant with her first child, Abeir Abdelrahman said she was resigned to losing her baby as she fled her home in the Jabra neighborhood in the south of Sudans capital, Khartoum, which had been overrun by RSF gunmen in September 2023, five months after the fighting began.

You have to walk. Just walk. And you have to walk quickly because at any time bombs and shots are going to be there, she told NBC News in a telephone interview this month. At one point I thought: Its OK. You lose the baby, but you will be alive with your family. Youll be safe with your husband, so God will give it to you again, she added.

But as they trekked south, she said they lost contact with her 63-year-old father, who had fallen behind. After four days of frantic backtracking, she said they discovered he had been arrested at an RSF checkpoint and accused of stealing his own belongings.

We were all very scared, she said, adding that they feared he might be shot. My mom didnt eat for a long time, she said. Around the same time she found out that her brother, who had decided to stay home, had been seriously wounded in a rocket attack, she said.

After 35 days in captivity, Abdelrahman said her father was released. Although he had cholera and malaria, he was relatively unharmed, she said. Her brother survived surgery despite almost losing a leg.

Abdelrahman moved with the rest of her family farther south to Jazirah state, where she gave birth to her daughter, Samiya, now 16 months old.

Everyone was in tears, my mom, me and dad, just a moment full of joy, and I just felt lucky, and I felt blessed that God helped me and protected her, said Abdelrahman, who is now teaching English in the eastern city of Kassala.

Samiya is a girl of the war because shes strong. And whenever shes going through things in her life, even when she gets bigger, Im sure she will overcome them, she added.

Guns at my face

Others like, Amr Ali, 39, did not get the chance to flee.

An IT worker and freelance photographer, he said he spent 10 years in the Netherlands before returning to Sudan in August 2021 with plans to open a photography business and settle down.

Just over two years later, as the fighting neared his home in eastern Khartoum, he said he recorded final messages for his mom and sister with the sound of the shooting and the bombing in the background.

On Oct. 5, 2023, as bullets ripped into his apartment and rockets exploded nearby, he said he hid under his bed. When he emerged, he said eight or nine RSF members had surrounded him and asked if he was a member of the military.

Amr Ali after receiving treatment for his hand, which was broken when he was beaten in RSF captivity. (Supplied to NBC News)

Refusing to believe he was a civilian, Ali said they started beating me like crazy. Accusing him of being in the military, he said they were just pointing guns at my face, shooting it next to my ears, next to my feet and threatening to kill him.

Transferred to a nearby gas station that had been turned into a makeshift prison, he said he was hit with so many hands, so many punches, so many slaps and the kicking and kicking.

He said he could smell weed and alcohol on the breath of the fighters who hit him with pipes and sticks and threatened to shoot him in mock executions. The beatings only stopped at night after other RSF fighters complained about the screaming because they were trying to sleep, Ali added.

After 10 days, Ali said he was allowed to contact his family who provided evidence that he was a civilian. This, he said, led to a complete change in attitude from his captors, who took him somewhere for a shower and gave him new clothes. Over a large meal, he said an RSF member apologized for his mistreatment.

I was just confused. Wed gone from beating and We will kill you and We will destroy you, to Sorry, we will take care of you, Ali said.

After he was released on Oct. 31, he said he immediately sought medical treatment. His hand had to be re-broken so it could heal properly, he added.

Then he fled Sudan for Egypt, where he is waiting to be resettled by the U.N. Asked whether he accepted the RSFs apology, he said, Absolutely not. They ruined my country.

We had to find a way out

Just across the River Nile in the city of Omdurman, Natasha, a British mother of four, said the bombing became so bad they had to leave her home where the army had set up positions on the roof. NBC News agreed not to use her last name because she fears for her safety.

With her husband back in the U.K., she said she moved in with her mother-in-law, Asmaa, 70, and over the course of 18 months watched as law and order broke down and armed gangs roamed the neighborhood stealing from houses and people were getting killed.

A 12-year-old friend of her son was shot by a sniper, Natasha, 47, tearfully recalled, adding that the bullet went through him and it went through his sister.

His death was the catalyst in her decision to leave her home, she said, adding that electricity and water had begun to cut out and food had become scarce.

Displaced civilians at a shelter in Omdurman, Sudan, after being evacuated this month. (Ebrahim Hamid / AFP via Getty Images)

With kidnapping common in Sudan, she said she knew her status as a foreigner with white skin made things very, very dangerous for her, so she donned sunglasses and wrapped herself from head to toe before they made their escape in a rickshaw in September.

I thought: OK, I might die on my way out. You know, if I dont do this Im going to die. I cant just sit here like this. One of us is going to get shot. So it was just a numb feeling, Natasha said.

She said that her driver cleared RSF checkpoints without stopping, before dropping her off near a military checkpoint.

As they neared, Natasha said soldiers fired above their heads and she quickly waved a piece of white clothing. The shooting stopped and they were allowed across the checkpoint.

I just remember when my husbands mum said to me, Thats it. Its over. You can take off your shades, Natasha said, starting to cry.

After the military regained control of Omdurman, she said she was planning to move to a nicer part of the city and open another kindergarten.

War crimes and hunger

Sudans military said Tuesday it had taken full control of the Greater Khartoum region, but the RSF still controls most of the western region of Darfur and some other areas where battles continue to rage.

The fighting has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in Darfur, according to the U.N. and international rights groups. In March the United Nations Childrens Fund reported that armed men have raped hundreds of children, including some as young as 1.

On Thursday, the United States said it would impose sanctions on Sudan's government after it determined that Sudan used chemical weapons last year. They will include limits on U.S. exports and government lines of credit, and they will take effect around June 6, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

Sudan rejected the move and described the allegations as false in a statement.

Nonetheless, 24.6 million people, or around half the population, face acute hunger, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification  an organization that sets a scale the United Nations and governments use to assess hunger.

I did my very best not to leave Sudan, but yeah, the situation just wasnt really helping, Ali, the photographer, said. Its not getting better. Its heartbreaking.
Jenny Bae, of Ga., signs autographs after the second round of The Augusta National Women's Amateur at Champions Retreat in Augusta, Ga., on Thursday, March 30, 2023. Bae is in third at -7. (Katie Goodale / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Jenny Bae will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Mexico Riviera Maya Open in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, after shooting a 1-under 71 on Saturday.

Bae, who hails from Suwanee, Ga., and is seeking her first win on the LPGA Tour as a rookie, got off to a strong start Saturday with three straight birdies, then bogeyed the par-4 No. 6 hole and closed with another bogey on No. 18, a par-5 hole. Despite the rough ending, she holds a one-shot lead for the second straight day and sits at 7-under 209.

"I was definitely a little nervous and tense heading into the third round," said Bae, whose three professional wins came on the Epson Tour. "The three birdies back-to-back-to-back was definitely a big confidence-booster for me to finish out strong.

"I didn't finish as well as I wanted to, but that's OK. Just tells me that I need to fight more the last 18 holes."

China's Yahui Zhang and Japan's Chisato Iwai are tied for second after both shot 4-under 68 Saturday, the low round of the day. Both are 6-under 210 through the third round.

Zhang, who was tied for 10th after the second round, notched five birdies on Saturday, including the final two holes, alone with one bogey on the par-4 No. 9 hole. The 2024 Epson Tour Rookie of the Year is also seeking her first win on the LPGA Tour.

"I mean, I wish I don't think too much and just play like today," Zhang said about her mindset entering the final round. "Today I think the strategy (was) pretty good and my chip is really good. Maybe after I finish today, I (will) go back and practice a little."

Iwai was also tied for 10th after two rounds, but rebounded on Saturday with four birdies and was the only player not to record a bogey in the third round. In the running for her first LPGA victory, she emphasized being patient in Sunday's final round.

Australia's Gabriela Ruffels is two shots off the lead after an eventful 71 on Saturday, which included a double-bogey on the first hole, bogeys on Nos. 6, 7 and 13, and six birdies. Four of those birdies came on the final five holes, including the last three in a row.

"Didn't start that well at all," said Ruffels, who is 5-under 211 for the weekend. "Hit it to the right on No. 1. Made a double. But I was just proud of the way I kind of stuck in there and felt like I gave myself the chance to kind of come back. To finish the way I did is really good and some momentum into tomorrow."

Seven players are in striking distance, three shots back at 4-under 212, through three rounds: South Korea's Somi Lee (68 on Saturday), Haeji Kang (69) and Hye-Jin Choi (72), Lindy Duncan (69), Germany's Aline Krauter (70), China's Miranda Wang (73) and Brianna Do (73).

--Field Level Media
Sylvain Lefevre

Nicolas Ghesquiere isnt a theme guy. When he shows a collection in a hyper-specific, far-away location (as is the usual formula for a luxury resort show), he doesnt typically do so with a singular archetype, character, or time period in mind. The clothes belong in the space where theyre shown, but they dont look as if they were plucked from a history book. With Ghesquieres Vuitton collections, theres usually more nuance than novelty, and Cruise 2026 followed suit.

Vuitton and Ghesquiere staged the show inside the Palais des Papes, a 14th-century palace and papal residence in Avignon, France, where six conclaves took place between 1334 and 1394. How apro-pope! Its only been a couple of weeks since Pope Leo XIV was elected to lead the church, and still, the Conclave movie memes are going strong: crimson robes! White smoke! Big hats! Religion aside, the world loves some pomp and circumstance and performance, especially when things are otherwise terriblean idea that ties back to Ghesquieres vision for Cruise 2026. The collection, according to the show notes, explores the performative aspects of clothing, its inherent artistic value, its narrative force, and the emotional power it unleashes.

Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

It was also appropriate that the Vuitton show was held in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes because its a central location for the town's famous theater festival, which will officially begin again this July. The runway was lit up and lined with rows of what looked like wood and red velvet altar chairs, the space then flanked with empty tiered theater seats. The soundtrack mixed what sounded like a church choir with French horns, galloping horses, and, later, bucolic sounds of birds chirping.

Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

As the models began to walk, Ghesquieres script came into focus with an expansive wardrobe made for Medieval misfits and the kind of princesses who prefer punks to white knights. It was modern and not, with whiffs of romance in ruffles and chiffon and intarsiad knits and toughness in the use of leathers and geometric patterns and embroideries. There were classically Ghesquiere-ian galactic moments in the white cargo jacket and metallic snakeskin mini skirt, the flat boots with the cutout toes and broken mirror embellishments, and the striped, intricately embroidered long-sleeved dress that was giving Joan-meets-Xena-meets-Jetsons vibes.

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As is always the case with Ghesquieres work, the real beauty was in the finer details of each lookRenaissance jacquards punctuated with shearling and fur cuffs and collars, a Victorian-style shirt made entirely of fringed chains, and a crazy cool fuchsia mini skirt made from what appeared to be a pleated and molded leather so it stuck out straight at the hems like a frozen flower. The clothes could have come from periods in time where the performative nature of religionthe garments, the jewelry, the ceremonial robesheld influence beyond what we see today on our social media feeds and movie screens.

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Ghesquieres play came to an end when the models sat in the tiered red theater seats in small groups and looked down at the audience applauding them. The designer appeared and walked through the seats where the models were, then down and along the runwaythe final tah-dah moment. Hed reminded everyone that clothes can transform, transcend, and give some meaning (or escape) to those who wear them.

Ghesquiere didnt exactly call some silly sartorial conclave to gather, nor did he design a totally linear collection. But he brought people into a space to watch a show, to be part of that show, and to remember that fashion can have a higher power.





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In her first American television interview, the sister of an Irish businessman who was murdered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, speaks out to."48 Hours" to defend his honor  "In Jason's Name"

Jason Corbett was beaten to death with a brick paver and a baseball bat in 2015 by his American au-pair-turned-wife, Molly Corbett, and her father, former FBI agent Tom Martens. Molly Corbett and Martens maintained they killed Jason Corbett in self-defense after he tried to strangle Molly. They claimed he was abusive to Molly Corbett for years and he had been threatening to kill Molly the night he died. Prosecutors said Jason Corbett's death was murder.

Jason Corbett

Now, Tracey Lynch is trying to set the record straight on her slain brother.

"They claimed it was self-defense," Lynch tells "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher. "The Martens didn't just murder Jason," Lynch says. "They tried to destroy his character."

"Jason was an amazing human being," Lynch says.

Jason Corbett was a 30-year-old father of two in Ireland, who suddenly found himself a widower when his first wife died of an asthma attack. He then decided he needed help with the children and hired Molly Martens, originally from Knoxville, Tenn. Soon, their relationship turned romantic, and they were married. Shortly after, they moved to the United States.

That's where the story turns leading up to the fateful night of Aug. 2, 2015.

Tom Martens told a 911 dispatcher that his son-in-law got into fight with his daughter and he had to intervene. "He's bleeding all over, and I, I may have killed him," he said.

Molly Corbett also told police that Jason, then 39, was "screaming 'I'm going to kill you.'"

"I just couldn't process it," Lynch says of her brother's death. "It was that, you know, he was my best friend. We were just two of the closest people in the world to each other outside my husband and children."

Lynch tells Maher that before his death her brother said he was unhappy and wanted to move home to Ireland.

"He said she was acting strange," Lynch says of Molly Corbett. "He would open up and say they were having difficulties, and then he would change the subject."

Molly Corbett and Tom Martens were arrested and charged with killing Jason Corbett. They were convicted of second-degree murder in 2017 but have maintained their innocence.

In March 2021, the North Carolina Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Molly Corbett and her father, Tom Martens. The two were released on bond the following month.

In October 2023, Molly Corbett pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. Tom Martens pleaded guilty to the same charge. The second-degree murder charge was dropped.

They were each sentenced to another 7 to 30 months in prison.

In June 2024, Molly Corbett and Tom Martens both completed their sentences and were released from prison.

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"Are you gonna kill my mommy? Are you gonna kill me?"

Michelle Renee said those are the first words she heard from her 7-year-old daughter Breea after three masked gunmen broke down their door in San Diego County, California, on the night of Nov. 21, 2000.

Renee says she had lost sight of her daughter after the intruders threw them to the floor and bound them with duct tape. When she was finally able to look up, she saw Breea "face down, with a gun to her head."

The gunmen took their time explaining why they were there. They told her they had followed her for months.

"It was very much that mind control thing that they were doing, that, 'we know everything about you,'" Renee said, including the fact that she was a branch manager at a local bank.

Finally, the ringleader told Renee what they wanted.

"You're gonna rob the bank for us," she recalled them telling her. "Or you will die, your daughter will go first."

"48 Hours" contributor Tracy Smith takes us into this unusual case in "The Kidnapping of Michelle and Breea Renee,." now streaming on Paramount+.

Throughout the night, Renee said she heard the ringleader talking to a female voice on a walkie-talkie. The woman called him "Money One," and she was "Money Two."

The following morning, Renee, her roommate and Breea were strapped with dynamite. Renee said they told her they could detonate within a 10-mile radius if she made one false move. Breea would be placed in a closet while Renee drove to the bank with the ringleader crouched in the back of her car. By the time the bank opened at 9 a.m., Renee walked out with a duffel bag filled with $360,000.

Recovered money from the bank robbery. / Credit: North County Superior Court

Once the gunman took off with the cash, Renee raced home, not sure what she'd find once she got there.

"I don't know if Breea's gonna be there," Renee recalled thinking. "I don't know if she's gonna be alive when I get there."

When she finally arrived the gunmen were gone, and Breea was still in the closet where Renee had left her.

In a reenactment for investigators, Michelle and Breea Renee are seen wearing the fake dynamite that the intruders strapped to their backs. / Credit: North County Superior Court

The ringleader had forgotten to remove the dynamite from Renee's back. After examining it, the bomb squad discovered it was fake. Tom Manning, a prosecutor in the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, told "48 Hours" that it was just two broomstick handles that had been cut up, painted and taped together to look like dynamite.

During the 14-hour hostage situation, Renee had recognized the ringleader's eyes because he had posed as a customer at the bank earlier that day, and he had left behind a business card before a female companion had whisked him away.

"My brain was going, 'Oh my gosh, don't let him know that you know,'" Renee said.

The lead would help investigators crack the case.

"Through that card, they started the investigation," Renee said.

The business card contained the suspect's real name, Christopher Butler. The FBI soon discovered Butler was a convicted felon with a history of robbing banks. Through surveillance, they found Butler living in a house with his fiancee Lisa Ramirez, the same woman who had come with him to the bank. When Butler and Ramirez were arrested 10 days later at a traffic stop, investigators found physical evidence tying them to the crime, including a BB gun that matched one of the guns Renee had described, the ski masks with cutout eye holes, Renee's credit cards, and the money straps from the bank.

At the house, investigators found "all the ingredients to make the fake bomb," Manning said, like cut-up pieces of a broom handle that had been painted, and cans of red spray paint, including one with Ramirez's fingerprint on it. Butler's fingerprint would later be found on the fake dynamite itself.

"It was crazy, I've never seen that much physical evidence left at a crime scene," Manning said.

Butler denied everything to police and tried to protect Ramirez. But during her interview, Ramirez admitted to authorities she was involved in the plot, and that she was the female voice on the walkie-talkie. She even took credit for the idea to use fake dynamite and kidnap the bank manager. She also told detectives the money had been split three ways among the suspects, but that both her share and Butler's had been stolen. But during that interview, Ramirez also falsely claimed that Renee had been in on it.

"We walked out of that thinking, 'OK, Lisa's the mastermind behind all of this. And, is it possible Michelle's involved?'" Manning said.

But ultimately, Manning said, he knew Renee was innocent.

"The first time I interviewed her, she had Breea with her," Manning said. "And...I saw that bond and relationship. And when she left, I went, 'she's not involved in this.'"

There was also all the evidence to corroborate Renee's account. The other two suspects, Christopher Huggins and Robert Ortiz, had given full confessions, neither implicating her.

Christopher Butler and Lisa Ramirez, aka

In June 2002, Butler and Ramirez would be tried together in the first of two trials.

"There was so much evidence, there was no way I thought that this trial was gonna be anything but a slam dunk," Renee said.

Manning said the DA's office was confident that Ramirez's key statements about her involvement would be allowed into evidence.

Even Ramirez's attorney Herb Weston admitted that it didn't look good for his client  she had confessed on camera. Weston told Smith he thought Ramirez was guilty when he first got the case, and offered the prosecution a plea deal, which they rejected.

"If they play that tape, saying that she wasn't involved would've been difficult," Weston told Smith.

But to everyone's surprise, and Weston's delight, since Ramirez's statements also implicated her co-defendant Butler, the judge ruled the entire interview inadmissible.

"We can now argue that she's not involved," Weston explained.

Without Ramirez' statement, the case against her relied heavily on Renee's testimony. In court, the defense would attack her credibility, and even suggest she was complicit in the bank robbery.

"I was treated like I was the criminal," Renee said.

Manning remembers that "it got very confrontational."

Weston told "48 Hours" his strategy was to "beat the hell out of the victim and point out all the inconsistencies the victim is saying."

He implied Renee was lying about recognizing Ramirez's voice on the walkie-talkie the night she was held hostage, pointing out that it wasn't in any of the FBI reports. But Renee insists she told them, and Manning argued Renee did identify Ramirez's voice before she took the stand. But Weston argued that even though his client had admitted the voice was hers, the jury didn't know that.

"That's not the point," Weston said. "For me, it was a great opening to attack [Renee's] credibility."

Weston said it was suspicious that Renee hadn't taken the bait money  traceable bills banks keep in the vault to trap bank robbers. Renee explained, however, that she was not going to take the chance that she could get her daughter killed, especially since the gunmen had instructed her "no funny money," she said.

Maybe worst of all for Renee, Weston cast doubt on her maternal instincts, questioning why she would go back to the house, knowing she was strapped with dynamite that could possibly explode. But Manning said Renee's actions made complete sense, given the stress and the pressure Renee was under to pull off a bank robbery to save her daughter's life.

While Weston hammered on every decision Renee made that day, Butler's attorney picked apart her financial history, and even asked her about her sex life.

"They were trying to paint me as somebody that was irresponsible," Renee said.

"A selfish, terrible mother...that...would do anything for money," she added.

According to Manning "the defense was to make her a culprit."

A teary Michelle Renee in court.

After Renee's three grueling days of direct testimony and cross-examination, Butler took the stand. He continued to protect Ramirez as he had in his police interview, but now he told a new, elaborate story, one in which Renee masterminded the bank robbery. And he claimed the two of them had previously had an affair. He said they had met at a grocery store, and that Renee had recruited him for the bank robbery.

Manning admitted it was jaw-dropping testimony, but contended it was all a lie and that the defense didn't present any evidence to corroborate Butler's claims.

"If any of this were true, he would've thrown Michelle down in a heartbeat in his [police] interview," Manning said.

But despite the outlandish story, it would seem the defense had done what they set out to do. After deliberating for five days, the jury found Butler guilty of the robbery and kidnapping of Breea and their roommate, but hung 9-3 on the charges involving Renee's kidnapping.

Manning said one of the jurors had completely believed Butler's story, while the other two were unsure. Butler would still receive multiple life sentences for all the other charges, but Ramirez would walk away a free woman. The jury found her not guilty on all counts.

"Mind boggling" Renee said. "The fact it was her idea to do this to a mother and a child and laughing and proud of it."

"It was the best verdict I ever got in my life," Weston said.

Even though the other two suspects would be easily convicted at their trial a few months later, Renee said she felt revictimized by the defense's tactics.

"Is it fair to beat up on the victim?" Smith asked Weston.

"Oh absolutely, absolutely," Weston replied.

Manning said the jury got it wrong on Ramirez. He believed she was "very involved...The investigators kept saying...she was the brains of the outfit."

It would take two decades, but the truth would eventually come from an unlikely source.

In January 2020, when Christopher Butler became eligible for parole under California sentencing laws, Manning saw an opportunity to ask him about the story he'd told on the stand. Butler recanted his entire testimony, admitting he and Renee never had a relationship.

"It's about time," Renee said. "There was never, ever a chance...that I would...have been involved in anything like this."

Butler was denied parole, but Renee was free.

"In a weird...way, I could breathe...I could exhale, finally, after all these years," she said.

Robert Ortiz was granted parole in January 2021.

Christopher Butler was granted parole in December 2024.

Christopher Huggins was granted parole in March 2025.

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By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) -Business heir Daniel Noboa was sworn in for a full term as Ecuador's president on Saturday, promising to press the South American country's fight against drug gangs and boost sluggish economic growth.

Noboa, elected in 2023 to finish out his predecessor's term, won an April vote by an unexpectedly wide margin, despite claims of fraud by his leftist rival.

In a ceremony at the National Assembly on Saturday, he was sworn in by the body's president, Niels Olsen Peet. Olsen placed a presidential sash over Noboa's shoulders and they raised their joined hands in a moment of celebration.

"The progressive reduction of homicides will be a non-negotiable goal. We will maintain our fight against drug trafficking, seize illegal weapons, ammunition, and explosives, and exercise greater control at the country's ports," Noboa told the assembly about his new term.

During his 18 months in office, Noboa declared war on criminal groups, using decrees to deploy the military on the streets, beefing up security at ports and lengthening sentences for drug crimes and terrorism.

He also inked a $4 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund, sought to reduce a $4.6 billion fiscal deficit and met with Chinese banks to discuss possible loans.

"We are creating a safe, stable, and competitive environment that fosters growth, protects investments, and guarantees real opportunities," Noboa said.

The 37-year-old has said cooperation with the United States, Israel and El Salvador will help the country fight drug trafficking and attract foreign investment.

His administration has hired Blackwater founder and private security executive Erik Prince to advise security forces, drawing criticism from the opposition and some rights advocates.

Though Noboa has touted a 15% reduction in violent deaths during 2024, the first four months of 2025 saw a 58% spike in the figure, to 3,094, compared to the same period last year, according to government figures.

He has said the economy is set to grow 4% this year, though the central bank predicts 2.8% growth.

Noboa will need to seek financing, analysts say, amid a public debt burden of 51.8% of GDP, high country risk that makes bond issues difficult and a fall in oil production, one of the country's top exports.

Noboa's party has control of the legislature and most of its committees.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb and Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 11: Activists hold a rally and march through downtown to show support for Mahmoud Khalil on March 11, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. Khalil, a pro-Palestine activist and recent graduate of Columbia University, was arrested by immigration officers in New York on Saturday and sent to a detention center in Louisiana. According to his lawyer, he is a lawful resident, holding a U.S. green card. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Scott Olson/Getty Images

Following through on a campaign pledge to crack down on the massive anti-Israel student protests that swept universities across the United States in 2024, President Donald Trump has detained an increasing number of foreign student protesters accused of harassing Jewish students and promoting an extremist agenda.

However, these arrests and other crackdowns on alleged criminal foreign students have been met with fierce resistance in the courtroom. A federal judge in California Thursday blocked the Trump administration from terminating the legal statuses of international students at universities across the country, dealing a blow to the crackdown on students identified in a criminal records check and/or has had their visa revoked, according to court documents.

As for students involved in anti-Israel activism, below are several of the most high-profile individuals detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for alleged pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic activity.

Mahmoud Khalil

An Algerian citizen who entered the U.S. in 2022 on a student visa to attend Columbia University, Mahmoud Khalil quickly became the face of the student protests that rocked the schools campus in 2024. The Gaza solidarity encampment, a collection of tents unlawfully occupying campus grounds, demanded Columbia officials divest from Israel, and many protesters were accused of harassing Jewish students.

The protests became so aggressive, campus officials in May 2024 canceled their university-wide graduation ceremony. Khalil appeared at many protests events and served as a leader of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a group critics accuse of being virulently anti-Israel and openly pro Hamas.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Khalil on March 8 and eventually transferred him to a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, where he has remained as the administration fights to deport him out of the country. Democrats and immigration advocates have vehemently contested his arrest and attempted removal.

While a judge earlier in April ruled Khalil he is amenable to deportation, he is counting to challenge his removal in court.

Moshen Mahdawi

Columbia University student Moshen Mahdawi was arrested by ICE agents in Vermont in April. Born and raised in the West Bank, Mahdawi relocated to the U.S. in 2014 and eventually obtained permanent status, according to his attorneys. A friend of Khalils, Mahdawi also became a significant leader in anti-Israel student protests that swept Columbia University in 2024.

While his lawyers frame him in court documents as a peaceful Buddhist who abhors violence, groups that track pro-Hamas actors paint a far different picture of Mahdawi. The Canary Mission, which collects dossiers on alleged anti-Semitic activists, has amassed an extensive list on him. The group highlighted an interview Mahdawi gave a speech in October 2023 in which he appeared to justify the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas terrorists, arguing that Hamas is the product of the Israeli occupation.

In documents submitted to court, prosecutors pointed to an incident in 2015 in which Mahdawi visited a Vermont gun store and allegedly told the owner that he had considerable firearm experience and used to build modified 9mm submachine guns to kill Jews while he was in Palestine. The gun store owner told law enforcement that Mahdawi allegedly had a similar conversation with an additional gun enthusiast.

An Obama-appointed judge in April ordered Mahdawi be freed from ICE custody, deeming him not to be a flight risk and his release to be in the public interest.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK  APRIL 15: Pro-Palestinian activists rally for Mohsen Mahdawi and protest against deportations outside of ICE Headquarters on April 15, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)

Badar Khan Suri

Georgetown University Student and researcher Badar Khan Suri was arrested by immigration authorities in March in Arlington, Virginia, not far from Washington, D.C. where his school is located. Originally from India, Khan entered the U.S. on a student visa and lived in the area with his Palestinian wife. DHS officials accuse Khan of spreading Hamas propaganda and having connections to the terrorist group.

Suri was a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media, a DHS spokesperson stated to the Daily Caller News Foundation at the time. Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas.

The Secretary of State issued a determination on March 15, 2025 that Suris activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable, the spokesperson went on.

Suris petition for release says his wife, Mapheze Saleh, is accused of ties to Hamas and formerly worked for Al Jazeera, a news company largely funded by the Qatari government. A 2018 article published by the Hindustan Times identified Salehs father, Ahmed Yousef, as a former senior political advisor to the Hamas leadership.

Suri was released from federal detention earlier in May, but he still faces deportation proceedings in a Texas immigration court. He is currently petitioning the Trump administration for wrongful arrest and detention.

Alireza Doroudi

A University of Alabama doctoral student from Iran, Alireza Doroudi was apprehended by ICE agents in March, the Crimson White, the schools newspaper reported at the time. Like the other students engaged in anti-Israel activism, DHS officials said Doroudi posed security risks and revoked his student visa.

ICE [Homeland Security Investigations] made this arrest in accordance with the State Departments revocation of Doroudis student visa, a DHS spokesperson said, according to AL.com. This individual posed significant national security concerns.

A judge denied Doroudi bond on Thursday, finding that he failed to prove that he is not a threat to national security. The ICE locator database previously indicated he was held at the La Salle detention center in Jena, Louisiana, the same facility Khalil is detained in.

However, Doroudi has since requested to self-deport back to his home country rather than remain in ICE custody  a request his judge granted.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK  NOVEMBER 15: Students participate in a protest in support of Palestine and for free speech outside of the Columbia University campus on November 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Rumesya Ozturk

A Turkish national currently attending Tufts University, Rumesya Ozturk was arrested by immigration authorities in March just outside of Boston, DHS confirmed to the DCNF at the time. Like many of the other foreign students arrested before her, Ozturk used her time on campus to serve as an anti-Israel activist and was profiled by a watchdog that tracks anti-Semitism.

An op-ed Ozturk co-authored in March 2024 demanded that Tufts divest from all companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel and compared the country to apartheid-era South Africa. The Turkish nationals op-ed made zero mention of the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas militants that killed roughly 1,200 people and sparked the current Israel-Hamas war.

A visa is a privilege not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to the DCNF about Ozturks arrest. This is common sense security.

After roughly six weeks in ICE detention, U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions, an Obama-appointed federal judge, ordered she be released back into the community.

Leqaa Kordia

ICE agents out of Newark, New Jersey, arrested Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, in March for overstaying her expired student visa. Kordia acknowledges in court documents that she attended an anti-Israel rally at Columbia University on April 30, 2024 where activists violently clashed with police, leading to numerous arrests, but claims she wasnt involved in the violence.

Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was another Columbia Student who actively participated in anti-American, pro-terrorist activities on campus, DHS said in a social media statement. Kordia was arrested for immigration violations due to having overstayed her F-1 student visa, which had been terminated on January 26, 2022 for lack of attendance.

Kordia claims she dropped out of the student visa program around 2022 and stopped attending classes after a trusted teacher gave her bad advice, according to court documents. She is currently being detained at ICEs Prairieland Detention Facility in east Texas and has complained about not being provided any halal meals.

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The 78th Cannes Film Festival rolled up its iconic red carpet Saturday night, but not before delivering one last dose of star power. Amidst the flurry of awards and designer gowns, Hollywood legendJane Fonda, 87, commanded attention, proving that true style and presence are ageless. As the festival reached its glittering conclusion, Fonda captured attention with her elegant presence on the red carpet and inside the Grand Theatre Lumiere.

Fonda selected an impeccably tailored white column gown for the prestigious occasion. The long-sleeved ensemble featured intricate silver beading that caught the light, creating a shimmering effect as she posed on the iconic steps of the Palais des Festivals. Accessorizing with bold diamond earrings and a matching cuff, the two-time Oscar winner proved once again her mastery of sophisticated, impactful style. Her silver hair, styled in soft waves, completed the look of timeless elegance.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 24: Jane Fonda attends the closing ceremony red carpet at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 24, 2025 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Fonda's connection to Cannes is deep, stretching back through numerous appearances, film premieres, and moments of activism. The festival has watched her evolve from a young starlet to a two-time Oscar winner, a fitness guru, and a passionate advocate for change.

Inside the ceremony, the focus turned to the filmmakers. Australian actress Cate Blanchett took the stage to present the festival's highest honor, the coveted Palme d'Or. Iranian director Jafar Panahi accepted the award for his compelling film It Was Just An Accident. While Fonda did not present the top prize this year, her presence was a significant highlight of the evening. As a figure deeply intertwined with the history of Cannes  having received an Honorary Palme d'Or in 2007 and having presented the top prize herself in 2023.

Oscar Winning Actress, 87, Shimmers In White At Cannes Closing Ceremony first appeared on Parade on May 24, 2025
What do Trumps picks for deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, AI and crypto czar, and ambassador to Denmark all have in common?

If you guessed that they are all tech-industry insiders (and men), youre only partially correct.

A less obvious but important bond linking these techies together is their shared history with Peter Thiel, the reclusive billionaire venture capitalist who famously wrote the first check that funded Facebook.

Thiels endorsement of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, and his speech at the Republican National Convention, are considered key factors in Trumps improbable path to victory. Nine years later, Thiel isnt a visible part of Trump 2.0but his fingerprints are everywhere.

Networks are powerful. And Thiel has long been at the center of some of the tech industrys most influential ones.

Theres the crew that got its start at PayPal, the seminal internetpayments company Thiel cofounded and ran as CEO for several years before it was sold to eBay. The companys cofounders and early executives, dubbed the PayPal mafia by Fortune in 2007, include Roelof Botha, who went on to run venture capital firm Sequoia Capital; Max Levchin, who founded the $18 billion buy-now, pay-later company Affirm; and Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind space exploration company SpaceX and long-standing chief executive of Tesla.

But thats just one of Thiels networks. There is also the alumni network of the Stanford Review, a student newspaper Thiel started with a colleague while he was an undergraduate at Stanford University, where venture capitalists David Sacks and Joe Lonsdale wrote before going on to work in tech. Thiels fellowship program, which incentivizes promising candidates to drop out of universities to pursue bold tech ideas, has spawned Vitalik Buterin, cofounder of the Ethereum blockchain network; Dylan Field, the cofounder and CEO of design software company Figma; and Lucy Guo, who cofounded Scale AI.

These networks have wielded tremendous influence across Silicon Valley for two decades, shaping the ideas, funding, and strategies that underpin some of the most successful companies and innovations. With the TrumpSilicon Valley alliance now a defining aspect of the administration, Thiels circle is poised to take its clout to the next level and play an ever bigger role on the world stage.

It was Thiel himself who introduced Trump to his running mate, JD Vance, who had worked at one of Thiels venture capital firms. Thiels longtime colleague Ken Howery, who worked with Thiel at PayPal and launched the esteemed VC firm Founders Fund with him, was nominated to be the ambassador to Denmark. Sacks, who coauthored a book with Thiel criticizing policies like affirmative action, is Trumps aforementioned AI and crypto czar. A Thiel protege who worked at Thiels former hedge fund Clarium Capital is now director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, responsible for overseeing Trumps tech policy agenda. Musk, whose companies Thiel has backed over and over, is one of Trumps close advisors. Even some of the people working in the Department of Government Efficiency, who have been slicing up various federal agencies, have ties to Thiel.

A conservative libertarian who has supported causes ranging from autonomous floating societies, via the Seasteading Institute, to scientific research via his Breakout Labs initiative (essentially a seed fund for hard science), Thiel took a step back as a donor in the 2024 election cycle. In an interview with Fortune two years ago he said he wasnt convinced money mattered all that much in presidential politics. It turns out he had something that might be better: connections.

Thiel may not be the face of this administrationbut its the network he has assembled over his career thats staffing it.

This article appears in the June/July 2025 issue of Fortune with the headline Peter Thiels deep state: A common thread runs through Trumps tech team.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
When Kisha Patterson last spoke to her husband, Esau, it was an ordinary conversation under extraordinary circumstances. "We talked that morning," she said. "It was like any other day. He was like, 'Hey, I'll call you back.' I was like, 'Okay.' You know, not thinking too much of it, kind of took it for granted."

In April of 2004, Army Staff Sergeant Esau Patterson was serving in Iraq. They'd met years earlier in church, at Ft. Benning in Georgia. They got married, had two children, and were planning a family reunion for when he returned.

But then came a knock at the door. "And there's two uniformed service members standing there," said Kisha. "And they looked at me, and I could see tears in their eyes, and that's when I knew."

A car bomb had killed her husband. He was 25 years old. "I would never get to say goodbye," she said. "I would never get to touch him. I would never get to do anything else."

Kisha Patterson holds a portrait of her husband, Army Staff Sergeant Esau Patterson, who was killed while serving in Iraq. / Credit: CBS News

I asked, "What did it mean to you to have service members there with you?"

"It meant that what he died for was okay, that he was truly protecting and serving this country," Kisha replied.

Those soldiers were carrying out a solemn duty that had not always been performed. During the Civil War, the military had no formal casualty notification system. Occasionally families would receive a letter. By World War I and through the Vietnam War, the military was sending telegrams, until an Army wife named Julia Moore (known as Julie) stepped in.

"She completely changed the culture of the military," said her son, Greg Moore. "In 1965, during the Battle of the Ia Drang, death notices were delivered to spouses by telegrams and taxicabs. Cold, cruel, dispassionate. She was outraged."

/ Credit: CBS News

Julie Moore's husband, Hal, was a highly-regarded Lt. Colonel then serving in Vietnam when, as she described in a letter, a taxi driver pulled up to her house: "When he rang the bell I decided not to answer; that way, everything would be all right," she wrote. "I finally said to myself, 'Come on, Julie, you have to face up to what's to come, so go answer the door."

It turned out, the driver needed directions.

Greg Moore said, "At that moment, she knew what it felt to get that telegram, and she never wanted to have anybody else get that telegram and not have somebody physically with them."

So, Julie Moore made a deal with the local Western Union office: they would call her whenever a telegram came.

The 2002 movie "We Were Soldiers" portrayed how Julie Moore would rush to comfort the widows.

Even as she cared for her five young children, Moore helped other Army wives on the home front, as she recounted in a 2001 interview: "I think people forget that these men had families. And these families had problems. And the wives are left alone to deal with them as best they can. And these women were really up to the task. They really were."

Julie Moore and Lt. Colonel Hal Moore with their family. Hal wrote about his Vietnam War experiences in the 1992 book

Together, the Army wives successfully lobbied the base commander. Julie's son Dave Moore said, "What they really wanted was the Army to make a fundamental change, which they did, in that the Army should take responsibility for delivering these telegrams to the wives and personally care for the spouse during that time of cathartic change."

Service members now notify families in person, and offer additional support.

When Army Sgt. First Class Kendrick Ray delivered a casualty notification in 2021, it was a sacred mission. Now, he helps families in the days after. Asked what goes through his mind before he knocks on the door, Ray replied, "I just said a prayer, like, 'How can I be of service to this family? I don't know what they're going through, but give me strength to, you know, face whatever it is once I ring the doorbell.'

"I believe now it's my purpose," he said. "I can let people know, like, 'Hey, you're not alone. we're right here with you, every step of the way.'"

Julie Moore died in 2004. Her husband died 13 years later.

In 2023, the Pentagon renamed Ft. Benning Ft. Moore to honor them both. It marked the first time an American military base had been named for a civilian.

Dave Moore said, "It's not a legacy she asked for; it's a legacy she built herself towards. And the hero rises to a moment and achieves great things."

This year, the Army post was re-named Ft. Benning. But just down the road, at the National Infantry Museum, her name endures.

An exhibit honoring Julie Moore at the National Infantry Museum. / Credit: CBS News

I asked Kisha Patterson, "When you think about what she did, what comes to your mind?"

"She's phenomenal," Patterson replied. "I can't imagine having received a telegram with that information on it. So, I just thank her. There're husbands that endure this same pain. There are mothers and fathers, there are children that get these knocks. So, she has, yes, she has truly made a difference for all of us."



For more info:

National Infantry Museum, Columbus, Ga.



Story produced by Robbyn McFadden. Editor: Joseph Frandino.

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Elon Musk has said he's stepping back from his government work to refocus on his companies. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Scott Galloway said Elon Musk's work at DOGE fueled "one of the greatest brand destructions" ever.

Backlash against Musk largely targeted Tesla, which has reported a drop in profit and sales.

Musk has said he's stepping back from his government role to refocus on Tesla and his other companies.

Scott Galloway, a prominent marketing professor at New York University, said Elon Musk's links to the cost-cutting White House DOGE Office fueled "one of the greatest brand destructions" of all time.

Speaking on an episode of the "Pivot" podcast, which he cohosts with the journalist Kara Swisher, Galloway said Musk's role with the agency had taken a major toll on Tesla.

"Tesla was a great brand," Galloway said.

"The rivers have reversed, and the tide has turned entirely against him," he continued, citing a recent Axios Harris poll that placed Tesla 95th in the ranking of America's 100 most visible companies in 2025, plummeting from eighth place in 2021.

Galloway attributed Tesla's issues to Musk alienating the company's core customer base with his turn toward politics over the past year.

In the United States, the Tesla CEO spent millions backing Donald Trump's presidential campaign and was almost inseparable from him during the transition. He then became the public face of DOGE, an advisory body tasked with reducing government spending.

While Musk became a hero to many of Trump's supporters, the image of a tech billionaire wielding so much power also sparked a backlash, which mostly targeted Tesla.

Tesla reported a 71% drop in earnings per share year over year during its earnings call in late April and has faced widespread protests at its dealerships and showrooms.

"He is a brilliant guy, but he's alienated his core demographic," Galloway said on Friday. "He's alienated the wrong people. Three-quarters of Republicans would never consider buying an EV. So he's cozied up to the people who aren't interested in EVs."

During Tesla's recent earnings call, Musk said he planned to step back from his work with DOGE and refocus on the companies that made him a household name. He reiterated that on Saturday.

"Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms," Musk wrote on X after the platform had battled with widespread outages.

"I must be super focused on X/xAI and Tesla (plus Starship launch next week), as we have critical technologies rolling out."

The SpaceX CEO also told an audience at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday that he planned to spend "a lot less" on political campaigns in the future.

"If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it," Musk clarified. "I do not currently see a reason."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Demmie Todd/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock; Dia Dipasupil/Getty Susan Sarandon in 'Stepmom' from 1998; Sarandon in 2025







Susan Sarandon opened up about her experience making the 1998 movie Stepmom while appearing on the May 21 episode of the Podcrushed podcast



The actress, 78, said she lost weight for her role in the film so that she could realistically portray a woman who was diagnosed with terminal cancer

Sarandon, who also served as a producer on the movie, revealed she scheduled the filming of certain scenes around a family trip so that she could eat while on vacation







Susan Sarandon revealed how she lost weight for the movie Stepmom  and that she made sure to schedule filming around the holidays because she wanted to be able to eat.

The actress appeared on the May 21 episode of the Podcrushed podcast, where she discussed her experience both starring in and producing the 1998 drama. During the conversation, Sarandon, 78, recalled how she lost weight in order to play the character Jackie Harrison, a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer.

I had to lose so much weight, so I was always walking in my trailer, she recalled. And I wanted to lose it before Christmas, because we were going away to Morocco and I wanted to be able to eat.

So [that's] the nice thing about being the producer, she added. "You can schedule your death  So we did it before the Christmas break so I could eat while we were gone.

Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock Susan Sarandon in Stepmom from 1998

Sarandon also revealed that, as producer, she oversaw many of the films major creative decisions, noting that she wanted to be sure the movie captured the emotional realities of a family coping with a cancer diagnosis.

I had a friend whose wife had died, leaving him with two small children. And it was a slow death  so I talked to him about the fears that the kids had. I talked to the kids, she recalled.

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She also shared that she opted to hire the director Chris Columbus  who worked on Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire  because she wanted the actors who played her children to feel comfortable on set.

Chris Columbus came in, and I wanted him because I knew that he would be good with kids. And I wanted those kids to feel safe. I'm still in touch with both of them, she said, referring to actors Jena Malone and Liam Aiken.

The Oscar winner also noted that the film hit close to home for her as a mother, saying that it touches on all your fears as a parent.

Demmie Todd/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock Susan Sarandon, Liam Aiken and Jena Malone in Stepmom from 1998

When I had my first child  which was very late because I never even thought about doing that  everyone says, Oh, life, you know, comes in. But I really found death came in. I never thought about death [before having kids], she said

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I'd never thought about how long I needed to live or, you know, being safe in a house where you're by yourself. [Thinking] Where are the windows? Where are the doors? What's if there's a fire?  she continued.

And so doing that film and dealing with this question really moved me, and really gave me a chance to learn something and isolate something, she added.



Read the original article on People
Texas Republicans are rolling ahead with a controversial bill that seeks to further restrict abortion access in the state, while making it impossible for it to be challenged in state courts, despite Democratic objections.

Senate Bill 2880 advanced through the state Senate and is now heading for a House vote, after being moved Friday out of the Committee on State Affairs, with its chair facing growing pressure ahead of a deadline that had been slated for Saturday.

More than 40 House Republicans sent a letter to state Rep. Ken King, the chair, urging him to move the bill, while some held a last-minute press conference pushing for passage of the abortion bill and other conservative priorities.

Republican state senators wrote in their own letter to King that existing laws were not enough to guard against abortions in the state, mainly due to the continued availability of medicated abortion.

Texas is in crisis. The tremendous protections afforded to mothers and children by S.B. 8, the Heartbeat Bill (87R), and H.B. 1290, the Trigger Bill (87R), is subverted daily by bad actors who flood our state with dangerous and deadly abortion pills, they wrote. This must end.

Texas is already among the most restrictive states on abortion. Laws enacted since Roe v. Wade was struck down have no exceptions for rape or incest, and physicians who violate the laws face potential fines and jail time. Women have died in the state because of the abortion law.

Senate Bill 2880, if passed, would allow anyone who makes, distributes, prescribes or provides abortion medication or provides information on how a person can obtain an abortion-inducing drug to be sued for up to $100,000.

It should worry every American, said Texas state Sen. Nathan Johnson, one of the many Democrats sounding the alarm on the bill. Its absolutely an abomination from a lot of standpoints.

Its unclear if the bill will be passed during Texass legislative session, which is slated to end June 2.

Texas almost entirely banned abortion in 2021 after state lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, before most women know they are pregnant.

Maternal mortality in Texas rose by 56 percent in the year following the passage of the six-week ban, according to the research and gender policy nonprofit the Gender Equity Policy Institute.

The Lone Star State has since fought to further restrict abortion access, most notably by attempting to punish abortion providers who mail abortion medication to Texans from states where abortion is legal.

Texas became the first state to sue an abortion provider in a state with an abortion shield law late last year. In December, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued New York doctor Margaret Carpenter for allegedly prescribing and mailing abortion medication via a telehealth service.

Senate Bill 2880 is trying to take the states near-total ban on abortion further. Under the bill, those who provide abortion medication are liable to wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits from family members of those who undergo abortions.

From the abortion perspective, its like a Russian doll of a bill, said Texas state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt (D).

It also allows for the attorney general to file lawsuits against abortion medication providers, prescribers or manufacturers on behalf of unborn children of residents of this state.

Its a very scary abortion bill, but it also sets a precedent that reaches far beyond abortion, Eckhardt said.

Beyond the clear restrictions on abortion, Democratic senators are worried over language in the bill that seeks to make it impossible to challenge it as unconstitutional in state court. Democratic lawmakers argue its a clear attempt by Republican lawmakers to make the judiciary system powerless in the state.

I think thats unprecedented, said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis.

Its crazy that the bill says it cant be challenged in court, and then its also crazy that they dont even want it to be challenged in court  you have to [be] writing a bill that youre pretty darn sure is unconstitutional to not want the Texas courts to look at it.

Democratic lawmakers, like Eckhardt, and reproductive-rights advocates worry that even if the bill doesnt pass, it will inspire future similar legislation in Texas and elsewhere.

Texas has often served as a sort of litmus test for anti-abortion extremists. The very same lawmaker that came up with Texas vigilante law banning abortion is now attempting the same with medication abortion, said Nimra Chowdhry, senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights.

State officials are intent on trapping Texans and ending all abortion access in the state, no matter the cost to peoples lives. And we could see more like-minded states attempt the same.

Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes, the bills author, did not respond to questions from The Hill about the bill.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. 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.
Twenty47studio/Getty Images Aerial view of the beautiful beaches in Ko Lanta island in Krabi province, Thailand.







Key Points

Koh Lanta is a small island located in southern Thailandand it's one of the country's most underrated destinations.

Although it flies under the radar of most American travelers, it's home to luxury resorts such as Rawi Warin Resort & Spa and Pimalai Resort & Spa.

The island is also great for snorkelers and has healthy reefs that teem with marine life.







Koh Lanta, an island in the southern Andaman Sea off Thailands west coast, is one of the country's true hidden gems.

There are no Western chains here. No bar girls. There is still unbuilt beachfront, although in five years it may be gone. There are plans to build a bridge that will soon connect Koh Lanta to the mainland. Once it's done, it'll be an easy 45 minutes to Krabi International Airport (KBV). But thats a travel writers worry for another day.

For now, Koh Lanta remains relatively undiscovered, especially by Americans. During my second consecutive January visitNovember to March are the best months to come to the island in terms of the weatherI didnt meet another American. Scandinavians, however, are a different story. There are nonstop flights from Stockholm to Krabi International Airport, and I spoke to quite a few Swedes and Norwegians who were eager to escape the winter darkness. I found plenty of those snowbirds at both Rawi Warin Resort & Spa, a kid-friendly luxury hotel, and at Pimalai Resort & Spa, one of the island's top properties (it has two Michelin Keys)my wife and I spent a nearly perfect week there this year.

undefined undefined/Getty Images A colorful longtail boat on the sandy shore of Ko Lanta.

Founded 22 years ago on 100 unspoiled acres, Pimalai boasts 3,000 feet of prime Kantiang beachfront. Most mornings, I slow-jogged its entire length, which verges on the Platonic ideal of a tropical beach: mostly empty, with soft sand that can be found both in and out of the gentle water. Pimalai is luxury done right, with more beach and poolside lounges than hotel guests. While there are small resorts at both ends of Kantiang, in the morning, I saw almost no one.

Because of the terrain, Pimalai feels like two resorts, each with an infinity pool and restaurants. There are only 121 total accommodations. Deluxe rooms are located near the beach, while pool villas are tucked into the terraced hillside. All guests get access to round-trip van service to the Krabi Airport and a speedboat transfer to Pimalais pierthis cuts 45 minutes off travel time. Again, real luxury.

Tuomas A. Lehtinen/Getty Images Rustic beach bars and restaurant along the Long Beach in Koh Lanta Island, Krabi province.

One memorable morning, my wife and I were picked up at Pimalai to begin a day-long snorkeling charter to Koh Haa and Koh Rak. Because were old and crafty, we sat up front beside the driver, Jaroon, while other passengers crammed into uncomfortable bench seats in the bed of the pickup. After 40 years of chasing the sun on unspoiled (and then only slightly spoiled) Thai beaches, weve learned that the best part of travel is the people you meet and talk to. Like most Thai people, Jaroon was gentle, affable, and warmly friendly to tourists. He apologized for his English (which was quite good) and laughed when I told him my name was Khun Khon-di, which roughly translates to "Mister Goodman."

Because Koh Lanta is in the far south of Thailandnear Malaysia90 percent of its inhabitants are Muslim, including Jaroon. He admitted that many of his friends drank alcohol, although he didnt, perhaps because he had 500 rubber trees on his property, from which he gathered latex each morning starting at 3:30 am, before going to work. Income from his rubber trees doubled his monthly salary as a driver, which had enabled Jaroon to send his daughter to college in Bangkok, a fact of which he was justifiably proud.

The snorkeling that day on Koh Rak was spectacular. I saw lots of healthy soft and hard coral. There were fish everywhere, large and small, and though Ive been diving and snorkeling in Thai waters for quite some time, I saw something Id never seen before: a 15-legged crown-of-thorns starfish. It was an electric blue mammoth with black thorns peppering its surface.

lechatnoir/Getty Images One of the many Longtail Macaque monkeys in the nature of Thailand's Koh Lanta island.

On the boat back from Koh Rak to the pier, our captain made a detour past a mangrove forest inhabited by a large band of swimming, fruit-loving monkeys. Id never seen monkeys in the water before, but I got the idea these monkeys eagerly awaited our boats arrival for their daily treat of leftover watermelon and pineapple.

One evening later in the week, we hired Jaroon to drive us to Old Town, on the east side of Koh Lanta. This coast fronts the Straits of Malacca, rather than the Andaman Sea, and lies along a traditional trade route to Malaysia. The east coast of the island doesnt have sandy beaches or upscale resorts, but it does have Moken (a group of Indigenous sea nomads) communities. The other big attraction of this unique place is the simple restaurants that are built on wooden pilingswe listened to the waves break as we feasted on squid and grouper.

We loved our time on Koh Lanta and at Pimalai, which was incredibly well-run; our room was serviced, unobtrusively, three times a day. The international breakfast buffet included obscure regional specialties, Thai noodle soup, an array of tropical fruit, and organic juices. The food at Rak Talay, the beachside seafood restaurant where we often ate dinner, was not only sumptuous, but for a five-star, surprisingly affordable. If you visit, try the soft-shell crabs. Youll be amazed by the flavor and by how many crabs comprise a single order.

I can still taste themand hope to again.

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
Dotdash Meredith/Abby Mercer

Unless youve been living under a rock for the last year and a half, you've likely heard of Dubai chocolate. The chocolate bar filled with velvety pistachio cream, tahini, and knafeh (crispy shredded phyllo dough) went viral at the end of 2023 when influencer Maria Vehera shared a video of her eating the "Cant Get Knafeh of It" chocolate bar, made by Dubai-based Fix Dessert Chocolatier.

Since then, the whole world has seemingly fallen in love with the treat. With hours-long lines at stores across the globe and shelves clearing out as soon as they are stocked, it's an understatement to call Dubai chocolate a social media sensationit upended the whole chocolate industry.

And it's not going away anytime soon. Brands like Ghirardelli, Lindt, and even Shake Shack have come up with sweets that riff on the Dubai chocolate flavor combination, delighting foodies everywhere. And now, more than a year since the world was introduced to the chocolate-pistachio-knafeh confection, Trader Joes has confirmed it'll be adding a Dubai chocolate-inspired treat to its stores.

Trader Joe's New Dubai Chocolate Treat

Yep, you read that right: Your local neighborhood grocer is teaming up with Patislove, a Turkish chocolate company, to roll out its interpretation of Dubai chocolatebecause yes, there is one key difference. Unlike the original Dubai chocolate, which features rich milk chocolate, Trader Joe's version contains 50 percent dark chocolate for a soft hit of bitterness that we think will complement the sweet pistachio cream wonderfully.



The news was initially leaked by a TJ's employee who shared it on TikTok, though it has since been removed. However, another Trader Joe's employee has confirmed with Allrecipes that the chocolate is indeed coming and is slated to hit stores beginning May 26. And according to Patislove's website, the chocolate will be available exclusively at Trader Joe's in the United States.



"Oh, you know Im about to buy 10 on my 10 [minute break]," a fan commented on the Trader Joe's subreddit. "I dont think Ive ever been more excited for a TJs item!" added another.

If you haven't tried Dubai chocolate yet, maybe this comment from someone on the same Reddit thread will pique your curiosity: "I'm gonna be honest, as someone who doesnt really keep up with trends and doesnt have a sweet tooth, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a (quality) Dubai chocolate bar was just...insanely good. Like one of the best chocolate bars I have ever had in my life, lol."

Do we think Trader Joe's version has "best chocolate bar" potential? Given how popular its chocolate bar with cornflakes is ("perfect" as one fan described it), we have no reason to believe otherwise. Other shoppers on Instagram seem to agree. Some are already anticipating early morning lines, with one person commenting, "Please delete this post! Please, lets just make this a secret."

Welp, the cat's out of the bag. See you at Trader Joe's on Monday morning?

Read the original article on ALLRECIPES
By Jeff Mason

MORRISTOWN, New Jersey (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed deep unhappiness at Russia's weekend bombing of Ukraine, saying of Russian President Vladimir Putin, "I'm not happy with Putin."

"I don't know what's wrong with him. What the hell happened to him? Right? He's killing a lot of people. I'm not happy about that," Trump told reporters at the airport in Morristown, New Jersey, as he prepared to return to Washington.

Trump spoke in reaction to a Russian barrage of 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight on Sunday, including the capital Kyiv, in the largest aerial attack of the war so far, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more.

Trump has been trying to get both sides to agree to a ceasefire in the three-year-old war in Ukraine and he spoke for more than two hours with Putin last week.

He raised the possibility of imposing more sanctions on Russia in response to the ongoing attacks.

"Always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all," Trump said.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; editing by Diane Craft)
A man was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Sunday following an alleged attempt to firebomb a branch office of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The man, named Joseph Neumeyer, is a dual American and German citizen and was detained in Israel on May 19 after a hostile confrontation in which Neumeyer spit on a security guard in front of the office earlier that day, according to the Justice Department.

The guard tried and failed to detain Neumeyer, who ditched the backpack he was carrying to break free, the statement said.

A search of the backpack he left behind at the embassy after the confrontation revealed three rudimentary improvised incendiary devices commonly known as Molotov cocktails, the statement added. Officials were able to track Neumeyer to his hotel, where he was arrested.

The Justice Department also said that Neumeyer, 28, posted the following on social media: Join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv. Death to America, death to Americans, and f--- the west.

He also made threats on social media to assassinate President Donald Trump, the statement added.

It wasn't clear if Neumeyer has retained a lawyer. Representatives of the Federal Defenders of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

Neumeyer claims in his social media profiles, verified by NBC News, that he is the founder and CEO of a company called Atlas Light Co. It was not immediately clear what the company does, and Neumeyer claims to have founded a number of startups.

Recent postings on Facebook suggest discontent with the West, specifically with the U.S. and Trump.

Neumeyer arrived in Israel last month but didnt head to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv until May 19, the Justice Department said. It was not clear where in the country he was staying or what he was doing there prior to last week.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Department will not tolerate such violence and will prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement after Israel turned Neumeyer over to the U.S. on Sunday.

FBI Director Kash Patel added in a statement, This despicable and violent behavior will not be tolerated at home or abroad, and the FBI, working with our partners, will bring him to face justice for his dangerous actions.

Neumeyer, who was deported to the U.S. by Israeli authorities, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

His arrest comes several days after two staffers who worked at the Israeli Embassy in Washington were killed leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum.

The suspect in that shooting, Elias Rodriguez, was later charged with two counts of first-degree murder. According to videos taken at the scene and posted to social media, Rodriguez shouted Free, free Palestine following his arrest.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke the day after the shooting, with Netanyahu condemning the act as a horrifying antisemitic murder.
US government shares 'do not travel warnings for Mexico originally appeared on Come Cruise With Me.

The United States and Mexico may not be on the best political terms right now, but millions of American visit their southern neighbor every year.

In many cases, American tourists see a sort of sanitized version of Mexico. They visit all-inclusive resorts and never leave the property.

Related: US government issues sudden warning on Switzerland travel

The many Americans who visit Mexican cruise ports like Cozumel and Costa Maya may never leave the port area or the safety of cruise-line sponsored excursions.

Staying in a gated resort or letting your cruise line show you where to go (while guiding you there) represents the safest way to visit any country, It's also not a great way to explore your destination or see its native culture.

A cruise port visit gives you sort of the Walt Disney version of visiting a country. You will see some native dancers, shops will sell a mix of crap aimed at tourists and actual local products.

You might find a locally-produced rum or crafts made by hand, but you will also find T-shirts advertising where you visited and lots of other products you will probably regret buying.

Visiting Mexico safely and seeing more than your resort or the cruise port is possible, but you have to heed two very different U.S. State Department warnings.

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It's hard to know what's hand-made and what's mass produced when visiting tourist shops. Image source: Dan Kline/Come Cruise With Me

Be safe when visiting Mexico

The U.S. State Department has a broad warning for travel in Mexico.

"Violent crime  such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery  is widespread and common in Mexico. The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by U.S. government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted. In many states, local emergency services are limited outside the state capital or major cities," it shared on its website.

The State Department advises that Americans don't travel at all to certain parts of the country.

Do Not Travel To:

Colima state, due to crime and kidnapping.

Guerrero state, due to crime.

Michoacan state, due to crime.

Sinaloa state, due to crime.

Tamaulipas state, due to crime and kidnapping.

Zacatecas state, due to crime and kidnapping.

Ports areas are generally considered safe, even when they are in "do not travel" zones. The U.S. State Department also shares some specific instructions to stay safe:

Keep traveling companions and family back home informed of your travel plans. If separating from your travel group, send a friend your GPS location. If taking a taxi alone, take a photo of the taxi number and/or license plate and text it to a friend.

Use toll roads when possible and avoid driving alone or at night. In many states, police presence and emergency services are extremely limited outside the state capital or major cities.

Exercise increased caution when visiting local bars, nightclubs, and casinos.

Do not display signs of wealth, such as wearing expensive watches or jewelry.

Be extra vigilant when visiting banks or ATMs.

The State Department also recommends that travelers to Mexico follow its social media pages for updates.

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Remember it's hurricane season in Mexico

In addition to crime risks, Mexico has also entered a season of dangerous weather. The U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Mexico shared its own weather-related travel warning.

"Mexicos hurricane season is May through November, with most storms developing between July and October on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Hurricanes and tropical storms can cause life-threatening flash floods, dangerous winds, treacherous surf and rip currents, and other hazardous conditions," it shared.

Hurricanes can force cruise ships to skip ports in order to avoid the storm. Sometimes, fast-moving weather cannot be avoided when already in port.

"Torrential rain from these storms can cause flooding hundreds of miles inland, sometimes lasting several days after the storm dissipates. Minor storms can quickly become hurricanes, limiting the time to get out," the embassy added.

The warning laid out how bad things could get (although cruisers have the advantage of being able to get back on the ship).

"There may be significant damage to infrastructure (such as roads, electricity, and phone and internet service) and serious shortages of food, water, accommodation, and medical supplies and facilities. Storms may result in airport closures or limit flight availability. U.S. citizens in affected areas may face delays returning home and may have to stay in emergency shelters with limited food, water, medicine, and other supplies," it shared.

(The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.)

Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me's Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.

This story was originally reported by Come Cruise With Me on May 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
blacklegged tick  iStock.com/Risto0

America has a tick problem. While the overall number of ticks may not be increasing annually, the species of ticks that call particular regions of the nation home have changed. Previously, only one or two tick species were typically found in each state. Now, due to increased migration and warmer winters that prevent ticks from hibernating, more species are present in each state and remain active for longer periods each year. This means the risk of contracting a tick-related disease has increased significantly. To help combat the tick problem, Ohio State University has launched its Tick Testing Lab. The results may yield important information regarding migration and species spread that can also be used in other states.

Why Ohio State Started The Tick Testing Lab

Ohio State University Extension created the Tick Testing Lab to determine which species of ticks were in Ohio and whether they carry disease. Kaldari / Creative Commons  Original / License

Before the creation of the Tick Testing Lab, there was no place for people to test which type of tick they found on themselves or their animals. This meant there was no way of knowing if the tick was carrying a disease. Given the massive problem with the tick population in Ohio right now, there needed to be a way to test ticks to determine not only which kind they were but also whether they carried any diseases.

According to Dr. Tim McDermott, a veterinarian and Ohio State University Extension educator, the number of tick species of concern has risen from one 15 years ago to five today.

We have a huge problem with ticks in Ohio. Weve gone from one tick of medical importance to humans, companion animals, and livestock about 15 years ago to five now, including adding two new ticks to Ohio in just the past couple of years, McDermott explains. You can encounter a tick pretty much anywhere in Ohio. I will say the hot spots are going to be the eastern half of Ohio and the southern part of Ohio.

Additionally, because ticks in Ohio thrive in anything from wooded areas to pastures and meadows, those living in eastern and southern Ohio are at the biggest risk. Of the five tick species, three are of the greatest concern: the lone star tick, the deer tick, and the longhorn tick. These ticks carry diseases that are dangerous to people and can even be deadly.

What the Lab Ticks Can Show Scientists

Ohio State University Extension wants to identify the pathogens that ticks in Ohio carry. KPixMining/Shutterstock.com

Given the large population of ticks, and worse still, the large population of ticks that can carry life-threatening diseases, Ohio State hopes that with each tick turned into the university, the pathogens being carried can be identified.

If the diseases the ticks are carrying can be identified, Ohio residents living near where the ticks were found can be warned. While a warning will not diminish the number of ticks in the region, it will make people more aware. By informing people about the dangers of tick exposure, they can take steps to protect themselves and their pets from tick bites. According to McDermott, who spoke with WOSU Public Media, before the OSU Extension program, there was no way to identify the ticks and their pathogens in Ohio. That is about to change.

We have our Infectious Disease Institute discovery theme working with the College of Veterinary Medicine, where I am courtesy appointed using the extension outreach, McDermott says. And we have a laboratory where, if you find a tick embedded in you or one of your animals, you can submit that to the lab, and they can test it to see if it carries any of the pathogens that cause disease that we worry about from ticks.

Prior to this lab, we had no testing service here in Ohio, McDermott explains. There were a couple of other places that potentially could do some laboratory testing, but now we have an expert right here where the problem is located.

By enlisting the publics help in this matter, Ohio State hopes to prevent many residents from becoming ill or worse. All that those submitting ticks have to do is pay $49.99 for the testing. By doing this, both Ohio residents and OSU can work together to help stop the spread of Lyme disease.

Which Ticks Spread Disease?

Black legged ticks are known for carrying several different diseases harmful to humans. KPixMining/Shutterstock.com

There are 50 different species of ticks that live in the U.S. Of these ticks, some are more prevalent than others. Additionally, some species of ticks are more dangerous than others. Regarding spreading diseases, several species of ticks should be watched out for more so than others. Those ticks include:

Type Of Tick Disease Carried Black-Legged Tick Anaplasmosis

Babesiosis

Ehrlichiosis

Lyme disease

Borrelia miyamotoi disease

Powassan virus disease Western Black-Legged Tick Anaplasmosis

Babesiosis

Lyme disease Lone Star Tick Ehrlichiosis

Heartland virus disease

Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI)

Bourbon virus disease

Tularemia

Alpha-gal syndrome Dog Tick Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Tularemia Rocky Mountain Wood Tick Colorado tick fever

Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Tularemia

Given the number of diseases these handful of ticks carry, it is important to know which ticks reside in different regions of the US. But because so many are able to successfully migrate, the tick population present one year may not be the same the following year.

Why Ticks Have Been Able to Migrate Successfully

Between climate change and jumping on migrating hosts like birds, ticks have been able to migrate. Shooty Photography/Shutterstock.com

Historically, ticks have stayed in specific geographical regions. They could not migrate very far, given that cold winters caused them to go dormant, and it would not be until the following spring that they would become active again. However, with climate change making winter temperatures warmer, ticks are not going dormant as they once were. Consequently, ticks have migrated to areas over the last handful of years where they had never been experienced before.

Ticks can move from one region to another by being a stowaway on migrating birds. This has been something that ticks have always done. However, the difference now is that ticks are able to survive in most of the climates where they are dropped off. According to Dr Lorenza Beati of Georgia Southern University, the co-author of a November 2024 study published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, ticks are becoming an invasive species around the US. This is problematic given the diseases they carry.

Geographic distribution is changing very rapidly in many tick species, Beati explains. For some migrating exotic ticks, global warming may create conditions at their northern destination that are similar to their usual range. If warmer climatic conditions are combined with the presence of suitable vertebrate hosts for all tick life stages, the chance of establishment is going to increase.

This means that even in states not known for having large tick populations, ticks have become problematic due to migrating birds acting as hosts and milder winters increasing their chances of survival.

How to Safely Remove a Tick

Female Deer Tick removed from an accidental host. JasonOndreicka/iStock via Getty Images

There are methods for removing a tick that go back generations. However, not all methods are the best. According to experts, the best method involves using nothing more than a pair of tweezers. The tweezers used should not have squared-off tips but should instead be pointed. This is because ticks can be very small, and the squared-off tweezers will not be able to effectively pull them out.

Once you have the proper tweezers, follow these steps to remove a tick:

Clean the area where the tick is embedded with rubbing alcohol

Get the tweezers as close as possible to the ticks head when removing it

Pull the tick out slowly but firmly without twisting, as this could cause the ticks head to be left behind

Once the tick is removed, clean the area for a second time with rubbing alcohol

When the tick is removed, it should not be squished, as this can allow diseases to spread. Instead, flush the tick down the toilet, wrap it firmly in tape, or douse it in rubbing alcohol and seal it in a plastic bag. Additionally, if there are labs in your state similar to the Ohio State University Tick Laboratory, the tick can be sent there for identification and to determine if it is carrying any diseases.



The post Why Ticks Are Thriving in Places Theyve Never Been Before appeared first on A-Z Animals.
25 May 2025 14:08 (UTC+04:00)

By Farman Aydin | AzerNEWS

In an era of deepening polarization, where global politics increasingly revolve around rigid alliances and adversarial blocs, the space for neutrality has grown dangerously narrow. Yet amid this landscape, Azerbaijan stands out as a country steadfast in its pursuit of balanced diplomacy and independent foreign policy.

As the world fractures into opposing geopolitical, economic, and ideological poles, Azerbaijan has managed to uphold a position that resists being pulled into rival camps. Its regional and international posture remains notably measured and pragmatic.

This is no accident. Azerbaijan has long been a key voice in the Non-Aligned Movement, even chairing the organization in recent years. Through this role, it has positioned itself as a vital bridge between the Global South and the Global North  a mediator rather than a participant in zero-sum rivalries. That mission continues today with renewed resolve.

Major powers in the international system often seek to co-opt neutral actors like Azerbaijan into their spheres of influence, attempting to erode their independence. But Bakus resistance to such pressure is a testament to its diplomatic discipline. For instance, the tension between Washington and Beijing has not derailed Azerbaijans balanced relations with either country. Likewise, the war in Ukraine has not undermined Azerbaijans ability to maintain productive ties with both Kyiv and Moscow.

Diplomatic relations between sovereign states should not be interpreted through the lens of third-party rivalries. When Ukraines Foreign Minister visits Azerbaijan, this is consistent with international diplomatic norms  a routine exchange focused on mutual interests. Any concern or speculation surrounding such visits is unwarranted.

The warm relations between Azerbaijan and Ukraine are not new; they date back to the post-Soviet era and have remained steady. These ties, built on mutual respect and cooperation, continue to thrive today  without any elements that would reasonably provoke concern from outside actors.

The former Soviet republics share deep-rooted political, economic, and cultural connections. The bonds between peoples, common values, and long-standing traditions of collaboration endure  both in diplomacy and in public sentiment. If Baku takes cooperative steps with Kyiv in any domain, it should not be seen as a threat by countries currently in conflict with Ukraine.

Consider the past: during the nearly 30-year occupation of Azerbaijani territories, Russia and Armenia maintained a close alliance under both the Collective Security Treaty Organization and bilateral agreements. Moscow played a direct role in arming Armenia, guarding its borders, and providing security guarantees. Yet, Azerbaijan did not allow this relationship to derail its broader diplomatic calculus.

If Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov can visit Yerevan, and Armenian officials can regularly travel to Moscow, then Ukrainian officials visiting Baku should be viewed as equally routine. Such visits must be assessed solely within the context of bilateral AzerbaijanUkraine relations, without slipping into speculative narratives.

Azerbaijan does not shape its foreign policy according to the will of others. It does not operate under external dictation. Its agenda is sovereign. Baku has consistently supported peace negotiations and stands by all parties engaged in dialogue. It does not take sides in conflicts but rather supports a framework in which peaceful solutions are possible.

Let us also not forget that when Azerbaijan signed a declaration of strategic partnership with Russia in Moscow three years ago, Kyiv did not object. Ukraine respected Azerbaijans sovereign right to determine its own foreign policy. This is how international diplomacy should work: with mutual respect, understanding, and the acknowledgment that each nation has the right to define its own course.

In short, the growing cultural, economic, and political relations between Azerbaijan and Ukraine should not be interpreted as a threat by any third party. Independent states must be free to pursue their interests, and such engagements should be welcomed, not politicized.
25 May 2025 20:17 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

The 8th Kharibulbul International Music Festival, organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry continued on May 25 in Shusha with a series of engaging presentations, Azernews reports.

A musical program featuring works by Azerbaijani and foreign composers was performed by students of the Faculty of Arts of Garabagh University at the Jidir Duzu plain.

In an interview with journalists, Rector of Garabagh University Shahin Bayramov said that thanks to the leadership of the victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev, the dedication of our heroic officers and soldiers, and the blood of our martyrs, the Kharibulbul International Music Festival has once again taken place in Shusha. He noted that this momentous day is of great significance and a source of pride.

"The participation of Garabagh University the first higher education institution established by the decree of President Ilham Aliyev on the liberated lands in this festival for the first time holds special meaning for us. Today, at each festival stage, our mugham and national music sound completely different," the rector emphasized.

Gulshan Gasymzade, head of the Department of Design and Decorative-Applied Arts at Garabagh University, noted that one of the universitys main goals is to instill national and spiritual values in young people and to actively participate in the cultural revival of Garabagh .

"Having returned to our native Garabagh after thirty years, we are engaged in reconstruction efforts in the fields of education, culture, architecture, and more. In the future, the university plans to launch new projects to expand its participation in this direction," she stressed.

Arslan Novrasli, head of the Department of Instrumental Performance at the Faculty of Arts of Garabagh University and a tar player, said that the university delivered a magnificent final concert at the Kharibulbul Festival just a year after its founding, and added:

"Being included in the official program of the festival marks an important moment in our history. With our excellent administrative and teaching staff, as well as our student body, we have taken our first steps as a family and are moving toward even greater goals."

It is worth noting that the organization of such festivals further strengthens the younger generations commitment to national and spiritual values, creates conditions for a deeper understanding of our history and cultural heritage, and fosters a sense of responsibility for passing these values on to future generations.

At the same time, it serves as an important platform for creative youth to showcase their skills and ideas, and to present national artistic traditions from a fresh perspective.
25 May 2025 11:08 (UTC+04:00)

On May 24, Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, held a telephone conversation with Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Azernews reports.

During the call, the sides exchanged views on issues stemming from the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Pakistan, as well as various aspects of their bilateral and multilateral cooperation agenda. The existing strategic partnership was highly valued, and plans for future engagements were reviewed.

The ministers also discussed other bilateral and regional matters of mutual interest.
25 May 2025 19:30 (UTC+04:00)

A delegation led by Yalchin Rafiyev, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and COP29 Lead Negotiator, has visited the United Mexican States, Azernews reports.

During the visit, meetings were held with Enrique Ochoa Martinez, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at Mexicos Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Camila Zepeda, Mexicos Chief Climate Negotiator; and representatives of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI), a prominent think tank in the country.

In discussions with Undersecretary Martinez, both sides acknowledged the productive cooperation between Azerbaijan and Mexico within international organizations and multilateral forums. Rafiyev provided an overview of Azerbaijans foreign policy priorities, efforts toward normalizing relations with Armenia, and upcoming events under Azerbaijans initiative and leadership in various multilateral settings.

The conversation also covered collaboration on climate change issues and exchanged perspectives on Azerbaijans role as COP29 President.

In meetings with Mexicos Chief Climate Negotiator Zepeda, Azerbaijans notable accomplishments as COP29 President were recognized, and its effective leadership in the climate negotiations was appreciated.

At the COMEXI meeting, discussions focused on Azerbaijans expanding regional influence following the 2020 44-day Patriotic War, the new geopolitical landscape in the South Caucasus, the countrys diverse foreign policy, and its initiatives and activities within international organizations.

The progress and substance of Azerbaijans COP29 Presidency, as well as the negotiations conducted and achievements made to date, received high praise.

The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP29, was the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference. Held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024. Mukhtar Babayev presided, while Samir Nuriyev headed the Organising Committee.

COP29 aimed to implement further measures to limit global warming to 1.5C, emphasizing the urgent need for investment in climate action.

The COP29 Presidency stressed the importance of operationalizing the Loss and Damage Fund to support vulnerable communities, particularly in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), while calling for enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in line with 1.5C targets and urging the submission of national NDCs by 2025, with a focus on fossil fuel phase-out, increasing renewable energy, and addressing non-carbon-dioxide emissions, such as methane.

On adaptation, the Presidency called for all countries to prepare and submit their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) by 2025 and emphasized the need for scaling up adaptation finance. In addition, COP29 encouraged global financial institutions and the private sector to increase climate finance and foster investment in green innovation. The summit aimed to provide platforms to mobilize business participation and enhance transparency in investment decisions to support climate action.

The conference concluded with an agreement on plans for finance to mitigate the effects of climate change and help developing nations transition to more sustainable energy sources. Rules and a UN registry were agreed to facilitate and record international trading of carbon credits.
25 May 2025 10:42 (UTC+04:00)

President Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to the King of Jordan Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, Azernews reports.

The letter reads as follows:

Your Majesty,

On behalf of myself and the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my sincerest congratulations and best wishes to you, and through you, to all your people on the occasion of the National Day of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - Independence Day.

On this significant day, I wish you robust health, happiness, success in your endeavors, and the friendly people of Jordan everlasting peace and prosperity.

Sincerely,

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 22 May 2025
25 May 2025 13:30 (UTC+04:00)

Ministers @Bayramov_Jeyhun and @Andrii_Sybiha have started their tete-a-tete meeting, discussing bilateral cooperation, regional security, and international issues of mutual interest. pic.twitter.com/8rYEjaGlbG

The sides discussed bilateral cooperation, regional security, and international issues of mutual interest.

A one-one meeting has been held between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on its page on X.

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25 May 2025 13:50 (UTC+04:00)

Following the one-on-one meeting, Ministers @Bayramov_Jeyhun and @Andrii_Sybiha are meeting in an expanded-format involving the delegations of #Azerbaijan and #Ukraine . Talks are covering political and economic cooperation, trade, energy, transport connectivity, and ongoing pic.twitter.com/WKoJ0NHRxh

During the discussions, the ministers addressed topics including political and economic collaboration, trade, energy, transportation connections, and ongoing humanitarian efforts. They also examined the current situation regarding international and regional security.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha have held a meeting in an expanded format, Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on its page on X.

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25 May 2025 16:42 (UTC+04:00)

Touching on economic cooperation between the two countries, the minister emphasized that the Azerbaijan-Ukraine Business Forum and other projects could provide a significant boost to relations in this area.

The brotherhood between the cities of Lachin and Irpen in Azerbaijan exemplifies cooperation between the regions of our countries, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said this at a joint press conference with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Yermak on May 25, Azernews reports.

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25 May 2025 15:20 (UTC+04:00)

My colleague shared his views on the latest situation in the Russia-Ukraine war. First and foremost, our wish is to achieve a ceasefire. We support a political and legal resolution of the conflict.

These remarks were made by Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov at a joint press conference with Ukraines Foreign Minister Andriy Yermak on May 25.

We view the negotiations held in Turkiye on May 15 positively, said the minister. He expressed Azerbaijans desire for a long-term peace and recalled that since the early days of the war, our country has provided support to Ukraine in many fields.
25 May 2025 15:00 (UTC+04:00)

Kyiv is interested in resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine within this year, said Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha today in Baku at a joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Azernews reports.

The Ukrainian side advocates for settling the conflict exclusively through diplomatic means, he noted.

We accepted the United States proposal for a ceasefire. We are ready to resolve the issue only through diplomacy. The meeting in Istanbul, where the decision was made to exchange a larger number of prisoners, is proof of our intentions, Sybiha said.

The minister also noted that the possibility of arranging a personal meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine is currently being discussed.
25 May 2025 16:35 (UTC+04:00)

At the joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha emphasized the significance of Azerbaijans backing for Ukraines territorial sovereignty, Azernews reports.

Sybiha stated that it is crucial for Ukraine that Azerbaijan continues to support its territorial integrity. He expressed deep appreciation for this ongoing support, noting that it is especially vital during such a challenging period in Ukraines history. Sybiha also personally thanked Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev for his unwavering commitment and assistance in this regard.

" It is important for Ukraine that Azerbaijan supports its territorial integrity, said Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha at a joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, said Ukraines Foreign Minister

At this dramatic moment in Ukrainian history, it is very important that Azerbaijan consistently supports Ukraine and our territorial integrity. We highly appreciate this, and I personally thanked Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev for this support, he added.
25 May 2025 15:07 (UTC+04:00)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent a congratulatory letter to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of 28 May  Independence Day.

The letter reads as follows:

His Excellency Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Your Excellency,

On behalf of the people of Ukraine and on my own behalf, I congratulate you on the occasion of the national holiday of the Republic of Azerbaijan - Independence Day.

Free Ukraine and Azerbaijan have always sought to develop their relationship in the spirit of strategic partnership based on shared values, mutual support, respect and comprehensive cooperation.

I am confident that the dynamics of strategic partnership will not only be maintained but also enhanced even more in line with the interests of the peoples of Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Today, Ukraine highly values international support in its struggle against Russia. We are grateful to Azerbaijan for supporting our countrys sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with the fundamental principles of international law, as well as for providing humanitarian assistance.

Availing myself of this opportunity, I wish you, esteemed Mr. President, robust health and success in your high state activities, and the friendly people of Azerbaijan peace, prosperity and tranquility.

Sincerely,

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

President of Ukraine
25 May 2025 17:50 (UTC+04:00)

During a joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed Ukraines goal of restoring its economic ties with Azerbaijan to the level they were before the conflict with Russia, Azernews reports.

Andrii Sybiha mentioned that he had also met with Azerbaijans Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, where they discussed a broad range of bilateral issues, including economic cooperation, investment opportunities, and energy collaboration. He noted that there has been positive progress in their relations over the past two years.

Sybiha emphasized Ukraines intention to at least reach the previous levels of economic engagement with Azerbaijan and highlighted the importance of Azerbaijani companies and investments for Ukraines economy.

Despite the ongoing war, he reassured that Ukraine remains an attractive market and a dependable partner, affirming Ukraines commitment to supporting Azerbaijani investments within its economic landscape.
25 May 2025 19:15 (UTC+04:00)

At a joint press conference with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced that Azerbaijan and Ukraine will soon establish an intergovernmental commission dedicated to economic cooperation, Azernews reports.

"Azerbaijan and Ukraine will soon hold an intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation", said Ukraines Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

"We agreed with our Azerbaijani colleagues to hold the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation in the near future. We also discussed the participation of an Azerbaijani delegation in the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will take place in July in Rome, and received confirmation," he said.
25 May 2025 17:00 (UTC+04:00)

The minister also visited the monument to the prominent Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko erected in the Azerbaijani capital, laid a wreath in front of it, and planted a tree in the park where the monument is located. translate into english correctly

On May 25, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga visited Victory Park in Baku, as well as the grave of the National Hero of Azerbaijan of Ukrainian origin, Viktor Seryogin, in Martyrs' Alley, Azernews reports.

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Thank you!
25 May 2025 21:35 (UTC+04:00)

On the occasion of Africa Day, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to the nations and peoples of the African continent. The Republic of Azerbaijan highly values its relations with African countries and reaffirms its commitment to strengthening political dialogue, economic pic.twitter.com/t3aQS4spIb

The ministry highlighted its valued relations with African countries and reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening political dialogue, economic cooperation, and multilateral engagement based on mutual respect and shared interests. They look forward to deepening collaboration with African partners in areas like sustainable development, education, energy, and peacebuilding, both bilaterally and internationally.

The Azerbaijan Foreign Affairs Ministry has shared a post on X regarding Africa Day, Azernews reports.

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25 May 2025 12:50 (UTC+04:00)

This week, the average prices for Dated Brent, Azeri LT CIF, Azeri Light FOB Ceyhan, and Urals crude oil all experienced declines, Azernews reports.

The Azeri Light crude oil, produced at Azerbaijans Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field and priced on a CIF basis, decreased by $0.21 (0.31%) from the previous week to reach $67.29 per barrel. During the period, the highest price recorded was $67.72 per barrel, and the lowest was $66.65.

For Azeri Light crude oil sold FOB at the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the weekly average was $65.98 per barrel, down by $0.23 (0.35%) compared to last week. The maximum price was $66.40 per barrel, and the minimum was $65.34.

URALS crude oil prices fell to an average of $52.35 per barrel, marking an increase of $0.21 (0.49%) from the previous week. The highest price reached $52.89 per barrel, while the lowest was $51.61.

The Dated Brent benchmark increased slightly by $0.21 (0.32%) to $65.46 per barrel. Its highest price during the week was $66, and the lowest was $64.74.
25 May 2025 08:00 (UTC+04:00)

A leading US senator is pressing Spotify for answers about how it allowed fake podcasts promoting opioids and other prescription drugs to appear on its platform.

Following a Business Insider investigation that uncovered around 200 fraudulent podcasts advertising pillsoften illegallySenator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire called on Spotify to strengthen its content moderation policies. Many of the podcasts were removed after the investigation and a follow-up CNN report.

In a letter to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, Hassan urged the company to take further steps to prevent drug-related misinformation, especially involving substances like fentanyl, from circulating on its platform.

"Spotify has not demonstrated sufficient diligence," wrote Hassan, a Democrat serving her second term, adding that combating the opioid crisis demands a coordinated effort across various sectors.

Opioid abuse, especially involving fentanyl, has become a national crisis. Former President Donald Trump frequently blamed countries like Mexico, China, and Canada for enabling fentanyl trafficking and imposed tariffs to pressure them into action.

Senator Hassan referenced emotional conversations with constituents whove lost loved ones to overdoses, emphasizing that the scale of the crisis necessitates cooperation among tech companies, law enforcement, and global partners.

She requested that Spotify provide a detailed explanation of its content moderation practices, including how many drug-related podcasts it has removed and whether it profited from them. Hassan gave the company until June 12 to respond.

Spotify said it is "constantly working to detect and remove violating content" in response to Business Insider's findings.
By Rev. Mark Creech

Revmarkcreech.org

As a teenager, I learned that my step-grandfather had fought in World War II. Shrapnel had fused his spine, leaving him unable to turn his head to the right or left. One day, I asked him about his combat experience. He looked at me solemnly and said, Im going to tell you about it this one time, but I dont want you ever to ask me again. He continued with a distant, haunted look, Ive seen bodies in the water so thick you could walk across them without getting your feet wet.

His words echoed the horrific realities of battles like Tarawa, Peleliu, Saipan, and Okinawa, where American soldiers fell in such numbers that the surf was choked with the dead. These were the unspeakable costs of securing a foothold in the Pacific. One Marine would describe these beaches as a red carpet of death. These were bloody victories purchased yard by yard, strewn with corpses, and seas turned crimson.

Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman, no stranger to the horrors of conflict, once wrote, War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it. Later, he told some young cadets at Michigan Military Academy in 1879, War is hell.

What my grandfather saw in Japan was hell on earth. William Tecumseh Sherman had witnessed much the same, and it takes a rare breed of men willing to walk into that hell so that peace might prevail. These men fought, bled, and died, not for the thrill of battle but for the love of those they sought to spare from the inevitable horrors that would come if they did not.

Memorial Day is not simply a day for remembering those who have fallen in Americas wars  it is a day for remembering who the fallen were  and what they were made of. They were not only victims of graphically violent conflict but men of character, conviction, and unshakeable resolve. Men who, like General George S. Patton, understood that war, though horrific, is sometimes unavoidable and necessary, and those called upon to wage it must be formed by a special fire.

Patton once addressed his troops in an inspirational speech that wasnt broadcast or recorded but more of a pep talk leading up to the Allied D-Day invasion  a massive and courageous assault launched to liberate Nazi-occupied France. It would strike a decisive blow against Hitlers tyranny in Europe.

The New York Daily News printed the speech in 1945, and the New American Mercury magazine later published it in 1951. Pattons language in the speech was laced with profanity, not uncommon among soldiers in war, and the General was speaking only with the men who were prepared to die with him. But it cut to the raw truth of combat and duty. What he said that day would probably jar modern ears, but it captures the mindset of the men we honor on Memorial Day  the mentality of the warriors who fought not for the glory of killing but for the glory of victory, freedom, and peace.

The following are snippets of Pattons legendary speech, admittedly sanitized.

Be seated.

 You are here today for three reasons. First, you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self-respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men.

Death must not be feared. Death, in time, comes to all men. Yes, every man is scared in his first battle. If he says hes not, hes a liar. Some men are cowards, but they fight nonetheless  or the fear is driven from them as they witness others fight with just as much fear, yet with courage. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some it takes an hour. For some it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country



When a man is lying in a shell hole, if he stays there all day, the enemy will eventually get to him. That kind of thinking wont do. Were going to win this war  but well win it by fighting, and by showing the enemy that we have more courage and determination than they do, or ever will have. Were not just going to defeat them  were going to break their will and use it to drive the advance of our forces.

War is a bloody, killing business. Youve got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. Rip them up the belly. Shoot them in the guts. When shells are hitting all around you and you wipe the dirt off your face and realize instead of dirt its the blood and guts of what once was your best friend beside you, youll know what to do!

I dont want to get any messages saying, I am holding my position. Were not holding a thing. Let the Germans do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anythingOur basic plan is to advance and to keep advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy

I believe in the old sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder we push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.

There is one great thing that you men will be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks what you did in the great World War II, you wont have to cough, shift him to the other knee and say, Well, your granddaddy shoveled muck in Louisiana. No, sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, Son, your granddaddy rode with the great Third Army  and a tough old general named George Patton.

In his book Battle Cries, James Inglis describes General Patton as outwardly very, very tough. Yet, Inglis adds, he was also deeply religious, soft-hearted, emotional, and easily moved to tears.

As I reflect on the memory of my step-grandfather, his back scarred by shrapnel, his spine fused, his head fixed forward because he could no longer turn it, I think about the kind of man he was. He bore the marks of war on his body and deep within his spirit. And yet, he carried them with a quiet dignity. He was a mans man: religious, soft-hearted, and sometimes emotional. He survived the war, but many of his brothers in arms, men just like him, did not.

This Memorial Day, let us remember that our freedom rests on the shoulders of such men  those who answered the call, fulfilled their duty, bore the burden, and paid the ultimate price.



Rev. Mark Creech

Rev. Mark Creech is a longtime pastor and former executive director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina. He now writes and speaks on issues of faith and culture and heads public relations for Return America.

https://revmarkcreech.org/ill-tell-you-about-it-this-one-time-a-memorial-day-reflection/
As the curtain has been pulled back on the mental incapacity of Joe Biden during the time he served as figurehead president, the Washington Free Beacon has delved into the revelations of inside sources to compile a presentation of who it was that actually ran the country in Biden's name.

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/names-and-faces-heres-who-was-actually-running-the-country-when-joe-biden-was-president/

Red State has also commented on the Biden regime's Politburo:

https://redstate.com/wardclark/2025/05/25/this-is-big-biden-white-house-run-by-covert-politburo-n2189588

As did UK leading newspaper the Daily Mail of London:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14748515/joe-biden-handlers-white-house-authority-politburo.html

What should never be forgotten is how the corrupt partisan MSM news media covered this up to the American people, as did the Democrat Party. Neither should EVER be trusted at all by the American people ever again.

It should also never be forgotten that the self-styled "fact checkers" like so-called "PolitiFact" were heavily engaged in the partisan coverup of Biden's condition. But then "fact checkers" have never been anything but partisan spinners anyway.

https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2025/05/25/finally-heres-a-riveting-update-on-how-the-so-called-experts-are-doing-n2189582

It is amazing how some Democrats just now seem to remember that they had noticed Biden's zombie state back when he was in the White House.

https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2025/05/24/and-another-one-jumps-ship-former-obama-aide-reveals-his-unethical-role-in-great-biden-mental-cover-up-n2189563
In an excellent editorial, the Washington Times has blasted the Roberts-led US Supreme Court for placating the left by waffling on illegal immigration issues. In particular, it criticized the court's ruling on the Alien Enemies Act. That ruling is wholly inconsistent with court precedent on the same act set in 1948.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/may/22/editorial-supreme-courts-incoherence/

This follows Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James Ho's remarkable takedown of the Supreme Court on the same case dealing with the Tren de Aragua and the Alien Enemies Act in which he scathingly wrote in criticism of the SCOTUS: "we should admit that this is special treatment being afforded to certain favored litigants like the members of Tren de Aragua - and we should stop pretending that Lady Justice is blindfolded."

https://redstate.com/smoosieq/2025/05/20/this-is-a-district-courtnot-a-dennys-5th-circuit-responds-to-scotus-in-tda-case-and-hoo-boy-n2189368

Polls consistently show that an overwhelming majority of Americans want these illegal alien invaders expelled from our country. Our elected officials are working hard to carry out this desire of our citizens. When our courts resist, they are thwarting democracy. When they abandon established precedent to thwart deportation they are also thwarting the Rule of Law.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denounced a corrupt Biden judge for interfering in American foreign policy by disrupting the deportation of illegal alien criminals to South Sudan. He said that abuse of power by the Biden judge has interfered with American diplomacy with South Sudan and other countries in the region.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/05/25/marco-rubio-federal-judge-cause-irreparable-harm-to-us-foreign-policy-deportations/

Shame, shame, shame on John Roberts and his enablers Barrett, Kavanaugh, and Gorsuch.

One of the problems in the federal district courts is that 2/3rds of the judges are leftwing Obama or Biden judges who play partisan politics from the bench..

https://redstate.com/smoosieq/2025/05/25/by-the-numbers-some-surprising-and-not-surprising-stats-about-the-federal-judiciary-n2189581
Terry Bradley with a piece of his artwork (Pic from Terry Bradley Facebook)

Terry Bradley with a piece of his artwork (Pic from Terry Bradley Facebook)

Paintings by acclaimed Belfast artist Terry Bradley have been stolen from a coffee kiosk near the SSE Arena.

The prints had been on display at Native Coffee on Queens Quay beside the banks of the River Lagan.

On Terrys social media posts, it was revealed: !!STOLEN BRADLEYS!! Were saddened to share that several pieces of Terry Bradleys artwork have been stolen from the coffee kiosk at @maritimemile, home to @nativecoffeeni, in Belfast. The police have been informed, and we are cooperating fully with their investigation.

Terry Bradley's stolen artwork (Pic from Terry Bradley Facebook)

Terry Bradleys art is a cherished part of our community, and its disheartening to see such acts occur.

We urge anyone who may have information about this theft to contact the police.

Lets stand together to protect and celebrate the art that enriches our lives.

Terry also shared a video of himself standing proudly beside the artwork when it was installed, but instead, there are now blank cases.

A note at the kiosk states: Sadly, the display cabinets are empty as someone has stolen some of our Terry Bradley prints.

This kiosk, which is owned by the charity Maritime Belfast Trust and operated by a young start-up business Native Coffee, has quickly become a landmark and community hub for Belfasts waterfront.

As a charity, we are committed to delivering a safe and vibrant waterfront for the enjoyment of everyone and despite this setback, we will continue to do so.

If you see any suspicious behaviour, please report it to Belfast Harbour Police who monitor the area on 028 90553000.

A sign displayed at the kiosk

It is not the first time Terry Bradleys artwork has been targeted by thieves  in 2016 pieces valued at 50,000 were stolen from a pop-up gallery in Belfast city centre.

At the time, the artists wife Ashley said they believed thieves gained access after one hid in the gallery overnight and added that Mr Bradley was devastated by the thefts.

It was estimated that between 80 and 100 pieces of art were taken including original canvases worth up to 10,000.

Terry Bradley with a piece of his artwork (Pic from Terry Bradley Facebook)

A year later, police discovered seven of the paintings, along with a significant quantity of ammunition, during a search of a house in west Belfast.

Terry Bradley with his revised Docker's Rest painting as it appears in the film Belfast

Terry Bradley Art posted on social media afterwards that it was delighted the pieces had been recovered.

Oh Wow! So delighted to be collecting 7 of the pieces that were stolen in the robbery at Christmas! Huge thanks to the PSNI for all their help, hopefully, the rest will turn up soon, said a Facebook post.

In 2018 five Terry Bradley art paintings were among items stolen in a burglary at a home in the Knockbreda Park area of Belfast.

Terry Bradley with a piece of his artwork (Pic from Terry Bradley Facebook)

Beaumont Roykets to cycle 480 miles in 48 hours across Northern Ireland for Pancreatic Cancer

Four years ago there was also a senseless vandal attack on a mural he painted in Bangors High Street.

The Harbour Police have been contacted for a response.
Sue Pentel was one of two campaigners arrested on Saturday.

A pensioner arrested during a pro-Palestine protest outside a bank in Belfast will robustly contest any charges that are brought, her solicitor has said.

Sue Pentel was one of two women held on suspicion of criminal damage after an incident on Saturday.

The 72-year-old Jewish grandmother is a high-profile campaigner against Israels military action in Gaza.

Her solicitor said she was arrested whilst peacefully protesting against the ongoing genocide in Palestine at Barclays Bank.

According to reports, the two women were arrested after stickers promoting a boycott of the bank were allegedly placed on an ATM.

There has been criticism of the banks financial ties with arms companies that sell weapons to Israel. Several other branches of Barclays across the UK have previously been targeted.

Videos circulating online show Ms Pentel being spoken to at length by PSNI officers. She tells officers: Children are dying in Gaza and is then led away to the back of a PSNI vehicle.

Both women were released on Saturday evening and reported to the Public Prosecution Service.

Padraig O Muirigh, who represents Mrs Pentel said: Our client has refused to remain silent whilst thousands of innocent children have been killed, and many more thousands are starving as food and medicine is refused entry into Palestine.

"She has committed no offence and should not be criminalised for exercising her right to peaceful protest against these ongoing atrocities.

Our client will robustly contest any attempt to criminalise her if a decision is made to prosecute. We will also be advising her in relation to the lawfulness of her arrest today.

The PSNI said: Police received a report relating to a protest in the Castle Place area of Belfast city centre on Saturday morning, May 24.

Officers attended and two people have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

The women - one aged in her 70s and the other in her 50s  are in custody, assisting with police enquiries at this time.

The pair were taken to Musgrave PSNI station, where campaigners gathered to show their support.

The IPSC Belfast expressed shock at "the PSNI treatment of a lifelong anti-racist activist who was arrested for standing up to protect international human rights and law."

The group said they support "the international calls for the boycott of companies which help to fund and arm Israel in its brutal campaign against the people of Palestine."

Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan criticised the arrests.

It is disgraceful that Sue Pentel  an elderly Jewish woman who has consistently and bravely campaigned for an end to Israels genocide in Gaza  has been arrested by the PSNI, he said.

Highlighting the genocidal, inhumane slaughter of defenceless civilians  and those who enable it  is not a crime.

Sue Pentel was one of two campaigners arrested on Saturday.

Kneecap: A timeline of controversy and success

Mr Sheehan added: We will be raising our concerns directly with the PSNI.

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said: All over the world Israel's legitimacy has utterly crumbled. And so the establishment is ramping up its repression to try and silence protestors.

SDLP councillor Paul Doherty said he was deeply concerned by the arrests.

He said they happened during a peaceful protest.

Barclays should rightfully be boycotted due to their financial ties with companies that supply weapons and military technology to Israel, he added.

I stand in full solidarity with these activists and call for them to be released without charge.

Barclays Bank has been contacted for comment.
Motorcycling

Andrew Irwin reveals his target for a successful weekend as he looks to get British Superbike season back on track
Cancer Research UKs Race for Life Belfast on the 25th May 2025 (Pic by Kirth Ferris)

Cancer Research UKs Race for Life Belfast on the 25th May 2025 (Pic by Kirth Ferris)

Two NI friends in remission from cancer have revealed singing was a lifeline during their recovery, as they were guests of honour and sang during Sundays Race for Life in Belfast.

Dawn Mackey and Avril Campbell were invited stars at this years event held at Stormont on Sunday.

The event, which supports Cancer Research UK, includes 3k, 5k, 10k and Pretty Muddy challenges for adults and children, raising millions for cancer research each year.

Cancer Research UKs Race for Life Belfast on the 25th May 2025 (Pic by Kirth Ferris)

The pair, both in remission from breast cancer, sounded the starter horn to send around 2,000 participants off on the 3k and 5k courses during the morning.

More than 200,000 was raised by the event, helping scientists develop new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

Official starters left to right: Dawn Mackey and Avril Campbell pictured with Stephen Keane who ran the 10k on behalf of the Rock Choir and raised 2,000

After serving as official starters, Dawn and Avril joined the 50-strong Rock Choir from Lisburn, led by Clare Galway, outside Stormont buildings to motivate race participants along the route.

The friends say being part of the choir has helped them cope with their cancer journey.

Dawn (60) from Craigavon was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2024 after a routine screening, despite having no symptoms.

A retired district nurse, she said the screening service saved her life.

Dawn has since had surgery, five radiotherapy sessions, and started taking tamoxifena drug proven effective by Cancer Research UK-funded research.

Discussing her journey to remission, Dawn explained she is on a mission to raise awareness about early detection and screening.

When I was diagnosed with cancer I went into nurse mode at first and tried to protect my loved ones. I stayed positive on the outside, but inside I was frightened, she said.

Thank goodness for screening, as without it Id never have detected there was anything wrong. Im well now, so its important to me to do everything I can to raise awareness about early detection and screening.

Dawn added that the support around her, including using music as an outlet, helped her cope.

I had an amazing consultant, oncologist, breast nurse and radiotherapy team.

My family supported me every step of the way while the choir gave me empathy  and most importantly laughter. Singing with the choir helped bring the joyous part of me back, and screening helped save my life.

It was a fantastic day at Race for Life Belfast, full of emotion, courage, tears, laughter and hope

Music has also helped Avril, 56, from Banbridge, who will mark nine years since finishing breast cancer treatment this September.

She underwent surgery, 16 chemotherapy sessions, 23 radiotherapy sessions, and later started tamoxifen medication.

The mum of three said each member of the Rock Choir is inspirational and she is proud to be a part of it, adding that it is one of the happiest one and a half hours of my week.

Our leader Clare is inspirational as are the choir members. Im proud to be part of it.

The choir performed hits including Dont Stop Me Now by Queen and Super Trouper by Abba.

Earlier in the day, International United Ms United Kingdom beauty queen Anouska Black of Craigavon sounded the start horn for the 10k participants.

Anouska, 35, said: It was an honour to open this years Race for Life Belfast and Ive loved cheering everyone on.

Both my grandfathers sadly passed away with cancer and I know its a disease that touches so many families. Thankfully, there are many more effective treatments out there today, making it possible for people to get through cancer but thats been made possible thanks to the generosity of people raising funds for life-saving research. Thats why Im in awe of every single person who crossed the finish line.

Dawn Mackey and Avril Campbell at Cancer Research UKs Race for Life Belfast on the 25th May 2025 (Pic by Kirth Ferris)

Speaking after the event, Lisa Adams, Cancer Research UKs spokeswoman in Northern Ireland, commented: It was a fantastic day at Race for Life Belfast, full of emotion, courage, tears, laughter and hope as people celebrated the lives of those dear to them who have survived cancer and remembered loved ones lost to the disease.

Cancer Research UKs Race for Life Belfast on the 25th May 2025 (Pic by Kirth Ferris)

Beaumont Roykets to cycle 480 miles in 48 hours across Northern Ireland for Pancreatic Cancer

She added: Sadly nearly 1 in 2 of us will get cancer in our lifetime** but all of us can support the research that will beat it.

Were proud that Race for Life has had such a positive impact. Every pound raised supports our life-saving work, which has helped double cancer survival in the UK over the last 50 years.
Decades of waste and bureaucracy are being ended on Britains railways, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander declared (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Decades of waste and bureaucracy are being ended on Britains railways, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander declared, as a renationalisation programme begins.

Services previously run by South Western Railway (SWR) are the first to be brought under public control by the Labour Government on Sunday.

They are now the responsibility of DfT (Department for Transport) Operator.

All other services run by private companies will be renationalised as contracts reach the end of their minimum terms.

The next operators services to be brought under public control will be c2c  which runs between London and Essex  on July 20, with Greater Anglia being renationalised in October.

The process is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027.

Britains railway services were privatised in the mid-1990s.

On a visit to a train depot in Bournemouth earlier this week, Ms Alexander said: I really do feel that this is a new dawn for our railways.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said weve always been clear that public ownership isnt a silver bullet (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Were going to wave goodbye to 30 years worth of inefficiency, waste, passenger frustration, and were going to step really confidently towards a new future for the railways.

Of course, change isnt going to happen overnight.

Weve always been clear that public ownership isnt a silver bullet, but we are really firing this starting gun in that race for a truly 21st-century railway, and that does mean refocusing away from private profit and towards the public good.

She added: We will sweep away those decades of waste and bureaucracy, and we really, really will deliver great services for Britains travelling public.

The new Great British Railways branding includes a union flag and the double arrow rail logo (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Office of Rail and Road (ORR) figures show the equivalent of 4% of services in Britain were cancelled in the year to April 26.

For SWR, the figure was 3%.

Renationalised services will be integrated into Great British Railways (GBR), a new public sector body which will also oversee rail infrastructure.

Legislation to enable the creation of GBR is expected to be introduced in Parliament later this year.

Shadow GBR has been established to ensure closer collaboration within the industry.

Richard Bowker, former boss of the Strategic Rail Authority, which was a public body providing strategic direction for the industry between 2001 and 2005, said it is quite easy to be sceptical about the overhaul but he believes there is real potential here for things to get better.

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Mr Bowker, who presents rail podcast Green Signals, went on: It has become overly complex, and I think bringing together track and train more now is a pragmatic and sensible thing to do.

The key with this will not really be who owns it. Are the people that are going to be running it day to day going to be genuinely empowered to make the right decisions to run the railway?

Weve got plenty of very, very able managers, but over the last five years  particularly since Covid when franchises effectively went bust and national rail contracts were put in place  there has been a huge amount of centralised control, and its quite stifling.

Johnbosco Nwogbo, of public ownership campaign group We Own It, said: Today is a great day for passengers because our railway is finally beginning its journey back to putting us, our communities and our planet before the profits of private shareholders.

But the job is not yet done. The Government still has to get public ownership right, so that it really delivers for people.

PA news agency analysis found the renationalisation of SWR services means a third of journeys are on publicly owned services.

That is based on the ORRs passenger journey data for 2024.

Services that were already under public ownership are LNER, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express.

GBR branding has been added to one train previously operated by SWR.

It features part of a union flag, the double arrow symbol that is synonymous with Britains railways, and the words Great British Railways coming soon.

Ms Alexander meets local school children during a visit to the South Western Railway Bournemouth Traincare Depot (Andrew Matthews/PA)

More trains will be given the branding over the coming months and years.

But the DfT said publicly owned services will need to meet tough performance standards to be rebranded Great British Railways.

These standards will cover factors such as punctuality, reliability and the experience of passengers.

The DfT said its renationalisation policy will save taxpayers up to 150 million per year in fees previously paid to private companies which ran services.

The first SWR service under public ownership on Sunday will be a rail replacement bus.

Following the implementation of renationalisation at 2am, passengers travelling on the 5.36am service from Woking to London Waterloo will change onto a bus at Surbiton because of engineering work.

Ms Alexander is expected to travel on the first renationalised service from London Waterloo, which will be the 6.14am train to Shepperton, Surrey.
People clear the rubble of residential houses destroyed by a Russian strike in Korostyshiv, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

A massive Russian drone-and-missile attack has targeted Ukraine for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens of others, officials said.

The scale of the onslaught was stunning  Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, making it the largest single attack of the war so far, according to Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat.

The attack took place hours before Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of co-operation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the three-year war.

Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defence forces persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down enemy drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital overnight into Sunday, according to Ukraines security service.

Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media platform X: A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night.

Several buildings were on fire following a Russian attack in the Kyiv region (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)

In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, three children aged eight, 12 and 17 were killed, according to the emergency service. Twelve people were injured in the attacks. At least four people were killed in Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine, and one man died in Mykolaiv region in the south.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone which started a fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed, and residential buildings were also damaged in Shevchenkivskyi district.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and he urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia  a long-standing demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialised in ways to deter Russia.

Rescue workers extinguish a fire at a house destroyed in a Russian strike on Markhalivka, Kyiv (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities, Mr Zelensky wrote on X, adding that Sundays targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

Americas silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages, Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help.

Meanwhile, Russias defence ministry said its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Firefighters search for victims following a Russian air attack in Khmelnytskyi region, Ukraine (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)

On the prisoner swap, the defence ministry in Moscow said each side brought home 303 more soldiers on Sunday. That came after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday  the biggest swap of the war.

Mr Zelensky confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that 303 Ukrainian defenders are home.

He noted the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.
Exclusive | Convicted UDA extortionist behind sectarian attacks on new social housing in interface area

Sources accuse veteran loyalist of orchestrating violence which saw new social housing properties smashed up

Properties were smashed up in attacks police have described as a sectarian hate crime, which has been blamed by loyalist sources on Geordie Taggart (inset)

Sunday Life Reporter Sun 25 May 2025 at 08:00

A convicted UDA extortionist has been blamed for masterminding sectarian attacks at a new social housing complex in north Belfast yards from his own home.
Jailed gunrunner Winkie Irvine demands return of UVF role on release and could trigger gang turmoil

Terror boss desperate to get money-spinning commander position but new bosses have no intention of agreeing

Winkie Irvine previously sat on a north Belfast community policing partnership despite being pictured throwing a crate during a riot (bottom right) and being identified as a masked UVF member reading a terror statement (top right).

Ciaran Barnes Sun 25 May 2025 at 08:00

Jailed UVF boss Winkie Irvine intends to take back control of his B Company gang when he gets out of prison  a move that could send the terror gang into turmoil.
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PITTSFIELD  Joann Fabric and Crafts on Dalton Avenue will end over three decades in business in the city next week.

According to shift manager Gene Hyatt, its final day will be Thursday. Joann has a 70 to 90 percent off sale on all items store-wide, plus an additional 30 percent off full transactions at checkout.

On Sunday, inventory for the crafts retailer was already low.

"The stuff that we sell a lot of is pretty much gone," Hyatt said. "There's not a lot left."

Last Thursday, the Pittsfield location appeared on a list of over 440 remaining Joann locations slated for closure by this Saturday. The list, obtained by The Eagle from a spokesperson from GA Group, which owns and is overseeing the liquidation of the chain, also includes 12 other locations in the state. Since February, Joann has closed eight stores in Massachusetts.

The Dalton Avenue store is the last Joann location remaining in Western Massachusetts.

Joann filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January  the second time it has done so in less than a year. After its March 2024 filing, it returned as a private company, hoping for a comeback.

But the company faltered again. Interim Big Lots CEO Michael Prendergast cited "significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment" over the last few years, as well as "constrained inventory levels" for that bankruptcy.

Ahead of its Feb. 26 sale to GA Group, which beat out leading contender Gordon Brothers Retail Partners  the firm that recently oversaw the liquidation of Pittsfield's Big Lots  it announced the closure of 500 of its over 800 stores. Its Pittsfield location was among those slated to shutter.

Big Lots hoped the closures would clear the way for its remaining 300 stores to operate and for its brand to live on. GA Group dashed those hopes on March 6, when it revealed its plans to wind down operations at all Joann locations via 12-week store closing sales.

"Our priority is to ensure an orderly wind-down of the retailer's operations while providing customers with exceptional savings on their favorite crafting and home decor products," GA Group Tim Schilling said in a March statement. "This sale is a great opportunity for shoppers to take advantage of these deep discounts before stores close."

It's unclear what's next for Joann's Pittsfield storefront. It's the second retailer to go out of business in the Dalton Avenue Shopping Plaza, after Big Lots closed March 16. Ollie's Bargain Outlet is set to move into the former Big Lots space, though Ollie's has not announced any official timeline for that opening.

The lease for the Dalton Avenue Joann store did not did not appear on a list of leases GA Group auctioned off on April 22. A spokesperson for the group was unable to immediately confirm or deny on Sunday if the Pittsfield store's lease had been sold.

Joann opened in the Dalton Avenue Plaza in 1992. A second location followed at the Big Y Plaza on Route 2 in North Adams later that year, which it shuttered in 1996 after nearly three years in business. When the Pittsfield location opened, Joann had 664 stores nationwide. Joann has been in business since 1943.
NORTH ADAMS  Over the span of two days, North Adams Police arrested three people in two separate drug investigations.

On May 15, the North Adams Police Detective Unit arrested Donald Drawec of Savoy following surveillance of a vehicle he was in.

In coordination with the Northwestern Anti-Crime Task Force and Berkshire County Anti-Crime Task Force, police followed his vehicle outside Berkshire County. Police say they "made observations consistent with a narcotics transaction," then followed Drawec to Savoy, where they initiated a traffic stop and searched the vehicle.

It's not known where outside Berkshire County Drawec traveled. Interim Police Chief Mark Bailey did not immediately return The Eagle's requests for further details Saturday afternoon.

Police say they seized about 30 grams of cocaine/crack cocaine, a bundle of heroin and digital scales and other distribution materials.

Drawec was charged with trafficking cocaine (18-36 grams) and possession of a Class A substance.

The next day, members of the detective unit and task force executed a search warrant on a Spring Street apartment in North Adams, as part of a separate, unrelated narcotics investigation.

Police say that upon their arrival, Robert Murphy attempted to flee from the rear of the residence but was quickly apprehended.

Nine individuals "familiar to investigators" were found in the residence, seven of whom have not been named. It's unclear if they also face charges. Bailey did not immediately respond to The Eagle's inquiry seeking clarification.

Police say they seized about 25 grams of cocaine/crack cocaine at the residence, an undisclosed amount of U.S. currency and distribution materials.

Murphy and Jennifer Williams were charged with trafficking cocaine (18-36 grams).
DALTON  After nearly 50 years of complaints over airborne sand and dust from a local sand mine, a group of Dalton residents say theyve had enough  and town officials may be ready to act.

The Dalton Clean Air Coalition continues to press for stronger oversight of Petricca Industries Berkshire Concrete Corp., whose sand-mining operation off Florence and Prospect streets and Raymond Drive has drawn renewed complaints over health, safety and quality of life for neighborhood residents.

Newly elected Select Board member Tony Pagliarulo is proposing an ad hoc committee made up of the Select Board, Board of Health, Planning Board, Conservation Commission and the coalition to review permitting and ensure enforcement.

Pagliarulo also recommends open dialogue with the company and a formal letter outlining concerns. A vote on the proposal is expected Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the coalition is weighing possible legal action against the town or the company. The group is seeking clean air for the neighborhoods and stronger rules around permits and oversight.

Were waiting to see how much the town kind of mobilizes, said David Pugh, a coalition member. I feel like the town is finally taking steps to prepare themselves for what they can do.

LONGSTANDING ISSUE

Dalton residents have raised issues with the sand mine operation as far back as 1976. The heart of the dispute originates with the alleged dust blowing.

For the past three years, Berkshire Concrete and its contractors have been removing trees that shielded the neighborhood from dust, then mining the cleared land for sand, according to neighbors.

But the most recent flashpoint came this year, when the company cut down tree buffers and brought sand mining operations closer to homes.

That mobilized the Dalton Clean Air Coalition, a group that now numbers 150 residents, led by David and Lisa Pugh and Ron and Lynne Griffin.

The group says the removal of vegetation worsened dust conditions in the neighborhood  a concern amplified by the presence of crystalline silica.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, prolonged inhalation of silica dust can lead to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued a report in March finding airborne particles to be within acceptable limits. But neighbors dispute those findings, saying the DEP conducted its air-quality test during days of little wind. The dust remains a persistent, visible presence, neighbors say.

MINE SITE VISIT

Berkshire Concrete Corp. submitted a mitigation plan on May 2 in response to dust complaints and the Dalton Board of Healths March 12 cease-and-desist order. That order halted mining and told the company to come up with an abatement and remediation plan.

The plan  outlined in a letter from company attorney Dennis Egan  includes tree planting, slope stabilization, dust-control berms and fencing, along with a commitment to reduce airborne dust and reclaim and restore unused or disturbed areas.

As far as legally, theyve written that theyre admitting the dust on the site, said David Pugh. I was kind of shocked to see that.  Theyre like owning it.

But the coalition claims the site is still unsealed, fencing is missing, and no third party has verified the work.

Petriccas attorney said the companys fencing contractor has been unable to access certain areas due to wet weather. Installation is now scheduled for next week, weather permitting.

Still, the coalition maintains the efforts do not go far enough to comply with the Board of Healths March cease and desist order to immediately implement measures to abate the nuisance conditions by preventing dust and sand from leaving the property, not just reduce it.

On May 6, Dalton town officials, coalition members and company representatives visited the disputed site, after months of rising tensions. About 15 people attended, including David Pugh and Ron Griffin, Petricca Industries President Perri Petricca and members of his staff, Dalton Town Manager Tom Hutcheson, and members of the Dalton Select Board, Planning Board and Board of Health.

(The Eagle was barred from the visit and has filed an Open Meeting Law violation complaint with the town.)

In its post-visit newsletter to members, the Dalton Clean Air Coalition reported that Perri Petricca apologized during the May 6 site visit and claimed he had not realized the scale of the issue. The company insisted that the sand was not a health problem  just a nuisance, according to the coalitions newsletter.

In response to The Eagles request for comment, Berkshire Concrete Corp. provided the following statement through its attorney, Dennis Egan:

"As it has been for many decades during the operation of its Dalton gravel pit, Berkshire Concrete Corp. is committed to being a responsible neighbor and to addressing concerns raised by the community. In response to recent concerns voiced by neighbors of the gravel pit regarding dust and sand, [Berkshire Concrete Corp.] has constructed several improvements to reduce dust impacts from the Dalton gravel pit."

Despite those efforts, residents and town officials say the work remains incomplete and accountability unclear.

Right now, theyre trying to control the rules, said Lisa Pugh, a coalition leader. Thats not their purview. We get to tell them how to do it.
HANCOCK  Directly in front of the handicap parking space behind Hancocks Town Hall, six stairs lead to the first floor of the historic building.

The only meeting room is on the second floor. And the restrooms? Theyre in the basement. Without either a ramp or an elevator, the building is a far cry from complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and has served as a library, meeting hall and school in the past. It was moved to its present location in 1975.

While the Greek Revival building contains many of the charms of the 19th century, it also lacks many of the conveniences  and expectations  of the 21st.

Town officials have made accommodations that are acceptable to the state, Select Board member Sherman Derby said. Major public meetings are held at Hancock Elementary School and if necessary, meetings can be moved to that location, though none actually have been in recent years.

Town staff also tries to make things easier. Any member of the public who is unable to get into the building to conduct business is met in the parking lot by the town secretary.

Now, the town has spoken, approving a warrant article at its annual town meeting earlier this month to explore options for building a new town hall. The motion, drafted by Fire Chief Mike Williams, directed the Select Board to appoint a committee of 10.

In her 21st year of being town clerk, Linda Burdick is now finding climbing down to the basement to use the restroom a bit cumbersome. Burdick also finds climbing up the stairs to the 1850 buildings only meeting room also off-putting.

She said the building is hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

While she used to have her own office, she now shares that space with five people.

We have a storage room downstairs and its literally jam-packed, she said. Lots of different departments are putting stuff down there: the assessor, the treasurer, the tax collector, myself. And its a little rough.

Burdick would like her own office, preferably one with a locking door, where no one will go into her desk hunting for a pen in her absence.

At Wednesdays meeting, Brian Fairbank, who is the towns moderator, and retired developer Bob Smith both approached the Select Board to state their interest in serving on the town hall exploratory committee.

Derby said he wants to make sure the committee includes people who live on both sides of town. He also said he would need to check with town counsel about the committee's composition before finalizing choices.

The most likely spot to build a new town hall is behind the existing building, where the town owns a total of 132 acres.

Derby spoke of building a connector between the new and old buildings, adding that he admires the new and old construction at the town hall in nearby New Lebanon, N.Y.

He is considering placing all three Select Board members on the committee.

Derby is firm on one thing: He does not want to put Hancock taxpayers in debt.
The development at Brushwood Farm off Pittsfield Road aims to begin move-in for renters late this summer, based on an on-line lottery for pre-applicants set for July 28, two weeks after the deadline for pre-applications.
Patriotic colors were the theme of the day for those who participated in the Memorial Day Parade in Pittsfield in 2024.
The state Senate is planning to commission what Dennis Powell, the president of the NAACP Berkshires, considers the most significant bust in its history.

The bust will honor Elizabeth Freeman, whose 18th-century legal battle for freedom paved the way for the state to abolish slavery two years later.

It will be installed in one of eight niches that line the walls of the Senate Chamber, alongside similar sculptures of Frederick Douglass and former Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Together with a bust of Abigail Adams, the nations second first lady and a women's rights advocate, the two statues will be the first permanent busts of women in the Statehouse.

Freeman, who was born in New York but spent most of her life in Sheffield and Stockbridge, will also be the first person from the Berkshires depicted in the chamber, according to Statehouse Curator Susan Greendyke Lachevre.

Im so pleased they are going to be adding a Black female and one of such significance as Elizabeth Freeman, Powell said. Where else would she belong but the Statehouse, given the immense and powerful way she shaped this states history.

THE LAWSUIT

In August 1781, Freeman became the first enslaved Black woman to successfully sue for freedom in Massachusetts.

Several months earlier, Freeman had overheard discussion of the newly ratified Massachusetts Constitution  including its first article, which begins, All men are born free and equal.

According to an account by the 19th-century novelist Catharine Sedgwick, the declaration moved Freeman to approach Sedgwicks father, a local lawyer, and ask, Wont the law give me my freedom?

After some deliberation, Theodore Sedgwick agreed that it might. He enlisted the help of another lawyer, Tapping Reeve, and added Brom, who was also enslaved by Sheffields John Ashley, to the case.

When the jury ruled in their favor, Freeman changed her name, which had been Mum Bett, to reflect the victory.

Two years later, the case proved foundational in a ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Court, which effectively abolished slavery in the commonwealth.

We have to acknowledge that Massachusetts would not exist as it does today if Elizabeth Freeman had not been born or had never been brought to the state from her birthplace in New York, said Nicole Maskiell, an associate professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at Dartmouth College.

BEYOND THE MYTH

Much of what modern historians know about Freeman comes from accounts by the Sedgwick family  most famously from Catharine Sedgwick  as Freeman never learned to read or write.

After winning her freedom, Freeman remained in the Sedgwick household, working as a paid servant for the rest of her life.

There is this desire to think of her purely as a hero, but the truth is we dont know much about her life, or her family, even after she was freed, said Sari Edelstein, a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

What historians do know is that Freeman never enjoyed perfect liberty, even after she won her case.

It wasnt like Massachusetts had slavery and then had a free, equal state, said Edelstein. It was still racist, and she was still very limited in terms of what she could do.

One indication of the continued restrictions on Freeman, according to Maskiell, was that she wasnt able to pass her property on to her family.

Before she died, she wrote a will, leaving a variety of items to her descendants, but Catharine Sedgwick donated them to the Massachusetts Historical Society against her wishes, said Maskiell. So even later in her story, theres still kind of this contested liberty going on. 

THE BUST'S INSTALLATION

One of the eight bust niches in the Senate Chamber has been empty since 2019.

After a series of hearings, deliberations and meetings discussing who would be most appropriate for the spot, state Sen. Paul Mark said the Senate held a vote on two finalists: Adams and Freeman.

The vote was exactly tied, said Mark, so the Senate will be commissioning both.

After the sculptor is chosen by the Senate's Art Committee, Greendyke estimates the bust will be installed in spring of 2026.

I hope the Senates current effort will encourage other, long overdue and well-deserved tributes, said Greendyke.

WHY IT MATTERS

It remains a great injustice that shes not more well known, said Kimberly Kirchner, the communications and development coordinator of Pittsfields Elizabeth Freeman Center, a nonprofit that supports victims of domestic violence.

The center renamed itself after Freeman in 1997 because we saw a parallel in terms of her personal quest for freedom and the way that we help our clients take control of their own lives," said Kirchner.

In the last few years, however, Freeman has seen growing recognition in the Berkshires.

In 2022, Sheffield unveiled an eight-foot statue of her, and a year later, Great Barrington renamed a street, adjacent to the courthouse where she won her freedom, Elizabeth Freeman Way.

Americas incorrect history has removed so many Black role models from view, but there is no part of our life today that a Black person wasnt in some way responsible for, said Powell. Its about time that people visiting the Statehouse can see a woman like Freeman celebrated.

The bust also comes at an apt moment in Americas story, according to Edelstein.

It is especially meaningful because it's coming at a time when were seeing a pullback across the country from telling the complicated stories of Black history," said Edelstein

Maskiell hopes that the sculptor they choose finds a way to emphasize Freemans defiance and her power.

Should the artist be successful, the bust could highlight Freemans story  and stand for something larger.

"It will remind us to do things that are brave, said Maskiell. It will prompt us to ask some of the most important questions: What kind of world are we shaping? Do we uphold our ideals? And what it means to be a member of a commonwealth?
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A female tourist, just arrived in Dublin, was left bruised and bleeding after a man punched her face without warning in a gender-targeted daylight attack on Friday and calmly walked away, a court heard.

Kevin Kletzander (33), who allegedly showed no remorse, was charged with assault causing harm to the woman who fears she will be left scarred following the incident on Dame Street in the city centre south side at 11.30am on May 23rd.

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The accused, who resides in a Dublin 8 hostel and has a history of mental illness, was refused bail by Judge Catherine Ghent at Dublin District Court on Saturday.

Garda Niamh Dunne cited the seriousness of the case, telling the court: I have huge safety concerns for members of the public and any female he encounters.

Objecting to Mr Kletzanders bail application, she described the incident as totally unprovoked and alleged the accused aggressively approached the woman and without warning punched her in the face.

The injured tourist was knocked to the ground, bleeding and in shock from the one-punch assault, and suffered a deep laceration on her temple area and swelling and bruising on her left eye.

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The garda claimed several people were around, but that did not deter the man, who continued walking calmly to Georges Street after the incident.

Furthermore, she alleged it was a gender-targeted attack on the woman who was unable to defend herself.

Garda Dunne said the complainant had been left unable to take part in the tourist activities she planned and was deeply concerned at the psychological impact and that she may be left with scarring.

The court heard Mr Kletzander later handed himself in at Pearse Street Garda station, was polite and pleasant, and he made admissions when arrested.

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During his interview, he showed no remorse but later replied, Im sorry when charged.

Garda Dunne said there was CCTV evidence. The woman did not attend the bail hearing, and the accused only addressed the court to explain his understanding of the locations mentioned in the evidence.

Defence solicitor Noel Boylan told the garda that while in the station, Mr Kletzander spoke but switched between English, Dutch and French, but Garda Dunne said she was not advised of that.

She agreed that she was aware of his mental health difficulties.

Mr Boylan said the accused attended medical appointments regularly, went to the gym, and maintained contact with his family.

Denying bail, Judge Ghent noted the evidence of the seriousness of the incident and that the assault was allegedly gendered in nature.

Legal aid was granted to the accused, who has yet to enter a plea and will appear again on May 29th.

Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions need to be obtained.
The Tanaiste has warned the US administration of the negative consequences of imposing tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals and microchips.

Simon Harris has written to US Secretary for Commerce Howard Lutnick following the latters instigation of two investigations examining whether the United States reliance on foreign imports in those sectors poses a risk to national security.

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The outcome of the investigations could result in significant tariffs being imposed on pharmaceutical and semiconductors sold into the US from abroad.

In his letter to Mr Lutnick earlier this month, Mr Harris said Ireland and the US enjoys a mutually advantageous economic bilateral relationship.

He acknowledged US foreign direct investment in Ireland is concentrated in a number of sectors, including pharma and semiconductors.

The Tanaiste stressed Irelands approach on national security is closely aligned with Washingtons, as he signalled a desire to work closely with the US on economic security issues.

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Mr Harris then outlined details of the pharma and semiconductor sectors in Ireland.

On pharma, he highlighted the focus of production is primarily on ingredients, rather than final products.

Irelands pharmaceutical sector is deeply embedded in that of the US. They are mutually reinforcing, the Tanaiste wrote.

On microchips, Mr Harris said Ireland has built an extensive and technology-rich semiconductor industry.

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Simon Harris said Ireland and the US enjoy a mutually advantageous economic bilateral relationship (Niall Carson/PA)

The Fine Gael leader told Mr Lutnick that Ireland has a strong reputation as a leading destination for US foreign direct investment and is a highly attractive destination for US firms.

Ireland Bernie Sanders uses Dublin speech to urge workers... Read More

Low tariffs on this sector can only aid in securing these supply chains for this critically important sector, he added.

In conclusion, Mr Harris wrote: I appreciate that you are undertaking these investigations due to national security concerns.

Irelands trade with the US helps support resilient supply chains and diversifications, and providing certainty of supply. Increasing costs on two strategic sectors that face growing competition from other regions will not aid in supporting US interests.
Are holiday home owners contributing to Ireland's housing crisis?

That was the question raised this week when a senior official in Co Mayo called for a boycott of people who own second homes.

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Tom Gilligan, Mayo County Council's director of services for housing, initially called for a community-led initiative targeting people who own holiday homes, describing it as "demanding accountability" from property owners.

"It is about trying to get these underutilised, vacant, empty homes back into use," he told RTE's Morning Ireland on Wednesday, invoking the historical connection between Mayo and Captain Boycott, whom he characterised as an absentee landlord.

However, Mr Gilligan later apologised for "any concern or distress" caused by his proposal.

In a statement released by the council on Thursday, he said he was "deeply committed to addressing the complex housing challenges facing Mayo and to working collaboratively with councillors, stakeholders, and the community in doing so".

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Despite the controversy, Mr Gilligan's comments succeeded in highlighting a growing concern backed by concrete data.

The 2022 Census revealed a striking trend: holiday homes in the Republic increased by almost 8 per cent between 2016 and 2022, reaching nearly 67,000 properties nationwide. This growth occurred against the backdrop of the State's well-documented housing shortage.

The Central Statistics Office defines these "holiday homes" as dwellings that remain unoccupied during the census but are used periodically, typically during summer months. Crucially, they are not classified as vacant homes, meaning they sit outside any policy interventions targeting empty properties.

Coastal counties like Kerry, Donegal, Cork and Galway have the highest concentrations of holiday homes.

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In some areas, the numbers are staggering: holiday homes comprise 65 per cent of all housing stock in places like Kilkee in Co Clare and Derrynane in Co Kerry.

The statistics present these communities with a fundamental challenge: balancing their tourism-driven economy against local housing needs.

In the UK, the authorities have decided to tackle the issue through taxation  house prices plunged in some parts of Wales after the introduction of a 150 per cent council tax premium on second homes.

Scotland has implemented supplement taxes on second home purchases, making it more expensive to acquire holiday properties.

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The rise of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb has also blurred the lines between holiday accommodation and permanent housing stock.

Interestingly, recent research suggests that these platforms may not be the primary driver of rental shortages that many assume them to be.

A study published last month by the Economic and Social Research Institute found no correlation between increases in Airbnb activity and declining new tenancies between 2019 and 2023.

This does not mean that Airbnb activity has not had a detrimental impact on the private rental sector (PRS) in specific local markets, but it does not appear to be the root cause of the observed falls in available PRS accommodation nationwide, the report said.

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Instead, they identified reduced market turnover as a key factor, with many tenants choosing to stay put rather than face higher rents elsewhere or because homeownership remains out of reach.

The Government has acknowledged these concerns and plans to introduce a register of short-term letting properties by summer 2026.

This system would require landlords to obtain change-of-use planning permission before listing entire houses and apartments on platforms like Airbnb, particularly in designated rent pressure zones.

Officials estimate this register could redirect 12,000 properties from the tourism market back into long-term rental accommodation.

Whether this measure, combined with other housing initiatives, will meaningfully address the complex housing crisis remains to be seen.
A massive Russian drone-and-missile attack has targeted Ukraine for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens of others, officials said.

The scale of the onslaught was stunning  Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, making it the largest single attack of the war so far, according to Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat.

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The attack took place hours before Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of co-operation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the three-year war.





Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defence forces persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down enemy drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital overnight into Sunday, according to Ukraines security service.

Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media platform X: A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night.

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Several buildings were on fire following a Russian attack in the Kyiv region (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)

In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, three children aged eight, 12 and 17 were killed, according to the emergency service. Twelve people were injured in the attacks. At least four people were killed in Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine, and one man died in Mykolaiv region in the south.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone which started a fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed, and residential buildings were also damaged in Shevchenkivskyi district.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and he urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia  a long-standing demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialised in ways to deter Russia.



Rescue workers extinguish a fire at a house destroyed in a Russian strike on Markhalivka, Kyiv (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities, Mr Zelensky wrote on X, adding that Sundays targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

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Americas silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages, Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help.

Meanwhile, Russias defence ministry said its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.



Firefighters search for victims following a Russian air attack in Khmelnytskyi region, Ukraine (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)

On the prisoner swap, the defence ministry in Moscow said each side brought home 303 more soldiers on Sunday. That came after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday  the biggest swap of the war.

Mr Zelensky confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that 303 Ukrainian defenders are home.

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He noted the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.
Nigel Farage will commit to restoring the winter fuel payment to all pensioners and to scrapping the two-child benefit cap, reports have suggested.

The Reform UK leader is expected to appeal to left-wing voters with the moves in a speech next week, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

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The newspaper said Mr Farage will describe Sir Keir Starmer as one of the most unpatriotic prime ministers in our history and this past week has been evidence of that, in his first speech since Reform made large gains in the local elections.

Reform UK is riding high in the opinion polls after its victories in town halls and the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, according to YouGov.

It is the most popular political party with voters, followed by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and then the Tories in a historic fourth place.

Mr Farage, MP for Clacton, spent last week on holiday while the House of Commons was sitting.

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While MPs have left Westminster for recess, he is expected to return to the political arena and say: The Prime Minister is out of touch with working people, he doesnt understand what they want and how they feel about the big issues facing Britain.

Its going to be these very same working people that will vote Reform at the next election and kick Labour out of Government.

A Reform source told the newspaper: Were against the two-child cap and wed go further on winter fuel by bringing the payment back for everyone.

Thats already outflanking Labour.

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Sir Keir Starmer (Justin Tallis/PA)

This week at Prime Ministers Questions, Mr Starmer signalled he wanted to restore the winter fuel payment to more pensioners, which is likely to take place at the budget in the autumn.

The payment was previously made to all pensioners, but Labour reduced it to only those receiving pension credit in one of its early acts in government.

Ministers are planning to restore the payment to all but the wealthiest pensioners, the Sunday Times reported.

Civil servants have warned that any changes are very unlikely to be made before the winter due to ageing computer systems, the newspaper said.

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Elsewhere, the UK governments action plan to tackle child poverty  a document likely to contain proposals to scrap the two-child benefit cap  has been delayed until the autumn.

The plan is likely to be aligned with the budget so it can be fully costed.

The Observer newspaper reported Mr Starmer has privately backed plans to scrap the cap, and made it clear he wants to drive down child poverty.

The UK government is facing pressure from its own backbenchers to eliminate the cap, all while the threat of a rebellion over a wide-ranging package of welfare reforms looms.
Poles travelled from across the country to join duelling patriotic marches in Warsaw on Sunday, led by the two men vying for the presidency in a June 1 run-off election expected to be both close and consequential for the nations future.

At the head of one march is Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, a liberal urbanite who supports abortion rights and LGBTQ+ inclusion. A close political ally of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, he is backed by Mr Tusks pro-European Civic Coalition, which has led a centrist coalition government since late 2023.

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Mr Trzaskowski previously ran for president in 2020, narrowly losing to incumbent Andrzej Duda, whose second and final five-year term ends this summer.

Opposite him is Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian backed by the national conservative Law and Justice party, which governed Poland from 2015 to 2023. He heads the state-backed Institute of National Remembrance, which under Law and Justice became a vehicle for nationalist historical narratives.

Earlier this month, the White House released photos of Mr Nawrocki and US President Donald Trump meeting in the Oval Office  a tacit but unmistakable show of Mr Trumps support.



Supporters of presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki take part in a march in Warsaw (Czarek Sokolowski/AP)

Recently, allegations surfaced that Mr Nawrocki swindled an elderly man out of an apartment  but his supporters in Warsaw on Sunday said they did not believe the allegations.

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Many of those who joined Sundays marches had travelled from across Poland, a country of nearly 38 million, not just to support a candidate but to rally behind sharply divergent visions for the nations future.

Its high time for honesty to win. Its high time for integrity to win. Its high time for justice to win, Mr Trzaskowski told his supporters at the start of his march. This is what these elections are about. We have literally the last few days ahead of us. We need full determination, every vote is needed.

The run-off follows a first-round vote on May 18 that narrowed the initial field of 13 candidates to Mr Trzaskowski and Mr Nawrocki. Recent polls show them running neck-and-neck, within the margin of error, making the outcome impossible to predict.



Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski is vying for the presidency (Czarek Sokolowski/AP)

Both men are now courting voters who backed the hard-right libertarian Slawomir Mentzen, who won nearly 15% in the first round. Known for his nationalist rhetoric and pro-market views, Mr Mentzen had a strong presence on TikTok and received 35% of the vote among 18 to 29-year-olds, according to an Ipsos exit poll.

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Mr Nawrocki supporters told The Associated Press ahead of the march that they saw him as the embodiment of the conservative, patriotic values they grew up with. They voiced opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, and said Mr Nawrocki  like Me Trump  would restore what many called normality.

Mr Trzaskowski supporters countered that their candidate would better protect the countrys interests by strengthening ties with European partners such as France and Germany. In their view, those alliances are vital to Polands security, especially in the face of Russias war in Ukraine and fears that a victorious Russia could seek to reassert control over parts of central and eastern Europe.

During its eight years in power, Law and Justice was accused by the European Union of undermining democratic norms, particularly judicial independence and press freedom. Mr Trzaskowski has pledged to support Mr Tusks efforts to restore the independence of Polands judiciary  something that the conservative Mr Duda has stymied.

Romanian President-elect Nicusor Dan, a pro-EU centrist who pulled off an upset in Romanias presidential election to beat out a hard-right nationalist, travelled to Warsaw, meeting with Mr Tusk and joining the march.

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While Law and Justice turned state-funded media into instruments of political propaganda, critics say Mr Tusks government has also politicised public broadcasting  albeit in a less overt and aggressive fashion.
Russia and Ukraine have swapped hundreds more prisoners in the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war.

Hours earlier on Sunday, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions came under a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens.

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Ukrainian officials described it as the largest aerial assault since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.



A local resident cries standing amid the rubble of her house ruined after Russias air attack in Khmelnytskyi region (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russias Defence Ministry said each side brought home 303 more soldiers, after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday  the biggest swap of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that 303 Ukrainian defenders are home.

He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.

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Nataliya Borovyk, the sister of released Ukrainian soldier Ihor Ulesov, was overwhelmed when she learned of her brothers return.

My uncle had to calm me down and put me in a taxi so I could get here, she told The Associated Press. A moment like that stays with you forever.



Ukrainian serviceman Vitaly kisses his wife, Olena, after returning from captivity during a POWs exchange between Russia and Ukraine (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

Ms Borovyk said the family had been waiting anxiously for news, and that she had hoped her brother might be released in the first part of the exchange on Friday.

We were worried about all the guys. He wasnt there on Friday, but I was here  I at least greeted them, I stood there until the very end and waited, (hoping) maybe he would appear after all.

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In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month  the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks  Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each.

The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks.

 The largest aerial attack of the war

The scale of the onslaught in Sundays attack was stunning  Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, the largest single aerial attack of the war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraines Air Force.

In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press.

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There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes.

For Kyiv, the day was particularly sombre as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the fifth century.

Mr Zelensky said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia  a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the US and Europe has not materialised in ways to deter Russia.



Firefighters search for victims following a Russian air attack in Zhitomir region, Ukraine (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities, Mr Zelensky wrote on X, adding that Sundays targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

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Americas silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said.

Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help.

Russias Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

 Another sleepless night

Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defence persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles.

At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service.

A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault lasted all night.

Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.

In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17.

Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said.



Firefighters search for victims following a Russian air attack in the Khmelnytskyi region, Ukraine (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine.

One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the buildings walls was on fire.

In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.

The scale of Russias use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion.

 A village engulfed in smoke and rubble

In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears.

The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, its just terrible, said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraines most devastated cities.

She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren had not joined them for the weekend.

I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us, Ms Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here its the ground floor.

She said, No, mum, Im not coming. And thank God she didnt come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the childrens rooms were, Ms Fedorenko said.

Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off.

They burned to death, he said. I want to bury them, but Im not allowed yet.

 Despite POW swaps, no let up in the war

The POW exchange was the latest of scores of swaps since the war began but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians.

Still, it has not halted the fighting.

Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.

Russias Defence Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the North group of Russian forces as saying on Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in the Kursk region, which Putin visited days ago.

The troops continue to advance forward every day, Mr Yakimkin said, adding that Russian forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraines north-eastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk.

Speaking on Russian state TV on Sunday, a Russian serviceman said that Mr Putin was reportedly flying over the Kursk region in a helicopter when the area came under intense Ukrainian drone attack during his visit.

Mr Putins helicopter was virtually at the epicentre of repelling a large-scale attack by the enemys drones, said Yuri Dashkin, described as commander of a Russian air defence division.

He added that Russian air defence units shot down 46 drones during the incident.
Australias vast Pilbara iron ore industry has the potential to reinvent itself into a lucrative green iron export powerhouse, research suggests, amid warnings that Chinas hunt for higher-quality ore to make cleaner steel may hasten the mining provinces demise.

Andrew Forrest, the billionaire chairman of Western Australias third-largest iron ore shipper, Fortescue Metals Group, declared last week that Chinese steel mills shift away from traditional blast furnaces to less-polluting technologies threatened to turn the iron ore mining hub into a wasteland.

The steel sector generates more than 8 per cent of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions. Credit: Bloomberg

Theyre looking straight into a future that may or may not include WA, Forrest told a mining summit in Perth.

Iron ore  the raw material needed to manufacture steel  is Australias biggest export commodity, raking in more than $100 billion in export revenue a year, and China is the worlds biggest importer.
It was a fitting end to a festival that rumbled with political threats and stirrings on the ground. On the last day of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, a five-hour regional power outage closed the town. The cause: an arson attack on a village substation. No arrests had been made by the time power was restored.

If the goal was to sabotage the worlds most important film festival, however, the firebugs failed. The festival complex has its own generators and films played all day. Nothing was going to disrupt the red-carpet extravaganza that precedes the presentation of the Palme dOr.

Jafar Panahi (centre) took home the Palme dOr Award, which was presented by Cate Blanchett (left) and Juliette Binoche (right). Credit: Getty Images

The winners

This year the Palme went to Iranian dissident Jafar Panahi, whose film It Was Just an Accident  about a former political prisoner who recognises the voice of a customer at his garage as his torturer  draws on his own prison experiences and the stories he heard from fellow inmates. Thrillingly, Panahi was able to accept his award in person, having been permitted to travel by Iranian authorities for the first time in 14 years.
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Exclusive Eating outComing soon Celebrity chef Rick Stein to open flagship restaurant in Sydney The Brit is bringing his signature seafood dining style to a beachfront suburb later this year. Bianca Hrovat Updated June 6, 2025 , first published May 26, 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

Rick and Sarah Stein plan to open a new restaurant at Coogee Beach. Get ready, Sydney: British celebrity chef Rick Stein is coming. Together with his wife, Sarah Stein, hes announced plans to open a 220-seat restaurant and bar overlooking Coogee Beach in November. The restaurant, Rick Stein at Coogee Beach, is set to be a day-long celebration of Australian-caught seafood at the coming InterContinental hotel  from Steins signature Cornish-style fish and chips (hand-cut potatoes, fried fish with a generous splash of malt vinegar) at lunch; to a refined (but relaxed) dinner service, serving pies filled with scallops, snapper and blue-eye trevalla. It will be a familiar concept to those who have dined at Steins two regional restaurants at the two Bannisters hotels. The one in Port Stephens was awarded a Critics Pick in the current Good Food Guide, but the Mollymook restaurant didnt make the cut. Rick Steins Port Stephens restaurant. Max Mason-Hubers

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The Bannisters hotels were recently acquired by Melbourne-based investment fund Salter Brothers, partners of British hotelier IHG. (Salter Brothers also run the Spicers Retreats.) As part of that deal, the company is working to rebrand and transform three Crowne Plaza hotels into InterContinental hotels, including the beachfront property at Coogee. Thats where the Steins come back in. We dont really have ambitions about, you know, growing enormously, Rick says, noting regional restaurants will continue to operate unaffected. But [Salter Brothers] happened to have this property at Coogee, and the beachfront location appealed to us. At the end of the day, thats what the restaurants at Port Stephens and Mollymook are about  having a connection with the sea. Rick and Sarah Stein.

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The sea has always been central to Ricks career as a restaurateur, which began with a small harbourside bistro called The Seafood Restaurant, back in 1975. The chef rose to prominence as a TV personality, hosting BBC shows such as Rick Steins Taste of the Sea, and author, publishing more than 25 cookbooks. Hes since built an international hospitality empire, which spans 11 restaurants over two separate operations in Australia and Britain. Related Article Rick Steins go-to dumpling spot in Sydney In Sydney, Sarah will handle the blue and white coastal aesthetics and publicity, while Rick will prepare the restaurant. First, by selecting a head chef  someone who understands how excellent the seafood is in Australia, and how to serve it up in the best possible way  without the fuss of fine-dining  and then, by writing the menu. Rick Steins classic fish pie will get an Aussie makeover at his new restaurant. James Murphy

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When formulating dishes, Stein prefers a simple, straightforward approach to cooking, allowing local produce to sing. He draws on a lifetime of memories and influences  growing up in Britain, travelling throughout Europe and India for his television shows, eating at some of Neil Perrys first restaurants; and dinner parties with his wife in Sydney. Theres a fish curry, influenced by his time in Goa; a tuna crudo, marinated with passionfruit, lime and green chilli, which he made for a New Years Eve potluck in Sydney 15 years ago; and the fish pie, which gives the British staple an Aussie spin. We want to serve fantastic food, but we also think its vital to have very good restaurant managers, Sarah says. Its important to us that everyone, no matter who they are, feel as though theyre treated with the same warmth and friendliness. The Steins plan to visit the restaurant at least three times a year, as they split their life between Australia and Britain. Its an approach thats worked for other British restaurateurs in Australia  namely, Clare Smyth, who operates three-hatted Oncore by Clare Smyth from afar, with visits to the Barangaroo restaurant at least every six months. Related Article Amazingly crisp: Rick Steins secret to convincing people to eat (and cook) more fish

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Two people were shot through the windscreen of a car on a busy Sydney street on Sunday afternoon, in what police believe may be an escalation of Sydneys gangland tensions.

Emergency services were called to Church Street in Granville just after 5pm on Sunday, and found four people in a white Toyota HiLux ute underneath the M4 bypass, police said.

Two men have been shot in Sydneys west, one of whom has life-threatening injuries. Credit: Angus Dalton

Two men in the drivers and front passenger seat had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The injuries to one of them were life-threatening, police sources said on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak. Two other men in the back seat were uninjured.

Soon after, fire crews were called to Merrylands West after reports of a car fire. Police found a car and a tree alight. Later in the evening police set up a crime scene where authorities were called to a second burnt-out car in another Merrylands suburban street.
Police sniffer dogs joined the search for a missing teenage girl south-west of Bundaberg on Sunday as police scoured a massive bushland area over the weekend.

Pheobe Bishop failed to check in for her flight from Bundaberg to Western Australia about 8.30am on May 15 and has not been seen since.

The police search has focused on areas of bushland and townships around Gin Gin  45 kilometres south-west of Bundaberg  where Pheobe had been living before she disappeared.

Police sniffer dogs were brought into the search for 17-year-old Pheobe Bishop on Sunday. Credit: Nine News Queensland

The main area of focus has been around Paradise Dam in Good Night Scrub National Park, with sniffer dogs brought in shortly before midday on Sunday.
Women should not have to endure violence in a relationship. Todays outcome shows that something can be done, she said in 2007. Following the incident, Smedley faced condemnation from his father  prominent businessman Peter Smedley, who died in 2019  and lost his job with investment bank UBS. Several members of The Australian Club told this masthead they had refused to attend the recent AGM, which included a black-tie dinner, because they considered the 42-year-old an inappropriate candidate for the prestigious role. A source at the club, who asked not to be named due to the organisations long-held convention of not discussing its affairs with the media, said he was baffled by the clubs decision to appoint Smedley to such a senior position. The general committee has no idea just how difficult this appointment could make life for members. Many of us work for professional firms with strict policies on gender diversity and domestic violence.

Nicholas Smedley in front of the Continental Hotel in Sorrento in 2017. Steller Development, which he co-founded, collapsed in 2019 with debts of more than $300 million. Being a member used to be something you could be openly proud of. Now its something you have to keep secret from your workplace, the member said. Smedley was a co-founder and director of the property group, Steller Development, which was involved in the restoration and redevelopment of the Continental Hotel in Sorrento when it went into administration in 2019 with debts of more than $300 million. A spokeswoman for The Australian Club declined to comment, other than to say: Unfortunately, we dont talk to media. A spokesman for Smedley said he was complying with the clubs policy not to comment on club matters.

Loading Smedleys appointment as chair of the clubs house committee has also drawn criticism from family violence experts. Melbourne University law professor Heather Douglas, a renowned family violence researcher, said the appointment of any man with a history of family violence into a senior role sent a problematic message to the community. I do think it sends a pretty concerning message to society that, you know, violent men are appropriate to be leaders in our community, Douglas said. In general, I think its unfortunate that violent men would be appointed to positions of leadership in any organisation.

However, Douglas said if there was very strong evidence of efforts by an individual who had a history of violence against women changing their way of thinking and responding to women, that might sway her perspective. Loading Speaking generally, previous head of Domestic Violence Victoria Fiona McCormack said when it came to appointing men who had a history of violence against women to senior roles, it was crucial to consider whether a person had taken accountability and changed their behaviour. A lot of the time people think, and justifiably so, weve got to give people a second chance, said McCormack, who is also a former victims of crime commissioner. Theyve been through the justice process, theyve done their time. But it is really, really important that people who are making decisions about these appointments consider the extent to which a person has admitted or acknowledged what theyve done.

That they have deliberately hurt somebody, that there has been contrition, that theres been amends made, and that they can demonstrate a measure of insight into their behaviour, the impacts on other people, and an insight that indicates that they have grown. The Australian Club, separate to and 40 years younger than its Sydney counterpart, was founded in 1878 and resides in a grand bluestone-base heritage-listed clubhouse on William Street that it likes to call a timeless sanctuary providing respite from the bustling modern world. Members have included former National Australia Bank chief executive Don Argus, former Liberal Party president Michael Kroger and many prominent lawyers. A rebel faction pushed for the introduction of women a few years ago, but the majority of members voted to keep it men only in early 2022. Following his appointment, Smedley is now expected to push for a new cigar lounge at the club  a proposal he previously championed while chair of the clubs young members committee.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ukraine, on May 25.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha conveyed the greetings of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to President Ilham Aliyev. The Foreign Minister thanked Azerbaijan for the humanitarian aid provided to Ukraine, highlighting the importance of the projects implemented in the city of Irpin.

Andrii Sybiha once again expressed his gratitude to Azerbaijan for its support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings and asked the minister to extend his regards to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan would continue to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

During the conversation, the sides underlined that Azerbaijan and Ukraine have always supported each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The discussions also included an exchange of views on the prospects for relations between the two countries in the fields of energy, renewable energy, transport, trade, and agriculture.
James Cox

Irish supporters are set to travel to Liverpool in huge numbers this weekend for Premier League title celebrations.

Stena Line said thousands of supporters have travelled on both the Dublin to Holyhead and Belfast to Liverpool routes.

Photo: Stena Line

Hundreds of thousands of Liverpool fans will be in the city for an historic weekend which will see the Premier League trophy presented on Sunday at Anfield followed by an open top bus parade on Monday.

Photo: Stena Line

Arne Slot's side confirmed their title win a few weeks ago, but they will still be pushing for another win as they finish a successful season with a clash against FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, kicking off at 4pm.
Jo Ann Seitz was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, oldest child of Edgar and Bertha Seitz, and died peacefully on December 4, 2024, in Chattanooga.

Jo Ann grew up and graduated from high school in Ooltewah, Tn. She attended Clark College, in Atlanta, Georgia. Jo Ann in the late 50s moved to Boston, Massachusetts where she worked for the John Hancock Insurance Company. Years later she transitioned to United Airlines and then moved with the company from Boston, Ma., to Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Jo Ann loved to travel with her sister, Shirley. They traveled extensively to Europe and the Middle East. Jo Ann and Shirley made friends world-wide and brought family on some of their travel adventures.

Jo Ann loved classical music, the arts, and her family. She connected with the children of her relatives and contributed to deepening these cousins world view by providing exposure to arts and culture. As cousins attended college in the Virginia area and as family drove through Virginia Jo Ann welcomed them. She made her home the home for relatives and friends. She prepared meals, packed baskets of food for travelers, and often gave up her bed so the travelers might rest more easily.

While she had no children to engage and encourage in the arts, Jo Anns love for the arts became her personal focus. She created beautiful needlework and works of arts and crafts, which she gifted to family and friends. For Christmas, Jo Ann purchased ornaments from the White House in Washington D.C., selected specifically for the family member and for the history the ornament depicted. Jo Ann found special joy in God and was a dedicated and active member of The Galilee United Methodist Church in Sterling, Va.

Jo Ann with her sister devoted hundreds of hours and their talents to the church providing needed support to weekly church services.

Jo Ann, retired from United Airlines and spent many happy years living in Virginia. Then, 2022 while working to recover from several bouts of serious illnesses, Jo Ann and her sister Shirley moved to Chattanooga, to live with their brother and sister-in-law, Jeffrey and Rosemary Seitz.

Jo Ann, a woman whose life exhibits unspoken strength, was predeceased by her parents, Edgar and Bertha Seitz, her loving brother, Donald Henderson (Darlene) and niece Donyale Henderson. She leaves behind her much beloved sister, Shirley Seitz and her brother, Jeffrey Seitz (Rosemary) and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and other relatives, all who will mourn her loss.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 31, at Hampton Inn Chattanooga East Ridge, 623 Camp Jordan Parkway, East Ridge, Tn. 37412 at 2:30 p.m.

Arrangements are provided by Hardwick & Sons Funeral Home, www.hardwickfuneral.com, 2521 Duncan Ave., Chattanooga, Tn. 37404, 423 267-1244.




Sodium-sulphur batteries could solve a problem of the energy transition: they are intended to store electricity from wind power and photovoltaics in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way. This is because wind and sun do not always provide energy when it is needed most. However, the service life of sodium-sulphur batteries is still limited. However, a team led by Markus Antonietti, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, has developed a cathode material made of sulphur and carbon, among other things, which significantly extends the service life and makes the batteries more powerful.

Symbol image Computer-generated image

Research funding and exclusive licenses Now the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces has signed a cooperation agreement with the Australian-British battery manufacturer Gelion to further develop the sulphur-carbon materials for broad industrial application. "We are delighted to be working with Gelion to commercialize our breakthrough sulfur battery technology," says Markus Antonietti, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces. "Together, we want to offer affordable, sustainable and powerful energy solutions to meet global needs."

The cooperation agreement provides for Gelion to fund the relevant research at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces with 600,000 euros for three years and, in return, to exclusively license patents resulting from the research. Markus Antonietti will also advise Gelion on the development of sodium-sulphur batteries as part of the cooperation. Finally, the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces will train scientists who will then be able to pursue a career at Gelion. "This means we have embarked on a long but promising journey - from coin-sized laboratory tests to large-scale stationary batteries as an alternative to conventional lithium batteries," explains Markus Antonietti.

Sulphur-carbon nanomaterials include harmful polysulphides Lithium-ion batteries still set the gold standard in battery technology, but lithium is a scarce resource and its use is associated with considerable ecological damage: from energy-intensive extraction and processing to the disposal of toxic residues. Sodium and sulphur, on the other hand, are abundant, inexpensive and much less harmful to the environment than some components of lithium-ion batteries. Sodium - think of ordinary table salt - can be extracted from seawater or salt deposits. Sulphur is a by-product of the oil and gas industry.

However, sodium-sulphur batteries have so far suffered from a technical problem called polysulphide shuttling - this creates soluble polysulphides that can migrate between the electrodes, damaging the battery and shortening its service life. This is precisely where the sulphur-carbon materials developed in Markus Antonietti's department could provide a remedy. This is because they are permeated by nanopores that trap the polysulphides. A test battery retained 80 percent of its original capacity after 1,500 charging and discharging cycles. In addition, the nanomaterials make it possible to use more than 99 percent of the sulphur for energy storage, thus increasing the already high energy density of a sodium-sulphur battery. "Sulphur has always enabled high energy density, but there have been issues with performance and cycle life," says John Wood, CEO of Gelion. "By combining Gelion's and Max Planck's approaches, we now have the potential to optimize all three properties in one cell."
The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice (DOJ) Building in Washington, D.C. | Photo Credit: Official Website of the DOJ (https://www.justice.gov)

The U.S. Department of Justice sued Troy, Idaho, for religious discrimination after denying Christ Church's application for a permit to hold services in the C-1 zone.

In a complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, the department contends that Troy violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) when it rejected the churchs permit application, which would have facilitated worship services for the growing congregation in Troy.

The complaint states, At present, Christ Church's congregation is too large to hold services at any one location, and the church has had to establish several new locations for services in Moscow, and explains that As part of this expansion effort, Christ Church sought to find an appropriate facility for Sunday services in Troy, which is a close neighbor to Moscow. Historically, congregants residing in Troy have commuted from Troy to Moscow to attend the church's services, but desire to have worship services in Troy.

Although the city already permits non-religious assemblies such as clubs, museums, auditoriums, and art galleries in the C-1 district, the Department of Justices lawsuit alleges that the permit was denied because of public animus towards the church's religious beliefs, which it claims violates the provisions of RLUIPA.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division stated, RLUIPA unequivocally forbids local governments from deciding zoning matters based on their dislike of certain religious groups, and emphasized, The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that discriminate in land use matters on the basis of the applicants' religious beliefs.

Christ Church, led by Senior Pastor Douglas Wilson, has gained attention for its advocacy of traditional Christian values and its goal to make Moscow, Idahoa city of just under 27,000 and home to the University of Idahoa Christian town.

The church stated, Under the grace of God, this means that our desire is to make Moscow a Christian town through faithful and robust covenant renewal worship on the Lord's Day, through proclamation of the gospel to unbelievers, while training additional evangelists who will continue proclaiming that gospel, through teaching men and women how to live together in harmonious Christian marriage, through establishing a family-friendly culture of Christian education.

In September 2022, the church rented a local downtown Troy bar to hold Sunday services for approximately 60 residents of Troy. However, on October 5, 2022, the citys attorney issued a cease-and-desist order to the bars owner, stating that the bar could not be used for church services because a conditional use permit was required for a church to operate in a commercial zoning district.

Later, in November 2022, a parish elder purchased a former bank building on Main Street in Troys business district, and in January 2023, the church entered into a leasing agreement.

Despite efforts to obtain a conditional use permit from the city, the application was denied in March 2023, with the city stating that (the church) did not enhance the commercial district and that (the religious use) was not in harmony with the Comprehensive Plan, according to the DOJ lawsuit.
Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Growtika

US Evangelical leaders are urging President Donald Trump to help guide the development of artificial intelligence (AI) while addressing its potential dangers. A letter titled "Christianity in the Age of AI: An Appeal for Wise Leadership," released on Wednesday, expresses optimism about AI while acknowledging the risks posed by smarter-than-human machines.

Among the signatories are Rev. Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders; Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and pastor of New Season megachurch in Sacramento, California; Assemblies of God General Superintendent Doug Clay; and American Association of Christian Counselors President Tim Clinton, among others.

"As people of faith, we believe we should rapidly develop powerful AI tools that help cure diseases and solve practical problems, but not autonomous smarter-than-human machines that nobody knows how to control," the letter continued. "The spiritual implications of creating intelligence that may one day surpass human capabilities raises profound theological and ethical questions that must be thoughtfully considered with wisdom."

The letter calls for Trump to establish a presidential advisory council composed of "people of faith, ethicists, and others" to ensure AI aligns with ethical and human-centered values. "We write to suggest you convene an advisory council, or otherwise delegate authority to an existing agency or council, which would convene leaders who will pay attention especially not only to what AI CAN do but also what it SHOULD do," the letter reads.

"We also hope that the US is doing everything necessary to ensure nefarious actors are unable to use AI to harm our way of life. All of these efforts should involve people of faith, ethicists, and others whose primary motivating concern is not commercial but about the best outcomes for human beings."

According to Christian Post, Moore, a public relations executive and author, emphasized the need for the U.S. to move quickly, yet cautiously, to maintain its leadership role. "We have to move faster than any country in the world and achieve maximal innovation as quickly as possible to make sure we, and our allies, dominate this new age," said Moore. "But we have to recognize how disruptive and potentially dangerous this technology can be if we do this irresponsibly."

While prioritizing the "need to identify the risks and have real plans to measure and manage those risks," Moore outlined various risks, including the weaponization of AI "by certain actors," the potential disruption of "certain sectors reliant on knowledge work," and the more apocalyptic threat of "uncontrollable machines." To that end, Moore suggested the proposed advisory council should be "non-partisan and merit-based"  comparable to other presidential advisory boards  and independent of lobbyists.

Moore and Rodriguez have invited both Christian and non-Christian faith leaders to join in signing the letter, which will be delivered to the White House in the coming days.
Youth together at the MARCH FOR LIFE held in Pennsylvania in 2023. | March For Life

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill this week to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, the country's largest abortion provider.



The measure, which has received specific praise from pro-life advocacy groups and religious organizations, now awaits approval from the Senate and President Donald Trump.

The bill, known as House Resolution 1 or the Big Beautiful Bill Act, was passed in a 215-214 vote mainly along party lines, with all Democrats voting against it and only two Republicans breaking ranks to vote against the measure.

The bill includes a provision that would effectively defund Planned Parenthood, which receives over $700 million in government funds annually.

Specifically, Section 44126 states that no federal funds classified as direct spending, which are allocated to implement a state plan under title XIX of the Social Security Act or to waive such a plan, shall be used to make payments to any entity deemed prohibited.

This restriction applies to items and services provided within 10 years of the law's enactment, and a "prohibited entity" is defined as a non-profit organization that "provides for abortions."

The bill's future now depends on the Republican-led Senate, which holds a 53-47 majority; if party-line support persists as it did in the House, the legislation can only succeed if at most three Republican senators oppose it.

In its most recent annual report, Planned Parenthood performed an all-time high of over 402,000 abortions in the fiscal year 2023-2024. Meanwhile, the number of other health services, such as cancer screenings, continued to decline.

The organization received about 39% of its revenue from government reimbursements and grants for health services, totaling approximately $792 million.
Photo Credit: Pastor Rick Warren via Facebook

Pastor Rick Warren addressed the General Assembly of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA) on Wednesday, urging African Evangelical leaders to assume a leading role in fulfilling the global mission of the Church.

He appeared on screen via livestream as he addressed participants of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa General Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 22, 2025. Speaking from California to representatives from African nations, Warren highlighted Africas vital importance to the future of Christianity and called on its churches to step forward in global leadership.

There are more Christians in Africa than there are people in the United States, Warren said. Africa is now the most Christian continent on Earth, with over 430 million believers. The Church in Africa must lead the rest of us.

As the founder of Saddleback Church in California, which has sent missionaries to every country in the world, Warren shared his vision for Finishing The Task, a global initiative aimed at completing the Great Commission by the Churchs 2,000th anniversary in 2033.

He noted how, over the past century, the center of Christianity has shifted from the global North to the global South. One hundred years ago, 95 percent of all Christians lived in Europe and North America. Today, 95 percent live in Africa, Latin America and southern Asia.

Warren emphasized that the future of the Church can be summed up in three words: Southern, urban and young. He added, Half of the world is under 30 years of age. If were going to reach the world with the Gospel, we must reach young people in the global South and in the worlds cities.

He also highlighted the growing influence of African Christian leaders worldwide. The largest churches in the United Kingdom, Paris and Moscow are all led by African pastors, he said. You are not just the future  you are the present.

A major focus of Warrens message was the empowerment of local churches. He recounted how Saddleback Church mobilized its members to carry out the P.E.A.C.E. Plan in every country. Our goal was to prove that churches  not just mission agencies  can do this, he said.

P.E.A.C.E.  a five-part approach rooted in the ministry of Jesus: proclaiming the Gospel, equipping leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick, and educating the next generation  the model has since been adopted by thousands of churches worldwide.

Warren stressed that previous efforts to fulfill the Great Commission have often failed because they were usually initiated by a few individuals from the West and rarely involved churches in the Global South or local congregations. Of 700 previous plans to complete the Great Commission, not one succeeded. And not one included the whole Church, he said.

I believe with all my heart that God has called the Church of Africa to lead. The task is urgent. And Africa is ready.
Home Books Were at war: Christian author shares how parents can spiritually battle for their kids

GRAPEVINE, Texas  As the mental health crisis among teens reaches new heights with skyrocketing rates of depression, suicide ideation and a growing disconnection from faith, author Laine Lawson Craft is assuring parents they are not powerless  they are at war.

Her latest book,Warfare Parenting: A Daily Battle Plan to Fight for Your Child, released in March, is a devotional drawn straight from the trenches of Crafts own experience: each of her three children, despite growing up in a Christian home, became prodigals, drifting into rebellion, darkness and substance abuse during their teenage years.

But after more than a decade of prayer, pleading and proclaiming Scripture, Craft watched God transform not just their lives, but her own.

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We were doing everything we thought the Lord told us to do, Craft told The Christian Post. And yet, my three children were battling different wars with the enemy.

The idea that the battle is not with the child, but with darkness itself, is at the crux of Warfare Parenting. According to Craft, the devotional is designed to provide not only daily doses of hope, but also practical and spiritual tools for those in the throes of parenting children who have wandered from the faith or are ensnared in destructive patterns.

I realized I wasnt battling my children. I was battling the enemy, she said. And thats where warfare parenting comes in, because the enemy is tough. Hes out to seek, kill, and destroy our childrens destinies.

According to the CDC and Barna Group, one in five high school students has considered suicide, and nearly one in 10 has attempted it. A staggering 40% report persistent sadness or hopelessness. Substance use, atheism and gender confusion are rising across Gen Z. And amid it all, 1.5 million minors run away from home each year in the U.S.

Based on the statistics, its clear that the modern parent, Craft warns, is engaged in a form of warfare.

One click away, technology has brought our children into direct contact with the enemy himself, she said.

But in contrast to fear or moral panic, Warfare Parenting offers parents a strategic path forward: Scripture, prayer, surrender and the belief that no prodigal is too far gone for God.

Craft is no stranger to battles, spiritual or otherwise. Before becoming an author and host of the "Warfare Parenting" podcast, she ran a national magazine, WHOAwomen, which placed women of faith like Dolly Parton and Kathie Lee Gifford on covers beside mainstream titles like Oprah and Womans Day.

But even as she found success in publishing and ministry, her own home was unraveling. Her children were caught in the grip of partying, addiction and suicidal ideation.

One of my children was hearing voices that told her life would be better without her, she shared. Another was hooked on music festivals and drugs. Another just spiraled into partying. All three had different battles.

What carried Craft through was not formulaic parenting advice but daily immersion in the Word of God. Over 10 years, she read the Bible cover to cover eight times. As she read, she began to jot down verses for fellow parents in pain, verses that later became the 365-day devotional now in print.

This book started in the margins of my Bible and in my iPhone notes, she said. Each day, God gave me a scripture for a parent in the battle.

One of her sons took 15 years to return home spiritually. During that time, she says she quite literally hit the floor in prayer, pleading the blood of Jesus over him every single day.

When God touched him, he was high. But the encounter was so profound, he was changed forever, she said.

Craft lamented that in the Christian community, parenting a prodigal can come with a heavy load of shame. Scripture often cited, train up a child in the way he should go   can feel like condemnation when a child veers off course, she said.

People think if their child has strayed, its a reflection on them as a bad Christian parent, Craft said. But thats not the truth. Its a reflection of how ferocious the enemy is.

That shame, she stressed, is what keeps many parents silent, isolated and vulnerable.

I think thats why we have to be loud, she said. If we arent loud, the shame will build.

For Craft, breaking that silence means building communities. Inspired by the widespread recovery network Celebrate Recovery, she envisions Warfare Parenting small groups popping up in churches and homes across the country, where parents can come together to pray, swap life hacks, and intercede for one anothers children.

We need a safe place with no shame, she said. A place where someone can say, Can you help me stand in the gap?

Based on her own experiences, Craft wants every parent, grandparent and guardian to know that no child is too far gone for redemption.

If theres one message Id give, its 'dont give up,' she said. God can clean them up in a second. He loves them in the darkness and will come down and rescue and deliver them.

The "Warfare Parenting" podcast also launched new season in mid-March, focusing on spiritual approaches to parenting through topics like addiction, boundaries and mental health. And next year, Craft said she plans to release a childrens book that she promises will offer hope for a new generation.

I believe were equipping an army, she said. Were not just parenting anymore. We are battling for the hearts and destinies of our children.
Home News Former SBC presidents disagree on future of ERLC ahead of Annual Meeting

As the Southern Baptist Convention prepares for its Annual Meeting in Dallas next month, a divide has emerged among former SBC presidents over the future of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the denominations public policy arm. Ten past leaders of the Convention have issued a letter urging continued support for the ERLC, while former president Jack Graham has called for its defunding, labeling the commission divisive.

Graham, who has led Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, since 1989, wrote on X that he does not support the ERLC and believe[s] the organization has been the single most divisive entity of the SBC since the days of Russell Moore. He added, I believe it should be de funded. Graham also suggested this was why he was not asked to sign the letter supporting the ERLC.

The letter, released Thursday and signed by pastors and past SBC Presidents Bart Barber, Ed Litton, J.D. Greear, Steve Gaines, Fred Luter, Bryant Wright, James Merritt, Tom Elliff, Jim Henry and Jimmy Draper, states that the ERLC has steadfastly defended our Southern Baptist commitment to religious liberty.

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It referred to the commissions work in opposing Roe v. Wade, pornography and transgender ideology, and promoting life, marriage and family values.

While the signatories acknowledge differences in their views on the ERLCs recent direction, they expressed a unified position against dismantling the entity.

The letter notes, Some of us have been enthusiastic supporters of the ERLC. Some of us have been vocal critics. However, we remain unconvinced by the case for discontinuing the ERLC.

Current SBC President Clint Pressley was not among the signatories. In a statement to Baptist Press, he said, I love and respect each of our past SBC presidents. My goal is to lead us through a meeting that is fair to all and honoring to God.

The debate over the ERLCs future is not new. Motions to defund or abolish the commission have been raised at the last three Annual Meetings. Though none have succeeded so far, last years attempt garnered support from over 30% of messengers, despite failing to trigger an official vote. A similar motion is expected this year.

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and himself a former candidate for SBC president, expressed reservations about the ERLCs relevance on the April 30 episode of the "Baptist21" podcast. He said he had grave doubts about the utility of the ERLC, adding that these doubts are not limited to the current context. Still, Mohler added, It would be wrong for me to lead any such effort to disband the entity.

Richard D. Land, who served as ERLC president from 1988 to 2013, defended the commission in a piece co-published by The Christian Post. He described the ERLCs role as essential for helping Southern Baptists interpret moral and policy challenges through a biblical lens. He also argued that calls to abolish the ERLC due to disagreement with past leadership were misguided.

The answer to such disagreements related to one of our entities is greater discussion and dialogue, not eliminating the entity altogether, wrote Land, who also serves as the executive editor of CP and is president emeritus of the ERLC.

Grahams criticism of the ERLC traces back to at least 2016, when he objected to then-president Russell Moores public condemnation of President Donald Trump and some of his supporters, as noted by Baptist Press. In a Wall Street Journal interview that year, Graham said Moores remarks displayed disrespectfulness towards Southern Baptists and other evangelical leaders.

In 2017, Prestonwood Baptist Church announced it would withhold Cooperative Program funds pending a review of ERLC activities. The church later resumed giving without designating funds.

On May 20 of this year, Graham was named to the advisory board of President Trumps Religious Liberty Commission, adding further context to his renewed public stance against the ERLC.

The former presidents letter described efforts to defund the ERLC as extreme, stating that Southern Baptists do not govern by ultimatum. Instead of taking a sledgehammer to the issue, the letter encourages a more deliberate approach through trustee governance and internal reform where needed. There is a difference between refinement and eradication, the signatories wrote.

Scott Foshie, chairman of the ERLC trustees, responded positively to the letter, saying he was thankful for the expression of support and that the trustees were committed to continue building on the good work already happening through the ERLC.

The letter also urges messengers to pray, to listen, and, if a motion to disband the ERLC arises, to vote with confidence that Southern Baptists still have a role to play in the public square, and that the ERLC can help us do it faithfully.
Home News Though its forbidden, more than a quarter of Christians believe in astrology: study

Though consulting astrology or horoscopes is forbidden in Scripture, more than a quarter of Christians say they believe the stars and planets have some impact on human destiny, according to a Pew Research Center study.

The study was conducted in the fall of 2024 through a survey of a nationally representative sample of 9,593 U.S. adults.

Some 30% of U.S. adults stated that they consult astrology or a horoscope, tarot cards or a fortune teller at least once a year. Most, however, said they engaged in the practice for fun and few said they based major life decisions on what they are told.

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Researchers found that some 27% of religiously affiliated Americans believe in astrology, which was statistically similar to the 28% of religiously unaffiliated Americans who believe in the practice.

Black Protestants and Hispanic Catholics were more likely to believe in astrology than white Evangelicals. About a third of black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics, and respondents who described their religion as nothing in particular had similar views on the subject.

White Evangelicals, atheists, Jewish Americans, and agnostics were less likely to say they believe in astrology than the general public.

According to Christian apologetics ministry Got Questions, the belief that astrology impacts your destiny is a false belief.

The royal astrologers of the Babylonian court were put to shame by Gods prophet Daniel (Daniel 1:20) and were powerless to interpret the kings dream (Daniel 2:27). God specifies astrologers as among those who will be burned as stubble in Gods judgment (Isaiah 47:13-14), the ministry notes.

Astrology as a form of divination is expressly forbidden in Scripture (Deuteronomy 18:10-14). God forbade the children of Israel to worship or serve the host of heaven (Deuteronomy 4:19). Several times in their history, however, Israel fell into that very sinTheir worship of the stars brought Gods judgment each time.

While respected Christian researchers like George Barna have been sounding the alarm on the dangers of syncretism to a biblical worldview in recent years, a new study in April, Breaking Free of the Iron Cage: The Individualization of American Religion, suggests more Americans are leaving organized religion in search of personalized faith perspectives that embrace a fusion of different religions.

In the study, the researchers tracked 1,348 individuals born in the late 1980s from adolescence through early adulthood using longitudinal surveys to examine how young adults manage tensions between institutional religion and personal authenticity as they came of age during the rise of religious nones.

Our analysis shows how young people are responding to the bureaucratization and rationalization that [German sociologist Max] Weber predicted would create an iron cage in modern institutions, developing new forms of religious and spiritual expression outside formal institutions, the researchers wrote.

The researchers argued that the religious marketplace had expanded beyond competing denominations to include options outside formal institutions altogether, from personalized spirituality to individually crafted approaches to faith and meaning.

People are breaking free not with bolt cutters but with deeply personal acts of spiritual rebellion, the researchers argued. Rejecting the rationalized, systematized and institutionalized religious constructs of modernity in favor of more dynamic, diverse, and syncretic expressions.
Home News Pastor tortured, jailed in Kyrgyzstan; authorities confiscate 50 Bibles

A pastor in Kyrgyzstan facing possible conviction for the trumped up charge of "inciting enmity" was struck with an iron pipe, kicked, and sustained blows to his head and chest after his arrest, according to rights group Forum 18.

The torture failed in the attempt to draw a false confession from the Rev. Pavel Shreider, a 65-year-old pastor of True and Free Reform Seventh-day Adventist Church, who remains jailed in pre-trial detention at an Interior Ministry Investigation Prison in the capital city of Bishkek, Forum 18 reported.

He has been there since National Security Service (NSC) police handcuffed him when he stepped out of his home near Bishkek at 8 a.m. on Nov. 13. The secret police took him to the NSC building in the city and tortured him, the watchdog group reported.

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I was given blows on my head, chest and given kicks in my spine from behind by five officers, Shreider wrote in a November 2024 complaint to the National Centre for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Bishkek, which dismissed the complaint. The officers hit me with an iron pipe to force me to confess that I committed crimes.

Secret police subsequently forced medics to give an assessment, making them sign a paper that I had made no complaints to them, Schreider reportedly stated.

Secret police also used a stun gun in an attempt to get a church member to falsely implicate the pastor the next day, Nov. 14, 2024. Igor Tsoy refused to do so, despite suffering multiple injuries, and he was released later that day, reported Forum 18, a news service affiliated with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

The pastor faces a prison term of six to seven years if a court in Bishkek convicts him at a hearing scheduled for Thursday of incitement of racial, ethnic, national, religious, or regional enmity when committed by a group of individuals. He denies the charges. The trial began on April 17.

There is not a single reference in the indictment to the persons in collusion with whom Shreider allegedly committed the mentioned crimes, and no references to any specific names, the pastors lawyer, Akmat Alagushev, told Forum 18. Also, there is no concrete evidence of illegal actions Shreider allegedly committed in the media, on the internet or publicly or otherwise.

Vera Shreider, daughter of the pastor, visited him in prison on Tuesday and said he is doing well physically and that the family was allowed to bring him food and medicines.

He was examined medically by various doctors recently after our multiple calls to various authorities, she said. The food in the prison is normal. He can read his Bible, which he keeps in his cell, and is allowed to pray.

Forum 18 discovered nine officers were involved in the arrest of Pastor Shreider at his home. The rights group identified some of them as Siymik Bolotov, NSC secret police investigator; Azim Kurmanbekov, interior ministry senior operative; as well as two officers of the Special Police Detachment, both of whom were masked and armed with automatic rifles.

They rang the bell of our door, and when we opened they entered with my father handcuffed, Vera Shreider said, adding that police searched the family home. They pushed my fathers head down as though he [was] some dangerous criminal. They did not allow my father to talk to us. It is a secret case, they told us and prevented us [from] calling our lawyer by immediately taking away all our phones. They also did not allow us to examine their identification documents.

Shreider was escorted in handcuffs to a building used by the church for worship in the village of Lenin in Alamudun District of Chuy Region, just north of Bishkek. They also searched the home, which is owned by a relative of the pastor, Pavel Yantsen.

Authorities then searched the homes of nine other church members on the same day. They confiscated more than 2,000 books, including nearly 200 by Ellen White, a founder of the Adventist faith, and at least 50 Bibles. Computers and other technical equipment, cash, mobile phones and ownership documents for five homes and two cars were also seized.

They later returned the items to the owners, except a mobile phone that secret police claimed had been lost and books kept for evidence in the case against the pastor.

The True and Free Reform Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kyrgyzstan is part of a Reform Movement within Adventism that emerged during the Soviet period, according to Forum 18. A former leader of the church, prisoner of conscience Vladimir Shelkov, died in a Soviet labor camp in 1980.

The Reform Movement church is differentiated from the Seventh-day Adventist Church based in the United States.

The True and Free Reform church has not registered with Kyrgyzstan authorities, making it illegal in the country.

An unnamed church member told Forum 18 that authorities since 2022 were looking into closing our church and seeking any excuses. Church members would not disclose their names out of fear of state reprisals.

The church member referred to a fabricated case against Pastor Shreider. A case had been brought in 2021 against two church members claiming that, allegedly under instructions of Pastor Shreider, they manipulated an old woman, another member of the church, into selling them a house she owned.

Church members said authorities were adding these false witness statements as a type of evidence alongside the books confiscated from the pastor. They say the authorities are trying to link the criminal case against Shreider with the 2021 case, reported Forum 18.

The watchdog contacted several authorities about the arrest and torture, but they all declined to answer questions.

Kyrgyzstan is a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

This article was originally published at Christian Daily International
Home Opinion This Memorial Day, remember the nation's founding faith

Memorial Day marks the time we remember those who have fallen in service of our country. Its wonderful that many Americans take time out to honor those who died so that we might be free.

One aspect of military service that is often neglected these days is the multitude of official prayers and acknowledgements of God through the two and a half centuries of America as a nation.

The late Col. Ronald D. Ray of Kentucky served in the Vietnam War with great valor. His funeral post notes: During the Tet Offensive and other campaigns  he was twice awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry, a Bronze Star with V device and a Purple Heart.

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I got to interview Ron many years ago in his Kentucky law office, where he would sometimes cross swords with the ACLU. That legal group likes to claim that they are merely trying to make America abide by what the founders intended with the Bill of Rights, the first Ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Critics, like the late Col. Ray, would counter-argue that the founders gave us freedom of religion, whereas groups like the ACLU are trying to impose freedom from religion.

Theres a huge difference. Freedom of religion allows diverse viewpoints, including religious ones, in the public square. Freedom from religion creates what the late Richard John Neuhaus called, the naked public square.

The founders created One Nation Under God. The secularists are trying to turn America into a secular wasteland.

Col. Ray and his wife, Eunice, put together an excellent book (with the help of Dr. Linda Jeffrey), entitled Endowed By Their Creator: A Collection of Historic American Military Prayers 1774  Present (First Principles Press, 2012).

For example, Col. Ray writes that John Adams, our second president, led the military committee that drew up the two first principles of the American military, which are 1. Exemplary Conduct; and 2. Daily Prayer.

Thus, in the Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies (1775), John Adams stated in Article 2, The Commanders of the ships of the Thirteen United Colonies, are to take care that divine service be performed twice a day on board, and a sermon preached on Sundays, unless bad weather or other extraordinary accidents prevent it.

Adams, considered by many to be the father of the American Navy, did not see it fit to banish God from the public arena, including the military. In fact, quite the opposite was the case.

Article 3 has language that might make even a hardened sailor blush: If any shall be heard to swear, curse or blaspheme the name of God, the Captain is strictly enjoined to punish them for every offence  He who is guilty of drunkenness (if a seaman) shall be put in irons until he is sober, but if an officer, he shall forfeit two days' pay.

Prayer? Divine services? No blasphemy or drunkenness? We might do a double-take, but thats what one of our key founding fathers wrote about our military.

George Washington, the father of our country, made similar declarations to his army on July 9, 1776, when he had the newly-finalized Declaration of Independence first read to the troops.

Part of General Washingtons reasoning was that, since the odds against our armed forces were so stacked, the last thing we want to do is to offend Almighty God  whose help we most desperately need: The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger  The General hopes and trusts, that every officer, and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier, defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country.

Many of us know the first verse of the Navy Hymn, which begins, Eternal Father, Strong to save, Whose arm hath bound the restless wave

What most of us have never heard is the second verse of this 1860 hymn by William Whiting, which recalls Jesus time of calming the tempestuous sea.

That verse reads: O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard, And hushed their raging at Thy word, Who walked'st on the foaming deep, and calm amidst its rage didst sleep; Oh hear us when we cry to Thee, For those in peril on the sea!

It is amazing how secularized modern America has become. The history books have been rewritten, and God has been erased. Im glad for Col. Ray compiling a collection of military prayers and hymns showing our true history.

And on this Memorial Day, we should remember the faith that helped give birth to this nation in the first place, and to thank God for those brave men and women who, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, gave the last full measure of devotion on the battlefield  that we might be free as a nation.
Home Opinion The New Testament destroys Kathryn Krick's 'Full Gospel' doctrine

My mother recently sent me a terrific sermon by Chuck Swindoll titled, "A Better Way to Look at God's Will." My mom's timing, as usual, was perfect. I had just read an article in The Christian Post about Kathryn Krick, a "self-proclaimed 'apostle' and faith healer."

I listened to Krick's Easter message titled, "The Full Gospel." She proudly proclaimed, "It is quite rare in the body of Christ that the full Gospel is preached. It is more common that part of the Gospel is preached. Today you shall hear the full Gospel."

Krick affirmed that Jesus is fully God and fully man. She said, "When we believe that Jesus has died for our sins, when we believe that He is the only Lord and Savior ... we get this precious gift of all of our sins being removed ... when we die, we don't go to Hell because this is part of what Jesus saved us from on the cross, eternity in Hell. We know where we are going, Heaven, eternally ... what I just shared is Part 1 of the Gospel."

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Actually, what Krick shared up to that point was in fact the entire Gospel. She proceeded to say, "The devil has tried so hard to keep people blinded to the rest of the Gospel." The fact of the matter is that Jesus gave us the entire Gospel in John 3:16.

The term "full Gospel" is associated with Pentecostalism, and Romans 15:18-19 is often referenced. Paul wrote, "So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the Gospel of Christ." Paul simply meant that he had filled up that region with the good news of the Gospel. Examine the 13 or 14 epistles written by the Apostle Paul. He never even hinted at a so-called "full Gospel" that is more comprehensive than what he presented in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

And Paul never once instructed Christians to focus more on physical healing than on spiritual health and spiritual growth. Paul was a true apostle appointed by the Lord, who like Chuck Swindoll 20 centuries later, was deeply grounded in biblical theology. Paul fed God's sheep true doctrine enabling them to grow strong in faith, patience and obedience.

Like other flamboyant faith healers, Kathryn Krick attributes a person's lack of physical healing to a lack of faith. She said, "It's not a matter of, 'Does God want to heal me or not?' It's yours." "It is not OK for us as children of God, believers, and leaders in the church to be withholding this important part of the Gospel anymore ... we're not preaching the full Gospel."

But if that were true, why then didn't the 21 New Testament epistles contain "the rest of the Gospel"? And why didn't Jesus present the so-called "full Gospel" in His 7 letters to the 7 churches in the Book of Revelation? (see Revelation 2:1-29; 3:1-22).

Kathryn Krick often gets animated while on stage, but emotional pitches about physical healing do not develop believers into mature followers of Christ. Peter, Paul, James and John, on the other hand, were inspired by the Holy Spirit to author deep theological truth (see 2 Peter 1:20-21).

Does God want believers to pray for physical healing? Of course. After all, many miraculous healings are recorded in the four Gospels and in the Book of Acts. One of the rare references in the 21 epistles to praying for physical healing is found in James 5:14-15: "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well."

The proper focus stays on Christ when the congregation's elders have a group prayer with a sick person, as compared to a lone wolf faith healer who craves the limelight and longs to become a popular entertainer capable of working up a crowd into a frenzy. (See Mike Winger's 4-hour expose, "The Victims of Benny Hinn: 30 Years of Spiritual Deception.")

Sam Storms penned an insightful piece in 2021 titled, "Does Matthew 8 Teach Physical Healing in the Atonement?" Sam wisely wrote, "The question is not whether our bodies receive healing because of the atonement of Christ, but when." "To whatever degree we experience healing in this life, it is the fruit of Christ's atoning death. But it doesn't necessarily follow that where there is atonement there is immediate healing." We simply do not know why some believers are healed physically, while others are not.

Sam Storms and Chuck Swindoll are two pastors who for decades have helped followers of Christ grow into spiritual maturity. During my college career 40 years ago, I listened to many of Swindoll's excellent messages, which often had an emphasis on the sovereignty of God and the importance of trusting the Lord when things don't seem to make sense. The teaching was full of rich insights about prayerfully waiting upon God, especially in times of heartache, disease and strenuous trials.

Mature believers learn to trust God to accomplish His purposes in His perfect time, rather than demanding immediate answers to our pressing problems. Sometimes the abundant life Jesus promised His followers (see John 10:10) is only achieved through long periods of testing, hardships and waiting upon our Savior who will bring us to Heaven one day, where we will enjoy a perfect physical body throughout eternity.

In addition to the four Gospels and the Book of Acts, Kathryn Krick should immerse herself in the 21 New Testament epistles and the Book of Revelation. In this way, she may come to understand why her current approach is incapable of making disciples who are grounded in biblical truth. Apart from sound doctrine, spiritual growth never occurs (see 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 4:1-5). But by the grace of God, mature Christians fully trust and love the Lord with their heart, soul, and mind even when physical healing does not materialize.
Home News Rev. David Ewagata challenges African Evangelicals to engage the 'now generation': 'Hope is not a strategy' 'We are no longer just a mission field; we are a mission force'

NAIROBI, Kenya  In one of the most engaging and provocative speeches delivered at the 13th General Assembly of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA), the Rev. David Ewagata challenged the continents Evangelical leadership to radically reassess their assumptions and strategies regarding Africas youth.

Blending humor, hard data, biblical exposition, and pointed critiques, Ewagata called for a "mission mindset reset" and warned that the future of the African Church hinges on how it engages its youngest generation today.

Speaking before hundreds of delegates gathered in Nairobi, the veteran youth pastor, founder of YHub NetworX, and director of youth leadership development at Park University opened his address by highlighting the paradox of Africas demographic advantage. With a median age of around 19.7 and more than 70% of the population younger than 30, Africa is home to the worlds youngest population. But Ewagata cautioned that this so-called "youth bulge" is not inherently a blessing unless it is intentionally discipled and mobilized.

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"Hope is not a strategy," he said, warning against the widespread assumption that full churches today automatically ensure a faithful Church tomorrow. He stressed that demographic strength without spiritual formation could just as easily result in social instability as in spiritual renewal.

The 'Golden Age' of the African Church  and its fragile future

Ewagata described the present moment as the "golden age" of the African Church. He cited its increasing visibility in national development conversations, rising educational levels, expanding infrastructure, and growing financial capacity. African churches now host large conferences, fund building projects, and contribute to global missions.

"We are no longer just a mission field; we are a mission force," he said, noting how African pastors and churches are sending missionaries to Europe, North America and beyond. But he warned that such institutional maturity also carries the risk of complacency and self-sufficiency.

"The problem with success is that it builds castles. And from those castles, we begin to think we are co-directing the universe with Jesus," he joked, illustrating the tendency of churches to operate from a position of control rather than humility and service.

Diagnosing the present: disconnection, doctrine and discipleship gaps

Ewagata laid out a sobering diagnosis of the Churchs posture toward youth, marked by three primary gaps: digital disconnection, doctrinal drift and discipleship failures.

First, he observed that the Church remains functionally analog while the youth live increasingly digital lives. With young people spending upwards of eight hours online per day, traditional church models are missing the primary arena where youth socialize, learn, and form worldviews.

"The harvest is online. But the laborers are offline," he said.

He criticized churches that invest heavily in physical structures while overlooking the digital platforms where youth are most engaged. He challenged leaders to think of social media not as a threat but as a mission field, calling for bold investment in digital evangelism and discipleship.

Second, Ewagata highlighted doctrinal and moral confusion within the Church as a serious barrier to credible youth ministry. While concerns about Western pressure on sexual ethics are valid, he argued, the Church must also confront internal issues, such as the normalization of premarital sex, abuse of spiritual authority, and the celebrity culture surrounding pastors.

"We are not just facing the LGBT issue. We must also ask whether sex is still sacred within our own pews," he said, questioning whether church leaders are modeling biblical integrity.

Third, he emphasized the Churchs failure to intentionally disciple its youth. Drawing from Judges 2:10, he warned of a generation rising up that does not know the Lord.

"What did their parents tell them about the Red Sea? How do you see fish part in two, walk through water, and fail to tell your children?"

The identity crisis of fatherhood and the rise of spiritual substitutes

A key section of Ewagatas speech explored the widespread absence or dysfunction of fathers in many African homes and its theological implications. He explained how broken homes have led to the rise of "spiritual fathers" and "mothers" who often play surrogate roles in believers' lives, sometimes with mixed consequences.

While spiritual mentorship is not inherently problematic, he warned that the Church has sometimes taken over the familys discipleship role without first addressing the root issues.

He shared his own story of estrangement and reconciliation with his father, describing a pivotal moment at his grandfathers funeral when his father publicly affirmed his pastoral calling.

"Of all the prophecies and laying on of hands, nothing could replace hearing my father say, 'David is called.'"

The message was clear: biological parents, especially fathers, must be restored to their roles as spiritual affirmers and disciplers. Without this, the Church will struggle to build secure identities in its youth.

From assumption to action: rethinking strategy for the 'Now Generation'

Ewagata rejected the language of "next generation," insisting instead that the youth are the "now generation." They are already born, already forming beliefs, and already responding to what they see in the Church.

"If we are not effectively doing ministry with youth, we are missing 70 percent of the point," he said. "And while you might be dying, you could be dying successfully  with budgets, buildings and conferences."

He called on churches to move beyond assuming that youth will inherit their parents faith. Instead, churches must actively pass the baton. Using the metaphor of a relay race, he explained that success in intergenerational transmission depends not just on the speed of the runner, but on the precision of the handoff.

"Usain Bolt can run 100 meters in 9.58 seconds. But four ordinary runners passing the baton well can run faster than him," he said. "The power of the relay is in the transition."

Building youth-focused structures and mindsets

Ewagata offered a roadmap for how churches can shift from legacy maintenance to forward-focused ministry. This included:

Planting Next Gen churches: Rather than simply creating youth departments, he urged churches to release younger leaders to plant congregations contextualized for their peers.

Investing in youth pastors: He questioned why churches in youth-majority contexts often allocate most resources to adult ministry, citing examples of churches with 13 adult pastors and only one youth leader.

Embracing cultural discomfort: He acknowledged that younger leaders might dress, speak, or worship differently, but insisted this should not disqualify them. "The church you are uncomfortable in might be exactly the one reaching the next generation."

Evaluating metrics of success: Rather than focusing solely on attendance or offerings, Ewagata suggested measuring transformation  lives discipled, youth empowered and communities changed.

Seven 'I's' for intentional youth engagement

Expanding his framework, Ewagata detailed the seven strategic actions needed to reach youth:

1. Investigate: Conduct research on youth culture, language and behavior.

2. Identify: Identify with youth and understand their emotional and social realities.

3. Invest: Prioritize youth ministry in time, personnel and budget.

4. Innovate: Use creative methods to present the Gospel in fresh ways.

5. Involve: Give youth meaningful leadership opportunities.

6. Impact: Ground youth in sound doctrine and Holy Spirit-empowered living.

7. Initiate: Launch new expressions of church and ministry designed by and for youth.

A plea for urgency and integrity

Ewagata concluded by appealing to leaders to examine their own lives, noting that hypocrisy is a leading cause of youth disillusionment with the Church.

"They dont care what you preach if they dont see it in your life," he said. He warned that one generations permissiveness becomes the next generations principle. Children raised in homes where minor compromises are modeled often grow up to adopt those compromises as norms.

He urged parents and pastors alike to take their home witness seriously, saying, "The Church isnt failing in the pulpit; its failing in the house."

Quoting Psalm 145, Ewagata emphasized the biblical mandate to pass on Gods works from one generation to the next. He called on church leaders to commend Gods acts not only in sermons, but in lifestyle, relationships and institutional priorities.

"The next generation is already here," he said. "The only question is whether we are willing to let go of the baton in time."

This article was originally published at Christian Daily International
Home News This week in Christian history: Billy Graham preaches to 3,000 in Chicago, Billy Bray dies

Throughout the extensive history of the Church, there have been numerous events of lasting significance.

Each week marks anniversaries of impressive milestones, unforgettable tragedies, amazing triumphs, memorable births and notable deaths.

Some events, drawn from over 2,000 years of history, might be familiar, while others might be unknown to many.

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The following pages highlight anniversaries of memorable events that occurred this week in Christian history. They include the death of Billy Bray, the pope issuing an anti-slavery decree, and Billy Graham preaching before 3,000 in Chicago.
Home News Trump State Dept. staff meet with pro-lifers arrested for silently praying in UK fact-finding mission

A delegation from the State Department under President Donald Trump met with pro-life activists who had been arrested for silently praying outside abortion clinics.

The five-member team traveled to Great Britain to conduct a fact-finding mission focused on concerns about freedom of speech.

The visit was led by Samuel Samson, a senior adviser with the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and included meetings with British officials, as well as conversations with individuals arrested under laws restricting protests near abortion facilities, The Telegraph reported.

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The delegation also challenged British media regulator Ofcom on the Online Safety Act, according to the newspaper.

The mission included meetings with Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, Rose Docherty, Adam Smith-Connor, Livia Tossici-Bolt and Fr. Sean Gough. Each of them had been arrested or convicted for silent protest or prayer near abortion clinics in cities including Birmingham and Bournemouth, England, and Glasgow, Scotland.

The activists were invited to speak with the delegation at part of a private gathering held in a nondescript office block where they described their experiences of arrest and prosecution.

Docherty, a 74-year-old grandmother, became the first person charged under Scotlands new buffer zone law after she was seen standing near Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. She stated that she only offered consensual conversation and did not break the law.

All I did was stand peacefully.  I didnt influence, I didnt harass, I didnt intimidate, she was quoted as saying.

Vaughan-Spruce was arrested in March 2023 for praying silently near an abortion clinic in Birmingham without any signage or vocal expression. Though she was not charged, her detention drew criticism from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

She welcomed the attention the U.S. government had given to the matter.

Adam Smith-Connor, an Army veteran, was convicted last October for breaching a protest ban near a clinic in Bournemouth. He received a two-year conditional discharge. U.S. Vice President JD Vance referred to his case at the Munich Security Conference in February, calling it an example of the retreat of free speech in Britain and Europe.

Tossici-Bolt, 64, who also received a two-year conditional discharge and was fined over 20,000 (roughly $27,000), met with the delegation and praised the Trump administration for its involvement.

Her arrest raised concerns in Washington, with reports that U.S. officials warned Prime Minister Keir Starmer that they were monitoring the situation.

According to The Telegraph, discussions around her case became entangled in the U.K.s trade negotiations with the U.S., with a source claiming the matter was relevant to Britains bid for tariff exemptions.

Starmer responded to questions on the issue during a meeting at the White House in February, stating that the U.K. had a long-standing tradition of free speech and did not seek to interfere with American citizens. Weve had free speech for a very, very long time in the U.K., and it will last for a very, very long time, he said.

All the individuals contacted by the U.S. delegation were defended by the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom International.

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department was quoted as saying, U.S.-U.K. relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, as Vice President Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the U.K. It is important that the U.K. respects and protects freedom of expression.

At the Munich Security Conference, Vance warned European leaders against limiting religious expression and conservative viewpoints. He said that across Europe, Christians were being fined, prosecuted, and excluded for expressing beliefs, especially regarding abortion.

Vance also criticized efforts to block populist parties from political coalitions.

Vance pointed to new European Union measures under the Digital Services Act, introduced in January, which require social media platforms to remove so-called illegal content or face steep financial penalties. While EU lawmakers said the rules were meant to combat foreign interference, critics in the U.S. said they could restrict American users expression.

In March, the Scottish lawmaker behind that countrys abortion buffer zone legislation acknowledged that, in some cases, praying inside ones own home could breach the law. This admission came after Vance pointed out that individuals living near clinics had received letters warning them that private prayer could be considered unlawful  a claim the lawmaker had initially dismissed as misinformation.

The buffer zone law prohibits actions that might be perceived as causing distress, deterring access to abortion services, or influencing decisions regarding such procedures.
Home News Pastor John Gray hails benefits of therapy but most pastors dont seek professional mental help

For embattled megachurch pastor John Gray and his wife, Aventer, it was God and therapy that helped save their marriage after a series of inappropriate relationships. But unlike Gray, data shows that most never seek professional help.

During a recent episode of Laterras R. Whitfield's podcast "Dear Future Wifey," recorded at his Love Story Church (formerly Relentless Church) in Greenville, South Carolina, Gray said he and his wife are now in counseling every week collectively and individually for hours as he fights to heal and grow from his struggles.

Therapy combined with his resilient faith, however, changed Gray's life. His only regret, he said, was not doing it sooner. He spoke about the impact his struggles with his mental health had on his marriage and ministry and how he got so despondent that he had thoughts of suicide.

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"I'm not only sorry for my actions. I'm sorry that I didn't understand how to get to counseling and therapy sooner. We were not taught that. When you go to church all the time, they lay hands and put oil [on you], but oil is not the same as a certified psychologist and a therapist. And I needed them. And I need it still, and I will continue to need it," Gray explained.

Like Gray, most pastors desire to improve their mental health, according to research from the Barna Group, but most do not. The data shows that nearly one in five U.S. pastors had contemplated self-harm or suicide in the past year, yet 65% of pastors do not utilize professional mental health support.

In a recent interview with The Christian Post, Joe Jensen, senior vice president at Barna Group and a former pastor, said he is not surprised by the research's findings showing most pastors don't utilize professional mental health services.

"Unfortunately, it's not surprising. I would say there are a number of different factors that we could kind of get into as to why that number is so high, but it's not really surprising," he said. "In my generation of pastors, we didn't talk about this," he said in agreement with Gray's initial response to his mental health struggles.

"We didn't talk about the need or the necessity [for mental health support]. As a result, like the accessibility or lack thereof of professional mental health help for pastors, it just wasn't emphasized. And so, and you know, that kind of lack of emphasis and value gets passed down from generation to generation," Jensen continued.

"I think we're starting to see with different trends that we're talking about this more, which I think is really great. But for generations, in ministry, this just wasn't a topic of conversation."

While Barna doesn't track pastor suicides, Jensen has seen concerning media reports of pastor suicides over the years, and many of them don't fit the profile of someone who would be deemed suicidal.

"I would encourage everyone to lean into [the research]," Jensen said.

"A lot of these pastors on the outside are projecting that they have everything together. In this Instagram culture, which has infiltrated how we do ministry, it's kind of made its way into the Church, where we show our highlight reels, not our behind-the-scenes, on social media."

That "cultural value," Jensen said, has "kind of carried forth in the Church."

"In fact, I would even say in many churches, it's amplified and exemplified where we expect our pastors to have the highlight reels. Who wants to follow a pastor who doesn't have their life altogether? I mean, what kind of credibility do they have to help me lead my life and help me have a flourishing life if their life doesn't appear to be flourishing?" he asked. "And what that is doing, that cultural value is actually undermining a pastor's ability and desire and motivation to actually be real and to be vulnerable."

Citing research showing that the more isolated pastors get, the lonelier they become, Jensen said it also undermines their ability to seek help. Pastors may also isolate because they "don't feel safe in the spaces that they lead."

But those aren't the only reasons a pastor might not seek professional mental health help.

"If they do come to be able to say, 'Hey, I do need help, I need to pursue it,' a lot of times, there's not the avenues and the pathways to get that help. ... They don't have the financial means to be able to go get counseling. They don't have the insurance coverage. There's no church budget," Jensen stressed.

He noted that bi-vocational pastors are more likely to be impacted by financial constraints when it comes to getting mental health care.

"We see a pretty big difference in those who are not in full-time paid ministry.  Forty-seven percent say that they have had these thoughts [of self-harm or suicide] at one point or another. That's a much greater extent than the 12% that are in full-time ministry that have these thoughts," Jensen said.

With growing data available on the mental health of pastors, Jensen is urging the Christian community to take the research seriously, saying it can't "keep turning a blind eye to this issue in our culture."

"This is an unacceptable reality. This is not OK. We need to take it seriously," he said of pastor suicides and suicidal ideation.

"When you look at this particular stat from Barna, we'll see that this is kind of broken down into those who sometimes or seldom have these thoughts and then those who more frequently do. And we'll see that 1% say that they have frequent and distressing thoughts. In the research world, and I would just say in the culture at large, a lot of times you look at 1%, and they'll say, 'Well, 1%'s not statistically relevant.' And I would just say, for this particular topic, even one person answering that question means that we need to lean into this topic because one pastor taking his or her own life is one too many."

Jensen suggested changes churches can make to support the mental health of their pastors, such as changing the culture of church success and growth as well as prioritizing self-care.

"Let's make sure that we're encouraging and maybe even making it mandatory, as it's appropriate to do so, to pair them up with a mentor in their life," Jensen said, noting that many pastors who struggle with suicidal ideation have close friends but don't have close mentors.

"Encourage them to actually be proactive, to start those relationships and maintain those types of relationships," he said.

Ensuring that pastors' spouses are equipped to support them in ministry, Jensen believes, can also offer them better mental health support.

"Let's not forget about the pastor's home and the pastor's spouse. And let's figure out how to pour into them and to equip them to walk alongside their husband or their wife as pastors," he explained. "A lot of times ... pastors are so lonely and isolated even in their own homes because that same kind of expectation that they feel, like, they have to fulfill within their congregations, sometimes they feel that same pressure at home. But here's the thing: at home, you can't hide."

While he believes various factors are driving moral failures and mental health struggles among pastors, Jensen contends that the approach to modern-day ministry plays a significant role.

"I'm not a sociologist, and I'm not a psychologist, so I'm not going to pretend to be. But I will say just in my experience leading people and pastoring  I think one of the contributing factors is  this brand of consumer Christianity," Jensen said.

If Christians today practice a brand of Early Church Christianity that focuses more on whole-life discipleship than the consumeristic culture, Jensen thinks it could improve conditions in Church culture.

"I really believe that the core of all of this.  Once we return to the old and ancient ways of discipleship, I really think we're going to start to see more and more positive fruit emerge," he said. "Both in our communities, within our churches, and in the lives, in the hearts of our pastors and our pastors' families."
SEVILLE, Ohio -- Dozens of people gathered on the sacred ground of the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery to honor fallen service members during Memorial Day weekend.

On Sunday afternoon, the cemetery held its annual Memorial Day Remembrance ceremony, one of many similar events happening across the country. Attendees were greeted by the sounds of the U.S. Air Force band.

Jesse Getz, director of the 274-acre cemetery, noted in a speech that it was marking its 25th anniversary as a final resting place for more than 50,000 veterans and their family members.

For a quarter of a century, this cemetery has stood as a symbol of our nations gratitude, Getz said. It is a place of reflection, remembrance and community. Each headstone tells a story. Each name etched in stone represents a life of service, courage and sacrifice.

In addition to marking the anniversary of the cemetery, Getz added that 2025 also marked three significant military milestones, including the 250th anniversary of the American Revolutions start at Lexington and Concord, the 80th anniversary of Americas victory during WWII and the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

Getz said that each milestone represents a chapter in the story of American sacrifice that binds us together and prompts us to reflect on the price of liberty.

Keynote speaker Deborah Ashenhurst, director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services and an Army veteran, reminded attendees that Memorial Day and Veterans Day are often confusedbut Memorial Day, she said, honors those who made the ultimate sacrifice while wearing the uniforms of our military.

Memorial Day is a sacred day. By honoring the nations dead, we preserve their memory and thus, their service and sacrifice, Ashenhurst said, quoting a veterans service organization.

The military veteran also called on attendees to actively teach respect for national symbols and sacrifices to the next generation.

We can start by ensuring our children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and everyone in our sphere of influence remember the basic tenets for caring, and respecting our symbols of freedom, she said.

Remind them to stand when the colors are carried down the street, to put their hand over their heart during the parades, or just to stand still and put their hand over their heart during the playing of the national anthem. This isnt just a nice thing to do, its not just custom; its courtesy, its law.

Following the speeches, attendees were able to witness the presentation of the battlefield cross, which honored a soldier, using items brought to the service by their surviving relatives. This included their rifle, their helmet, which was placed on the butt of the rifle, their boots placed at the rifles base, along with their dog tags.

Everyone was asked to stand for the memorial wreath part of the ceremony, which was followed by three rifle volleys and the playing of Taps.

Tears were shed among those in attendance, before a final prayer and retiring of the colors.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Gregory Moore, the Cleveland divorce attorney charged in the 2013 killing of his client Aliza Sherman, was extradited from Texas to Ohio on Saturday and booked into the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center, a county spokeswoman confirmed.

Moore, 51, was arrested earlier this month by U.S. marshals near Austin, Texas, where he had been visiting family. He waived extradition during a May 8 court appearance in Williamson County, clearing the way for Cuyahoga County sheriffs deputies to transport him back to face charges.

A grand jury indicted Moore on charges of aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy in the stabbing death of Sherman, 53, outside the Stafford Law Co. office building in downtown Cleveland on March 24, 2013  the day before her divorce trial was scheduled to begin.

Prosecutors allege Moore killed Sherman because he was unprepared to represent her at trial and was unlikely to be granted another delay. The Stafford firm had already billed Sherman $100,000, and Moore was juggling an overloaded caseload after two law partners were suspended from practicing, according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

The indictment describes the accusation that Moore used his law firms mobile WiFi hotspot to send messages that masked his location and lured Sherman to the locked office building. There, she waited more than an hour before she was attacked near her car. She was stabbed more than 10 times.

Authorities said the case broke open when investigators with the state attorney generals office used new technology to trace Moores activity through the mobile hotspot. They also allege he had a history of calling in bomb threats to delay court appearances  a pattern known within the law firm months before Shermans killing.

Moore previously pleaded guilty in 2017 to making bomb threats and lying to investigators about his whereabouts at the time of Shermans death. He served six months in jail.

An arraignment date in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court has not yet been set.

This story was written with the assistance of AI.
Runkle

Lt. John Marshall Runkle, Iraq, West Point, and his final service in Afghanistan, where he was killed in action. A modest marker on Interstate 71 at the West Salem exit memorializes his service and sacrifice. Advance Local illustration with photos provided by the author and Staff Sgt. Joe Harwood

One semester while teaching at West Point, I gave cadets an assignment to find a veterans grave and research that individual to learn who they were: to breathe life into them even if only on paper and to share the stories. Little did I know I would one day be writing about the life of one of my own cadets.

In between Columbus and Cleveland sits the town of West Salem. Right before the highway exit stands a simple marker, like a soldier standing at attention, with the name Lieutenant John Runkle. Hundreds, maybe thousands, pass his marker daily. Some, no doubt, wonder about the story behind the name. Traveling with my son one day, I pointed it out and told him about Cadet John Runkle who was once a student of mine.

Most cadets knew they would eventually land in a war or wars, so I explained to them how we would study the emotions of war through literature, writing, and poetry. There were some cadets, like John Runkle, who had already experienced war and who was humble and available to classmates. He was from Ohio and a Buckeyes fan, so that endeared me to him.

In high school, military service wasnt in Johns aperture. His brother Cory explained to me that, John was incredibly smart. He had an engineers mind and seemed headed to a top-tier university until the morning of September 11th. Watching the second plane hit the towers, John announced, Im joining up. Cory shares, September 11th was Johns catalyst. His call to arms. And just like that, John enlisted.

War is an extension of politics gone awry, but dont tell that to the men and women serving: They just want to do their jobs and return home.

Christine Runkle, Johns mom, shared how, The military was a very good fit for him, He felt what he was doing was very important. He was bright, a deep thinker." While serving the remainder of his enlistment in Korea, John learned he had been accepted into West Point. He also learned his unit would be deploying to Iraq. John Runkle had a decision to make.

The easy choice would have been to finish his enlistment and report to West Point instead of going to Iraq, but that was not John Runkles style. He delayed his acceptance to West Point. In doing so, he exchanged the safety of the classroom to join his unit in Iraq.

Four years after returning from Iraq, John graduated in the top 10% of his West Point class and later received orders for Afghanistan.

Just before leaving for Afghanistan, John purchased a pair of cowboy boots for a Browns game and his brothers wedding, both scheduled for after his tour of duty. He never got a chance to wear them. John Runkle died on May 26, 2011, in Afghanistan. This years Memorial Day is the anniversary of his death.

To honor his brother, Cory wore the one-size-too-small boots to a Browns game and the wedding.

Chris Runkle shares the morning when two uniformed officers came to her door, I knew exactly what they were there for and I thought, if I dont answer the door, they cant tell me my son is dead.

When he came home, people lined the roads from the airport to the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman where John reposes in good company with other veterans. The community continues to be supportive, but Im sure Chris would give it all away for one last hug from mother to son.

After losing a loved one, we learn how life is a series of adjustments where we try to impose regularity by smoothing our lives out as best we can, but there is always a wrinkle that remains, a reminder of what was and couldve been. After his son, Lt. Drew Russell, was killed in Afghanistan, my friend Jim choked back tears and said, Drew wont even be able to have kids. What do you say? He had a good future in front of him.

How do we honor the men and women who gave their lives? Nothing we do will ever bring back the fallen, but maybe we can honor their memories by being just a little better.

Cory Runkle said that John respected peoples difference of opinion, even if he didnt agree with them. Thats what makes this country great, Cory adds. Maybe its about sharing a cup of kindness with someone who least expects it. Thats how I will remember Lt. John Marshall Runkle.

Should you find yourself driving on Interstate 71, just outside the town of West Salem stands a marker. When you see it or other markers that dot our highways, say his name aloud, Lieutenant John Runkle, and honor the cost.

Today, as I wrote this, I shared a YouTube video of Lt. John Runkle with my son. I told him of a young man who once sat in my English class. Maybe thats our job, to share their stories.

Zoltan Z Krompecher is a retired Green Beret and contributing writer to the book, Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front. In his spare time, he writes and hopes to teach again. He and his wife, Tina (Gallo) Krompecher, live in Westlake.

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Spending on artificial intelligence helped give some Chinese tech companies a boost in the first quarter, despite economic headwinds. "The standout for this [first quarter] reporting season was the growth in cloud business for Alibaba and Baidu ," said Brian Tycangco, an analyst at Stansberry Research. Alibaba said earlier this month its cloud revenue in the latest quarter rose by 18% year on year , while Baidu on Wednesday said its AI cloud business grew by 42% . "At these rates of growth, cloud business is poised to become the 2nd largest business segment for both companies," Tycangco said. "More importantly, cloud will become the basis for a return to heady growth days after several years of single-digit topline growth." Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com also reported double-digit growth in marketing revenue, which they said were bolstered by AI tools that were able to target consumers more effectively. The trend signals a fundamental change in Chinese markets. "AI/Tech/New Economy [are] further gaining traction as equity market leaders," Morgan Stanley's chief China equity strategist Laura Wang said in a May 20 note. "We believe that a new generation of equity market leaders is forming in these sectors, after a 5-year-long disruption period post market peak in early 2021," she said, noting how consumer and internet stocks previously led gains. Out of Morgan Stanley's 60 Chinese AI stock picks, those rated overweight, traded in Hong Kong and with expected upside of more than 50% as of May 19 are: Gushengtang  This health-care company is focused on traditional Chinese medicine, and it's training targeted AI models to create an "AI physician assistant." The company said customer visits rose by 12.7% in the first quarter to 1.21 million. Bairong  This cloud-based AI services company is focused on state-owned banks and other financial services companies. The company added in its 2024 annual report that Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall e-commerce platforms use Bairong's AI model service to evaluate consumers' purchasing power. When it comes to more popular names, the Morgan Stanley analysts prefer Alibaba and Tencent over Baidu and iFlytek. They also prefer Meituan, Meitu and Trip.com over Kuaishou and JD.com. Among mainland China-listed companies, 68% mentioned AI in their 2024 annual reports, up from 43% in the first half of 2024, HSBC Qianhai Securities head of research Steven Sun, said in a May 16 report. We also observed a slightly upward revision of 2025e consensus capex for major cloud service providers after 1Q25 results, suggesting they are still upbeat about their AI business. The information technology sector saw earnings rise by 24.7% in the first quarter from a year ago on improving AI penetration, the HSBC report said, noting it was one of the fastest-growing sectors. One of HSBC's buy-rated picks is enterprise software and cybersecurity company Sangfor, listed in Shenzhen, with a price target of 143 yuan. The firm thinks accelerating AI adoption can help drive earnings growth. Chinese-developed DeepSeek surprised global investors in late January with its ability to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT, while claiming a fraction of development cost. In the months since, several Chinese companies have also released new AI tools for generating video or 3D models. China's recent tech breakthroughs stem from the country's breadth of engineers, data and vast social media and e-commerce ecosystem, the Morgan Stanley analysts said, noting how government support can enable faster tech adoption. "We continue to believe that such structural improvement would be less susceptible to the ongoing tariff dispute and the overall macro challenges," the report said. This is important in attracting foreign investors to build long-term commitments of allocation, as they discover a decent number of companies that are distinctive and exclusively available in China, despite the broad macro slowdown. Listed Chinese stocks generate the majority of their revenue domestically, with only 3% U.S. revenue exposure, the analysts said.  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Sunday said Tokyo aims to advance tariff talks with the United States, with the goal of achieving an outcome during the Group of Seven summit next month.

Japan's top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa held a third round of Japan-U.S. talks in Washington on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Kyoto, Ishiba said there has been progress in negotiations, pointing to discussions on trade expansion, non-tariff measures and economic security.

"We will continue to further refine our discussions with the G-7 summit in mind," he said.

Ishiba on Friday held a 45-minute phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss security, diplomacy, and tariffs, and said they exchanged hope for an in-person meeting at the G-7 summit.

On Sunday, Ishiba expressed Japan's willingness to cooperate in shipbuilding. He said the U.S. has shown interest in the possibility of repairing U.S. warships in Japan and that Japan would like to assist.

He said Japan has an advantage in icebreakers, such as those used on Arctic trade routes, which could become an area of cooperation with the U.S.

In Tokyo, Akazawa on Sunday said the schedule for the next Japan-U.S. talks is being arranged and that he hopes to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during his next visit to the U.S.

Speaking to reporters at Haneda Airport following his return from Washington, Akazawa said an agreement will be reached only when all elements are settled as a package, meaning that until everything is agreed upon, nothing is agreed upon.

"Therefore, I won't comment on how far we've progressed," he said.
A massive Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens, officials said early Sunday. The scale of the onslaught was stunning  Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, making this the largest single aerial attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force. In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press. It was "the most massive strike in terms of the number of air attack weapons on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022," Ihnat said. There was no immediate comment from Moscow. For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observes Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday of May commemorating its founding in the 5th century,

'Deliberate strikes on ordinary cities'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages across Ukraine and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia. That has been a long-standing demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that  despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe  have not materialized in ways to deter Russia. Zelenskyy wrote on X that Sunday's targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

Firefighters extinguish a blaze in damaged private houses following Russian strike in Kyiv region on May 25, 2025, amid Russian invasion in Ukraine. Russian strikes killed three people in the Kyiv region overnight, a Ukrainian official said on May 25, 2025, as the two countries fired drones towards each other's capitals. "Unfortunately, three people died last night as a result of an enemy attack in the Kyiv region," Mykola Kalashnyk, who heads the regional military administration, wrote in a Telegram post. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images) Sergei Supinsky | Afp | Getty Images

"These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities. Ordinary residential buildings were destroyed and damaged," he said. "Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help," Zelenskyy said. "Determination matters now  the determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace." The attack came on the third day of a planned prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine, the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month that have so far failed to produce a ceasefire. The exchange amounted to a rare moment of cooperation between the warring sides. Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The 'most massive Russian air attack'

Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense forces persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down enemy drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to Ukraine's security service. "A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X. Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris. In the region of Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17, according to the emergency service. Twelve were injured in the attacks, the service said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building's walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed. The scale of Russia's use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 full-scale war. The last in a three-day prisoner swap was expected to take place later on Sunday.

A village engulfed in smoke and rubble

In the village of Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv, where several homes were burned down in the overnight strikes, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears. "The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it's just terrible," says 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities in the war. She told the AP how grateful she was her daughter had not joined them for the weekend with her family.

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"I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us," Fedorenko said, adding she told her daughter, "After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it's the ground floor.'" "She said, 'No, mum, I'm not coming.' And thank God she didn't come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the children's rooms were," Fedorenko said. Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house after the air raid siren went off. "They burned to death," he said. "I want to bury them, but I'm not allowed yet."

Despite POW swaps, no letup in the war
Lee Jae-myung, mayor of Seongnam city, on Nov. 23, 2016. Lee is rising in opinion polls with about a year to go until South Korea's next presidential election. He wants to break up the country's biggest companies, meet unconditionally with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and throw President Park Geun-hye in jail over an influence-peddling scandal.

South Korean presidential frontrunner Lee Jae-myung said on Sunday the deadline to reach a deal with the U.S. on President Donald Trump's trade tariffs needs to be reconsidered to find a mutually beneficial agreement between the two allies.

Tariff negotiations with the United States will be one of the biggest challenges for the winner of the June 3 election, Lee told a press conference.

The snap election was called after Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached as president and removed from office for briefly declaring martial law in December. Lee, from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, is leading in opinion polls over conservative contestants.

Seoul and Washington have said they aim to craft a package on tariffs and economic cooperation by July 8. But the South Korean minister for trade and industry said recently that there was not enough time and delays would be possible due to the election.

"There is not much time," Lee said. "Isn't diplomacy something that benefits both sides? If one country benefits and the other country suffers unilaterally, that is not diplomacy. It is called plunder."

He called for mutual respect between the two countries, saying they "need to reconsider whether the timeline set by one side should be bound to".
A bill that would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom in Texas cleared a key legislative hurdle Sunday and is poised to go to Gov. Greg Abbott for approval.

The state House of Representatives passed a version of the Ten Commandments bill in a 82-46 vote following a week of debate and delay, when Democratic lawmakers attempted to introduce amendments. Those amendments, including allowing individual school districts to opt in and for the Ten Commandments to be in different languages, were voted down by a Republican majority.

Abbott's office did not immediately comment about its passage, but the Republican governor is expected to sign it into law after the state Senate approved its version of the legislation in March on a 20-11 party-line vote.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had previously said that the success of the bill, known as SB 10, was among his priorities for the current session, which ends next month, after similar legislation failed in 2023 because of time constraints.

"By placing the Ten Commandments in our public school classrooms, we ensure our students receive the same foundational moral compass as our state and country's forefathers," Patrick said.

Still, Texas' Ten Commandments legislation is likely to face constitutional opposition as it has in Louisiana, where a GOP-drafted law was signed last year by Gov. Jeff Landry and was quickly challenged by a coalition of parents of different religious beliefs.

Under Texas' bill, all public elementary or secondary schools must "display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments." The displays must be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall, and include the text of the Ten Commandments as written in the bill.

Once signed into law, schools "must accept any offer of privately donated" displays or may use district funds, starting in the 2025-26 school year.

The legislation does not have an enforcement mechanism, and it's unclear what may happen to schools or individual teachers who refuse to comply. According to a state House committee analysis, the bill itself also "does not expressly create a criminal offense."

State Sen. Phil King, the lead author of the bill, previously said he was introducing the legislation because "the Ten Commandments are part of our Texas and American story."

But state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat who is Christian, objected to the bill this week during an earlier vote, saying a display of such religious text may feel exclusionary to non-Christian students.

"Forcing our religion down their throats is not love," Talarico said.

With Louisiana and most recently Arkansas mandating the Ten Commandments in public schools, legal arguments over such laws could eventually wind up again before the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1980 ruled that classroom displays of the Ten Commandments were unconstitutional.

Louisiana has not fully implemented its law as officials await a federal appeals court ruling on its constitutionality. In November, a lower court judge concluded the state had not offered "any constitutional way to display the Ten Commandments."

Meanwhile, Texas House lawmakers on Friday approved another religion-based bill that would permit school districts to adopt policies allowing for a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or "other religious text" with parental consent. Abbott is also expected to sign it into law.

Emily Witt, a spokeswoman for the Texas Freedom Network, a grassroots group that advocates for religious freedom, said the wave of conservative-leaning legislation across Texas and other states is part of a wider "coordinated strategy" to infuse the Bible in public school education.

"The message this sends to kids is that they're being told their religion doesn't matter and isn't as important as this one," Witt said. "We worry that leads to bullying and otherism  all things in public schools that we try to prevent."
Warren Buffett is stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of this year  but he may not actually stop working.

Instead of sitting at home, the 94-year-old plans to spend his post-CEO days regularly going into Berkshire Hathaway's Omaha, Nebraska, headquarters to keep contributing his investment ideas and decision-making skills, he told the Wall Street Journal on May 14.

"I'm not going to sit at home and watch soap operas," said Buffett. "My interests are still the same."'

Before Berkshire Hathaway's most recent annual shareholders' meeting, on May 3, Buffett hadn't publicly announced plans to retire. Internally, he'd decided to "remain CEO as long as I thought I was more useful than anybody else ... And it surprised me, you know, how long it went," he said.

In May 2021, Buffett named his eventual successor as Greg Abel, the company's vice-chairman of non-insurance operations. Recently, he compared his energy levels to Abel's, and decided that his successor had surpassed him in terms of ability to be the company's CEO, he told the Journal.

"The difference in energy level and just how much [Abel] could accomplish in a 10-hour day compared to what I could accomplish in a 10-hour daythe difference became more and more dramatic," said Buffett. "He just was so much more effective at getting things done, making changes in management where they were needed, helping people that needed help someplace, but just all kinds of ways."

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But even as Buffett occasionally loses his balance or has trouble recalling a person's name, as the Journal reported, his ability to make smart decisions in turbulent markets hasn't faltered, he said.

"I will be useful here if there's a panic in the market because I don't get fearful when things go down in price or everybody else gets scared," said Buffett. "And that really isn't a function of age."

Buffett's quasi-retirement isn't unprecedented. A small but quickly growing number Americans are choosing to work past the age of 75, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Continuing to work seems like an especially prevalent mindset among business leaders, from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal. "My friend Warren Buffett still comes into the office six days a week," Gates, 69, told CNBC Make It in September 2024. "So, I hope my health allows me to be like Warren."

Sinegal, 89, stepped down from his own CEO role in 2012  and still goes into the office some Tuesdays, The Wall Street Journal reported on April 16. He always viewed running Costco as more of a hobby than a job, and wanted to continue that sense of enjoyment even after leaving the CEO role, he told the Journal.

Sinegal's sentiment echoes a notable piece of advice that Buffett wrote in his 2022 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders: Job seekers should look for a role that "they would select, if they had no need for money." The mindset is good for your career, and helps you live a longer, happier life, Buffett said at Berkshire Hathaway's most recent shareholders' meeting.

"I think a happy person lives longer than somebody that's doing things they don't really admire that much in life," said Buffett.

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Former prime minister Khaleda Zias Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Saturday (May 24) asked interim government chief Muhammad Yunus to hold national elections by December 2025 and reconstitute his cabinet by removing controversial advisers."We have called for completing the reforms quickly and holding the national election by December, BNPs highest policy making standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said after meeting Chief Adviser Yunus at his official Jamuna residence in the evening.Hossain, who led the BNP delegation, said he also asked Yunus to announce a roadmap for holding the election and also demanded the formation of an advisory council  effectively the cabinet  excluding controversial advisers.Two of the three advisers  Mahfuj Alam and Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan  were inducted in the interim advisory council as representatives of the Students against Discrimination (SAD), which led the last years movement to oust prime minister Hasinas Awami League regime. They are entrusted with portfolios of youth and sports, and information ministries, respectively while the third adviser is former diplomat Khalilur Rahman, who is also Yunuss national security adviser.BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed, who also attended the meeting as part of the delegation, said the party sought their removal before as well in a written statement. Asked if the BNP was satisfied with the meeting, Ahmed said the delegation presented its views and would await Yunus feedback and only then can we say whether we are satisfied or not.Hossain said the government was pursuing three agendas  reform, trial of leaders of deposed premier Hasinas regime and the election. The BNP is seeking the removal of Alam and Bhuiyan as it is at loggerheads with the newly floated student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) comprising SAD leaders backed by Yunus. Yunus also met with Jamaat-e-Islami and NCP leaders."We have proposed two possible time frames (for polls)  either mid-February 2026, if all the reforms are done, or immediately after Ramadan, if reforms take a bit longer, Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said. He also said that the Jamaat delegation asked the interim administration that it should announce two clear and specific roadmaps  one for reform and the other for election.The NCP, on the other hand, pressed for local government polls ahead of the national election, reiterating their earlier expressed desire that was vehemently opposed by the BNP, which emerged as the most prominent political party with the ouster of the previous regime and subsequent disbanding of the Awami League.Yunus office later said his leadership drew confidence of all three major political parties and they conveyed their support for a free, fair, and peaceful election under his administration Yunus press secretary Shafiqul Alam said the chief adviser told all the parties that the national election will be held sometime between December and June of next year while both Jamaat and NCP supported the timeframe.The meetings came hours after the advisory council or cabinet issued a statement confirming that Yunus would remain as the interim government chief. He (Yunus) is definitely staying, planning adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud told reporters after an unscheduled closed-door meeting of the council with Yunus in the chair amid a nationwide unease.The chief advisers press wing later issued a statement from the advisory council, saying the two-hour long meeting included detailed discussions on three primary responsibilities entrusted to the interim government  elections, reforms, and justice.The Council discussed how unreasonable demands, deliberately provocative and jurisdictionally overreaching statements, and disruptive programmes have been continuously obstructing the normal functioning environment and creating confusion and suspicion among the public, it read. The statement said despite all obstacles, the interim government continued to fulfil its responsibilities by putting national interests above group interests.However, ifunder the instigation of defeated forces or as part of a foreign conspiracy  the performance of these responsibilities becomes impossible, the government will present all reasons to the public and then take the necessary steps with the people, the council said.Yunus decision to stay in office came two days after he told NCP leaders that he was mulling resignation as he felt the situation is such that he cannot work, citing difficulties in working amid the failure of political parties to find common ground for change. NCP convenor Nahid Islam earlier said that he urged Yunus "to stay strong for the sake of the countrys security, and future and to meet the expectations of the mass uprising, (and) I hope everyone will cooperate with him.Analysts, however, saw the chief advisers resignation threat as a test of public backing and political support.Saturdays developments came amid reports of discord between the military and the interim government over the possible election timeline and a policy issue related to Bangladeshs security affairs involving a proposed humanitarian corridor of aid channel to Myanmars rebel-held Rakhine state.Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman along with the navy and air force chiefs met Yunus three days ago and reportedly reiterated their call for election by December this year to allow an elected government to take charge and conveyed their reservation about the corridor issue. The next day, Zaman held a senior officers meeting at Dhaka Cantonment and said he was unaware of several strategic decisions despite the militarys active role.The military also decided to be tough against rampant mob justice in discharging their law enforcement duties. Meanwhile, troops who were called out of their barracks with magistracy power to maintain law and order were seen intensifying their street patrols and security vigil. Several analysts called the meeting crucial to consolidate the military strength.During last years protests, the army avoided a crackdown, instead extended its hand for Hasinas safe exit to India. It also supported Yunus appointment as chief adviser, as demanded by the SAD, much of which later formed the NCP.Yunuss administration recently disbanded Hasinas Awami League, sending many of its senior leaders, including former ministers, to jail to face trial for charges like crimes against humanity.The South Asian nation of some 170 million people has been in political turmoil since the ouster of the previous regime. The situation has escalated over the last few days with rival parties and trade unions or pressure groups protesting on the streets of the capital Dhaka with a string of competing demands.
A massive Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens, officials said early Sunday (May 25).The scale of the onslaught was stunning  Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, making this the largest single attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraines Air Force.In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press. It was the most massive strike in terms of the number of air attack weapons on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Ihnat said.The attack came on the third day of a planned prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine, the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month that have so far failed to produce a ceasefire. The exchange amounted to a rare moment of cooperation between the warring sides.Meanwhile, Russias Defense Ministry said its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight. Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense forces persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down enemy drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to Ukraines security service.A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on the social media platform X. Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.In the region of Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17, according to the emergency service. Twelve were injured in the attacks, the service said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine.Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the buildings walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed. The attacks over the past 48 hours were among the most intense Russian aerial strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 full-scale invasion. The last in a three-day prisoner swap was expected to take place later on Sunday.Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russias defense ministry said each side brought home 307 more soldiers the previous day, on Saturday, a day after each side released a total of 390 combatants and civilians. Once completed, the swap will amount to the largest exchange of prisoners in more than three years of war.We expect more to come tomorrow, Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel on Saturday. Russias defense ministry also said it expected the exchange to be continued, though it did not give details. The previous night, explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard throughout Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stations as Russian drones and missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital.In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month  the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since Russias 2022 full-scale invasion  Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each.
NEW MEXICO

DNA confirms tribes link to Chaco Canyon

For the first time, a federally recognized Indigenous tribe in the U.S. has led research using DNA to show their ancestral history.

The Picuris Pueblo, a sovereign nation in New Mexico, has oral histories and cultural traditions that link the tribe to the region of Chaco Canyon, one of the ancient centers of Pueblo culture and society.

As members of the Picuris Pueblo seek a greater voice in shaping decisions about the future of Chaco Canyon, where debates about oil and gas drilling loom, leaders decided that using DNA sequencing to complement or corroborate their oral histories could be a useful tool. The group began a collaboration with an international team of geneticists.

The findings, published in the journal Nature, show close links between the genomes of 13 current members of Picuris and ancient DNA recovered from 16 Picuris individuals who lived between 1300 A.D. and 1500 A.D. in or near Chaco Canyon.

The genetic analysis was led by the Picuris. The researchers said this model of collaboration contrasts with a long history of archaeologists and geneticists seizing and studying artifacts and remains without the consent of Indigenous groups.

There are 19 Pueblo tribes in New Mexico. The new study does not refute the historic connections of other tribes to Chaco Canyon.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site managed by the U.S. National Park Service. It is famous for sweeping desert vistas and for monumental sandstone structures  including multistory homes and ceremonial structures  built by ancestral Pueblos.

KANSAS

Campgrounds closing at federal lakes

TOPEKA  Campgrounds, boat ramps and other facilities in at least 30 locations at federal lakes and reservoirs in six states will be closed or have their hours curtailed as of mid-May as the Trump administration tries to rapidly shrink the U.S. government.

Officials at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the lakes and reservoirs and their amenities for boating, camping, hiking and sightseeing, said they are dealing with staffing shortages and other budgetary restrictions.

Corps spokesman Douglas Garman said concentrating staff at fewer recreational sites will allow those sites to keep the "full range of services" that visitors expect.

In Pickstown, South Dakota, near the Missouri River, residents were "appalled" to learn the Corps plans to close its visitor center at the Fort Randall Dam and suspend tours of the dam's powerhouse on May 1, said Cindy Broyhill, the president of the town's Board of Trustees.

In western Kansas, Sue Graham, manager of Knothead's bait shop and camping supply store on the east side of Wilson Lake, about 230 miles west of Kansas City, was skeptical of a plan to limit a campsite there to daytime use as of May 15.

The Kansas City district plans to close visitor information centers at two Kansas lakes including Hillsdale, outside the Kansas City area, and Kanopolis, in central Kansas. The Corps will not allow overnight camping in 25 "primitive," no-amenities spots in two areas at Harlan County Lake in western Nebraska near the Kansas state line. The sites and water nearby still will be accessible during the day.

The Omaha district announced earlier this month that it would close six campgrounds in the Dakotas on May 1, as well as three visitor centers in South Dakota and Montana. It also plans to suspend or limit tours of four South Dakota dam powerhouses and decrease tours at Fort Peck Dam in northeast Montana.

UTAH

Not guilty pleas in Congo coup attempt

SALT LAKE CITY  Four Americans have pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in federal court in Utah after authorities said they conspired to stage a violent coup in Congo that failed.

Three of the defendants were charged in April following their return to the United States from Congo, where the death sentences they faced were commuted prior to repatriation. Among them is 22-year-old Marcel Malanga, son of opposition figure Christian Malanga, who led the coup attempt targeting the presidential palace in Kinshasa.

A fourth man in Utah alleged by prosecutors to be an expert in explosives is charged with aiding the plot.

Marcel Malanga, Tyler Thompson Jr., and Benjamin Zalman-Polun were ordered to remain in custody after pleading not guilty during a joint court appearance on April 24.

The alleged explosives expert, Joseph Peter Moesser, 67, appeared separately and was also ordered to remain in custody after entering a not guilty plea.

The May 2024 coup attempt aimed to overthrow Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi. At least six people, including Christian Malanga, died when armed men in camouflage fatigues led an attack on the homes of the president and a deputy prime minister.

The four Americans are charged with crimes including conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to bomb government facilities and conspiracy to kill or kidnap persons in a foreign country. They face lengthy prison sentences if convicted.

ARIZONA

Speedboat that flipped midair wins race

LAKE HAVASU CITY  A speedboat went airborne and did a complete backward flip while racing at about 200 mph before crashing into an Arizona lake.

Two racers inside the boat's covered cabin survived the event, which saw the boat go over 30 feet in the air. They wore harnesses and helmets, and "were just a little banged up," according to a social media post on Facebook by the Freedom One Racing team and an account by a race witness.

The April 26 crash took place on a three quarter-mile course at an annual speedboat race.

The flying boat still managed to cross the finish line and win the contest by registering a top speed of 200.1 mph, Speedboat Magazine Publisher Ray Lee said.

Lee said the twin-hull Skater boat is designed to rise up and hydroplane across the surface of the water. Windy conditions and propeller adjustments called trims likely contributed to the boat taking flight, he said.

Lee says it's an inherently dangerous sport, though courses have been shortened from a previous length of 1 mile that produced speeds in excess of 240 mph.

Steve Ticknor, president of the company that runs the event, said the boat was participating in a contest to see which vessel could race the course the fastest. He said divers were on hand and responded to the crash within 20 seconds.
While Andy Griffith is remembered now as one of the original sitcom superstars, he once had a career as a popular movie actor. He turns in an astonishing performance as Lonesome Rhodes in Elia Kazans A Face in the Crowd, quickly followed by his hilarious team-up with Don Knotts in No Time for Sergeants. That comedy smash was the fourth highest-grossing film of 1958. Griffith appeared to be heading to movie stardom, but that train was quickly derailed.

The problem? Studio greed. After the success of No Time for Sergeants, Warner Bros. wanted to keep raking in that sweet Andy Griffith cash. It rushed another military comedy, Onionhead, into theaters, just five months after Sergeants. One of the films posters announced, That wonderful No Time for Sergeants meathead ANDY GRIFFITH is back as Onionhead!

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Hes goofin-up the Coast Guard now! trumpeted another.

Unfortunately for the studio and the actor, Onionhead was terrible bad, according to Griffith himself, per the biography Andy and Don.

At the preview of this picture, Onionhead, there were two girls in front of me, Griffith told The Birmingham News, per MeTV. One left for 15 minutes. When she came back, she said to the other, Sorry to have been gone so long.

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You havent missed a thing, she was told.

Reviewers were just as cruel. This latest Andy Griffith outing is a particular disappointment, but no matter when it had come, it would have been just as disappointing, wrote John Bustin in the Austin American-Statesman. For as comedy, Onionhead is generally about as funny as a crutch and certainly no more inspired.

Onionhead quickly reversed Griffiths fortunes. The actor remembered sitting with his William Morris agents after a long lull with no work. I asked em if there was any pictures comin up that I might do, and they hawed about it a bit and said, Well, no, there wasnt. So I right out asked one of em, Has anybody asked for me? And I guess this sort of caught him off-guard because he said, quickern hed meant to, No.

Movies and Broadway dried up for Griffith, which left the medium of last resort: Television. Id always been afraid of it, he said, because I figured if you strike out there, thats it.

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But with no other prospects, Griffiths manager approached TV producer Sheldon Leonard, who knew Griffith from his funny records. Leonard bit right away because he understood that Griffith came with a built-in comedy persona. Thinking of something for a personality is the easiest part, he said. Andy Griffith, country boy. Whats the show going to be? Hes going to be a country boy.

To save money on a pilot, Leonard launched Griffith as a small-town sheriff on two episodes of his hit sitcom, The Danny Thomas Show. The character clicked immediately, so much so that General Foods signed on to sponsor The Andy Griffith Show and its Americana comedy before the episodes even aired.

And none of that sitcom magic ever happens without the failure of Onionhead.
Fewer crimes are more keenly felt than that of an intruder violating the sanctity of ones home.

The thought that your family could be sleeping upstairs while a burglar stalks through the house  lifting precious items such as jewellery, whose value can be as muchsentimental as monetary  curdles the blood. A burglar is not only trampling through a property that isnt theirs, but trampling over the rightful occupiers sense of security and privacy.

So serious is this breach that the law permits violence when defending ones home, including striking a burglar with, say, a bat. The courts have long abandoned that seriousness when it comes to punishing the intruder and deterring others. But last weeks sentencing review, which recommended that crimes such as burglary can effectively carry no prison sentence, felt like a fundamental betrayal of the contract between the state and its citizens.

The first duty of any government is to protect its people. But how can that be when the criminals that deserve jail-time, instead remain free among the very people whose security they threaten?

The review, authored by former Tory Cabinet minister David Gauke, caused further consternation when it recommended all other jail sentences under 12 months be abolished, and inmates good behaviour could shrink their terms  by two thirds for the bulk of prisoners and a quarter for even the most serious criminals, including sex offenders and domestic abusers.

Former prison governor Ian Acheson has criticised last weeks sentencing review, which recommended that crimes such as burglary can effectively carry no prison sentence

How has one of the most wealthy countries in the world reached this point? The sad truth is that we are now firmly in the era of justice by numbers. We are at the point at which the number of offenders who need to be locked up for their crimes exceeds the cell space available to house them.

Imprisonment by logistics rather than just deserts is a hard sell to voters and victims alike who have seen confidence in the criminal justice system battered by police incompetence and allegations of two-tier justice. But Labour is out of options, out of time and has looked to a review of sentencing for dramatic solutions.

Before we examine how we got in this mess, it is worth looking at the fate of our fictional burglar. Lets call him Kevin, from Nottingham. Inspectors have rated Nottingham police as a force causing serious concern in terms of how it manages crime, so its a miracle hes been caught at all.

Kevin is unlucky that hes sentenced before Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood enacts Gaukes recommendations, so he begins a notional year-long spell inside HMP Ranby.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood will enact the recommendations of David Gauke's review

This dilapidated prison is where inspectors last week found that up to nearly 40 per cent of entrants leave with a drug problem they acquire on site. Kevin is one of these. He leaves prison automatically after six months, whatever his behaviour, with a heroin habit. He joins 56 per cent of recidivists who will victimise others and ruin their lives. This failure cost the taxpayer 57,000.

While this is a fictional account based on current practice it is hard for anyone to conclude that this is a system making anyone safer. Yet, how much safer will we be if Kevin now served no time in custody? The risk he poses will be transferred from a wrecked penal system to a Nottinghamshire probation service, riven with stress-related absences.

The moral injury of doing too much with too little for too long has already put the probation service near a point of collapse with experienced officers leaving and new recruits promised by the Government yet to bed in.

Removing experience from both the prison and probation service when demand was increasing exponentially has been a catastrophic policy mistake.

The finger of blame for the anarchy that has gripped the system lies with Conservative ministers and policies aided and abetted by hapless senior officials at the Ministry of Justice. They could not or did not understand the obvious impact of removing 5,000 frontline officers from a prison population that was static and then rising. This process started in the Conservative-led coalition government in 2010. It was nodded through in the name of efficiency by subsequent administrations who were oblivious to the collapse of every metric of decency, safety and rehabilitation it caused.

These reforms included the truly insane part-privatisation of the probation service driven through by justice secretary Chris Grayling and resultant ideological vandalism, which the author of the sentencing review Gauke had to step in to reverse when he inherited the post.

The senior official who presided over the collapse of the system from 2010 to 2018 was Michael Spurr. He was given an advisory role on the sentencing review by Gauke who effectively sacked him after multiple prison scandals.

Fewer crimes are more keenly felt than that of an intruder violating the sanctity of ones home, writes Ian Acheson

Another of the advisory panel is Nicky Padfield, a legal academic who has written in the past about concern that lenient judges are not encouraged to consider the social context of offending, something that the Government was forced to explicitly reject after a campaign by Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick.

The panel is heavy on gongs but perhaps lighter on victim empathy. Few people from exalted positions and sinecures in politics, academia or the legal profession become or even know victims of the crimes they theorise about.

They seem inured to the state of the probation service too, if they intend for it to monitor the extra 43,000 offenders a year  according to analysis in yesterdays Mail.

The service is unable to cope with its present workload, yet it is hoped that a 700 million bung from the Treasury will beef up electronic monitoring. But kit alone cant keep victims safe from recidivists. It requires skilled professional interventions and offending behaviour programmes.

Moreover, the company charged with administering this huge expansion, Serco, has a blemished record. It was fined 19 million in 2019 by the Serious Fraud Office for false accounting in fitting tags over the previous six years. This is certainly corporate rehabilitation in action.

The ultimate answer has to be to build more prisons while clearing the landings of offenders who are only made worse by the experience. This is a feat that has defied previous governments of all parties. The Ministry of Justice says it is on track to create 14,000 more jail spaces by 2031, but even that will leave thousands of criminals with no place to go.

Nor does this Labour Government fill me with confidence after its hurried and botched mass release of offenders last July.

Still, the review shouldnt be dismissed, these huge caveats notwithstanding. There are sensible suggestions about extending suspended sentences for example, which are often very useful in stopping offending behaviour. Similarly, the removal of automatic release at the half or two-thirds point of a sentence if behaviour is poor can help restore order on the prison landings.

But let us return to the people in the poor Nottingham neighbourhood who woke up to find their home violated by our burglar Kevin. These are the people that Labour must convince the Government is on the side of if it wants to stay in power.

Its not at all clear to me that this review understands their reality and the depth of feeling about criminal impunity that turns neighbourhoods into places to get out of rather than raise a family in.
Women have revealed how their appearances before and during pregnancy

Pregnancy is one of the most beautiful transformations a woman can experience, at least that's what expectant mother's are told.

The female body transforms into a baby growing safehouse - expanding, stretching and adjusting to accommodate for the new life germinating inside it.

While some tout the benefits of the famous 'pregnancy' glow, it seems the glean of motherhood is not a universal one, as women from all over the world are now describing how their faces ballooned during gestation.

Dubbing the term 'pregnancy face', thousands of women on social media have shared their 'before' and 'after' photographs of becoming mothers, in videos poking fun at their own transformations.

Women suffering with the affliction complain of having extra pigmentation, puffy eyes, loss of definition in their face, and enlarged noses.

One woman, Kezia from UK, shared a clip of how her changing face left her 'humbled' during the pregnancy of her first baby.

The mother, who welcomed her baby last year, shared a clip of her face before she fell pregnant, appearing happy and confident as she posed glamorously for videos.

Then, sharing her photos of her face at 37 weeks pregnant, Kezia appeared notably different, with a rosier complexion and puffier cheeks.

One woman, Kezia from UK, shared a clip of how her changing face left her 'humbled' during the pregnancy of her child (pictured before pregnancy)

Then, sharing her photos of her face at 37 weeks pregnant, Kezia appeared notably different, with a rosier complexion and puffier cheeks

Captioning the clip, which racked up 13,000 views, she described having developed a 'fat face' in the latter stages of her pregnancy.

She's not the only mother on social media who has noticed their appearance as sympathising mothers littered the comments with similar woes, with one begging to know if it 'went away' while another admitted they'd developed a 'double chin'.

According to doctors, much of what those online describe is a result of water retention, a commonly reported side-effect among expectant mothers.

The NHS website cites swelling as typically occurring in pregnant women, particularly in lower parts of the body such as the legs, ankles and feet.

Effects can appear particularly pronounced 'if the weather is hot or you have been standing a lot.'

'Swelling is caused by your body holding more water than usual when you're pregnant,' the website reads.

Healthcare providers suggest remedying symptoms by avoiding standing for long periods of time, and resting with feet up as much as possible.

Drinking water, though seemingly counter-productive, can also reduce water retention, the NHS advises.

Captioning the clip, which racked up 13,000 views, she described having developed a 'fat face' in the latter stages of her pregnancy

Australian TikToker, Tealla Anderson, pictured before pregnancy, revealed her changing appearance while carrying her baby

For Tealla though, symptoms of water retention were further exacerbated by pre-eclampsia, a serious condition characterised by high blood pressure and having protein in the urine that can prove fatal if not properly treated (pictured during pregnancy)

Another Australian TikToker, Tealla Anderson, revealed her changing appearance while carrying her baby.

'I love watching the swelling get progressively worse in each photo,' she captioned the video, which showed her face having grown puffier as she advanced through the trimesters.

'Here I am,' she said showing her appearance on the second day of her four day labour.

For Tealla though, symptoms of water retention were further exacerbated by pre-eclampsia, a serious condition characterised by high blood pressure and having protein in the urine. The condition can prove fatal if not properly treated.

'I was 100kg here, however at this point I did not know I had pre-eclampsia so the swelling was so not! Just bad luck,' she wrote.

Nevertheless, she said she felt 'so beautiful' and was 'honestly obsessed with myself at this stage'.

'Even now I look back at my birth video and I'm like, damn, her skin was clear and the feminine energy was high,' the new mother added.

The condition can worsen what some mothers are calling 'pregnancy face', since pre-eclampsia can increase the risk of damaged blood vessels, according to PreEclampsia.org.

The phenomenon has been felt by hundreds on the app, with searches for 'pregnancy face' churning out a plethora of commiserating mothers. Among them, Dave Mart, (pictured) who accumulated 5 million views on a clip sharing her facial transformation during pregnancy

Much like others who weathered the changes, the TikToker shared clips and pictures before falling pregnant and during, where she her face was visibly different

Damaged vessels, which can be caused by high-blood pressure, allow more water to leak into and stay in the tissue which can prevent it from passing through the kidneys to be excreted.

Changes to hormones during pregnancy can also bring out skin conditions including acne, puffiness, dark spots, sensitivity or redness, say experts at Simple Skincare.

The phenomenon has been felt by hundreds on the app, with searches for 'pregnancy face' churning out a plethora of commiserating mothers.

Among them, Dave Mart, who accumulated 5 million views on a clip sharing her facial transformation during pregnancy.

Much like others who weathered the changes, the TikToker shared clips and pictures before falling pregnant and during, where she her face was visibly different.

Sand also shared her experience having 'pregnancy face' on TikTok, posting a picture before she fell pregnant and another when she was in the final months of gestation.

Mother to 'two beautiful autistic children', Sand shared the pictures on the app, where she amassed 87,700 views on the video.

Poking fun at her own transformation, the British mother wrote, 'My face won't change that much when I'm pregnant', next to a photo of her looking slender and beaming at the camera.

The next picture showed her while pregnant, looking markedly different. Making light of the changes, she said: 'It's the nose for me'.

Sand also shared her experience having 'pregnancy face' on TikTok, posting a picture before she fell pregnant and another when she was in the final months of gestation (pictured before pregnancy)

Poking fun at her own transformation, the British mother wrote, 'My face won't change that much when I'm pregnant', next to a photo of her looking slender and beaming at the camera

Commenters shared in the experience, with one writing, 'my nose did this too! Why?', and another admitting their face underwent such a dramatic change their 'facial recognition on my phone stopped working'.

Mothers on TikTok have previously complained about having 'pregnancy nose', having see their features balloon while carrying their babies.

One, Gabriela Garrido, from Hackney, east London, was shocked to discover that her nose grew by a third by the time she reached the nine-month mark.

Sharing the tale of her nose expansion on the app, Gabriela said her nose still 'isn't the same', even after giving birth, though it has started to deflate slowly.

The post, captioned 'one of the many joys of pregnancy', shows Gabriela's nose pre-pregnancy compared to now, adding that it looked a lot 'wider and more round' at 37 weeks pregnant.

'My nose was wider and more round. It filled up as if someone pumped it like a balloon,' she said.

'I don't know if it doubled in size but maybe by one third. It was like Pinocchio when his nose grows out.

'It was around six months into my pregnancy, I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. I felt my face just looked a bit more swollen.

'In that last month I thought my nose definitely looked different, especially after comparing it to old pictures.

'Pregnancy nose' is believed to result from an increase in hormones, which leads to the dilation of blood vessels and creates more blood flow to certain areas of the body.

This increase in size is usually only temporary and most women find their noses return to their normal size a few weeks after delivery - however it has led to the condition being compared to cartoon character Pinocchio on TikTok.
A woman has revealed how her dream wedding in Jamaica turned into a nightmare when she nearly died four days after the ceremony.

Newlywed Sarah, from London, took to her TikTok channel @lipsticknlouboutins_ to share the terrifying experience where she was told by doctors she had just two hours to live.

In the four-part video series, the mother-of-three recounted her near-death experience, explaining that an abscess in her groin caused her to develop sepsis and left her unconscious for 36 hours.

Sarah said she and her now-husband Luke flew to Jamaica for their nuptials and it was during the ceremony that she started to experience pain in her groin. By the following morning, she continued, her groin was 'diabolically huge'.

She saw a lump that stretched from her hip bone to her vaginal area and watched as it got progressively worse over the next few days.

She explained: 'I can say that the pain was worse than any of the three children that I have had. It was agony.'

The bride took a collection of strong painkillers to get her through the few days until she could fly back to the UK for medical care.

She explained that she didnt want to remain in a Jamaican hospital because one of her children has a medical condition that prevents them from flying to Jamaica, meaning they weren't able to accompany Sarah and Luke for the event.

Newlywed Sarah, from London, revealed she had her dream wedding in Jamaica but then nearly died just four days afterwards

Sarah was in so much pain by the last day of the trip she was 'in and out of consciousness'.

She explained: 'The pain was worse than any of the three children that I had, it was agony. We had friends coming in and out and as they were coming in and out, one of them left crying, they didn't know what to do.

'I said to Luke "Please don't take me to that Jamaican hospital because if I go in, I know I won't come out.

'As I got on the bus to go to the airport I nearly passed out, they [hotel staff] weren't going to let me leave, I said "I'm fine just drive."'

Luckily, once Sarah got to the airport, her friend had arranged a wheelchair and assistance to get her through to her gate quickly.

She added: 'Thank god because I wouldn't have been able to make it.'

Sarah was given strong pain medication by a friend for the 10-hour plane journey to Gatwick airport.

She said: 'I woke up an hour before [landing] and an air hostess had clocked me pretty quick, phoned down for emergency assistance to have paramedics waiting at Gatwick South.

Sarah was in so much pain by the last day of the trip she was 'in and out of consciousness'

'By this point I was completely unresponsive, they literally blue-lighted us straight to the nearest hospital.'

After undergoing a CT scan, Sarah was told she had sepsis caused by an abscess that had grown in her groin.

She explained that she has since undergone surgery to have the abscess removed, with doctors revealing that she was 'roughly two hours from dying' when she was admitted.

She said: 'Tomorrow I have to go back in for another operation because they didn't close me back up in case the sepsis comes back, so currently my intestines are being held together by tape.'

Sarah ended the clip, which has racked up over 75,000 views, by joking: 'What a wedding.'

Many rushed to the comments to share their well wishes for Sarah's speedy recovery.

One person wrote: 'Oh myyyy!! Sounds horrendous! Wishing you all the best. Hope you get well soon.'

Another joked: 'Bit extreme just to see if he meant sickness & in health lol but thank goodness you got back here in the nick of time xx'

Many rushed to the comments to share their well wishes for Sarah's speedy recovery. However others were concerned that Sarah decided to fly when she was in such pain

Someone else added: 'Wow this awful, Ive never heard of one of those, speedy recovery to you.'

However o.thers were concerned that Sarah decided to fly when she was in such pain.

One person wrote: 'I know you wanted to get to the UK but do you realise how utterly bonkers it is to fly with such pain? Have you seen what cabin pressure does to your innards?

'If youd told the airline theyd maybe not have let you fly, because if you took a real turn for the worst, youd have been diverting the plane and all the other customers. Sorry but anyone reading needs to know this wasnt right.'

Another said: 'Im glad youre ok. Super dangerous to risk flying home but then I guess you didnt want to risk being stuck in Jamaica. What a nightmare. Ive had sepsis myself and its no joke.'

To which Sarah replied: 'Thats it. I dont want to stay there, I just felt like we wouldnt get an answer, and when we got here they said the type of abscess so rare, none of his department had seen it, so imagine I didnt come back.'
The academic future of Belgian's future Queen Princess Elisabeth hangs in the balance amid Donald Trump's battle with Harvard University, after the US president sought to ban foreign students from the prestigious university.

While a federal judge has temporarily blocked Trump's ban after Harvard sued the government, the Belgian Palace will be closely monitoring the situation stateside as the date for Princess Elisabeth's return to Boston inches closer.

On Thursday, the US Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard's ability to enroll international students, sparking widespread unrest for its 6,800 foreign students, among them the future Queen of Belgium.

Hailed as one of the brightest European royals, Elisabeth, 23, now faces the very real possibility of losing her studentship and being forced to return to her home country before completing her Master's Degree at the Ivy League university.

Asked to comment on the the ban, a spokesperson for the Palace said it was 'analysing' the situation until 'things 'settle down - but the prospect of not returning to Harvard is likely to be upsetting for Elisabeth, especially after what appears to have been a triumphant first year at the college.

In photos shared on the Belgian royal familys official Instagram page last September, Elisabeth appeared excited to settle into her all-American life amid reports she was already a highly sought-after companion among her peers.

The Princess, who completed her undergraduate degree at Oxford University, is currently enrolled in a two-year Master's program in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Away from her royal duties, Elisabeth embraced life as a student as she was pictured on the first day of term wearing an understated, yet chic, ensemble - complete with sneakers - in portraits shared by the Palace.

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium pictured on her first day at Harvard in September 2024

On Thursday, the US Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard's ability to enroll international students, sparking widespread unrest for its 6,800 foreign students, among them the future Queen of Belgium

For her first day back to school, Elisabeth opted to wear a pair of 210 wide leg trousers and burnt orange vest - both from the American brand Tommy Hilfiger - as she was pictured with a stack of books under one arm.

She completed the look with a pair of 110 Adidas GT Sneakerstuff trainers in shades of green.

Wearing her brunette tresses in natural waves, Elisabeth opted for minimal makeup for the occasion.

The royal, who's parents are King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, enrolled at the institution under the name 'Elisabeth de Saxe-Coburg' at Harvard Kennedy School.

The palace told Brussels Times: 'The Princess was also selected for an 'Honorary Award' from the Fullbright Program, the US Department of State's international educational exchange programme. '

According to the university's website, the course aims to cultivate student's skills in preparation for them having a 'successful career in public service'.

So admired for her cerebral prowess, Princess Elisabeth has been touted as being one of the most intelligent royals - arguably surpassing Meghan Markle who was once dubbed the 'cleverest' of them.

Not long after enrolling at the institution, the Princess celebrated her 23rd birthday, with the Palace releasing a series of sweet snaps to mark the occasion.

The royal, who's parents are King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, enrolled at the institution under the name 'Elisabeth de Saxe-Coburg' at Harvard Kennedy School.

An accomplished 22-year-old by any measure, the official royal website says Elisabeth enjoys walking in nature, reading and playing the piano. Pictured with Princess Amalia of the Netherlands last year

Beaming towards the camera, Elisabeth wore a stylish in set from ba&sh, including a 240 short-sleeved vest with a jacquard pattern and a matching 230 midi skirt.

The royal ditched a high-society snapper and had a fellow student called Max Bueno take the images - a scholarship student studying at the same school as Elisabeth.

Max, a professional photographer, also documented the royal's first day at school in the official portraits shared by the Belgian Palace last September.

According to HLN News, Elisabeth, had settled in well at her new American school because, perhaps unsurprisingly, 'quite a few people want to be her friend'.

And proving her academic ability has never a struggle for Elisabeth, who only last year completed her studies at Oxford last year.

Last summer, Princess Elisabeth thanked the University of Oxford for three 'wonderful' years.

She first moved to the UK in the autumn of 2021 to start her History and Politics undergraduate course at Lincoln College.

Fiercely dedicated to not receiving special treatment thanks to her status, Elisabeth completed her entrance exam for Oxford 'anonymously' to ensure her royal status would not affect her chances of being offered a place, reported the Belgian newspaper Le Soir.

At 23-years-old has attended the infamous Oxford University , a notoriously opulent college dubbed 'hippie Hogwarts' and has even undergone military training. Pictured in 2022

After Elisabeth finished her studies in England, she took part in various engagements throughout the summer with her parents

Elisabeth graduated in three years with a degree in History and Politics, something she reportedly chose because she felt it would be most useful to her in her role as Queen later in life.

After Elisabeth finished her studies in England, she took part in various engagements throughout the summer with her parents.

An accomplished 23-year-old by any measure, the official royal website says Elisabeth enjoys walking in nature, reading and playing the piano  although like 'all youngsters her age', writes the palace, 'her taste in music is varied.'

Elisabeth - who speaks Dutch, French, German, English, and has also taken classes in Mandarin Chinese - began attending royal engagements from a young age and was just nine when she delivered a speech at the opening of the Princess Elisabeth Children's Hospital.

Trump's decision to ban international students from the country could have serious repercussions for the Princess royal, who was expecting to return for her second year at the prestigious college later this year.

In a statement responding to reports of the ban, the Belgian Palace said it was waiting for the situation to 'settle'.

'Princess Elisabeth has just completed her first year. The impact of [the Trump administration's] decision will only become clearer in the coming days/weeks. We are currently investigating the situation,' said a spokesperson for the Belgian royal palace, Lore Vandoorne.

'We are analysing this at the moment and will let things settle. A lot can still happen in the coming days and weeks,' the Palace's communication director, Xavier Baert, told the Associated Press.

The prestigious school enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which makes up for more than a quarter of its student body - the majority of those being graduate students.

The threat to Harvard's international enrollment stems from request in April from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.

Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces a trove of records on foreign students within 72 hours.

On Friday, US District judge Allison Burroughs blocked the ban by granting Harvard a temporary restraining order while awaiting the formal court case - after the Department of Homeland security terminated its international student certification on Thursday.

This case is separate from the Trump administration's attempt to ban federal funding from the school.
Aldi's latest Specialbuy has sent fitness fans into a frenzy - but limited stock meant not everyone was lucky enough to get their hands on the supermarket's new viral Reformer machine.

The supermarket chain launched a 150 Reformer Pilates machine today, offering a cut-price alternative to the luxury studio equipment that usually retails for anywhere between 2,000 to 6,000.

Pilates fans rushed to snap up the budget-friendly reformer, but frustration quickly grew as shoppers claimed some outlets had as few as six units - with stock vanishing within minutes - while others said their local Aldi didnt receive any at all.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, one woman explained how she missed out despite arriving an hour before the store opened - as the supermarket responded to her query about restocking the budget buy.

'I was 7th in the queue at 9am and they only had six in store. Will you be bringing them back?' her message to Aldi read.

'Sorry to hear this!' they replied. 'We have been known to repeat Specialbuys, but we can't make any promises.'

The update comes after lifestyle and fitness influencers took to TikTok to document their hunt for the popular machine, with Yaz Moore arriving one hour before the store opened to make sure she secured the machine.

In a clip shared on her TikTok, she explained Aldi gave people tickets as they arrived to make sure the first six people got their pilates machines.

Pilates fans rushed to buy Aldi's budget-friendly pilates reformer, however it sparked outrage as shoppers claimed stores had 'as few as six per location'

She said: 'It was carnage in there, when they brought them out to the front, there was loads of people running up to the workers, I actually feel for the people working there.

'I'm so glad I went at the time I did and managed to get in there quick, it's in the boot, mission success.'

Meanwhile, Tiktoker Seren Smalley took to her social media to showcase how the machine was easily assembled after she bagged one.

In response, some of her followers rushed to the comments section to confirm they had also successfully purchased the reformer while sharing their in-store experiences.

One person said: 'Got to mine at 9.35...I'd already missed people going in so I didn't know it was open. Bagged my ticket though!!

'Number 6...yes I did run to the front of the store to get a ticket (no shame here) the two guys sent by their wives were not getting the last ticket (sorry guys) currently putting it up now. I don't care I'm that excited to get it set up!'

Someone else wrote: 'I arrived at 7am to ours. Six at our store. All tickets gone by 8:45.'

Another said: 'I arrived at 9:25 and I was 5th in the queue!! I got a ticket and was successful.'

However, multiple fitness fans were disappointed and left empty-handed after trying their luck at numerous stores.

Fitness influencers took to TikTok to document the hunt for the popular machine, with Yaz Moore arriving one hour before the store opened to make sure she secured the machine

Meanwhile TikToker Priya revealed she was 'fuming' because she drove to three stores and was unable to get her hands on the fitness equipment

One frustrated woman was fuming after missing out, despite arriving an hour before the store opened, as the supermarket addressed whether the items will be restocked

Many rushed to the comments to say they were also successful and managed to bag a reformer by arriving at the store early

However some fitness fans were disappointed and left empty handed after trying numerous stores

One person said: 'My Aldi didn't even stock any! I went to the other one 10 mins away from me and she said by 10.05 today they were all gone.'

Another said: 'So lucky. I tried 4 and failed'

Someone else added: 'Mine all sold out only had 4 in stock x'

A third added: 'We had six at our store. I and one other got there at 7am. Madness. Got a ticket at eight. Went for a drive and headed back there at 8:45. There were another four stood outside with trolley's. All gone before store opened.'

Another influencer couldn't hide her frustration as she took to her TikTok @lifeofjazz__ to say she wasn't able to secure the item.

The travel blogger said: 'I didn't really think that my area would really care about it, only to hear that it's all sold out.'

Meanwhile, TikToker Priya revealed she was 'fuming' because she drove to three stores and was unable to get her hands on the fitness equipment.

Taking to her TikTok @priya.altoria, she said: 'I got here at ten to 10 am and I'm absolutely fuming because they are all gone, everyone is already here with their beds.

'There is like six beds for the whole store... now I am absolutely gutted. I'm off to another Aldi to go look for them.'

Priya arrived at another Aldi store only to find out they were all sold out as well.

An Aldi employee told her: 'We only had three in store and people queued up from about 8am.'

The Influencer went to a third store in search of the item but an employee told her they only had one in stock and it was sold.

Expressing her frustration, Priya said: 'I am actually annoyed and not because I was late or didn't queue early enough, but what was the point in queueing hours before when they only had one, three beds and six beds, I was never going to get one.

'That was really unfair Aldi, if you are going to create such a big hype around a product launch then stock more, you know everyone is going to want one, what was the point in that.

'They are saying they are not going to restock them either, so yeah I'm not really happy.'

Priya wasn't the only one left disappointed with the lack of stock, as one person claimed she queued only to discover her local store didn't have any to sell.

Commenting under her video, one person wrote: 'My store didn't have any! We found out at 10:45 after queuing for 40 minutes, despite staff reassuring us that they had them in stock.'

When the discount supermarket first launched the at-home reformer Pilates machine in Australia last year, it became a social media sensation for its low, low price.

The exercise, which has surged in popularity in the last 10 years, is widely touted as one of the best movements for your body and has a cult following with celebrities including Jennifer Aniston, Margot Robbie and Hailey Bieber.

But those wanting to indulge in the practice will often pay up to 35 a class - making it an extremely expensive hobby.

Instructors also recommend a person practices three time a week - meaning people can spend hundreds of pounds a month on the practice.

Aldi's machine features five adaptable resistance levels, using resistance bands, as well as adjustable height settings.

It can also be folded for storage and has transport wheels that make it easier to move around to the right spots.

Mail Online have reached out to an Aldi spokesperson for comment.
A haunted doll collector who houses 54 'spirits' has weighed in on the debate surrounding the allegedly paranormal Annabelle doll being taken on 'tour.'

The Raggedy Anne doll was made famous back in the 1970s when paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren looked into alleged attacks made by the infamous toy.

While they warned that she should never be moved, Annabelle is now currently touring the US alongside other items from the Warrens Occult Museum collection  leaving people online up in arms.

Now, haunted doll collector Teej, who has over 50 paranormal items in her possession, has weighed in on the controversial Annabelle tour.

She insisted, however, that we shouldn't be so quick to make snap judgements about the toy, and said that she believes the haunted doll is misunderstood.

'Do I believe that Annabelle is responsible for all of the tragedy that she is being blamed for right now? Absolutely not,' the US-based woman told What's The Jam recently.

'Most of the stories tied to her are unverified and don't have any evidence to back them up.

'Honestly, I believe that Annabelle deserves a fresh investigation with an unbiased investigation team, to figure out what is actually going on with her.'

A haunted doll collector who houses 54 'spirits' has weighed in on the debate surrounding the allegedly paranormal Annabelle doll being taken on 'tour'

The Raggedy Anne doll was made famous back in the 1970s when paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren looked into alleged attacks made by the infamous toy

While they warned that she should never be moved, Annabelle is now currently touring the US alongside other items from the Warrens Occult Museum collection. The Warrens are pictured

Teej said she believes the doll's narrative was 'created' by the Warrens following their initial investigation.

She added: 'This was a very long time ago and, since then, she has been sensationalized in Hollywood.

'We don't even know Annabelle's true story. We owe it not only to her, but to all spirits, to start asking the real questions and getting evidence on who they are and what happened to them.

'People keep saying "bring Annabelle home," but the truth is  Annabelle doesn't have a home.

'The Warrens Occult Museum has been closed to the public since 2019, so she [was] not at home  she was in storage. Locked away, not honored, not protected, not valued.'

Teej pointed out that the doll has spent her entire 'afterlife' on display in a museum being 'gawked at, disrespected, and sensationalized for money'  without any way to 'defend' herself from the claims.

'Imagine being the center of basically an entire country's fear without any voice of your own, and no one to look out for and defend you,' she continued. 'Spirits like Annabelle are not props  no spirit is.'

Teej explained that all purported spirits should be treated with 'dignity, respect and kindness'  no matter the rumors that have dogged them over the years.

Now, haunted doll collector Teej, who has over 50 paranormal items in her possession, has issued a stark warning about the Annabelle tour

Teej said she believes the doll's narrative was 'created' by the Warrens following their initial investigation

In Annabelle's case, the doll dates back to 1970 when she was gifted to a nursing student, who was told by a psychic medium that the doll was inhabited by the spirit of a deceased girl named Annabelle.

'We don't even know Annabelle's true story,' Teej said. 'We owe it not only to her, but to all spirits, to start asking the real questions and getting evidence on what happened to them'

The student and her roommate reported 'malicious and frightening' behaviors from the doll.

Annabelle reportedly moved on her own and at one point attacked the fiance of one of its owners.

That's when the Warrens stepped in to investigate, deemed it to be demonic, and moved it to their museum.

Annabelle then became one of the most well-known haunted items following the Conjuring and Annabelle movie franchises.

The doll is now on tour across the globe through the Devils on the Run Tour, which takes items, including Annabelle, from the Warrens Occult Museum collection in Monroe to various cities to display them to horror buffs.

Teej started connecting with the paranormal in childhood, encouraged by her family who took her on ghost hunts, and had her first encounter at the age of six.

She said: 'We were in a parking lot using an Ovilus, which is a device that turns environmental energy into words that appear on a screen  a common spirit communication tool still used by investigators to this day.

Teej explained that all purported spirits should be treated with 'dignity, respect and kindness'  no matter the rumors that have dogged them over the years

Teej started collecting haunted dolls in 2020  but will only house ones with positive intentions

'Out of nowhere, the Ovilus said, "Get out of the way, fast." We didn't wait, we moved immediately.

'Right after we cleared the area, a car whipped around the corner. It was really dark, and if we hadn't moved, there's a good chance we could've been hit.

'That moment stuck with me, not just because it was my first clear experience, but because it felt like a spirit was trying to help us.

'That was the first time I felt like a spirit interaction was actually positive, and that's something I've kept in mind ever since.

'It's a big part of why I'm now interested in haunted dolls, specifically ones with positive energy. That early experience shaped the way I look at the paranormal today.'

She started collecting haunted dolls in 2020  but will only house ones with positive intentions.

'What pulled me in were the stories behind them, specifically the personal accounts, the unexplained experiences, and the history behind some of the more well-known cases,' she continued.

'I spent a lot of time researching and reading about them, trying to understand what made each case unique.

'I choose to work only with positive spirits in my home because of the relationships that naturally develop over time.

'Many of these spirits have a genuine desire to communicate and be acknowledged, and that opens the door to meaningful and respectful connections.

She said: 'We treat them with respect, and in return, they do the same. Our interactions are often lighthearted and much of the paranormal activity in our home is playful'

'What pulled me in were the stories behind them, specifically the unexplained experiences, and the history behind some of the more well-known cases,' she continued

'We treat them with respect, and in return, they do the same. Our interactions are often lighthearted and much of the paranormal activity in our home is playful, sometimes even meant to make us laugh.

'Just as importantly, I'm mindful of safety. When I investigate haunted locations, I always have the option to leave.

'But my home is my safe space, and I won't risk inviting in any spirit that could bring harm or disruption to me or my family.

'By setting clear boundaries, I'm able to stay open to paranormal experiences while still protecting the comfort and peace of our home.'

She added of the recent news about Annabelle: 'While I know Annabelle is currently on tour and it's easy to fall into the trap of assuming all haunted dolls behave like the famous ones, it's important to remember that every spirit is unique

'No two spirits are exactly alike, and many are actually positive or neutral in nature.

'Making broad generalizations that all haunted dolls are dangerous or negative can be harmful and misleading.

'It's essential to take the time to get to know each spirit individually before jumping to conclusions about their behavior or intentions.'
While sharks and jellyfish stings may be what most people are afraid of when swimming in the ocean, public health officials warn of a deadlier threat at the beach.

Lurking in warm, coastal waters is the flesh-eating vibrio vulnificus. This deadly bacteria can enter the body through the smallest - sometimes even imperceptible - opening from a cut or scrape.

After finding a way in, it enters the bloodstream, and release enzymes and toxins that break down proteins, fats, and collagen, destroying skin and muscle tissue.

It evades the immune systems defenses while triggering a widespread inflammatory response that causes even more tissue damage. Reduced blood flow to the infected area worsens this damage, ultimately leading to the death of tissue beneath the skin.

This results in amputations to try and cut away the infection or - in severe cases - death.

Vibrio requires warm water to grow and proliferate, making Gulf Coast beaches prime breeding grounds.

But colder regions are becoming gradually more hospitable as ocean temperatures rise, attracting and nurturing colonies of the bacteria. Vibrio infections have been confirmed on the East coast, Alaska, the Baltic Sea, and Chile, which scientists now believe could be the next hotspots.

The CDC has not issued an annual report on vibrio in the US since 2019, when 2,685 infections were reported. A sweeping review of CDC data on East Coast states from 1988 through 2018 showed vibrio wound infections increased eightfold, from about 10 cases to more than 80 annually.

Florida reported 83 Vibrio vulnificus cases and 18 deaths in 2024  surpassing previous records of 74 cases (17 deaths) in 2022 and 46 cases (11 deaths) in 2023.

Vibrio lurking in warm coastal waters can enter an open wound, reach the bloodstream, and release enzymes and toxins that break down proteins, fats, and collagen, destroying skin and muscle tissue

The above maps show projections of future spread of Vibrio vulnificus, which is fueled by rising ocean temperatures

Vibrio vulnificus can also infect a person who eats raw or undercooked shellfish, causing painful abdominal cramps and diarrhea, and, in cases where the bacteria enters the bloodstream, sepsis and death.

The CDC estimates that 80,000 Americans are infected with vibrio every year, although there are only 1,200 to 2,000 confirmed cases annually as it is often misdiagnosed

Vibriosis, the infection caused by the bacteria, is typically treated with antibiotics, specifically, doxycycline and ceftazidime.

Once the the bacteria reaches the bloodstream, the infection is fatal about 50 percent of the time.

The threat from the insidious bacteria is only growing, scientists say.

Sky-high seafood consumption around the world, using coastal waters for recreational activities, and the compounding effects of global climate change are setting humans up to see a marked increase in both reported cases and fatalities in the near future, according to scientists from the UK and Spain.

The vast majority of vibrio infections have occurred in Florida, tied to post-hurricane flooding, and Texas, largely due to fishing and oyster harvesting injuries, as well as Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Gulf Coast (highest risk)

Florida has the most reported cases of vibrio infections, with outbreaks concentrated at Siesta Key and Lido Beach in Sarasota. Health officials recorded multiple wound infections from 2023 to 2024, including necrotizing fasciitis in swimmers with cuts.

In 2024, the state recorded 82 cases and 19 deaths.

In Tampa Bay at Ben T. Davis Beach and Cypress Point Park, at least five wound infections from 2022 to 2023 were confirmed, most often in fishermen.

The Florida Panhandle (Destin, Panama City Beach) saw about eight cases post-Hurricane Idalia in 2023, mostly from floodwater exposure.

In Fort Myers at Lynn Hall Memorial Park, there were more than 10 cases post-Hurricane Ian in 2022, including severe wound infections from contaminated storm surges.

Texas saw clusters in Galveston (Stewart Beach, East Beach), with at least six wound infections in 2023 from swimming with cuts and three fatal cases linked to oyster consumption.

At Rockport Beach and Corpus Christi five infections were reported in 2023, including among oyster harvesters with hand injuries.

Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana reported fewer but still notable cases.

This graph shows Vibrio infections reported in the United States. It reveals that Vibrio vulnificus  the large grey dashed line  has seen cases gradually rise

Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island in Alabama had at least four wound infections from 2021 to 2023, often in crabbers.

In Mississippi, Biloxi and Gulfport recorded three cases in 2022, mostly post-flooding.

Grand Isle, Louisiana saw three infections in 2023, linked to cuts while handling seafood.

Randy Bunch, a 66-year-old seasoned fisherman from Freeport, Texas, died on June 8 after contracting a deadly Vibrio infection from a small scrape on his foot while crabbing in shallow Gulf waters.

His daughter, Brandy Pendergraft, said he had worn flip-flops instead of his usual protective wading boots.

Within hours, Bunch developed severe pain, a 104F fever, and confusion. Doctors initially couldnt identify the issue, but the infectionmarked by bruising and blistersrapidly worsened.

He was placed on a ventilator but died within days.

East Coast (Moderate Risk, Sporadic Cases)

North Carolina experienced outbreaks at Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach, with at least seven wound infections from 2022 to 2023, including surfers with scrapes.

South Carolina saw over five infections from 2021 to 2023 in Myrtle Beach marshes and Folly Beach, primarily from wading with cuts.

Brent Norman (pictured) was infected with a flesh-eating bacteria after stepping on seashells while walking along a South Carolina beach

Days after walking barefoot on the beach, the health-conscious man was in excruciating pain and said his foot (pictured) became swollen and he could no longer walk

Nearby last year, Brent Norman was strolling along the shores of Sullivan's Island and the Isle of Palms near Charleston, when he stepped on a shell that caused a cut in his foot.

Within days, his foot swelled severely, causing excruciating pain, which doctors attributed to vibriosis, the infection caused by the bacteria.

From Virginia to New Jersey, scattered cases included around four infections around the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia in 2023 mostly in crab fishermen; at least two wound infections in 2022 at Maryland's Assateague Island and Ocean City bayside; and one confirmed case in New Jersey's Barnegat Bay from a boating injury in 2023.

Your browser does not support iframes.

West Coast & Hawaii (Rare Cases)

California reported a single case of Vibrio from a wound in San Diego Bay in a sailor with a blister in 2022.

Hawaii saw isolated cases from 2021 to 2023 in Keehi Lagoon (Oahu), linked to brackish water exposure.

While the flesh-rotting complication is more common when the bacteria enters the body through a wound, necrotizing fasciitis can occur when a person consumes the bacteria as well.

Laura Barajas, 40, underwent life-saving amputation surgery on Thursday after a months-long stay in hospital battling the terrible infection

Laura Barajas, a 40-year-old mother from San Jose, underwent quadruple amputation after contracting a severe Vibrio vulnificus infection from undercooked tilapia she prepared at home in July.

The bacteria  which the CDC warns can cause life-threatening sepsis  left her in a medically induced coma with failing kidneys and necrotic limbs.

Barajas, who has a six-year-old son, survived but faces a lifelong disability. Her friend Anna Messina shared that Barajas 'fingers were black, her feet were black her bottom lip was black' and her kidneys were failing as the infection ravaged her body.
Amorous Or Loving? by Rupert Gavin (Unicorn 25, 224pp)

Amorous or Loving? is available now from the Mail Bookshop

Spoken today by 1.6billion souls, English is a mongrel language, words flung together down the millennia from Latin (Saturday, amorous), Anglo-Saxon (writing, laughter, riddle, ask), Norse (slaughter, berserk, fog, mire) and Norman French (park, beef, govern, duke, commence).

In more recent epochs, Native Americans gave us skunk and moose. Hindus provided bungalow, chintz and juggernaut.

It is Rupert Gavins contention, in this properly scholarly yet highly accessible study, that our language evolved and came about through invasion and conquest.

The Romans, Vikings and Normans were all attracted by the relative wealth of these islands, exploiting the natives and bequeathing vocabulary.

The Romans were here for 400 years, leaving behind roads, cities, fortifications  and their Latin continued to be used in religious services and on legal documents for centuries. The first court case was not conducted in English until 1363.

Meanwhile, the Vikings were busy sacking holy places, preying upon the weak and the helpless, raping and pillaging generally. Ravens learned to follow their armies, aware thered be plenty of dead bodies to feast upon.

From this period, English developed many words for arrows, bows, archers and fletchers.

The Norsemen were the stuff of collective nightmares, and there were still hundreds of years to go until the Normans turned up  enough time for an anonymous scribe to set down the 3,182 alliterative Anglo-Saxon or Old English lines of Beowulf.

Talk about collective nightmares. Back in the Eighties, when I sat my Finals, I had to translate and memorise the nonsense. Its all about heroic deeds, gods and monsters, and much influenced Tolkien, let alone nerdy teens devoted to Game Of Thrones.

The story telling and subject matter of the Old English poem Beowulf influenced the likes of Tolkien and other fantasy offerings such as Game of Thrones

Gavin gives us plenty of information about battles, assemblies, treaties and inter-tribal squabbling, each mob babbling away in Kentish, Mercian and Northumbrian dialects. When he says, the position of women merits consideration, he must be conjectural, as nothing much was said about them, save praise for embroidery skills.

My theory is that, as their names were unpronounceable and impossible to spell  Aethelwynn, Aethelflaed, Eadburgh, Leoba and Berhtgyth  it was easier to ignore them altogether.

I hadnt realised the Normans were such immense brutes, starting with Williams arrival at Hastings in 1066. Anglo-Saxon lords were killed, their families stripped of lands. Castles went up, to oppress the population. Executions, branding and the severing of noses were common punishments.

Nevertheless, in the credit column, London was developed, to concentrate our language and culture in a single place. The Normans also had a mania for building cathedrals, which ultimately gave jobs to little old ladies to work in the gift shops.

Though Gavin has an interesting chapter on Chaucer  who in 1389 deployed 2,000 new English words in The Canterbury Tales, including twitter, femininity, narcotic, erect and plumage  his chief interest is in the industrious translations of the Bible. Wycliffe in 1384 brought in the words excellent, problem, ambitious and wrinkle, as well as graven image, keys of the kingdom and root of all evil. Tyndale, a century and a half later, gave us coat of many colours, eye for an eye, suffer fools gladly and the skin of my teeth.

Behind these enlightened tasks of translation lay much bloodshed, the whole Catholic-Protestant divide and the upheaval of the Reformation. Theologians and politicians, such as Sir Thomas More, were for some reason dead against making the scriptures intelligible to the common man.

Possessing a Bible in English rather than ornate, ritualistic Latin was a heresy punishable by death.

Thomas Cranmer, for example, was burnt at the stake  yet the simple beauty of his Book of Common Prayer, dating from 1549, was to last for more than 400 years, until shamefully replaced by the ugly nonsense of the Alternative Services pamphlet.

When I wanted the old-style liturgy used at my fathers funeral, the trendy vicar said, Oh, these days people prefer a chorus from The Lion King.

In 1611, the King James Bible was published. Fifty scholars had been kept busy for seven years, agonising over the original texts, the Hebrew and the Greek. There was a hysterical misprint in an early edition: Thou shalt commit adultery. Theyd missed out the not.

Gavin is correct to say that the Authorised Version, as it became known, was English at its most poetic, vivid, direct, rhythmic, fluent. It is a crime that it has fallen into disuse  and perhaps no surprise that churches are empty.

While Jack Dorsey (right) co-founded Twitter, now owned by Elon Musk and called X, the word 'twitter' was first coined by 14th Century poet, Geoffrey Chaucer

Gavin omits to mention a fascinating puzzle. In Psalm 46, the 46th word from the start is shake and the 46th word from the end is spear. In 1611, Shakespeare was 46. Spooky  and did Shakespeare have a hand in the enterprise, polishing the text, I wonder?

Apart from the pulpit, what Gavin calls the other prime user of language was the theatre. Hence a marvellous discussion of Shakespeare, who used 31,534 different words, coining 2,000 new ones, such as bedroom, barefaced, dewdrops and leapfrog. He is matched in ingenuity only by Dickens, who invented 1,600 words, including flummox, dustbin and fairy story.

Wondering how a single language would create a single and unifying identity, Gavin explains that mass printing and education made works accessible, and made English increasingly uniform across the nation, regularising spelling, ironing out regional accents and dialects.

Dont get me started on Welsh, brought in during my lifetime by Welsh nationalists to cut my native Wales off.

Finally, we must not underestimate how English was spread around the world by our military prowess, maritime power, mercantile strength and industrial development, ie by our colonial expansion, which made Britain globally pre-eminent, the map painted patriotic pink. People are meant to feel guilty about all this. I dont myself.

Gavin must follow up this first-class book with others on the compilation of dictionaries, the mysteries of pronunciation, the uses of slang and swearing, the power of jokes and wordplay, the censoriousness of wokery, and finally the language of the internet, where words are fast disappearing in a blizzard of acronyms and emojis. Who needs literacy (and literature) now?
Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker has been banned from Twitch after claiming the DC terror attack looked like a 'false flag' operation.

Piker, who has 4.5 million followers on streaming sites Twitch and YouTube, was dubbed the 'Democrats answer to Joe Rogan' in a glowing New York Times piece earlier this year.

He was described as a 'very handsome man' with 'socialist politics', a potential antidote to far-right streamers winning over young men.

But he was hit with a one-day ban by streaming site Twitch after discussing the motives of an anti-Semitic gunman who shot dead a young Israeli couple in Washington DC.

Elias Rodriguez, 31, shouted 'Free Palestine' after he killed the couple as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday evening.

'Every single thing that he did in the aftermath of the shooting is so f***ing crazy that it's like, you could not have f***ing designed an incident like this,' Piker said during a live stream.

'You could not have designed a better false flag incident like this. I'm not saying it is a false flag at all. I'm not saying that. I think this is just one dude who is genuine in his actions and maybe a little bit brain broken.'

Rodriguez allegedly published a manifesto which claimed: 'Public opinion has shifted against the genocidal apartheid state, and the American government has simply shrugged, they'll do without public opinion then, criminalize it where they can, suffocate it with bland reassurances that they're doing all they can to restrain Israel where it cannot criminalize protest outright.'

Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker (pictured) has been banned from Twitch after discussing the motives of the DC terror suspect

The accused gunman, Elias Rodriguez, 31, shouted 'Free Palestine ' after he shot and killed a young couple as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum

Piker shared an email he got from Twitch notifying him that his account was temporarily suspended for 'improper handling of terrorist propaganda' after reading from the manifesto during a stream.

'I covered the motives of the Israeli embassy staff shooter. Twitch [terms of service] dictates a suspension for even critical examination of the manifesto,' Piker said.

'I believe this is a bad policy for news and press freedom. ill take the suspension, but hope twitch changes this policy in the future.'

Piker's Twitch account, which is under the username HasanAbi, was still unavailable as of 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

'This channel is temporarily unavailable due to a violation of Twitch's Community Guidelines or Terms of Service,' the account stated.

Earlier this month, Piker said his left-wing views got him detained by agents with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Chicago's OHare International Airport.

He said that upon his return from Paris on Sunday, he was confronted by border patrol agents before he could officially re-enter the country through Global Entry.

Piker, who stressed that he is a US citizen, said that then snowballed into questions about what he covers on his online platforms and whether he talks about President Donald Trump.

His New York Time's profile piece left out a litany of Piker's shocking statements and controversies.

Piker has called Miley Cyrus 'a little sl*t' and joked about pedophilia, told his fans to 'kill Rick Scott' the Florida senator, allegedly harangued his ex with calls to police, owns a 'swastika sword', gloated over support for terror groups including Hamas, and blamed Israel for Hamas' murderous October 7, 2023 terror attack.

Piker, who has 4.5 million followers on streaming sites Twitch and YouTube, was dubbed the ' Democrats answer to Joe Rogan ' in a glowing New York Times piece

He was described as a 'very handsome man' with 'socialist politics', a potential antidote to far-right streamers, such as Rogan, winning over young men

He has also shown propaganda videos from Yemen terror group the Houthis on his channel, and conducted an interview with Yemeni Tik-Toker Rashid al-Haddad, who posed with Houthi pirates capturing a cargo ship in 2023  nicknaming him 'TimHouthi Chalamet' over his resemblance to the curly-haired Hollywood star.

The Times' profile of the left-wing influencer focused on his liberal credentials and a glowing description of his appearance: '6 feet 4 inches tall and built like a professional athlete, with a square jaw, a beard and a head of thick dark hair.'

The paper alluded to his past controversial statements, including a 2019 comment that America 'deserved' the 9/11 terror attacks  but added that Piker 'blocks commenters for what he sees as overt hate speech' on his stream.

But in the feature, the Times included a photo showing his computer screen in the background, in which one commenter could be seen writing: 'I'd phuck this idf bitch to death and make his mother shove missiles up her a**. Pu**yy a** b**ches,' referring to a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces.

When readers spotted the comment, the Times quietly cropped the photo and changed the headline from 'A Progressive Mind in a MAGA body' to 'A Progressive Mind in a Body Made for the 'Manosphere.'
A Fox News host apologized 'to the entire world' for the supposed misinformation cable news 'exports,' while facing renewed calls to be fired from the network.

Jessica Tarlov, who serves as the sole liberal panelist on The Five, made the astonishing remarks on the Prof G podcast, which she co-hosts with Scott Galloway.

The two were speaking with Larry Sabato, the University of Virginia's Center for Politics founder and director, when Tarlov asked what issue enrages him the most.

He then replied that he rages about a lot of issues these days, which he attributed to the effects of cable news.

'I watch more TV news that I ever have before,' Sabato admitted.

'TV funnels what's selling on social media, I think, more than the reverse. That makes me rage.'

Tarlov agreed, and said, 'As someone who's on cable news, I apologize to the entire world for what we export.'

She did not clarify what she meant, but her comments made Sabato start to laugh as he lamented how social media is driving political discourse.

Jessica Tarlov astonishingly apologized for being on cable news

Tarlov (second from left) serves as the sole liberal voice on Fox News' The Five

'There's nothing we can do about social media,' he said.

'The one thing I've been waiting for that I was promised as a young person was a time machine, I gave up on flying cars,' Sabato continued. 'We still don't have one, 'cause I'd love to go back and make it impossible to create social media.

'I don't know how I'd do it,' the political analyst added. 'But I would try to do that.'

The exchange comes as Tarlov is facing backlash on social media for remarks she made on Friday's episode of The Five.

The panel had been discussing the possibility that the Biden White House covered up his cancer diagnosis, when she turned her attention to President Donald Trump's crypto dinner - and falsely claimed he made 40 percent of his wealth from cryptocurrency during his presidency.

'Greg mentioned a "staggering level of corruption" and I just got to note, though that the staggering level of corruption from last night's meme coin dinner,' Tarlov said on Friday's broadcast.

She then doubled down on her comments as the other panelists on the show scolded her for changing the subject.

'I'm talking about who is corrupt and who is profiting off the American office,' she said in an apparent bid to defend herself.

The exchange comes as Tarlov is facing her own backlash on social media for remarks she made on Friday's episode of The Five

Watch Jessica Tarlov go off-topic and rant about a Trump meme coin when the discussion was a major presidential scandal regarding Bidens health pic.twitter.com/Z0yYBjIDYd  JOSH DUNLAP (@JDunlap1974) May 25, 2025

But, Greg Guttfeld, noted: 'You're defending an administration that covered up a dying leader and you're sitting here going "but meme coin, meme coin."'

The exchange led some on X to call on Fox News to fire the panelist, with some claiming she would be more suited at The View.

Others also hit out at Tarlov for her false remarks, with one user saying she is 'dumb as a doornail.'

'Why does Fox News even employ her?' he asked. 'She brings nothing to the table and Jessie [Watters] and Greg [Guttfeld] call her out on all her lies, dumb liberal!!!'

Another user, though, suggested Tarlov may be a 'a paid actress' because 'nobody could be that dumb.

'Trump is the only president to lose money in office and the only one to donate his salary,' the user wrote.

'Obama never made more than $400K, yet he is a multimillionaire. Biden as a senator never made more than $175K.'

Many X users called on Fox News to fire Tarlov for her recent remarks, while others called her 'dumb' for suggesting President Donald Trump made 40 percent of his wealth in office

Still, Tarlov is not the only cable news host who has rebuked the system in recent years.

Just last month, former Meet the Press host Chuck Todd told Mediaite he had grown demoralized by cable news content years before he left NBC News.

'I had it on in my office all the time,' he said. 'But most cable news felt like a whole bunch of people trying to game an algorithm. It stopped being informational.'

Former Fox News star Megyn Kelly also said on her podcast last year that after watching cable news during the 2024 presidential election cycle, she was disappointed that 'nothing's changed.

'The people don't look as good - that's changed,' she joked.

'But they've changed nothing. They're having the same stilted, guided, fake conversations that last four minutes long with, like, the stupid panels.

'It's amazing how out of date they are,' Kelly said.

For Larry Sabato, the University of Virginia 's Center for Politics founder and director, the issue with cable news is an inability to hold Trump accountable

For Larry Sabato, though, the issue with cable news is an inability to hold Trump accountable.

He claimed to the Daily Beast that most networks were 'sane-washing' the president, arguing that they underestimate Trump's penchant for retribution - like his ongoing lawsuit against CBS News.

'I've personally seen the effects of Trump's intimidation of media companies, law firms and yes, universities,' Sabato said.

'The solution they've adopted seems to be "Let's keep our head down, stick to a lot of both-sides coverage and then Trump will target others."'

In fact, the top brass at ABC News and its parent company Disney have reportedly asked the ladies of The View to dial back their constant complaining about the president.

'It hasn't dawned on some that Trump will eventually get around to slamming them too, as well as misusing the power of the government to exact revenge,' Sabato claimed.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Fox News for comment.
The Smarter Web Company has doubled its bitcoin holding in the past week, building its stake to almost 60 bitcoin.

The web design firm which also operates a digital assets treasury policy to make it a bitcoin holding company, purchased 16.42 bitcoin on 20 May, spending 1,280,000 at $104,202 per coin.

On 23 May the company purchased a further 23.09 bitcoin at $107,424 per token, bringing its total holding 58.71 tokens.

Boss and founder Andrew Webley wants to make Smarter Web Company into a UK version of US tech firm Micro Strategy, which has shot to prominence for its bitcoin holdings.

He explained to This is Money that he is happy to buy bitcoin now, as the short-term price is less important for his strategy than it's long-term potential as 'the best asset in the world'.

Stock market listed Smarter Web Company's market cap has rocketed from just under 4million at its IPO in April to almost 100million now.

Treasury asset: The Smarter Web Company now owns almost 60 bitcoin worth 4.8million

Andrew Webley, founder of The Smarter Web Company

At the time of publishing, bitcoin was trading at $107,000, making the Smarter Web Company's bitcoin holding worth $6.3million, or 4.7 million.

Webley, chief executive of the firm, said: 'We have announced that we have acquired a total of 58.71 to date at an average purchase price of $104,398 and as we have been acquiring Bitcoin our average price has crept up.

'As I believe that bitcoin is the very best asset in the world, hence our Treasury policy of holding a large amount of bitcoin on our balance sheet, I am less interested in the short-term price as I am thinking what it could be valued at several years in the future.'

Earlier this money, on 14 May, the company also purchased 8.61 bitcoin at $99,871 each for 650,000.

Bitcoin soared past $110,000 a coin on Thursday for the first time, reaching a new record high of $111,886.41, its first new high since Trump's inauguration in January.

The surge in the cryptocurrency came after the US dollar slipped amid concerns over growing US debt.

The Smarter Web Company launched its public offering back in April, with an IPO price of 2.5 pence per share, giving it a market cap of 3.7million.

On Friday afternoon, shares in the firm were trading at 56 pence per each, and its market cap of 97.27million is on the cusp of breaching the 100million mark.

Since listing, the firm has undertaken further fundraising, most recently raising 6.83million through the issue of 13.9million new shares at 49p each.

Webley said: 'It is also worth saying that as we have raised additional capital we have done this at the market price and at higher prices each time so when we compare the dilution of an equity raise against the capital injection it is pretty impressive.'
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

J.W. writes: Trace Debt Recovery UK, acting on behalf of Euro Parking Collection, is attempting to fine me 303.

The alleged offence is non-payment of a road toll in Hungary, where I was driving my motorhome in 2023.

I paid the correct toll of 5,500 Hungarian forints (about 11) at the time, and presented my vehicle registration document to the cashier, but they mistakenly recorded the letter D on the numberplate as a letter P.

Tony Hetherington replies: Trace Debt Recovery UK, based in Northampton, sent you a mass-produced threatening letter. Headed 'Final Notice', it warned that if you failed to hand over 303, you could face county court action which might damage your credit rating.

What makes me think the letter was mass-produced? Well, it refers to the 'date of the parking charge notice', completely contradicting the allegation that you have an 'outstanding unpaid Hungarian toll roads penalty charge notice'. There's a bit of a difference!

Paid in full: The alleged offence is non-payment of a road toll in Hungary

I asked the debt collectors to take no action while I contacted their client, Euro Parking Collection (EPC), and they immediately agreed. This was sensible, since you have the receipt proving you paid the toll fee in Hungary, and the mistake was not made by you.

Surely EPC would understand? Well, no. It ruled that you were at fault for failing to spot the cashier had got it wrong. Grudgingly it scrapped the demand for 303, but replaced it with a 49 bill  it described this as an 'administrative charge' to alter its records to show the correct registration.

It would have been easy for you to give in to any of these threats, but you told me: 'They are bullying people into paying up. Not me! Twenty years in the RAF has given me a thick skin.'

EPC told me it was just obeying rules set by its Hungarian client. Fine, I replied, so this is a civil debt case, not a criminal matter. Surely it should be considered in a civil court in Hungary? Or, if EPC believed it could sue you in a UK court, then you could name the cashier and the cashier's employer as witnesses.

So I asked EPC to provide their details, and heard back that it was unable to speak on behalf of its client  yet this is exactly what it is doing when it issues demands.

On top of this, EPC is a member of the British Parking Association, the trade body which says its members should accept minor keying errors as long as the driver has paid the parking fee.

I also reminded EPC that paying the DVLA in Swansea to hand over your name and address did not comply with its data protection rules, where motorists' details 'may not be shared with any organisations based outside the UK'.

In a nutshell, the Hungarians lost no money because you'd paid the toll road fee, but they demanded more money because of the mistake made by their own employee. They hired EPC to collect the cash and EPC hired Trace Debt Recovery UK to threaten you. But none of them are a penny richer because you had the guts to stand up to them.

Now let our Government explain why it caves in to every attempt to regulate the sharks who inhabit the car park industry.

My 1,100 gas bill  for an empty house

A.R. writes: My father died in June. I informed British Gas and the electricity supply was put in my name, but the gas account was unchanged for months.

In November, I smelled gas. Cadent Gas came and found the meter was leaking, so they changed it and recorded the readings. British Gas then sent me a big bill.

Incorrect: British Gas said it would cancel the bill, but two weeks later an even bigger demand arrived

Tony Hetherington replies: You told British Gas the house was unoccupied, and it said it would cancel the bill, but two weeks later an even bigger demand arrived.

An engineer confirmed the new meter was faulty. However, the bills kept coming, and by the time you contacted me you were facing demands totalling more than 1,100.

You were asked for a meter reading from when you moved into the house  but you had never moved in.

I asked British Gas to investigate, and staff quickly found that Cadent Gas's meter readings were incorrect.

The readings have now been amended to show that you used no gas at all. British Gas was willing to offer you a goodwill gesture of 100 too, but you declined this, telling me that all you wanted was for the demands to be sorted out, and this has now been done.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Investment trust Scottish Mortgage says its commitment to finding long-term, growth from disruptive companies should pay off as Donald Trump rattles stock markets.

Few companies will be unaffected by changes in the global trading status quo, Scottish Mortgage says, warning the US administration is 'accelerating that moment of reckoning [for the US and global economies]'.

Tom Slater, the trust's investment manager, said: 'Equity markets offer no hiding places in such a landscape. Our task as investors is to seek out businesses with the adaptability to recalibrate and the cultural foundations to withstand disruption.'

In spite of global volatility and fragile confidence, the trust said its holdings have performed well, delivering 'quietly impressive operational results'.

Revealing its annual results this week, Scottish Mortgage delivered a net asset value return of 11.2 per cent for the year ended 31 March. During the period, the firm's share price return was 6 per cent, beating the FTSE All-World Index's 5.5 per cent return.

The results, released on Thursday, do not account for the weeks that have followed Trump's tariff 'liberation day'. After taking a steep tumble after the announcement, Scottish Mortgage shares have since clawed back all the ground lost and are up 4.7 per cent on their 2 April level.

Scottish Mortgage manager Tom Slater warns a 'reckoning' could be approaching Trump's administration

Slater said: 'Just after our financial year end, the United States announced sweeping new tariffs on several of its key trading partners. The reaction from markets was immediate and severe.

He added: 'We are cautious about leaping to conclusions, but we do not view these developments as transitory.

'The underlying imbalances in the US and global economy whether in trade, debt accumulation, inequality or political cohesion are increasingly unsustainable.'

The trust said its discount to NAV had widened to 9 per cent form a previous 4.5 per cent in the financial year just ended, however it says this is in line with the investment trust sector average of 9.1 per cent.

During the year, the trust deployed 132m of new capital in private companies - up from 109.4m during the previous 12 months.

Scottish Mortgage said its most promising holdings share a capacity to absorb shocks and 'reorient without losing momentum'.

Amazon, its says, is now reaping the benefits of its investment into fulfilment, while Shopify has refocused towards enabling merchants by offloading its logistics infrastructure.

Slater said: 'In a world that is becoming more fragmented, more protectionist, and more unpredictable, this kind of organisational flexibility will matter more than ever.'

The trust has also been reorienting itself, shifting its AI holdings to target businesses that can benefit from the adoption of AI technology.

Slater said: 'Few developments this year were more consequential than the rise of generative AI AI is not a distant promise. It is driving real operational leverage today.'

Scottish Mortgage has decided to cut its holding in Nvidia 'significantly', which was its largest investment at the beginning of the financial year.

'This does not reflect diminished respect for the company. It reflects our long-held discipline: we seek asymmetric outcomes. And at the prevailing valuations, the risk/reward looked more balanced than we prefer,' Slater added.

Instead, the trust has added to firms it thinks will benefit from adopting AI into their current operations.

It said both Spotify and Meta were large contributors to its returns over the past year, with the latter having embedded AI further into its business model.

'It has many opportunities to drive its revenue growth today using this technology. Last year the company noted an 8 per cent increase in time spent on Facebook as a result of AI driven content recommendations to its users,' Slater said.

The trust also invested into chipmaker TSMC. It said: 'compute demand will remain structurally strong as AI moves from the training phase to deployment at scale.'
Investment trust JPMorgan European Discovery has been through the wars recently, yet this smaller-companies fund now seems back on track.

Last year, poor performance against its benchmark index and a struggling share price attracted the attention of trust predator Saba Capital which, at one stage, had a 13 per cent stake in the business.

But the board of the stock market-listed fund headed off potential trouble by making changes. While keeping JP Morgan Asset Management as investment managers, it demanded a shake-up of the team.

This meant the departure of long-standing managers Francesco Conte and Edward Greaves, and the arrival of Jules Bloch, Jack Featherby and Jon Ingram.

So far, the change has worked with the 543 million fund having a good past year, delivering total returns of 16 per cent.

To put this figure into perspective, its peer group has generated an equivalent gain of 11 per cent.

Rise: The 543 million fund has had a good past year, delivering total returns of 16%

Just as importantly, Saba seems to have lost interest in the trust, reducing its stake to 4.5 per cent.

Some shareholders also took the opportunity of a tender offer late last year to redeem their holdings on favourable terms.

Bloch insists that the trust's focus on European smaller companies enables him and his two colleagues to make money from an 'exceptional asset class'.

It invests in a universe comprising companies with market capitalisations of between 450 million (380 million) and 10 billion (7.45 billion).

'The trust has no UK stocks,' he says, 'and there are no constraints in terms of its exposure to specific sectors or countries across Continental Europe.

'We are able to discover some hidden gems which many investors haven't heard of before  and in turn are hugely profitable and can grow.'

He adds: 'When companies break through 10 billion we will run with them although we would sell if their market capitalisations approached 15 billion.'

Italian bank Unipol Gruppo, a top-ten fund holding, fits into this category.

Although there are three managers at the trust's helm, they're assisted by heaps of quantitative analysis.

This sifts the trust's 2,600 company-strong universe, discarding un-investible stocks (not liquid enough) and ranking companies according to tried-and-tested investment criteria: value, quality and (share price) momentum.

The top 400 form the pool from which the team select stocks for the trust's portfolio.

Currently, the fund comprises 78 holdings with the biggest position in French technical company SPIE at 3 per cent.

'We work as a team,' says Bloch. 'We sit together, have regular Monday meetings, and if we disagree about the merits of a potential new holding, then we tend to opt for the stake recommended by the least enthused.'

He adds: 'What I love about the companies we invest in is that many are mature businesses which are growing.'

Among them is Puuilo, a Finnish DIY chain. 'It has 45 stores,' he says, 'and it wants to get to 75 by opening a new one every two months. It is well managed and while in growth mode it's keen to return cash to shareholders.'

The trust, formed 35 years ago, changed its name four years ago  from European Smaller Companies.

Although the investment focus is very much on capital growth, it does pay a dividend. In the last full financial year, it distributed income of 10.5p a share  paid half yearly  with the shares currently trading at around 5.37.

The stock market identification code is BMTS0Z3 and the market ticker is JEDT. Annual charges total 0.92 per cent.
A library that straddles the US-Canada border has found itself in the middle of Trump Administration's border debate, and they're not happy about it.

The Haskell Free Library & Opera House is not a border crossing and never has been, but in March, it became involved in a political argument it didn't ask to be in when US President Donald Trump installed new rules restricting Canadian access.

For 121 years, the quaint establishment has proudly sat both in Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead in Quebec, Canada, with the entrance being on the US side.

A clear black line throughout the building shows the divide between the nations, which politically, has grown much larger since Trump took power in late January and began calling the nation the 51st State and trying to enact high tariffs on them.

Come October 1, the establishment will be forced to bar Canadians from entering its main entrance, and instead, make them to sneak through an emergency exit that is now being converted into a real one.

Sylvie Boudreau, the president of the board, told the DailyMail.com: 'We don't know the future, we don't know what's going to happen.'

But she exclusively revealed that the renovations the library must undergo in order to work around Trump's order will cost an estimated $300,000 CAD ($215,600 USD).

In order to accommodate the US' marching orders, the library will have to undergo a huge infrastructure overhaul so its Canadian guests can still access the facility, which is governed under both countries' law.

A library that straddles the US-Canada border has found itself in the middle of Trump Administration's border debate, and they're not happy about it. 'We don't know the future, we don't know what's going to happen,' Sylvie Boudreau, the president of the board, said

For 121 years, the Haskell Library has proudly sat both in Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead in Quebec, Canada, with the entrance being on the US side. Come October 1, the culturally rich establishment will be forced to bar Canadians from entering its main entrance

Right now, Canadians are required to show a library card to enter on the Vermont side, but come October 1, they will have to go through an official port of entry to access the main entrance

The overhaul includes making the side door handicap accessible and creating a separate parking lot for Canadians.

Right now, Canadians are required to show a library card to enter on the Vermont side, but come October 1, they will have to go through an official port of entry to access the main entrance.

Canadians, for more than 120 years, have been able to access the library through a sidewalk leading to the front door - something that both countries peacefully allowed.

But now, signs in the parking lot warn visitors that Canadians could face arrest or prosecution or 'removal from the United States' if they do not have their library card upon entering the Vermont side.

Guests will also have to leave through the same door they came in through, as the library is not a port of entry between the two once-friendly countries.

Besides the astronomical costs, the library faces even more challenges as they have to appease both historical and heritage rules of both Derby Line and Stanstead, meaning the back door needs to be made of oak and other areas require granite.

And before they can do anything, they need approval... after approval... after approval on both sides of the border.

'Everything needs to be in order to these requirements,' Sylvie told the DailyMail.com.

A thick black line shows the divide between countries inside the library

In order to accommodate the US' marching orders under the Trump Administration, the library will have to undergo a huge infrastructure overhaul so its Canadian guests can still access the facility, which is governed under both countries' law.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem unexpectedly visited in January. 'I knew the next step was closing the entrance,' Sylvie said. That didn't stop Noem from joking as she stepped over the line showing the US-Canada border inside that she was stepping into the 51st State

They're hoping to have a design plan 'very, very soon' and aim to have the construction done by the end of July.

'Our partners are trying to do it as fast as possible,' Sylvie said, saying the library will be prioritized when the ball gets rolling.

In order to make the changes coming down from the White House, the library has started a GoFundMe since it does not have the funds to adjust to the new laws.

Sylvie, who worked in customs for 20 years, knew the closure was coming for some time. For years, US Border Patrol wanted to 'restrict and control a little bit more' and after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem unexpectedly visited in January, she knew.

'I knew the next step was closing the entrance,' she said, before remarking that Noem was 'very cordial, to be honest.'

That didn't stop Noem from joking as she stepped over the thick black line showing the US-Canada border inside the library that she was stepping into the 51st State, a volunteer recalled to Stuck in Vermont.

'I worked at the border for 20 years,' Sylvie told the DailyMail.com. 'I understood their reason, but do I agree with them?

'We live in a scary world right now. It's the worst of the worst.'

Right now, Canadians are required to show a library card to enter on the Vermont side, but come October 1, they will have to go through an official port of entry to access the main entrance. Or enter through the back entrance (pictured), which is on the Canadian side

She believes her past working near the border helps the library as authorities respect them since she does understand their job to a degree, but that doesn't mean they're willing to tell her what happens in the fall.

She's asked them if they plan on housing more border patrol agents outside the library and if they plan on asking patrons for identification upon entering and exiting the library.

However, she was quite firm that neither the US or Canadian agents will be allowed inside until invited and doesn't believe this is a political stunt.

'They can't do anything unless they're invited in,' she told the DailyMail.com. 'In the library, they have no jurisdiction.'

Haskell librarians and volunteers will not be checking passports or IDs of patrons.

'It's not up to the employees to check that,' she said. 'That's [border patrol's] job.'

They will be vigilant for crime happening in the library, as the Trump Administration has accused them of drug smuggling, which Sylvie said was false.

In 2018, the library did have a gun smuggling incident where at least two Americans hid weapons inside the bathroom for a Canadian to pick up.

The renovations the library must undergo in order to work around Trump's order will cost an estimated $300,000 CAD ($215,600 USD). In order to accommodate the US' marching orders, it will have to undergo an infrastructure overhaul so its Canadian guests can still access it

Canadians, for more than 120 years, have been able to access the library through a sidewalk leading to the front door (pictured) - something that both countries peacefully allowed

Alexis Vlachos, of Montreal, pleaded guilty to smuggling backpacks full of guns into the North American country on at least two occasions. He was sentenced to 51 months.

During the pandemic, families unable to cross the border to see family used the library as a meet-up place - something that staff had to put an end to.

Since then, the library hasn't been the destination of crime, but 'every little incident gives them reason,' Sylvie said.

And the Haskell library is aware it won't win a war against the US government.

'It cannot be more in the middle of what happens at the border,' she said, referring to the fact that the library quite literally sits on it. 'I don't want to scare myself or my visitors, but we need to be aware.

'It's all new, this is a page in history.'

Despite being affected by the new president's border orders, the locals on both sides have been nothing but supportive.

'People are supporting us,' Sylvie told the DailyMail.com. 'People are rising above division.'

'It cannot be more in the middle of what happens at the border,' she said, referring to the fact that the library quite literally sits on it. 'I don't want to scare myself or my visitors, but we need to be aware. It's all new, this is a page in history'

Many locals are irritated with the new changes, with Vermonters saying they don't like the upcoming changes.

'For the record, speaking on behalf of Vermont where the library is, nobody wants this. This administration doesn't represent anyone or anything that we stand for or believe in at this point and it gets worse day by day,' one person wrote in the comment section under a video about the library.

Jody Stone, the mayor of Stanstead, said the building is uniquely American and Canadian and 'something that everybody's grown up with.'

'The fact that Canadians could enter an American door without having to report at the border was something that was accepted and tolerated,' he told Stuck in Vermont.

'We need to make sure we keep it a friendly border.'

'I think it's awful that people are trying to separate books from anybody,' Beth Radcliffe, who is American but chose to enter on the Canadian side to avoid border agents, told Stuck in Vermont.

'So, trying to divide this library by nationality is just ridiculous.'

The new rules even brought together Stone and Newport Mayor Rich Ufford-Chase to figure out a way to keep the library a unified place.

'It really touched people on both sides of the border,' Stone said. 'If you live in a border community, you know the bonds that we have between our communities and this is a symbol of that.'
A rapper thought he had found suburban paradise when he bought a $1million Florida home - but he had no idea how moving next to the 'neighbor from hell' would consume him.

Miguel Mora, 38, who releases music under the name Spottie Wifi, embraced what he thought would be the quiet life in the Tampa a neighborhood called New Suburb Beautiful, just three miles from the city's downtown.

But within months, his peaceful street turned into the scene of an escalating grudge match with neighbors involving more than 100 visits from police.

It all began on Christmas morning at 2.20am, Mora told DailyMail.com. He said he was disturbed by a loud party at which people next door good be heard making load boasts about a threesome.

He sent a polite text to his neighbor, Ghada Maghrebi, a 47-year-old construction manager, asking her to keep it down. 'Hi Ghada, would you mind plz taking the party inside or lowering the volume,' he texted.

Maghrebi responded, profusely apologizing for the disturbance, claiming it was her roommate and saying it would never happen again before wishing him a 'Merry Christmas'.

But the dispute would only escalate.

What followed was a five-month nightmare that would see more surveillance cameras everywhere, and a feud so intense that Maghrebi ended up losing her job.

Miguel Mora, 38, (pictured) who releases music under the name Spottie Wifi, spent nearly $1million on a tan brick Mediterranean home in Tampa's New Suburb Beautiful

Mora began meticulously documenting the behavior of his neighbor, Ghada Maghrebi (pictured), with surveillance cameras lining the fence

Mora even wrote a song called 'Ghadzilla (Neighbor From Hell)' and released a music video about the feud - along with real footage of his neighbor Maghrebi appearing to be black out drunk in her backyard

Mora began meticulously documenting every moment with surveillance cameras lining the fence, which he said police encouraged him to install.

'I installed a 10 foot pole in the southeast corner of my property with a camera and flood lights looking down so that I could see if my fence was being vandalized.

Mora claimed the harassment continued from there.

'I woke up and found trash dumped in my yard... I looked at my surveillance footage and saw that it was the neighbor that did it,' he said.

'As of today, she stole one of those cameras off my fence,' he told DailyMail.com

Mora even wrote a song called 'Ghadzilla (Neighbor From Hell)' and released a music video about the feud, along with real footage of his neighbor Maghrebi appearing to be passed out drunk in her backyard surrounded by police.

Maghrebi, however, told the Tampa Bay Times that it was Mora who was 'obsessed'.

Police began to make regular visits to the neighborhood dispute, responding to noise complaints that seemed to increase weekly.

'They have trespassed and vandalized and threatened me and my wife,' Mora alleged. 'Her roommates have given me death threats.'

Ghada Maghrebi's mugshot from Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

But within months, his peaceful street turned into the scene of an escalating grudge match with neighbors involving police, trespassing charges and loud late night talks of threesomes

'I have videos of the police telling her that her volume is too loud, her music is too loud, that she's in violation. I have multiple videos of that that I'll send you, and yet she's never received a citation for that.'

Mora provided DailyMail.com with documents from the Tampa Bay police, showing evidence Maghrebi was warned about trespassing and that there is video footage confirming she was 'reaching over his fence with her cellphone recording him'.

He claimed he has 'multiple videos of the police telling her that her volume is too loud, that she's in violation - and yet she's never received a citation'.

One night, an officer told Maghrebi her 'Moscow mule time' was over after finding her passed out in a chair next to a hookah pipe, according to Mora.

'She had a house fire on 420 of last year, and she told the fire department that the fire was caused by her hookah and her electric hot plate as she uses to light the coals for her hookah,' he claimed.

'This is the same hookah and the same electric hot plate... in half a dozen videos that I have of her unconscious with fire and rescue coming and having to hop the fence to wake her up.'

Things took a dramatic turn when Mora posted Maghrebi's DUI mugshot online and created websites mocking her.

A clip of her appearing visibly drunk in front of her home went viral on Worldstar, a popular hip hop social media page, along with her arrest documents.

It all began on Christmas morning at 2.20am, Mora told DailyMail.com. He said he was disturbed by a loud party at which the people next door could be heard making load boasts about a threesome

Court records reviewed by DailyMail.com confirm that Maghrebi was arrested on February 14, 2025, and charged with DUI with a blood alcohol level over 0.15 while accompanied by a minor

Police began to make regular visits to the neighborhood dispute, responding to noise complaints that seemed to increase weekly

What followed was a five-month nightmare that would see more than 100 police visits and a feud so intense it would ultimately cost one of them their job

The majority of the comments on the post defended Maghrebi with many asking: 'It's illegal to be drunk at your own house?'

The Worldstar Instagram caption read: 'Florida DOT Construction Manager #GhadaMaghrebi allegedly got so intoxicated that she called the police on herself.'

'Authorities have reportedly been summoned to her home dozens of times for DUIs, domestic violence, and chaotic disturbances. But the latest incident takes things to another level, Maghrebi was allegedly found passed out drunk in her yard, music blaring, while hosting foreign exchange students.'

Court records reviewed by DailyMail.com confirm that Maghrebi was arrested on February 14, 2025, and charged with DUI with a blood alcohol level over 0.15 while accompanied by a minor.

A two-year-old child was in the vehicle at the time of her arrest, according to the police affidavit.

The majority of the comments on the post defended Maghrebi with many asking: 'It's illegal to be drunk at your own house?'

Another came to her defense, asking: 'How she get a DUI on her own property?'

'I'm confused how she drunk at home! ... Someone educate me,' another asked.

Others responded with empathy: 'She's suffering. Praying for her healing.'

What followed was a five-month nightmare that would see more than 100 police visits, surveillance cameras everywhere, and a feud so intense it would ultimately cost one of them their job

In addition to a recent DUI, Maghrebi has also previously been arrested for child abuse, child neglect and a series of other traffic violations, according to online records

A clip of her appearing visibly drunk in front of her home went viral on the popular social media page Worldstar, along with her arrest documents

'So she got arrested for no reason?' another user chimed in.

After the gossip site picked up the story, Maghrebi's life was suddenly turned upside down.

She ultimately lost her job at the Florida Department of Transportation, after Mora hired a publicist to claim she was 'unfit for public service,' the Tampa Bay Times reported.

The FDOT apparently did not provide a specific reason for her termination.

'Honestly, at first I just wanted her to stop,' Mora said about Maghrebi. 'Now I want her gone.'

Maghrebi hit back, filing harassment claims and complaining about Mora's invasive cameras.

Things escalated when a digital billboard truck driving around town displayed Maghrebi's mugshot.

'Things got a lot worse after she got her Valentine's Day DUI,' Mora told Dailymail.com.

'She got a DUI on Valentine's Day with her toddler in the car.'

In addition to a recent DUI, Maghrebi was arrested and charged for child abuse in 2011, and arrested for child neglect and a series of other traffic violations, according to online records.

Defending the digital billboard truck that displayed her mugshot, he said: 'This truck didn't just coincidentally pull up to her daughter's preschool. This truck, presumably, was a PSA to let other preschool parents know there's a drunk driver picking up their toddler at this preschool.'

Mora has also been accused of battery with water sprinkler.

He claims Maghrebi 'was climbing my fence and trespassing at the time' when he sprayed her with the hose.

For Maghrebi, the dispute has led to weirder and weirder interactions. She told the Tampa Bay Times that a real estate agent mysteriously called about selling her home - which she never inquired about.

A rapper thought he had found suburban paradise when he bought a $1million Florida home - but he no idea how moving next to the 'neighbor from hell' would consume him

Ghada Maghrebi (right) lost her job at the Florida Department of Transportation, which claimed she was 'unfit for public service' due to publicity around her recent arrest

Strange texts from unknown numbers had also started to pour in, including aggressive or threatening remarks like: 'Donate some money to fix your roof you broke b****.'

Her windows began to vibrate with unexplained bass sounds and a device on the fence even released a plume of foul-smelling fog.

Although she was initially against it, Maghrebi has ultimately ended up listing her $1.19million home.

DailyMail.com has contacted Maghrebi for further comment.
A girl almost strangled by her parents in an alleged 'honor killing' has explained how horrific abuse began after her sister was diagnosed with cancer.

Ihsan Ali, 44, and his wife Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali, 40, are charged with second-degree attempted murder and attempted kidnapping after the attack on October 18.

The girl, 17, who wasn't named, ran away from home to Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington, after her parents tried to put her on a plane to Iraq.

'Her father had recently been threatening her with honor killing for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man in another county,' the girl told police.

Shocking video allegedly showed Ihsan on the ground with his daughter in a chokehold outside the school, while classmates desperately tried to free her.

Ihsan and Zahraa both pleaded not guilty and are expected to go on trial in July.

After she was freed and escaped alleged murder attempts by both her parents and fled into the school with her boyfriend, 16, she detailed shocking claims of abuse to cops going back years.

A police report newly released to DailyMail.com of a three-hour interview with the girl on October 24 explained it started while the family lived in Arizona.

The family moved to the US from Iraq when she was in elementary school, and before long her little sister Jenat-Alhuissa Ali was diagnosed with bone cancer.

Ihsan Ali, 44, allegedly tried to strangle his daughter in an 'honor killing' outside her school and was charged with attempted murder

Ihsan did not take the news well, and began 'hitting her and her siblings for the smallest things', Detective Julie Mullen wrote in her report.

The girl said the abuse got 'really bad' when they moved to Washington state to get better healthcare for her sister and be closer to her uncle in Canada.

'She gave an example of her dad stripping her little sister naked and throwing out her clothes because she didn't want to wear certain things,' police wrote.

'Her dad also ripped all of her clothes up and threw them away because he thought they looked bad.'

Jenat-Alhuissa died in hospice care on January 31, 2021, aged nine.

The girl said the family knew Ihsan 'was going to get really violent' whenever he said, 'Turn up the TV, let's talk'.

One time he hit her older sister Norrulhuda (Nora), now 19, 'with the wood end of a shovel on her arms leaving bruises for sneaking away to visit a friend'.

Another time her oldest sister Haneen, now 21, accidently spilled tea on Ihsan after Nora tripped her, so he grabbed the teapot and threw tea on Haneen.

Shocking video allegedly showed Ihsan Ali, 44, on the ground with his daughter in a chokehold, while classmates desperately tried to free her

Ihsan in police bodycam footage sitting a patrol car. His jacket was torn in the struggle and dirt pressed into one side of his face during the attack

Bodycam shows Ihsan Ali in cuffs. His daughter has detailed the alleged abuse her and her siblings suffered

He then 'grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground', leaving a scratch on her head.

But the girl said the worst abuse was reserved for her little brother, who is autistic and Ihsan had little patience for his condition.

One time he force-fed the little boy spaghetti until he choked, then slapped him in the face, according to the report.

'She said the second incident her father took her brother to work with him who in turn 'tasted' the 'blue thing' in the urinal,' the report detailed.

She said her dad got mad at him and 'hurt' her brother with the belt, which left bruises all over his back.

'She said the third time her brother was in the bathroom and he 'pooped' on the floor. She said her dad got upset with him and shoved the poop in his mouth to make him 'taste it'.

The girl also alleged her father threw a watermelon at her brother's back, who then fell over and the fruit 'broke open all over his back'.

A particularly violent episode was few months before the October 18 attack, when Ihsan accused her two cousins, aged 10 and 12, of stealing $10,000 in cash that went missing.

Ihsan allegedly 'beat them with a shower curtain rod and broke the wall' and threw a wooden vase at her grandmother when she tried to intervene.

The girl said she didn't see her cousins being beaten but she 'heard them screaming'.

By the time police arrived, the girl's brave 16-year-old boyfriend and his classmates had fought off Ihsan, saving her life, and adult passerby Josh Wagner restrained him on the ground

Haneen and Nora were allegedly also abusive towards her, including on July 10 last year when they beat her with a stick because she refused to go to a religious function.

'[The girl] said her mom was hitting her with her shoe so she was fighting back and took the shoe away from her mom to defend herself,' Detective Mullen wrote.

'Haneen was mad that she made her mom cry so she started hitting her with a stick. Nora grabbed her and they were trying to take her phone away.

'[The girl] said she went to her room and they took her TV and Xbox away.'

Then on September 15 last year, her sisters allegedly attacked her when her boyfriend came to the house and they wouldn't let her outside to see him.

Instead they pushed and dragged her upstairs and yelled at her 'as to why she could not take a 'no' for an answer'.

She said they tried to get her phone but she hid it, so they locked the doors and windows to her room so she couldn't get outside.

Her boyfriend saw the commotion through the windows and yelled at them until neighbors called the police, but officers left when no one answered the door.

The girls remained trapped in her room until Ihsan got home and broke her phone in half in a rage after seeing the police outside on security footage.

Haneen, 21, is accused of trying to fend off her younger sister's classmates so Zahraa could allegedly choke the girl to death in the 'honor killing'. Haneen has not been charged

Ishan's eldest daughter Haneen, 21, and wife Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali, 40, were also involved in the attack. Zahraa was also charged with attempted murder but Haneen is not charged with a crime

The girl also detailed her father's alleged threats to kill her for dating an American boy, and refusing an arranged marriage.

She said his threats escalated after the September 15 incident and an altercation outside the school between her boyfriend and Zahraa the next day.

Ihsan was so furious he pulled her out of school for the weeks until the October 18 attack.

'If I could kill you, I would kill you, but I can't do that. I can't do that because there's cops and CPS people involved right now because of you,' she claimed he said.

'And I can't touch you because you will immediately go to the school.'

The girl told police Ihsan another time told her he wanted to 'hurt her so badly but there are cops here' but also told her how he would 'kill her no matter what happens' and he 'did not care if anyone saw him'.

'[The girl] said the reason why her father threatened to kill her [was] because she has made 'trouble at home' and he believes she is trying to 'separate the family',' the report alleged.

She said one time her dad caught her using a cell phone and dragged her by the hair, which caused her to 'hit the wall' and hurt her knee.

The girl said her father had already bought plane tickets for her family fly to Iraq for an arranged marriage.

Josh Wagner (pictured), who was driving by the school and stopped to break up what he thought was a school fight, restrained Ishan until police arrived

Fearing she would be forced onto the flight or murdered, the teenager fled to Timberline High School the morning of October 18 and met her boyfriend in class.

Discovering she was gone, her parents went to the boyfriend's home with the police and demanded to know where she was.

The boyfriend's father, Victor Barnes, said he told them he didn't know, but presumed she was at school.

Police reports detailed how the girl spent all day with school officials until they found a safe place for her to stay, but did not offer her transport to get there.

Instead, the teen and her boyfriend went to the bus stop out the front of the school to wait for a local bus that would take her to the accommodation.

Suddenly, just after 2.10pm, Ishan emerged from the truck and confronted them, yelling at his daughter in Arabic.

Barnes said his son told him another student, who spoke Arabic, yelled back, 'She doesn't want to go back with you. Leave her alone.'

Ihsan allegedly responded by punching the boyfriend, who was standing in front of her, sending him 'flying onto the concrete'.

He then allegedly put his daughter in a headlock and tried to choke her to death, saying, 'It's not right you are not supposed to do this'.

Victor Barnes (pictured), the boyfriend's father, explained how the attack unfolded - and the events before it - as told to him by his son

The boyfriend and other students said 'her eyes rolled back, and her arms started flailing' before she went limp and unconscious as they tried to save her.

Her boyfriend managed to subdue him, along with other students, by repeatedly punching Ishan in the head until he was dazed and let go, prosecutors said.

Josh Wagner, who was driving by the school and stopped to break up what he thought was a school fight, then restrained Ishan until police arrived about 2.20pm.

Zahraa then allegedly entered the fray and also tried to choke her daughter to death, but was separated by the growing group of kids despite Haneen's attempts to hold them off.

The girl told police she fled inside with her boyfriend yelling, 'My dad was trying to kill me' as Zahraa allegedly pursued her to the school doors, but wasn't let in.

Police bodycam footage obtain by DailyMail.com showed officers arriving at the school and arresting Ihsan, who demanded to speak to his daughter.

'Just let me tell her to come home - not like that. If I tell her to go home, she will go home,' he insisted, but police ignored him.

Officers then had to deal with Zahraa and Haneen, who were hysterical and only left after Zahraa was allowed to speak to Ihsan.

The girl (pictured) spent four days in St Peter Hospital for treatment after a strangulation exam, having complained of neck, throat, and jaw pain, and had difficulty swallowing

Police did not realize Zahraa also allegedly tried to kill her daughter until four days later, leaving her free to continue looking for her daughter, who was in hiding.

Zahraa drove her youngest children, two boys aged five and three, into Canada and dropped them off with an Ihsan's brother and mother, who lived there.

She then returned to Washington before trying to cross into Canada a second time with a 'notable quantity of baggage' on the night of October 22, but was arrested by customs officers.

The boyfriend suffered a boxer's fracture as he tried to get Ishan off his girlfriend, and bruises and scratches on his head and face.

The girl spent four days in St Peter Hospital for treatment after a strangulation exam, having complained of neck, throat, and jaw pain, and had difficulty swallowing.

Hospital staff listed her injuries as including redness and abrasions to her face, head, shoulders, neck, scalp, and under her chin.

She also had suffered burst blood vessels in her eyes and an eyelid droop.

'She believes she lost consciousness three to four times during the incident,' court documents alleged, adding that at one point she woke up with dirt pressed into her face.

'[The girl] stated that she thought she was going to die.'

These are some of the cuts, welts, and broken bones the teenage girl suffered when her parents allegedly tried to strangle her in an 'honor killing'

The girl's 16-year-old boyfriend in the clothes he was wearing during the attack

Barnes explained that his son started dating the girl in February 2024, and her family kept it a secret from her father, who was often out of town running his business.

'He's an abusive man. So they just didn't tell him because... they may think he'll fly off the handle and do something crazy like he did,' he said.

Ihsan was not initially charged with attempted murder, and released from jail on October 24 on just a $150,000 bond after a hearing in Thurston County Superior Court before Judge John Skinder.

Zahraa faced a different judge - Christopher Lanese - on the same day, but she was charged with attempted murder and held on $500,000 bail.

Almost two weeks after his release, on November 5, second-degree attempted murder was finally added to Ihsan's charges.

Ihsan was re-arrested and his bail raised to $1 million, which was too much for him to pay. He remains in jail, while Zahraa's bond was unchanged.
An Albanian drug lord has revealed the reason he believes British police will never defeat the gangs smuggling cocaine into the UK.

The gangster, who spoke to MailOnline on the condition of anonymity, said a key practice carried out by Albanian mobsters was stopping the police from completely halting their criminal activities in the UK.

Since 1995, Albanians have been important players in the cocaine trade in Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain having well-established networks of supply.

To enter the UK market in late 2000, they used as a motto 'sell cheap and sell more'.

One Albanian in London, who served 17 years in prison as a part of a large organised crime group in the cocaine trade, explained that an arrest didn't necessarily mean the end of the road for that cocaine smuggling cell.

Since 2005, the National Crime Agency, which superseded the Serious Organised Crime Agency, and the Specialized Crime Directorate at Scotland Yard have arrested and successfully convicted hundreds of Albanians in the cocaine trade.

At the end of last year there were almost 1,100 Albanians in jail including feared Balkan mafia kingpins pumping cocaine onto Britain's streets.

As well as controlling the drug trade, Albanian gangsters terrorising the UK have also been convicted of murder, sex offences, money laundering and people smuggling.

Albanian gang member posts a picture of two members wearing red balaclavas emblazoned with the Albanian flag, while one brandishes a machine gun

This golden duck was used in an attempt to smuggle cocaine into the UK from Cali in Colombia

However, it was seized at Stansted Airport, where security staff found it had a sticky pink substance within it that tested positive for cocaine

But as soon as an Albanian organised crime group is smashed, a new one seemingly replaces them.

The gangster told MailOnline this was owing to a practice called 'selling the work'.

He said when a gang member was arrested, if the police fail to obtain his phone, his associates would sell his phone - and the contacts on it - for up to 100,000.

The NCA has for years warned about the 'significant threat' posed by Albanian gangs, infamous for their professionalism and discipline as well as savage tactics to keep competition at bay.

Ruthless Albanian gangs have come to dominate the British drug trade, negotiating directly with Colombian cartels and undercutting criminal rivals to flood Britain's streets with cheap cocaine.

The flow of money back to Albania is a growing concern to the NCA. Its fears have increased so much that last year the agency signed a deal with Albania anti-organised crime bureau SPAK that will see the unit hunt for the assets of Albanians convicted in the UK.

In 2010, just 1.5 per cent of foreign nationals jailed in England and Wales were Albanian.

But by the end of 2024 Albanians made up 10.6 per cent  more than any other nationality.

Images posted on the Instagram page of gangs include a cake made from 50 notes

Albanian gang members are not afraid to show off their ill-gotten gains, often posing with wads of cash

Pictured: Guns found in a courier van driven stopped in Albania that were UK bound

The swelling numbers of Albanians are in part due to large numbers crossing the channel, with a total of 12,685 coming to Britain on small boats in 2022.

The rate has, however, fallen since ministers signed a prisoner transfer agreement with Albania's government in 2022.

Under Rishi Sunak, 200 were deported in exchange for 8million to modernise their prison system.

Labour has vowed to deport foreign criminals faster, saying it 'cannot be right' for taxpayers to foot the bill.

It is thought to cost around 40,000 a year to house each prisoner, suggesting that the UK spends 44million on locking up Albanian criminals.

Even so, the Albanian drug lord boasted about how he and his fellow gangsters came to dominate the cocaine market.

He said: 'We had the highest purity of cocaine per one gram sold on the street. That made existing users to get the drug from us and abandon the existing sellers', he said.

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'That made my organization where I was to become the main suppliers of cocaine for Portsmouth and Bournemouth before being peddled on the streets.

'In 2009/10 we dropped the price for a kilo of cocaine from 35,000 to 30,000.

'That was a game changer for the market at that time'.

NCA last year said the Albanian-linked drugs trade was active across the country in cities, towns and even rural areas.

The agency said Albanian gangs are smuggling 'hundreds of millions' in sterling out of the UK each year.

'Their main objective when they make money is to get it out of the country as soon as possible,' Steve Brocklesby, Intelligence Manager from NCA said.

'They will smuggle it out of the UK into Albania in whatever form it comes'.

'The estimates are that hundreds of millions of pounds UK sterling are leaving the UK and ending up in Albania where it then gets semi-legitimised either into the banking system or to pay for construction work.

'We also know that Albanians will move UK cash into bureau de change the UK and Europe, change for euros and drive that down to Albania.

'We can expect to see an increase in use of crypto and other less regulated investments in the UK, as well as direct investments into the UK in the coming years.'

The NCA has been contacted for comment.
A tiny island nearly 100 miles from Britain with only three pubs, a population of less than a thousand and a ban on cars does not sound like the obvious location for the latest Gen Z revolution.

But for Jade Right, a 23-year-old from Oxfordshire, the idea of swapping island-life for the hustle and bustle of the mainland makes no sense whatsoever.

Surprisingly Jade, and an ever-growing cohort of twenty somethings from England to Australia, are flocking to idyllic and genteel Sark, 80 miles off the coast of Dorset.

Jade told MailOnline: 'I originally came here for a three-week holiday and stayed.

'It's easy to get a job in hospitality, CVs aren't a thing and employees treat you really well.'

The island, much to the amusement of older locals, has started to get attention on social media.

Gen Z has found Sark and clips of young people gushing about its beautiful scenery and unique way of life have started to flood onto TikTok.

But while some 20-somethings living back in the UK are swooning over the island's picturesque coastline - others have moved there with money on their minds.

Residents on Sark don't have to pay income tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax or VAT.

For Jade Right (pictured), a 23-year-old from Oxfordshire, the idea of swapping island-life for the hustle and bustle of the mainland makes no sense whatsoever

Surprisingly, an ever-growing cohort of twenty somethings from England to Australia, are flocking to idyllic and genteel Sark, 80 miles off the coast of Dorset

Pictured: A group of Gen Z islanders that moved to Sark for a slower pace of life

Sark, like the rest of the Channel Islands, is considered a tax-haven where residents don't have to pay income tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax or VAT

Younger residents of Sark have taken to TikTok to share their simpler way of life and encourage others to visit

Their tax form is one-page and takes five minutes to complete, asking residents to pay a property tax proportionate to the size of their home and a small personal capital tax.

These perks attract a range of people to the island, which Jade says is one of the many great things Sark has going for it.

She said: 'You've got people from different backgrounds but everyone's really humble, it's a massive community.

'There's a lot of tax avoiders, Germans come here and buy properties.

'If you travel in winter you don't have to pay tax but it's only 500 for the whole year, 67.10 a month and that's only if you're here in January and February.'

The main industry in Sark is tourism; their season running from March to October so the available jobs on the island, which are plentiful, are in hospitality or trade.

The last time a census was taken of the island was in 2022 and it recorded that the population was 562, doubling during the 'season'.

Several seasonal islanders will take advantage of the tax breaks to save and use their earnings to fund their travels over the winter.

Cerys Lockeridge (pictured), 24, takes advantage of the tax breaks to save and use her earnings to fund their travels over the winter

Pictured: The small supermarket that relies on food shipments from Guernsey

Amie Strode (pictured), 21, initially planned to work in Sark over their tourism 'season' but now wants to stay for the winter

Several young people have taken to social media to 'romanticize' life on Sark - posting videos of themselves starting the day with a swim rather than commuting to an office

Sark has started to make a name for itself on TikTok - helping Gen Z learn all about life on the island

Cerys Lockeridge, 24, has been doing that since graduating from university two years ago and loves island life.

'I was studying Events Management at university in Preston and came to Sark for my placement year in 2021,' she told MailOnline.

'No one had heard of it, the decision was last-minute and random.

'My mum was really worried when I first came here and then she visited and said it was fine.'

And Ms Lockeridge isn't the only Gen Z who has moved to the remote island after graduating.

The 'freer' lifestyle is what attracted Amie Strode, 21, to the island.

The Oxfordshire native visited Sark by herself for two weeks in October and praised the freedom that living on an island brings.

She initially planned to work in Sark over their tourism 'season' but now wants to stay for the winter - having been attracted by the prospect of parties round a bonfire and 'raves' at the harbour.

Josh Davis (pictured), 22, was studying at Manchester University and came from the big city to Sark to visit family

The small community on Sark is all-encompassing, residents can't walk pass each other without stopping for a half an hour chat

Molly McLaughlin, (pictured) 27, is one of five Australians who recently moved to Sark

Some of the younger residents of Sark think the Instagram page - Sark Scenes - has been promoting the island to the rest of the world

The relaxed-approach to job requirements and better work-life balance is attracting Gen Z to the island's picturesque shores

Most Gen Z on the island will tell a similar story, Josh Davis, 22, was studying at Manchester University and came from the big city to Sark to visit family.

Mr Davis, who grew up in Sark says he now finds it 'weird' returning to the city.

While a person walking across the practically empty 5.5 km-long by 2.5 km-wide island can anticipate vast green hills and sweeping views of the ocean, an Aussie accent is probably the last thing they would expect to hear.

But Molly McLaughlin, 27, is one of five Australians who recently moved to Sark and has lived there for five years because of the serenity and beauty the island has to offer.

She said: 'I always thought I wanted to live in a bigger city.

'But when I think about work-life balance and the sense of community there's nowhere else quite like it.

'I can't envision myself getting the quality of life I have now.'

Ms McLaughlin grew up in Australia and trained as a pastry chef moving to the UK seven years ago where she lived in both Yorkshire and London.

'I was living in London and hated how busy it was, cars, smog.

Pictured: Buddy's one of the few restaurants on the island that can be found on 'The Avenue'

Sandra Williams (pictured), 60, works at one of the three pubs or social hubs on the island

Residents regularly compare their lives to an 'Enid Blyton novel', where children have the freedom to explore the great outdoors and time feels slightly warped

The lack of crime is what Elsie Courtney, who works at the island's only tourist office says draws people, especially young women to the island

'So I googled all the chocolate shops and emailed asking for a job and they got back to me and I just went for it and came here.

'On Sark seeing the ocean every day, I can't imagine not living near the ocean now I used to work in a shop in Melbourne with one window and my view was an alleyway.

'It's a good place to save money if you're a young person and you want to make a lot of money quickly.

'For years it's been run by people in their 60s and 70s who didn't understand the power of social media but it will change over time.

'A lot of the older people once they meet someone different to them, if they participate in the community, they're accepted. If you work hard you partake in the community.'

The lack of crime is what Elsie Courtney, 79, who works at the island's only tourist office says draws people, especially young women to the island.

'We've always had a lot of solo female travellers,' she explained.

'Recently, we've seen an increase in single ladies coming.'

Most people will say they feel like they're 'living in the 90s' with the only form of transport being walking, biking, horseback or horse-drawn carriage

The small island is ruled by tradition and its unique history is something locals are proud of

On an island where mortgages aren't available and properties are finite, it is extremely hard to purchase a home

There is no dentist but you can find a small medical centre on the island as well as one doctor and nurse

She added: 'I was born and bred here and we've had a lot of women come here, it's a safe place, it's a safe place for anyone.

'Sark is too small to do anything untoward because they wouldn't get away with it.'

The small community on Sark is all-encompassing, residents can't walk pass each other without stopping for a half an hour chat.

They regularly compare their lives to an 'Enid Blyton novel', where children have the freedom to explore the great outdoors and time feels slightly warped.

Most people will say they feel like they're 'living in the 90s' but with the only form of transport being walking, biking, horseback or horse-drawn carriage, it seems more like the 18th century.

The small island is ruled by tradition and its unique history is something locals are proud of.

In 1565, Helier DeCarteret was granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth I to colonise the island and defend it against pirates and a potential French Invasion.

He became the feudal ruler and Seigneur of Sark, a position that is passed through bloodline and is still implemented on the island.

The main industry in Sark is tourism; their season running from March to October so the available jobs on the island, which are plentiful, are in hospitality or trade

Pictured: The tourist office on Sark, which has noticed an increase in solo female travellers

In 1565, Helier DeCarteret was granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth I to colonise the island and defend it against pirates and a potential French Invasion

Any person looking to build on virgin land has to have been a resident of Sark for 15 years

Mr DeCarteret brought 40 men to live on Sark, dividing the land into 40 tenements, each tenement had a dwelling house, sea access and arable land.

Some smaller parcels of land were later split off from the tenements known as 'freeholds' and until 2021 the island had 40 tenements and 42 'freeholds'.

In 2021, land reform legislation was enacted and a further six 'freeholds' were separated from existing tenements.

The key issue with this system is that on an island where mortgages aren't available and properties are finite, it is extremely hard to purchase a home.

And any person looking to build on virgin land has to have been a resident of Sark for 15 years.

Luckily, newer members of the island say if you move to the island for a job most of them will include accommodation.

Others explained that it takes just one trip to the pub to find a member of the community willing to help you find a place to stay.

Sandra Williams, 60, works at one of the three pubs or social hubs on the island.

Pictured: The medical centre on the island - the closest hospital is in Guernsey

Residents say they use the light from the moon and stars to guide them home at night

Residents say the biggest downside of living in the island is the lack of McDonald's and a 'decent Chinese'

Residents do tend to help each other out when it comes to urgent medical care

'You can go to any pub and see someone you know,' the Sark native told MailOnline.

'We're a bunch of alcoholics clinging to a rock but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

'I like the notion that people say it's like stepping back in time, we're civilised and we have all the mod cons but we're just that little bit different.

'People work hard when you come here it's very seasonal people work long and hard hours, a lot of the social aspect comes from going to the pub, it's where people hang out.'

Despite the community being extremely tight-knit, there is no free welfare system in Sark.

In fact, the nearest hospital is an hour ferry ride away and emergency vehicles are pulled by tractors or horses.

There is no dentist but you can find a small medical centre on the island as well as one doctor and nurse.

While their services are monetary, residents do tend to help each other out when it comes to urgent medical care.

It is that cold-school community driven attitude that every Sarky (the affectionate term for residents) says makes it an amazing place to live

Sark is the world's first ever Dark Sky Island - it has no streetlights

Residents explained that it takes just one trip to the pub (pictured) to find a member of the community willing to help you find a place to stay

Ed Stone (pictured) a 37-year-old accountant who works remotely and spends his free time leading Kayaking, co-steering and star gazing tours, couldn't picture himself anywhere else

'The no vat on alcohol and tobacco is massive benefit because a lot of the revenue goes to the island and the actual island resources,' explained Ms Williams.

Instead, residents say the biggest downside of living in the island is the lack of McDonald's and a 'decent Chinese'.

Those who own boats are expected to travel to Guernsey and pick up orange chicken and noodles for the entire island.

It is that cold-school community driven attitude that every Sarky (the affectionate term for residents) says makes it an amazing place to live.

Ed Stone a 37-year-old accountant who works remotely and spends his free time leading Kayaking, co-steering and star gazing tours, couldn't picture himself anywhere else.

'It's so quiet and peaceful and has an island feel to it and no cars is one of the biggest things that attracted me here in the first place no traffic changes the feel,' he said.

'Work and have a better quality of life/ to me the biggest attraction is the adventure on your doorstep.

'I've never seen people say they can't cope and find it too much.'
New York's super-rich are using private jets like taxis, with trips from Manhattan to relatively close vacation islands like Nantucket soaring, an aviation expert has revealed.

Star Jets International founder Ricky Sitomer told DailyMail.com he has seen an increase in demand for journeys less than 300 miles rise by around 35 percent over the past three years.

'We can provide any jet, any time, anywhere,' the private jet service CEO said.

'We have 1,500 aircraft worldwide which can make use of more than 5,000 airports. Our clients can get an aircraft with as little as two hours' notice.'

Sitomer's frequent short-haul flyers are 'celebrities, athletes, real estate people, and C-level executives', including hedge fund managers and crypto heavyweights.

Sitomer said popular trips include 'helicopters and C-liners to the Hamptons, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Toronto'.

He estimates that these kinds of trips have rocketed in demand by 35 percent over the past three years.

Customers pay thousands of pounds per journey, with a jet for eight people from New York to Nantucket costing around $5,000 each way.

Former stockbroker Ricky Sitomer (pictured) has been providing private jet services since 2001,

Sitomer said popular trips include 'helicopters and C-liners to the Hamptons, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Toronto'

'During the summer you get a lot of short trips,' Sitomer said. 'In winter you get more demand for long-haul trips to the Caribbean.'

'Right now, Europe is heating up,' he added of the long-haul trips.

'Formula 1 is around the corner next week in Monaco, so we have a lot of travel there.

'There's demand for the Greek islands, the south of France, Portugal and Spain. London is always popular.'

Former stockbroker Sitomer has been providing private jet services since 2001, after spotting a gaping hole in the market when personal flights were much less frequent.

'Way back when I started in the industry, I was a private jet flyer and I didn't know where to go for a private aircraft,' he told DailyMail.com.

'The industry has grown and matured tremendously since then. I think there are a lot of operations out there now.'

When it comes to on-board demands, Sitomer said he's had everything from requests for White Castle and KFC to lobster tails and caviar.

Star Jets International founder Ricky Sitomer told DailyMail.com he has seen an increase in demand for journeys less than 300 miles rise by around 35 percent over the past three years. A private jet is seen above

'I've heard it all,' he said, though he didn't divulge any specifics out of respect for the privacy of his high-profile clients.

Of course, private jet travel comes with a cost to the planet as well as the flyer by creating an extraordinary carbon footprint.

Celebrities like Taylor Swift who are well known for their luxury flying habits are frequently criticized for choosing gaz-guzzling jets over commercial travel.

A recent study published in the the academic journal Communications Earth & Environment lays bare the figures showing just how much the rich and famous are relying on private jets for short journeys, and what this means for the planet.

'Flight pattern analysis confirms extensive travel for leisure purposes, and for cultural and political events,' researchers Stefan Gossling, Andreas Humpe, and Jorge Cardoso Leitao wrote in the report published November 2024.

'Emissions increased by 46 percent between 2019 and 2023, with industry expectations of continued strong growth.'

This equates to 15.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or around 2 percent of all global aviation emissions.

Titled 'Private aviation is making a growing contribution to climate change,' the study shows that half of these private flights are shorter than 310 miles - the distance from Manhattan to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Taylor Swift was slammed for using a private jet for each leg of her Eras Tour in Australia

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian travelled 419,532 miles across 39 days, 16 hours, and three minutes in her private jet in 2024, according to a website which tracks celebrity airmiles

Pictured: Elon Musk touching down in Los Angeles in his private jet, which ate up 511,250 gallons of fuel last year. Musk took 320 flights in his luxury Gulfstream G650 in 2024

The celebrity leadership board for private jet usage in 2024 has been revealed

Five percent of these flights are shorter than 30 miles, or the distance between Brooklyn, New York, and New Haven in the neighboring state of Connecticut.

'In many instances, private aviation options appear to replace cars for time gains or convenience,' the study reads.

The authors of the report call for regulation of the sector so that the sky-rocketing emissions it's responsible for can be capped.

Out of all celebrities, retired Google CEO Eric Schmidt racked up the most airmiles of in 2024, with a staggering 612,868 air miles across 495 flights, according to an online tracker.

He was followed by Tesla tsar Elon Musk, who took 320 flights in his luxury Gulfstream G650 last year, and Kim Kardashian who has the same plane and took 236 flights.

And in January Kim's sister Kylie Jenner was slammed after reportedly taking a 15-minute flight from Los Angeles to California's Camarillo Airport.

When asked about the climate impacts of his industry, Sitomer told DailyMail.com: 'We are cognizant of the environment.

'There are a lot of things that are not good for the environment and flying private is an important way to save time, and spend more time with your family and colleagues.'
The mother of a man held at a Thai airport after a packet of cocaine was found in his passport has warned that it can 'happen to anyone' as she claims he was 'set up'.

Michelle Swain, 57, says her family went through hell when they received a call from her son saying he had arrived at Phuket island for his much-anticipated holiday only to be arrested at immigration.

Jamie Louis Swain, then 29, from Stevenage, landed at Phuket International Airport with his brother in May last year but was pulled aside when an immigration officer noticed a small plastic bag with white powder while flicking through his passport to find an empty page to place the visa stamp.

Officers said that Swain reacted with surprise, before he started swearing and shaking, prompting authorities to conduct further inspections and scan his luggage.

He was then arrested the airport, where police tested the substance found in his passport and confirmed it was 0.42 grams of cocaine.

He was said to be facing up to 20 years in jail under Thailand's Narcotics Act, but after a court hearing in July was deported back to the UK after being ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 baht (1,137).

Jamie Swain from Stevenage landed at Phuket International Airport in May last year but was pulled aside when an immigration officer noticed a small plastic bag with white powder while flicking through his passport

Pictured: The bag found by Thai immigration in Jamie's passport at Phuket airport

Speaking to MailOnline, his mother has detailed the traumatic incident, alleging that it was a 'set up'.

Ms Swain said: 'He went there with his brother, got through Heathrow, Dubai, and got to Thailand.

'His brother got through with his passport and then Jamie gave his passport and they said a bag fell out his passport.

'People say it's because I'm his mum I don't believe it, but to get through two airports and the fact it's happened to other people, I just feel that it was a set up.

'I can't help that, I know I'm his mum, and I'm not silly I know they're all doing this and it all goes on, I'm not naive I've got three boys.

'But I just feel like to get through two airports and then suddenly this bag appears, and he'd had his passport out all that time, I just find it very strange.

'It was less than a gram, it was ridiculous, but it was enough, as our solicitor said, to get money out of you.

'As I say, I still think [it was set up], I can't help it, because if that's the case then obviously Heathrow and Dubai airports are not doing their job.

'You get comments saying "oh how stupid", but no, because it wasn't in there. It must have been put in there.

Pictured: Jamie Swain points to the bag after being arrested by Thai authorities at Phuket Airport last year

Pictured: A scan of Jamie's luggage after he was taken into custody by Thai immigration

'I think this happens more than we know.

'He's not the only person it's happened to, I know three people at least where it's been exactly what happened to Jamie. It's just too much of a coincidence.'

Ms Swain told of how when she had been reached out to by people who had reported 'exactly' the same phenomenon of close to empty packets of cocaine being 'found' in their passports.

She said her son was then held in a 'holding cell' for around two days before being let out on bail.

She had flown out to Phuket on the same night he had been detained, and says the 'awful' experience had her worried he would be jailed in a foreign jail.

The mother-of-three said: 'I flew out that night, straight away.

'He was taken to the police station and then he was put in a prison cell. He said it was not in a big prison, because he said he could see the sea from it.

'He was handcuffed in there with a Russian bloke, just them two.

'He said there was no water, no food, nothing. 'He was in there about two days then he got bail.

'It wasn't a high bail amount. He then had to stay there [in Phuket] for three months at least, they wouldn't let him go.

'He had a court date at the end of July and he got fined. He got fined and deported, but they couldn't deport him from there, so he had to go to Bangkok.

Pictured: Thai authorities tested the powder and it came back positive for cocaine

'So he had to get a flight from Phuket to Bangkok, and he was put in Bangkok prison for a couple of days.

'It wasn't very nice in there from what he said. It wasn't good. He said everyone in the prison were more interested in his story as a westerner, and they said to him "you're not going to get out of here". They said they had been there for years.

'He had a square mat and that's where he sort of stayed. I don't know how many were in [the cell], but he said there were separate cells like Somalians and different religions, and they said "if you misbehave you go in there, and you don't want to go in there".

'There were fights in there.

'But he managed to get through it. He flew back at the beginning of August.'

While initial reports said the 29-year-old could be facing up to 20 years behind bars, he was released on bail for the equivalent of 250, and his fine came up to just over 1,000.

The outcome came as a relief to Ms Swain, who said solicitors had initially warned the court could hand a sentence of six months to a year in jail.

Under Thailand's Narcotics Act, importing cocaine into the country carries a maximum jail term of 20 years to life and a fine of 43,000 to 108,000 (2,000,000  5,000,000 Baht).

Cocaine possession is punishable with up to five years or a fine not exceeding 2,000 (100,000 Baht) or both.

Warning others, she said while the country and the people are 'beautiful' and 'friendly', travellers should be careful.

She said: 'It was just meant to be a nice holiday. It could happen to any young boys going out there. There's nothing you can do, you can be careful, but if that happens there's nothing you can do about it.

'When I see similar stories now, I do feel for the family.

'Until you're in that situation, everyone comments "oh you do the crime you do the time" but when you're in that situation it's awful.

'It's worrying, especially in another country, you don't speak Thai.

'Luckily our solicitor spoke English. Otherwise I don't know what we would have done.

'I don't know what you do if you have no money or have no one out there.

'It is frightening for the youngsters, it's happening all the time out there.

'It was just an awful experience, I wouldn't want to put anyone ever through that. I would never wish it on anyone.

'The worry alone was terrible.

'It's a shame he had to go through that really, it can ruin people's lives. I don't think they see the damage it can do to young boys' lives.'
Nestled in the lush, wooded hills of River Falls in South Carolina, a six-acre property could easily be mistaken for a peaceful escape from the world.

But last week, the quiet landscape became the scene of a grim excavation, as cadaver dogs and forensic teams searched for signs of Brooke Leigh Henson - a 20-year-old woman who vanished after a house party in 1999.

On May 16, investigators executed a search warrant at the rural property, owned by a man police say was once friends with Henson.

Cadaver dogs alerted to a patch of land behind the home, raising hopes that a long-awaited breakthrough was near. A vehicle was towed. Forensics arrived.

For a moment, it looked like the case might finally crack.

But by late afternoon, that hope evaporated. The discovery turned out to be a pet grave.

'This is the only cold case we have in Travelers Rest,' Police Chief Ben Ford told Fox Carolina, underscoring the weight the disappearance still carries in the small South Carolina town with a population of around 9,000 people.

The property owner was arrested on unrelated charges and is currently being questioned, though he has not been named a person of interest.

Brooke Leigh Henson vanished in 1999 after leaving a party at her home in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, and has never been seen since

On May 16, 2025, police searched a six-acre property in River Falls after cadaver dogs alerted to a potential burial site, but the discovery turned out to be a pet grave

Investigators executed a search warrant at the rural property, owned by a man police say was once friends with Henson

Cadaver dogs alerted to a patch of land behind the home, raising hopes that a long-awaited breakthrough was near

The latest search is just one of several prompted by a renewed effort launched in April.

A new task force - made up of officers from the Travelers Rest Police Department, Mauldin Police, and the Greenville County Sheriff's Office - has already unearthed new leads and interviewed several individuals connected to Henson's final hours.

Their mission: to find out what really happened to Henson the night she vanished more than 25 years ago.

On July 3, 1999, Brooke, 20, was throwing a small party at her home on Henderson Drive while her parents were out at a concert.

The family says she was sitting on her front porch when her parents pulled into the driveway. She left the home on foot shortly after and was never seen again.

She reportedly left to buy cigarettes at 2am, even though the store was closed. It is thought an argument with her boyfriend, Rickey Shaun Shirley, may have sparked her sudden departure.

For years he remained the only serious person of interest in the case.

Shirley had a criminal record and refused to cooperate with police.

Cadaver dogs had alerted to a patch of land behind the home, raising hopes that a long-awaited breakthrough was near, but it ended up being a pet grave

On July 3, 1999, Brooke, 20, was throwing a small party at her home on Henderson Drive while her parents were out at a concert. Her family last saw her sitting on the front porch of their house.

But in 2019, he died of what was officially ruled an accidental drug overdose in his mother's house. Chief Ford, however, believes there may have been more to it.

At the time of Shirley's death, investigators were actively pursuing new leads at Henson's childhood home - the same place she was last seen.

Word of developments had spread quickly, and according to one of Shirley's friends, he was preparing to come forward with everything he knew.

Shirley allegedly told the friend he planned to speak with police and clear his name. But before he could talk, he was found dead in his mother's home from an overdose.

For years, the working theory was that Henson disappeared from her front porch. But Chief Ford says new witness statements have changed that timeline.

'We have statements that say she was seen at other parties in another part of the county that night,' Ford told FITS News in December 2023.

'So we believe that even though she walked away from her residence, someone picked her up and she continued to go to other parties.'

Those parties, he believes, were in River Falls - the same quiet corner of the county now at the center of the latest search efforts.

The property owner was arrested (above) on unrelated charges and is currently being questioned, though he has not been named a person of interest

The property owner was seen being put into a police car by officers

'My theory is she never made it through the night and she's buried somewhere in River Falls or the water treatment plant at Travelers Rest,' Ford added.

Though Hensons cause of death is unknown, rumors have long pointed to the local 27-acre water treatment plant as her burial site - a vast area that remains difficult to search without more precise leads.

In 2006 Henson's identity was used by a con artist. A woman using Hensons name applied for a job. But when the prospective employer searched her name online, it came up on a national missing persons list and authorities were called.

What followed was a heartbreaking turn for Hensons family, who for a moment believed she could still be alive.

The woman claiming to be Henson was actually Esther Reed, a Montana native who had gone missing herself in 1999.

In a desperate attempt to escape her troubled past, Reed adopted new identities and assumed the lives of others including Brookes.

She used the stolen name to enroll at Columbia University and rack up thousands in student loans.

While Henson's cause of death remains unknown, rumors have long swirled that her body was hidden at the local water treatment plant - an area spanning roughly 27 acres

In 2006, a job applicant using Brooke Hensons name was exposed as Esther Reed (pictured) - a woman who had gone missing in 1999 - briefly giving Hensons family false hope she was still alive

'This is the only cold case we have in Travelers Rest,' said Police Chief Ben Ford

When investigators confronted Reed, she doubled down, insisting she was Henson. But when asked to take a DNA test, she fled - sparking a nationwide manhunt.

Reeds ability to evade capture for years left some wondering if she was a spy.

Others speculated she might have had some connection to Hensons original disappearance.

But in all the fascination with Reed, the real girl behind the stolen identity - the one whose face appeared on missing posters - was often lost in the shuffle.

Still, the search continues.

A reward is being offered for credible, actionable information that leads to Brooke Henson's whereabouts or helps solve her disappearance.
Laura Loomer insists her 'special relationship' with the President is back on track.

The right-wing firebrand sparked rumors of a MAGA mutiny when she publicly slammed Donald Trump for accepting a $400 million jet from Qatar.

But the feud fizzled after the pair held informal clear-the-air talks, Loomer tells DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

'I don't work for the President. I do my own thing but I'm not turning against the President. I get along very well with him,' she says.

'I love Trump, He's my favorite person. I fully support him.'

Loomer, 32, has emerged as one the President's fiercest defenders and an influential voice in the America First movement.

But in a rare split from the White House, she took to X on May 11 to trash Trump's decision to accept the plane from people she called 'jihadists in suits'.

'The Qataris fund the same Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah who have murdered US Service Members,' Loomer fumed to her 1.6 million followers.

Polarizing podcaster Laura Loomer spoke to DailyMail.com to set the record straight on the rumors that her relationship with Donald Trump was on the outs after she took to X to criticize his controversial decision to accept a $400M private jet as a gift from the Qatari royal family

Loomer, who's known for her controversial takes on the Muslim community, said her 'special relationship' with the President wasn't in shambles and that he was her 'favorite person'

The post that sparked the sordid rumors surrounding the political duo addressed Loomer's concerns about the 'stain on the admin' due to accepting the private jet from 'jihadists in suits' - although she did emphasize that despite this, she would 'take a bullet for Trump'

'The same proxies that have worked with the Mexican cartels to get jihadists across our border.

'This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true.'

It wasn't the first time the host of the twice-weekly Loomer Unleashed podcast had unloaded on the Trump administration in recent weeks.

She ridiculed Casey Means, the President's nominee for Surgeon General, as a 'woman who literally talks to trees'.

Attorney General Pam Bondi was branded a liar and ripped for slow walking the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

But Loomer isn't having any talk of a rift with Commander-in-Chief  telling DailyMail.com it's all 'fake news'.

She's even softened her stance on the freebie plane that Trump will use as a stopgap while he waits for Boeing to build the next generation fleet of Air Force One jets.

'I did have a conversation with the President, and I now realize that I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions,' Loomer says.

The president was gifted a $400million Boeing 747 from the Qatari royal family, which was sat on the tarmac at Palm Beach International Airport on February 15, 2025

Loomer's big gripe with the gift was her disdain for Qatar, which has funded terror groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas - the same groups she says are responsible for the deaths of US soldiers

The controversial MAGA star told DailyMail.com her conversation with Trump changed her perspective on the private jet and that she shouldn't have 'jumped to conclusions'

'I know that he is not going to do anything that's going to jeopardize our national security.

'I apologized for giving the press more ammunition to attack him. I regret any kind of division that my public criticism caused.

'The President has been very good to me. He's been a loyal friend. I do feel a bit guilty about it.'

Loomer has gained notoriety as a right-wing activist, known for provocative stunts like chaining herself to Twitter's headquarters in 2018 after she was banned from the site over hate speech.

Her antics date back to college when she was kicked out of Florida's Barry University for filming officials to expose their supposed liberal bias.

She launched similar undercover ops targeting Hillary Clinton and US Representative Rashida Tlaib for Project Veritas.

Loomer was banned from an array of media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for alleged speech violations.

But her combustible rhetoric  including 9/11 conspiracy theories and blistering attacks on Democrats, immigrants and Islam  has nonetheless attracted a massive following on Rumble and X, following her reinstatement under Elon Musk.

Loomer is close to members of the Trump family including Donald Trump Jr. and his ex-fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, since she endeared herself to the President by taking shots at his GOP primary opponent Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

Loomer's close relationship with Trump hasn't got her an official role in his administration, but her steadfast loyalty to the President has provided her enough influence to have a hand in the ousting of National Security Advisor Mike Walz

Loomer ran for Congress twice in Florida in 2020 and 2022  failing on both occasions  despite endorsements from MAGA heavyweights Trump, Matt Gaetz and Roger Stone

'Even if she doesn't win, she wins. This is just a start for her. She'll go on to bigger and better things,' Stone predicted in 2020.

The wily GOP operative was vindicated when Loomer endeared herself to Trump by taking potshots at his primary opponent, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, ahead of the 2024 election.

She has no official role in the administration but has flitted in and out of Trump's inner circle ever since and was reportedly instrumental in his decision to oust National Security Advisor Mike Walz.

'I've said before that it would be an honor to serve the President in an official capacity,' Loomer says.

'Even if I am never given the opportunity to work in the administration, I will always be a loyal supporter of President Trump and a champion of his policies.'

There's been speculation Loomer could be plotting a potential run at the Presidency herself in 2028.

She hasn't endorsed the clear frontrunner for the GOP ticket, US Vice President JD Vance  insisting it's 'too soon to say'.

Loomer ran for Congress twice in Florida in 2020 and 2022  failing on both occasions  despite endorsements from MAGA heavyweights including Roger Stone

Loomer when she ran for Congress in Florida's 21st district in 2020. The MAGA star shot down the rumor that she would run for president in 2028 as its a 'stressful, thankless job'

But she tells DailyMail.com: 'I have no desire to be President. Honestly, I don't know why anyone would want that job.

'It's such a stressful, thankless job. God bless Donald Trump for putting his life on the sidelines to do that, but I have no desire to run for office again.'

Loomer adds: 'I ran for office twice, and I think I did quite well despite being completely banned on social media.

'In March 2023 I had a private meeting with (White House Chief of Staff) Susie Wiles and President Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

'He asked me if I wanted to run again and presented several districts to me that he thought I could win with his support.

'I said, no. I told him I was more focused on seeing him get back into the White House and getting our country back on track.'
Noughties Indie rockers The Libertines have a song called up 'Up The Bracket' and it begins with a jarring, almost in-human gurgling sound before the thumping guitar kicks in.

The words actually being vomitted out in this guttural opening salvo are 'Get out of it'.

I used to be convinced that only a tortured poet like Peter Doherty could ever annunciate a sound with such startling desperation.

That was until last week, when I spent a long, lonely and claustrophobic night on a houseboat in London's trendy Little Venice hearing sounds and experiencing fragments of sensations that chilled my soul to the core.

Houseboats are very much the vogue in our cramped and over-populated cities, but they are hardly a new property trend.

People have lived on them for years, mostly along stretches of canals in places like Birmingham and London, but also on some rural areas of The Thames.

But the number of boat dwellers in the capital has reached a record high, with at least 10,000 people currently calling its waterways home.

The surge in popularity for riverboats has also extended across the UK, where the amount of floating homes has risen by 6 per cent in the last decade, reaching a total of 34,573.

They might look small and cramped but houseboats have become one of the trendiest ways to live in London

But was our reporter convinced after he spent the night on one in West London?

Traditionally, the sort of person to live on a houseboat is a hardy but bohemian type.

A bit of an outsider who doesn't mind cooking everything on an electric stove or carrying their waste to a public toilet in the p****** rain.

We all know the sort, and honestly, good luck to them, it's just not a lifestyle 99 per cent of the country want to lead.

That should, and used, to be all there was to say on the matter - so why am I, a man in his late-twenties living in London, constantly being told I need to grow up and go live on a houseboat?

Irritatingly, the sort of trendy places I am forced to hang out with my friends these days are nearly always situated on some previously god-forsaken and now overly-gentrified stretch of canal where the pints cost 7.80 and you have to sit on a crate.

If this wasn't bad enough, I'm also now at the stage of life where some of my more successful (*privileged) friends are starting to settle down with their partners and look for properties together.

It should be obvious to you by now dear reader, that not only am I clinically single but also atrocious with money - the only real relationship in my life being a toxic one with disposable vapes that really should have seen me referred to addiction services by now.

And of course my friends are aware of this and so after the awkward silences we share whilst canal watching, following their latest attempt to make me justify my life, one question often bobs to the surface.

'Have you considered getting a houseboat? The mortages are really cheap and it's basically a property hack. Loads of my mates have done it!'

Mmmmhmmm. Yes, your friends, my friends, we're all living on houseboats in this hellish, never-ending water world.

But why? Well, lets find out from the source shall we?

As we all know, people who live on houseboats love nothing more than telling everyone they know they live on a houseboat. It's like a drug to them. They crave it in that utterly desperate way and we all have to suffer as a result.

And after they've told everyone they've ever met, some people like to take it one step further and tell, your friend and mine, the media.

You might think 27-year-old El Sutcliffe isn't a stereotypical houseboat dweller, but she and others like her are now, I would argue at least, peak boaters.

The firefighter and TikTok enthusiast recently spoke about her decision to live along the canals in the West Midlands on a 15,750, 49ft narrowboat.

'It just seemed like a no-brainer and I don't have any regrets, I think the housing market is all a bit mad', she exclaimed, 'I could never afford to live where I do if I didn't live on a boat.

'It had no flooring, it had sunk previously, it was all very questionable  but I thought 'what have I got to lose?'

You might think 27-year-old El Sutcliffe isn't a stereotypical houseboat dweller but many more young people like her are taking the plunge

Since buying the boat in May 2024, El says she has spent over 10,000 on renovations

Since buying the boat in May 2024, El says she has spent over 10,000 on renovations. These included essentials like a log burner, a fully-equipped kitchen with fridge, sink, and gas cooker.

So over 25,000 in the hole then? But, she has 'zero regrets.'

She continued: 'I could have got a one-bed flat in quite a rough part of Birmingham where I would have had to pay ground rent, maintenance fees and things like that.

'I'd always liked the idea of living on the boat but I was running out of time, I needed to figure something out.

'I can't see myself getting rid of it  it would absolutely break my heart because we've built it from the ground up.'

She says that once the renovations are complete, she expects to pay between 550 each month on mooring and upkeep costs - which is cheap, so where's the downside?

Well, listen El, if it works for you it works for you, but I can still think of a few downsides.

A former colleague of mine used to live on a houseboat, having bought it cheap with his girlfriend at the peak of their love

After she left him, he was stuck working on it during the pandemic with an internet dongle and an electric heater

A former colleague of mine used to live on a houseboat, having bought it cheap with his girlfriend at the peak of their love.

They probably dreamed of all the romantic nights they'd spend on the loch as their late-twenties rolled into their thirties. But time and perhaps the claustrophobic nature of their relationship and squat (*houseboat) did for them.

She split up with him and moved up north with her new boyfriend just before Covid. He stayed on the houseboat (which he only owned half off) - working from home during the pandemic with an internet dongle and an electric heater.

I left that job over three years ago but can still picture him in the office like it was yesterday. He would sit hunched over his monitor in a dirty wool sweater with a palpable sadness in his eyes.

His pink chapped hands clawing at the keyboard and cradling his coffee mug for warmth. He also stank.

I hope he is doing OK now.

We've started rambling here, but the reason we have is that my editor asked me to interview someone about a houseboat. Naturally, I refused for the reasons outlined above.

Eventually, we came to a compromise.

So, this is what happened when I spent one night living with the enemy on one of London's trendiest waterways.

My home for the night is a charming enough vessel which I found advertised on Airbnb for the reasonable price of 160-a-night.

It sleeps four, with two in the double bed at the back of the boat (starboard?), and another two presumably sleeping uncomfortably on the sofa bed which is crammed in by the door and log burner at the front (port?).

My home for the night is a charming enough vessel which I found advertised on Airbnb for the reasonable price of 160-a-night

A man in a fetching pink shirt busies himself with the furnace with a few expert touches

He also didn't struggle with filling up the water - what a pro!

My host is incredibly proud of it anyway, and in fairness, it is well equipped and he seems amenable, even offering me a quick one-hour tour along the river before the night begins.

As you would expect, it is incredibly cramped inside the boat, it essentially being a caravan on water.

After arriving, I busied myself making a cup of coffee navigating the lighter hob with aplomb and only momentarily being overwhelmed by the noxious smell of the leaking gas.

As I worked I kept smacking my elbows against the shelves and windows of the kitchen area which was naturally irritating.

But, if you did actually live here (shudder) I can imagine you would eventually get used to the cramped quarters and adapt your movements.

What was more interesting, and perhaps something you'd never really get a hold on, was the fact the boat did rock from side to side as I moved around and it was hit from the side by waves and disturbances in the fetid canal.

I take my coffee outside and sit for a while on the small deck area at the front of the boat. I watch the joggers and cyclists go about their business and hear the sounds of birds chirping.

Across the canal, trendy diners are eating gourmet Italian in a pop-up cafe.

In the distance, I hear the throng of the Westway, that ol' familiar of London's heaving road network, carrying on with its solemn duty by selflessly ferrying commuters home to places like Reading and Slough.

I sink back and close my eyes, allowing myself the space and time to relax into my surroundings. I feel peaceful, like I'm perhaps enjoying this after all? I open my eyes again and see a teenager staring listlessly at me on the opposite bank.

He's staring at me intently, but it's not boredom or envy I'm reading in his sullen eyes. No, I've seen that look before, in the faces of exasperated bus drivers, in the gaze of triumphant traffic wardens, in my own mirror after a bad weekend.

Yes. the look he's giving me is one of pure hatred. He thinks I own a houseboat, and he's giving me that self-same look that screams a familiar mantra. 'Bore off, mate.'

I rush back into the boat and slam shut the makeshift doors vowing not to leave it again until darkness offers me the sweet release of personal brand anonymity.

There were elements of the night which were genuinely peaceful I suppose

From my spot, I was privileged to be able to hear the friendly hum of the Westway

It wasn't enough to convince me that living along the canal is a reasonable solution to the housing crisis

After a disappointing meal in one of the aforementioned trendy riverside haunts (no change from 30 for a burger and drink) I am ready for bed.

The canal boat is baking when I return having basked in the sun all day. It is interminable but I'm beyond caring.

I peel off my drenched clothes and make use of the shower, which has a surprisingly firm water pressure even if it is freezing cold. The cramped apparatus floods the bathroom though so my feet are soggy when I return to my small and hot bed.

As the water dries on my unhappy feet, I drift into a restless sleep.

At 3am, I awake with a jolt. I can hear something outside in the darkness, a low, groaning sound interspersed with cackling and the clink of bottles.

I peak out through the curtains and my worse fears are confirmed. The undesirables are having a substance party underneath the bridge.

With neighbours like these, who needs friends?
Building works on Cate Blanchett's California-style mansion on the Cornish coast have sparked years of commentary and criticism from locals.

But as new pictures show the two-year-long construction of the actress's five-bed eco-home is nearing completion, MailOnline can reveal her neighbour has secured planning permission to build two luxury homes right next door. They have also put the site up for sale for 2.3million.

Cornwall Council has given the go-ahead for the existing property on the site in Mawgan Porth to be demolished and replaced with two four-bedroom homes.

This was despite the local authority concluding it was in a 'sensitive location due to its proximity to the coastline and its elevated position which means it can be seen from various vantage points in Mawgan Porth'.

The ultra-modern homes boast luxuries including a private sauna and spa, ensuite bedrooms, games areas and wrap around balconies offering stunning sea views.

They also boast environmental credentials with eco friendly green roofs, solar panels, ground or air source heat pumps and locally sourced stone and timber.

The application attracted one local objection from a resident who commented: 'These are two sizeable four bedroomed houses.

'One must assume therefore that each will accommodate the equivalent of four couples i.e. eight cars will need to be parked on that land.

New pictures show the two-year-long construction of Cate Blanchett's five-bed luxury eco home in the seaside village of Mawgan Porth is gradually nearing completion

Cate's neighbour has secured planning permission to build two luxury homes right next door. Pictured: The plans for the properties

Cate Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton bought the former cottage in December 2020

'The plans, as shown, do not demonstrate this level of parking and, in reality, the landscaping will be given over to car-parking.

'The site is a very prominent one, sloping as it does towards the village. If two houses on this scale are allowed, the plot will resemble a carpark and the outlook of the village will be worse as a result.'

Applicants Chris and Fiona Heritage had previously tried to replace the bungalow with a home double its size but councillors voted down the 2019 application.

Ms Blanchett, 56, and her husband, playwright Andrew Upton, 59, did not comment on the application.

The Lord of the Rings actress and Mr Upton bought and demolished a cottage in the village in 2020 to make way for their luxury eco-home.

Their arrival led to an influx of celebrities visiting the village located a few miles along the coast from Newquay.

Stars including David Beckham, Kate Winslet, Noel Gallagher, Jason Statham and Jamie Dornan have been spotted in the village in recent years.

While movie actors Imogen Stubbs, Jason Momoa, Stanley Tucci and Rosie Huntingdon-Whitely have all been linked with the area.

But building works quickly led to rocky relations with locals who complained their picturesque area had been 'ruined' and turned into a 'building site' with prices being hiked to 'unaffordable levels.

A-list actress Cate Blanchett's clifftop house is pictured earlier this year

The bizarre home, which looks like a shipping container is reportedly costing 5million

A new home being built in Mawgan Porth, Cornwall, where a host of celebrities have moved

Cate later applied to turn an additional plot of land into a driveway and parking for the home, leading to accusations of a 'blatant land grab'.

And a holiday home owner accused her of having a 'total disregard' for neighbours with the renovations.

Karen Burgess, who owns a nearby holiday let, alleged that 'noise' from the construction has 'destroyed' the holidays of her guests across the past year.

She claimed to have lost 60,000 in rental revenue due to the construction.

Ms Burgess said she is still having to advertise her holiday home as being impacted by construction noise, but architect firm Watershedd insisted the noise is coming from another development.

The company told Cornwall Live: 'She cannot be referring to our clients' property where there were no noisy works during the peak holiday period last year, once again, our clients' property has been mistaken for other works going on in Mawgan Porth.'

However, locals previously told MailOnline the demand for a chance to rub shoulders with celebrities had got so out of hand her mother has had people walk by her house and offer 2 million for it.

NHS worker Kim Emmett, who has lived in the village since 1987, said: 'It has always been a popular holiday destination as it's between Newquay and Padstow and near a National Trust hotspot.

'It's become more and more popular every year. The locals have sold up here and the properties have been taken down and there's modern complex, cube-shaped, Californian-style buildings instead of your 1930s bungalows.

A-list actress Cate Blanchett's clifftop house (left, glass-fronted) is nearing completion at Wamgan Porth

Residents of the village have become increasingly frustrated by the constant building work

'There's a lot of posh cubed modern buildings. Those properties are now going for over a million. You can't buy a property here for under one million. Not one local can afford to buy anything here.'

Another upshot of the vast expanse of second homes is that in winter Mawgan Porth becomes a ghost town.

A local said this week: 'I've barely seen another soul walking around, it would be spooky if we weren't so used to it.

'In summer you can barely move for people, it does bring the year-rounders closer together and there's a nice little community and we support local businesses as much as we can but having such a stark difference is not ideal.'

Former military medic Emma Keelan, 45, who now works as a dog walker lived in Mawgan Porth for almost 20 years but was forced out of the village and into temporary accommodation during Covid when her landlord decided to turn the rental property into a holiday let.

She said: 'It's unbelievable how all these celebrities and wealthy people behave. How much is enough? They've bought the houses for crazy amounts of money but they just want more and more.

'If they get permission for this what next? Normal people already can't afford to live here any more, look how it is in the winter, it's a ghost town.

Cate was accused by a neighbour of ruining family holidays with construction noise from her five-bed eco home

Innocent smoothie co-founders Richard Reed and Jon Wright have also built a house in the small village

'When I first moved here in 2002 there was livestock grazing the fields on that clifftop, now there's just big houses that are empty for most of the year.

'I'm sorry but I get so emotional about this.'

Another resident who has lived in Mawgan Porth for 18 years but didn't want to be named said: 'The whole situation with that road is a mess. It's the lorries coming up and down, it's a never ending building site.

'It's pretty grim to be honest. In the time I've been here it's changed 100%. It's not on really, especially when she doesn't live here year round.

'None of them live here full-time but it's a non-stop building site, it's not really fair to the people that do.

'Cate does support the community, her and her family go to the surf school and they're actually really sound people.

'But how much more do you need? She got permission for what she got but now wants more.

'It's grim but I can't see this situation ever stopping in our lifetime.'
A 13-year-old boy influenced by corrosive extreme pornography horrifically abused two schoolgirls, a court has heard.

Prosecutors told how the boy had forced the girls, also aged just 13 and 14, into bondage and strangled them during sex which they did not consent to.

The boy, who had been introduced to BDSM pornography at the age of 12, had been looking online for extreme bondage, domination and anal sex with young schoolgirls.

Despite admitting 22 sexual offences, the defendant, now a man aged 19 - who cannot be identified to protect the anonymity of his victims - has been spared jail by a judge, who warned of the destructive influence of such material.

It comes after the UK was thrown into a panic about the misogynist and highly sexualised attitudes of young children following the release of Stephen Grahams four-part Netflix drama Adolescence.

In the show, a 13-year-old schoolboy describes how he receives nude pictures of a girl in his year who he later murders, after being exposed to extreme online content.

Reading Crown Court heard how, in March 2021, the first victim to come forward disclosed to a member of staff at her school in Maidenhead, Berks., that she had been physically and sexually abused by the boy for the last five months, the court heard.

Shaun Esprit, prosecuting, said the girl, aged 14 at the time, told police the boy would hold her down by her stomach or her arms to abuse her. She described how he would grab her breasts and pull her around aggressively.

A 13-year-old boy influenced by corrosive extreme pornography horrifically abused two schoolgirls, Reading Crown Court heard

The girl said the boy, also aged 14 at the time, would pick up condoms and say to her come on, lets have sex.

She felt she was too young, but the defendant would get angry, Mr Esprit told a judge. Most of the time she would say no, but she learned this would have no effect.

The prosecutions allegation was that [the first victim] was asleep on more than one occasion when the defendant had penetrative vaginal sexual intercourse with her, Mr Esprit said.

The girl described how the boy would tie her up with ropes, which she said were like shoe laces, which he already had in his bedroom.

Over the course of the relationship, the defendant encouraged [the first victim] to send him photos of her in an increasingly undressed state, Mr Esprit said.

The girl also disclosed how the boy had tried to continue the abuse while they were at school together, often in full view of other pupils.

In the canteen, she would be sat with friends and he would put his hand up her skirt or her top, he would touch her between her legs, Mr Esprit explained. She said he did it a lot even though there were people around, she would push him off, she always did.

Mr Esprit told about the manipulative and abusive methods the boy would use to keep the girl in a relationship with him, stating he regularly threatened to cut himself, kill himself or hurt her.

He also put hot plates on her to burn her stomach, put his fingers down her throat to force her to be sick and gave her a razor blade so she could cut herself, the court heard.

His mum was around when she was screaming, telling him to stop, but his mum could not do anything, Mr Esprit told the court.

When they broke up, he told [the first victim] he would kidnap and kill her, her family and friends, the prosecutor added. He spoke about killing her and keeping her body.

Mr Esprit told the court: [The first victim] recalled an occasion when the defendant covered a flannel with a chemical of some kind and placed it over her mouth. She felt dizzy and sick and thinks she may have passed out.

Police investigating the first set of allegations discovered the defendant had previously been in a relationship with another girl, when both of them were aged 13.

When they interviewed that second victim, she described how, around a month into the relationship, whenever she went to the boys home something sexual had happened.

She refused initially, Mr Esprit explained. The defendant would gent very angry, punching the bedroom walls and saying she did not love him. Because she wanted to please the defendant, she usually gave in and allowed it to happen.

The second victim told police they had sex more times than she could remember and that she had been strangled and choked by the boy.

Mr Esprit said the boy had also encouraged the 13-year-old girl to send him pictures in an underwear and a bikini, which he had screenshotted on his own phone.

When the boy was arrested in the summer of 2022, he gave a prepared statement where he denied raping the first victim and said: I admit some of the messages I had sent her do come across as controlling. It is a symptom of my autism and way I communicate.

Police seized the defendants phone and conducted an examination which found he had made internet searches for hardcore pornography.

The boy had also searched the internet for how long can you get for rape?, Mr Esprit told the court.

It comes after the UK was thrown into a panic about the misogynist and highly sexualised attitudes of young children following the release of Stephen Grahams four-part Netflix drama Adolescence. Above, Owen Cooper earned praise for his chilling performance as Jamie

James Partridge, defending, said the boy had been diagnosed with ADHD, high-functioning autism, depression and anxiety.

His behaviour may not have been considered acceptable to others, the defendant may not have understood he did anything wrong, Mr Partridge said.

Appearing in court in person, the first victim to come forward told Judge Alan Blake: He took everything from me, took my first kiss, took my virginity, took my teenage years, took away my innocence.

He destroyed everything good about me, the girl added, explaining she now does not feel safe around men.

The second victim to come forward also appeared in court and told the boy: You broke me. I was 13, a child, you took a piece of me away from me. You never loved me, you just wanted someone who could live in your fantasy, someone you could control. I still do not know where that part of me went.

Both victims told how they had never consented to the sexual acts which took place and spoke of their disappointment that the boy had admitted to 20 offences of sexual activity with a child and two offences of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The boy had initially admitted the offences on the basis that the victims had consented to all the behaviour, which the prosecution did not accept.

Prosecutors had planned to bring the boy to trial and to pursue an allegation of rape against him, but on the day of his trial in February this year, the boy withdrew his basis of plea and accepted the victims did not consent.

Sexual activity between under 16-year-olds is often charged as sexual activity with a child under 16, rather than rape.

Though the age of consent is 16 in England and Wales, the boy could have defended a rape charge on the basis that, though the victims did not in-fact consent, he reasonably believed they had consented, a defence which is not available to a charge of sexual activity with a child under 16.

Judge Alan Blake, sentencing on Friday, told the defendant: The victims did not have the maturity or understanding at the age they were to know how to deal with your sexual desires. They went along with what you wanted.

Whatever you may have thought at the time, neither victim was able to make and express an informed choice about what they did and did not want to do. It is important for them and for you to hear that they bear no blame for your offending.

The judge said he was concerned to hear the boy had a continued interest in BDSM pornography, which he warned was dangerous for young people.

Your attitudes towards sex was distorted and wrong, the judge told the defendant, no doubt influenced by the extreme BDSM pornography you were searching for and watching, apparently having been introduced to it at the age of 12.

That plainly influenced your attitudes and desires, the judge added, pointing to the behaviour involving butt plugs, bondage and pressure on the necks of the victims.

That behaviour shows how corrosive and destructive it is for someone as young as you were to be exposed to that material. It affects you but then that distorted view affects your sexual partners.

But Judge Blake explained that primarily due to the age the defendant had been at the time he committed the offences but also because of his psychological issues, he would not send the boy to prison.

The boy was sentenced to a two-year community order, with a requirement to complete a 26-day accredited course to address his distorted sexual attitudes, as well as 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 150 hours unpaid work. He was also slapped with a five-year restraining order.

Judge Blake concluded by telling the victims: No sentence can turn the clock back and undo what you have experienced.

Referring to the worries they expressed in their victim impact statements, he added: While no doubt damaged, the good in both of you is inherent and will survive and cannot be destroyed.
In a terraced street in the suburbs of East London a young couple were locked in a heated discussion.

To those who overheard them, it would have sounded like a familiar argument  namely, who wasnt pulling their weight.

She was saying that he was staying at home and lazing around while she was making all the money, said an onlooker who witnessed the bust-up.

But this was no normal domestic. Because the woman in question is a Romanian by the name of Luminita Zamfir  and her line of work is of a decidedly illegal nature. And from home, the man in her life appears to have been orchestrating their criminal enterprise.

Not long after that row, 24-year-old Zamfir was arrested. Her crime? Posing as a cleaner to steal more than 500,000 of jewellery.

Targeting Londons second-largest home  only Buckingham Palace is larger  she coolly talked her way into the property in February by claiming she had been sent by an agency for a trial shift.

Having duly been escorted into the 105 million mansion, she snatched 548,565 worth of rings, necklaces and earrings belonging to a wealthy international business family.

Zamfir also carried out two further heists, stealing more than 50,000 in watches, cufflinks and cash from the London homes of a property mogul and a property management boss.

Luminita Zamfir snatched 548,565 worth of rings, necklaces and earrings belonging to a wealthy international business family

She was snared through DNA evidence left at one of the homes, and CCTV footage that caught her in the act. None of the valuables has been recovered, and when she appeared in court last week to admit the offences, the judge in the case suggested that it would be in her best interests to help the police find some of the stolen items.

But given her past record it seems unlikely that Zamfir will have a sudden pang of conscience.

Because The Mail on Sunday can reveal that she has a string of convictions for similar crimes dating back to when she was just 17. Targeting exclusive London hotels, she entered guests rooms, stealing valuables worth thousands of pounds.

It is unclear whether back then she posed as a cleaner or was actually working as a cleaner  but her activities echo those of a growing list of Romanian women caught stealing from hotels in the capital.

They include 23-year-old Sabrina Rova, who is serving a five-year sentence for stealing 365,000 of jewellery from well-heeled guests while working as a maid at the five-star Hilton in Park Lane, and at the Club Quarters Hotel in Trafalgar Square.

Bianca Didirea, 22, was also jailed, for two and a half years, after she stole 43,000 of jewellery from a wealthy Indian tourist at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Berkshire Hotel on Oxford Street. She then got a job at the Home Grown Hotel in Great Cumberland Place, where she stole a 7,000 Rolex Submariner watch and a diamond wedding ring worth 20,000.

Meanwhile, Marinela Manolesu is on Scotland Yards wanted list in connection with an incident in which jewellery worth 350,000 was stolen from a guest at a hotel in Knightsbridge. The 29-year-old housekeeper is believed to have fled back to Romania.

The MoS is also aware of a number of other Romanian women convicted of stealing tens of thousands of pounds worth of jewellery from London hotels while working as cleaners.

Sabrina Rova stole 365,000 of jewellery from guests while working as a maid at the five-star Hilton in Park Lane, and at the Club Quarters Hotel in Trafalgar Square

In some of the cases, having stolen items from one hotel, they would move to another establishment and strike again.

Among them is a woman who lived on the same street in London where Zamfir previously resided  and who had even gone to the trouble of officially registering her own cleaning company with Companies House.

Typically, the women are young, often have children or, as in the case of Zamfir, are actually pregnant when they carry out their crimes.

Zamfir gave birth only a month ago and appeared at Wood Green Crown Court via video-link from HMP Bronzefield, where she is being held on remand, while cradling the baby.

Whats also clear is that some of those involved in the thefts have been linked to organised crime groups. When arrested the women generally plead guilty, claiming to have personally made little money from the thefts, despite their high value.

Certainly, those who know Zamfir say that, outwardly at least, she did not appear to be living a luxury lifestyle. Home for the past two years was a rented terrace house close to the busy high street in East Ham, East London. Several other women, along with young children, lived there too.

A Romanian neighbour told the MoS: From what I know I would say this woman was being used.

She would not have been a criminal so that she could buy designer clothes and have holidays on yachts. Im afraid to say that young people, especially women, are exploited by others.

Marinela Manolesu is on Scotland Yards wanted list in connection with an incident in which jewellery worth 350,000 was stolen from a guest at a hotel in Knightsbridge

I would be surprised if she even knew the value of what she stole. She would have been following instructions and the jewels would have gone straight out of the country. They will never be seen again.

The money will go to family back home. When I go back to Romania, you go to small villages there that have villas like castles with swimming pools  thats where the money goes.

He added: Unfortunately you are too soft in this country and these people know how to manipulate things. They know exactly how the system works  thats why a young woman who is pregnant will be doing this.

She will go to court and she will get a low sentence because of her circumstances.

Even for the men its easy. Have you seen the prisons here? They get everything  phones, Xbox. They smoke weed and the women guards have sex with them. Its like a holiday.

Another neighbour told how the residents of Zamfirs house were friends with another group of Romanians who lived two doors away and worked as a begging gang. The Asian woman, who has lived in the street for the past 20 years, said: There are a group of them who go out of the house one by one early in the morning  there are four or five of them. They have backpacks and some have walking sticks.

They go begging near the station. I saw one of the women yesterday. She was saying, Oh God bless you. God bless you. Give me money. They come and go. You see them one day then the next they are gone.

Romania joined the EU in 2007. In 2014 restrictions on Romanians rights to work in the UK were lifted. The number of Romanian-born people resident here rose from 83,168 in 2011 to 557,554 at the time of the 2021 census.

The Romanian home of the Rostas, a family of professional thieves. The gang preyed on sleeping London commuters but sent the money to Romania to finance elaborate mansions

Due to the UKs departure from the EU in 2020, Romanian citizens who now arrive wishing to live, work, study or run a business require an immigration visa.

In recent years, Romanian gangs have been linked to an array of crimes, from professional shoplifting rings to sex trafficking.

Of all foreign-born male prisoners held in England and Wales, Romanians are the third most numerous, after Bulgarians and Poles. But in womens prisons they represent the most common non-British nationality.

Zamfir now finds herself among their number. When she arrived in Britain is unclear, but court records show that her criminal career dates back to at least 2018 when she stole cash and jewellery, including a Rolex watch  from a number of rooms at the Westbury Hotel in London.

What sentence she received for that spree is unknown  but clearly it was not substantial enough to result in her deportation. Under the UK Borders Act 2007, those sentenced to 12 months or more can be sent back to their country of origin.

And nor did that brush with the criminal justice system teach her a lesson.

Because on November 28 last year, she was up to her old tricks, gaining entry to an 11million home in South Kensington, making off with 50,000 worth of watches and cufflinks.

Then, in February, she targeted the mansion that is Londons second-largest private residence.

Tim Sleigh-Johnson, prosecuting, told the court she had first called in at the home next door, which was used to house staff for the family.

She said she was a trial cleaner, he said. She was escorted to the main property, where she was then able to steal the items.

The prosecutor added: When the occupants returned, valuable property  jewellery and other items  were found to be stolen, which has been valued at 548,565.

Five days after the raid she targeted a 1.6 million home belonging to a couple working in property management. The man  Christopher  was at home when Zamfir knocked at the door.

The couple do not wish to give their full names but speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Christophers wife Pippa said: She said she was a cleaner and came right in. She flicked her shoes off and began to pet the dogs. Then she went into one of the bedrooms, which is when we think she must have taken the ring, watch and cash.

The gold ring stolen was an antique. It had been Pippas fathers engagement ring and held a sentimental value as he died aged 96 last year. A Gucci watch and 200 cash were also taken.

The 61-year-old continued: Christopher was in his study and began to think something did not seem right and came downstairs and saw her plumping the cushions. She quickly said she needed to go out and buy some cleaning products and would be back in ten minutes. But she never returned.

The couple provided footage from their Ring doorbell to their usual cleaning agency and when they confirmed Zamfir was unknown to them, the film was passed to the police. Officers had previously collected a DNA sample from a tissue left at the home of the first burglary and found it matched Zamfir.

Zamfir, who pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and will be sentenced in June, was advised by Judge John Dodd KC that she should indicate where the stolen items were.

Dhaneshwar Sharma, defending, said: I shall only say this today: it is very telling her husband is not here. His whereabouts is unclear.

It remains to be seen what sentence Zamfir is given, but two years ago hotel maid Sabrina Rova, a mother of two, was jailed for five years and eight months for stealing items from hotel guests. They included a Cartier watch, a pair of Cartier earrings worth more than 22,000, a Rolex watch worth 17,000 and Dior earrings.

She claimed she gave some of the stolen gems to her partner but, as with Zamfirs husband, police have been unable to trace him.

This is a spate of targeted burglaries at high-end hotels, Alex Matthews, prosecuting, told the court in Rovas case, explaining the cleaner was working for an organised crime group when she carried out the thefts. In her defence it was claimed that Rova was living in poverty and had not profited from the theft.

Other cases involving Romanian cleaners have heard similar sob stories about the defendants.

In that of Didirea, it was claimed she had left her two children at home in Romania to travel to London, where she struck two hotels.

One of the items stolen was a wedding ring, taken from an Indian guest. In a victim impact statement the woman said: I wore those rings every day, they were very important to me. I cant show my face to my husband because of what has happened. I have never been robbed and I feel betrayed.

An emotion that will doubtless be shared by anyone reading how these newcomers to Britain have found homes and jobs  only to then go on to cynically abuse their welcome.

Additional reporting by George Odling
Police Scotland is being sued by more than 20 of its own officers who claim the force failed to protect them.

The group were injured amid violence and disorder during Bonfire Night havoc in Edinburgh in 2023 and 2024.

Chaos erupted in the Niddrie area of the city on November 5, 2023 after around 50 youths launched fireworks and petrol bombs at riot police.

It has now emerged that 20 officers on duty during the unprecedented mayhem are taking legal action against Police Scotland over failing to provide them with safety equipment and ear protection.

Another officer is pursuing legal action over further outbreaks of violence and disorder during Bonfire Night last November.

It is understood the officers who have lodged personal injury claims for the 2023 incident are claiming the force left them without adequate ear protection, leaving them exposed to a barrage of fireworks for up to three hours.

Over 30 officers are said to have reported hearing problems including tinnitus after being exposed to the deafening salvo of firework and petrol bomb explosions.

It was later claimed Police Scotland had 10,000 sets of sound suppressors designed to protect against noise-induced hearing loss while still allowing officers to hear conversations and listen to radios.

Violence erupted in the Niddrie area of Edinburgh as yobs lobbed foreworks at officers

Around 100 young people clashed with riot police in Edinburgh on Bonfire Night in 2023

However, it is claimed these were not issued prior to Operation Moonbeam  Police Scotlands response to Bonfire Night  due to testing issues at the time.

The Scottish Police Federation (SPF), which represents rank and file officers, said around 70 officers in total had been hurt during the 2023 incident.

Most the injuries were minor but 20 officers were later said to still be suffering from hearing problems, with a further officer injured after being hit by a firework in 2024.

Video footage from 2023 showed officers in riot gear standing in a line while youths threw explosives at their feet.

Officers also suffered minor injuries while responding to similar Bonfire Night disturbances in Glasgow and Dundee.

SPF general secretary David Kennedy later said hearing damage could have been prevented if officers had been supplied with the appropriate protective gear.

Some officers could actually lose their hearing as tinnitus gets worse over the years, he added.

Police Scotland confirmed that 21 claims have been raised relating to Bonfire Night incidents.

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs, Gold Commander for Operation Moonbeam, said: The safety of all our personnel is of the utmost importance during operational deployments.

We will also continue to explore the procurement and distribution of new equipment to safeguard those on the front line.
An Israeli strike has killed nine children belonging to a married doctor couple in Gaza as the IDF ramps up its military offensive.

The strike in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed nine of the couple's ten children, who were aged between seven months and 12 years old, according to the region's civil defence agency.

Alaa Najjar, a paediatrician at Nasser Hospital, was on duty when she learned her family home was on fire, Ahmad al-Farra, head of the hospital's pediatric department, said.

Her husband, Hamdi, was critically injured, and their only surviving child, an 11-year-old boy, was in serious condition after the strike on Friday.

Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows at least seven tiny bodies being pulled from the rubble one by one.

Two remained buried under the rubble, according to a spokesperson for Gaza's Health Ministry.

It comes as the spokesperson said the body of 79 people killed in strikes were brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours.

This toll doesn't include hospitals in the north which were bombarded, as they are now inaccessible.

Heartbreaking pictures show the only surviving child of doctor Alaa Najjar, who lies in a hospital bed

Palestinian doctor Ela al-Najjar visits her injured husband in the intensive care unit

Hamdi, middle, was critically injured, and their only surviving child, an 11-year-old boy, was in serious condition after the strike on Friday

The nine children killed were between seven months and 12-years-old. Pictured: Hamdi with his children

Israel's military in a statement said it struck suspects operating from a structure next to its forces, and described the area of Khan Younis as a 'dangerous war zone'.

It said it had evacuated civilians from the area, and 'the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.'

Earlier today , a statement said Israel's air force struck over 100 targets throughout Gaza over the past day.

Since the October 7 attacks, in which 1,195 people were killed, including 736 Israeli civilians and 36 children, the 19-month-long war in Gaza has resulted in 53,901 deaths, according to the Health Ministry.

It also reported that 3,747 people have died in Gaza since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, aiming to pressure Hamas into accepting ceasefire terms.

Their figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Israels campaign against Hamas has included a blockade on Gaza and its population of over 2 million since early March.

Pictured: Dr Al Najjar's husband, who is also a doctor, was taken to hospital after the strike

According to the region's civil defence agency, the strike happened in the southern city of Khan Yunis. Pictured: The father with his children

This toll doesn't include hospitals in the north which were bombarded, as they are now inaccessible. Pictured: Rescuers pull bodies from the house after the strike

This week marked the arrival of the first small convoy of aid trucks into Gaza, reaching Palestinians for the first time since the blockade began.

However, the number of trucks was far below the roughly 600 trucks per day that were entering during the previous ceasefire.

Warnings of famine from food security experts, alongside images of desperate Palestinians crowding around the shrinking number of charity kitchens, have led Israels allies to urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government to allow more aid in.

Netanyahus administration has proposed a new aid delivery and distribution system through a U.S.-backed group, but the United Nations and its partners have rejected the plan, arguing it enables Israel to use food as a weapon and violates humanitarian principles.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Abdel Wahab Abdel Razeq, Speaker of the Senate of the Arab Republic of Egypt, on May 25.

Senate Speaker Abdel Wahab Abdel Razeq conveyed the greetings of President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to the Azerbaijani leader.

Abdel Wahab Abdel Razeq underscored that the President of Egypt fondly recalls his meetings with President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed his gratitude for the greetings and kind words, asking the Senate Speaker to extend his greetings to the President of Egypt.

Noting that the relations between Azerbaijan and Egypt are of a historic and friendly nature, the Speaker underlined that the two countries support each other within international organizations.

President Ilham Aliyev recalled President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's visit to Azerbaijan and his visit to Egypt, along with the meetings and discussions he had with the President of Egypt during these visits.

The sides acknowledged the significant role of the cooperation between the two countries legislative authorities and reciprocal visits of parliamentary delegations in developing Azerbaijan-Egypt relations.

During the conversation, the parties also exchanged views on the prospects for the development of economic, trade, cultural, and humanitarian relations between the two countries.
This is a Government in a mess. It has failed on its own terms, and it has failed in the eyes of the electorate.

Perhaps most profoundly, it has betrayed itself for cheap and quick popularity over the issue of mass immigration.

Why, after that, should anyone trust anything it says?

We are not sorry that the Prime Minister has abandoned the foolish position on migration which he previously held.

It was a wrong and dangerous position, and it was shored up by a great deal of spiteful intolerance towards those who opposed it. But it was something the modern Labour Party had claimed to believe in, with all its heart. As it turned out, it did not really care.

Well, in Britain, we like our politicians to have some sort of core principle, passion and belief, even if we do not agree with them. Otherwise we might think they were mere careerists, not fit to be trusted with His Majestys Government.

Now comes the accelerating crisis caused by Labours incurable desire to spend other peoples money while remaining popular.

The national budget simply cannot be made to add up  or at least the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, cannot make it do so.

This is a Government in a mess. It has failed on its own terms, and it has failed in the eyes of the electorate

Labour came to power last year committed to appeasing its trade union friends, and so to enormous public sector wage bills. It pretended the predictable crisis, which resulted from this crude political pay-off, was actually the fault of the previous Tory government.

But this did not alter the fact that it lacked the money to meet this and other commitments.

And so came the abolition of winter fuel payments for about 10 million pensioners.

Sir Keir had to draw heavily on the loyalty of his MPs  who do not think they were elected to

do this sort of thing  to get it through Parliament in the first place. They hated it and still resent being made to vote for it.

Now, appalled by the defection of Labour voters to Reform in local elections, he has reversed the decision.

But he will not get back the loyalty he lost by making it in the first place. Perhaps this behaviour makes some sort of sense  changing your mind can be a virtue in politics.

But Sir Keir is changing his mind so much that there is not much mind left, just a panic-stricken expression on his face and a feeling of doom creeping over his backbenches.

And now, as so often happens to Labour governments, he is faced with open party warfare.

He has become Captain Hopeless, swinging the rudder from Left to Right and back again.

The Chancellor has become an embarrassment, thanks to her inability to make the nations ends meet, as well as her general haplessness. No wonder she and Sir Keir face an ill-concealed rebellion from Deputy Leader Angela Rayner.

Ms Rayner has a simple answer to the excuse that there is no money to pay for Labours promises.

That answer is  the one her party almost always reaches for at some stage  a major increase in taxes, from which most Labour voters would be exempt.

This would, of course, lead to the usual economic strangulation which the Labour Party specialises in.

But Ms Rayner has a popular appeal that Sir Keir can only dream of and a history of standing up to him. She must be causing him serious worry.

Alas, for those of us who think we can spend our money better than the state can, another question arises. Why is the most dangerous opposition to the Starmer Government currently coming from its own Left wing?
Defence chiefs spent more than 200 million of taxpayers money on travel and luxury stays for senior staff last year while troops lived in squalid conditions.

Figures released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) show that officers and civil servants stayed in five-star hotels often costing more than 300 a night.

The MoD spent almost 800 million on hotels and travel between 2018 and 2024 at locations such as the French Alps and Las Vegas.

In sharp contrast, the living conditions of troops in UK Armed Forces accommodation during the same period  some infested with vermin and harmful black mould  led to more than 60,000 complaints.

Meanwhile freedom of information requests obtained by The Mail on Sunday and National Security News revealed a huge leap in costs from 136 million in 2018 to 218 million by 2024 covering hotel accommodation, flights and travel by train and ferry.

The figures revealed numerous MoD personnel stayed in pricey hotels in central London including the Park Plaza and the Marriott  which can cost up to 400 a night.

Outside of the UK a 1,426 bill was submitted for a four-night stay at the Auberge Saint Hubert Hotel Val DIsere ski resort in France, a bill of 1,032 was also racked up at the Novotel Sydney Harbour for three nights and one staff member spent seven nights at the Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort which cost 2,439.

And another staff member spent 323 for one night at the four-star Hampton Inn Tropicana in Las Vegas. Defending the costs, the MoD argued that more than 200,000 civil servants and military personnel are deployed overseas and often needed to be accommodated in hotels.

The MoD spent almost 800 million on hotels and travel between 2018 and 2024 at locations such as the French Alps and Las Vegas .

Outside of the UK a 1,426 bill was submitted for a four-night stay at the Auberge Saint Hubert Hotel Val DIsere ski resort in France

One commanding officer of an infantry battalion based in Bulford told the MoS: I have soldiers living in really poor-quality housing who are constantly battling to get repairs. I have soldiers on sick leave living in homes which are barely habitable.

Callum McGoldrick, researcher at the TaxPayers Alliance, said: Splashing hundreds of millions on hotels and flights raises questions about priorities in Whitehall. Ministers must get a grip on MoD spending.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: These figures relate to spend under the previous government. This Government is committed to getting a grip of MoD budgets.
A military submarine that crashed over 100 years ago has finally been found on the bottom of the ocean.

The huge Navy vessel was discovered off the coast of California after being lost during a training accident in 1917.

It was spotted in sand next to a training aircraft that had crashed into the sea in an unrelated incident in 1950.

Researchers released incredible images of the sunken vehicles after finding them using advanced underwater technology and expert divers.

The US Navy submarine USS F-1 collided with its sister sub - USS F-3 - during surface exercises off the coast of San Diego on December 17, 1917.

The F-3 tore a massive hole in her sister ship's port side, causing the F-1 to sink in just ten seconds, the Submarine Force Library and Museum Association says.

Nineteen out of its 24-man crew were unable to escape, going down with the vessel as it sank to the seafloor.

For the first time ever, scientists have released incredible, high-definition images of two sunken American military vehicles that were found on the ocean floor during a mission to locate a US Navy submarine (pictured: high-res image of submarine)

On December 17, 1917, US Navy submarine USS F-1 (pictured) collided with its sister sub, USS F-3 during a training exercise, resulting in the F-1 sinking in just 10 seconds due to a massive hole in its port side

Tragically, 19 out of the submarine's 24 crew members were unable to escape, going down with the vessel as it sank to the seafloor (pictured: hole in the F-1 submarine)

Underwater Archaeologist Brad Krueger said: 'It was an incredibly exciting and humbling experience to visit these historically significant wrecks and to honor the sacrifice of these brave American Sailors.

'All of us at the NHHC are grateful for this collaboration, which also enabled us to document and assess the condition of the crafts.'

He continued: 'USS F-1 was conducting a 48-hour engineering run and performance test traveling from San Pedro and San Diego, CA, when the accident occurred.

'USS F-2 and USS F-3 were alongside performing similar testing when all three vessels entered a fog bank.

'USS F-3 collided with USS F-1, and following the collision USS F-3 remained on scene to help rescue survivors from the water.'

The wreck remained undiscovered for nearly 60 years until it was located by a Navy deep submersible vehicle looking for a jet fighter that crashed in 1972.

In October of 1976, Lt. Dave Magyar took a deep-sea rescue submersible down off the coast where he found the submarine 'intact'.

'It looked like a big ax had hit her,' he said about the discovery. The 142-foot, 330-ton submarine was found lying on its right side, facing west-northwest on the ocean floor.

'It will remain the grave of 19 men,' Captain Willard Johnson, commander of Submarine Development Group I, said. 'There is no reason at this time to bring it up.'

During the mission, the team also discovered another wreck - a US Navy Avenger torpedo bomber that crashed in the same area in 1950 (pictured: a US Navy Avenger torpedo bomber)

Scientists released never-before-seen video and images of the aircraft, revealing a badly damaged tail and a bent front propeller (pictured)

In February of 2025, multiple teams deployed a human-piloted vehicle (HOV) named Alvin (pictured), along with a remote underwater vehicle (AUV) called Sentry, to capture close-up images of any discoveries

Although the two technologies are critical for 'revealing deep-sea geologic hazards', they also offer a chance to teach future generations more advanced scientific practices (pictured: F-1 submarine's propeller)

Because the submarine rests more than 1,300 feet below the ocean's surface, a detailed survey was never possible - until now.

In February of 2025, researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), working with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the NHHC and the National Science Foundation, began their mission.

The teams deployed a human-piloted vehicle (HOV) named Alvin, along with a remote underwater vehicle (AUV) called Sentry, to capture close-up images of any discoveries.

Although the two technologies are critical for 'revealing deep-sea geologic hazards', they also offer a chance to teach future generations more advanced scientific practices.

'They also offer opportunities to train the next generation of scientists and uncover crucial moments from our nation's history', Lisa Clough, the acting division director for the NSF Division of Ocean Sciences, said in the press release.

Using these technologies, the team was able to conduct detailed surveys of the F-1 submarine for the first time in over 100 years since it sank.

'Advanced ocean technology and simple teamwork played a big part in delivering these new images,' WHOI's Bruce Strickrott, manager of the Alvin Group and the sub's senior pilot who helped lead the expedition, said.

'Once we identified the wreck and determined it was safe to dive, we were able to capture never-before-seen perspectives of the sub,' he added.

The team carried out seven dives in total, using advanced systems to create detailed maps of the submarine wreck site and the surrounding floor, while using high-resolution cameras to capture close-up video (pictured: Avenger's cockpit)

After the mission, a remembrance ceremony was held above the submarine's crash site, where a bell rang out 19 times - once for each sailor who was lost with the USS F-1 (pictured: marine life settled on F-1 wreck)

Scientists used all the collected data to create photogrammetric models, which allowed them to take precise measurements of the submarine and the marine life that has settled on it over the years (pictured: F-1's wheel)

The location of the bomber wreck had been known to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) for several years and was occasionally used for Alvin's engineering and training dives (pictured: Avenger wreck)

'As a U.S. Navy veteran, it was a profound honor to visit the wreck of the with our ONR and NHHC colleagues aboard.'

During the mission, the team also discovered another wreck - a US Navy Avenger torpedo bomber that crashed in the same area in 1950.

Scientists released never-before-seen video and images of the aircraft, revealing a badly damaged tail and a bent front propeller.

Strickrott explained that the bomber wreck had been known to WHOI for several years and was occasionally used for Alvin's engineering and training dives.

However, its exact location was not known to the US Navy, so the team surveyed the site to update the Navy's records.

The team carried out seven dives in total, using advanced systems to create detailed maps of the submarine wreck site and the surrounding floor, while using high-resolution cameras to capture close-up video.

Specialists then used all the collected data to create photogrammetric models, which allowed them to take precise measurements of the submarine and the marine life that has settled on it over the years.

This process ultimately enabled experts to reconstruct the F-1 submarine and produce impressive 3D models of the wreck.

The process used in the mission ultimately enabled experts to reconstruct the F-1 submarine and produce impressive 3D models of the wreck (Avenger wreck)

The scientific tools and techniques used in the mission not only provided rich data but also gave researchers hands-on training for future missions, especially in navigating and mapping complex seafloor environments

The wreck of the submarine remained undiscovered for nearly 60 years until it was located by a Navy deep submersible vehicle looking for a jet fighter that crashed in 1972 - but high-resolution images weren't possible due to its depth (pictured: F-1's tower)

The mission was done by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), working with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the NHHC and the National Science Foundation (pictured: front of Avenger aircraft)

'As a navy veteran, making this dive-together with another Navy veteran and a Navy historian - was a solemn privilege,' ONR Program Officer Rob Sparrock, who was in the DSV as it surveyed and analyzed the sub, said in the press release.

'Lasting nearly eight hours, there was time to contemplate the risks that all mariners, past and present, face,' he added.

'It also reminded me of the importance of these training dives, which leverage the knowledge from past dives, lessons learned and sound engineering.'

After the mission, a remembrance ceremony was held aboard the Atlantis - directly above the wreck site.

Using advanced underwater technology and expert divers, researchers have located the wreck of a US submarine that sank during a 1917 training accident off the coast of San Diego, along with a US Navy training aircraft that crashed nearby in 1950 (pictured: divers)

A bell rang out 19 times - once for each sailor who was lost with the USS F-1.

'History and archaeology are all about people and we felt it was important to read their names aloud,' Krueger said.

'The Navy has a solemn responsibility to ensure the legacies of its lost Sailors are remembered.'

The scientific tools and techniques used in the mission not only provided rich data but also gave researchers hands-on training for future missions, especially in navigating and mapping complex seafloor environments.

'While these depths were well within the dive capability for Alvin and Sentry, they were technical dives requiring specialized expertise and equipment,' Anna Michel, NDSF chief scientist and co-lead of the expedition, said.

'We were careful and methodical in surveying these historical sites so that we could share these stunning images while also maintaining the reverence these sites deserve.'
James Carville has revealed the 'colossal' mistake Joe Biden made that will damn him in the history books.

The political guru claimed the former president's decision to remain in the 2024 race until July was a historic blunder that will cast a shadow over his career.

He pointed out his obvious declining health and mental faculties should have been enough for him to realize he needed to stand down earlier.

But Carville did grace Biden with the title of 'one of the most accomplished Americans since the end of World War II'.

The then-president repeatedly refused to make way for Kamala Harris to succeed him until July, by which point Trump had dominated the polling across America.

Harris took over from him on July 21 and saw a huge wave of support before it subsided and she was smashed by the Republican in the November election.

Carville told the Politics War Room podcast: 'He made one colossal mistake - and the Democrats made a colossal mistake by going along with it.'

The Democrat strategist, who helped Bill Clinton into the White House in 1992, continued: 'It's pretty much the saddest f****** thing you could imagine.'

Democratic political guru James Carville has declared former President Joe Biden 's decision to remain in the 2024 race until July was not only a political misstep but a historic blunder that has cast a dark shadow over his otherwise towering legacy

The mistake, James Carville says, was Biden's refusing to step aside when the signs - his age, his declining health, and the growing chorus of concern - were already painfully clear

Podcast host Al Hunt said by the time he withdraw from the ticket the damage to his legacy and the Democratic Party had already been done.

Hunt said: 'If he had gotten out in July of 2023, instead of being forced out a year later, just think he would've been treated as a hero. His legacy would have been cherished.'

He argued the Democratic establishment enabled a delusion that Biden was the only person who could defeat Trump in the election.

Carville described him as 'well-liked, admirable,' a man who 'exhibited strength through personal tragedy,' but ultimately 'should have been enjoying life'.

In the podcast Carville and Hunt do not give credence to any Republican conspiracy theories that suggest Biden's health was covered up far in advance.

Biden officially withdrew on July 21, 2024, but Carville says the damage had already been done - both to Biden's legacy and to the Democratic Party

Biden's decline was discussed on the Politics War Room Podcast with James Carville, left and Al Hunt, right

Last week, Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.

Hunt said: 'There's no evidence the cancer was known about a year before, as Trump and others have charged. He hadn't even taken a PSA test since 2014.'

The pair also do not point to any single moment of cognitive decline that caused a policy crisis.

Hunt continued: 'I didn't find one instance in all the books where his slippage caused a real policy disaster.'

Carville added: 'We pretty much know the parameters of what happenedbut there's plenty of specifics left.

'And there are going to be so many books written on this s***. God knows what else we'll find out.'

The pair do not point to any single moment of cognitive decline that caused a policy crisis. Pictured, Biden falls on stage during the June 2023 USAF Academy Graduation Ceremony

Veteran strategist James Carville steered Bill Clinton to the White House with a campaign best remembered for his pithy motto: 'It's the economy, stupid'

Carville and Hunt did not spare Biden's Republican rivals either, unloading on what they called a 'clown show' of incompetence on Capitol Hill currently.

They seethed at Kristi Noem's ignorance of basic constitutional principles, specifically her conflating habeas corpus with the authority to deport migrants.

Carville said: 'Joe Biden may be old, but he knows what habeas corpus is. He could tell you right now. He was a really good president.

'One of the better first-term presidents we've had. But that final decision staying in the race too long will damn him in the history books.'
Ministers are begging European countries to allow Britons to use e-gates before the summer holidays because the deal agreed with Brussels will not start soon enough.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has written to European counterparts including Greece urging them to allow Brits to use e-gates now.

In a letter to Greeces deputy foreign minister, he wrote: It would be greatly appreciated if Greece could also offer access to e-gates where they are available at the border as soon as possible, including on a temporary basis now.'

Mr Thomas-Symonds added: Being able to use e-gates at Greeces airports would be a significant symbol of the friendship our two countries share.

Announcing his reset with Brussels, Sir Keir Starmer said the move to allow British travellers to use European e-gates was one of the key elements of the deal.

The Government said there would not be any legal barriers to British travellers using more e-passport gates in EU countries.

The Prime Minster said: This partnership helps British holidaymakers, who will be able to use e-gates when they travel to Europe, ending those huge queues at passport control.

But the Association of British Travel Agents has said the deal wont impact this summer.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds (right) has written to European counterparts urging them to allow Brits to use e-gates now. Above, last week he and and European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic (left) attended the EU-UK Summit

British tourists are expected to have to endure passport-stamping queues in most EU countries until at least October and possibly well into 2026

British tourists are expected to have to endure passport-stamping queues in most EU countries until at least October and possibly well into 2026 as the e-gates implementation will be phased.

So ministers have started asking the individual countries instead to allow early access to their e-gates.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said: The Prime Minister has lied to British public yet again.

'His claim that he joyfully made on Monday that British tourists would benefit from his EU surrender agreement by getting through e-gates when they travel to Europe was just another blatant Starmer lie.

The facts are as follows: Europe has followed in Britains footsteps by developing an electronic entry and exit system and this has been under way for a number of years and is due to fully launch in October.

It is a fact that some airports already allow UK passport holders to use e-gates, and this new agreement doesnt guarantee anything further.

'Each EU country retains the right to decide individually, meaning theres no certainty, no timeline, and no real improvement secured.
An Indigenous group have upset locals in a Queensland community over two native title claims totalling almost 8,000sq kilometres of land.

The Bigambul people have submitted claims for 7,737sq km of land, which covers six local government areas surrounding Goondiwindi, a rural town on the border of Queensland and NSW.

A claim has also been lodged for a 58ha parcel in Turallin, near Millmerran on the Darling Downs.

This follows the controversial transfer of the town reserve in Toobeah to the Bigambul Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BNTAC) by the former state Labor government as freehold land last year.

Residents have shared their concerns about the local claim including a group of Millmerran locals and former Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio.

They say they're concerned about the impact the claims could have on the community and worry it could be divisive.

Other concerns include the Turallin claim concerning a property already owned by the BNTAC.

Millmerran resident Harvey Caldicott said locals felt they were being kept in the dark over the claims.

The Bigambul people have submitted claims for 7,737sq km of land in Queensland

The claim covers six local government areas surrounding Goondiwindi (pictured), a rural town on the border of Queensland and NSW

'What happened in Toobeah upset a lot of people and there are a few concerned people around here too,' he told The Courier Mail.

'There's no neighbourly contact with the Bigambul  we get nothing. You find out all this stuff in newspapers and hidden in documentation.

'There's no engagement whatsoever.'

Gail Rielly, who is also a Millmerran resident, expressed her worry the native title claims would cause division among the local community.

Mr Antonio said he doesn't believe Millmerran residents have any issue with the Indigenous community.

He claimed native title claims can be 'very difficult' for the local community and hoped that would not be the case here.

Newspaper ads displaying a July deadline for responding to the claims has added to local residents' concerns.

A BNTAC spokeswoman said the Indigenous group 'welcomed open engagement' and was happy to discuss the claim with any concerned residents.

A BNTAC spokeswoman said the Indigenous group 'welcomed open engagement' with any concerned local residents

Toobeah (pictured) was transferred to the Bigambul Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BNTAC) by the former state Labor government as freehold land last year

Bigambul have an office in Goondiwindi and members of the community have been invited to reach out.

The spokesperson said native title was not allowed over freehold land unless that land was owned or held in trust for Indigenous people, which is the case for the Turallin claim.

'There are several sites on the property which are significant to all Bigambul People, and since 2013 we have been using the property to pass on traditional knowledge to our young people,' she said.

The Turallin property has been determined to be outside the area of the Bigambul native title.

However, the spokesperson argued the anthropology of the property can be used as evidence to support it being a part of Bigambul traditional land.

She said the larger 7,737sq km claim did not apply to freehold or leasehold land.

This claim would cover the remaining parts of the McIntyre and Moonie River drainage basins which were not included in the original native title determination.

The 210ha Toobeah reserve was transferred to the BNTAC last year under the Aboriginal Land Act.

This act allows unallocated state land to be given to Indigenous groups as 'inalienable freehold', but it cannot be sold or mortgaged.

Toobeah publican Michael Offerdahl fronted a campaign against the transfer and claimed it would result in 95 per cent of the town being given away.

The Bigambul people said this was untrue and the reserve represented less than 1 per cent of the Toobeah district.
An eerily similar case to that of missing Pheobe Bishop has emerged with a 15-year-old girl disappearing from the same Queensland town years earlier.

Rebecca Richardson was last seen at the Gin Gin Santa Fair, Bundaberg in 1998. She had been scheduled to catch a flight to England the next day to be with family.

Pheobe, 17, was last seen leaving a home in Gin Gin, where she had been living with couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood, on May 15.

It's believed the couple drove Pheobe 40 minutes to Bundaberg Airport where she was due to board an 8.30am flight to Brisbane and then onto Perth where she planned to meet up with her boyfriend.

The pair have been questioned by police and were released. No charges have been laid over Pheobe's disappearance and Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Mr Wood and Ms Bromley were involved.

Rebecca's body has never been found and no one has been charged with her murder.

Nine years ago, 18 years after Rebecca's disappearance, her friend Bec Marks spoke out about her death.

Before Rebecca was last seen alive, the 15-year-old's father had recently died and she and her younger sister were in the care of friends, including a man who would later be imprisoned for his role in her death.

Pheobe Bishop, 17, was last seen leaving a home in Gin Gin, where she had been living with couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood, on May 15

Rebecca Richardson was also last seen in Gin Gin (pictured), Bundaberg in 1998

The 15-year-old's disappearance was reported to the police when she failed to show up to a party attending the Gin Gin Santa Fair.

'When she went missing, me and a group of friends went to the police to say she was missing, it wasn't like her,' Bec told The Courier Mail.

'She was meant to come to a party after the Santa Fair and never showed up. And she never claimed her ticket (to London).

'At the time she went missing she was staying with friends and she was going there to get the key to her father's house to go and get a few belongings from her house ... she never made it.'

Although no one was ever charged with Rebecca's murder, Jodie Martin Stephen Van Der Vegt pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in 2002.

He was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment.

During court proceedings, Van Der Vegt admitted to helping dispose of the 15-year-old's body.

His wife initially protected him but later told police her husband had told her he had witnessed Rebecca's murder and helped bury her body at a local dump.

Pheobe Bishop's family described her as someone who 'loves beyond comprehension' (this photo was shared by Queensland Police on Saturday)

Van Der Vegt was found to have given false information to Rebecca's friends.

He also lied to police for more than two-and-a-half years, including suggesting the 15-year-old was still alive.

Meanwhile, an update from police on Friday said they would continue to search the wider Gin Gin and Bundaberg areas for Pheobe and 'no one is in custody in relation to this investigation'.

Detectives have yet to ascertain why Pheobe was living with Ms Bromley and Mr Wood, but in her final social media posts before she disappeared it suggested the troubled teen had fallen out with her mother and would not return home.

Pheobe's family released a statement on Saturday in which they described her as strong-willed and someone who followed her own beat and loved music.

'I've always called her my "wild gypsy banshee",' the statement said.

'You can't tame Phee's spirit, empathy or fight for life. She is sassy, feisty and loves harder than anyone I've ever (met).

'Phee loves beyond comprehension and is loyal to her siblings.'
The judge who oversaw the trial of Derek Chauvin has given an explosive interview as he spoke out for the first time in four years.

Peter Cahill was in charge of proceedings in 2021, when jurors spent three weeks listening to testimony about the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Floyd, an unarmed black man, had been suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill in the lead up to the fatal run-in with Chauvin and three other officers.

Restraining Floyd, Chauvin knelt on his neck and back for what officials later deemed was over 9 minutes, fatally asphyxiating him in the process.

He dropped a number of bombshells during the wide-ranging sit down, including confessing he has a pro-police 'bias' but was still sickened by the case.

He also admitted he was desperate not to be given the job, saying he swore at his boss when the legal grenade landed on his desk.

Meanwhile Cahill opened up about a letter slipped to him by Lance Ito - the judge in the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder case - and revealed it read: 'Peace and wisdom.'

Floyd's death rocked the world and gave rise to a huge shift in the culture wars towards readdressing how black people are treated.

Chauvin's trial was also one of the most watched of all time, and has been heavily attacked from both sides since he was sentenced.

Cahill admitted he felt the pressure from the media and political figures during the case, and opened up about how heavily it has impacted his life.

Rioters set a shop on fire on May 28, 2020, during the third day of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis

Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter after pinning Floyd to the pavement with his knee on Floyd's neck

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He told the Minnesota Star Tribune: 'Part of my training is to check my bias. And to be honest, I think I have a pro-police bias that I have to be careful not to act on.'

Law enforcement runs in the family, with his brother once being a cop in Wisconsin, while another relative is still serving.

The eyes of the world had been on the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis during the trial, after Cahill ruled it should be livestreamed.

Peter Cahill, seen here, oversaw the proceedings against Chauvin in 2021 where jurors spent three weeks listening to testimony about the day Floyd died

He said his decision was because he believed 'no one will trust the result if they don't see what's going on'.

Cahill first saw the clip of Chauvin pinning Floyd to the ground with the rest of the world when it surfaced online. He remembers thinking 'he's gonna get charged'.

He immediately had suspicions his name would be shortlisted to take on the case, and told the outlet he did not want to do it.

He added that if asked he knew he could not say no, adding: 'It's duty, honor, country when it comes right down to it.'

Due to coronavirus restrictions, Cahill said the decision to have the trial livestreamed was also a constitutional matter.

Under state regulations at the time social distancing was in place and only allowed six people to attend the court in person.

In Cahill's eyes six people were not enough to be considered a public trial, one of the rules of the Constitution.

Chauvin is seen here kneeling on Floyd's neck as he lay handcuffed on the ground

Floyd's death sparked worldwide protests, violence, and a reexamination of racism and policing in the US

Instead millions tuned in to watch it in real time, with over 23million people watching as the guilty verdict was handed down.

Due to the nature of the trial he was hounded by what he described as 'extremists on both ends'.

His phone was inundated with voicemails and he had enough hate mail to fill two boxes by the end of it, he said.

Chauvin is seen here in a May 31, 2020, booking photo

In an attempt to lighten the mood, he said he and his staff would hold dramatic readings of the letters in his chambers.

He added: 'I hate extremists on both ends. Most of the hate mail was, 'You should have given him life'. You had pastors condemning me to hell for my 'light sentence'.'

Others called on him to pardon Chauvin, something he doesn't even have the power to do.

At times the messages left for him mentioned his family, which he believes was meant to intimidate him. One letter asking for an autograph even reached his home address.

His wife, kids, friends and his neighbors all rallied around him in support, with care packages routinely being dropped off for him - which included a bottle of whiskey.

Security details frequented his home address, with squad cars appearing some three times a day.

Taking further precaution, he upgraded his home surveillance system and his neighbor's tree was fitted by the police with a camera to watch over the street.

A persons holds a portrait of George Floyd at the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall during a Black Lives Matter protest in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 08 June 2020

People are seen celebrating Chauvin's guilty verdict at the site where Floyd was killed

Cahill said that for years he had always slept with a steel pipe under his bed, which continued throughout the trial.

Keen to keep authority over the trial, outside influences out of his control made it difficult for him, he said.

As the trial went on rioting was reignited after the death of Daunte Wright, 20, who was shot and killed by officer Kimberly Potter during a traffic stop in the state.

Joe Biden also chimed in on the case, saying he hoped the jury would reach the 'right verdict'.

The city was also gearing up for a vote on overhauling the police and as the jury took their seats the City Council announced a $27 settlement with Floyd's family.

Cahill said: 'It did not help that people were saying 'defund the police'  all these idiots on the Minneapolis City Council.'

He told the jury to avoid the news and shot down an attempt by the defense to change the venue to a different county, saying nowhere in the state would be immune to the case.

Four years on, his handling of the trial is still being critiqued. Tucker Carlson has previously said the jury was intimidated into the guilty verdict by 'mob justice'.

Local outlet Alpha News ran a documentary, titled The Fall of Minneapolis, which claims Chauvin was prevented from getting a fair trial.

In the documentary they said he was biased after limiting information in court which included Floyd's criminal history.

'A lot of this stuff, the prior criminal history, had nothing to do with it. [Floyd's] not on trial', he told the outlet.

After the guilty verdict, Cahill said he spoke with jurors for hours who confirmed to him they convicted Chauvin solely on the evidence at trial.

Critics had attempted to say the chanting of protestors could be heard inside the courtroom during deliberations. Cahill said the jury was bused away to deliberate.

The criticism of the case is part of what he sees as a growing trend in America of attacking the justice system.

Cahill is seen here proceeding over the trial. He has since donated his mask and robes to the Minnesota Historical Society

A protester carries a U.S. flag upside down, a sign of distress, next to a burning building in Minneapolis, on Thursday, May 28, 2020, during protests over the death of George Floyd

He said: 'The far right, you know, their daily bread is revisionist history. But in this particular instance, it's a lack of trust in the judicial system as a whole, and the jury system, and that's concerning.

'I think what concerns me most about the revisionist history is the lack of confidence in the judicial process  not even the system or the judges, the judicial process.

'We had 12 jurors from a variety of backgrounds who gave it good consideration. And I bet if you interviewed them, they'd say they don't regret their decision.'

His only regret he said was an initial gag order that stopped attorneys on both side from publicly discussing the case.

Cahill quickly u-turned on the decision after realizing how 'ineffective' due to comments being made on social media by officials.

He also cited how law enforcement had acted as a source to a story by the New York Times highlighting the possibility of a plea deal being struck with Chauvin.

'That p***** me off', he added.

Now retired, he donated items from the trial to the Minnesota Historical Society including his face mask, robes, notes and hate mail.

Chauvin remains incarcerated at a federal prison in Texas for his conviction of murdering Floyd and for violating his civil rights. He was sentenced to 22 and a half years.
Nigel Farage is plotting to win over the Left with sweeping promises over winter fuel payments and the two-child benefit cap.

The Reform UK leader is expected to announce his new promises in a speech next week.

Mr Farage's suggestions of scrapping the two-child benefit cap and fully reinstating the winter fuel payment is a direct challenge to Sir Keir Starmer.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Farage will describe Sir Keir as 'one of the most unpatriotic prime ministers in our history and this past week has been evidence of that', in his first speech since Reform made large gains in the local elections.

Reform UK is riding high in the opinion polls after its victories in local elections and the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, according to YouGov.

Earlier this month Mr Farage hailed his Runcorn victory as a 'big moment' as the Cheshire seat was secured by just six votes following hours of delay for nailbiting recounts.

It is the most popular political party with voters, followed by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and then the Tories in a historic fourth place.

And the Reform leader will be hoping his new policies will secure more voters.

Nigel Farage (pictured) has revealed his plan to win over the left with sweeping promises over winter fuel payments and the two-child benefit cap

In his first speech since Reform made large gains in the local elections Mr Farage will describe Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) as 'one of the most unpatriotic prime ministers in our history'

Mr Farage has said he will commit to ending the two-child cap, which was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017 to cut the benefits bill.

He has also said he would do away with the recent cuts to the winter fuel allowance - a controversial Labour decision that saw the benefit reduced to only those receiving pension credit in one of its early acts in Government.

MailOnline has contacted Reform for comment.

Ministers are planning to restore the payment to all but the wealthiest pensioners, the Sunday Times reported.

But Mr Farage's announcement will pile the pressure on the PM to match his rival's pledge to fully reinstate the payment at a cost of about 1.4 billion a year.

Civil servants have warned that any changes are very unlikely to be made before the winter due to ageing computer systems, the newspaper said.

Elsewhere, the Government's action plan to tackle child poverty - a document likely to contain proposals to scrap the two-child benefit cap - has been delayed until the autumn.

The plan is likely to be aligned with the budget so it can be fully costed.

The Observer newspaper reported Sir Keir has privately backed plans to scrap the cap, and made it clear he wants to drive down child poverty.

Mr Farage has said he will commit to ending the two-child cap, which was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, and re-instate the blanket winter fuel allowance (stock image)

The Government is facing pressure from its own backbenchers to eliminate the cap, all while the threat of a rebellion over a wide-ranging package of welfare reforms looms.

The Telegraph reported that Dame Meg Hillier, the Labour chairman of the Commons treasury committee, said lifting the cap was 'the only way we'll lift children out of poverty in this Parliament'.

Mr Farage, MP for Clacton, spent last week on holiday while the House of Commons was sitting.

And the Prime Minister joked that Nigel Farage was the first person to take advantage of his new EU Brexit deal as the Reform boss ducked Prime Minister's Questions in favour of a foreign holiday.

While MPs have left Westminster for recess, he is expected to return to the political arena and say: 'The Prime Minister is out of touch with working people, he doesn't understand what they want and how they feel about the big issues facing Britain.

'It's going to be these very same working people that will vote Reform at the next election and kick Labour out of Government.'

A Reform source told the newspaper: 'We're against the two-child cap and we'd go further on winter fuel by bringing the payment back for everyone.

'That's already outflanking Labour.'
What Britain has to offer to the world was never clearer than in the leading role we took in the Covid crisis  and all because of a chance meeting on a number 18 bus from Marylebone to Euston in London.

Martin Landray found himself next to another epidemiologist Sir Jeremy Farrar and they began to talk about a new respiratory disease, SARS-CoV-2, which had originated in China and now reached the UK.

At that stage life was still normal, as demonstrated by the packed bus they were on. But the new coronavirus was crippling the health system in the north of Italy.

The two scientists agreed it would spread through the UK in a fortnight and they had to start searching for treatments  fast.

Clinical trials were necessary. Ordinarily, such trials would take around a year to get off the ground. But the two medics knew that in a global emergency things had to be different.

Within nine days, they had recruited their first patient, after which the study was rolled out to 175 hospitals and an extraordinary 10 per cent of all patients hospitalised with Covid.

By this point the pandemic was tearing through populations across the world, so pressure to deliver was huge.

The next stage was to develop a vaccine, spearheaded by Oxford-based Professor Sarah Gilbert, pictured

A woman alone on a bus in Oxford Street in London in December 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic

The worst affected patients were being put on ventilators, with a survival chance of 50 per cent.

There were no treatments and no vaccines  no one even knew if a working vaccine was feasible.

The trial investigators kept cool heads and picked their drugs carefully. Positive results were emerging from an unexpected source, an anti-inflammatory drug called dexamethasone.

It had two big advantages: it was cheap and was already stocked in the cupboards of all pharmacies.

Amazingly, it worked  the first time any drug had been shown to save lives in the crisis. Better still, it worked best on the sickest.

The discovery of dexamethasone was a chink of light at a moment when the pandemic had taken nearly 40,000 lives in the UK.

But despite the urgency, the two professors held back from saying anything publicly. For another week they probed and double-checked the data.

Then the drug was announced to the public; it was in use the same day and saving lives by the weekend. It is estimated to have saved a million lives across the globe.

Medical staff transfer a patient from the Acute Dependency Unit to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at St George's Hospital in Tooting, south-west London

A digital display at a bus station warns pedestrians of the new strain of coronavirus in central London on January 8, 2021

NHS ambulances staff bring a patient into the Royal London hospital in London, Britain, 19 January 2021

The next stage was to develop a vaccine, spearheaded by Oxford-based Professor Sarah Gilbert.

Soon large-scale vaccine trials were underway and a deal was made with Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

As the miserable pandemic year drew to a close, the vaccine was approved for use. UK regulators, usually criticised as being too slow and bureaucratic, showed themselves to be the nimblest in the world as Britain became the first country to approve a vaccine tested in clinical trials.

Vaccines and treatments discovered in the UK likely saved more lives globally than those from any other country.

The Press focused remorselessly on failings in other aspects of the countrys response, but British scientific capabilities were central to the global effort. No other country made a bigger contribution to the Covid fight.

Yet just a few years on, progress in preparing for the next pandemic has stalled.

There are still many infectious disease classes for which we dont have vaccines, including the Marburg virus, Rift Valley fever and Lassa fever.

Finding vaccines can be phenomenally difficult  after 40 years of trying, we have still failed to discover one for HIV.

Dr Sarah Gilbert, reader in Vaccinology at the University of Oxford

A man travels on a bus wearing a face mask in central London on June 16, 2020

The threat of a new pandemic has not gone away. Particularly worrying are respiratory pathogens with high adaptability and transmissibility that spread without visible symptoms. Increasing urbanisation and globalisation mean when one emerges, it will spread fast.

At the same time other threats are starting to loom larger.

Bacterial infections are becoming very effective at resisting antibiotics we throw at them.

We are starting to lose the race to develop the new second and third-line antibiotics needed for when this happens, with more than a million people dying every year because they cannot access an antibiotic that works.

A recent study in the Lancet found that this could double to two million a year by 2050. In that same year, another eight million deaths could occur from associated causes while infected with a drug-resistant bacteria.

By the middle of the century anti-microbial resistance could become as big a killer as cancer.

Is there a role for cash-strapped Britain in preventing the devastating impact of another pandemic, blessed as we are with a superb science base? The answer is yes.

Britain often boasts of having nurtured more Nobel Prize winners than anywhere except the US.

Is there a role for cash-strapped Britain in preventing the devastating impact of another pandemic, blessed as we are with a superb science base? The answer is yes. Pictured: A digital display on a bus stop tells passengers that it is mandatory to wear a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19

Less well known is that nearly a third of prizes have been awarded to scientists born outside Britain but affiliated with a UK institution or resident in the UK, demonstrating just how successful we have been in attracting the brightest minds.

That happens largely because the UK has many top-ranked universities playing a major role in many of the scientific discoveries shaping a medical revolution in the sequencing of cancer genomes.

Many have had rare diseases diagnosed as a result and personalised therapies for cancer patients have become possible.

Britain has played a major role for centuries when it comes to life-saving discoveries, from Edward Jenner and the smallpox vaccine to Alexander

Flemings penicillin discovery. Such a tradition of innovation has been good business. Off the back of it, the UK has become Europes largest hub for life sciences with more than 300,000 of the worlds most sought-after scientists working here.

What needs to happen now to avoid another global health catastrophe is to make urgent progress on vaccines, treatments and diagnostics and a new class of antibiotics.

The UKs science base has made it a global leader in genomics, vaccine development and bio-technology.

The more the world invests, the more Britain benefits. Doing the right thing for the world can be profitable too.
An Australian woman has stunned after revealing she is making $170,000 a year - and the job doesn't require a degree.

The woman told GetAhead on the streets of Brisbane she was scrolling through online job boards before seeing a vacancy at a recruitment company.

'I was on SEEK, and I was like, "I want to get people jobs, that sounds fun",' she said.

'Eight years later, I'm still doing it. Like most in recruitment, I just fell into it.'

The recruiter said her impressive yearly earnings comprised a base wage and an un-capped amount in commissions.

The woman chose not to reveal her wage at the talent agency, but workers can receive a commission for every role they fill.

In some industries, particularly sales, commission earnings can be capped, primarily to protect the company from excessive payouts that could impact its bottom line.

She said she landed the job without any formal qualifications and had just applied on SEEK

The Brisbane-based recruiter said those looking to enter the industry should ensure they present well.

'I would say apply, then pick up the phone and call because so many people hide behind computers now, and recruitment is such an interactive job,' she said.

'So just get on the phone and follow up.'

Many recruitment agencies provide on-the-job training to new workers.

Other employers may prefer applicants who have finished Year 12 or completed a VET course such as a Certificate IV or Diploma in Human Resource Management.

A university degree in business, behavioural science or psychology can also be helpful.

The woman said working at a recruitment agency also has many perks.

'[The best parts are] the culture, the team, the remuneration,' she said.

'The benefits, like we get taken away on a sales incentives trip every year, last year we went to Vietnam.'
The Deputy Prime Ministers salvo against No 10 and the Treasury last week was sparked by her acute sensitivity to patronising Southern metropolitans, it has been claimed.

Friends of Angela Rayner  who demanded soak-the-rich economic policies  say she believes that there is a misogynistic, anti-Northern streak in senior figures in Downing Street.

They also claim that is why Gateshead-born Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Mancunian Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy have suffered hostile briefings recently on their Cabinet futures.





One ally of Ms Rayner said: What is the link? They are Northern women. Angelas demonstrating a show of strength and solidarity. She is the most senior Northern woman in the Cabinet and feels protective.

Earlier this year The Mail on Sunday reported that Ms Nandy faces the sack at the next reshuffle because Downing Street complained that she doesnt work hard enough. A source said: Lisa seems to work about two days a week on her portfolio.

Friends of Angela Rayner (pictured)  who demanded soak-the-rich economic policies  say she believes that there is a misogynistic, anti-Northern streak in senior figures in Downing Street

Allies of Mancunian culture secretary Lisa Nandy (pictured) claimed she had been targeted by No 10 chief-of-staff Morgan McSweeney because she had become a Cabinet flag-bearer of the Left by objecting to the Governments welfare cuts

No 10 is considering abolishing the Culture Department, bringing to an end 33 years of it being a standalone department for arts and cultural matters.

But allies of Ms Nandy claimed she had been targeted by No 10 chief-of-staff Morgan McSweeney because she had become a Cabinet flag-bearer of the Left by objecting to the Governments welfare cuts.

Ms Phillipson is judged by Downing Street to have mishandled her brief, attracting opposition to her proposed reforms to the academy system.

However, moving two of the Cabinets most high-profile women would also fuel concerns that the Government has a women problem.
This is the moment a manic passenger was wrestled into a seat after trying to open the emergency exit mid-flight.

The suspect, who has not been named, attempted the terrifying stunt on the trip from Tokyo to Houston on Saturday morning.

He leapt up nine hours into the journey - when most were still sleeping - and lunged for the door handle on the All Nippon Airways plane.

But two military veterans as well as flight attendants rounded on him, hauling him away from the exit and pinning him into the seat before tying him up.

The captain was forced to divert to Seattle Airport, where video showed cops arresting the suspect and whisking him off to hospital.

A passenger aboard an All Nippon Airlines Boeing 787 from Tokyo to Texas was restrained by two US veterans after the man tried to open the aircraft door mid flight

The new footage starts as the former soldiers shove the man into the chair as he tries to wrestle free. One says: 'You're not going to make it to that window.'

Most of the other passengers had been asleep on the long-haul overnight flight when he made the sudden move.

One, called Ashley, told Fox 26: 'He got up in a hurry - I just assumed he was sick. But then he went for the emergency exit, and two men jumped into action.'

She continued: 'They zip-tied him to the seats directly behind me. Ashley described the two men as calm and trained.

She added: 'One said he had served in the Navy, and the other had been in for a long time, though I didn't catch which branch. They kept him restrained for over an hour.'

Once the plane was on the ground in Seattle, police officers boarded the aircraft and told the man that he needed to cooperate otherwise force would be used against him

The captain turned the plane back to Seattle when it was over Washington state - just three hours away from Houston - and landed it within 45 minutes of the incident.

Ashely said: 'When we landed, a second man on the flight suddenly started acting strange. He went to the restroom and caused a bit of a scene. Everyone was on edge.

'I won't be sitting in an exit row again. It was terrifying.' She also praised the men who stepped up to take the man down.

She added: 'I want to say thank you to those citizens who took control. I don't know if I could've done that. I wouldn't have known what to do.'

The captain of the aircraft made the decision to turn the plane around back to Seattle and managed to get the plane back on the ground within 45 minutes of the incident occurring

All Nippon Airways Flight NH14 was forced to make an emergency landing in Seattle some nine hours into the 12 hours flight from Asia to the United States

Law enforcement and medical personnel were already standing by on the tarmac when the plane arrived at SeaTac around 4.20am.

Police boarded the aircraft, with audio capturing the moment officers prepared to remove the passenger.

One officer says: 'Once I take you out of the seat, we're going to escort you off the flight, okay? If you try to fight us, force will be used against you.'

Both the restrained man and the second passenger were escorted off the plane by police.

Airport officials said the primary suspect had experienced a 'medical episode', and he was transported to a nearby hospital.

Airplane doors generally cannot be opened midflight because air pressure differences between inside and outside - but that didn't stop the terror from spreading through the cabin

Spokesman Chris Guizlo said: 'Police and EMS were told that a passenger tried to open an emergency exit door mid-flight.'

As of Saturday night no charges had been announced, and the individual's identity and current condition remain unknown.

Airplane doors generally cannot be opened mid-flight because air pressure differences between inside and outside the cabin keep the aircraft doors sealed.
Post Office hero Sir Alan Bates has accused the government of running a 'quasi kangaroo court' payout system for victims of the Horizon scandal.

More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts.

Hundreds are still waiting for payouts despite the previous government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for 600,000.

Now Mr Bates, who led the sub-postmasters' campaign for justice, has attacked the government for 'reneging' on assurances given when the compensation schemes were set up.

He said the Department for Business and Trade had promised they would be 'non-legalistic' but this turned out to be 'worthless'.

It comes as the 70-year-old revealed that he had been handed a 'take it or leave it' compensation offer of less than half his original claim.

Mr Bates said the first offer, made in January last year, was just one sixth of what he was asking for, adding that it rose to a third in the second offer.

He has now been given a 'final take it or leave it offer' - which he said amounts to 49.2 per cent of his original claim.

Pictured: Former sub-postmaster Sir Alan Bates who has long led the campaign to get justice for those affected by the Post Office scandal

Former Post Office sub-postmasters celebrate after 42 of the victims were cleared in April 2021

Bates, who led the sub-postmasters' campaign for justice, has attacked the government for reneging on assurances given when the compensation schemes were set up

Mr Bates told The Sunday Times: 'The sub-postmaster compensation schemes have been turned into quasi-kangaroo courts in which the Department for Business and Trade sits in judgement of the claims and alters the goal posts as and when it chooses.

'Claims are, and have been, knocked back on the basis that legally you would not be able to make them, or that the parameters of the scheme do not extend to certain items.'

Mr Bates said he has now lost confidence in the whole process and that he wants a new framework for assessing compensation for victims of public scandals.

He has called for the creation of an independent body who would monitor the claims and see the government have little involvement.

Last September, he received a knighthood from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle for exposing the Horizon IT scandal.

Mr Bates was the figurehead in the decades-long campaign to have his colleagues' names cleared and win compensation.

He and his wife Lady Suzanne Sercombe bought a post office and haberdashery in Llandudno, Wales, in 1998.

The Horizon IT system was installed in October 2000 and within two months financial discrepancies were showing up.

Sir Alan insisted they were not his fault and refused to pay the shortfall.

More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between after faulty accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts (file photo)

Former post office subpostmaster Alan Bates, pictured right, along with his wife Suzanne Sercombe outside Aldwich House in London

Last year, ITV bosses announced the first episode of Mr Bates vs. the Post Office had been watched by 9.2million viewers

His contract was terminated in November 2003 and, while he was not prosecuted, he lost the 65,000 he had invested in the business.

In 2009, Computer Weekly broke the story of the Post Office scandal, featuring Sir Alan and six other victims, and he founded the Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance.

Just 20 people turned up to the group's first meeting, but it soon mushroomed into a high-profile campaign that ultimately led to group litigation against the shamed Post Office, and the ongoing public inquiry.

It comes as it was revealed this week that hundreds of former sub-postmasters will be compensated after bungling officials accidentally leaked their names and addresses on its website.

In a staggering data breach, the Mail revealed last June how 555 Post Office victims had their personal details published on the company's website.

It was described as an insult to injury by those whose lives have already been ruined by being falsely accused of stealing in Britain's biggest ever miscarriage of justice.

The 555 former postmasters whose home addresses have been published were among the group involved in bringing High Court class litigation against the Post Office in 2019.

According to the BBC, the individuals whose personal details were leaked will be compensated in what could cost the Post Office up to 2.8million.

Chris Head (pictured), the youngest former subpostmaster, told MailOnline he 'welcomed' the compensation, but added: 'It's taken far too long.'

In a statement provided to the public broadcaster, the Post Office said victims would receive 5,000 or 3,500, depending on whether the address published last year was current, although higher claims may still be pursued.

The statement said: 'We have written to all named individuals either directly, or via their solicitors.

'If there are any individuals whose name was impacted by last year's breach, but who have not received information about the payment for some reason, they can contact us or ask their solicitors if they have legal representation.'

Chris Head, the youngest former sub-postmaster of the Horizon IT scandal, told MailOnline he 'welcomed' the compensation, but added: 'It's taken far too long.'

The 37-year-old told MailOnline: 'It was brought into the spotlight by the media in June 2024 - and nearly a year later it's only being resolved now.

'You just can't believe what the Post Office would make such a basic mistake.

'When we are talking about a confidential settlement agreement made out of court, that should never have made public, especially around such a sensitive topic.

'If we are looking on why it had such an impact, based on the original scandal and the further impact, I don't think Post Office realised the level of impact it had.

'This is not just an ordinary breach, this was on top of what people have been through over the last 25 years - all suffered at the hands of the Post Office.'

A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said: 'We pay tribute to all the postmasters who have suffered from this scandal, including Sir Alan for his tireless campaign for justice, and we have quadrupled the total amount paid to postmasters since entering government.

'We recognise there will be an absence of evidence given the length of time that has passed, and we therefore aim to give the benefit of the doubt to postmasters as far as possible.

'Anyone unhappy with their offer can have their case reviewed by a panel of experts, which is independent of the government.'
The National Crime Agency has taken the first step in Britain in a corruption case embroiling ex-City minister Tulip Siddiq, by freezing any future sale of her mother's home.

The agency  hailed as Britain's FBI  last night confirmed obtaining an asset-freezing order on the luxury property in Golders Green, North London, which has been the Siddiq clan's main home for 14 years.

Hampstead Labour MP Ms Siddiq's mother Rehana, 69, has been living there since it was bought in 2011 for 1.2 million.

The home, registered in the Isle of Man tax haven, was bought by millionaire Ahmed Shayan Rahman, 42.

He was a chairman of the British Asian Trust, a charity founded by King Charles. Last night the trust said he has stood down over the NCA probe.

Hampstead Labour MP Ms Siddiq's mother Rehana, 69, has been living there since it was bought in 2011 for 1.2 million

The National Crime Agency has taken the first step in Britain in a corruption case embroiling ex-City minister Tulip Siddiq, by freezing any future sale of her mother's home

Mr Rahman's father Salman, 74, was a minister for prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the aunt of Ms Siddiq, 42, who was ousted from power last year after weeks of violent protests.

The freezing order is part of the NCA's investigation into suspected corruption and money-laundering.

Bangladesh is probing claims Ms Siddiq and family members siphoned nearly 4 billion from a nuclear plant deal with a Russian company. Ms Siddiq denies any wrongdoing.

She quit as City minister in January after a standards investigation into properties she owned or lived in which were given to her family by her aunt's allies in Bangladesh.

Ms Siddiq did not comment and Mr Rahman could not be reached last night.
Artist Damien Hirst last night revealed that he turned down the offer of a knighthood because he did not feel comfortable accepting the honour.

In a rare interview, Britains richest artist disclosed how he was sounded out for the top award by investment banker and arts patron Jacob Rothschild.

But after consulting his friend and art dealer Jay Jopling, Hirst declined, saying: I never felt comfortable with the idea.

Reportedly worth 308 million, Hirst forged the Young British Artist (YBA) art scene of the 1990s and shot to fame after displaying sharks and other animals suspended in formaldehyde.

Once renowned for his wild partying, Hirst now has a one-year-old son Noah with his girlfriend of eight years Sophie Cannell, 31, a former ballerina.

He was speaking to the Times ahead of his 60th birthday from Las Vegas where they have loads of mother and baby meetings.

He struggled to name where home for him was, in part because his eldest three sons are living in his Devon farmhouse. He owns other properties in Mayfair and Richmond in London and in the Cotswolds.

He admitted that he previously used to buy property a bit like Monopoly - and would even purchase the villas he stayed in each time he went on holiday.

Artist Damien Hirst last night revealed in an interview with The Times that he turned down the offer of a knighthood because he did not feel comfortable accepting the honour

Reportedly worth 308 million, Hirst forged the Young British Artist (YBA) art scene of the 1990s and shot to fame after displaying sharks and other animals suspended in formaldehyde (pictured)

When Hirst rejected the idea of receiving a CBE (Commander of the British Empire), Lord Rothschild, a member of the famous banking family, then floated the possibility of a KBE (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire) instead, which Hirst also declined

Hirst, who won the Turner Prize in 1995, used to spend a lot of time in Mexico, where he also owns several properties, but Ms Cannell does not like going there.

She hates spiders, and we get tarantulas, scorpions, he said. I even had a crocodile in the pool, so thats off the cards.

Hirst revealed in 2017 that he was offered a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) but turned it down, saying: I got where I was going by myself. The letters after your name thing just feels a bit uncool.

Last night he revealed that Lord Rothschild, who died in February last year, telephoned him and explored whether he would accept a CBE.

When Hirst rejected the idea, the peer, a member of the famous banking family, then floated the possibility of a KBE (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire) instead, which Hirst also declined.

Once renowned for his wild partying, Hirst now has a one-year-old son Noah with his girlfriend of eight years Sophie Cannell, 31 (pictured) a former ballerina

Pictured: Hirst with his son Noah

Hirst admitted that he previously used to buy property a bit like Monopoly - and would even purchase the villas he stayed in each time he went on holiday

...theyre very clever - they dont really offer it to you before getting someone to sound you out, Hirst said.

Lord Rothschild, a towering figure in the art world, was the perfect choice to approach the celebrated artist.

He used to come down to my house and my studio, Hirst said. I enjoyed hanging out with him.

In the interview, Hirst, who once made a diamond encrusted skull with a 50 million price tag, declared money is an important thing and that he wanted to avoid making loads of work that never sells.
An experienced climber who broke his neck and may need to have both his legs amputated following a terrifying fall blames his partner for his horrific injuries.

David Littlejohn, 55, says fellow climber Shane Williams let go of his rope at a crucial moment, sending him plummeting down a 56ft rock face in the Avon Gorge, Bristol.

Mr Littlejohn is now suing Williams for 1million in compensation after he also broke his sternum, pelvis, and feet following the fall in May 2023, The Telegraph reported.

He claimed he was under the impression Mr Williams had a firm hold of the rope when he put his weight on it while taking part in a climb known as the Arms Race.

But he said Mr Williams released the rope without informing him, causing him to fall into a deep ravine.

Despite the accident happening two years ago, Mr Littlejohn still faces a long road to recovery.

He suffers from constant back pain and may have to have both of his legs amputated if reconstructive surgery on his feet is unsuccessful, his orthopaedic surgeon told the court.

Mr Littlejohn also claims to have experienced anxiety, depressed mood, irritability, and panic attacks following the fall.

David Littlejohn (pictured), 55, says fellow climber Shane Williams dropped his rope at a crucial moment, sending him plummeting down a rock face in the Avon Gorge, Bristol

Mr Littlejohn (pictured) is now suing Williams for 1 million in compensation after he also broke his sternum, pelvis and feet during the terrifying accident in May 2023

He said he believed Mr Williams to be a competent climber as he was a member of The Climbers Club - a climbing association where members have to be proposed and seconded before they can join.

In documents lodged with the High Court, Mr Littlejohn alleged Mr Williams negligently failed to have 'due regard for his personal safety' and failed to act in accordance with his experience as a competent amateur climber.

The documents claim he is able to walk with a four-wheeled walker, but struggles with stairs and basic daily tasks.

The lawsuit comes just weeks after another terrifying rock climbing accident where a man miraculously survived a terrifying 400ft plunge that killed his three friends.

Anton Tselykh, 38, had been climbing in Washington's North Cascades mountains when the anchor his group were tethered to gave way, sending them all plummeting down the rock face.

Speaking from a hospital bed in Seattle, Tselykh recounted how the men fell for about 200 feet into a slanted gulch and then tumbled another 200 feet before coming to a stop.

He described losing consciousness for several hours before waking up in the dark surrounded by a tangle of ropes and gear.

Despite sustaining serious injuries, he fought for eight hours to free himself before working his way down the rough terrain of rock and snow to his car.

He then drove to a nearby town to call for help, he told Cristina Woodworth, who leads the sheriff's search and rescue team.

The four climbers were friends, some of whom had climbed together before and appeared fairly experienced, Woodworth said, adding that Tselykh was 'obviously very much affected by this.'

The climbers killed were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, and Oleksander Martynenko, 36, the Okanogan County coroner said.
An Oregon tire shop worker who quit his job and cashed in his retirement savings to travel with his cat has been welcomed by cheering fans in Hawaii.

Oliver Widger, 29, became a viral sensation after he left his managerial job four years ago following a Klippel-Feil diagnosis - a syndrome that carries the risk of paralysis.

It changed his outlook, leading him to buy a sailboat with the goal of traveling around the world while documenting his adventures with his cat Phoenix.

He set sail for Hawaii in late April, sharing the ups and downs of his daily life on the water with over two million followers on social media.

On Saturday, Widger and Phoenix reached Hawaii, where they were warmly greeted by a crowd of cheering fans after their weeks-long journey.

They were also shocked to find a huge escort from the island's coastguard as they floated towards the port.

Widger admitted he felt nervous facing the waiting crowd and described feeling 'really weird' - not seasick, but also not quite as grounded after his journey.

'I just feel like I have to, like, hold on to things to not fall over,' he said.

Oliver Widger (pictured), 29, was welcomed by an island of cheering fans upon arriving in Hawaii following a 24-day journey - which he documented to social media - across the ocean with his cat

Widger set sail for Hawaii with his cat, Phoenix (pictured), in late April, sharing the ups and downs of his daily life on the water with over one million followers on TikTok and 1.7 million on Instagram

Widger became a viral sensation after he quit his managerial job at a tire company four years ago, following a Klippel-Feil diagnosis - a syndrome that carries the risk of paralysis - leading him to buy a sailboat with the goal of traveling around the world

Around a year ago, Widger decided to leave his 11-year job at the tire company, cash out his 401k, sell all his belongings and buy a sailboat, driven by his chronic neck injury and a long-held dream

Among those in the crowd at the Waikiki Yacht Club on Oahu was Governor Josh Green, who honored the 29-year-old adventurer with a celebratory welcome party.

'With no formal training - just courage, curiosity, and a whole lot of heart - Oliver set sail from Oregon in search of something deeper,' Green wrote on Instagram.

'His journey reminds us of the voyaging spirit that lives in all of us: the drive to explore, to grow and to trust the ocean,' he added.

'Oliver, we're proud to welcome you to Hawai'i. May these islands offer you rest, renewaland Phoenix, a well-earned bowl of poke.'

After the conference, fans surrounded Widger - many holding cameras and joyfully asking for selfies.

Widger, known as @sailing_with_phoenix across his social platforms - has gained tens of thousands of followers daily since he began sharing his once-in-a-lifetime voyage with his beloved pet.

Around a year ago, he decided to leave his 11-year job at the tire company, cash out his 401k, sell all his belongings and buy a sailboat, driven by his chronic neck injury and a long-held dream.

The spontaneous decision left him with 'no money, no plan' and $10,000 of debt.

'The way the doctor described it is, I have a spine of somebody who's like 115 years old hearing that kind of just shook up my world,' Widger told Fox News Digital.

On Saturday, Widger and Phoenix finally reached their final destination - Hawaii - where they were warmly greeted by a crowd of cheering fans after their weeks-long journey (pictured: resident welcomes Oliver)

He then purchased a circa 1990s sailboat which he has lived on for the past year, honing in his captain skills before ever setting out into the open ocean (pictured)

Among those in the crowd at the Waikiki Yacht Club on Oahu was Governor Josh Green (pictured), who honored the 29-year-old adventurer with a special recognition and a celebratory welcome party

During the months he spent refitting the $50,000 boat, Widger taught himself to sail mostly through YouTube and relocated from Portland to the Oregon coast before officially setting sail with his beloved pet

Once Widger arrived in Hawaii, a reception welcome party in his honor featured cat foot and treats as gifts (pictured)

He then purchased a 1990s sailboat which he has lived on for the past year, honing in his captain skills before ever setting out into the open ocean.

During the months he spent refitting the $50,000 boat, Widger taught himself to sail mostly through YouTube and relocated from Portland to the Oregon coast.

Finally, in late April, Widger and Phoenix began their 24-day journey to the Aloha State.

'I went viral on the same exact day I set sail. So the past nine days have been just absolutely insane, you know what I mean?' Widger told Fox earlier this month.

'Cause I'm crossing an ocean, and then I also went viral at the same time. And it's like these two crazy things,' he added. 'It's just a weird feeling, but it's incredible, man.'

The scariest point of his trip, Widger explained, came when a rudder suddenly failed.

The highlights of his trip, however, overshadowed the brief moments of fear, as he fondly remembered seeing dolphins and whales while sailing through calm stretches of the Pacific Ocean.

'Being in the middle of the ocean when it was completely glass in every direction was an absurd feeling,' Widger said.

The scariest point of his trip, Widger (pictured) explained, came when a rudder suddenly failed

The highlights of his trip, however, overshadowed the brief moments of fear, as he fondly remembered seeing dolphins and whales while sailing through calm stretches of the Pacific Ocean (pictured: locals welcome Oliver to Hawaii)

Widger was given a Coast Guard escort as he approached O'ahu, as the locals waited patiently for the two travelers to dock in (pictured)

After the conference, fans surrounded Widger - many holding cameras and joyfully asking for selfies (pictured: local standing on a wall to wait for Oliver to dock in Hawaii)

Widger said he might head to French Polynesia next, but admitted his main focus had been reaching Hawaii, not planning what comes after

He explained how he never truly felt alone while under the starry skies, as he stayed connected with friends through video calls and other means.

However, Widger expressed some sadness about not experiencing the open waters the way sailors did in the past, without modern tools like Starlink internet satellites.

His incredible journey has since made national news, which Widger believes is attributed to his story resonating with people around the world.

'I think a lot of people are, you know, youre grinding at your job all day long and it doesnt really matter how much money you make at this point, everybodys just trying to do enough to get by and that just wears you out,' he said.

'Its just the world's in a weird place, and I think people have seen that its possible to break out.'

Widger said he might head to French Polynesia next, but admitted his main focus had been reaching Hawaii, not planning what comes after. He also noted that his boat needs some repairs before continuing his journey.
An invading horde of hungry octopuses from the Mediterranean is decimating crab fisheries in British waters.

Shellfish wholesalers say the huge influx has resulted in swingeing cuts to restaurant orders, leaving chefs scrambling to keep their kitchens stocked.

The canny octopuses, thought to have been lured north in their thousands by unusually warm UK waters, have learned to raid fishermen's pots through a small 'escape hatch'  designed to allow juvenile crabs and lobsters to crawl free.

And while they will dine on all shellfish, crab is considered their favourite prey.

The owner of one Devon boat, Brian Tapper, of Plymouth, said: 'The octopuses are ruining us.

They're coming in the side hatch  it's like McDonald's for them.

They are just sitting in there until they're full. They'll go through 50 pots eating lobsters, crabs and even scallops. By the time we come along, there's nothing left.'

Barry Young, of Brixham Trawler Agents, said the octopuses were 'decimating the crab fishery', although boats targeting them were enjoying a bonanza, with more than 27,000kg of the cephalopods landed at Brixham on a single morning last week.

The canny octopuses, thought to have been lured north in their thousands by unusually warm UK waters, have learned to raid fishermen's pots through a small 'escape hatch'  designed to allow juvenile crabs and lobsters to crawl free. Pictured: Stock image

Shellfish wholesalers say the huge influx has resulted in swingeing cuts to restaurant orders, leaving chefs scrambling to keep their kitchens stocked. Pictured: Stock image

'We'd normally be lucky to get 500 kilos,' said Mr Young.

'Long-term, it will be a massive problem for restaurateurs who are trying to source shellfish.'

He added that the last time Brixham saw octopus catches on a similar scale was more than 70 years ago, when spring sea temperatures were also high.

The current 'marine heatwave' has meant southern UK waters are around 2.5C higher than normal.

At The Winking Prawn restaurant in Salcombe, manager Andrew Hartle said his Brixham crab order had been cut by a quarter.

He added: 'We're lucky because we also work directly with three or four Salcombe boats and can ring around to get what we need. But it's clear that crab is in very short supply.

'Restaurants with a single supplier are going to have problems.'

Pot escape hatches are mandatory under a by-law imposed by the Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (D&SIFCA). It will consider next month whether permit rules can be eased.

In a statement, the authority said it was aware of 'significant difficulties being experienced by the fishing industry in respect of predation by octopus'.

It added: 'Fishers are reporting that the entry and exit to pots may be through escape gaps fitted in pots. D&SIFCA is aware that this is having an impact on fishers' catches of shellfish and their livelihoods.'
Controversial Irish group Kneecap have urged their fans to turn up at court to support them when a band member faces a terror charge.

The band are set to spark fresh outrage after using their first festival headline gig to drum up support for them at next month's court appearance for band member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, stage name Mo Chara.

They urged 20,000 fans at London's Wide Awake festival on Friday night to attend Westminster Magistrates Court in central London on June 18 to support him.

The 27-year-old has been charged by the Metropolitan Police under the Terrorism Act for allegedly displaying the flag of Hezbollah, a banned terror group in Britain, at a gig last November.

He told fans at Brockwell Park: 'The world needs to see the solidarity of 20,000 people.'

Chara called for 'anybody who's free on the 18th June' to come and 'gather outside the Westminster courts' as the 'world needs to see the solidarity of 20,000 people'.

The crowd in Brockwell Park responded by chanting 'free Mo Chara'.

O hAnnaidh, who is due to appear at the court next month charged under the Terrorism Act 2000, claimed the band was being made an example of and his charge had been rushed through deliberately to prevent the band from performing at Glastonbury Festival.

Contoroversial Irish group Kneecap have incited their fans to turn up at court to support them when a band member faces a terror charge. Pictured: Liam O'Hanna, left, with bandmates DJ Provai (centre) and Moglai Bap (right)

O'Hanna has been charged under the Terrorism Act for allegedly displaying the flag of Hezbollah, a banned terror group in Britain, at a gig last November

'We are being made an example of. The Israeli lobbyists are trying to prove to the other artists that if you speak out, we're going to hit you where it hurts most. We're on the right side of history,' he said to chants of 'Free Palestine' from the crowd.

Meanwhile Palestinian flags were scattered amongst the crowd during the 90-minute set but there were no words of support or show of flags for Hezbollah or Hamas, both banned terror organisations in Britain.

During their headline act, the three-man band performed their politically charged new single 'The Recap', rapping about Kemi Badenoch's attempt at 'fooling everybody' following the Conservative Party Leader's claim Kneecap are 'openly glorifying evil terror groups'.

Banners in the crowd included 'F*** Badenoch' and news clips about the controversy, including footage of Sharon Osbourne, who called for the band's US visas to be revoked, were played by the band on stage.

Kneecap's frontman told the festival attendees that the quick turnaround from his interview with counter terrorism police to his charge was because Glastonbury was 'just around the corner' and 'they're trying to 'silence us' from speaking at Glastonbury'.

The west Belfast group have caused mounting outrage over the last few months, hitting the headlines in April after displaying a message at a gig accusing Israel of 'committing genocide against the Palestinian people'.

Footage later emerged of a band member urging people to kill their local MP, which sparked fury from the families of murdered MPs Jo Cox and David Amess.

Kneecap apologised for the remarks and said they are facing a 'co-ordinated smear campaign' after speaking out about 'the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people'.

In a statement, the group said: 'Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation's history.

'We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever. An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action.'

The band added: 'To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt.

'Kneecap's message has always been - and remains - one of love, inclusion, and hope. This is why our music resonates across generations, countries, classes and cultures and has brought hundreds of thousands of people to our gigs.'
Hundreds of endangered koalas are being shot dead by helicopters flying over parts of Australia in what welfare groups have called a 'massacre'.

The marsupials are being gunned down as part of a welfare programme but campaigners have hit out at the government and called the actions cruel.

Roughly 750 koalas, some of which are protected, have been killed by aerial snipers from Australia's Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) as part of a euthanasia programme after bush fires left many injured and starving in Budj Bim National Park.

While the government has claimed it is looking out for the koalas best interests, animal welfare groups have reported joeys (baby koalas) plunging from trees still clinging to their dead mothers according to the Sunday Mirror.

Wayne Pacelle, President, Center for a Humane Economy told the paper: 'This isn't mercy. It's a massacre.'

The number of koalas in Australia has declined in recent years due to disease, bush fires and drought with the population in New South Wales down 60 per cent since 2001.

Koalas are listed as endangered in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, but they are not in south-west Victoria and South Australia where there are not enough trees to sustain populations.

Following the 2019-20 bush fires, scientists warned that koalas were on borrowed time and could even become extinct by 2050 without urgent action.

Hundreds of endangered koalas are being shot dead by helicopters flying over parts of Australia in what welfare groups have called a 'massacre'. (File image of a wildlife rescuer with a malnourished koala after bushfires)

Roughly 750 koalas have been shot dead by aerial snipers in Australia as part of a euthanasia programme after bush fires left many injured and starving in Budj Bim National Park. (File image)

While the Australian government has claimed it is looking out for the koalas best interests, animal welfare groups have reported joeys (baby koalas) plunging from trees are left clinging to the dead mothers. (File image of officials searching for injured wildlife in burned out forests)

Animal rights groups are now calling on the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese to act to prevent the cruel mistreatment of one of Australia's most famous animals.

Some critics have suggested that the cull is to keep away koalas from commercial eucalyptus plants but Mr Pacelle has said that those in Victoria have simply overlooked the value of the animals.

In a statement from Koala Alliance, the protection group said it was dangerous for people to accept the killing of koalas as necessary and allowing the Australian government to continue would set a 'dangerous precedent'.

Speaking to The Independent, Jess Robertson, president of the Koala Alliance, said that local communities were disgusted with the methods used and added that it wasn't efficient and did not have the welfare of the koalas at heart.

She said: 'There is no way they can tell if a koala is in poor condition from a helicopter.'

But Victoria State Government said 48 per cent of 2,219 koalas had been suffering from injuries and burns from bush fires in a sample collected in March.

Experts have also said that it is important to consider the habitat of koalas and better manage the landscape.

Rolf Schlagloth, from CQUniversity Australia, told Vox: 'We can't eliminate bushfires altogether but more continuous, healthy forests can assist in reducing the risk and severity of fires. Koala habitat needs to be extensive and connected and the management of blue gum plantations needs to consider the koala as these trees are very attractive to them.'

Euthanasia should be used as a last resort when animals are severely injured, he added. But an aerial cull 'appears to be a very indiscriminate method,' Dr Schlagloth said.
The Bank of England has warned Downing Street against allowing a Chinese embassy to be built near sensitive financial centres in London, Donald Trumps security advisers have revealed.

The plan for the super embassy was blocked by the previous government amid British intelligence warnings about its location and espionage risk, but has now been revived.

Mapping data shows the proposed site lies directly between financial hubs in the City and Canary Wharf and close to three major data centres.

Downing Street refused to say if it was backing the embassy plans to boost trading relations with the Chinese.

Within a fortnight of Chancellor Rachel Reeves returning from an official visit to China this year, both Scotland Yard and Tower Hamlets Council mysteriously dropped their objections to the project.

The Bank of England has warned Downing Street against allowing a Chinese embassy to be built near sensitive financial centres in London , Donald Trump s security advisers have revealed. Pictured: Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves

The plan for the super embassy was blocked by the previous government amid British intelligence warnings about its location and espionage risk, but has now been revived. Pictured: Royal Mint Court, the site of the proposed new Chinese Embassy in London

Diplomats say President Trumps administration would have reservations about sharing intelligence with the UK if the embassy opened

Now the Bank of Englands opposition to building the embassy has been revealed by American intelligence sources to justify the USs own concerns. Diplomats say President Trumps administration would have reservations about sharing intelligence with the UK if the embassy opened.

A Chinese embassy spokesman dismissed the espionage claims, saying: Anti-China elements are always keen on slandering and attacking China.

A spokesman for the Bank of England declined to comment.
Top military schools have faced a swift backlash after using underground means to discuss books and topics banned by the Trump administration.

Cadets and staff at the US Naval Academy have been creating non-governmental emails to chat about the banned ideas, including the likes of critical race theory.

The president has cracked down on what made up the curriculum at the school, with faculty saying they run their research through an AI tool screen their findings.

Words that are flagged include 'barrier', 'Black', 'allyship', 'cultural differences' and 'The Gulf of Mexico'.

Professors have been told to teach that 'America and its founding documents remains the most powerful force for good in human history' after a memo Pete Hegseth.

One unnamed professor told the Washington Post: 'We at the Naval Academy are here to prepare young officers to command.

'They need to know what we have learned from our study of politics and history and literature and languages.

'We are failing them and we are failing in our jobs if we suppress some things we know are true and we parrot other things we know are false.'

Trump has cracked down on what made up the curriculum at the school, with faculty telling the outlet they now had to run their research through an AI tool. He is seen here at West Point Military Academy on Saturday

Cadets at the Naval Academy, seen here on Friday, are reportedly creating non-governmental email addresses to discuss the banned ideas

They also said that students are feeling conflicted about the possibility of being deployed under the current White House.

One professor said they had advised cadets to serve until they receive an order that they feel might be illegal.

He told them if that point comes to 'reject it rather than compromise yourself'.

Graham Parsons, a former professor of philosophy at West Point Military Academy, left his position earlier this month in protest over the changes to the curriculum.

He said that the entire US armed forces have been left up in arms over Trump's reversal of DEI initiatives and social justice programs.

Parsons told the outlet: 'It's a feeling of real whiplash. We used to raise the possibility in the military and beyond, there are still real structural problems with racism and sexism. That would not fly now.'

He stood down from his post after writing a scathing opinion piece for The New York Times.

In it, he said: 'I cannot tolerate these changes, which prevent me from doing my job responsibly. I am ashamed to be associated with the academy in its current form.'

One professor said they had advised cadets to serve until they receive an order that they feel might be illegal

Trump salutes alongside Lieutenant General Steven W. Gilland during commencement ceremonies at West Point on Saturday

Trump was at West Point Academy on Saturday to give a commencement speech in which he vowed to ditch DEI programs and support for transgender service people.

He said: 'Were getting rid of distractions and we're focusing our military on its core mission: crushing America's adversaries, killing America's enemies and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before.

He later said that 'the job of the U.S. armed forces is not to host drag shows or transform foreign cultures,' a reference to drag shows on military bases that President Joe Biden's administration halted after Republican criticism.

Trump said the cadets were graduating at a 'defining moment' in Army history as he accused political leaders in the past of sending soldiers into 'nation-building crusades to nations that wanted nothing to do with us.'

He said he was clearing the military of transgender ideas, 'critical race theory' and types of training he called divisive and political.

Past administrations, he said, 'subjected the armed forces to all manner of social projects and political causes while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our arsenals to fight other countries wars.'
A Connecticut man who killed his former girlfriend with an ax angrily shouted obscenities in court as he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Ewen Dewitt, 45, killed Julie Minogue, 40, at her Milford home in December 2022 while two of her children slept inside, NBC News reported.

In March, Dewitt accepted a plea deal sentencing him to 40 years behind bars.

On Thursday, the court heard from Claud Chong, Dewitt's attorney, as he tried to explain Dewitt's reasoning behind the brutal killing.

'The combination of drinking, drug use, depression, PTSD, he lost control, and he acted impulsively in rage and anger which we all agree is unacceptable behavior,' Chong said.

'However, I stand here today your honor, not to offer an excuse for Mr. Dewitt but an explanation.'

When the word 'impulsive' was used to describe his actions, State Attorney Margaret Kelley quickly stepped in to clarify for the record that the murder was intentional.

But before Kelley could finish her sentence, Dewitt seemingly became enraged and unleashed an outburst in the courtroom.

Ewen Dewitt (pictured in jumpsuit), 45, a Connecticut man who killed his former girlfriend with an ax while her children slept peacefully, angrily shouted obscenities in court as he was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday

Dewitt killed his former girlfriend, 40-year-old Julie Minogue, with an ax inside their Milford home in December 2022 - just days after a restraining order was issued against him - while her then-three-year-old and 17-year-old children were inside (pictured: Dewitt holding ax in Ring footage)

Dewitt later confessed to the killing of Minogue (pictured) and was charged with murder, risk of injury to a child, home invasion, criminal violation of a restraining order and violation of a protective order

'This was cold, calculated, well thought-out, to the extent...' Kelley began, before rustling and commotion from officers could be heard in the background.

In courtroom footage, officers can be seen racing towards Dewitt as several stern voices are heard shouting: 'Sit down.'

One officer held Dewitt's shoulders and two others stood closely behind him. 'Watch your mouth,' one female officer warned as the judge interrupted the courtroom.

'Mr Dewitt, I understand what you may be going through but I just have to remind you, this is an orderly place,' the judge said.

'If outbursts like that continue, I'm left with no other choice but to ask you, to remove you from the court.'

In response, seemingly unbothered as he rolled his eyes, Dewitt said: 'That'd be great.'

The judge said the sentencing would continue, asking Dewitt to remain calm - while Dewitt rested his forehead in his folded hands.

When the word 'impulsive' was used to describe his actions, State Attorney Margaret Kelley (pictured) quickly stepped in to clarify for the record that the murder was intentional

Before Kelley could could even finish her sentence, Dewitt seemingly became enraged and unleashed an outburst in the courtroom - his eyebrows furrowed as he shouted obscenities while several stern voices ordered him to sit down

Court documents revealed that the 40-year-old mother-of-three told police she was afraid Dewitt was going to kill her (pictured: Minogue and her three sons)

In November 2019, Gilford police arrested Dewitt after he was suspected of assaulting Minogue, resulting in a order of protection.

Then, on December 1, 2022, police said Minogue was granted a full no-contact restraining order after reporting that Dewitt had been sending her hundreds of harassing text messages, NBC reported.

Documents obtained by the outlet revealed that the 40-year-old mother-of-three told police she was afraid he was going to kill her.

Just five days later, Minogue was found dead inside her home. She had been killed with an ax while her then-three-year-old and 17-year-old children were inside.

According to the police department's initial statement on the homicide, it was her then-17-year-old son who called 911 to report that Dewitt had attacked and killed his mother with an ax, Law and Crime reported.

Minogue's then-3-year-old son was also in the home at the time and witnessed the attack, confirmed by Michael Rosnick, the family's attorney in the civil case, to the outlet.

Dewitt later confessed to the killing and was charged with murder, risk of injury to a child, home invasion, criminal violation of a restraining order and violation of a protective order.

He was expected to accept a plea deal in October of 2024, but rejected the proposed 45-year-prison sentence.

Five days before the brutal murder, Minogue was granted a full no-contact restraining order after reporting that Dewitt (pictured) had been sending her hundreds of harassing text messages

On Thursday, the court heard from Claud Chong, Dewitt's attorney, as he attempted to explain Dewitt's reasoning behind the brutal killing - citing drugs, alcohol, depression and PTSD (pictured: Dewitt during meltdown)

According to the police department's initial statement on the homicide, it was her then-17-year-old son who called 911 to report that Dewitt (pictured) had attacked and killed his mother with an ax

In March, the sentence was reduced to 40 years to spare Minogue's family the pain of going through a trial, Daily News reported.

However, Minogue's family was present at Thursday's hearing, where they had the chance to speak in court for the first time since their loved one's brutal murder.

Allison Barotti-Corcoran, Minogue's sister, was the first to speak, describing the night of December 6 as one that will 'haunt my family forever', as reported by NBC.

'I wish I could convey the heartbreak that we continue to experience and relive everyday,' she said, recalling her sister's murder as horrific and disgusting.

'I often lie awake at night, thinking about the last few moments and what they must have been like,' she added. I can't imagine the fear and the pain in those last moments of her life.'

Sandra Toepper, Minogue's mother, spoke through tears as she described the immense grief her family has endured since the fateful night.

'He denied me and my family the right to see my daughter even before the funeral because he mutilated her, we couldn't even see her or say goodbye to her,' she said.

'Our lives will never be the same because of him. My wish is he gets what he deserves, I hope he rots in hell.'

In November 2019, Gilford police arrested Dewitt after he was suspected of assaulting Minogue (pictured), ultimately resulting in a order of protection

Minogue's then-3-year-old son was also in the home at the time and witnessed the attack

Nicholas Minogue (pictured), the eldest son, spoke directly to Dewitt during his impact statement, calling him a 'disgusting coward' who killed 'a strong beautiful woman who raised 3 boys on her own'

On Thursday, Dewitt (pictured) was sentenced to 40 years for murder and 10 years for risk of injury to a minor, with both sentences to be served concurrently

Nicholas Minogue, the eldest son, spoke directly to Dewitt during his impact statement.

'Ewen, you are a disgusting coward, you took the life of our mother, a strong beautiful woman who raised 3 boys on her own,' he said. 'A woman who couldn't defend herself, a woman who was 100 times the person you will ever be.'

'You didn't just kill our mom, you exposed the kind of pathetic, hollow, excuse of a human being you are, a failure of a man, a failure of a father, a failure of a brother, but most of all failure at life,' he added.

'After all your failures you find yourself here, all you have now is this courtroom, this shame, the sentence, it's all you deserve.'

Minogue's father, Gerald, has attended every single court proceeding in his daughter's case. On Thursday, he was the last family member to speak in court.

'I'm relieved in a sense that these proceedings are concluding however I will always carry the weight of the horrible thought of the pain, horror and fear my daughter experienced in those last moments of her life attacked viciously by an axe by an evil monster,' he said.

According to court documents, Dewitt pleaded guilty to two charges.

On Thursday, he was sentenced to 40 years for murder and 10 years for risk of injury to a minor, with both sentences to be served concurrently.
A glamorous aspiring actress has been arrested alongside a group of 'crypto bros' over a sadistic kidnap and torture plot inside a stunning Manhattan mansion.

Beatrice Folchi, 24, who lives in Connecticut but is originally from Italy, was seen being led out of the $75,000-per-month brownstone Soho home on Saturday.

It comes after a 28-year-old Italian tourist escaped the 'house of horrors' and flagged down a nearby cop after being locked away for three weeks.

Officers raided the address and 37-year-old John Woeltz was arrested and dramatically dragged out of the building in a white bath robe.

The victim was lured to the house under false pretenses before Woeltz - who was his former business associate - allegedly tried to extort millions from his crypto account.

The accused is said to have chained him up, electrocuted him, pistol-whipped him and threatened to cut him up with a chainsaw if he did not hand over his passwords.

A Polaroid found by investigators is said to show the man tied to a chair with a gun to his head - an image believed to pressure his family back home.

Police also recovered night vision goggles, a bulletproof vest, broken glass and a firearm at the scene.

Beatrice Folchi, 24, a striking brunette with a background in marketing for Rolls-Royce, was taken into custody on Friday at the $75,000-a-month SoHo townhouse

Folchi was arrested alongside John Woeltz, 37, and others in the apartment who allegedly chained up the tourist, taunted him with a chainsaw, and forced him to do cocaine

The alleged torture occurred in this massive luxury townhouse in SoHo, a posh New York City neighborhood

Folchi, an Italian-born marketing manager and small-time actress, was reportedly working as Woeltz's assistant at the time of the alleged crimes.

She was charged with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree unlawful imprisonment.

'I'm not arrested,' Folchi told reporters on Saturday. 'Everything is going to be told but with a lawyer - I can't make any comments right now.'

Folchi, according to her now-scrubbed LinkedIn profile, studied communication and philosophy at the University of Connecticut from 2017 to 2020.

Her professional bio claimed she had experience working with high-end brands like Puma, Manchester City, Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

Meanwhile, her IMDB and Backstage pages detail minor roles in short films, including a 2021 indie titled Butterfly Wings. Her social media is now mostly locked down.

Friends from the Connecticut suburbs where her family once lived told reporters her parents had recently rented out their home and returned to Italy.

Folchi, according to her now-scrubbed LinkedIn profile, studied communication and philosophy at the University of Connecticut from 2017 to 2020

The alleged torture took place for weeks in the beautiful SoHo home. The apartment was most recently listed for $75,000 a month

The victim, after enduring nearly three weeks of captivity, made a daring escape on Friday afternoon.

According to law enforcement sources, he had been told by his captors they planned to kill him later that day.

Bruised, cut, and visibly shaken, he ran through the streets of Lower Manhattan and flagged down a police officer.

Officers raided the Prince Street apartment and arrested Woeltz who was barefoot and wearing only a bathrobe at the time.

Investigators believe the motive was purely financial and the victim had been targeted specifically for his crypto holdings.

The victim is now recovering in a New York hospital. As of Saturday, no additional suspects have been named.

Woeltz, who previously kept a low profile despite flaunting crypto wealth online, is being held pending arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court.

He faces a barrage of felony charges including assault, kidnapping, and unlawful imprisonment.
An embattled baker who was accused of plagiarising her recipes has revealed she is expecting her second child and that she will be opening two new locations.

Brooke Bellamy revealed her plans for expansion on Sunday while celebrating the three year anniversary of running Brooki Bakehouse.

The bakehouse already has three locations and is 'about to open their fourth and fifth locations'.

'It's kind of crazy how much has happened over the past three years,' Ms Bellamy said in an Instagram video.

'And if you haven't heard the news already I'm excited to say that a second baby Brooki is on the way.'

The baking influencer returned to social media on Saturday following a brief hiatus after two high-profile chefs argued her bestselling cookbook Bake with Brooki contained their recipes.

Bellamy admitted in her comeback post she did not 'invent' the recipes in her cookbook, clarifying she had been 'inspired from somewhere and someone'.

'Since opening my bakery three years ago and sharing my life online, I've never had such a long break between videos,' she said in the video.

Brooke Bellamy's bakery, Brooki Bakehouse, will open two new locations, the enthusiastic founder announced

Bellamy, who has repeatedly denied plagiarising recipes from other bakers, is pictured in her popular inner-Brisbane store, Brooki Bakehouse

'But I've also never experienced something like I have over the last few weeks.'

RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi sparked an internet frenzy in April when she went public on her world famous blog with claims her caramel slice and Baklava recipes had been stolen for use in the book.

The video posted on Saturday showed Bellamy as she returned to her Fortitude Valley bakery in Brisbane's inner-city before dawn and slipped on her iconic pink 'Brooki' apron.

The high-profile baker admitted that while each of the 100 recipes in the book were 'personal' to her, they each drew on existing recipes in some way for inspiration.

'While all of these recipes are personal to me, I cannot say that I have invented the cookies, cupcakes, brownies or cakes in the recipe book. They are all inspired from somewhere and someone before me,' she said.

Bellamy said she had been influenced by creators across the world but said her mother remained her main inspiration.

'I have been so inspired by bakeries and bakers the world over but the biggest inspiration in my life is my mum because I learnt to cook and bake with her in the kitchen growing up,' she said.

Penguin Australia and Bellamy have denied the allegations since Bellamy first tackled Maehashi's claims head-on on April 29.

RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi (pictured) sparked a firestorm when she claimed Bellamy copied two of her recipes

American baker Sally McKenney joined the fray in April when she claimed Bellamy had also plagiarised her vanilla cake recipe after being alerted by Maehashi

Bake With Brooki was published by Penguin in October last year and retails for $49.99.

'I did not plagiarise any recipes in my book, which consists of 100 recipes I have created over many years, since falling in love with baking as a child and growing up baking with my mum in our home,' she wrote.

'On March 2020, RecipeTin Eats published a recipe for caramel slice. It uses the same ingredients as my recipe, which I have been making and selling since four years prior.'

The following day, on April 30, Bellamy again denied copying the recipes but suggested all baker's share common methods.

'I do not copy other people's recipes. Like many bakers, I draw inspiration from the classics, but the creations you see at Brooki Bakehouse reflect my own experience, taste, and passion for baking, born of countless hours of my childhood spent in my home kitchen with Mum,' she said.

'While baking has leeway for creativity, much of it is a precise science and is necessarily formulaic.

'Many recipes are bound to share common steps and measures: if they don't, they simply don't work.'

Maehashi is not the only baker to have levelled plagiarism claims against Bellamy.

Hours after Maehashi went public with her claims, American baker and author Sally McKenny claimed her own vanilla cake recipe had also been stolen for use in the cookbook as well as on Bellamy's YouTube channel.

'Original recipe creators who put in the work to develop and test recipes deserve credit - especially in a best-selling cookbook,' McKenny wrote.
The family of a TikToker who was left with life-changing injuries after a horrific hit-and-run crash have revealed she is undergoing rehab and can now speak.

Camryn Herriage, 24, miraculously survived the smash that injured five people and killed her best friend Sarah House last February.

Their vehicle was waiting at a red light in Dallas when a Ford pickup truck slammed into them, causing a chain reaction car crash.

Herriage was rushed to hospital and placed on a ventilator while her college roommate House, 22, died.

In posts to her social media in March and April, her mother has revealed Herriage has been undergoing extensive rehab and has started talking again.

Part of her rehab includes swimming, Shirley wrote, as she asked for followers to pray for her daughter.

She wrote: 'Just pray for her to hold up and all of us to get answers to our prayers. She will walk again. She is fighting so hard. It just breaks my heart.'

Following the incident she underwent brain surgery, heart surgery and several other operations.

Camryn Herriage, 24, was left with devastating injuries following the smash that injured five people and killed her roommate and friend, Sarah House, last February

In posts to her social media in March and April, her mother Shirley has revealed that Herriage has been undergoing extensive rehab and has started speaking

Doctors had not expected her to do as well as she has due to how traumatic her injuries are.

The woman who allegedly took off was later identified by police as 27-year-old Carmen Guerrero

Herriage had also celebrated her birthday earlier this year, something which her uncle Tim had celebrated, expressing his gratitude for her.

He said: 'Camryn is 24 today. She almost wasn't. She's had an amazingly difficult 11 months since her accident.

'She's happy, cheerful, and funny. She believes she'll walk again and that God has a purpose for her.

She says she's going to work for me, and I think that would be awesome. Her mind is in better shape than her body.

'But, 11 months ago her head wasn't connected to her body, to I'd say she's kicking ass. It won't be easy. It won't be perfect. But she is a fighter and has her mind right.'

The two were struck by an 'extremely intoxicated' woman, later identified as 27-year-old Carmen Guerrero who bystanders say fled the scene on foot.

Guerrero was later arrested 11 days after the collision when detectives located her wallet in her vehicle.

Their vehicle was waiting at a red light on Beckley Avenue, in Dallas, when a Ford pickup truck slammed into them, causing a chain reaction car crash

Herriage had also celebrated her birthday earlier this year, something which her uncle Tim had celebrated with a post to his own Facebook

According to Shirley, Guerrero was sentenced in April to 18 years for the horrific smash and revealed that her daughter had spoke at sentencing.

She posted: 'She did such an amazing job. She had everyone in the courtroom in tears. Everyone could hear every word. She said it was so clear and so well spoken.

'She said the lady was a monster for what she did to her friend and to her!!As, you know, she lost her best friend in the car wreck. We were so proud of her.'

House worked at Ralph Lauren after graduating from Texas Tech, having studied business, management and marketing and also competed in bikini competitions.

House was remembered in a GoFundMe, which raised over $36,000, for her 'bright spirit and infectious laughter'.

'Sara was known for her compassionate nature and her unwavering desire to make everyone around her happy,' her loved ones said last month.

Herriage worked at a social media management and branding company based in Lubbock, Texas

Herriage's best friend and college roommate from Texas Tech University, Sara House, (pictured) tragically died in the hit-and-run

'Her kindness and caring demeanor touched the lives of many, leaving a lasting impression on all who knew her.'

Herriage's sister Casie Campanello previously said: 'A careless act put us in a situation that change all of our lives.

The college roommates were extremely close and would often make TikToks together, which Herriage shared on her profile boasting 32,000 followers.

Herriage worked at a social media management and branding company based in Lubbock, Texas.

She had only recently moved back to North Texas after graduating from college in December.
A former homicide detective has shared the crucial timeframe police have missed as the search for Pheobe Bishop in Queensland continues.

The 17-year-old was last seen on May 15 leaving a home in Gin Gin near Bundaberg where she had been living with couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood.

Detectives believe the pair drove Pheobe the 40 minutes to Bundaberg Airport where she was supposed to board an 8.30am flight to Brisbane and then onto Perth where she planned to meet up with her boyfriend.

Former detective Charlie Bezzina has told Daily Mail Australia detectives have missed a key time frame as Pheobe was last seen 10 days ago.

'Like any missing person the significant percentage of success would be within the first 24 hours,' he said.

'The longer it goes on, the more chance of success diminishes unfortunately as the loss of possible evidence and clues increases.

'In respect to missing persons, unlike America there is no 24 hour rule that you have to wait, police are guided by the circumstances of the individual and what they are told by their loved ones.'

Mr Bezzina explained the information provided by loved ones will help to 'heighten the escalation into a search'.

Pheobe Bishop (pictured with her mum Kylie Johnson) was last seen leaving a home in Gin Gin, Bundaberg, where she had been living with couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood, on May 15

On Saturday, police began conducting a land, water and aerial search of the Good Scrub National Park

'You have to go where the evidence takes you and initially getting as much information from the family as you possibly can,' Mr Bezzina said.

Pheobe's case would have been made a high priority due to the circumstances in which she was reported missing.

He said missing a flight 'certainly escalates the importance of [her case] to start putting a ground search in place'.

In a telling update, cadaver dogs have been brought in as the search for the missing teenager continues.

Queensland Police deployed the dogs at the Good Night Scrub National Park just outside of Gin Gin, an hour away from where Pheobe was last seen, on Sunday.

Mr Bezzina said there are 'a number of missing persons that indicate foul play that are never found' while there are others who are located 'weeks, months later'.

'The issue is the police can only go as far as they can. They will never give up, but when do they stop physically searching? When they've exhausted all the avenues of inquiry.'

Mr Bezzina said the biggest challenge officers face is the availability of resources.

Detectives believe Pheobe was driven to Bundaberg Airport where she was supposed to board an 8.30am flight to Brisbane and then onto Perth where she planned to meet up with her boyfriend

Questions remain over exactly why Pheobe was living at a house with the Ms Bromley and Mr Wood.

Social media posts made by Pheobe before she disappeared suggested the troubled teen had fallen out with her mother and would not return home.

The couple have been questioned by police and were released. No charges have been laid over Pheobe's disappearance and Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Mr Wood and Ms Bromley were involved.

In a recent update, CCTV footage emerged on Facebook of the vehicle at the centre of the police investigation into Pheobe's disappearance.

Footage showed the silver Hyundai ix35 - owned by Ms Bromley - driving through the backstreets of Gin Gin at 10.30am on May 15 - two hours after Pheobe was allegedly dropped off at the airport.

The footage has since been taken down.

'Police are trying to nail down the timeline to where this vehicle has gone,' Detective Acting Inspector Ryan Thompson said.

'We do have associates that are assisting police with our inquiries at the moment, and this is why we're trying to narrow down that timeline in relation to where Pheobe could be.'

Pheobe (pictured with her family) has been described as 'the sunflower in a field full of wildflowers' by her mum

Pheobe's mum Kylie Johnson released a statement through police in which she described her daughter as 'feisty' and 'the sunflower in a field full of wildflowers.'

The statement said: 'Phee has always been strong willed and followed her own beat to life.'

'You can't tame Phee's spirit, empathy or fight for life. She is sassy, feisty and loves harder than anyone I've ever meet,' her mum said.

'Phee loves beyond comprehension and is loyal to her siblings.'

'Phee is the sunflower in a field full of wildflowers. She is an essential part of our lives and we need her home. We need to hear her music, feel her hugs and hear her voice.

'Pheobe would never not touch base with the people she loves. She would never go this long without contacting someone or anyone.'
A man has been rushed to hospital and terrified shoppers have been forced to bunker down in locked stores after a massive brawl involving machetes.

Emergency services rushed to Preston's Northland Shopping Centre in Melbourne's north shortly after 2.30pm on Sunday.

The busy shopping centre was plunged into lockdown after a brawl in an outdoor food court broke out between two rival groups of up to 10 males, some allegedly armed with machetes.

Two males, including a 15-year-old boy, have since been arrested while a man aged in his 20s suffering upper body injuries was rushed to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

The shopping centre remains an active crime scene on Sunday night.

Police have located one machete but confirmed no guns were involved.

Terrified shoppers were forced to run for their lives from the centre while others sought refuge in shuttered stores, including Kmart, Myer and Smiggle.

One customer Jason, told Daily Mail Australia he had been shopping when 'people started running and all the shops locked their doors'.

A Melbourne shopping centre was plunged into lockdown on Sunday after a wild brawl involving males with machetes broke out

Two men have been arrested after police alleged a brawl involving at least ten men broke out

'We stayed inside Kmart for about an hour before they finally let everyone leave.'

Other frightened shoppers took to social media to share updates.

'The world is mad. Just got home from Northland! Was locked in a store room in Myer, staff were fantastic. Still shaken. Hope injured will be okay,' one wrote.

Another added: 'Some guys with machetes apparently. We just arrived and everyone was running out telling us to run,' one said.

A third reported: 'My daughter is currently locked in Smiggle and called me saying someone running around with knives.

A fourth added: 'My friends are in a shop calming the staff down. They heard all the shouting and went into the nearest shop and got the staff to lock the doors.'

Shoppers in locked stores recalled seeing 'traumatising' scenes when they were finally able to leave the centre.

'By the time we got out it was all police taped, there was paper towel covered in blood all over the floor, there were (paramedics), helicopters and about 70 police officers,' one woman wrote

Shoppers were sent running for cover after the fight reportedly broke out in the shopping centre

Images circulating social media appeared to show two young men pinned to the ground by police

'As we were walking out there was a young guy in handcuffs. Fair to say my kids are a little traumatised!'

Others shoppers described the incident as absolute chaos'.

Chris told 3AW there was no PA system in the centre, and police were directing terrified shoppers to 'just go, just go' at the centre's exits.

'We got in our car, hit gridlock trying to get out,' he said.

Footage showed three men facing off in the centre's outdoor food court.

Photos showed two young men pinned to the ground by police after the incident.

'It's chaos there at the moment, it's absolute chaos.'

Police alleged the brawl was a planned meet-up between opposing groups.

'The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated but it is believed the incident was targeted and parties are believed to be known to each other,' a statement read.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information or footage is urged to come forward.

Dozens of emergency vehicles raced to the scene, with a nearby street littered with police cars and ambulances

Stores locked down with customers left waiting inside for authorities to respond to the incident

The Victorian state government will ban machetes in September 1, when the weapon will become classified as a prohibited weapon.

The UK recently led a similar reform enacting the ban within 18 months. The Victorian government insists they would do it in six months.

An amnesty will run from September 1 to November 30. During that time, people will be able to safely dispose of their knives without committing a crime.

Prohibited weapons are strictly regulated in Victoria. Penalties of two years imprisonment or a fine of over $47,000 for being caught in possession will apply.

Victoria Police want the machete ban fast-tracked in the wake of Sunday's incident.

'I think that there's no secret that Victoria Police would like to see those put in place as soon as possible,' Superintendent Kelly Lawson said.

'We are really concerned about the use of bench weapons, but we are doing all that we can in relation to that in making public places safe.'

Many shoppers were left shaken as they evacuated from the centre on Sunday afternoon

Terrified shoppers shared updates from inside the centre over Sunday afternoon

A man is pictured pinning down one of the suspected knifemen
Delay-ridden South Western Railway has become the first train company to be renationalised by Labour.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander hailed it as a 'new dawn for railways' as she stepped on board the first train out of London Waterloo under Government control.

But she stopped short of promising lower ticket prices despite passengers saying all they wanted was 'cheaper fares'.

The carriages were the first to be adorned with Great British Railways livery with the Department for Transport now responsible for the service.

SWR was recently voted one of the worst rail operators coming third bottom in a recent study by watchdog Transport Focus.

The operator was previously owned by FirstGroup and MTR Corporation. Two other rail firms - C2C and Greater Anglia - will be brought under public control later this year.

A further seven other companies will be renationalised by 2027 with Labour previously saying simplifying the rail network would save taxpayers 2.2billion.

Boarding the 6.14am service from London Waterloo to Shepperton in Surrey, Ms Alexander said: 'Today marks a new dawn for our railways.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander makes a speech in front of a train carriage with Great British Railways branding

A view of Great British Railways branding on the side of a train carriage at the South Western Railway Bournemouth Traincare Depot

'Moving away from 30 years of inefficiency, delayed services and failing passengers, and moving confidently into a new era - the era of Great British Railways.

'That's why I was so adamant I had to be here at Waterloo this morning, alongside all these other excited passengers and rail aficionados, for what really is a watershed moment.

'Most rail users don't spend much time thinking about who runs the trains, but they do want them to work, and that's why there's a genuine excitement here today at the generational opportunity we have to completely transform train travel in this country.

'As the 6:14 service leaves Waterloo, I'll be sat on it with a sense of pride but also a determination to get this right and deliver a railway Britain can be proud of again.'

But some passengers weren't even aware the service had be renationalised as they boarded trains.

Maggie Smith, from Wokingham, told the BBC: 'I haven't heard any information at all and I haven't been given any information about what the impacts might be.'

While John Major told the corporation that he thought it was a 'dreadful' and feared it the service would no longer be reliable.

'British rail were a standing joke and stand-up comedians thoroughly enjoyed British rail,' he said.

Passengers disembark a South Western Railway service at a station in London -- May 24, 2025

Passengers look at notice boards for a South Western Railway service at Waterloo Station in London -- May 24, 2025

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander meets local school children during a visit to the South Western Railway Bournemouth Traincare Depot

All other services run by private companies will be renationalised as contracts reach the end of their minimum terms.

Britain's railway services were privatised in the mid-1990s.

Office of Rail and Road (ORR) figures show the equivalent of 4 per cent of services in Britain were cancelled in the year to April 26. For SWR, the figure was 3 per cent.

Renationalised services will be integrated into Great British Railways (GBR), a new public sector body which will also oversee rail infrastructure.

Legislation to enable the creation of GBR is expected to be introduced in Parliament later this year.

Shadow GBR has been established to ensure closer collaboration within the industry.

Richard Bowker, former boss of the Strategic Rail Authority, which was a public body providing direction for the industry between 2001 and 2005, said it is 'quite easy to be sceptical' about the overhaul but he believes there is 'real potential here for things to get better'.

Mr Bowker, who presents rail podcast Green Signals, went on: 'It has become overly complex, and I think bringing together track and train more now is a pragmatic and sensible thing to do.

'The key with this will not really be who owns it. Are the people that are going to be running it day to day... going to be genuinely empowered to make the right decisions to run the railway?

Passengers look at notice boards for a South Western Railway service at Waterloo Station

Passengers travel on a South Western Railway service at a station in London

A worker at a South Western Railway service at a station in London -- May 24, 2025

'We've got plenty of very, very able managers, but over the last five years - particularly since Covid when franchises effectively went bust and national rail contracts were put in place - there has been a huge amount of centralised control, and it's quite stifling.'

Johnbosco Nwogbo, of public ownership campaign group We Own It, said: 'Today is a great day for passengers because our railway is finally beginning its journey back to putting us, our communities and our planet before the profits of private shareholders.

'But the job is not yet done. The Government still has to get public ownership right, so that it really delivers for people.'

Analysis by PA news agency found the renationalisation of SWR means a third of journeys are on publicly owned services.

That is based on passenger journey data for 2024 from the ORR.

Operators that were already under public ownership are LNER, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express.

GBR branding has been added to one SWR train.

It features part of a Union flag, the double arrow symbol that is synonymous with Britain's railways, and the words 'Great British Railways coming soon'.

More trains will be given the branding over the coming months and years.

But the DfT said publicly owned services 'will need to meet tough performance standards to be rebranded Great British Railways'.

These standards will cover factors such as punctuality, reliability and the experience of passengers.

The DfT said its renationalisation policy will save taxpayers up to 150 million per year in fees previously paid to private companies that ran services.

The first SWR service under public ownership was a rail replacement bus.

After the implementation of renationalisation at 2am, passengers travelling on the 5.36am service from Woking to London Waterloo had to change to a bus at Surbiton because of engineering work.
BBC Woman's Hour presenter Anita Rani has been accused of being 'biased and bigoted' by a gender rights campaigner.

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters - a women's rights group - said her views were 'misrepresented' on the show by Rani.

She made a formal complaint to the BBC, claiming the presenter should never have been allowed to present interviews with individuals on both sides of the transgender debate, because she had in the past shown 'extreme and unacceptable bias' on the issue, The Telegraph first reported.

Woman's Hour had discussed the debate with figures on both sides after April's Supreme Court ruling that trans women are not legally women.

The ruling also decided the word 'sex' in the Equality Act refers to biological sex and not gender identity, sparking mass debate across the world.

Ms Joyce featured on Woman's Hour last week, before chief executive of Amnesty International UK, Sacha Deshmukh, appeared on the show two days later.

In her complaint, Ms Joyce condemned the 'choice to use a demonstrably biased and bigoted presenter, Anita Rani, for that interview, thereby giving her and the interviewee the chance to misrepresent me'.

She added that the presenter had 'previously publicly demonstrated bias and prejudice towards the gender-critical viewpoint'.

Helen Joyce (pictured), director of advocacy at Sex Matters - a women's rights group - said her views were 'misrepresented' on Woman's Hour by presenter Anita Rani

Anita Rani (pictured) has been accused of being 'biased and bigoted' by the gender rights campaigner

'In particular, she shouldn't have been allowed to interview Sacha Deshmukh because it was obvious she would give him an easy ride for ideological reasons,' she said.

Gender rights campaigner Ms Joyce quoted a tweet Ms Rani had penned four years ago in the wake of criticism of Woman's Hour for featuring Paris Lees, a trans author, to discuss the book What It Feels Like For A Girl.

Ms Rani posted: 'I'm disgusted by the levels of transphobia on here. Woman's Hour is a space to discuss everything about LGBTQ+ issues.

'Listening to people's stories helps us understand something and hopefully empathise. Ditch the hate.'

In response, Ms Joyce claimed the tweet exposed Ms Rani's 'extreme and unacceptable bias'.

Ms Joyce claimed the presenter misrepresented her point of view in a question to Mr Deshmuck, enabling him to make out she did not understand the Supreme Court ruling.

In her complaint to the BBC, Ms Joyce condemned the 'choice to use a demonstrably biased and bigoted presenter, Anita Rani'

'Anita asked Sacha misleading questions which muddled up my explanation of the judgment,' she wrote.

A spokesman for the BBC said: 'The BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit will respond to this complaint directly, in accordance with our usual complaints procedure. Woman's Hour has given an on air clarification, stating that when Helen Joyce from the campaign group Sex Matters was quoted in the interview with Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, her comment referred to the Equality Act and not to the issue of sex and gender in wider society or any other legislation.

'Both interviews were part of a series broadcast by Woman's Hour over the past two weeks, which reflect a wide range of perspectives on the Supreme Court ruling.'
Panicked messages have emerged from terrified customers inside a busy shopping centre moments after it was plunged into lockdown.

Police swarmed Northland Shopping Centre in Melbourne's north on Sunday afternoon after a brawl in an outdoor food court broke out between two rival groups of up to 10 males, some allegedly armed with machetes.

One shopper recalled seeing a wounded young man with a 'big machete still in his stomach'.

Another recalled hurrying an injured teenager to help.

'We rushed the kid (who had severe upper body wounds) over to the Gelatissimo  two girls looked after him very well  it was pretty gory,' he told Nine News.

Terrified shoppers were forced to run for their lives from the centre as others sought refuge in shuttered stores, including Kmart, Myer and Smiggle.

3AW journalist Jacqueline Felgate shared a series of frantic messages received from those inside locked inside stores.

'A gang of people with machetes at Northland! We are locked in the back of a store,' one wrote.

A Melbourne shopping centre was plunged into lockdown on Sunday after a wild brawl involving machetes broke out

Police were called to Northland Shopping Centre shortly after at 2.30pm on Sunday

Frantic messages from the frightened and confused shoppers locked inside stores during the chaos

'No update from centre management if they are still here or not. Unsure if anyone is hurt.

'We are safe where we are. Currently in a locked store room with four other people.

'Unsure about anyone else in the centre at this point.'

Another wrote: 'There are people running around Northland with knives. All stores' shutters are down, my mum is in Best and Less. Scary!

'Not sure of what's happening but hope it's not another Bondi situation.'

The scenes of blood and crowds rushing for the shopping centre exits reminded many witnesses of the Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing massacre a year ago.

On April 13, 2024, crazed knifeman Joel Cauchi stabbed six people to death and injured another 12, including a nine-month-old girl, in Sydney's east.

The horrific attack only ended when NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott shot Cauchi dead.

Footage showed locked down customers fleeing Northland shopping centre after they were given the all clear to leave

Footage showed customers running from the commotion as police swarmed the centre

Another shopper at Northland on Sunday described scenes of 'lots of commotion and panic and people running'.

'Police have arrived and are telling everyone to stay inside,' they told Felgate.

'There are mentions of someone with a knife.

'We were at the hairdresser and just sat down to give my one-year-old a haircut, it is terrifying.'

Others commended the swift response from retail staff to keep shoppers safe amid the terrifying chaos.

'There was confusion and little communication from centre management at the time of the initial incident however a huge shout out to the retailers for ensuring all customers were ushered safely into their stores, out of harms way,' they wrote.

'This was done with little panic and very orderly.

'Despite this experience being quite surreal and eerie I must commend the young retail staff for stepping up.'

Other customers hid from the chaos in locked storerooms (pictured, customers in Myer)

Footage has also emerged of locked down shoppers, including young families fleeing the shopping centre in droves after they were given the all clear to leave.

A witness told Seven News the incident 'reminded her of what happened in Bondi, seeing everyone run and seeing the machete how big it was as well'.

'There was some blood on the floor and there were just people crying, including kids as well, so everyone was pretty shaken up,' she said.

Two boys aged 15 and 16 were arrested and later charged with with affray, intentionally cause injury, possess controlled weapon and use controlled weapon.

They will remain custody to appear at a childrens court at a later date.

A man, 20 who suffered upper body injuries was rushed to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Another injured male later self-presented himself to hospital.

Victoria Police Superintendent Kelly Lawson said the incident is believed to be 'retaliation' between 'two rival gangs'.

'I want to reassure the community that this was not just some random thing that happened; it was a pre-organised gang meet-up where that affray has taken place,' she said.

'It would have been absolutely frightening to witness what [the public] saw today, on a Sunday afternoon.

'Parents, with their children  absolutely frightening.'

Shoppers in locked stores recalled seeing 'traumatising' scenes when they were finally able to leave the centre

Investigators believed an incident on Saturday triggered the shopping centre 'meet-up' between the two gangs, who were already on the 'radar' of police.

Superintendent Lawson said the remaining gang members were yet to be identified.

'We will know who these people are and it will not take very long to arrest them,' she said.

One customer Jason, told Daily Mail Australia he had been shopping when 'people started running and all the shops locked their doors'.

'We stayed inside Kmart for about an hour before they finally let everyone leave.'

Other frightened shoppers took to social media to recount their experience.

'The world is mad. Just got home from Northland! Was locked in a store room in Myer, staff were fantastic. Still shaken. Hope injured will be okay,' one wrote.

Another added: 'Some guys with machetes apparently. We just arrived and everyone was running out telling us to run,' one said.

Police believe the incident was a 'targeted' attack between 'rival gangs'

A third reported: 'My daughter is currently locked in Smiggle and called me saying someone running around with knives.

A fourth added: 'My friends are in a shop calming the staff down. They heard all the shouting and went into the nearest shop and got the staff to lock the doors.'

Shoppers in locked stores recalled seeing 'traumatising' scenes when they were finally able to leave the centre.

'By the time we got out it was all police taped, there was paper towel covered in blood all over the floor, there were (paramedics), helicopters and about 70 police officers,' one woman wrote.

'As we were walking out there was a young guy in handcuffs. Fair to say my kids are a little traumatised!'

Anyone who witnessed the incident, has CCTV, dashcam footage or any other information that could assist police is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
NATO scrambled its war planes early today in an act of self defence amid Vladimir Putin's heaviest strikes on Ukraine in months, leading to multiple civilian deaths including three children.

Russia was also hit hard with Ukrainian strikes, leading to the Kremlin's air defences shooting in panic - but missing - an Airbus A320-251N packed with its own tourists from Turkish resort Bodrum, according to reports.

And at least ten Russian government aircraft used for high-ranking state and military officials fled Moscow flying east.

It was not immediately clear if the exodus was a drill for an emergency evacuation, or the real thing, amid an onslaught from Ukrainian drones which led to the temporary closures of major Moscow airports.

The whereabouts of dictator Putin was not immediately known.

Among the planes that left Moscow eastward in the direction of the Urals were four Tu-154s, one Il-62M, a pair of Tu-134s, a Tu-214, and transport aircraft Il-76MD and An-148.

Russia has a network of bunkers hundreds and thousands of miles west of the capital for use in wartime if Moscow is under siege.

There was no official comment as one report stated: 'The mass departure of government planes from Moscow may indicate training to evacuate top leadership.'

A total of at least 13 people were killed, including three children, and 57 injured in the attacks by Russia, among the strongest of the entire war

Three died in Kyiv region, with at least 26 wounded here and in the city, including at least three children

Rescuers were seen escorting a woman from a damaged house following Russian strikes to the Khmelnytsky region

In Khmelnytskyi region, at least four people were killed and five injured in Putin's overnight strikes

It coincided with the first time in many months that Russia deployed the entire spectrum of its nuclear-capable strategic bombers against Ukraine, firing conventional missiles from Tu-22M3, Tu-95MS and Tu-160 aircraft - in addition to the use of kamikaze drones.

Amid savage attacks from Putin's armed forces on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, Polish military high command announced it had 'activated all available forces and resources' on NATO's eastern flank.

'On-duty fighter pairs have been scrambled, and the ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness,' said a statement.

'The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the areas bordering the threatened areas.'

A total of at least 13 people were killed, including three children, and 57 injured in the attacks by Russia, among the strongest of the entire war, according to latest figures, the clearest proof yet that Putin has no interest in Donald Trump's peace moves and is bent on eviscerating Ukraine.

Three died in Kyiv region, with at least 26 wounded here and in the city, including at least three children.

In the capital, a student dormitory was hit.

In Khmelnytskyi region, at least four people were killed and five injured in Putin's overnight strikes.

Odesa was hit with Kalibr cruise missiles from vessels in Putin's Black Sea Fleet

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, private houses are seen ruined after a Russian drones attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine

Amid savage attacks from Putin's armed forces on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, Polish military high command announced it had 'activated all available forces and resources' on NATO's eastern flank

More than 30 residential buildings both private homes and apartment blocks were destroyed or damaged, along with nearly 40 outbuildings in Zhytomyr

At least ten Russian government aircraft used for high-ranking state and military officials fled Moscow flying east - it was not immediately clear if the exodus was a drill for an emergency evacuation, or the real thing

People look at a residential building struck by a drone following an overnight strike in Kyiv

Ukrainian experts work at the site of a residential building struck by a drone as a result of an overnight strike in Kyiv

An Odesa resident with a dog stands next to cars destroyed in a residential area during a Russian drone strike

Six private houses were completely destroyed and dozens more damaged.

In Zhytomyr region, the Russian blitzkrieg killed three children - aged eight, 12 and 17.

Another 12 people were injured, with private houses destroyed and damaged.

In Mykolaiv, people were trapped under the rubble of a residential block, where the upper floors were destroyed.

One woman was killed and another, aged 20, is fighting for her life in intensive care following the barbaric Shahed drone strike.

In Konotop, the mayor told of the largest aerial strike since World War Two.

Chernihiv region was hit by a wave of missiles and drones, triggering fires.

Kharkiv was under fierce attack with an office building hit and three wounded.

The latest carnage adds to growing evidence that far from taking steps towards peace Putin is engaged in ever stronger attacks on Ukraine likely as a prelude to a major summer offensive seeking to grab new territory

Ukraine said 45 cruise missiles were shot down, and 266 drones, from 367 separate strikes

'Unfortunately, three people died last night as a result of an enemy attack in the Kyiv region,' Mykola Kalashnyk, who heads the regional military administration, wrote in a Telegram post

An Odesa resident walks past a crater that appeared after a Russian drone strike in a residential area

A chilling video showed Russian shelling of Vovchansk, in Kharkiv region.

Odesa was hit with Kalibr cruise missiles from vessels in Putin's Black Sea Fleet.

The latest carnage adds to growing evidence that far from taking steps towards peace - as Trump has demanded - Putin is engaged in ever stronger attacks on Ukraine likely as a prelude to a major summer offensive seeking to grab new territory in on Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipro regions beginning next month.

Up to 50,000 Russian troops are being prepared for an advance, according to reports.

Ukraine struck Migalovo military airfield in Tver region - and in the panic air defences shot at an aircraft.

Initially it was thought to be a Tu-160 nuclear bomber.

A Tver resident was heard on footage declaring: 'Why the f*** are they shooting at a plane?'

Reports on Telegram indicated the aircraft was a Pegasus airline flight PC1456 tourist plane from Bodrum to Moscow.

Emergency workers extinguish fire in the debris of a private house that was destroyed in a Russian rocket strike

Up to 50,000 Russian troops are being prepared for an advance, according to reports

An Odesa resident stands next to cars destroyed in a residential area during a Russian drone strike

It later landed successfully at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

The military airfield - seen ablaze - is home of the 196th military transport aviation regiment, military unit 41486.

It is the base for Russia's Antonov An-22 aircraft, the world's largest turboprop-powered planes, along with Ilyushin Il-76 and Antonov An-12 transport aircraft.

In Tula region, a downed drone hit an apartment block.

'It was torn apart... Everything was torn apart... The whole entrance,' said a resident.

Russia claimed 110 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over its territory.

Putin deployed no less than Tu-95MS strategic bombers in the assault.

Ukraine said 45 cruise missiles were shot down, and 266 drones, from 367 separate strikes.

Some Shahed drones and UAV decoys, 55 cruise missiles, nine ballistic missiles and four Kh-59/69 air-launched missiles were launched by Russia

After the horrific strikes, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for tougher Western action against Putin

Some Shahed drones and UAV decoys, 55 cruise missiles, nine ballistic missiles and four Kh-59/69 air-launched missiles were launched by Russia.

The armed forces said: 'Most regions of Ukraine were affected by the enemy attack.

'Enemy airstrikes were recorded in 22 locations, as well as downed cruise missiles and strike UAVs in 15 locations.

'Unfortunately, tonight, due to the barbaric attack by the Russians, there are dead and injured, among them children...

'We express our condolences to the families of the dead and injured.'

Separately, a dramatic video showed a spectacular Ukrainian strike on a Russian train in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region.

At least three fuel wagons exploded from the drone strike, as seen on aerial footage.

The hit disrupted supplies to both occupied Zaporizhzhia and Crimea.

The Ukrainian leader accused Donald Trump of 'silence' in the face of Russian barbarity

The Ukrainian armed forces said 'enemy airstrikes were recorded in 22 locations, as well as downed cruise missiles and strike UAVs in 15 locations'

After the horrific strikes, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for tougher Western action against Putin, accusing Donald Trump of 'silence' in the face of Russian barbarity.

He revealed more than 30 Ukrainian cities, towns and villages were hit in the overnight onslaught.

As he spoke, the siren again sounded in Kyiv.

'Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against [Putin], he said.

'Russia is dragging out this war and killing every day.

'The world may be taking a weekend off, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays.

'This cannot be ignored.'

Referring to Trump's reluctance to criticise or sanction Putin, he said:

'America's silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin.'

'The world may be taking a weekend off, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays,' Zelenskyy said

His blunt words risk reopening wounds with the White House.

He warned: 'Without really strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped.

'Sanctions will definitely help. Determination is what matters now  the determination of the United States, the determination of European countries, of all those in the world who want peace.

'The world knows all the weaknesses of the Russian economy.

'It is possible to stop the war, but only through the necessary force of pressure on Russia. Putin must be forced to think not about launching missiles, but about ending the war.'
The devolved Labour administration in Wales has axed the word 'us' from the national culture policy for being too 'exclusionary'.

Welsh Labour has put together a set of principles to guide future culture sector policy - one being the idea that 'culture brings us together'.

However, one of the many groups who attended the consultation for the plans told the government they should 'consider how the use of the word 'us' in this statement could seem exclusionary'.

The group told them the should use the word 'everyone' instead.

It's unclear which group had a problem with the phrasing but their influence saw ministers replace the word 'us' with 'people' in the final published policy strategy.

The final version of the policy was published this week and outlines how the culture sector in Wales will be managed from now until 2030.

Its first priority, under the revised heading 'culture brings people together', states the sector must 'promote a modern and diverse Wales, reflecting the variety of people and cultures who call Wales their home'.

It is a goal which is reflected in the foreword written by the minister for culture, skills and social partnership Jack Sargeant.

Welsh Labour Government's minister for culture, skills and social partnership Jack Sargeant

Andrew RT Davies (pictured), leader of the Welsh Conservatives, blasted the plans, saying: 'This is the latest ludicrous proposal to come forward from Labour Senedd ministers'

He wrote: 'By working together to realise these shared ambitions, we can provide a platform from which our culture sector can thrive, innovate, and reflect the true diversity of our nation.'

Some of the new principles lay out what the Welsh Labour government has dictated to be a suitable approach to national history.

It previously set out its expectations for cultural institutions to promote the 'right historic narrative' in an anti-racist action plan.

The plan said: 'Culture should take an inclusive, thoughtful and balanced approach to interpreting, commemorating and presenting our past, to how we consider and respond to contemporary issues, and to how we look to the future.'

It also said historic sites, collections in museums and galleries should 'be relevant to a diverse and contemporary Wales', adding there is 'tension between respecting the history and lived experiences of the majority population and supporting their understanding of minority cultures'.

Another priority was making the cultural sector more environmentally friendly, with the document warning heritage assets are at risk due to hotter summers, rising sea levels and an increasing number of pests.

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, blasted the plans, saying: 'This is the latest ludicrous proposal to come forward from Labour Senedd ministers.

'Together with Plaid Cymru separatists, they've ruined the culture sector in Wales by pushing a radical, divisive ideology that has resulted in millions being spent implementing their anti-racist Wales action plan while funding for the world-renowned Welsh National Opera was cut.

'Labour and Plaid are completely out of touch.'

It comes after taxpayers were left reeling this week when the Welsh Labour government spent 250,000 on a project to count moths - while it continues to cut public services.

The 'Cryptic Creatures of the Creuddyn' project is surveying the moths' limestone habitats on Llandudno's Great Orme headland and in neighbouring areas.

The under-fire government claims it with help protect at-risk insects, including the Horehound Plume micro-moth (pictured)

Llandudno's Louise Emery (pictured) hit out after a grant was awarded by the Welsh Government to Conwy county council

It was handed a grant of 248,348 by the Governments Nature Networks Fund, and will be delivered by the Heritage Fund.

The under-fire government claims it with help protect at-risk insects, including the Horehound Plume micro-moth.

A Tory councillor branded the spending 'ridiculous' - as families struggle with the cost of living and local authorities cut frontline services.

Llandudno's Louise Emery hit out after a grant was awarded by the Welsh Government to Conwy county council.

She said: 'Rather than for the benefit of invertebrates, how about Welsh Government benefit schools and communities by properly funding local authorities to improve education and provide basic services such as maintaining highways and public toilets?

'It's about priorities, and establishing the number of moths on specific limestone headlands should not be a priority when Welsh Labour in Cardiff continue to tell local authorities they have no money. This is utterly ridiculous.'
Boris Johnson's allies are trying to convince the former prime minister to make a bombshell return as Tory leader, it has been revealed.

Details of a plot to reinstall the ex-premier to the political frontline have emerged as pressure piles on current party leader Kemi Badenoch.

She suffered devastating local election results at the start of this month, when the Conservatives lost more than 600 councillors and all of the councils they controlled.

Mrs Badenoch, who has worried some of her MPs with her performances at PMQs, has since seen a YouGov poll show her party are now a humiliating fourth in the polls.

The survey found the Tories trailing far behind Reform UK and Labour, while even being overtaken by the Liberal Democrats.

Mrs Badenoch was only elected Conservative leader in November when she fought off rival Robert Jenrick to replace Rishi Sunak.

This means, under the party's rules, she cannot face a formal confidence vote among Tory MPs until 2 November this year.

But it has been reported that some Conservatives, who want to move faster to bring in a new leader, are considering alternative options to oust Mrs Badenoch.

Boris Johnson 's allies are trying to convince the former prime minister to make a bombshell return as Tory leader, it has been revealed

Details of a plot to reinstall the ex-premier to the political frontline have emerged as pressure piles on current party leader Kemi Badenoch

Since leaving Downing Street in 2022, Mr Johnson - pictured during the 2019 general election campaign - has continued to make interventions on issues such as Ukraine and Brexit

Mrs Badenoch attempted to play down the prospect of a political return by Mr Johnson in a TV interview this morning, telling GB News: 'So, I love Boris.

'He sends me lots of messages, gives me lots of advice, like Iain Duncan Smith, like David Cameron.

'I have great people who have been in this situation before, who dealt with difficult times. So it's up to him what he wants to do.

'I have to focus on my job, which is making sure that Keir Starmer does not do more than the damage he's doing right now.

'We have to get him out in four years time, otherwise there's not going to be a country left I'm afraid.'

Since leaving Downing Street in 2022, Mr Johnson - who has welcomed his fourth child with wife Carrie - has continued to make significant interventions on issues such as the Ukraine war and Brexit.

A senior Tory told The Sun on Sunday: 'Some of the old gang around Boris Johnson are back texting and in talks to get him to return.

'The feeling is he is the only man who can take on Nigel Farage and win. They want to bring back Boris.'

Another Conservative said: 'Team Boris are talking again. There are even some people in Tory HQ who are moonlighting on Project Boris.'

Earlier this month, a More in Common poll found Mr Johnson is the only potential party leader under which the Tories poll higher that Mr Farage's Reform.

According to the Sunday Times, some supporters of Mr Johnson - who is no longer an MP - believe Tory rules could be altered to allow him to lead the party from outside Parliament until the next general election.

The newspaper also reported on different options being considered by those who want to move against Mrs Badenoch before November.

These include a confidence vote among grassroots Tory members at the party's national convention to shame Mrs Badenoch into resigning; a rule change to allow MPs to force a confidence vote before November; an open letter to the media by more than half the MPs calling for Badenoch to go; or mass resignations by members of the shadow cabinet.

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Guto Harri, who was Mr Johnson's former director of communications, told Times Radio yesterday: 'I think we inevitably are heading for another leadership challenge.

'And the danger there is that the party makes the wrong decision again and chooses somebody like Robert Jenrick, who's a pale imitation of what Kemi Badenoch is trying to be a pale imitation of, which is Nigel Farage and Reform.

'If we had a directly-elected presidency, and you could appeal to people over the heads of the Conservative Party, frankly, then Boris would be plotting a return.'

But Lord Gove, the former Cabinet minister, warned against ditching Mrs Badenoch as Tory leader.

He said: 'The people who are anxious to get rid of Kemi don't themselves have a convincing answer of what the Conservative Party should do.

'And I actually think that if the Conservative Party were to do that, it would confirm even further a reputation in people's minds, that we were only interested in ourselves, and not actually interested in what was good for the whole country.'
Violent organised crime groups in Colombia are reportedly using a potent drug to kidnap and rob British tourists.

Devil's Breath, also known as scopolamine and burundanga, was previously used as a truth serum by the CIA and comes from the seeds of the Borrachero tree in South America.

Now, feared mobsters are using it to drug unsuspecting tourists after ensnaring them with honey trap schemes through dating apps like Tinder and Grindr.

Hundreds of people in Colombia are thought to have been targeted with the drug.

Colombian police reportedly fear London-based scientist Alessandro Coatti, 38, may have died after being targeted this way.

The molecular biologist was staying at a hostel in the scenic historic centre of the coastal city of Santa Marta while on holiday last month.

Victims of the Devil's Breath can be paralysed and go into a 'zombie' stupor if they ingest as little as 10mg of the drug.

It also makes them susceptible to following commands - and, after up to an hour of hallucinations and delirium, they could lose control of their body and even die.

The dismembered body London-based scientist Alessandro Coatti (pictured) was found in a suitcase in the Colombian city of Santa Marta. Police reportedly think he could have been targeted with the Devil's Breath drug

Devil's Breath, also known as scopolamine and burundanga, was previously used as a truth serum by the CIA and comes from the seeds of the Borrachero tree (pictured) in South America

Colombian detectives fear Mr Coatti may have gone to an abandoned house in the southern San Jose del Pando area of the city after connecting with someone on Grindr, The Daily Telegraph reported.

His remains were reportedly discovered by a group of children and he was said to have been identified by a hotel wristband.

Mr Coatti had worked at the Royal Society of Biology since April 2017 - first as a science policy officer and for the past six years as a senior science policy officer.

Before joining the professional association, created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education and research, the Italian-born scientist had been a post-graduate neuroscience researcher at University College London.

He was among Royal Society of Biology representatives who appeared before Parliament, in June 2022, to discuss the future regulation of UK genetic technologies.

The drug is thought to have been used before in honey trap schemes in Colombia.

Footage of two women with a man in the city of Medellin was previously shared online.

Video showed the man carrying a paper bag and keying in the code for the entrance door's security lock.

One of the women, dressed in a black bodysuit, looked forward while her accomplice, wearing a similar pink outfit, turned around and looked towards a group of people that were standing near their motorcycles.

The individual then opened the door as the suspects followed him into the home - where the alleged robbery took place.

Once inside, the women allegedly drugged the man with powdered scopolamine, otherwise known as the 'Devil's Breath,' which causes a person to become disoriented.

The women fled with the victim's money, jewelry and cell phone.

According to Medellin authorities, at least 254 people were robbed in 2023 by criminals who exposed them to powdered scopolamine.
A man with links to the Alameddine crime gang and a solicitor are fighting for life after a brazen drive-by shooting at one of Sydney's busiest intersections.

Police were called to Church Street beneath the M4 overpass in Granville in the city's west shortly after 5pm on Sunday after a gunman opened fire on a white Toyota HiLux ute occupied by four men waiting at the traffic lights.

Two men were found at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds and rushed to hospital in critical conditions.

Alameddine associate Dawood Zakaria was shot in the head while solicitor Sylvan Singh was struck in the arm and leg, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Mr Singh is understood to have been an innocent victim caught up in the latest episode of Sydney's gangland war.

Two other men sitting in the back seat of the ute were uninjured.

An abandoned car was found alight a short time later in a carpark 3.5km away near the intersection of Sherwood Road and Todd St in Merrylands West.

The tactic is often used by underworld gangs as a way of covering their tracks.

Two men have been rushed to hospital following a drive-by shooting in Granville. Pictured are police at the scene

A car was found alight in the nearby suburb of Merrylands West a short time later

Two crime scenes have been established. Pictured are police at the scene of the shooting

Firefighters extinguished the blaze but the car was destroyed.

'Police will be investigating if the two incidents are linked,' a police statement read.

'A crime scene has been established at both locations.'

Eight ambulances attended the scene of the shooting, including two specialist medical teams.

Photos from the scene showed the road strewn with medical debris, shattered glass and discarded clothing.

Footage showed police surrounding two black-clad men sitting on the footpath who were believed to have sitting been in the back seat of the ute that was targeted.

They were seen their hands bound and covered in brown paper bags.

The men were escorted from the scene in separate police vehicles just after 7pm. No charges have been laid.

Lawyer Sylvan Singh (pictured) was shot in the arm and leg on Sunday night's shooting

Eight ambulances attended the scene of the shooting, including two specialist medical teams

The passenger window and both passenger-side wheels of the Hilux were peppered with bullet holes.

The shooting unfolded on Church Street near the M4 exit and intersections of Parramatta and Woodville Roads, where there were heavy traffic delays.

'There were cops everywhere, and no-one knew what happened,' one local told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Detectives and members of the State Crime Command Raptor Squad have swarmed both crime scenes.

The shooting prompted a statement from NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley.

'I am horrified by the level of violence we have seen on our streets tonight,' she said.

'I understand the community is concerned and rightly so.

'I want to assure them that police are working around the clock to identify and arrest those responsible.'

Police spoke to two men who were believed to have sitting been in the back seat of the ute targeted

Two men who spoke to officers at the scene were later escorted to separate police vehicles. No charges have been laid

The latest shooting comes just days after tradie John Versace, 23, who had no links to organised crime, was gunned down in a hail of bullets at his doorstep in Condell Park in the city's south-west.

Police are investigating whether the murder was a case of mistaken identity.

It's understood the gunman remains on the run.
Families in a traditional seaside town are fighting plans to introduce a new Domino's pizza store.

Locals argue Sheringham in Norfolk has over 40 eateries already and that a new one with 'eyesore signage' would be out of place.

The proposal, which has received 14 public comments against and one in support, comes just a few months after objectors lost a long battle to keep Tesco out of the town.

Councillors refused the pizza house planning application in November on the grounds it would 'result in harm to the vitality and viability' of the historic Victorian and Edwardian architecture.

But the developers, DPSK Ltd, are now back as they have submitted a written appeal to the Planning Inspectorate in a bid to open the branch.

This is despite concerns around the potential for litter and the branch being 'out of place'.

Sheringham has a population of just over 7,300 with upwards of 60 per cent aged 50 or more.

Local retiree Sylvia Jackson, who worked for the NHS for 27 years, said she was concerned about new takeaways opening given high obesity rates.

The proposal, which has received 14 public comments in objection and one in support, is for Church Street in Sheringham town centre

Sheringham (pictured) has a population of just over 7,300 with upwards of 60 per cent aged 50 or more

The application comes despite concerns around the potential for litter and the branch being 'out of place' (file image)

She added: 'I'm appalled. We have lots of independent shops and eateries, and what makes Sheringham special is we don't have the big chains like every other place.

'We already have a family run fabulous authentic pizza place. Sheringham has over 40 eateries, more than enough.

'A Domino's would be totally out of place and the majority of local people and even tourists have commented they do not want it.'

In an appeal letter addressed to the Planning Inspectorate from development consultancy Pegasus Group, the company argues Domino's status as a national chain is 'not relevant' and that 'the appeal should instead be determined based upon its individual merits'.

And on social media, not everyone agreed with the decision to refuse the planning application.

Shane Powis wrote on Facebook: 'Unfortunately nothing else can afford to go there. Don't blame the company, this will do more good than bad.

'More jobs and more tax money for the council.'

Commenter Steve Bailey added: 'Let's hope common sense prevails. What good is an empty shop other than to appease the NIMBYs.'

Anti-supermarket campaigners faced a blow when a Tesco superstore opened following a 17-year battle. Pictured: North Norfolk coastal path at Sheringham

Warehouse Clearance Shops could become Domino's after developers submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate

A final decision on the matter is due later this year.

In 2013, the town, which boasts a heritage railway and length beach promenade, saw its anti-supermarket campaigners face a blow when a Tesco superstore opened following a 17-year battle.

A Domino's spokesman said: 'At Domino's, we are committed to making a positive impact in the communities we serve and welcome collaboration with local authorities to explore ways to do that.

'We bring the joy of the occasional takeaway to customers across the country and use data and local market knowledge to understand where there is genuine demand for our brand.

'Our stores provide employment and development opportunities for local people, with over 90 per cent of our store managers starting their Domino's careers as a delivery driver or pizza maker.'
Care home residents were delighted by a mood-boosting visit from some penguins this week.

Humboldt penguins Widget and Pringle waddled into Gregory House, Grantham, Lincolnshire on Wednesday.

It was part of the home's efforts to give memorable experiences to the people staying there in their old age.

Some of the residents even got hugs from Widget and Pringle who came from Amazing Animals in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, to see them.

They were happy to be stroked and dotted on as they plodded through the dining room.

Pamela Parker said 'When I heard of penguins coming to the home, I did wonder why there wasn't a paddling pool filled up for them.'

Home Manager Marie Young said: 'It was an absolute joy to see the residents' faces light up when the penguins arrived.

'We like to think outside the box and bring something different for our residents. On this occasion, I think we certainly did.'

Humboldt penguins Widget and Pringle waddled into Gregory House, Grantham, Lincolnshire on Wednesday (Pictured: Resident Mary Short with one of the penguins)

It was part of the home's efforts to give memorable experiences to the people staying there in their old age (Pictured: Resident Raymond Finbow with one of the penguins)

Pamela Parker said 'When I heard of penguins coming to the home, I did wonder why there wasn't a paddling pool filled up for them'

The penguin's visit to the care home is also part of the zoo's programme of animal enrichment activity, providing mental and physical stimulus for the penguins.

It's not Widget and Pringle's first care home jaunt as the pair visited residents at Brendoncare St Giles View in Winchester, last year.

Pensioners took turns giving them a hug or even a pamper in the sink under the tap.

And the duo have even been to a wedding together, with Pringle acting as a ring-bearer.

Jen and Tom Loveland were joined by the penguins for their big day in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, in February 2024.

Unsuspecting family and friends were told that Jen's brother, Adam, and Tom's sister, Carys, would be the ring-bearers.

During the ceremony, the pair pretended they forgot the wedding bands and quickly exited the room - leaving guests feeling rather uncomfortable.

However, they quickly returned with the 25-inch penguin who accompanied them down the aisle with the rings.

It's not Widget and Pringle's first care home jaunt as the pair visited residents at Brendoncare St Giles View in Winchester, last year

The visitors were obviously on their very best behaviour. Photos show the delight on the faces of the care home residents

Pringle the Humboldt waddled down the aisle and made a surprise entrance during Jen and Tom Loveland's big day in Shropshire last year

The happy couple with the two Penguins, Pringle and Widget, on their wedding day

Pringle the penguin giving Jen and Tom their rings on their wedding day in February last year

Humboldt penguins are known for their strong swimming abilities and can reach speeds of up to 15mph.

Despite once being a plentiful species, Humboldt penguin's are now an endangered creature due to the threat of fishing and climate change.

The animals, which typically nest on islands and rocky coasts along Chile and Peru in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, usually have a black breast band, head and bill and white circles around their eyes.



Usually growing to about 26 to 28 inches long and weighing between 4-5kg, the creatures feed primarily on fish, especially anchovies, herring and smelt.
Tesco customers have been left bamboozled by the high street chain's latest attempt to stop thieves - that makes their shopping trip longer.

Artificial intelligence-style locked security cabinets have been installed on alcohol aisles which require a 'four-step process' to open the cabinets.

Believed to be called the Freedom Case, the anti-thieving gadgetry has the ability to track when items have been removed, how often the cabinet has been opened and for how long.

It can also send alerts to staff if 'suspicious behaviour' is detected.

While the devices have been around since last summer, some stores are only just testing out the new anti-theft devices which will make the average customer's shopping experience much longer.

The Freedom Cases have been rolled out across a handful stores - one of the first being in Purley, south London.

But shoppers in Fforestfach, Swansea, have recently tested out the screens, adding 'I presume it's to try and stop people stealing stuff but I'm not quite sure how it stops them completely as you can still access the alcohol - you just have to wait a few moments before you can.'

The customer also told WalesOnline: 'You have to press a button - then there is a countdown, then it tells you that you can open the door.

Artificial intelligence-style locked security cabinets have been installed on alcohol aisles which require a 'four-step process' to open the cabinets

The screens are set to make the average customer's shopping time longer as they have to wait for the doors to slide open

Believed to be called the Freedom Case, the anti-thieving gadgetry has the ability to track when items have been removed, how often the cabinet has been opened and for how long

One customer recently said 'I presume it's to try and stop people stealing stuff but I'm not quite sure how it stops them completely as you can still access the alcohol - you just have to wait a few moments before you can'

'Perhaps when you press the button the CCTV watches you and stops someone just casually sticking a bottle underneath their coat as they walk down the aisle.'

In a video posted online, the screens instruct customers to the new, drawn-out procedure by telling them 'hello. The cabinet is locked for security reasons. Please tap the arrow below for access'.

Once their request is finally underway, the device responds 'thank you for your patience, the cabinet door will open shortly. Thank you for shopping with Tesco'.

The British Retail Consortium says theft from stores is 'out of control' costing shops 2billion a year.

And their study in March found nearly a quarter of the UK population have witnessed shoplifting in the last 12 months.

Despite these shocking statistics, shoppers were left in uproar when the anti-theft mechanisms were first introduced.

Broadcaster Lorraine King wrote on X, formerly Twitter: 'Popped into Tesco to buy a bottle of champagne for my friend's birthday and was confronted with this.'

Another poster added: 'I would guess the security guard is looking at a camera rather than it being facial recognition but still, very obnoxious by Tesco.'

The anti-thieving gadgetry has the ability to track when items have been removed, how often the cabinet has been opened and for how long

Tesco says the technology has been rolled out in a handful of stores, and said it does not use facial recognition

Mary N-T said: 'With police no longer bothered about shoplifting this is what supermarkets have to do.

'Thieves are walking into shops and brazenly taking booze off the shelves and walking out, tags and all.'

Sammie Lloyd said: 'Tesco is becoming more tyrannical, with their use of technology. This is not good.'

Martyn James, an independent consumer champion, said: 'Is there a sadder indictment of society than this - the fact that buying a bottle of booze is now like getting into a high-end luxury jewellers?

'If the epidemic of shoplifting and aggressive customer behaviour is not dealt with firmly and definitively, then we face a future where everything we buy is behind bars or plastic screens.

'That's not a future I want to live in.'

Recently customers in Wales seemed to welcome the change as they highlighted 'camera just above it. Uses facial recognition software to prevent loss. Signs on way in'.

Another explained 'if the door stays open for a few seconds or more security are alerted, shelves are "weighted" so Tesco knows what bottle has just been removed'.

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'Also checks door is closed. For pricey alcohol only cabinets.'

Tesco declined to comment but have previously said that they do not use facial recognition or that the taking of photos is used to operate the cabinets.

These screens are not the only attempts to shtop the huge wave of shoplifters blighting Britain's high streets.

Plastic contraptions have also been positioned loosely in front of items and in footage uploaded to social media shows them being freely slid from left to right to uncover the goods.

A strange creaking noise is also a feature of the appliances which in the video shield boxes of chocolate like Ferrero Rocher and Milk Tray.

Taking to TikTok, many users had strong opinions on Tesco's latest initiative.

One person said: 'How does this stop shoplifting?'

The contraptions are positioned loosely in front of store items and in footage uploaded to social media are seen being freely slid from left to right to uncover the goods

Tesco 's new anti-shoplifting devices have left customers bewildered as they question how a piece of plastic could deter would-be thieves

Another added: 'So you can slide it over and get what you need. So how is going to stop shop lifters?'

Others said they believed a solution would be to make the items more 'affordable' rather than upping the security.

Someone said sarcastically: 'Let's not try and just simply make this affordable so people buy instead of stealing.'

Others feared the devices looked flimsy and that they could easily 'snap'.

One person commented: 'Thieves don't care, they'll just break them off or take longer to take things. Doesn't matter whether barriers, gates, these, tags. They'll steal if they want to steal.'

But not everyone was so critical. George Young claimed he used to have the devices in his store and they 'definitely work'.

New 'anti-shoplifter' trolley scales were being trialled at a Tesco in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear

He explained: 'They definitely work as someone who had these in their store it takes the thieves longer to get to everything so they might steal 10 bars instead of 30 and if they do go for more it gives security time.'

Another added: 'It's a deterrence mechanism, individuals are less likely to come in and make a quick theft from Tesco because of those stupid slidey things so they will go elsewhere.'

Fuming shoppers also complained they felt like criminals as they were 'herded like cattle' through Tesco's giant trolley scales - another anti-shopping lifting initiative.

One shopper emerged close to tears after the weight of the trolley did not match her self-scan receipt and she suffered the 'humiliation' of having her bags re-scanned.
Illegal metal detectorists have triggered a police hunt after they trespassed the grounds of an historic castle.

Officials say they are investigating an incident of 'nighthawking' in Lydford where the intruders left multiple holes in their wake.

The target was medieval Lydford Castle and Saxon Town in Lydford on the fringe of Dartmoor.

Nighthawking involves trespassing on land and stealing historical objects for profit or personal gain and is considered 'heritage theft'.

The area boasts two castles - a post Conquest castle and a 13th century stone tower which was used as a prison.

English Heritage manages the protected site which is a tourist attraction.

It comes after a gang of five metal detectorists admitted illegally plundering ancient artefacts from protected historic sites during a series of night-time raids.

The quintent unearthed and stole bronze axe heads and old coins from Beeston Castle, in Cheshire and the Grade II-listed Roche Abbey in Yorkshire while using metal detectors.

The target was medieval Lydford Castle and Saxon Town in Lydford on the fringe of Dartmoor

Nighthawking involves trespassing on land and stealing historical objects for profit or personal gain and is considered 'heritage theft' (Pictured: Lydford Castle)

According to legend, Richard II is said to have buried royal treasure in the grounds of Beeston Castle, although none has ever been discovered, while Roche Abbey is home to the remains of a 12th Century monastery.

Chester Magistrates Court heard English Heritage and police discovered the crime after the grounds at both sites were found littered with holes in December 2019.

Analysis of a suspect's mobile uncovered a five-strong nighthawking WhatsApp group, as well as details of their haul.

The five appeared at Chester Magistrates last Friday, after the investigation by Cheshire Police, Historic England and South Yorkshire Police.

They were handed a five-year CBO banning them from metal detecting at any English Heritage site - a first for Cheshire and the North West.

Gary Flanagan, 33, and John Lorne, 29, admitted taking coins and artefacts from Beeston Castle and Roche Abbey in December 2019.

Flanagan, of Audenshaw, Greater Manchester, was handed 1,100 in fines and costs while Lorne, of Droylsden, Greater Manchester, must pay 1,760.

Daniel Lloyd, 33, and James Ward, 32, both of Droylsden, admitted taking bronze age axe head's and coins from Beeston Castle in December 2019.

Richard II is said to have buried treasure in the grounds of Beeston Castle in Cheshire

A criminal gang of five illegally unearthed ancient coins and other artefacts from Beeston Castle in Cheshire and the Grade II-listed Roche Abbey in Yorkshire using metal detectors

Their nighthawking haul included bronze axe heads, ancient coins and an antique signet ring

Lloyd was ordered to pay 600 while Ward - who also admitted producing a small quantity of cannabis - was ordered to pay 1,430.

Curtis Barlow, 32, of Droylsden, admitted taking coins and artefacts from Roche Abbey in December 2019 and ordered to pay 572.

All five were each ordered to pay an 85 victims surcharge and must forfeit their metal detectors, worth an estimated value of 1,000.

Mark Harrison, head of Heritage Crime Strategy for Historic England, said: 'A decade ago we didn't have the techniques necessary to investigate this criminal behaviour.

'We have now developed the expertise, capability and partnerships to identify and prosecute the small criminal minority of nighthawks.

Curtis Barlow (left) and Francis Ward (right) were part of the five-strong nighthawking gang

Gary Flanagan, 33 (left) and John Lorne, 29 (right) also admitted illegally plundering the sites

Daniel Lloyd, 33, of Droylsden, was the fifth gang member banned from metal detecting at English Heritage sites

'The overwhelming majority of metal detectorists comply with the legislation and codes of practice.'

Mr Harrison added: 'When thieves steal artefacts from a protected archaeological site, they are stealing from all of us and damaging something often irreplaceable.'

English Heritage properties curator Win Scutt said: 'Illegal metal detecting robs us of our past.

'Whilst this prosecution is good news, sadly the damage incidents like these cause can never be repaired.

'Beeston Castle and Roche Abbey are protected in law because of the lessons we can learn from their unique archaeology.

'Unlawful attacks like these can cause such insight to be lost forever.'
Virginia Giuffre has been laid to rest at a private cremation in Perth.

A funeral service for the 41-year-old is believed to have taken place at the Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park in Padbury.

Prince Andrew's accuser took her own life at her $1.3million farmhouse in Neergabby, north of Perth, Western Australia, on April 25.

Her tragic death came just weeks after she posted on Instagram that she had been injured in a crash.

Police had disputed the severity of the crash with Ms Giuffre later saying she did not mean to make the post public.

Ms Giuffre, who was one of the most prominent accusers of convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, was laid to rest this week, reported The Western Australian.

She alleged they trafficked her to the Duke of York when she was 17 and was three times sexually assaulted by him - a claim which Prince Andrew has denied. The prince reached an out-of-court settlement with her in 2022.

It was reported that he paid her around $12million in February 2022, a figure which has since been disputed.

Virginia Giuffre, one of the public faces and advocates for the victims of historical paedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, died by suicide last month. She was 41 years old

Virginia Giuffre claimed she was sexually abused by Prince Andrew after being introduced to him by Epstein's associate, jailed British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, when she was just 17

Her family said in a statement at the time: 'It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia.

'She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.

'Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.

'Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright. She will be missed beyond measure.'

Her family added that 'the light of her life' were her children Christian, Noah, and Emily.

'It was when she held her newborn daughter in her arms that Virginia realized she had to fight back against those who had abused her and so many others,' they said.

Ms Giuffre, born Virginia Roberts, grew to prominence after she went public with allegations against the late financier and called for charges to be brought against him.

'There are no words that can express the grave loss we feel today with the passing of our sweet Virginia,' the statement continued.

'She was heroic and will always be remembered for her incredible courage and loving spirit.

Epstein died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking

Virginia Giuffre, with a photo of herself as a teen, when she alleged she was abused by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew, among others

Originally born in Florida, Giuffre had moved to Australia with her husband Robert in 2019 prior to Epstein being arrested, she is seen here alongside her brother earlier this month

'In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight. We know that she is with the angels.'

It is believed that Ms Giuffre was 'extremely distressed' in the lead up to her death and feared she would lose millions in a court battle with another Epstein victim.

Ms Giuffre was being sued by artist Rina Oh for falsely describing her as a girlfriend of Epstein and one of the convicted sex offender's recruiters.

The 7.5million lawsuit will now pass on to Ms Giuffre's estate following her death by suicide on April 25.

Sources close to Ms Giuffre have reportedly said that she feared losing her wealth in the weeks leading up to her death.

They also said that the mother-of-three had become depressed over the collapse of her marriage and losing her teenage children to her husband.

'Virginia was extremely distressed in the weeks before she died,' a source close to Ms Giuffre told the Mirror. 'She felt like everything she had fought so hard for was going or gone.'

The source added that the distress she felt compounded 'with the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of Epstein.'

Prince Andrew's legal team was reportedly set to use Ms Oh's lawsuit to attack Ms Giuffre after she sued the royal for sex abuse in 2021.

He has strongly denied the allegations, and Ms Giuffre received an out-of-court settlement in February 2022.

The payout figure, which has never been disclosed, may become clear as her estate is bequeathed to her estranged husband and three children.

Born in California in 1983, Ms Giuffre's life was shattered as a grade-schooler when she was sexually abused by a man her family knew.

She spent time as a runaway, was shuffled through foster homes and lived on the streets at just 14. She was first trafficked by Miami sex trafficker Ron Eppinger.

Eventually, Giuffre got free of Eppinger reunited with her father Sky, according to The Miami Herald.

At 16, her father was working in maintenance at Mar-a-Lago resort, the private club owned by Donald Trump, and got her a job as a locker room attendant.

It was there she said she met Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of Robert Maxwell, a former MP and publisher of several British newspapers.

Ms Giuffre said that Maxwell offered her the opportunity to work as a massage therapist for Epstein.

'They seemed like nice people so I trusted them, and I told them I'd had a really hard time in my life up until then - I'd been a runaway, I'd been sexually abused, physically abused,' she told the BBC.

'That was the worst thing I could have told them because now they knew how vulnerable I was.'

Epstein and Maxwell groomed her to sexually service both of them as well as other clients, she said in an interview and a sworn court affidavit.

She claimed in 2011 that she was sex trafficked to Prince Andrew on three occasions by Epstein and Maxwell, the first time being when she was 17.

'It started with one and it trickled into two and so on and before you know it, I'm being lent out to politicians and academics and royalty,' she said.

The Duke of York has consistently and vehemently denied her claims, as has convicted sex offender Maxwell, who Giuffre claims acted on Epstein's behalf. Epstein died in a New York prison in 2019.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been accused of 'hypocrisy' over their new 'royal' court in Montecito after they condemned life as royals.

As the Mail on Sunday revealed, the pair, who abandoned their roles as senior royals in 2020, have revamped the structure of their staff to create a similar hierarchical system that has underpinned Harry's family for decades.

Meredith Kendall Maines, a seasoned communications strategist, will be at the helm of a team of 11, operating out of Montecito, California, and the UK.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams argued the couple has hypocritically created a similar structure for themselves to that of Harry's family, despite recently attacking royal systems.

Speaking to MailOnline, Mr Fitzwilliams said: 'The hypocrisy lies in the act that Harry has, especially in his most recent interview, attacked courtiers and the Royal Household, considering them enemies. So it is extremely surprising that he should want a similar structure in Montecito.

'In [Harry's memoir] Spare he excoriated senior courtiers. He, as his mother did, regards them as the enemy.'

The expert added: 'The difference is, tragically, that she would not accept police protection as she distrusted it so. Ironically, it's what he wants for himself and his family. He also claimed courtiers or their equivalent used security as a lever to prevent them stepping down as senior working royals.

'So the ''Montecito model'' better be different and they would be wise to pay attention to its advice.'

Meanwhile, royal expert Tom Bower has criticised the new reshuffle, claiming it does not resemble a 'royal' court but rather marks the couple's 'final, desperate bid to save their brand'.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who abandoned their roles as senior royals in 2020, have revamped the structure of their staff

The restructure represents a similar hierarchical system that has underpinned Harry's family for decades. Pictured: Prince William and King Charles

Speaking to MailOnline, Mr Bower said: 'Undoubtedly, the Sussexes would like to rule over a ''royal court'' from their Montecito mansion. Nothing would give them greater pleasure than courtiers pulling their forelocks as they bow and scrape to please the Duke and Duchess.

'Competing with Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace would delight Meghan. But what the Sussexes have assembled is not a ''royal court''. Rather, it's a hugely expensive group of bureaucrats signalling the Sussexes' final, desperate bid to save their brand.'

This week, the MoS revealed the restructuring will see each senior appointee reportedly earn a six-figure salary.

Mr Bower said: 'Buckingham Palace's ''royal court' are under-paid, over-worked devoted loyal professionals committed to the traditions of a thousand year monarchy and the country they serve.'

He added: 'If Harry follows Meghan to commercialise his title to earn some dollars then his currently minimal chance of reconciliation and return to Britain will be totally extinguished.'

Royal expert Mr Fitzwilliams added that the dramatic revamp has brought up questions of how successful the new operation will be, in light of previous 'bullying' accusations plaguing the Duchess.

'We are promised new projects and initiatives in the months to come and obviously can then judge the success of this revamp,' he said.

This week, the MoS revealed the restructuring will see each senior appointee reportedly earning a six-figure salary

Meredith Kendall Maines (pictured), a seasoned communications strategist, will be at the helm of a team of 11, operating out of Montecito, California, and the UK

'However there are question marks which have haunted the Sussexes entire operation. The first issue is whether the high staff turnover which has characterised their ventures continues, with some 20 having left.

'In the run up to the interview on Oprah, Meghan was accused of bullying, which she strongly denied. However this has been extremely damaging to her image...'

The new operation is set to be run separately to Archewell, the Sussex's charity foundation.

The MoS revealed that the restructuring will include the duke and duchess each having their own chief of staff.

On top of this, Harry will launch his own as-yet-undisclosed commercial venture in the upcoming months, and Meghan's lifestyle business, As Ever, will expand its range of products later in the year.

A spokesman for the couple said last night: 'The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have retained the support of Method Communications to support their growing business portfolio and philanthropic interests.

'Serving as an extension of the Sussex communications team, led by chief communications officer Meredith Maines.'

MailOnline has contacted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's representatives for comment today.
A former Los Angeles deputy mayor pleaded guilty to reporting an anti-Israel bomb threat on city hall last year.

Brian K. Williams, 61, who was employed as the deputy mayor of public safety in October 2024, was charged with one felony count of making an explosives threat.

He was hand-picked for the role by woke Mayor Karen Bass in February 2023 and given significant public safety responsibility, including oversight of the city's fire and police departments.

Williams sent a text message to Bass and other high-ranking city officials on October 3, 2024, that he just received a call from someone who threatened to bomb city hall, prosecutors said.

'The male caller stated that "he was tired of the city's support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda,"' Williams wrote in the text.

He said he contacted the Los Angeles Police Department, who sent officers to search the building but did not locate any suspicious packages or devices.

Williams showed officers a call he received from a blocked number on his city-issued cellphone that he said was from the person who made the bomb threat.

The call was made by Williams himself through the Google Voice application on his personal phone, according to prosecutors.

Los Angeles Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Brian K. Williams (center) pleaded guilty to reporting an anti-Israel bomb threat on city hall last year

Williams falsely claimed he had received a threat from someone who was going to bomb city hall (pictured) over the city support of Israel

The Los Angeles Police Department investigated the threat after it was first reported and determined that Williams was 'likely' the source of the threat.

He was placed on administrative leave over the bomb threat less than three weeks before the deadly LA fires in January.

Agents searched Williams' home on December 17 after an investigation allegedly determined he made the September bomb threat against City Hall.

Bass, whose spokesperson claimed she took the 'matter very seriously', quickly issued a statement after the raid, saying: 'My number one job is to keep Angelenos safe.

'The only way to do that is to hold people who commit crimes accountable and to take real steps to prevent crime from happening in the first place.'

Williams' lawyer, Dmitry Gorin, told the Los Angeles Times that his client 'has demonstrated his unreserved and full acceptance of responsibility for his actions.'

Williams was placed on administrative leave over the bomb threat less than three weeks before the deadly LA fires in January

Williams (left) was hand-picked for the role by woke Mayor Karen Bass (center) in February 2023 and given significant public safety responsibility

'This aberrational incident was the product of personal issues which Mr. Williams is addressing appropriately, and is not representative of his character or dedication to the city of Los Angeles,' Gorin said.

He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and is expected to make his initial court appearance in the next few weeks.

'In an era of heated political rhetoric that has sometimes escalated into violence, we cannot allow public officials to make bomb threats,' said United States Attorney Bill Essayli.

'My office will continue its efforts to keep the public safe, including from those who violate their duty to uphold the law.'
Kemi Badenoch today warned it would be 'very bad' for Britain if Nigel Farage became prime minister.

The Tory leader accused her Reform UK rival of saying 'whatever he wants in order to get into power' and said he would 'bankrupt' the country if he enters Downing Street.

She also claimed Mr Farage was 'making the same mistake' as Labour's Sir Keir Starmer by making promises he 'can't deliver'.

Mrs Badenoch took a swipe at Mr Farage - who was criticised for taking a holiday abroad while Parliament was sitting last week - as she responded to reports that he will commit to scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

The Reform leader is expected to make the announcement in an upcoming speech as he attempts to broaden his party's appeal to left-wing voters.

He is also set to commit to restoring the winter fuel payment - which has controversially been means-tested by Chancellor Rachel Reeves - to all pensioners.

Despite campaigning against Labour's cuts to winter fuel payments, Mrs Badenoch is not promising to return it to every retiree.

The Tory leader also said the two-child benefit cap 'needs to stay' as Britons 'shouldn't have to rely on benefits to have your children'.

Kemi Badenoch has warned it would be 'very bad' for Britain if Nigel Farage became prime minister

The Tory leader accused her Reform UK rival of saying 'whatever he wants in order to get into power' and said he would 'bankrupt' the country if he enters Downing Street

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Mrs Badenoch hit out at Mr Farage in the wake of an opinion poll showing the Conservatives had slumped to fourth place.

The YouGov survey found the Tories trailing far behind Reform UK and Labour, while they had even been overtaken by the Liberal Democrats.

It was the first time the Conservatives have placed fourth in a YouGov ranking since the final weeks of Theresa May's premiership in 2019.

But Mrs Badenoch suggested there was a contrast between her approach and that of Mr Farage, the Prime Minister, and some of her Tory predecessors.

She told Sky News: 'Nigel Farage is someone who's going to say whatever it is he wants in order to get into power. I'm taking the hard road. I'm not going to do that.

'We spent years chasing polls telling people what they wanted to hear and not delivering.

'He is doing that now. He's making the same mistake that Keir Starmer made, of making promises, and then they'll get into government and can't deliver it.'

Asked about the likelihood of Mr Farage winning power, the Tory leader added: 'I hope not  it would be very bad for this country.'

She also vowed that she was 'not going to announce lots of policies to chase polls like Nigel Farage is doing'.

'Things that are unaffordable, like the two-child benefit cap,' she continued. 'He's someone who is going to bankrupt our country if he ever gets into power.'

In his first speech since Reform's stunning local elections success on 1 May, Mr Farage is set to describe Sir Keir as 'one of the most unpatriotic PMs in our history'.

He is also set to commit to restoring the winter fuel payment to all pensioners and to scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

A Reform source said: 'We're against the two-child cap and we'd go further on winter fuel by bringing the payment back for everyone. That's already outflanking Labour.'

The two-child benefit cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third or additional child born after April 2017.

Prior to July's general election, the Tories committed to retaining the cap that was introduced by ex-chancellor George Osborne.

Mrs Badenoch said it 'needs to stay' amid reports that Sir Keir wants to scrap the limit, as he faces growing pressure from Labour MPs over welfare cuts.

'I'm going to tell the truth and be the person who is being honest with the public,' she said.

'We cannot afford to scrap it. People know that the two-child benefit cap is there for a good reason.

'And there are many people out there who will say, 'if you can't afford to have lots of children, then you shouldn't do so'.

'You shouldn't have to rely on benefits to have your children. But we do have a humane system where we look after people. But the cap is its two children.

'I think that is right. That is fair. Nigel Farage and Keir Starmer are just saying things to please people.

'They're not doing what is right. I am saying what is the right thing to do. It may not be popular, but it's absolutely the right thing to do.'

Mrs Badenoch also said the wealthiest pensioners should not receive winter fuel payments, despite her having put pressure on Labour to reverse their changes.

'I've always said millionaires should not get the winter fuel payment,' she added.

'That is not right. But we shouldn't be taking it away from people who end up below the breadline after it's gone.

'So what we need is a system that can make sure that all of those people who do need it get it.'

The PM has pledged to partially undo Labour's controversial decision to axe winter fuel payments - worth up to 300 - for millions of pensioners.

He told MPs on Wednesday that he wants to ensure 'more pensioners are eligible' for the payments 'as the economy improves'.

But Downing Street failed to offer any further detail on how many more pensioners would be eligible, or even if the unpopular policy would be altered in time for this winter.

Shortly after Labour's general election win in July, Ms Reeves sparked uproar by announcing the means-testing of winter fuel payments.

Charities reacted with fury at the Chancellor's decision to restrict payments to only those pensioners in receipt of pension credit or other means-tested benefits.
An indigenous Brazilian tribe has sued the New York Times over a report which claimed they had become addicted to porn after Elon Musk's Starlink system gave them high-speed internet access.

The Marubo tribe from the remote Javari valley, who existed in small huts scattered along the Itui River for hundreds of years, filed a defamation lawsuit seeking at least 133million ($180million) in damages this week at a Los Angeles Court.

It also names TMZ and Yahoo as defendants, alleging their stories amplified and sensationalised the report for The Times and further tarnished the 2,000-member tribe.

The suit claims the June 2024 NYT story by reporter Jack Nicas on how the tribe reacted to the satellite service introduction 'portrayed the Marubo people as a community unable to handle basic exposure to the internet, highlighting allegations their youth had become consumed by pornography'.

An amended version of the lawsuit filed on Thursday said the statements were 'not only inflammatory but conveyed to the average reader that the Marubo people had descended into moral and social decline as a direct result of internet access'.

It added 'such portrayals go far beyond cultural commentary' and claimed they 'directly attack the character, morality, and social standing of an entire people, suggesting they lack the discipline or values to function in the modern world'.

When Starlink was afforded to the Marubo tribe, they quickly discovered the incredible benefits the newfound technology had to offer.

Tribespeople could now call for help in emergencies, with medical helicopters able to reach the injured in a matter of hours rather than days.

An indigenous Brazilian tribe has sued the New York Times over a report which claimed they had become addicted to porn after Elon Musk 's Starlink system gave them high-speed internet access

The Marubo tribe from the remote Javari valley, who existed in small huts scattered along the Itui River for hundreds of years, filed a defamation lawsuit seeking at least 133million ($180million) in damages this week at a Los Angeles Court

Starlink satellite equipment is pictured outside the hut of one Marubo settlements in Brazil

It also allowed the remote community to connect instantly with relatives or friends camped dozens of miles further down the river, or even further afield.

Journalist Nicas travelled into the Amazon to visit Marubo villages and reported that tribal leaders had told him about the negative impacts the introduction of Starlink is having.

The leaders said it was making people become lazy, spending hours scrolling social media with teens hooked on graphic porn.

In his report, Nicas listed a range of issues apparently bought on by the tech: 'teenagers glued to phones; group chats full of gossip; addictive social networks; online strangers; violent video games; scams; misinformation; and minors watching pornography'.

He added one tribal leader 'is most unsettled by the pornography. He said young men were sharing explicit videos in group chats, a stunning development for a culture that frowns on kissing in public'.

Nica's article does not mention porn anywhere else, but the shocking nature of the claim meant it was pushed to the forefront of follow up stories by other outlets.

One was from TMZ, who were also named in the lawsuit, which was accompanied by a video with the headline 'Elon Musk's Starlink Hookup Leaves A Remote Tribe Addicted To Porn'.

The suit claims the video 'falsely framed the Marubo Tribe as having descended into moral collapse'.

The Marubo tribe from the remote Javari valley existed in small huts scattered along the Itui River for hundreds of years

Members of the Marubo tribe pictured testing a satellite dish to receive a Starlink connection

The 2,000-strong community quickly discovered the incredible benefits the newfound technology had to offer - but apparently, also discovered porn

'The fallout from the publication was not limited to public perception. It destroyed lives, institutions, and culturally significant projects,' it added.

Misconceptions brought on by the sensationalised re-telling of the story on other news platforms saw the NYT publish a follow-up, in which Nicas wrote: 'The Marubo people are not addicted to pornography.

'There was no hint of this in the forest, and there was no suggestion of it in The New York Times's article.'

However, the tribe were unsatisfied with this as a response and in their lawsuit said the story 'failed to acknowledge the role the NYT itself played in fuelling the defamatory narrative'.

It added: 'Rather than issuing a retraction or apology, the follow-up downplayed the original article's emphasis on pornography by shifting blame to third-party aggregators.'

Nicas claimed in his original story that he spent a week with the Marubo tribe, yet the lawsuit says he was invited for a week but spent less than 48 hours in the village.

Adding this was 'barely enough time to observe, understand, or respectfully engage with the community'.

The plaintiffs also include two others who appeared in the NYT story - community leader Enoque Marubo and Brazilian journalist and sociologist Flora Dutra.

Shortly after the Marubo people were introduced to the pleasures of the internet, the perils quickly began to reveal themselves

Nicas claimed in his original story that he spent a week with the Marubo tribe, yet the lawsuit says he was invited for a week but spent less than 48 hours in the village

The lawsuit seeks at least 133million ($180million), including both general and punitive damages, from each of the defendants

Both played integral roles in bringing internet connection to the tribe and said it had many positive results, including facilitating emergency medicine and education for tribal children.

They said the TMZ video, which shows them setting up Starlink antennas in the village, as creating the 'unmistakable impression' that the pair 'had introduced harmful, sexually explicit material into the community and facilitated the alleged moral and social decay'.

The lawsuit seeks at least 133million ($180million), including both general and punitive damages, from each of the defendants.

A spokesperson for the New York Times told the Associated Press: 'Any fair reading of this piece shows a sensitive and nuanced exploration of the benefits and complications of new technology in a remote Indigenous village with a proud history and preserved culture. We intend to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.'

Enoque Marubo, 40, told Nicas the internet had transformed the once simple and technologically resistant way of life his people had observed for centuries.

'It changed the routine so much that it was detrimental,' Enoque admitted. 'In the village, if you don't hunt, fish and plant, you don't eat,' he said.

Meanwhile, Alfredo Marubo - all members of the tribe share the same last name - said the sudden exposure to pornography had precipitated a worrying rise in overt sexual behaviour in a culture where kissing in public is seen as shocking.

He said young men were not only sharing explicit videos in group chats, but that some prominent figures in the tribe had reported seeing more aggressive sexual behaviour from them.

Boats carrying Starlink products are seen arriving outside one Marubo settlement in Brazil

The Marubo people, who for hundreds of years has existed in small huts scattered along the Itui River in Brazil, were last year introduced to high-speed internet for the first time thanks to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite programme

Alfredo also warned that, despite being more connected than ever before, members of the tribe had retreated from in-person social contact and had stopped speaking to their own families.

TamaSay Marubo, the first female to be granted a leadership role in the tribe, said that while social media had opened the eyes of young tribespeople to the world, it had also caused them to abandon their responsibilities in favour of spending hours on their smartphones.

Several members of the tribe said they were concerned the group's traditions would be lost, and also expressed worry that the social fabric of the tribe was being infected by rumours circulating on group chats.

Others explained that some internet users had been subjected to abuse from strangers on social media and had fallen for unspecified scams.

Tribe elder Tsainama Marubo, 73, put it simply.

'Things have gotten worse,' she said.

'Young people have gotten lazy because of the internet. They're learning the ways of the white people.'

Starlink, an initiative launched by Musk under his company SpaceX, owns around 60% of the roughly 7,500 satellites orbiting Earth and is the dominant player in the internet satellite arena.

Its technology was first made available in Brazil in 2022, but only reached the more remote areas of the Amazon, such as the banks of the Itui where the Marubo people live, in April last year.

Enoque Marubo, who had ventured into cities and spent time away from the tribe, told the NYT he believed that achieving access to the internet could help his people share their experiences and communicate more effectively with the outside world.

He was one of the main tribal members responsible for getting in touch with outsiders and arranging the delivery of the Starlink system.

Enoque contacted Flora Dutra, a Brazilian activist who works with the Navi Global charity that aims to help indigenous communities in the Amazon access jobs, healthcare and other benefits, and involving them in projects that will impact the rainforest and their environment.

The pair managed to contact American philanthropist Allyson Reneau, who reportedly donated 20 Starlink units and worked with Navi Global to oversee their delivery to the Marubo.
A Former White House aide has admitted he deliberately concealed his concerns over Joe Biden's declining health during the 2024 presidential campaign because he desperately 'wanted him to f*****g win' re-election.

Jon Lovett, an ex-Obama administration speechwriter and co-host of the popular liberal podcast 'Pod Save America', made the shocking confession during an appearance on Jon Stewart's 'The Weekly Show' podcast.

The 42-year-old political commentator told Stewart and his fellow Pod Save America host Jon Favreau that he chose to keep his worries about Biden's physical and mental condition to himself rather than share them publicly with his audience.

'I remember feeling I want to talk about this as a huge liability. To talk about this is something Joe Biden can overcome, but I'm not going to go so far as to say, 'I think Joe Biden must drop out. He is too old to be president,' Lovett said on the podcast.

'A, because I didn't know exactly what was going on behind the scenes, but B, if Joe Biden is the candidate, I want him to f****** win.'

Lovett, who served as a speechwriter in the Obama White House from 2009 to 2011, claimed he was terrified that voicing his genuine concerns would give Republican opponents an upper hand.

He was afraid 'having the words we're saying taken out of context and all of a sudden be part of the case against Joe Biden from the right - that would use any person criticizing Joe Biden from the left as a weapon against him.'

'So it was about being honest about Joe Biden's age as a liability while knowing that if he is the nominee, I want to be clear that I thought it was important to make sure we did everything we could to reelect him,' Lovett claimed.

Jon Lovett, an ex-Obama administration speechwriter and co-host of the liberal podcast 'Pod Save America', made the confession on Jon Stewart 's 'The Weekly Show' podcast (Obama meets with speechwriters L-R Obama Jon Favreau David Plouffe, Jonathan Lovet)

The 42-year-old political commentator told Stewart and his fellow Pod Save America host Jon Favreau that he chose to keep his worries about Biden's physical and mental condition to himself rather than share them publicly with his audience

This comes as medical experts have declared it 'inconceivable' that former President Joe Biden's 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer was not caught earlier by doctors.

The 82-year-old's office announced the devastating diagnosis last Sunday, saying the cancer had spread to his bones and his family were reviewing treatment options.

His cancer was given a Gleason score of 9 and a Grade Group of 5, a dire stage of the rapidly-spreading disease.

The diagnosis came days after doctors found a 'small nodule' on his prostate.

Many officials expressed heartfelt concern for the former president, with Donald Trump saying that he and First Lady Melania wished Biden 'a fast and successful recovery.'

Donald Trump Jr appeared to break the political truce just hours after the announcement.

Lovett, who served as a speechwriter in the Obama White House from 2009 to 2011, claimed he was terrified that voicing his genuine concerns would give Republican opponents an upper hand

He questioned if there was a 'coverup' by sharing a screengrab of a post from physician Dr. Steven Quay, who called prostate cancer 'the easiest cancer to diagnose when it first starts and to watch it progress to bone metastases.'

Upon hearing the news, some of America's top doctors also questioned how a former president could be diagnosed with late stage prostate cancer - which can be detected early with routine bloodwork recommended for all men over the age of 50.

'It is inconceivable that this was not being followed before he left the Presidency,' wrote Dr. Howie Forman, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging, public health management and economics at Yale.

He noted that the test for prostate-specific antigen would have shown he had cancer 'for some time before this diagnosis', given how aggressive it is.

In February 2024, when Biden was the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, his longtime physician Dr. Kevin OConnor deemed him 'fit to serve' following a routine physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Dr. Forman noted that Biden 'must have had a PSA test numerous times before' and concluded the late-stage diagnosis is 'odd.'

He was afraid 'having the words we're saying taken out of context and all of a sudden be part of the case against Joe Biden from the right - that would use any person criticizing Joe Biden from the left as a weapon against him'

In a follow-up post, the doctor questioned whether Biden had been through screening in the last 12 years and if he 'had a normal PSA prior to [age] 70?'

'It's just so odd to discover this with bone [metastasis] in a man of his stature and [with his] access to care,' Forman concluded.
California police are actively searching for a suspect involved in the attempted assault of a 13-year-old girl who bravely defended herself using her jiu-jitsu training.

The terrifying incident took place nearly two weeks ago in Carmel-by-the-Sea as the teen was walking home from school through a quiet neighborhoodwhen she suddenly found herself under attack.

According to authorities, the suspectdescribed as an adult malewas hiding between two parked cars when he suddenly lunged at the girl in an apparent attempt to physically assault her.

'Halfway home, and a gentleman was standing in between two cars and he stepped out to punch her in the face,' Sensei Michael Blackburn, the teen's instructor at the Carmel Youth Center, where she has been attending jiu-jitsu classes for the past three years, told 6ABC.

What the attacker didn't expect was that the girl was far from defenseless.

Drawing on techniques practiced over the course of several years, the girl reacted instinctively and with precision.

'She punched him, she got him in a headlock, kneed him a couple of times, spun him around, threw him on the ground. She had stepped on his foot doing all this, and when she threw him on the ground, he broke his ankle,' Blackburn said.

Her quick and decisive response stunned the assailant long enough for her to break free and run home.

Police in Carmel-by-the-Sea are actively searching for a suspect involved in the attempted assault of a 13-year-old girl who bravely defended herself using her jiu-jitsu training (Pictured: Sensei Blackburn, the girl's teacher)

Carmel police have released a composite sketch based on witness descriptions, but as of now, the suspect has not been identified

Though shaken, she was physically unharmed and able to recount the incident to her family and law enforcement.

To protect her privacy and ensure her safety while the suspect remains at large, the girl's identity is being withheld.

Carmel police have released a composite sketch based on witness descriptions, but as of now, the suspect has not been identified.

Investigators are urging the public to come forward with any information that could lead to his arrest.

While her family is understandably rattled by the close call, they are also incredibly proud of how she handled the situation.

Her instructor echoed that sentiment.

'I told her we were proud of her, and she did exactly as she was supposed to do,' Blackburn said. 'You have to fight in class like you're going to protect yourself on the street.'

The Carmel Youth Center has long taught self-defense as more than just a physical skillit's a mindset.

Using her skills, she punched the attacker, put him in a headlock, kneed him, spun him around, and threw him to the ground

During the struggle, she stepped on his foot, and when she threw him down, he broke his ankle

he then ran home to safety and reported the incident. Her identity is being kept private while the suspect remains at large

Blackburn emphasized that what his student demonstrated wasn't just physical strength, but composure under pressure and the ability to take control in a high-stress moment.

Now, the girl hopes her story will serve as a powerful reminder to othersespecially young womenthat self-defense can be a critical life skill.

Her actions have already inspired conversations in the community about safety, awareness, and the importance of teaching kids how to protect themselves.

'She wants this to be a reminder that knowing how to protect yourself can truly make all the difference,' Blackburn said.

As the investigation continues, anyone who may have seen something suspicious or who recognizes the suspect from the released sketch is encouraged to contact Carmel police immediately.
British-trained doctors will be prioritised for NHS jobs over foreigners under Labour plans, it has emerged.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting wants to hand an advantage to applicants in whose training the UK taxpayer has already invested.

A leaked extract of the 10 Year Health Plan - which will outline Labour's overhaul of the NHS - promises a 'fairer deal for our doctors in training'.

According to the Sunday Times, this will include a pledge to reverse changes made in 2020 that opened up NHS speciality training jobs to overseas doctors.

The Health Secretary will hope the move will win favour among junior doctors, who recently threatened more strikes in protest at the Government's latest pay offer.

The British Medical Association, which represents junior doctors, has demanded that ministers prioritise access to speciality training places for UK medical graduates.

Mr Streeting himself has previously bemoaned a 'crazy position' that sees UK medical school graduates compete on an equal basis with overseas applicants for the same jobs.

His Department of Health and Social Care is also said to be negotiating with the Treasury over the possibility of expanding the total number of training places.

British-trained doctors will be prioritised for NHS jobs over foreigners under Labour plans, it has emerged

Health Secretary Wes Streeting wants to hand an advantage to applicants in whose training the UK taxpayer has already invested

The leaked extract of the 10 Year Health Plan, seen by the newspaper, sets out the reversal of measures taken in 2020 by then health secretary Matt Hancock.

These opened up competition for training posts to applicants from anywhere in the world as the NHS faced a workforce crisis during the Covid pandemic.

'The result is that the competition ratio for postgraduate training places has rapidly increased from nearly two applications per place in 2018, to nearly six in 2024,' the leaked extract says.

'In some professions, such as psychiatry, the competition ratio is as high as ten to one and is set to grow.

'No advantage is given to those applicants in whose education the NHS and society has already invested in.

'We will reverse that decision and prioritise UK medical graduates for foundation and postgraduate training.'

The General Medical Council found that in 2022 more than half of doctors who joined the workforce were trained abroad. About 20 per cent of all NHS staff are not British nationals.

Mr Streeting told GB News last month: 'We've got this bizarre situation where graduates from UK medical schools are competing on an equal basis with overseas applicants for the same jobs.

'I think that is a crazy position for our country to be in. I am looking at the changes we need to make put an end to that situation.

'So that students who are going through UK medical schools, they're the people whose training we've invested in as a country, and they've invested in themselves, to make sure that they get those jobs that are available in our NHS.'
Horrific video showing the moment an Afghan man pulled a gun on three Virginia cops before an officer shot him dead has been released by police.

Jamal Wali, 36, launched an anti-American tirade against the officers before taking aim when they pulled him over on the outskirts of Washington DC on April 23.

A horrific eight-minute video released by Fairfax County Police Department on Saturday shows how the routine traffic stop spiraled into a deadly shootout.

Wali can be heard cussing at the officers and shouting 'I should have served with the f***ing Taliban' during his final moments on the sunny afternoon in Fair Oaks.

He claimed that he has four children and served in Afghanistan, before calling all Americans 'liars' while lamenting his suffering in the US where he 'can't get a job'.

The video begins with bodycam footage from inside one officer's cruiser as it tailed a silver 1999 Toyota Corolla which has an expired safety inspection sticker.

Wali's vehicle comes to a sudden stop, prompting the officer to exclaim 'Jesus Christ!'

The officer leaves his cruiser and approaches the driver's side of the Toyota before greeting Wali and saying: 'That was a heck of a stop, sir.'

The terrifying moment an Afghan man pulled a gun on three Virginia cops from his car before an officer shot him dead has been released by police. Jamal Wali, 36, launched an anti-American tirade against the officers when they pulled him over on the outskirts of Washington DC on April 23

A horrific eight-minute video released by Fairfax County Police Department on Saturday shows how the routine traffic stop spiraled into a deadly shootout on a sunny day in DC

Wider angles of the scene, like the screengrab pictured above, shows how the officers recoiled in different directions as two were shot, and one rolled across the ground

Wali was immediately hostile. 'I have a gun and I'm armed. So why did you pull me over?' he asked.

The officer explained that his inspection sticker had expired, but Wali immediately interjects: 'Yeah, they know! Call Joe Biden or call George Bush!'

'I don't have a driving license,' he added. 'Go back, sit in the f***ing car and leave.'

The officer calmly declined, but Wali escalated his rhetoric, shouting: 'You are killing f***ing people. I have kids and a lot of f***ing bull**** things.'

'I can't even go back to my f***ing country because of you f***ing people,' he added. 'When I was serving with you liars, with you people, with Americans.'

The officer told Wali that he too served in the military, but the incensed motorist continued to rant.

'You f***ing people brought me to this goddamn f***ing country and I'm dying every f***ing single day,' he shouted.

'I have four children,' Wali said. 'I can't get a job, I can't get a f***ing disability.'

Wali can be heard cussing at the officers and shouting 'I should have served with the f***ing Taliban ' during his final moments on the sunny afternoon in Fair Oaks, Washington DC

Wali responded to an officer attempting to grab his weapon by opening fire. Several gunshots can be heard ringing out as one officer fired back and another can be heard shouting 'f***!'

A photo of the firearm used by Wali was recovered on scene and is pictured above

At this point, the officer radioed in for backup, telling his colleagues that 'the subject keeps reaching for his weapon' - as shown in footage from inside Wali's vehicle.

'You lied for 25 years,' Wali shouted. 'I lost everything, I have nothing... the system is f***ing broke.'

The cop sympathized with Wali, telling him: 'Sounds like you're going through a really rough time,' but he hit back, saying he 'should have served with f***ing Taliban'.

The officer warned Wali that his colleagues were joining the scene, and two cops approached his car, one at the driver's window and the other at the passenger side.

One of the officers reaches into Wali's car for his gun, asking him: 'Do you wanna give me that?'

But Wali responded by opening fire. Several gunshots can be heard ringing out as one officer fired back and another can be heard shouting 'f***!'

Wider angles of the scene shows how the officers recoiled in different directions as two were shot, and one rolled across the ground.

The video begins with bodycam footage from inside one officer's cruiser as it tailed a silver 1999 Toyota Corolla (pictured above) which had an expired safety inspection sticker

Wali can be heard cussing at the officers and shouting 'I should have served with the f***ing Taliban ' during his final moments on the sunny afternoon in Fair Oaks

Wali responded to an officer attempting to grab his weapon by opening fire. Several gunshots can be heard ringing out as one officer fired back and another can be heard shouting 'f***!'

Fairfax County Police accused Wali of attempting to murder their officers.

'Wali reached for a firearm and shot two officers,' the department said in a statement. 'A third officer discharged his weapon, striking Wali four times.'

Several more officers were sent to the scene, and they rushed to rescue the two wounded officers and Wali.

The cops were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while Wali was pronounced dead.

Fairfax Police identified the officer who fatally shot Wali as Officer Ian Lachapelle, a two-year veteran of the department who covers the Fair Oaks district.

Lachapelle has been placed on restricted-duty status while the investigation continues.
A criminal defense attorney with a 'methamphetamine addiction' has been arrested for allegedly working for a murderous drug trafficking gang.

Justin Facey, 44, boasted about his role as the go-to attorney for the violent criminal organization that would smuggle hard drugs from Mexico to Alaska, federal prosecutors have claimed in shocking court documents.

The Anchorage criminal defense attorney was indicted on charges of maintaining a drug-involved premises and possessing firearms in connection with drug trafficking.

Facey, who allegedly coerced sex acts from minors and clients of his legal service, told colleagues that cartel members 'literally threw a duffle bag from a moving vehicle onto my roof to hire me last week, and claimed he 'had to retrieve it with a ladder' according to prosecutors.

The case is part of a massive federal investigation that has led to more than 60 indictments.

Four members of the trafficking ring were charged in the 2023 murders of two women found in Trapper Creek.

Prosecutors describe the operation as a pipeline for methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin and cocaine flowing to Alaska dealers and street users.

The disgraced Anchorage attorney, who prosecutors say consumed up to an ounce of methamphetamine per day to fuel his addiction, allegedly offered to help smuggle gang members out of Alaska.

Justin Facey, 44, (left) boasted about his role as the go-to attorney for the violent criminal organization led by Heraclio Sanchez-Rodriguez (right) that would smuggle hard drugs from Mexico to Alaska , federal prosecutors have revealed in shocking court documents

Facey, who allegedly coerced sex acts from minors and clients of his legal service in Anchorage (pictured), allegedly told colleagues that cartel members 'literally threw a duffle bag from a moving vehicle onto my roof to hire me last week, and claimed he 'had to retrieve it with a ladder'

He also provided money laundering advice, and even requested the cartel's help in having someone shot after a personal dispute.

Federal prosecutors describe Facey as having 'consciously adopted the persona of a self-described cartel attorney' while being 'fueled by a spiraling addiction to methamphetamine and compulsive sexual misconduct.'

The documents revealed he 'fully committed to the bit, engaging in a crime spree threatening the safety of the community.'

'Having consciously adopted the persona of a self-described 'cartel attorney' and fueled by a spiraling addiction to methamphetamine and compulsive sexual misconduct, the defendant fully committed to the bit, engaging in a crime spree threatening the safety of the community and giving rise to serious concerns regarding his risk of flight following his apprehension,' prosecutors wrote in the memorandum obtained by Alaska Public Media.

The investigation revealed that Facey was in direct communication with Heraclio Sanchez-Rodriguez, the alleged leader of the trafficking organization.

'Exhibiting characteristically poor impulse control, the defendant couldn't help but brag about his newfound status as a 'cartel lawyer' to anyone in the Anchorage legal community who might listen,' the prosecutors wrote.

One woman described him as 'a drug addict, a pig, and a disgusting slob'

She claimed he had coerced her into sex acts as payment for his legal representation.

The woman told investigators that Facey 'maintained a drug premises, used methamphetamine, and maintained a young woman as a housekeeper who he paid with controlled substances for her services.'

The case is part of a massive federal investigation that has resulted in more than 60 indictments (General handout photo released by Mexico's Attorney General's Office shows fentanyl pills)

'(The woman) described that the defendant maintained a drug premises, used methamphetamine, and maintained a young woman as a 'housekeeper' who he paid with controlled substances for her services,' prosecutors wrote in the memorandum.

She described his methamphetamine addiction as 'extreme' and said he consumed up to 'an ounce per day.'

The Alaska Bar Association suspended Facey from practicing law after numerous complaints in February.

He ended up turning to dealing drugs himself, 'primarily fentanyl to drug-dependent and vulnerable women,' according to prosecutors.

'In one particularly heartbreaking exchange in December 2024, the defendant urged a pregnant woman looking for work as a housecleaner to exchange sex for $80 and a small amount of methamphetamine, only to ultimately short-change the woman by $20,' prosecutors wrote in the memorandum.
A teacher in Alabama was arrested after a four-year-old student ingested a large amount of ethanol under her watch, according to police.

Tracy Walker, a special education teacher at Collins-Rhodes Elementary School in Mobile, was arrested Wednesday - weeks after little Algeria Singleton was picked up from school on April 28 with a blood alcohol level of nearly 0.29.

The girl's mother, Mary Singleton, said neither she nor her husband, Albert, 47, were contacted by the school about their daughter's alarming condition, which left her limp and 'slobbering at the mouth.'

Algeria was rushed to Children's and Women's Hospital in Mobile, where she spent two days in the ICU. She is now recovering at home.

Doctors found she had consumed a large amount of ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, which is commonly found in products like hand sanitizers, skincare items, perfumes, and some food packaging materials, according to the Chemical Safety Facts Organization.

Soon after the terrifying incident, the Mobile County Sheriff's Office took over the investigation and interviewed the four-year-old, who said her teacher gave her a drink that made her feel ill, WALA reported.

Walker, who frequently posts about her life as a teacher on social media, was charged with aggravated child abuse.

She was released on $25,000 bond on Friday following a court appearance. Walker has also been ordered to submit a drug and alcohol test as a condition of her bond, according to the outlet.

Four-year-old Algeria Singleton was limp and 'slobbering at the mouth' when her parents arrived at the girl's elementary school to pick her up on April 28 after she ingested a large amount of ethanol

Tracy Walker, a special education teacher at Collins-Rhodes Elementary School in Mobile, was arrested Wednesday in connection to the case

When Algeria's worried parents first arrived at the school that dreadful day they immediately knew something was wrong.

'The school teachers came out to the van with her, but they was carrying her instead of her walking,' Mary told WKRG.

'The nurse, she broke it down as to where she probably felt like it was like an ear infection. But it was nothing of that nature.'

The teacher then handed the child to her parents, urging them to seek emergency care.

'She was slobbering at the mouth, she was heavy, and the teacher handed her to me, saying we probably needed to take her to the ER,' Mary said.

After tests were run, medical professionals found their daughter's blood-alcohol content was recorded at 0.29 percent - more than four times the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent for adults in Alabama.

'How is this even possible?' Albert asked. 'Where was the supervision?'

Albert said his daughter was unresponsive from about 3 pm, when they picked her up at school, until around 3 am the next morning.

Doctors found she had consumed a large amount of ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol , which is commonly found in products like hand sanitizers, skincare items, perfumes, and some food packaging materials

Walker, who frequently posts about her life as a teacher on social media, was charged with aggravated child abuse

The family said they did not plan to send her back to the school for the rest of the year.

After hearing their child's teacher was arrested in connection to the horrible crime, Albert said he was pleased someone is being held responsible.

'I feel good that its a step towards justice- that someone is being held accountable, someone directly. Still perplexed as to what the substance was,' he told WALA.

The exact circumstances around how ethanol got into Algeria's system still remain unclear, but Sgt. Lonnie Parsons with the Mobile County Sheriff's Office said the department is committed to getting all the answers they need.

'The student aid who walked in noticed that the child was still asleep whenever she was there,' Parsons said of the day the incident took place.

'Normally, this child is one of the first ones awake--shes happy, and she wants to get on with her day. When she noticed that something was amiss, she went over and tried to wake the child up. The child awoke and was very sluggish.'

With no clear knowledge of how the horrific incident unfolded, Parsons said he has many questions.

'We have other questions as to A- how did it get into the school, B- what other children may be involved? We have to reach out to the local community and say- has your child experienced this? Have they went through anything that would be suspicious involving this teacher? If you have, please reach out to us so we can seek justice for you as well,' Parsons explained.

When investigators attempted to interview Walker she requested legal counsel.

This is also not the first complaint against the teacher, faculty and staff told investigators.

It is unclear what those complaints are but they are currently being investigated, Parsons stated.

On the same day as her court hearing, Walker's family member took to Facebook, claiming she 'has been unjustly accused of a serious crime.'

This is also not the first complaint against the teacher, faculty and staff told investigators

'While you may or may not be acquainted with her, I can assure you that she is an exceptionally kind and committed child of God, who would never perpetrate the act of which she has been accused,' they added.

Rena Philips, the director of communications for the district, told WALA Walker has been placed on administrative leave.

'We take all allegations seriously. The teacher was placed on administrative leave when this allegation was first made.

'We have been cooperating with law enforcement on the investigation, and we will continue working with them.'

DailyMail.com contacted the Mobile County Sheriff's Office for comment.
Donald Trump wants to know all of the names and countries of origin of all nearly 7,000 foreign-born students attending Harvard University.

The president said it was unacceptable that 31 percent of the students who attend the famous Ivy League school are 'from foreign lands.'

Harvard filed on Friday a lawsuit against the Trump administration for revoking its right to host foreign students.

The school said in a court filing Trump's action will have an 'immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.'

'With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard's student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,' Harvard wrote.

'Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.'

But the revelation of the sheer number of foreign students and those on student visas shocked Trump and led him to ratchet up his attacks on the university.

President Donald Trump upped his war with Harvard by demanding the Ivy League turn over the names and countries of origin of all their foreign-born students on visas

About a third of Harvard's students  nearly 7,000  are from foreign countries. Pictured: Students walk on Harvard's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 15, 2025

'Why isn't Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student's education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that!' Trump wrote to Truth Social overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

'We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn't exactly forthcoming,' he continued. 'We want those names and countries.'

Trump says that Harvard should use its $52 million rather than asking for federal grants.

The Department of Homeland Security announced on Thursday its revocation of Harvard's ability to host and enroll students from other countries.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem published a letter she sent to the ivy league university last week instructing the thousands of current students to either transfer to other schools or leave the country.

The punishment, Noem said, comes in response to the Trump administration's claims that Harvard fostered antisemitism and coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party to allow students from there to live in the country on a visa from the university.

Trump says he wants the list from Harvard just two days after the university filed a lawsuit against the administration for revoking its ability to host and enroll foreign students

She wrote in a post to X on the action: 'It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments.'

Foreign students account for a quarter of the student body of the school, with around 6,800 at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Harvard hit back with a statement calling the move unlawful and that they would be quickly working to provide guidance to their students.

'This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission,' she said.
More than a third of young white men in Britain fear they are losing out on promotions because of their race and gender, a new poll has revealed.

The survey by JL Partners found 36 per cent of white men held concerns about being held back at work.

It also found two-fifths (41 per cent) of white men feel anxious that they can be sacked for doing or saying the wrong thing.

And almost half of white men (46 per cent) now censor jokes or give honest, but respectful, feedback to colleagues because of a fear it could affect their careers.

It was claimed the findings showed how 'millions of men are walking around on eggshells at work too scared to speak freely'.

There were also warnings that male despondency about their futures was 'pushing men towards populism' and social media 'influencers' such as Andrew Tate.

JL Partners polled a nationally representative sample of 823 white adult men across the UK.

The survey was commissioned as part of a new YouTube and podcast series called 'White Men Can't Work'.

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There were warnings that male despondency about their futures was 'pushing men towards populism' and social media 'influencers' such as Andrew Tate

It also showed that nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of white men think they are discriminated against because of their race or gender.

More than one in three (34 per cent) of white men now think that white men are the least valued workers in their workplace.

And nearly one in three white men (31 per cent) said they think their sons will have fewer opportunities because of their race or gender, the survey found.

Award-winning documentary-maker Tim Samuels, the former host of the BBC show Men's Hour, has created the 'White Men Can't Work' series.

He said: 'Millions of men are walking around on eggshells at work too scared to speak freely - whilst knowing that being male can now be a disaster for your career.

'The scale of discrimination, self-censorship and anxiety is staggering.

'White Men Can't Work has spoken to guys who've been sacked literally just for being men, or pushed out over crazy micro-aggression such as talking about the male and female ends of cables.

'Younger men are very despondent about their futures. All this is pushing men towards populism and the likes of Andrew Tate.

'Of course racism and sexism have to be stamped out but our biggest companies and institutions have implemented a very divisive and ideological form of DEI that demonises white men, disregards free speech and, when you look at the data, doesn't even help those it was meant to.

'We need smarter ways to tackle discrimination that actually work.'

Tate, a self-described misogynist, has amassed millions of social media followers in recent years, often with expletive-laden rants about women.

Police chiefs have cautioned about the impact of male 'influencers' such as him.

The first episode of White Men Can't Work will be released tomorrow on YouTube, Apple podcasts and Spotify.
A Ukrainian prisoner of war broke down in tears as he lovingly kissed his wife after he was freed in an exchange with Russia today.

Serviceman Vitaly embraced his wife Olena in the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the more than three years of war.

He was one of several hundred soldiers to have been swapped only hours after a major Russian drone-and-missile attack struck the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions, killing at least 13 people and injured dozens.

Russia's Defence Ministry said each side brought home 303 more soldiers, after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday - the biggest swap of the war.

Crowds welcomed the soldiers home, who were draped in the bright colours of the Ukrainian flag.

Others held up photos of missing loved ones to the returned servicemen, hopeful they might be able to tell them anything about the men pictured.

Medics were also at the scene to attend to the POWs as the soldiers filed out from buses to an undisclosed location.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that '303 Ukrainian defenders are home.'

Serviceman Vitaly broke down in tears as he lovingly embraced his wife, Olena, after he was freed in an exchange with Russia today

He was one of several hundred soldiers to have been swapped in the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of cooperation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that '303 Ukrainian defenders are home'

He noted that the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the 'Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service'.

The POW exchange was the latest of scores of swaps since the war began but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians.

In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month - the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks - Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each.

The exchange has been the only tangible outcome from the talks.

Ukrainian officials described last night's onslought as the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with the Kremlin firing 367 drones and missiles.

In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the strikes.

For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century.

Crowds held up photos of missing loved ones to the returned servicemen, hopeful they might be able to tell them anything about the men pictured

Russia and Ukraine agreed a '1,000 for 1,000' POW exchange that took place over the weekend

Medics were also at the scene to attend to the POWs as the soldiers filed out from buses to an undisclosed location

For many soldiers returning home, the joy was overwhelming

Russia's Defence Ministry said each side brought home 303 more soldiers, after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday

The returning serviceman were draped in their country's flag and cheered for their release

A Ukrainian soldier covers his mouth in disbelief after he was one of a 1,000 POWs to be exchanged

The POW exchange came only hours after one of Russia's largest aerial attacks on Ukraine since the beginning of the war

A Ukrainian solder is embraced by his loved ones, who are close to tears at his return

The POW exchange was the latest of scores of swaps since the war began but also the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians

A father is embraced by his wife and daughter at the POW exchange

Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia - a longstanding demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialized in ways to deter Russia.

'These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities,' Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday's targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.

'America's silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages' Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said.

'Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help.'

Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defence persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles.

At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service.

'A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night,' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, adding that the assault 'lasted all night.'

Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.

The POWs exchanged today posed for a photo in the third and last stage of the '1,000 for 1,000'

Ukrainian commanders with Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov (centre) also welcomed the POWs home

Ukrainian POWs were transported by bus to an undisclosed location for the exchange

Meanwhile, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defence shared footage of Russian POWs boarding a bus following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location in Belarus

The Russian servicemen were similarly overjoyed at their release once their bus arrived at Chkalovsky airport, outside Moscow

Russian POWs held up their flag once they arrived at Chkalovsky air base

In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged eight, 12 and 17.

Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building's walls was on fire.

In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed.

In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears.

'The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it's just terrible,' said 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities.

She said she was grateful her daughter and grandchildren hadn't joined them for the weekend.

'I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us,' Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, 'after all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it's the ground floor.''

A total of at least 13 people were killed, including three children, and 57 injured in the attacks by Russia, among the strongest of the entire war

Three died in Kyiv region, with at least 26 wounded here and in the city, including at least three children

Odesa was hit with Kalibr cruise missiles from vessels in Putin's Black Sea Fleet

Rescuers were seen escorting a woman from a damaged house following Russian strikes to the Khmelnytsky region

In Khmelnytskyi region, at least four people were killed and five injured in Putin's overnight strikes

At least ten Russian government aircraft used for high-ranking state and military officials fled Moscow flying east - it was not immediately clear if the exodus was a drill for an emergency evacuation, or the real thing

People look at a residential building struck by a drone following an overnight strike in Kyiv

An Odesa resident with a dog stands next to cars destroyed in a residential area during a Russian drone strike

'Unfortunately, three people died last night as a result of an enemy attack in the Kyiv region,' Mykola Kalashnyk, who heads the regional military administration, wrote in a Telegram post

Emergency workers extinguish fire in the debris of a private house that was destroyed in a Russian rocket strike

'She said, `No, mum, I'm not coming.' And thank God she didn't come, because the rocket hit [the house] on the side where the children's rooms were,' Fedorenko said.

Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. 'They burned to death,' he said. 'I want to bury them, but I'm not allowed yet.'

Battles have continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.

Russia's Defense Ministry quoted Yaroslav Yakimkin of the 'North' group of Russian forces as saying Sunday that Ukrainian troops have been pushed back from the border in the Kursk region, which Putin visited days ago.

'The troops continue to advance forward every day,' Yakimkin said, adding that Russian forces have taken Marine and Loknya in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk, over the past week, and were advancing in the Kharkiv region around the largely destroyed town of Vovchansk.

Speaking on Russian state TV on Sunday, a Russian serviceman said that Putin was reportedly flying over the Kursk region in a helicopter when the area came under intense Ukrainian drone attack during his visit.

Putin's helicopter was 'virtually at the epicenter of repelling a large-scale attack by the enemy's drones,' said Yuri Dashkin, described as commander of a Russian air defense division.

Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Dozens were arrested after violence broke out between woke protesters and police at a religious rally in Seattle.

Christian activists from On Fire Ministries hosted their 'Mayday USA' rally at Cal Anderson Park on Saturday.

The event was described as 'standing together for Biblical truth and values' as part of the '#DontMessWithOurKids' movement, according to the organization's Facebook.

Counter protesters showed up under the theme of 'Keep Your Bibles Off Our Bodies,' according to Fox 13.

They brought signs that read 'Republican Lies Kill Trans People' and 'Protect Trans Youth.'

Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers arrested 23 people throughout the day as clashes between the groups grew violent.

'Police working to keep two different groups apart, witnessed multiple people inside one group throw items at the opposing group around 1:30 p.m. Saturday,' SPD said.

'Officers immediately moved to arrest the people responsible, and while taking the individuals into custody, were assaulted by more protesters, resulting in even more arrests. In total, officers arrested 11 during the initial scuffle.'

Seattle Police arrested 23 people throughout the day as clashes between the groups grew violent in Cal Anderson Park on Saturday

Images from the park showed police tackled protesters to the ground and handcuffed them

The department said on X, 'Orders are being given to protesters to back away from officers and to stop throwing items at officers.'

SPD said throughout the afternoon, 12 additional arrests were made for assault and obstruction.

'Individuals in the crowd have begun throwing water bottles at officers,' police said. 'Protesters have now knocked over fencing. Additional officers will be responding to the area to assist in maintaining a safe environment.'

By 5:30 p.m., troopers with the Washington State Patrol arrived at the scene to help SPD.

'One officer was treated and released from the hospital for an injury sustained during the protests,' said the department said.

Images from the park showed police tackled protesters to the ground and handcuffed them.

Mayor Bruce Harrell condemned Mayday USA's rally and claimed violence only broke out because 'anarchists infiltrated' the event.

'Todays far-right rally was held here for this very reason  to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our citys values, in the heart of Seattles most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood,' Harrell said.

The Mayday USA event was described as 'standing together for Biblical truth and values' as part of the '#DontMessWithOurKids'

Police said protesters threw water bottles, knocked over fencing and assaulted officers

Troopers with the Washington State Patrol were brought in to help, and at least one Seattle police officer was treated for injuries

'Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protestors group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did.'

Folake Kellogg, 58, a spokesperson for the Mayday USA event, told The Seattle Times that their group was not trying to provoke anyone.

'They say we don't like people. We're not the ones throwing things. We're here to love Jesus,' Kellogg said,

According to Kellogg, Cal Anderson Park was not their first choice for venue, and they wanted to hold the event at Victor Steinbrueck Park by Pike Place Market, but the city said no.
Firefighters pulled off a dramatic rescue in the East River Tuesday night, saving three people clinging to a sinking yachtmarking New York City's third serious boating accident in just two weeks.

According to the FDNY, the vessel struck an object near the Whitestone Bridge by Throgs Neck in the Bronx and began taking on water fast, prompting a frantic 'mayday' call over marine radio.

When Marine 4 arrived on scene, first responders found three boaters hanging onto the vesselone of them with a head injuryas the current threatened to pull them under.

Firefighter Tyler Hickey dove into the choppy river three times, each time tethered to firefighter Eric Kogan, to pull the victims to safety. FDNY firefighter Kelly Lyons, piloting the boat, kept it close enough for the rescue.

All three victims were treated for injuries, hypothermia, and shock.

'We attended the summer boat program, a two-week, hands-on, and intense course that prepares us for every possible scenario,' said FDNY Lt. David Torres.

'Combined with our firefighting experience in high-stress situations where every second counts, we worked together, stayed in our lanes, and saved lives. It was incredible teamwork. I am very proud of these guys.'

Officials have not identified the boaters or confirmed what the vessel struck. An investigation is ongoing.

A dramatic FDNY rescue unfolded on the East River after a yacht began sinking near the Whitestone Bridge

The vessel struck an object near the Whitestone Bridge by Throgs Neck in the Bronx and began taking on water fast, prompting a frantic 'mayday' call over marine radio

The incident comes just days after a deadly explosion aboard a sewage barge on the Hudson River that claimed the life of a longtime city worker.

The barge, operated by the Department of Environmental Protection, blew up at the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant near West 138th Street in Manhattan around 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Investigators believe methane gas may have ignited during a welding malfunction.

One of the welders, a 59-year-old man working on the hull, was thrown into the river and pinned between the barge and the dock. He later died from his injuries.

Two other workers were hospitalized in stable condition.

'The entire DEP family is grieving today. Our employee who lost his life had served the Department and the City with dedication for 33 years,' said DEP Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala.

'He was a valued and experienced member of the Bureau of Wastewater Treatment, and his decades of service reflect his commitment to DEP's mission.'

Mayor Eric Adams added: 'This devoted public servant gave 33 years of service to New York City, and our hearts go out to his family, friends, and colleagues during this painful time.'

One worker is fighting for life and another being rescued from the Hudson River after an explosion on a barge

One worker is fighting for life and another being rescued from the Hudson River after an explosion on a barge

Hazmat teams were dispatched to decontaminate the vessel, assess methane levels, and clean up sludge and oil in the river.

The explosion remains under investigation.

Just a week earlier, on May 17, a Mexican Navy training vessel smashed into the Brooklyn Bridge during a ceremonial entry into the harbor, killing two and injuring at least 19.

The Cuauhtemoc, a tall ship carrying nearly 300 people, was performing a traditional maritime ritual known as 'manning the yards,' with sailors standing atop its 150-foot masts in formation.

Eyewitnesses captured the moment its towering rigging struck the underside of the bridge.

'We saw someone dangling, and I couldn't tell if it was just blurry or my eyes,' said Lily Katz, who was watching the sunset with friend Sydney Neidell.

'We were able to zoom in on our phone and there was someone dangling from the harness from the top for like at least like 15 minutes before they were able to rescue them.'

Two sailors were seen being carried away on stretchers.

The massive Navy vessel, reportedly carrying nearly 300 passengers, collided with the iconic New York City bridge while passing beneath it, triggering a colossal rescue response

In multiple eyewitness videos, the towering masts are seen snapping and partially collapsing as they crash into the bridge's deck

The Mexican Navy later confirmed that the ship sustained damage in the collision and could not continue its voyage. Officials cited possible mechanical difficulties that may have caused the captain to lose control.

'The Secretary of the Navy renews its commitment to the safety of personnel, transparency in its operations and excellent training for future officers of the Mexican Armada,' the Navy said in a statement on X.

A full search and rescue effort was launched in the East River. At least four people were reported in critical condition, and 19 injured in total, with victims transported to hospitals and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The track side is filled with fumes and revving engine noises with mechanics often in grime-covered overalls working at the speed of light to change tyres.

But Scots model Rebecca Donaldson looked a picture of calm and ready for the catwalk as she joined her boyfriend Carlos Sainz Jr for the Monaco Grand Prix yesterday.

Looking immaculate in her white and grey outfit, she was out for a stroll around the paddock ahead of the race with the Spaniard struggling to keep up on a bike.

Scots model Rebecca Donaldson looked catwalk-ready at the Formula 1 paddock in Monaco

Rebecca Donaldson has become a regular at the Formula 1 circuit after hooking up with Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jr

The 28-year-old, from Scone, Perthshire, has been linked to the Williams driver, 30, since 2023 and has been a regular sight at the Formula 1 circuit this season.

Despite her heels the Scots beauty, who has featured in the covers of high-end fashion magazines including Vogue and Marie Claire, walked at some pace alongside the racing driver.

But it was another disappointing day for Ms Donaldson as her beau failed to make the podium with Britains Lando Norris taking the top spot.
Bismarck called politics the art of the possible, but then he never lived to see our current age. Today politics is the art of the impossible, of trying to maintain delusion against the onslaught of reality.

This is what lies behind gender identity ideology. It is impossible for a human being to change sex but because some wish to believe that transwomen are women, they persist in the vain hope that facts will bend to fictions.

It is what lies behind the independence vision espoused by the SNP. Scotland is perfectly capable of running its own affairs but it cannot do so while avoiding the fiscal realities that apply to all independent nations.

And so the Scottish Government pretends that Scotland could break away without having to raise taxes or cut spending.

Delusion also undergirds the debate on tax and spend. Everyone agrees that government spending is out of control but ask them what they would cut, and no one ever volunteers a service they rely on, invariably proposing cuts to politically contested but fiscally negligible items such as arts funding.

Similarly, few voters will say they dont deserve a tax cut, but ask them how it should be paid for, and they will usually suggest raising taxes on someone else. Britons tend to want Nordic spending and American taxation.

But if its the politics of the impossible youre after, look no further than Net Zero. Saturdays Mail brought the news that the humble Sunday roast is in the firing line of the eco zealots.

The paper reported: Scots families face being told to eat less meat and farmers urged to cut sheep and cattle numbers under the SNPs push for Net Zero.

Eco zealots have identified the Sunday roast as a climate risk

'The Scottish Governments climate advisers have demanded a 30 per cent drop in meat consumption and a 36 per cent cut in sheep and cattle numbers to hit the 2045 target.

It should hardly need to be said but a drop of almost one-third in meat eating would devastate Scotlands already precarious agriculture sector. Entire swathes of family farms would go to the wall.

Generations of toil on the land wiped out at the behest of soulless bureaucrats whose only encounter with agriculture is shelling out 20 quid for truffle butter at a city-centre farmers market.

Yet instead of being told where to go, these finger-wagging fanatics will probably get their way in the end. They usually do.

Want to drive your van through Glasgow city centre? No can do. Climate change, pal.

Appalled that the oil and gas industry which has brought so much prosperity is being deliberately wrecked? Try to focus less on the workers being chucked on the dole and more on the CO2 reductions.

Fed up waiting for ministers to finally keep their promise and fully dual the A96? Why do you want the polar bears to die?

The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the mob eyeing up your Sunday roast to replace it with steamed tofu, arent about to stop at farming, either. They expect 60 per cent of cars on Scotlands roads to be fully electric by 2035. The current figure is 2.2 per cent. You can rest assured theyre not going to close that gap without increased coercion on motorists.

Drivers of older vehicles are slapped with fines in some of Scotland's cities thanks to the green warriors who think motorists are the source of the world's problems

By the same date, they also want to see gas boilers ripped out of 40 per cent of homes and replaced with heat pumps, rising to 92 per cent ten years after that.

The Scottish Government has recently cooled on requiring heat pumps but meeting climate targets will require ministers to revisit the issue, most likely after the 2026 election is safely out of the way.

As the CCC admits, homes in Scotland are predominantly designed around gas heating and will need retrofitted so that heat pumps will work. The price tag for these upgrades represents a sizeable element of the total costs and so the CCC urges policy support. You cannot possibly win from this. Either you will be made to pay directly or via your taxes.

Based on current trends, and the sheer scale of the financial outlay involved, the Scottish Conservatives estimate that it will take until 2080 to reach Net Zero, 35 years after the target date.

The SNP missing their targets is hardly novel. It will be a close-run thing to see which is delivered first: Net Zero or the Glen Rosa.

The Net Zero project is one absurdity propped on top of another. Rather than produce our own carbon energy, we are shutting down our industry and buying the same fuels from overseas, making them more expensive and more ecologically damaging. Rather than allowing markets in electric transportation and renewable heating technologies to evolve like every other market, we are trying to game consumer choices to make them fit a political agenda.

Why are we doing any of this? Why are we impoverishing ourselves while fossil fuel superpowers like China and India are developing carbon neutral technologies in tandem with robust and reliable supplies of oil and gas energy?

Why, after a century of progress in the 20th, are we determined to make the 21st century a century of hobbling innovation, reining in our ambitions, and living desperately sad, modest little lives?

The green movement might regard men as eco-sinners and wish to see us all living in candle-lit yurts and munching on kale as punishment for despoiling the planet, but why are the rest of us going along with it?

There is a centre ground in which it is possible to acknowledge that climate change is real, that man-made emissions contribute to it, and that humanity needs to be a more conscientious steward of the planet, while also recognising that making everyone poorer, colder, less happy and less free is no path to a liveable world and is a profoundly anti-human agenda.

At present, however, there is no political party speaking clearly and confidently to that centre ground. Saying that Net Zero targets must go, oil and gas exploration must resume and expand in the North Sea, and the revenue generated must be directed to scientific and technological solutions to climate change. Innovation, not immiseration, is the answer.

Net Zero is the cruellest impossibilism. It plays on peoples essential decency and concern for the environment and tells them they can save the planet by forgoing their car, gas boiler or their succulent beef joint (which should always be served medium rare, in case youre wondering).

But lifestyle changes on the micro level do not amount to a hill of beans when set beside the industrial-scale carbon-blasting of emerging superpower economies.

However much our political leaders tell us otherwise, donning a hairshirt and doing penance for our petrol cars and penchant for a slice of good beef will achieve little other than allowing policy elites to feel an inflated sense of virtue.

For ordinary people, Net Zero is just another way to reduce their quality of life while scolding them about how selfish they are for wanting to see the one thing guaranteed to improve their lot and that of their children and grandchildren: wealth generation.

Net Zero needs to get in the sea, right next to a new fleet of oil rigs drilling us back to prosperity.
Angela Constance is in denial about the reality of crime in Scotland after dismissing calls for a tougher justice system as misplaced.

The SNP Justice Secretary was also accused of shamefully passing the buck for rising youth violence, blaming councils, schools and Westminster instead of accepting blame herself.

The Scottish Conservatives said it was typical of the total inaction by the Nationalists.

There has been a 600 per cent increase in serious assaults by teenagers and an almost 300 power cent rise in violence in schools over the past five years.

The issue dominated First Ministers Questions last week, following the death of 16-year-old Kayden Moy, and the Tories said the SNP governments weak stance was costing lives

Tory leader Russell Findlay cited a reckless justice system that failed to punish young offenders, a lack of discipline in schools and lenient sentencing rules for under-25s.

But appearing on BBC Scotlands Sunday Show, Ms Constance was contemptuous of calls for proper discipline and being tough on tearaways instead of too soft.

She said: Its really important that we dont focus on the arguments of the past or approaches of the past that have not worked.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance is accused of being 'in denial' about soaring youth crime

There has been a 600 per cent increase in serious assaults by teenagers and an almost 300 power cent rise in violence in schools over the past five years

Some of the rhetoric around discipline, around being tough, that we need a tougher justice system, I would suggest is misplaced.

What families want is interventions that work, and the earlier the intervention the better.

Earlier on the show, YouthLink Scotland chief executive Tim Frew said it was very urgent that youth services lost in public sector budget cuts were restored.

He highlighted a 50 per cent reduction in council youth workers in just eight years.

Pressed on whether there was a direct link between service cuts and a rise in violent crime, Ms Constance said: The rise in violent crime amongst young people is complex. Theres not one reason. There will be many, and that means there will be more than one solution.

Let me be absolutely clear. The contribution that youth work currently makes in this country, and could make, will be imperative going forwards as a key part of the solution.

She said decisions on the size of Holyroods budget rest elsewhere in Westminster and all tiers of government make decisions around resources.

Exclusion of violent pupils does remain an option for schools, she said, but then added children do not learn and change if they are absent from schools.

Kayden Moy lost his life earlier this month

Asked why ministers had withdrawn 11million of funding, she said she was very pleased to be convening the second youth violence summit of the year next month.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: Violence in Scotlands schools is soaring amid a 600 per cent rise in serious assaults by teens - all on the SNPs watch.

The SNP government has left fewer police to enforce the law, little prospect of repercussions from their soft-touch policies, and no grassroots projects to help keep children on the right path.

Ms Constance shamefully refused to take responsibility for the cuts her government has made to youth workers across Scotland.

Instead of admitting the problem, she hid behind councils, schools and of course Westminster for being responsible.

She did seem to be very pleased to be holding a meeting about it - but this cannot be yet another SNP summit to hide their total inaction on this critical issue.

Scottish Labours Pauline McNeil added: We need urgent action to tackle the devastating rise in youth violence but its clear the SNP is still in denial about the scale of this crisis and its driving causes.

Angela Constance has refused to take responsibility for her governments role in this crisis and the devastating effects of the SNPs cuts to youth work services.

We owe it to the next generation to deal with the youth violence crisis and keep young people safe - the SNP must acknowledge their mistakes and support these key services.
Alex Soros, the son of billionaire George Soros, will soon wed his fiancee Huma Abedin as insiders have revealed details about their special day.

The couple, who met in the fall of 2023, are set to tie the knot on June 14 in the Hamptons, an insider told Page Six.

Some of their guests will be flown in by helicopter from Manhattan, New York to the lavish $14.5 million Soros family estate in Southampton, sources told the outlet.

Their guest list is filled with many prominent political figures, including the Clinton family, as Abedin served as Hillary's former aide.

Along with Hillary, Bill, Chelsea and her husband Marc Mezvinsky, Anna Wintour is also supposed to attend the nuptials, the insider dished.

Abedin and Soros' wedding will also be covered in Vogue, they added.

The Democratic insider, 48, and the younger Soros, 39, who chairs the board of his father's Open Society Foundations, got engaged in the summer of 2024.

Shortly after their big day, they were spotted celebrating their love in Italy, Page Six previously reported.

The couple confirmed their engagement on Instagram shortly after the outlet published their story, with Soros writing: 'this happenedwe couldnt be happier, more grateful, or more in love.'

Alex Soros, the son of billionaire George Soros, will soon wed his fiancee Huma Abedin

The couple, who met in the fall of 2023, are set to tie the knot on June 14 in the Hamptons, and it will be a huge affair, an insider said. (Pictured: Soros proposing to Abedin)

Abedin was previously married to disgraced New York politician Anthony Weiner. They share a son named Jordan who had his bar mitzvah last week, insiders said.

Weiner will not be attending his ex-wife's upcoming wedding, but he said he's 'thrilled' for the new couple, per sources.

It will be the first marriage for Soros, who has been named as the heir to his father's $25 billion empire.

Those close to the scion have long wondered if Soros would settle down and wave goodbye to his bachelor life, as he himself even claimed he 'had been mistaking lust for love' for many years before meeting his bride-to-be.

'I hadnt been in a relationship for a very long time  ten years or something like that  that had lasted for more than three months. And its, like, the first time I realized I had been mistaking lust for love,' Soros told New York Magazine in April.

A close friend of theirs told the outlet they 'compliment' each other well.

'Her [Abedin] superpower is making every room she is in kind of run better, smoothing out the rough edges, remembering something about everybody. And that complements Alex,' they revealed.

Abedin has described her relationship with her husband-to-be 'a bit of a surreal experience.'

'Its a little bit of a surreal experience to be in a relationship with Alex. I had never imagined I would meet someone whose life so seamlessly blended with mine,' she gushed.

Some of their guests will be flown in by helicopter from Manhattan, New York to the lavish $14.5 million Soros family estate in Southampton. (Pictured: The couple with Kamala Harris in May 2024)

'To have this kind of peripatetic life in politics and public service, this constant state of preparing for the next election, preparing for the next campaign, preparing for the next conference  I dont have to explain anything to him and vice versa.

'Its not unusual for me to turn around at 4 a.m. and Alex is not there: Hes on a call, dealing with some crisis,' she said, adding that it provides 'a certain kind of stability and comfort' in their relationship.

The romance between the pair comes seven years after Huma divorced her former husband Weiner - who was engulfed in a number of high-profile scandals.

Weiner was caught on multiple occasions sending explicit snaps to various women - even during his political campaigns.

But he failed to learn from his missteps and was later sentenced to 21 months in prison after he began sexting a 15-year-old girl.

Abedin, who had initially stood by him, eventually decided to pull the plug and the pair went their separate ways.

She wrote about the harrowing experience in a 2021 memoir titled Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds.

Abedin was previously married to disgraced New York politician Anthony Weiner. They share a son named Jordan who had his bar mitzvah last week. (Pictured: Abedin, Weiner and their son)

It will be the first marriage for Soros, who has been named the heir to his father's $25 billion empire. (Pictured: George Soros with his son Alex in 2023)

In it she revealed that she didn't lose her virginity until she was with Weiner at 32-years-old.

'I had my heart broken, dragged out, stomped on, humiliated. I lived with shame, in shame, for so long,' she told The Cut in a 2021 interview before the release of her memoir. 'In hindsight, I was in extreme trauma.'

She was previously rumored to be dating Bradley Cooper for a short spell in 2022 - reportedly arriving at the Met Gala that year with The Hangover star before parting ways to keep their cover.

The Soros heir, on his part, was known as a rich kid who threw lavish parties before shedding his playboy image.

His ascent to the head of George's Open Society Foundations (OSF) was seen as something of a shock decision, particularly as it saw him usurp his older brother Jonathan in a corporate battle.

Details of their highly anticipated wedding come just days after Soros shared a post expressing sympathies for the young Israeli diplomat couple who were shot dead by a pro-Palestinian activist Wednesday night in Washington D.C.

Soros angered many when he posted his thoughts on the killing of Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American, who were a young couple about to be engaged.

They were shot dead while leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum by Elias Rodriguez, 31, who according to police yelled, 'Free, free Palestine' after he was arrested.

Abedin and Soros' wedding will also be covered in Vogue

Soros wrote Thursday: 'The murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky at the Capital Jewish Museum was evil in its most basic form. This brutal antisemitic act must be condemned in the strongest terms.'

Many online expressed their fury at what appeared to be hypocrisy from one of the left's leading benefactors.

'Alex Soros unclear how funding rabid Jew-hating organizations and individuals could lead to the killing of Jews,' wrote Joanne Mason.

Another X user wrote: 'You and your father fund the mayhem in America and elsewhere. SO, perhaps you should sit this one out.'

'Bro do you own a mirror,' added another.

Soros' Open Society Foundation is alleged to give money to causes and groups sympathetic to Palestine and leftist organizations that hate the existence of Israel, according to Fox News.
A doctor whose nine children were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza remains in a critical condition.

Hamdi al-Najjar was injured by the strike on Friday and sustained significant injuries to his brain, lungs, right arm and kidney.

The attack in the southern city of Khan Yunis has left him critical, Dr Milena Angelova-Chee told the BBC.

The Bulgarian doctor working at Nasser hospital added on Sunday that his life 'remains in danger'.

His wife, Alaa Najjar a Palestinian paediatrician at Nasser Hospital, was working when she learned her family home was on fire after the attack.

It killed nine of the couple's 10 children - Yahya, Rakan, Raslan, Gebran, Eve, Rival, Sayden, Luqman and Sidra - who were aged between seven months and 12 years old, according to the region's civil defence agency.

Their only surviving child, an 11-year-old boy called Adam, was critically injured but according to Dr Angelova-Chee is doing 'reasonably well'.

Tahani Yahya al-Najjar, al-Najjar's sister said: 'She went to her house and saw her children burned, may God help her.'

The Israeli military said it struck suspects operating from a structure next to its forces, and described the area of Khan Younis as a 'dangerous war zone'.

Pictured: Alaa Najjar a Palestian paediatrician visiting her husband in the intensive care unit at Nasser Hospital

Pictured: The couple's only surviving child, an 11-year-old boy called Adam who was critically injured

Alaa Najjar a Palestinian paediatrician at Nasser Hospital, was working when she learned her family home was on fire after the attack

Hamdi al-Najjar was injured by the strike on Friday and sustained significant injuries to his brain, lungs, right arm and kidney

But most of Gaza's two million population has been squeezed into an ever narrowing zone on the coast and in the area around Khan Younis by Israel's military operation.

About 81 per cent of the territory is now either subject to Israeli evacuation orders or located in militarised "no-go" zones, according to the UN.

It said it had evacuated civilians from the area, and 'the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.'

On Friday, the Israeli military said it had conducted more strikes in Gaza overnight, hitting 75 targets including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.

The strikes follow an 11-week blockade on food, fuel, water and medicine, which has pushed the decimated civilian population of Gaza to the brink of famine, experts continue to warn.

The Israeli military said 107 trucks carrying flour and other foodstuffs as well as medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing point on Thursday.

But getting the supplies to people sheltering in tents and other makeshift accommodation has been fitful and U.N. officials say at least 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed every day.

Israel imposed the blockade in early March, accusing Hamas of stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas rejects the charge, saying a number of its own fighters have been killed protecting the trucks from armed looters.

Most of Gaza's two million population has been squeezed into an ever narrowing zone on the coast and in the area around Khan Younis by Israel's military operation

On Friday, the Israeli military said it had conducted more strikes in Gaza overnight, hitting 75 targets including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers

The strikes follow an 11-week blockade on food, fuel, water and medicine, which has pushed the decimated civilian population of Gaza to the brink of famine, experts continue to warn

It has announced that a new system, sponsored by the United States and run by private contractors, will soon begin operations from four distribution centres in the south of Gaza, but many details of how the system will work remain unclear.

The U.N. has already said it will not work with the new system, which it says will leave aid distribution conditional on Israel's political and military aims.

Israel has maintained a presence in Gaza since the Hamas-led massacre of October 7, 2023, which saw gunmen storm into southern Israel and kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seize 251 hostages.

It's subsequent ground and air war has left Gaza in ruin, displacing nearly all its residents and killing more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.
Anna Grace Phelan, the 19-year-old influencer who documented her unwavering faith and cancer battle on TikTok, has died, her family confirmed.

'It is with great sadness to announce that our beautiful daughter, Anna Grace Phelan, went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,' read a message posted to her social media accounts.

'So many of you have followed her journey through a difficult battle with cancer and bore witness to her powerful testimony of faith,' the statement continued.

'Thank you for the countless thousands of prayers for healing and peace. May we all rejoice with the assurance that she is in Heaven now, and she has been healed.'

Phelan first revealed she was battling brain cancer in September, when she told her followers about the symptoms that led to her diagnosisnumbness in the left side of her face and the right side of her leg, along with balance issues and vision problems.

'I started losing my balance,' she said in one video. 'I started having vision problems in my left eye, my numbness in my face and on my leg is still here. My speech started to seem weird. My head's very foggy.'

An MRI revealed a lesion on her brain, and after undergoing a biopsy, Phelan was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer.

'This is definitely the hardest news I've ever received,' she shared in a TikTok posted in September. 'By all means, this is not easy. Just going to trust in the Lord and try and keep pushing forward.'

Anna Grace Phelan, the 19-year-old influencer who documented her unwavering faith and cancer battle on TikTok , has died, her family confirmed

Phelan first revealed she was battling brain cancer in September, when she told her followers about the symptoms that led to her diagnosis

In the months that followed, Phelan continued to post candid updates about her condition, leaning on her Christian faith and encouraging others to do the same.

Her story resonated with thousands who found comfort in her resilience and grace.

In the last video she posted, she opened a get-well present sent to her from Tim Tebow and gave a grim update on hear health.

She told her followers: 'Things haven't been good. My tumor grew and it's in the area where I can't breathe. It can't be operated. So, I just wanted to say thank you for all the prayers. It would take a miracle, but I'm not giving up yet. If you keep praying for me, I think that I'll make it.'

Per her obituary, Phelan's funeral will be held Thursday at Galilee Christian Church in Jackson County, Georgia, with burial to follow at the church's cemetery.

Phelan first revealed she was battling brain cancer in September, when she told her followers about the symptoms that led to her diagnosis, which included numbness in the left side of her face and the right side of her leg, along with balance issues and vision problems

An MRI revealed a lesion on her brain, and after undergoing a biopsy, Phelan was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer

Pictured: The statement Phelan's family posted, confirming her death

In the last video she posted, she opened a get-well present sent to her from Tim Tebow and gave a grim update on hear health

A GoFundMe campaign launched for Phelan after her diagnosis has raised more than $65,000.

She is survived by her parents, William 'Buddy' Phelan and Nadine Phelan, her brother Harper David Phelan, and extended family.
A British holidaymaker has been arrested and extradited following a two-year police manhunt after a teenager was killed with a broken bottle in Lisbon.

The 27-year-old is set to be tried by Portuguese officials over the death of Daniel Galhanas after he was stabbed in the neck with the sharp glass object in the early hours of October 14 2023.

The tourist, who is yet to be named, was forced on a flight back to the country of the crime and remanded in custody after failed appeals against his return.

It is said the attack against the 19-year-old victim occurred in Lisbon's Bairro Alto neighbourhood.

Initial reports suggest he was targeted while trying to defend a friend who was part of a gang of thieves that tried to rob the suspected killer and his friends.

Stabbing victim Daniel Galhanas was first identified as one of the gang members who attacked the group, allegedly British tourists, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Family members have denied Daniel was involved with the gang and said he was only trying to help his friend.

According to the family, one of the tourists threw a bottle at Daniel's friend after the group was approached.

A British holidaymaker, 27, has been arrested and extradited following a two-year police manhunt after Daniel Galhanas, 19, (pictured) was killed with a broken bottle in Lisbon

The group, who are British tourists, is seen in an altercation on a Lisbon street around 4:30am on October 14 2023. Daniel is pictured wearing a black top and white trousers

The group of tourists were seen clashing with a group understood to be thieves. Daniel came between the group and his friend, who was reportedly hit with a bottle

The bottle broke and the unnamed suspect picked up the smashed bottle, using it to slash at Daniel, who had come between the group and his friend.

Horrifying video shows the moment the male tourist launches a bottle at Daniel's friend before stabbing the victim, who then stumbles and collapses in a pool of blood in the street.

The group of tourists are then seen running away.

Daniel went into cardiac arrest and was taken alive to Sao Jose Hospital after being found by volunteer firefighters - but did not survive his injuries.

Video footage from above the street shows about a dozen people clashing in the road as cars pass at the intersection of Calcada do Combro and Largo do Calhariz.

Police say the gang targets foreign tourists on weekend evenings as they walk through the city after a night out.

Confirming the arrest and extradition, Portugal's police force said: 'The Policia Judiciaria, with the collaboration of the police and judicial authorities of the United Kingdom, located, arrested and extradited to Portugal a 27-year-old man who is strongly suspected of committing a first degree murder.'

They added: 'The crime took place in the early hours of 14 October, 2023, between 4am and 5am, following an altercation between two rival groups.

From another view, the group of tourists is seen running off as Daniel bleeds out in the street

'The victim ended up being hit in the neck with a broken glass bottle, which caused serious injuries and led to his death on the spot.

'After the incident, both the suspect and the other members of his group fled the scene.

'Investigative work carried out by the PJ's Lisbon and Tagus Valley Directorate, which is leading the investigation, led to the identification of the suspected perpetrator and the issuing of an international arrest warrant.

'The suspect, a foreign national, was eventually located and arrested in the United Kingdom, where he travelled to the day after the murder.

'After being brought before judicial authorities in Portugal, he was remanded in pre-trial custody.'
Federal judges are considering hiring armed private security forces amid fears that US Marshals will not protect them because they work for Donald Trump.

The judiciary has been dealing with rising number of threats against magistrates who have ruled against the Trump administration's agenda.

Data from the agency show threat investigations against federal judges and prosecutors nearly tripled from 2019 to 2023.

Some judges are concerned the security provided by the Marshals Service will not be enough to protect them, or that the White House will revoke their services as retaliation for their rulings.

The idea for private security came up in a series of closed-door meetings in March, when a group of roughly 50 judges met in Washington for a semiannual meeting of the Judicial Conference, a policymaking body for the federal judiciary, reported The Wall Street Journal.

Even Chief Justice John Roberts heard concerns from judges over a breakfast in a meeting room in the Supreme Court.

While the Supreme Court has its own police force, other federal judges are protected by the Marshals Service, which reports to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

On Thursday, Senate Democrats introduce legislation to transfer control of the Marshals Service to the judiciary, reported CBS News.

Federal judges are considering hiring private security amid fears that US Marshals will not protect them. Pictured: the US Federal Courthouse in Manhattan

The judiciary has been dealing with rising number of threats against magistrates who have ruled against the Trump administration's agenda

'Since 1789, the U.S. Marshals have valiantly protected our nation's judges and enforced court orders. But their dual accountability to the executive branch and the judicial branch paves the way toward a constitutional crisis,' said Sen. Cory Booker.

Judge John Coughenour of the Western District of Washington, who had the SWAT team called on him, called it 'wonderful idea.'

'There's never been any reason in the 43 years that I've been on the bench to worry that the Marshals Service would do whatever was appropriateuntil recent years,' Coughenour said.

Members of the federal judiciary asked lawmakers to increase security funding up to $892 million, up 19 percent from the current fiscal year, to enable the court system to respond to rising threats directed at judges and to ensure their safety and that of their families.

The Trump administration has not said it has any intentions of weaken protections for judges saying in a statement to WSJ that marshals 'will continue to protect the safety and security of federal judges.'

'Any suggestion to the contrary is not only absurd but wrong,' the official said.

A spokesperson for the Marshals Service said that the 'security of our federal judiciary is a cornerstone of our nation's democracy, and the marshals take that responsibility very seriously. Federal judges make hard decisions based on the rule of law in large part because the marshals ensure they can make these decisions without fear, intimidation, or retaliation.'

Reuters identified at least a dozen judges who, after ruling against the White House, have had pizzas delivered to their homes by anonymous senders.

Judge John Coughenour (pictured), who had the SWAT team called on him, called moving the Marshals Service to the judiciary a 'wonderful idea'

'They want to let you know that they know where you live, and they want to let you know they're capable of violence and harm,' said one judge who received the pizza delivery.

In recent weeks, the pizza deliveries have taken a more sinister turn. At least 10 judges have received anonymous pizza deliveries that were ordered using the name 'Daniel Anderl,' the late son of Judge Salas, according to the judge, who shared with Reuters information she received from other judges and the Marshals.

In 2020, Daniel Anderl was killed by a disgruntled lawyer from a case heard by Salas. Posing as a delivery driver, the assailant shot Anderl, 20, when he answered the door at the judge's home. The attacker also wounded Salas' husband before killing himself.

Reuters found more than 600 posts on social media and right-leaning message boards since February targeting family members of judges who ruled against the Trump administration.

Other threats or menacing messages were made directly in calls and emails to the courts or the homes of judges and their relatives, according to court records.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's re-election campaign has been derailed after a sordid love triangle in her hyper-woke administration allegedly ended in violence.

Two City Hall employees Marwa Khudaynazar, 27, and Chulan Huang, 26, were fired after facing domestic violence charges from an alleged cheating scandal involving a third city official.

But critics are now demanding answers over why another high-ranking official named in the dispute was allowed to keep their job.

Khudaynazar, former chief of staff at the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, and Huang, former neighborhood liaison for Downtown, Chinatown, and the Leather District, were arrested last Thursday.

They were both charged with assault and battery on a household member, while Khudaynazar was also charged with assault and battery on a police officer, according to court documents first reported by the Boston.

Both pleaded not guilty.

Khudaynazar allegedly told officers she suspected her boyfriend of a year was having an affair, so she went on a date with his own boss earlier that night. She then allegedly showed up at his apartment to gloat about her betrayal.

Huang, who lives at the apartment where the dispute took place, allegedly told officers, 'She went on a date with my boss', adding 'they booked a hotel and she came here to rub it in my face'.

Marwa Khudaynazar, 27, and Chulan Huang, 26, (pictured) were fired this week after facing domestic violence charges

Khudaynazar, (pictured) former chief of staff at the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, and Huang, former neighborhood liaison for Downtown, Chinatown, and the Leather District, were arrested last Thursday

But others are calling for Huang's boss, Segun Idowu, to also be terminated.

Kraft is now demanding Wu release her internal investigation report that allegedly cleared other city workers of wrongdoing.

'The public deserves more information,' Kraft said.

'The police report indicated the incident stemmed from a relationship with a city employee in a position of authority,' Flynn said.

'Although it may not be an issue of power dynamics, unanswered questions regarding relationships in the workplace remain.

'It is critical to restore public trust with an independent investigation into the relevant city departments, and ensure we are not creating a culture that facilitates a hostile work environment,' he added.

'Two aides were dismissed following a domestic dispute that resulted in violence against a police officer, but with no consequences for Segun Idowu, a top aide to the mayor, who is allegedly involved with one of the aides that was fired,' Kraft said.

'If the public is to have any confidence in the 'internal investigation' that Mayor Wu claims 'found no violations of laws or city workplace policies by any other city employees,' she should release the report to the public,' Kraft said.

'The mayor should also inform the public if the terminated city employees will be receiving a severance payout, and a copy of the city's workplace policies.'

This comes after the mayor was accused of 'dictatorial' behavior for kicking an employee out of office just days after he announced plans to run against her in this year's election.

John Houton, a lawyer in Boston's city treasury, says he was put on paid administrative leave for challenging his boss, Wu, a punishment he likens to communist-run China.

This comes after the mayor was accused of 'dictatorial' behavior for kicking an employee out of office just days after he announced plans to run against her in this year's election

Both candidates are Democrats. But while Wu, 40, trumpets Boston's pro-immigrant sanctuary rules, Houton, 58, says he would help the Trump administration round up illegals, if elected.

'I'd expect this from Chairman Mao's China, but not modern-day Boston,' Houton told Daily Mail.

'It's clearly an effort to intimidate me and my family and to stop me from collecting signatures. Other city employees are running for office, but I am singled out because of my particular speech and content.'

Wu's office says City Hall lawyers have to stay 'non-political' and that the mayor was not involved in the decision about Houton's job.

Houton announced plans to unseat Wu earlier this month, saying the progressive mayor's anti-Trump rhetoric will cost the city in federal dollars, and is out of step with blue-collar Boston voters.

The married dad-of-three offers Bostonians instead a platform of 'kitchen table' issues to tackle migrant flows into Massachusetts, homelessness, high housing costs and traffic.
At least six people have been shot after an argument erupted on a street in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The fight started at about 10:12pm on Saturday evening in the 1400 block of Potter Drive, according to a police report.

Colorado Springs Police Department officers arrived to find several people with gunshot wounds with one victim in critical condition fighting for his life.

At least four victims were transported to local hospitals by emergency services.

Two additional wounded individuals arrived at hospitals by personal vehicles.

One victim is currently in critical condition as the investigation continues into the shocking incident.

At least six people have been shot after an argument erupted on a street in Colorado Springs, Colorado

The incident appears to have started from an argument, according to police, though the full circumstances remain under investigation.

Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward as the investigation remains active and ongoing.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Colorado Springs Police Department.
An American man who made threats to 'assassinate Donald Trump' was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport for allegedly plotting to bomb the US embassy in Israel.

Joseph Neumayer, a 28-year-old dual United States and German citizen, was charged with attempting to destroy, by means of fire or explosive, the Branch Office of the United States Embassy located in Tel Aviv, according to the Justice Department.

He arrived in Israel in April and was detained after spitting on a security guard outside the embassy on May 19.

The Justice Department said Neumeyer broke free from the guard, but left behind his dark-colored backpack.

Investigators found three Molotov cocktails inside his bag then tracked him down to his hotel and arrested him.

'A tourist was arrested in Tel Aviv after allegedly spitting at a guard at the US Embassy branch office and is suspected of leaving behind a bag with flammable materials while attempting to flee,' Israel police said at the time of the arrest.

'Police and municipal personnel quickly located and arrested the suspect. Police bomb squad arrived to clear the bag and found potential Molotov cocktail components.'

According to court documents, Neumeyer posted on social media earlier that day, 'Join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv. Death to America, death to Americans, and f**k the west.'

In other posts he allegedly wrote: 'We are killing Trump and Musk now', 'Death to Trump. Death to America,' and 'The former President has several hours to resign or certain death'.

Joseph Neumayer (pictured), 28, was arrested for allegedly plotting to bomb the US embassy in Israel

Investigators found three Molotov cocktails inside his bag outside of the embassy (pictured) then tracked him down to his hotel and arrested him

Other social media post allegedly showed that he had also threatened to assassinate Donald Trump.

Israeli officials deported Neumeyer back to the United States, and he was arrested on arrival at the New York airport on Sunday.

'This defendant is charged with planning a devastating attack targeting our embassy in Israel, threatening death to Americans, and President Trump's life,' said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

'The Department will not tolerate such violence and will prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law.'

If convicted, Neumeyer faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison.

'As alleged, Neumeyer, armed with potentially lethal devices, sought to cause chaos and destruction at the U.S.Embassy in Tel Aviv,' said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella for the Eastern District of New York.

'His arrest and prosecution clearly show that my Office and the Department of Justice will not tolerate violence in our homeland or violence targeting U.S. interests abroad.'

'The defendant is charged with attempting to firebomb the U.S. Embassy and making threats to President Trump,' said FBI Director Kash Patel.

Neumeyer (pictured) allegedly posted on social media earlier that day, 'Join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv. Death to America, death to Americans, and f**k the west'

He arrived in Israel in April, then was detain after spitting on a security guard outside the embassy (pictured) on May 19

He was arrested at the New York airport (pictured) on Sunday after being deported from Israel

'This despicable and violent behavior will not be tolerated at home or abroad, and the FBI, working with our partners, will bring him to face justice for his dangerous actions.'

Neumeyer's arrest comes just days after a gunman shot dead a young Israeli couple in Washington DC.

Elias Rodriguez, 31, shouted 'Free Palestine' after he killed the couple as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday evening.

Rodriguez allegedly published a manifesto which claimed: 'Public opinion has shifted against the genocidal apartheid state, and the American government has simply shrugged, they'll do without public opinion then, criminalize it where they can, suffocate it with bland reassurances that they're doing all they can to restrain Israel where it cannot criminalize protest outright.'
Two commercial flights were diverted from a DC airport over Black Hawk collision fears this month, in a chilling echo of the deadly crash involving the same type of military helicopter in January, the US Army has revealed.

The passenger flights had to abort landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on May 1 due to a glitch in communications between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and Pentagon air traffic controllers.

'An issue with sequencing of air traffic by DCA Tower' prompted controllers to divert the jets while also asking the Black Hawk to hover overhead to delay its path towards the Pentagon helipad, according to an Army statement released on Friday.

'DCA ATC directed go-arounds for two commercial aircraftDelta 1671 and RPA 5825out of an apparent abundance of caution,' a spokesman said.

'The first go-around occurred before PAT 23 arrived at the Pentagon helipad and was the result of an issue with sequencing of air traffic by DCA Tower.

'The second occurred during PAT 23's subsequent traffic pattern and was based on conflicting positional data from legacy tracking systems.'

Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, director of Army Aviation, said the department is working closely with the FAA to 'update procedures prior to resuming Pentagon flight operations in support of national security missions'.

Delta flight DL5825, from Boston, operated by a Republic Airways Embraer EMB-170, was on final approach, descending through around 450 feet, when the crew was instructed to go around.

Two passengers planes have been forced to abort their landings at Reagan Washington National Airport after an Army Black Hawk helicopter veered off course (file photo)

Both planes were on final approach when air traffic controllers ordered them to abort their landings around 2:30pm at the crowded Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C.

Delta flight DL5825, from Boston, operated by a Republic Airways Embraer EMB-170, pictured, was on final approach, descending through around 450 feet, when the crew was instructed to go around

Immediately following them was Delta flight DL1671, from Orlando, flown by an Airbus A319.

The aircraft was also on final approach and descending through around 700 feet when its crew was also instructed to go around.

The proximity was chilling with as little as 0.4 miles horizontally and just 200 feet vertically between one of the commercial jets and the Black Hawk, according to an FAA email obtained by Politico.

Both planes were on final approach when air traffic controllers ordered them to abort their landings around 2:30pm at the crowded Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C.

'The helicopter took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport,' FAA official Chris Senn wrote in an internal memo.

He classified the event as a 'loss of separation,' an official term for a breach of the minimum distance required between aircraft - and a potentially catastrophic safety violation.

The Federal Aviation Administration released a formal statement confirming the close call and said that it had launched a full investigation.

'Air traffic control instructed Delta Air Lines Flight 1671 and Republic Airways Flight 5825 to perform go-arounds at the Reagan Washington National Airport due to a Priority Air Transport helicopter inbound to the Pentagon Army Heliport.'

The National Transportation Safety Board also issued its own terse update.

It comes months after a Black Hawk helicopter struck an American Airlines passenger plane earlier this year, resulting in the deaths of 67 people. (Pictured: the wreckage from this crash)

'NTSB investigating Thursday's incidents at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in which a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170 were instructed by air traffic control to perform go-arounds due to a US Army Black Hawk helicopter inbound to the Pentagon.'

It comes months after a Black Hawk helicopter struck an American Airlines passenger plane earlier this year, resulting in the deaths of 67 people.

Flight 5342, which departed from Wichita, Kansas, was landing at Ronald Reagan International Airport in DC when it collided with the Sikorksy H-60 Black Hawk helicopter mid-air over the Potomac River at 8.48pm on January 29.

The tragedy marked the first major US commercial passenger flight crash in almost 16 years since the Colgan Air Flight 3407 in 2009. It was also the deadliest US air disaster since the American Airlines Flight 587 crash in 2001.

Both aircraft were in communications with air traffic control before they collided.
Two British men have told how they survived a 'nightmare' 100 days in a violent West African prison swarmed with rats and diseases after being arrested while on a four-day work trip.

Paul Inch, 50, of Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, and Richard Perham, 29, of Bristol, had travelled to Guinea earlier this year to recover equipment from a high-altitude research balloon for Aerostar International.

But within days of touching down, the pair were arrested and accused of spying, sedition, breaching national defence, and violating airspace by the authorities  all of which were unfounded.

Mr Inch and Mr Perham were thrown into Conakry Central Prison, a facility operating at 475 per cent of its capacity and notorious for inhumane conditions.

They were confined in a swelteringly hot overcrowded cell and shared a single toilet with inmates convicted of violent crimes. They were also forced to pay prisoners and staff to avoid being transferred to a more dangerous section.

The prison was infested with rats, cockroaches and mosquitoes with its contaminated water supply causing Mr Inch and Mr Perham to suffer dehydration, gastrointestinal illness and skin infections.

Serious diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and bloody diarrhea circulated in the jail and with no guards stationed inside the cell blocks, order was maintained by violent prisoner hierarchies.

Speaking after being freed and arriving at Heathrow Airport this evening, Mr Inch said the experience was a 'nightmare' he could have 'never imagined'.

Paul Inch and Richard Perham were thrown into Conakry Central Prison (pictured) a facility operating at 475 per cent of its capacity and notorious for inhumane conditions

Mr Perham (pictured) 29, had travelled to Guinea earlier this year with Mr Inch to recover equipment from a high-altitude research balloon for Aerostar International

Mr Inch (pictured) said the experience, which saw him spend 100 days in the prison swarmed with rats and diseases, was a 'nightmare' he could have 'never imagined'

He said: 'In my work I understand the meaning of responsibility.

'I was in Guinea, doing my job, trusting that everything was in order. Yet I was locked away for 100 days in unbearable conditions.'

His detention tore him away from his wife, their five children, and his three brothers who were left to hold their families together throughout the traumatic ordeal.

Mr Perham said tonight: 'We had to literally fear for our lives each day. After we had been there for two months, the UK Ambassador walked us to the prison gate, believing we were finally being released.

'But a phone call to the prosecutor stopped it. We had to turn around and walk straight back in for another month. It was devastating.

'This was meant to be a simple four-day job. Instead, it became 100 days trapped in a nightmare in which I missed the first steps and first words of my baby daughter, moments I can't get back.'

Serious diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and dysentery circulated in the jail (pictured) and with no guards stationed inside the cell blocks, order was maintained by violent prisoner hierarchies

The pair added: 'We're incredibly grateful to everyone who stood by us.

'We would not be here today without the tireless support of our MPs, Liz Saville Roberts, and Carla Denyer, who stayed closely in touch with our families throughout.

'We're also deeply thankful to the British Embassy  especially Ambassadors Daniel Shepherd and John Marshall, and Deputy Head of Mission Mark Kelly  for their unwavering commitment.'

Both men had entered Guinea under contract to Aerostar International, tasked with conducting a civilian, peaceful, and lawful recovery operation.

The Aerostar balloon N254TH had been diverted off course by unexpected winds and was intentionally brought down in Guinea by the company.

Aerostar believed that all necessary permits for the flight and landing had been secured, but it later emerged that neither had been properly authorised.

After enduring months of court hearings and delays, the two men were finally freed on bail on April 11.

They remained stuck in Conakry without their passports and unable to leave the country for another 42 days before touching down in London tonight.

The pair thanked Liz Saville Roberts MP (pictured) who said she was delighted they had returned from the 'hideous' conditions

Liz Saville Roberts MP said: 'I am delighted that Paul Inch and Richard Perham are at liberty at last after being held in Conkary Prison under hideous conditions and then house arrest.

'This has been a nightmare for the two men and their families and friends who have been focussed, resourceful and determined to ensure that never a day went by without seeking their release.'

Guinea's political climate under a military junta, which has strained relations with Western nations and aligned with countries like Russia and China, complicated diplomatic efforts.

Additionally, systematic corruption within Guinea's justice system created ongoing obstacles, with officials repeatedly blocking court-ordered releases.
Two Oregon women are facing serious charges after allegedly using a dating app to lure a man into a robbery that ended in a violent shooting, according to the Benton County Sheriff's Office.

Julia Dell Yepez and Alexa Montano Corral, both 20, were arrested days apart following an investigation into the May 17 incident in Corvallis.

Authorities say the women connected with the victim through Chispa, a dating app geared toward Latino and Latina singles, and arranged to meet him under false pretenses.

Instead of a romantic encounter, the meeting turned into a planned setup.

Deputies believe the pair intended to rob the man, but the situation escalated and the victim was shot.

The incident unfolded around 5:30 a.m. near the intersection of Highway 99W and Lakeside Drive.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found the man suffering from a gunshot wound.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he remains in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.

Julia Dell Yepez and Alexa Montano Corral are facing serious charges after allegedly using a dating app to lure a man into a robbery that ended in a violent shooting, according to the Benton County Sheriff's Office

Authorities say the women connected with the victim through Chispa, a dating app geared toward Latino and Latina singles, and arranged to meet him under false pretenses (Pictured: Alexa Montano)

Witnesses described seeing two Hispanic women fleeing the area on foot. One of them was reportedly wearing a long-sleeve black shirt, which helped authorities later identify one of the suspects.

Following the investigation, Yepez was arrested on Tuesday and charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, kidnapping, and additional charges.

She is currently being held at the Benton County Jail with her bail set at $300,000, according to court records.

Corral was taken into custody on Thursday and is facing several conspiracy charges in connection to the scheme.

Her bail has been set at $250,000.

Investigators have also tied both women to similar alleged criminal activity in a nearby county, although specific details about those incidents have not been publicly released.

In a statement, the Benton County Sheriff's Office issued a warning to anyone using dating platforms, especially those that involve meeting in person.

Deputies believe the pair intended to rob the man, but the situation escalated and the victim was shot (Pictured: Alexa Montano)

'Always meet in public and never isolate yourself until you are certain of the other person's intentions,' the statement read. 'Trust your instincts, share your plans with a friend or family member, and take steps to stay safe.'

The investigation remains ongoing. Authorities have not released the name of the victim, citing privacy and safety concerns.
Georgia investigators ruled the 19-year-old twins brothers found dead on top of a remote mountain more than two months ago both died by suicide - but their family is not convinced.

Qaadir and Naazir Lewis' lifeless bodies were found by a hiker on the summit of Bell Mountain, more than 90 miles from their Lawrenceville home, on March 8.

The brothers, described by family as upbeat and outgoing, were supposed to be flying to Boston to meet up with friends when they died from gunshots.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) preliminary findings initially suggested their harrowing deaths were the result of an apparent murder-suicide.

But a deeper look at the situation and shocking new evidence revealed Qaadir and Naazir each took their own lives, the GBI announced on Wednesday.

'Based on the results of the medical examiners autopsy and other investigative findings, their deaths have been ruled suicide-suicide,' the statement reads.

Detectives said before publicly sharing this gut-wrenching information, they had notified the Lewis family.

The GBI pieced together a timeline of the brother's final days using cellular location data, which reportedly tracked the brothers from their homes in Gwinnett County to the mountain near the border of North Carolina.

Qaadir and Naazir Lewis' (pictured) lifeless bodies were found by a hiker on the summit of Bell Mountain, more than 90 miles from their Lawrenceville home, on March 8

The brothers (pictured), described by family as upbeat and outgoing, were supposed to be flying to Boston to meet up with friends when they died from gunshots

In video that 'corresponds to those locations,' the brothers are seen alone, investigators wrote. Forensic evidence suggested each of the brothers fired a gun.

Regarding the trip the teens were supposed to be taking to Boston, the GBI found that only Naazir showed up to the airport on March 7.

But he never boarded his flight, he just left the airport and went back home. Records obtained by the GBI show that only Naazir had an airplane ticket.

Investigators said Naazir had also ordered gun ammunition that was delivered to their house on March 5.

The brothers' phones also held clues about the tragedy. According to the GBI, their internet searches included 'how to load a gun' and 'suicide rates in 2024.'

The GBI said they plan to officially close this months-long investigation in the upcoming weeks.

Just as they fiercely refuted investigators original belief that one brother killed the other before turning the gun on himself, the twins' family does not agree with the GBI's suicide-suicide ruling.

'No, it doesn't make no sense,' Samira Brawner, the brothers' aunt told FOX 5.

The brothers' (pictured when they were younf) phones also held clues about the tragedy. According to the GBI, their internet searches included 'how to load again' and 'suicide rates in 2024

Samira (left) and Sabriyah (right) Brawner expressed skepticism about the GBI's findings, claing their nephews would not take their own lives

'Both of them was funny. They loved spending time with family,' she added about the college students.

Samira is also baffled about why they would have gone to Bell Mountain, claiming the two had never been their before.

The distraught family said security footage from March 7 showed the twins at a Shell gas station near their home.

Sabriyah Brawner, another aunt, said they seemed to be acting completely calm and normal in that video.

'Foul play was definitely involved,' she asserted. 'I feel like they were murdered.'

Adding to the unsettling circumstances surrounding their deaths, a volunteer firefighter was accused of taking pictures of their corpses.

Scott Kerlin, 42, was charged with misdemeanor obstruction for allegedly taking photos of the twins while responding to the scene of their death.

The distraught family said security footage from March 7 showed the twins at a Shell gas station near their home (pictured: the twins and their family)

The GBI pieced together a timeline of the brother's final days using cellular location data, which reportedly tracked the brothers from their homes in Gwinnett County to the mountain near the border of North Carolina (pictured: Bell Mountain)

The firefighter was then accused of sharing the photos publicly, according to the GBI.

He posted the photos to social media, WSB-TV reported, though it wasn't clear on which platform he shared them.

Kerlin, of Hiawassee, was fired on March 14 for violating department protocol, Towns County Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw told 11Alive. After his arrest in March, he bonded out of Towns County Jail.

A GoFundMe originally created for funeral arrangements is now being used to collect funds for a private investigator to continue probing the situation.

'In recent news reports, it was claimed that they took their own lives. My nephews wouldnt do this!' the organizer, one of the brothers' aunts, wrote on the donations page, which has raised more than $67,400.

'Unfortunately Something happened at Bell mountain that ended the lives of 19 year old Qaadir and Naazir, which needs to be further investigated. We need your support to share their story.

'The family is looking for a private investigator to help bring justice to Qaadir and Naazir Lewis, we did hire a private investigator.'

Regarding the trip the teens (pictured) were supposed to be taking to Boston, the GBI found that only Naazir showed up to the airport on March 7

Scott Kerlin (pictured), 42, was charged with misdemeanor obstruction for allegedly taking photos of the twins while responding to the scene of their death

The relative said the family had previously hired an investigator, but the case was too complex for their realm of expertise.

They are hoping to hire a new detective who specializes in homicide and criminal cases.

'We will not stop fighting until the twins get justice. Anything you donate will be appreciated,' the fundraiser's description reads.
Pheobe Bishop's mum has shared the heartbreaking question her young son asked as the search for his missing teenage sister continues.

The 17-year-old was last seen on May 15 leaving a home in Gin Gin near Bundaberg where she had been living with couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood.

Detectives believe the pair drove Pheobe the 40 minutes to Bundaberg Airport where she was supposed to board an 8.30am flight to Brisbane and then onto Perth where she planned to meet up with her boyfriend.

Two crime scenes were declared including the property in Gin Gin and the silver Hyundai ix35, which was used to drop the teenager off at the airport.

Queensland Police have searched bushland at the Good Night Scrub National Park, about an a hour away from where she was last seen, for the last two days and had cadaver dogs at the scene on Sunday.

Pheobe's mother Kylie Johnson shared an emotional message on Facebook on Monday as the search for her missing daughter entered the eleventh day.

Ms Johnson said life was living a 'heavy hell' and explained the teen's disappearance was taking a toll on everyone with her son asking why his sister won't return his calls.

'Not knowing what to say, what to do or even how to continue to live in this cyclone of uncertainty,' she wrote.

The search for missing 17-year-old Pheobe Bishop has entered day 11 after she vanished without a trace when she failed to board a flight on May 15

Pheobe's mum said her young son asked why his sister has not returned his calls

'The tears come, the anger and frustrations come and most of all our hearts are shattering more and more each day.

'Your little man/brother asked yesterday "Why won't Phee take our calls? She always takes our calls!"

'Mate I wish I knew but we have to believe that the police and the lights that our amazing community are leaving on will going to bring her home to us.'

Questions remain over exactly why Pheobe was living at the house with Ms Bromley and Mr Wood.

However, final posts she made to social media before she disappeared suggested the troubled teen had fallen out with her mother and would not return home.

Ms Bromley and Mr Wood were questioned by police and the couple have since been released. No charges have been laid over Phoebe's disappearance.

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Mr Wood and Ms Bromley were involved.

CCTV footage emerged on Facebook of a vehicle that appeared to be similar to the one at the centre of the police investigation into Pheobe's disappearance.

Two crime scenes were declared including the property in Gin Gin and the silver Hyundai ix35, which allegedly was used to drop the teenager off at the airport

Queensland police have searched bushland at the Good Night Scrub National Park for the last two days and had cadaver dogs at the scene

police announced they had discovered an item of potential interest in the national park

Footage showed a silver Hyundai ix35 driving through the backstreets of Gin Gin at 10.30am on May 15 - two hours after Pheobe was allegedly dropped off at the airport.

The footage has since been taken down.

On Friday night, police announced they had discovered an item of potential interest in the Good Night Scrub National Park.

Detective acting inspector Ryan Thompson said at the time the police diving squad searched a creek.

'Police have subsequently been conducting some searches of the Good Night Scrub National Park in the hopes of finding some evidence in relation to her disappearance,' he said.

'There are no specific persons of interest, however, police are following up all avenues of enquiry.'

Police did not say if the item that was found was connected to Pheobe.

On Saturday, police began conducting a land, water and aerial search of the Good Scrub National Park.

Pheobe's mother, Kylie Johnson, (pictured) said life was like a'heavy hell' since her daughter went missing

Investigators have asked for members of the public who may have seen a Hyundai ix35 in the Good Scrub National Park on May 15 to come forward

'Police are trying to nail down the timeline to where this vehicle has gone,' detective acting inspector Thompson said.

'We do have associates that are assisting police with our inquiries at the moment, and this is why we're trying to narrow down that timeline in relation to where Pheobe could be,' he said.

Queensland's State Emergency Service crews are combing through the bushland, while police divers search waterways.

Pheobe was travelling with luggage and was last seen wearing a green tank top and grey tracksuit pants.

A land search was conducted around Airport Drive and the surrounding areas following her disappearance, but police failed to locate any of Pheobe's personal belongings.
Two teenagers have been charged after a violent brawl broke out between rival gang members armed with machetes and forced a shopping centre into lockdown.

Two boys, aged 15 and 16, have been charged, while another male, 20, was rushed to hospital following the brawl on Sunday at about 2.30pm at Northland Shopping Centre in Melbourne's north.

The teenagers were charged with affray, intentionally causing injury, possessing a controlled weapon and using a controlled weapon and have been remanded to appear in a children's court at a later date.

The charges come as Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan held a snap press conference on Monday to announce a machete ban will be expedited.

The ban was initially set to be enforced on September 1, however Allan revealed a ban on the sale of machetes would be enforced from Wednesday.

'Those knives are dangerous weapons,' she said.

'They have no place on our streets anywhere and that is why I will introduce as many laws to get these dangerous knives off the streets, which is why I'm announcing today that, effective immediately, we will be bringing in place a ban on the sale of machetes here in Victoria, and this ban will be in place from midday on Wednesday.'

Victoria is the first state in Australia to introduce the ban.

Two teenagers have been charged after a violent brawl broke out between rival gang members armed with machetes and forced a shopping centre into lockdown

Superintendent Kelly Lawson confirmed the attack was not random, saying rival gangs had arranged a meeting at the shopping centre's food court before the fight broke out.

'It is said to have been an act of retaliation,' she said.

Police believe about 10 people were involved.

'It was a chaotic scene,' Supt Lawson added.

'It's really frightening for members of the public to go through this.'

The centre was locked down during the incident as dozens of police officers responded and shoppers shared updates on social media.

The man taken to hospital is in a stable condition.

Two other males have since self-presented to hospital with injuries.

Superintendent Kelly Lawson confirmed the attack was not random (pictured, shoppers hiding after the centre was placed into lockdown)

Supt Lawson said it would not take long to identify all the gang members involved.

One shopper said that saw a wounded young man with a 'big machete still in his stomach'.

Another recalled rushing to an injured teenager to help them.

'We rushed the kid (who had severe upper body wounds) over to the Gelatissimo  two girls looked after him very well  it was pretty gory,' he told Nine News.

Terrified shoppers were forced to run for their lives from the centre as others sought refuge in shuttered stores including Kmart, Myer and Smiggle.

3AW journalist Jacqueline Felgate shared a series of frantic messages received from those inside locked inside stores.

'A gang of people with machetes at Northland! We are locked in the back of a store,' one wrote.

'No update from centre management if they are still here or not. Unsure if anyone is hurt.'

Victoria Police officers escort a handcuffed man out of the shopping centre on Sunday

'We are safe where we are. Currently in a locked store room with four other people.

'Unsure about anyone else in the centre at this point.'

Another wrote: 'There are people running around Northland with knives. All stores' shutters are down, my mum is in Best and Less. Scary!'
It was by all accounts a picture perfect royal tour when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wowed the world during their visit to Australia in 2018.

Two years before 'Megxit', the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were the new, youthful face of the Royal Family.

And that excitement and buzz around the couple helped make their trip to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific a resounding success.

Meghan had just announced she was pregnant with her and Harry's first child and the intense interest in the couple had started what was dubbed 'Meghan-mania'.

The Press were equally positive in their coverage of the trip as they fawned over the newly minted royals on their first major royal tour.

In the Daily Mail, Harry and Meghan were described as a 'beaming couple' that were the 'epitome of cool as they stepped on to the boat, with Prince Harry lovingly holding on to his pregnant wife's hand'.

However, a royal insider has revealed that behind the glittering success of the tour, tensions were already starting to rise between the couple and their royal aides which would eventually lead Harry and Meghan to dramatically leave the family in 2020.

Writing in his bestselling book Brothers And Wives - which peaks under the curtain at the private lives of the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - Christopher Andersen claims the couple garnered a reputation for being 'high maintenance'.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Sydney Opera House during their royal tour of Australia in 2018

Prince Harry and Meghan with her assistant Amy Pickerill in Sydney. A royal insider has revealed that behind the glittering success of the tour tensions were already starting to rise between the couple and their royal aides

The press were equally positive in their coverage of the trip as they fawned over the newly minted royals on their first major royal tour

'Several aides complained that the duchess occasionally snapped at them, and that the once-easygoing Harry was scrambling to make her happy. Just before delivering her Invictus speech, Meghan was reportedly giving orders to her hairdressers while at the same time someone was ironing the bottom of her dress,' Andersen wrote.

Royal correspondent Duncan Larcombe told Andersen: 'All of Harry's staff have always thought he was fantastic. But the two of them together are high maintenance.'

Throughout the tour, the quarrels with members of the royal staff were not made public knowledge and instead it was hailed a resounding success by the family with Harry declaring that Meghan is 'one of the greatest assets to the Commonwealth that the family could ever wish for'.

But with rumours growing about Harry and Meghan's treatment of royal staff, the tour would become the high point in the public's perception of the couple as they faced an 'avalanche of stories leaked to the press for the sole purpose of discrediting Meghan', Andersen claims.

This included allegations that Meghan rang staff at 5am and that her assistant Melissa Toubati quit after she was driven to tears by the duchess.

Andersen added that the source of the leaks likely came from Kensington Palace and by 2019 rumours of a falling out between Harry and William started circulating.

According to Robert Lacey's bestselling biography Battle Of Brothers, William went 'ballistic' when he heard claims that Meghan was being rude to staff in Kensington Palace.

Meghan was reportedly giving orders to her hairdressers while at the same time someone was ironing the bottom of her dress during the tour

Prince Harry and Meghan faced accusations that they were 'high maintenance' during the tour

While Meghan brushed off a complaint about her conduct from a senior aide, claiming 'it's not my job to coddle people', Prince William did not respond so flippantly to the issue.

According to Lacey, when Jason Knauf  a royal aide who worked with the Sussexes  presented William with a 'dossier of distress' about their behaviour he 'went ballistic' and was left 'astonished' and 'horrified' by what he heard.

William's anger stemmed from the fact that a tradition of treating the staff 'like family' had been broken and that he personally knew many of those named, Lacey wrote.

Following the dossier, William and Harry allegedly had a testy phone call.

Roberts wrote: 'The moment the Prince heard the bullying allegations he got straight on the phone to talk to Harry  and when Harry flared up in furious defence of his wife, the elder brother persisted.

'Harry shut off his phone angrily, so William went straight round to find his brother on the Kensington campus.'

By 2020, tensions appeared to have deepened when Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step back as senior royals.

Harry later claimed in his Netflix series with Meghan that William screamed and shouted at him during the Sandringham summit.

Harry and Meghan with their royal aides close by. With rumours growing about Harry and Meghan's treatment of royal staff, the tour would become the high point in the public's perception of the couple as they faced an 'avalanche of stories leaked to the press'

At the time the tour was hailed a resounding success by the family with Harry declaring that Meghan is 'one of the greatest assets to the Commonwealth that the family could ever wish for'

The brothers were last together publicly at their grandmother Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in September 2022, though they both attended the private funeral for their uncle Robert Fellowes last summer.

Since Harry and Meghan moved to Montecito more stories from their royal tour in 2018 have surfaced, including a claim that Meghan 'hated every second' of it.

Tina Brown in her royal biography 'The Palace Papers', claims to have discovered Meghan's seemingly unimpressed opinion of Australia through a former Palace staffer.

'So, Meghan must have been thrilled with it all right? No. She apparently hated every second of it,' she wrote.

'She didn't understand why things were set up in that way. Instead of being excited when thousands of people showed up at the Opera House, it was very much like, 'What's the purpose? I don't understand this',' a Palace employee told Brown.

The staffer said Meghan didn't appear to grasp the 'representational role' of the British monarchy when they toured, adding she was more interested in 'causes she wanted to spotlight'.

Brown's claims are supported in an article from The Times in 2021, which asserts that Meghan found it 'silly' when people crowded to see the Sussexes when they arrived in Sydney.

'What are they all doing here? It's silly,' she reportedly said to her team.

The Prince of Princess of Wales with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. This was the last time the brothers have been together publicly

A source said that she simply 'didn't get it'.

The Sussexes completed 75 engagements in 16 days across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga during the whirlwind tour - all while Meghan was in the early stages of her first pregnancy.

They were often pictured having intimate conversations, embracing fans or receiving numerous gifts from admirers during their time Down Under.

Brown claims in her book that one of the main things Meghan took away from the tour was her and Harry's unrecognised importance in the royal hierarchy.

'It was head-turning for Meghan to experience the full-throttle motorcade-purring, outrider-vrooming, crowd-roaring adulation of a popular young royal on a tour planned to the last teacup by the Palace machine.

'Meghan seemed to interpret the success as a call for Brand Sussex to be elevated in the Palace hierarchy.'

However, Meghan reportedly felt 'snubbed' by the Royal Family after the couple returned to the UK.

When they did arrive home, word soon spread that all was not well within the palace, including rumours of a rift between brothers and a falling out between Meghan and Kate Middleton.

Then in 2020, Meghan and Harry announced they were stepping down as senior working members of the royal family, and were later stripped of any remaining titles and patronages they had.
Before settling down with Meghan Markle, Prince Harry was known as a bit of a party animal.

His royal status meant he had many late nights at the exclusive Boujis nightclub in South Kensington with free drinks and the company of an 'endless supply of gorgeous young women'.

Katie Nicholl, former Royal Correspondent for the Mail, wrote about Harry's Boujis nights in her book, The Making of a Royal Romance.

He was a regular at the glamorous private members' club where he had his own barmen to look after him in the exclusive VIP room.

She wrote: 'Harry was out with one girl guaranteed to rile Chelsy Davy, who was at home in South Africa working on her finals.'

Zimbabwean businesswoman Chelsy Davy had an on-off relationship with Prince Harry between 2004 to mid-2010.

In his Spare memoir, the royal writes that he 'couldnt help' but think what his grandmother thought about Davys free-spirited lifestyle at the time.

'I loved Chels ease, that she wasnt complicated,' he wrote.

Zimbabwean businesswoman Chelsy Davy had an on-off relationship with Prince Harry between 2004 to mid-2010. They are pictured in November 2008 before the South Africa and England game at Twickenham

Harry and Chelsy are pictured in summer 2006 - a challenging season for the couple

Harry and Natalie Pinkham are spotted driving around South Kensington in February 2007

'She didnt care what anyone thought. She wore miniskirts and high-heeled boots, danced however she wanted, drank tequila like me, and all of this made me really happy.

'I couldnt help what my grandmother thought about it. Or the people. And the last thing I wanted was for Chels to change to please them.'

The royal author continued: 'Natalie Pinkham, a pretty TV presenter, was Harry's date for the night.

'In December 2001 there were reports that Harry had sent her a thong for Christmas and that he "fancied her rotten" despite the six-year age gap.'

Natalie told Nicholl that the two 'got on well' but that was 'as far as it went'.

The royal author continued: 'On this particular occasion they were in the mood to party, and the champagne corks continued to pop as they danced and chatted in the dimly lit VIP room.'

When the club closed, Harry suggested the two continued partying at former equerry Mark Dyer's house.

Nicholl wrote: 'At Dyer's, Harry can be himself and, safe in the knowledge that what goes on inside those four walls stays there.

Nicholl wrote: 'Sadly for Chelsy, 2006 was a summer of rather tacky confessions'

In his Spare memoir, the royal writes that he 'couldnt help' but think what his grandmother thought about Davys free-spirited lifestyle at the time. Chelsy and Harry are pictured in July 2005

Harry wrote: 'She didnt care what anyone thought. She wore miniskirts and high-heeled boots, danced however she wanted, drank tequila like me, and all of this made me really happy'

'The drink always flows freely, and good-looking girls are never in short supply.

'As the prince escorted her to his waiting Range Rover, Natalie, a little unsteady on her feet after eight hours of drinking, begged Harry for a kiss goodnight.

'"Not here," he said before whisking her back down the steps.

'They emerged seconds later, blissfully unaware that their late-night encounter had been captured by a long lens.

'When the story hit the newspapers the next day, there was an awkward long-distance call to Chelsy in South Africa.'

And this wasn't the only time Harry had to explain himself.

In May 2006 Harry regularly enjoyed VIP treatment at Boujis on Friday nights.

Nicholl wrote: 'Sadly for Chelsy, 2006 was a summer of rather tacky confessions.

Chelsy is pictured arriving at Heathrow in November 2005

Chelsy and Harry at a charity polo match at Englefield House, Berkshire, in June 2006

Chelsy is pictured with Kate Middleton in July 2006

'The flurry of tabloid tales left Chelsy in tears and cast fresh doubts on their relationship.

First came the reports of Catherine Davies, a 34-year-old mother who claimed she was seduced by Harry at a house party in Fulham.

Then in July there was allegedly a page three girl whom he danced and a masseuse who claimed she kissed him.

'She had told her friends in South Africa that she was in the relationship for the long term but was worried about her boyfriend's roving eye,' Nicholl wrote.

'Harry assured her that she was the one, and for the first time Charles gave his seal of approval, allowing Harry and Chelsy to share a room at Highgrove.'

Before the relationship came to a halt Charles had warned his sons to stay away from Boujis as the media had dubbed them 'the booze brothers'.

Chelsy reportedly called things off with Harry before he left for a six-month tour of Iraq in 2007, just a week after he was photographed falling out of a London club with 'favourite drinking buddy' Natalie Pinkham.

When the on-off relationship ended for a final time in 2010 after seven years, Harry said this was primarily due to the intense media scrutiny and pressures of being in the public eye.

Chelsy and Zara Phillips laugh together at Polo at Tidworth Polo Club, Wiltshire, in July 2006

Harry and Chelsy kiss while sitting in the Royal Box as they attend the Cartier International Polo Match in July 2006

' I loved Chels ease, that she wasnt complicated,' Harry wrote. The two are pictured in 2008

Davy reportedly struggled with the relentless attention and press intrusion, ultimately leading her to decide that a royal life was not for her.

Chelsy and Harry have stayed amicable since breaking up and in 2011 they went to Prince William's wedding together.

Harry got back in touch with Chelsy to invite her to his wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018. He also invited his other old flame Cressida Bonas - but the invites were for the ceremony only.

An emotional phone call followed, with the conversation reportedly acting as closure for the former couple.

But body language expert Judi James said that Chelsy's feelings were evident during the wedding.

She told the MailOnline: 'When she arrived, everyone else was chatting and laughing, but she sat in the pews just looking to one side - gazing reflectively into space and biting her lips slightly.

'She was doing that at the end as well. It was almost the soap opera part of the ceremony.'

In 2023 Harry told the High Court in his witness statement that 'whenever' he has been in a relationship, the woman 'is not just in a relationship with me but with the entire tabloid press' who try to 'ruin it'.

Harry and Chelsy attend a service of remembrance and thanksgiving at the Holy Trinity Church in May 2008 in Windsor

In 2023 Harry told the High Court in his witness statement that 'whenever' he has been in a relationship, the woman 'is not just in a relationship with me but with the entire tabloid press' who try to 'ruin it'. Charles, Chelsy and Harry are pictured in Hampshire in May 2010

Harry is pictured greeting Natalie in 2011 at 1 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, for the seventh annual Global Charity Day

Harry and Natalie are pictured at the Community Gala Dinner at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in July 2014

Chelsy has since put her partying days behind her and seems happier than ever with her jewellery brand Aya and the travel agency Aya Africa.

She has two children, a boy and a girl, like Harry, and married her boyfriend of three years, Sam Cutmore-Scott, in a secret ceremony in 2022.

Cutmore-Scott was in the year above Harry at Eton College and is managing director at The Harper Hotel in Holt, the family business.

The couple are believed to split their time between a townhouse in Chiswick and the Norfolk coast.

Chelsy seems to be enjoying her life outside of the public eye and didn't share the news of the birth of her son until three months later when he was introduced to their local parish council in Norfolk.

Many of Chelsy's friends didn't even know she had become pregnant in lockdown.

Chelsy's new life seems to be the complete opposite of Harry's - and perhaps that is for the best.
They had just come off the back of their explosive Oprah interview which laid out a series of shocking accusations against the Royal Family.

Prince Harry and Prince William had not been seen together since the Platinum Jubilee during which they sat at opposite sides of the cathedral.

And even though the walkabout was intended to be a show of solidarity following the death of the Queen, it was a notoriously awkward event.

Taking place just two days after the Queen's death, the two brothers and their wives put on a united front to greet well-wishers and view the flowers outside the gates of Windsor Castle.

Despite once being dubbed the 'fab four', the Waleses and the Sussexes were not seeing eye to eye.

It was later reported that Kate found her walkabout 'one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do' and Meghan's body language suggested she was less than comfortable being there.

Kate told a senior royal it was so difficult for her because of the 'ill-feeling' between the couples, veteran royal correspondent Robert Jobson said in his biography Our King.

It was reported that Charles ordered his warring sons to set aside their ongoing feud ahead of the Queen's funeral, leading the pair to reunite in public for the first time in more than a year.

Despite once being dubbed the 'fab four', the Waleses and the Sussexes were not seeing eye to eye. Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are pictured

Taking place just two days after the Queen's death, the two brothers and their wives put on a united front to greet well-wishers and view the flowers outside the gates of Windsor Castle

The Sussexes had just come off the back of their explosive Oprah interview which laid out a series of shocking accusations against the Royal Family

Later, Mr Jobson said sources close to the Royal Family confirmed to him that the show of unity was an 'illusion'.

As they walked along the gates of Windsor Castle together, temporarily putting aside the differences sparked by the Sussexes' departure, they appeared to maintain a significant distance from each other.

The couples only came together briefly at the start and end of the engagement.

In one moment from the walkabout, which in all lasted around 30 minutes, Kate and Meghan are seen making eye contact, Meghan nods and Harry places his arm around his wife as she takes two nervous steps back.

William appeared to be asking the group to pose for a photograph and Meghan was feeling awkward.

Body language expert Judi James told Femail at the time: 'This is a phenomenal and unexpected scene that displays some natural caution and awkwardness in the body language.

'Although as a statement of intent it seems choreographed as something of a loving tribute the Queen and in some ways the new King, who took what was maybe the first step in speaking of his love for Harry and Meghan in his recent speech.

'The four line up together to suggest some form of unity and it is William, with his puffed chest and air of confidence, who looks like the leader and instigator.

'Harry performs some clothing touch anxiety rituals but Meghan seems to be on hand to offer comfort, support and encouragement.

'Kate looks slightly distanced although she is close to William when the couples split slightly.'

Body language expert Judi James told Femail at the time: 'This is a phenomenal and unexpected scene that displays some natural caution and awkwardness in the body language'

Later, Robert Jobson said sources close to the Royal Family confirmed to him that the show of unity was an 'illusion'

During the walkabout there were multiple tense moments captured on camera

During the walkabout there were multiple tense moments captured on camera.

In another moment Kate was caught on camera flashing an intense glare at Meghan before she quickly turned her expression into a big smile for the crowd.

Body language expert Katia Loisal said she believed Kate's 'icy stare' knocked the confidence out of Meghan.

'Quite unlike the confident Meghan we know, Meghan appeared ill at ease during this encounter, which is not surprising given the recent criticism that she has faced,' Katia told Seven News.

'On numerous occasions Meghan looked over at Kate, however, the gaze wasn't reciprocated,' Katia said.

The expert noted Kate chose to 'look through' Meghan instead.

It is not surprising Meghan was hoping for some reassurance from Kate, who was perhaps primed to give the still-new Meghan advice.

Kate's lack of warmth towards Meghan appeared to make her feel uncertain and uncomfortable, said Katia, which can be seen in the way she stooped her head, side-stepped and faced away from Kate.

The last time Meghan and Kate had been seen together was during the Commonwealth Day service in March 2020, during which Meghan was smiley and upbeat

Meghan and Harry are pictured attending the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London on March 9, 2020

The Sussexes' tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey aired in March 2021 during which they made shocking accusations, including allegations of racism, against the Royal Family

'Meghan's hand lifted hesitantly as if to wave, but stopped mid-air, rather pausing to adjust her hair, her head and gaze lowered, before looking up and giving a quick wave, her arm coming back to rest in front of her body in a partial arm barrier,' Katia said.

Meghan's body language did not go unnoticed by Harry, according to Katia, who touched her arm gently and came to her side to protect her.

The walkabout had come at a challenging time for the two couples.

In October 2019, the Sussexes released their documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey where they spilled details about their intense media scrutiny and the rumoured royal rifts.

The last time Meghan and Kate had been seen together was during the Commonwealth Day service in March 2020, during which Meghan was smiley and upbeat.

The Sussexes' tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey aired in March 2021 during which they made shocking accusations, including racism, against the Royal Family.

Katia claimed Kate's actions at Windsor castle made it look as though she was trying to 'freeze out' Meghan.

According to body language expert Judi James: 'When the couple clasp hands it is Harry's fingers wiggling downward while Meghan's are curled around his palm, with her thumb gently stroking his hand.

Harry, Meghan and Kate are pictured in February 2018 at the Royal Foundation Forum

As they walked along the gates of Windsor Castle together, temporarily putting aside the differences sparked by the Sussexes' departure, they appeared to maintain a significant distance from each other

In his recent bombshell BBC interview Harry said his father 'won't speak' to him but claimed he wants 'reconciliation' with his family

'She performs touches on his back and small strokes and other tie signs and there are some moments when she is the one looking across for communication with William and Kate.'

Since Harry's high-profile security appeal loss, hopes of another reunion between the brothers is increasingly unlikely.

In his recent bombshell BBC interview Harry said his father 'won't speak' to him but claimed he wants 'reconciliation' with his family.

The emotional interview came after the prince was left 'devastated' after sensationally losing his battle over taxpayer-funded police bodyguards - putting him on the hook for 1.5million in legal costs.

He added that he 'can't see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point'.
When wildfires tore through Pacific Palisades last year they transformed one of L.A.'s most exclusive neighborhoods into a charred community resembling an apocalypse.

But the ash, rubble and scorched lots has not put off buyers who are now racing to pick up a plot in the luxury enclave and paying as much as $5million for a lot.

John McNicholas, a real estate agent who represented buyers in the aftermath of the fires, said the pricing landscape was uncharted territory.

'When the fire first happened, no one knew what a burned lot was worth,' he told DailyMail.com. 'I had to be the one to answer the question between buyers and sellers.'

One such lot - 15103 Albright Street - has sold for $2.65million. Pre-fire, McNicholas estimates it would have gone for up to $3.5million.

'This was already one of the most desirable communities to live in, pre-fire, in all of California,' he said. 'It consistently ranked in the top 25 most expensive zip codes in the entire United States.'

And the numbers back him up. A 8,209-square-foot plot at 635 Ocampo Drive is another example of a cleared lot in the prestigious Huntington neighborhood that has recently sold for $4.25million.

And 732 Chapala Drive, another 8,626-square-foot empty lot surrounded by cleared debris, sold for $4million.

15103 Albright Street after the Pacific Palisades fires and before the debris was cleared

The house on 15103 Albright Street before the Pacific Palisades fires ravaged the neighborhood

Wildfires ravaged Pacific Palisades last year, but buyers are still shelling out up to $5million for burned lots in the elite enclave

John McNicholas, a real estate agent who has represented buyers in the aftermath of the Pacific Palisades fires, said the pricing landscape was uncharted territory

Rather than waiting for a buyer to take on an empty lot, some developers have moved quickly - laying foundations and marketing high-end renderings of future dream homes.

Luxury builder JNY Investments, for instance, is promoting plans for an 8,200-square-foot modern estate at 15515 Via De Las Olas.

The proposed six-bedroom, eight-bathroom residence would feature ocean-facing terraces, a spacious patio, and a private rooftop.

It's listed for $8.25million, despite not yet being built.

'This community, when it is rebuilt, is going to be a community of almost exclusively 2026 or newer rebuilt homes,' said McNicholas.

'There's going to be nothing else like it on the coast of California - completely new everything all around it.'

From new schools and roads to updated utilities and fire-resistant construction, the neighborhood is being reborn - and fast.

The Army Corps of Engineers led the massive debris-clearing effort, removing thousands of destroyed structures at no cost to uninsured homeowners.

The lot left behind at 635 Ocampo Drive after the Palisades fire

The house that stood at 635 Ocampo Drive before the Palisades fire

JNY Investments is promoting plans for an 8,200-square-foot modern estate at 15515 Via De Las Olas. Pictured is a rendering of the proposed property

'If you opted in, [they] assessed your lot, and then they brought their equipment and cleared all the debris free of charge for homeowners that did not have debris clearance coverage in their insurance,' McNicholas explained.

Buyers range from longtime residents planning to rebuild to newcomers using the tragedy as an opportunity to get into a neighborhood that had once been out of reach.

'There are people who have always wanted to live in the Palisades but it was not an accessible price point to them before,' McNicholas said. 'Now, because of what's happened, they can afford to buy a lot and build a house there.'

But it's not just dreamers and downsizers. Investors are circling too - some to build and flip, others to sit on the land and resell later.

'Even people that are just buying lots and holding the lots and not developing them will likely be able to sell the lots for more money than what they purchased them for,' McNicholas noted.

Still, challenges remain. 'You cannot get financing on them,' he said. 'The purchases have to be in cash.'

And while the city has pledged to bury power lines and enforce strict fire-resistant building standards, McNicholas is realistic about the long-term risk.

'Unless the city changes how they manage the brush, there is a risk this could happen again,' he said. 'But we could say this is a once-in-a-hundred-year event.'

The Pacific Palisades Fire, which ignited on January 7, 2025, amid intense Santa Ana winds and prolonged drought, became one of the most devastating wildfires in Los Angeles history

An aerial view of homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire

The early transactions, he added, were particularly complex - both economically and emotionally.

'I had to establish pricing that worked for buyers willing to take on the risk - and for sellers ready to start rebuilding their lives,' McNicholas said.

'Those early sales weren't easy, but they were market-making deals that set the stage for future lot values.'

For McNicholas, it wasn't just about closing deals - it was about restoring stability.

'What is a price that gives the buyer enough value to say, 'Hey, I won't lose money on the house I'm building'? And at the same time, gives the seller a number that helps them go rebuild their life?' he said. 'That's something I'm proud of.'

The Pacific Palisades Fire, which ignited on January 7, 2025, amid intense Santa Ana winds and prolonged drought, became one of the most devastating wildfires in Los Angeles history.

It scorched approximately 23,448 acres across Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and surrounding areas, destroying 6,837 structures and damaging over 1,000 more.

The fire claimed 12 lives and forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 residents.

Preliminary economic assessments estimate the fire caused over $25billion in damages, making it the third-most destructive wildfire in California's history.
This Ohio city is full of affordable homes as the Midwest housing market continues to thrive with low prices and faster sales.

Homes in Columbus have an average listing price of $292,000 - this is $75,000 under the national average, according to Realtor.com and Zillow.

The Ohio capital's prices are down 2.6 percent year-over-year, with the average sale price being $275,000, Realtor.com reported.

'Columbus has long enjoyed a stable and secure housing market,' Liz Pione told DailyMail.com. 'Columbus offers a super attractive quality of life for all ages. We have big city amenities with a friendly, midwestern vibe.

'Columbus also has one the youngest populations among major US cities. First-time homebuyers and young people will find Columbus more accessible than other urban areas.'

The capital city continues to be a seller's market, with some areas more competitive than others.

'Its also common to see homes garnering multiple offers, typically over asking price and going into contract within three days,' Pione, who has lived in the city her whole life, told DailyMail.com.

Homes in Arch City spend an average of 31 days on the market, whereas the national average was 53 days, as of September 2024, Realtor.com found in a report.

Homes in Columbus have an average listing price of $292,000 - this is $75,000 under the national average. Pictured 788 Tibet Road is that is currently on the market for $199,000

'Columbus has long enjoyed a stable and secure housing market,' Liz Pione told DailyMail.com. The area is able to keep a competitive market and low prices, like 2005 Maryland Avenue (pictured), which is priced at $242,000

The suburbs, like Winchester, also have great prices. This Lagrange Drive home, listed by agent Gregory E. Jones, is up for sale for $198,000

And several cute Cape Cod-styles home in the Columbus-area have hit the market for ultra low prices, such as a three-bedroom home on Tibet Road, listed by The Columbus Agents Realtor Jeff Krider.

The home, which is being rented until March 2026, is located minutes from Downtown Columbus and has access to a nearby park.

Another home on Berrell Avenue is priced even lower at $179,999 is located near schools and shopping areas, agent Dylan Walker Realtor of Vision Realty said in the listing.

Even on the higher end, a three-bedroom home on Maryland Avenue is listed for $242,000.

The home is located near the Franklin Park Conservator and is walking distance to the Alum Creek Bike Trail. It's also a quick drive to the downtown area, the agent, Andrew Raymond Meyers, said in the listing.

The suburbs, like Winchester, also have great prices, as a Lagrange Drive home, listed by agent Gregory E. Jones shows. It is up for sale for $198,000.

Selling points for the Columbus area include affordability and stability, despite prices rising in the area.

However, compared to other states like California and Florida, the higher prices are still much more affordable.

Inventory has risen 37 percent year-over-year, according to HousingWire.

'Its also common to see homes garnering multiple offers, typically over asking price and going into contract within three days,' Pione, who has lived in the city her whole life, told DailyMail.com

And Pione doesn't believe prices will drop dramatically, even if a recession hits, like in 2008.

'I dont expect home prices to decrease if a recession hits,' the realtor of 19 years told DailyMail.com. 'I think the stability of the City of Columbus, and connection people feel to living here will continue to offer a healthy, yet affordable housing market.

'When a buyer is ready to make a move, and they find a home they love, they need to assess their finances and if it aligns, I think its prudent to make the move.'

Columbus is also investing in itself and has agreed to build nearly 100,000 new housing units within the next decade. The surrounding area has agreed to build another 100,000, according to NBC4i.

Mayor Andrew J. Ginther recently pitched a $500million housing bond package last month, asking voters to pass the formation of the Division of Housing Stability.

This bond would go to help build the 200,000 homes in the region.

'It is no secret that housing is one of the greatest challenges of the present moment,' Ginther said at an April 16 event, according to The Columbus Dispatch. 'That's because Columbus is going at an extraordinary rate  and with that growth comes extraordinary responsibility.

'However, this is not simply about the numbers; its about creating opportunities for families, fostering equity and building a city where everyone is able to thrive.'

'Columbus also has one the youngest populations among major US cities. First-time homebuyers and young people will find Columbus more accessible than other urban areas,' Pione told DailyMail.com (pictured: Downtown Columbus)

This is the third time the mayor has asked residents to approve the bond package. Voters approved a $200million bond package in 2022 and a $50million package in 2019, The Dispatch reported.

Those packages brought forth more than 4,000 income-based rental units, the Columbus Department of Development said.

Ginther promised the $500million package - which will go up for a vote in November - will not raise residents taxes.

The city would use its income tax revenue to pay the debt of the bonds, The Dispatch reported.

The Midwest housing market has been booming for several years now, especially in the luxury sector.

'Luxury buyers are increasingly looking at the Midwest because of the incredible value they receive compared with coastal cities,' Mahler Sothebys International Realty's Managing Director Paul Handle to Sotheby's Realty.

'They can purchase expansive properties, often with unique architectural details or waterfront access, for a fraction of the cost they would pay in New York, Los Angeles or Miami.

'Beyond price, theres the appeal of a slower pace of life, lower property taxes and more predictable environmental conditions.'

378 S Wheatland Avenue, listed by agent Bryce G Smith, is also available for sale. Homes in Arch City spend an average of 31 days on the market, whereas the national average was 53 days, as of September 2024

2005 Maryland Avenue, listed by Andrew Raymond Meyer, is also up for grabs. Pione doesn't believe prices will drop dramatically, even if a recession hits, like in 2008

2196 Berrell Avenue, listed by Dylan Walker Realtor, is on the market in Columbus. Around 20 percent of homebuyers in the Midwest are actually Midwesterners moving back to the area, Sotheby's Realty found

Around 20 percent of homebuyers in the Midwest are actually Midwesterners moving back to the area, Sotheby's Realty found.

'We do see a lot of out-of-state buyers continuing to make Columbus their home,' Pione told DailyMail.com. 'Ive had many clients who had left the area, but returning to be closer to family as they start their own families.

'Ive also seen people move here for jobs. We have a diverse economy with jobs in government (Columbus is the capital of Ohio!), healthcare, education, finance, insurance, retail, and tech.'

The realtor also revealed Columbus is a great location that is easily accessible within a day's drive to half the nation, making day trips all over the country a reality.
A ginormous Disney-themed mansion in Utah is being auctioned off after failing to find a buyer willing to meet its whopping $34.5million price tag.

The sprawling estate has earned the title of being the state's 'largest home' and it has some very unique rooms.

The extraordinary property near Hyrum boasts magical features - including rooms inspired by Swiss Family Robinson, a full-scale replica of Disneyland's iconic Tiki Room, an underground Star Wars tunnel, and even a Cars-themed raceway.

The auction house Concierge Auctions is now seeking 'starting bids up to $8million' - a fraction of the original asking price that was slashed to $19.5million before heading to auction.

But those looking for a bargain should come prepared as participation alone in the auction requires a $100,000 refundable deposit.

Bidding is set to begin June 5 at 2 pm Mountain time and end at 2 pm on June 18.

Situated on a secluded 154-acre estate, this fantasy kingdom offers more than 70,000 square feet of living space spread across two massive structures connected by a 140-foot tunnel.

A ginormous mansion in Utah is being auctioned off after failing to find a buyer willing to meet its whopping $34.5million price tag

The huge mansion features unique Disney-themed spaces that the listing says 'infuse whimsy into the luxurious design'

The home features Swiss Family Robinson-inspired bunkrooms

There is also a replica of Disneyland's Tiki Hut making it the perfect home for a huge Disney fan

The Tiki Hut is the perfect place to entertain visitors

The home is in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors close by offering extreme privacy and seclusion

'An unparalleled opportunity presents itself with this expansive 154-acre estate in Hyrum, Utah, offering over 70,000 square feet of meticulously designed living space,' the description o nthe auction house lists.

The five-level main house spans a whopping 40,807 square feet and includes eight bedrooms, 18 bathrooms - perfect for hosting the seven dwarfs and all their friends.

On top of this, the dining room can entertain a staggering 42 guests.

'The five-level main residence spans 40,807 square feet, featuring a grand primary suite and seven additional bedrooms, each with vaulted ceilings, walk-in closets, wet bars, and en-suite bathrooms.'

An incomplete pool barn stands 53 feet tall and will feature a 16-vehicle garage, an indoor swimming pool, exercise room, and an open event space area when finished.

'Unique Disney-themed spaces infuse whimsy into the luxurious design, including Swiss Family Robinson-inspired bunkrooms and a replica of Disneyland's Tiki Hut.'

Beyond the Disney themed spaces, the mansion offers luxury features with each bedroom boasting vaulted ceilings, walk-in closets, wet bars, and en-suite bathrooms.

The massive dining room can seat 42 people around a table making it fit for a huge banquet

A 2,266-square-foot tunnel, reminiscent of a Star Wars episode, seamlessly connects the main house to the pool barn

The Star-Wars style tunnel is perfect for a fan of the iconic series

There's a huge private movie theater inside the property making it the perfect place to invite friends for a film night

The sprawling estate has earned the title of being the state's 'largest home'. Above a living area with space for plenty of seating

The five-level main house spans a whopping 40,807 square feet and includes eight bedrooms, 18 bathrooms

The auction house Concierge Auctions is now seeking 'starting bids up to $8million' - a fraction of the original asking price that was slashed to $19.5million before heading to auction

Bidding is set to begin June 5 at 2pm Mountain time and end at 2pm on June 18

The extraordinary 154-acre estate in Hyrum, Utah, offers over 70,000 square feet of meticulously designed living space

'The 27,080-square-foot pool barn, standing 53 feet tall, is poised to house a swimming pool, exercise area, and vast event space. A 2,266-square-foot tunnel, reminiscent of a Star Wars episode, seamlessly connects the main house to the pool barn.'

'Additional amenities include a guest house, a five-bay shop, a well house, and a nearly complete large pond.'

The estate's location offers both 'seclusion and accessibility.'

The home is situated near Blacksmith Fork Canyon and Hyrum Reservoir, with Logan just 15 minutes away and Salt Lake City a 75-minute drive.

The property's listing describes it as 'a rare blend of luxury, creativity, and investment potential' that is 'priced significantly below cost.'

'Priced significantly below cost, this property is a rare blend of luxury, creativity, and investment potential. Property and opportunity details provided by seller or others; buyer to verify,' the description writes.

The 70,000 square feet of living space is spread across two massive structures connected by a 140-foot tunnel Star Wars themed tunnel. Above you can see how secluded the property is

The property's listing describes it as 'a rare blend of luxury, creativity, and investment potential' that is 'priced significantly below cost'

The home is situated near Blacksmith Fork Canyon and Hyrum Reservoir, with Logan just 15 minutes away and Salt Lake City a 75-minute drive

Beyond the Disney themed spaces, the mansion offers luxury features with each bedroom boasting vaulted ceilings, walk-in closets, wet bars, and en-suite bathrooms

Kerry Oman, associate broker at Summit Sotheby's International Realty and the home's listing agent, revealed the estate was originally built as a gathering place for a Cache Valley family.

A future owner could easily use the property as a family or corporate retreat, Oman told the Salt Lake Tribune.
In a courtroom without fingerprints or DNA, a young woman's brainwaves became the key evidence against her.

Aditi Sharma, 24, was accused of poisoning her fiance in 2008. She denied it. But investigators turned to a controversial technology called Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling (BEOS), a type of brain scan some call 'mind reading.'

They placed a cap with electrodes on her head, played specific phrases about the crime, and claimed her brain revealed recognition and guilt, even as her mouth said otherwise.

With no physical proof, the judge largely relied on the BEOS test to convict her.

Developed in 1999 by neuroscientist Dr C.R. Mukundan, BEOS profiling uses EEG scans to detect whether someone's brain reacts to details about a crime with familiarity, which researchers believe signals personal involvement or knowledge.

During a BEOS session, forensic teams present statements like 'held the knife to his neck,' while recording brain activity.

A familiar neurological response is considered a sign that the suspect experienced the event firsthand.

Supporters claim BEOS can identify guilty individuals with up to 90 percent accuracy, though it has also misclassified innocent people about five percent of the time, according to India's Directorate of Forensic Science.

Aditi Sharma, 24, was accused of poisoning her fiance in 2008. She denied it. But investigators turned to a controversial technology called Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling (BEOS), a type of brain scan some call 'mind reading' (stock)

Critics argue the science behind BEOS is deeply flawed and ethically dangerous.

Many say it lacks large-scale testing and peer-reviewed validation. Human rights groups warn it violates mental privacy, especially when used without consent.

In fact, India's Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that BEOS and similar techniques like polygraphs and narcoanalysis are inadmissible unless the subject voluntarily agrees to them.

Despite this, reports suggest these tools continue to be used, sometimes under questionable circumstances.

Neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga told The New York Times: 'This work is shaky at best.'

BEOS was used in several high-profile Indian cases. In one instance, a 20-year-old man named Surjaram volunteered to take the test after being accused of rape.

The results showed no neurological signs of guilt, supporting his claim of innocence.

Developed in 1999 by neuroscientist Dr C.R. Mukundan, BEOS profiling uses EEG scans to detect whether someone's brain reacts to details about a crime with familiarity, which researchers believe signals personal involvement or knowledge (stock)

In another, Abdul Wahid Shaikh and 12 others were accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings.

They underwent repeated BEOS, narco, and polygraph tests. Years later, Shaikh was acquitted for lack of evidence, raising further concerns about coerced confessions and faulty interpretations.

Despite backlash, BEOS remains widely used in Indian forensic labs, including the National Forensic Sciences University, founded by Prime Minister Modi in 2008. Some devices cost up to $100,000.

Outside India, BEOS and similar neurotech tools are drawing attention. Some European countries, including Italy, Slovenia, and the Netherlands, have begun experimenting with brain-based technologies in legal contexts.

Yet many scientists and ethicists, such as Marcello Ienca and Roberto Andorno, are calling for a new fundamental right to mental privacy to protect individuals from non-consensual brain scanning.

Legal scholar Owen Jones warns: 'If reliable, brain-based evidence could transform justice.

But if unreliable, it could do the opposite,masking guesswork as science.'

A study led by Jared Genser of Perseus Strategies found that neurotech companies often fail to inform consumers or protect their neural data, exposing users to misuse.

As law enforcement agencies worldwide explore neuroscience in criminal justice, the stakes are rising.

Courts in the US have largely rejected brainwave-based evidence over concerns about reliability and bias.

Still, the promise of unlocking hidden truths continues to attract interest.

If BEOS and similar tools are to be used, experts say, clear rules, transparency, and consent must guide their application.
A 'UFO base' mentioned in a declassified CIA document has fueled a surge in sightings, turning Mount Hayes into one of America's top alien hotspots.

Rising over 8,000 feet, Mount Hayes sits within the so-called Alaska Triangle, a region notorious for unexplained disappearances and paranormal activity.

However, the CIA has never confirmed the alien base and the US government's stance is that extraterrestrial life does not exist.

Locals have reported streaks of colored lights, orbs traveling at high speed, and mysterious vanishing people.

One report came from Jared Augustin, a former security officer, who claimed he saw a glowing orb hovering in the night sky near Mount Hayes before it suddenly split into three.

'It was a UFO, of extraterrestrial origin,' Augustin told DMAX UK, adding that he stood frozen, shaking as the bizarre sight unfolded.

Theories about alien activity have led the public to scour Google Maps for signs of the secret base.

Some conspiracy theorists claim there's missing satellite data over Mount Hayes, allegedly to hide the base's location.

'Wow, that's a big coincidence, in a very specific shape,' one Reddit user commented, pointing to a rectangular patch seemingly missing from the mountain on Google Maps.

Mount Hayes, which stands over 8,000 feet tall, was the focus of a government experiment involving a man who claimed he could perceive distant locations and events through a technique known as 'remote viewing'

Mount Hayes is located within an area known for unexplained disappearances and paranormal activity.

Locals have aimed trail cameras at Mount Hayes, hoping to capture proof that the area is a UFO hotspot.

In an episode of History Channel's Missing in Alaska, a local resident named Wilbur shared footage he believed showed an alien craft.

The video captured a glowing green light hovering over Mount Hayes. Within seconds, it appeared to vanish behind the mountain.

Investigators said the object had 'hovering capabilities like a helicopter, but could also reverse direction instantly'  something no known aircraft can do.

Based on its position and movement, the team estimated the object's drop speed to be just over Mach 1 (the speed of sound).

In addition to mysterious airborne sightings, more than 2,000 people have vanished in the area since the 1970s.

Notable incidents include the 1972 disappearance of a plane carrying US House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, which vanished en route from Anchorage to Juneau.

One of the more recent reports came from Jared Augustin, a former security officer, who claimed he witnessed a glowing orb hovering in the night sky near Mount Hayes before it suddenly split into three (pictured)

Jared Augustin said: 'It was a UFO, of extraterrestrial origin,' adding that he stood there shaking as he watched the bizarre sight unfold.

Theories of aliens have led the public to search for signs on the base using Google Maps. Conspiracy theories have claimed that there is missing data on Mount Hayes, suggesting it is covering up the base's location

Despite an extensive 39-day search covering 325,000 square miles, no wreckage or remains were ever found.

In December 2023, Brian Erickson was reported missing after departing the village of Healy Lake on a green Polaris Ranger side-by-side vehicle.

He was last seen on December 2, 2023, at 4pm.

Search efforts were initiated, and the operation transitioned from a Search and Rescue to a Search and Recovery mission on December 6, 2023.

The Alaska State Troopers have been actively seeking assistance in locating Erickson.

Locals have suggested that these disappearances and many more are due to UFO activity near the mountain.

However, Mount Hayes is situated within an area stretching between Anchorage, Juneau and Utqiagvik.

The combination of challenging terrain, unpredictable weather, and sparse population contributes to the difficulties in search and rescue operations.

While UFOs have been reported in the area for decades, the sightings gained more attention when the CIA declassified its experiment in 2000.

The report, titled 'Description of Personnel Associated 'ET' Bases,' detailed a session in which a remote viewer was given unknown targets and asked to describe what they perceived.

The remote viewing session was part of the CIA's top-secret STARGATE program, which recruited individuals believed to have psychic abilities for military and intelligence purposes during the Cold War.

Captain Kenju Terauchi drew a giant walnut-shaped UFO that allegedly appeared over his plane and followed the 747 airliner on November 17, 1986

Captain Terauchi was later grounded by Japan Airlines after speaking to the press about his UFO encounter

The program began in the early 1970s and officially shut down in 1995 after being deemed scientifically unreliable and operationally ineffective for intelligence gathering.

During a remote viewing session, participants typically sketched what they 'saw' and jotted down brief notes about their perceptions.

The 12-page document includes several drawings believed to depict the locations of these ET basesone sketch appears to resemble a rocky mountain.

That drawing has been interpreted as Mount Hayes in Alaska, which stands roughly 8,000 feet tall.

According to the remote viewer, he found himself mentally inside a facility beneath Mount Hayes, where he observed 'two types of entities' associated with the site.

He described seeing two beings standing outside one of the bases, 'accomplishing some sort of routine task.'

Inside the base, they perceived two more entities. One was seated at a circular console with a round, screen-like object, according to the session notes.

The second figure was performing another task in the background.
Scientists probing 'alien mummies' in Peru have shared new findings they claim prove the specimens are '100 percent real.'

Dozens of these mysterious, mummified bodies were discovered in the Nazca desert by journalist and ufologist Jaime Maussan, sparking years of investigation into their origins.

But outside scientists who claimed to analyze them found the specimens were simply dolls made with animal bones.

Now, the team has released a new analysis detailing how two of the mummies, known as Maria and Montserrat, may have died more than 1,200 years ago.

The report noted that both are female. Maria was estimated to be between 35 and 45 years old at death, while Montserrat was between 16 and 25.

Examinations of Maria revealed a deep cut and signs of a bite or bruise in the lower pelvis, along with several lacerations resembling claw marks.

CT scans of Montserrat indicated she likely died from a puncture wound to the chest, specifically between the fifth and sixth ribs.

'These are yet more pieces of clear and irrefutable evidence that these bodies are 100 percent genuine, real, and organic, having once been alive,' said Dr Jose Zalce, lead expert on the investigation, in a statement to DailyMail.com.

The team has released a new analysis detailing how two of the mummies, known as Maria (pictured) and Montserrat, may have died more than 1,200 years ago.

In the case of Montserrat (pictured), researchers hypothesized that the cause of death was a significant trauma sustained over an extended period

Dr Zalce, former director of the Mexican Navy Medical Department, said he has analyzed 21 of the unusual bodies, noting features such as fingerprints, bone wear, dental structures, muscular anatomy and internal organs.

The latest analysis offers new insight into the causes of death for these alleged mummies. However, the study has not yet been reviewed by independent experts.

Both specimens were found with elongated skulls, three fingers and toes and internal organs including a heart, liver and intestines.

CT scans of one specimen, known as Maria, who measures five feet six inches, revealed bite marks, fractures, blood clots in tissue, and signs of internal trauma.

Dr Zalce and his team identified a significant cut near the lower pelvis, along with what appeared to be bite marks or bruises and several small puncture wounds.

These injuries extended from the tailbone to the hip. The skin and subcutaneous fat had been removed, and two small tailbone vertebrae were broken.

The team also described a zigzag-shaped wound with a broken pattern, suggesting that Maria may have fallen from a cliff and hit rocks during the fall.

In the case of Montserrat, researchers hypothesized that the cause of death was a significant trauma sustained over an extended period.

CT scans of one specimen, known as Mariawho measures five feet six inchesrevealed bite marks, fractures, blood clots in tissue, and signs of internal trauma

The team also described a zigzag-shaped wound with a broken pattern, suggesting that Maria may have fallen from a cliff and hit rocks during the fall

Images showed multiple fractures, including breaks in the scapula and ribs.

They noted that she was likely upright at the time of death, with her back pressed against a hard surface.

According to the team, the absence of callus formation indicates that the injuries occurred either within a short timeframe or possibly after death.

The mystery over the mummies began in 2017 when Maussan and a team of self-proclaimed paranormal researchers said they found strange three-fingered 'mummified humanoids' with an elongated skull.

The body was found covered in white powder, which the team said was used to preserve the remains.

And five years later, the tiny beings were paraded through Mexico's Congress where Maussan argued his case and did so on two occasions.

During the second meeting, he brought in a string of doctors who all said the bodies were those of real, once-living organisms - some experts claimed to have studied five similar specimens over four years.

CT scans of Montserrat (pictured) indicated she likely died from a puncture wound to the chest, specifically between the fifth and sixth ribs

However, scientists outside this group have also studied two mummies and found different results.

Forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada, who led the analysis, said the claims that the specimens coming from another world are 'totally false.'

'The conclusion is simple: they are dolls assembled with bones of animals from this planet, with modern synthetic glues, therefore they were not assembled during pre-Hispanic times,' he said in January 2024.

'They are not extraterrestrials; they are not aliens.'

However, a former Colorado prosecutor and current defense attorney, who has examined one of the mummies, is also a true believer.

Joshua McDowell told DailyMail.com: 'The bodies studied by Estrada were not related to any specimen that we have studied.

'They were folk dolls made to look like [mummies] confiscated at the airport.'
The moment a manic passenger was wrestled into a seat after trying to open the emergency exit mid-flight was caught on camera.

The unnamed suspect, who attempted the terrifying incident on an All Nippon Airways plane from Tokyo to Houston, Texas, on Saturday, leapt out of his seat nine hours into the journey and lunged for the door's handle.

However, two military veterans and the flight attendants rounded on him and hauled him away from the exit by pinning him into the seat before tying him up.

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Strapped in: A passenger on an All Nippon Airlines Boeing 787 from Tokyo to Houston, Texas, had to be restrained when he tried to open the aircraft's door, nine hours into the flight

The captain was forced to divert the aircraft to Seattle Airport, where video showed cops as they arrested the suspect and took him to hospital.

Footage showed the former soldiers shove the man into the chair as he tried to wrestle free, while one said: 'You're not going to make it to that window.'

Most of the other passengers had been asleep on the long-haul overnight flight when the commotion happened.

A traveler called Ashley told Fox 26: 'He got up in a hurry - I just assumed he was sick but then he went for the emergency exit, and two men jumped into action.

'They zip-tied him to the seats directly behind me.'

Ashley said the military veterans remained calm and appeared trained.

Ashley added: 'One said he had served in the Navy, and the other had been in for a long time, though I didn't catch which branch. They kept [the man] restrained for over an hour.'

Grounded: Once the aircraft was diverted to Seattle Airport, cops boarded and told the man that he needed to cooperate otherwise force would be used against him

The captain turned the plane back to Seattle when it was just three hours away from Houston, and landed it within 45 minutes of the incident.

Ashely said: 'When we landed, a second man on the flight suddenly started acting strange. He went to the restroom and caused a bit of a scene. Everyone was on edge.

'I won't be sitting in an exit row again. It was terrifying.'

She also praised the men who stepped up to take the man down: 'I want to say thank you to those citizens who took control. I don't know if I could've done that. I wouldn't have known what to do.'

Patient pilot: The aircraft's captain made the decision to turn the plane back around and managed to land within 45 minutes of the incident occurring

Emergency landing: Most of the other passengers had been asleep on All Nippon Airways flight NH114 when the commotion happened

Law enforcement and medical personnel were already standing when the plane touched down at SeaTac, at around 4.20am.

Police boarded the aircraft and audio captured the moment they prepared to remove the passenger.

One officer said to the man: 'Once I take you out of the seat, we're going to escort you off the flight, OK? If you try to fight us, force will be used against you.'

Both the restrained man and the random second passenger were escorted off.

Airport officials said the primary suspect had experienced a 'medical episode', and he was transported to a nearby hospital.

Seattle PD spokesman Chris Guizlo said: 'Police and EMS were told that a passenger tried to open an emergency exit door mid-flight.'

No charges had yet been announced, and the individual's identity and current condition remained unknown.

Generally, airplane doors could not be opened mid-flight because air pressure differences between inside and outside the cabin kept the aircraft's doors sealed.
The Channel Islands are known for attracting wealthy tycoons looking to avoid hefty income tax back home.

But more recently, a new crowd has been attracted to their idyllic shores.

Women travelling on their own, or 'female solo travellers' to borrow the internet-friendly phrase, are flocking to the tiny island of Sark.

Nestled between Guernsey and Jersey, Sark is the sunniest of the islands where cars are banned, beaches are plentiful and the population is roughly 500.

'It's really safe you can walk around in the middle of the forest at night, it's crazy,' explained Tara Price, a 30-year-old Australian woman who came to the island to work and travel.

'There's no streetlights, so you need a torch to get around.'

Sark is the world's first-ever designated dark sky island because street lights are banned and light pollution is practically non-existent.

The only way to navigate the empty island at night is using light from the moon or in the case of most tourists, strapping a headlight on and using a map.

Just a train, flight and ferry away from the UK, the Channel Islands are known for attracting wealthy tycoons looking to avoid hefty income tax back home

Tara Price (pictured), a 30-year-old Australian woman, came to the island to work and travel

Nestled between well-known Guernsey and Jersey is Sark, the sunniest of the islands where cars are banned, beaches are plentiful and the population is roughly 500

Even though walking around in dark open spaces is considered one of the most dangerous things a woman could do on her own - in Sark, it's normal and perfectly safe.

Ms Price explained: 'The worst thing you get is a drunk person that you know walking by.

'It's safe to walk anywhere, leave your bike anywhere, everyone's friendly and trustworthy.'

The island has become a safe haven for young women looking to work, save and eventually travel elsewhere.

Amie Strode, 21, came to work in Sark over their tourism 'season', which runs from March to October.

During this period of time there are plenty of available jobs and accommodation on the island for those looking to travel, live, and save some money without paying income tax, capital gains tax, or VAT.

The Oxfordshire native visited the island by herself for two weeks in October and praised the freedom that living on an island with only the occasional case of petty crime can bring.

Cerys Lockeridge, 24, has been returning to the island every season for the past two years since graduating university.

While the remote island is practically disconnected from the rest of the world - it requires an hour ferry to fix a phone - it has an extremely low crime rate

Amie Strode (pictured), 21, came to work in Sark over their tourism 'season' which runs from March to October

The only way to navigate the empty island at night is using light from the moon or in the case of most tourists, strapping a headlight on and using a map

Cerys Lockeridge (pictured), 24, has been returning to the island every season for the past two years since graduating university

Walking around in dark open spaces is considered one of the most dangerous things a woman could do on her own, but in Sark it's normal and perfectly safe

The island has become a safe haven for young women looking to work, save and eventually travel elsewhere

'My mum was really worried when I first came here and then she visited and said it's fine,' Ms Lockeridge told MailOnline.

'You can walk home and not be worried about getting hit by a car. Someone might nick the occasional bike but they tend to get found out.

'You can go in a walk and not see anyone it's just peaceful and beautiful.'

But moving to Sark is not for the faint-hearted.

The only form of transport is walking, biking, horseback or horse-drawn carriage and food is only delivered to the island twice a week, so food variety is limited.

However, it is the perfect place to disconnect from external pressure and spend a week unwinding alone.

Elsie Courtney, 79, who works at the island's only tourist office says female solo travellers have always been attracted to the island because of its low crime rates.

'We've always had a lot of solo female travellers,' she explained. 'Recently, we've seen an increase in single ladies coming.'

There are plenty of available jobs and accommodation on the island for those looking to travel, live, and save some money without paying income tax, capital gains tax or VAT

The only form of transport is walking, biking, horseback or horse-drawn carriage and food is only delivered to the island twice a week, so variety is limited

Sark is the perfect place to disconnect from external pressure and spend a week unwinding alone

Tourists can expect kayaking tours, seal-spotting, swimming, sunset hikes and star gazing

When visiting Sark one can expect sweeping coastlines, crystal clear water and vast green fields dotted with seasonal plants

When visiting Sark one can expect sweeping coastlines, crystal clear water and vast green fields dotted with seasonal plants

She added: 'I was born and bred here and we've had a lot of women come here, it's a safe place, it's a safe place for anyone.

'Sark is too small to do anything untoward because they wouldn't get away with it.'

Ms Courtney explained that women have been making the trek to the remote island from Switzerland, Germany, France, Australia and the UK.

And that many compare their experiences to time spent in Thailand or New Zealand.

These comparisons are likely drawn from the landscape.

When visiting Sark one can expect sweeping coastlines, crystal clear water and vast green fields dotted with seasonal plants.

The activities on the 5.5 km-long by 2.5 km-wide island lend themselves to the scenery and are perfect for those looking for an adventure.

Tourists can expect kayaking tours, seal spotting, swimming, sunset hikes and star gazing.

The island has been compared to Thailand or even New Zealand

Women have been making the trek to the remote island from Switzerland, Germany, France, Australia and the UK

Tourists can wake up one morning to watch the sunrise and then hop on a canoe

The only way to enter the island from the port is by walking or tractor

Islanders simply want tourists to love their small but mighty home just as much as them

All within the comfort of knowing that the islanders simply want you to love their small but mighty home just as much as them.

'Sark fits the magical ideal of an Enid Blyton novel,' explained the Seneschal of Sark.

'We have people that come here for work and they stay because you either love it or you just think meh.

'But an awful lot of them arrive with a couple of small bags and 15-20 years later they're still here because it's a community.

'It still has a community ethos and people do genuinely want it help other.'
The Salt Path hits cinemas from May 30 and will feature some stunning hotspots

Set to hit cinemas on May 30, The Salt Path starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs is likely to one of the summer's biggest movies.

Based on a true story, the movie will follow Raynor Winn and her husband Moth's journey along the South West Coast Path - England's longest walking trail - after they lose their home and Moth is diagnosed with a rare neurodegenerative condition.

Raynor detailed their mammoth, 630-mile hike in her book, The Salt Path, describing the trek - which stretches from Minehead to Poole.

And the movie is also sure to showcase some of the UK's most spectacular nature, as the South West Coast Path features breathtaking coves, rugged cliffs and stunning beaches.

Find out where you can have your own Salt Path moment this year with this selection of some of the best beaches likely to star in the film...

Minehead, Somerset

Set to hit cinemas on May 30, The Salt Path, starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, is likely to be one of the summer's biggest movies

Sometimes known as The Strand, Minehead Beach, in Somerset, is an ideal sandcastle-building spot

The South West Coast Path kicks off in Minehead so Minehead Beach was always likely to appear in the film.

Sometimes known as The Strand, the sandy beach ends at Minehead Harbour and is an ideal sandcastle-building spot.

The beach is located very close to Exmoor National Park, so holidaymakers can combine their seaside break with a stop in local woodland.

Porlock Weir, Somerset

Porlock Weir, Somerset, is backed by marshland and is a popular spot for birdwatchers to visit

Just under 10 miles away from Minehead Beach, the beach at Porlock Weir is another key spot along the South West Coast Path.

The pebble beach is backed by marshland and is a popular spot for birdwatchers to visit.

Porlock is known for its oysters so walkers might want to stop at Porlock Bay Oysters for a dressed oyster.

Heddon's Mouth, Devon

Heddon's Mouth is situated on the coast in North Devon and tourists can reach it by hiking through ancient woodland

The Salt Path is based on Raynor and her husband Moth's journey along the 630-mile South West Coast Path, which is England's longest walking trail

Featured in the Salt Path, Heddon's Mouth earns its name from the valley where the River Heddon joins the sea.

The rocky cove is situated on the coast in North Devon and tourists can reach it by hiking through ancient woodland.

A visitor wrote on Tripadvisor: 'The coastal path here is spectacular, steep climbs but wonderful views once you get up to some of the highest cliffs in England.'

Ilfracombe, Devon, is home to several beaches, but Tunnels Beach is one of the most unique, having earned its name as it's accessed through tunnels dug by the Victorians

A seaside resort in Devon, Ilfracombe sits along the South West Coast Path.

The town is home to several beaches, but Tunnels Beach is one of the most unique.

The picturesque beach earned its name as it's accessed through tunnels dug by the Victorians.

Ilfracombe is also home to Rapparee Cove which is a small shingle beach close to the harbour.

Clovelly, Devon

Clovelly, a historic fishing village in Devon, was owned by royalty until the 1200s and is now completely car-free

The South West Coast Path also runs through Clovelly, a historic fishing village in Devon.

The picturesque village was owned by royalty until the 1200s and is now completely car-free.

Clovelly Beach is a small pebble beach that's located below the village and is a popular sunbathing spot.

Hartland Quay, Devon

Visitors should exercise caution at Hartland Quay, in Devon, as the area is known for having some of the UK's roughest seas

Another spot in Devon, Hartland Quay is a pebble beach backed by impressive cliffs.

There are many rockpools to explore on the beach.

Walkers can stop at the Hartland Quay Hotel & Bar to refuel at the Wreckers Retreat Bar and enjoy incredible views of the beach.

But visitors should exercise caution as the area is known for having some of the UK's roughest seas.

Port Quin, Cornwall

Once a busy fishing port, Port Quin, Cornwall, is now a much quieter spot along the walking route

Based on the true story featured in Raynor Winn's The Salt Path, the movie will showcase some of the UK's most spectacular nature

Another breathtaking spot along the South West Coast Path, Port Quin is a pretty cove between Port Isaac and Polzeath.

Once a busy fishing port, Port Quin is now a much quieter spot along the walking route.

The National Trust reveals: 'Port Quin is a peaceful sheltered inlet.

'Surrounded by spectacular coastline, Port Quin Bay sweeps westwards towards the distinctive headland of the Rumps.'

Fistral Beach, Cornwall

Fistral Beach, Cornwall, is known for its consistent waves and tends to get very busy during the summer months

An award-winning beach in Newquay, Fistral Beach is an especially popular spot with surfers.

The long sandy beach is known for its consistent waves and tends to get very busy during the summer months.

A tourist wrote on Tripadvisor: 'My favourite beach in the world.

'I have visited this beach many times before, the vibe here is just unmatched.'

Holywell Bay, Cornwall

Holywell Bay, Cornwall, has rolling sand dunes and is backed by grassy dunes. It's a popular spot with people who want to explore sea caves

Both Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs were spotted filming scenes for the Salt Path at this beautiful beach in 2023.

The gorgeous beach has rolling sand dunes and is backed by grassy dunes.

It's a popular spot with people who want to explore sea caves.

Visit Cornwall says: 'On sunny days, Holywell Bay might as well be paradise.'

Rame Head, Cornwall

There's a medieval chapel at the top of the headland in Rame Head, Cornwall, and visitors will have an incredible bird's-eye view of the coast in both directions

A coastal headland in southeast Cornwall, Rame Head is set to feature in the upcoming Salt Path film.

Visit Cornwall describes the beautiful spot as 'Cornwall's Forgotten Corner', as it's often missed by tourists.

There's a medieval chapel at the top of the headland and visitors will have an incredible bird's-eye view of the coast in both directions.
A guest on Antiques Roadshow was left floored by the whopping value of a 'grotty' item that had been abandoned in her garage for 20 years.

During a previous instalment of the BBC show, expert Marc Allum was presented with a designer piece of luggage at Beaumaris Castle.

'It's a pretty kind of grotty looking old piece of luggage this, it looks like it's had a really hard life,' Marc commented.

The guest had acquired the Louis Vuitton chest after a family friend passed away and didn't originally realise the possible value of it.

'When we cleared the house it was covered in a blanket with a lamp on it, we just thought it was part of the clearing,' she explained.

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During a previous instalment of the BBC show, expert Marc Allum (left) was presented with a designer piece of luggage at Beaumaris Castle

The guest had acquired the Louis Vuitton chest after a family friend passed away and didn't originally realise the possible value of it

'When we cleared the house it was covered in a blanket with a lamp on it, we just thought it was part of the clearing,' the guest (pictured) explained

The guests cousin who lives in Texas owns the item and she is the 'custodian' of it.

'We opened it and it said Louis Vuitton and I've actually had it in my garage for the past 20 years covered up,' she revealed.

The expert explained how the trunk featured an 'unpickable lock' and inspected the inside details of the luggage box.

He dated it to around 1890 and noted that though it needed 'quite a bit of work' he still gave an impressive valuation.

'As this stands, it's worth in the region of 2,500 to 3,500 at auction. It's a really nice thing,' Marc explained.

'Wow, wow,' the guest remarked.

During the same instalment, a guest struggled to speak after they discovered the value of an 'extraordinary' family heirloom.

Expert Joanna Hardy was presented with a piece of jewellery made of ten gold nuggets.

'We opened it and it said Louis Vuitton and I've actually had it in my garage for the past 20 years covered up,' she revealed

'As this stands, it's worth in the region of 2,500 to 3,500 at auction. It's a really nice thing,' Marc explained

'They just look extraordinary,' she commented, as the owner explained her grandfather had gifted the bracelet to her grandmother.

The guest revealed: 'My grandfather worked in Segovia, in Colombia in the Frontino mines in the '30s and '40s.

'He was an engineer so I don't believe he mined those by hand, but I think he must have got those from there.'

Joanna marvelled how the piece of jewellery was 'ahead of its time' given the art deco style that was popular in the 1930s.

The expert gushed over the nature of the bracelet and precious metal it was made of.

She said: 'Gold, it is the only metal that is just so malleable, it doesn't rust, it doesn't tarnish, it's inactive to chemical reactions so what you see here is exactly the same as when it was first found.

'It's just got that raw energy about it.'

The guest agreed and commented, 'I love it when I wear it because it's really heavy and it just fits, it's a really nice size as well.;

Sunday's episode of the BBC show also saw a guest present expert Joanna Hardy (right) with a piece of jewellery made if ten gold nuggets

'They just look extraordinary,' she commented, as the owner explained her grandfather had gifted the bracelet to her grandmother

Joanna moved onto discussing the value of the item and pointed out 'Gold has never been higher than today'.

'So at auction, I think you'd be looking at around 5,000,' she explained.

The guest was visibly shocked and appeared to struggle to speak after realising the value of her bracelet.

She stammered: 'Oh! Okay. That's quite a lot, everybody said that I know but it's really a lot more than I thought.'

Antiques Roadshow airs on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer.
Documentary looking at the 2015 armed assault on a Tunisian beach resort

Year: 2025

Certificate: 12

Watch now on Prime Video

On 26 June 2015, electronics student Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire on tourists staying in the resort of Port El Kantaoui in Tunisia. Carrying a Kalashnikov rifle hidden in a parasol umbrella, he unleashed a hail of bullets that claimed the lives of 38 people in an armed assault that lasted less than 40 minutes.

This detailed documentary film interviews survivors to piece together exactly what happened. It's full of tales of life-saving decisions and incredible bravery in the face of appalling danger, but in many ways that's just the start of the story. The film also examines how the survivors of the attack have spent the decade since, how they have handled the trauma and loss, and the battles they have fought to rebuild lives and minds in the wake of the tragedy. (90 minutes)
Moving documentary about Rachael Watts, who survived a brutal assault and was able to convict a killer

Year: 2025

Certificate: 15

Watch now on NOW

Watch now on Sky

When she was just seven years old, Rachael Watts was kidnapped by the paedophile Russell Bishop, who drove her to a remote spot on the South Downs, assaulted and strangled her, then left her for dead. Rachael survived and, in this two-part documentary for Sky, tells her story for the first time on camera.

A big strand of that story is that four years earlier, in 1986, Bishop murdered the schoolgirls Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway - the 'Babes in the Wood' case - and was even brought to trial, but acquitted in 1987. Rachael picked him out of a line-up and he went to prison for assaulting her. In 2018, he was finally convicted for killing Nicola and Karen.

The focus in this moving documentary is very much on the fight for justice, on the impact on the families of the victims, and on Rachael herself. Some of the details in her account are heartbreaking - she recalls being in hospital after the attack, worried that her mum would be cross because she'd lost her brand new jumper. Also, be warned if you watch the back half of the second episode - it's then that Watts clearly explains what happened to her when she was with Bishop, and it's not something you can unhear. (Two episodes)
Ahead of her biggest role yet in Wes Anderson's latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, Mia Threapleton has shown a fresh determination to shed the label of 'nepo baby'.

The actress, 24, is the daughter of acting legend Kate Winslet, and has shown the apple does not fall far from the tree after starring in shows like The Buccaneers and Dangerous Liaisons.

But scrutiny of the children of celebrities following in their parents' footsteps has increased in recent years, with criticism directed at so-called nepo babies having an easier road to success based on their parentage rather than purely talent.

Now Mia is the latest actress with star-studded heritage to push back against the narrative that she received a helping hand in the industry due to her actress mother and director father, insisting that she rarely visited film sets growing up or saw scripts around the house.

However, an examination of Mia's rise to fame paints something of a different picture given that she made her screen debut at the age of 14 in period drama, A Little Chaos, in which Kate played the lead role.

While her breakout role in 2022's hard-hitting drama I Am Ruth, saw her play a troubled teenage daughter - with Kate taking on the role of her mother.

Ahead of her biggest role yet in Wes Anderson's latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, Mia Threapleton has shown a fresh determination to shed the label of 'nepo baby' (pictured left on Sunday at 24 and Kate Winslet pictured right in 1998 at 23)

The actress, 24, is the daughter of acting legend Kate Winslet, and has shown the apple does not fall far from the tree after starring in shows like The Buccaneers (seen) and Dangerous Liaisons

Mia started finding success around the same age her mother Kate was when she starred in Titanic in 1997

Though Kate has emphasised that she only got her daughter a small part in 2014's A Little Chaos, she has revealed it was that experience that confirmed Mia's passion to pursue an acting career - an opportunity that the wide majority will never get.

Appearing on Variety's Actors on Actors in 2015, she chatted with Saoirse Ronan, who detailed how she had fallen in love with acting aged 13 on the set of Atonement, after getting her first taste with a part in a short film starring her father - who is also an actor.

Kate admitted that Mia had enjoyed a similar experience, saying: 'My own daughter actually had a small part in a film that I did a couple of years ago, as a teeny-tiny thing. But it was enough to already have that feeling of, I think I need more of this.'

While in contrast to Mia's recollections, she also recalled her daughter coming to visit her during filming, sharing a funny anecdote that revealed how comfortable she was on set.

She explained: 'I was on set with her, and shed come to visit something Id done when she was eight or nine.

'And I was having a snack in between takes, and she went, Mommy I really, really dont think that you should be eating on set. I was like, "Oh my God, you're right, I'm so sorry! You really are right, okay back to work!".'

She has also insisted she was not the brains behind Mia's I Am Ruth casting, but somewhat debunked the idea that her daughter had no advantages in the process.

The Titanic star recalled telling the show's creator, Dominic Savage: 'You have to audition her, and that has to be separate to me.'

Mia made her big screen debut at the age of 14 (right) in period drama, A Little Chaos, in which Kate played the lead role (left)

While her breakout role in 2022's hard-hitting drama I Am Ruth, saw her play the troubled teenage daughter of her real life mother (pictured together in drama)

The show's producer Krish Majumdar, also insisted in a radio interview: 'Mia was there completely on merit and her performance was terrific.'

But Kate also admitted that the idea of casting Mia had originated with Dominic because he was interested in the idea of putting a real-life mother and daughter together on screen.

And undoubtedly the duo's strong performances were aided by the fact that their mother and daughter bond already existed and meant they could draw on their real emotions and experiences, rather than rely purely on their acting skills.

Mia admitted that their real life connection 'helped in a way because the chemistry, the connection, the emotional bond between us as a mother and daughter who are very close to each other, was already there'.

While Kate has agreed that there was 'some overlap' between her real-life role as Mia's mother, and starring as her on-screen parent in the drama.

Mia's first lead role came in 2020 Irish independent film Shadows, which she landed right after leaving school, without any formal training or experience.

Speaking about getting the part to Variety, she admitted she 'couldn't believe her luck' in getting the role on her first audition.

She said: 'I had just finished school, was free of exam hell, and felt excited, nervous and ready to start auditioning for things, and hoping that the opportunities to audition would come my way. I just hoped I would get the chance to do what I had wanted to do for so long!

Kate also admitted that the idea of casting Mia had originated with Dominic because he was interested in the idea of putting a real-life mother and daughter together on screen

Mia's first lead role came in 2020 Irish independent film Shadows, which she landed right after leaving school, without any formal training or experience, admitting she 'couldn't believe her luck' in nabbing the part (pictured in film). Right: Kate pictured in Mare of Easttown

'Shadows was the first film Id received an audition for, and the first script I had ever been given to read. I couldnt believe my luck. I read it and didnt put it down...

'Which is admitting a lot because Im dyslexic and that means I have to read slowly and steadily to be able to absorb things fully sometimes.'

However, Mia has frequently hit back at claims she is a 'nepo baby' or that she had a helping hand in the industry through her mum and dad.

In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, she emphasized her belief that she is not a nepo baby, stating her mother had been 'quite caught off-guard' by her announcement she wanted to be an actress at 10 years old.

She added that she signed herself up to online casting sites at the age of 15, 'to try and see what was out there', affirming: 'I wanted to do that on my own'.

While Mia shut down attempts by the interviewer to probe about getting an easier ride in the industry with famous parents, saying: 'I dont really know how to answer that, to be honest.'

And she claimed her famous parentage has led to a 'misconception' that she was submerged in the acting world from an early age.

She said: 'I feel like it's a misconception about me, considering who my mother is, that I grew up going to set or that I would know anything about this world because of her and what she does.

However, Mia has frequently hit back at claims she is a 'nepo baby' or that she had a helping hand in the industry through her mum and dad (pictured Monday)

And she claimed her famous parentage has led to a 'misconception' that she was submerged in the acting world from an early age (Kate and Mia pictured in 2001)

Mia refers to her mother Kate's Titanic and Revolutionary Road co-star as Uncle Leo. Pictured: Kate and Leo at the 2016 Oscars

'That is not the case at all. I genuinely can count on not even two hands the amount of times I went to set as a kid. There were never scripts lying around the house.'

And Mia has previously insisted she didn't get to spend much time learning acting skills by watching Kate work as a child.

Speaking to Variety, she admitted: 'I never actually spent much time around sets that my mum was working on. It was always a special treat.

'Its a very different experience when it is happening to you, and not just something I was getting to observe from time to time.

'I really understand why my mum has always impressed on us how hard the work is. She is right! And I loved every second of it.'

Yet, she was raised around a slew of successful stars in the industry, including her director father Jim Threapleton, Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes as her stepfather from 2003 to 2011, and refers to Leonardo DiCaprio as 'Uncle Leo'.

Kate previously revealed the close bond that her Titanic co-star has with her kids, telling Marie Clare: 'Well, me and Leo are very good friends. He adores my children but the problem is, he spoils them rotten!'

Meanwhile, Mia has shared that Kate has gifted her some solid acting tips, such as: 'Read the damn script as many times as you can!'

Yet, she was raised around a slew of successful stars in the industry, including her director father Jim Threapleton, Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes as her stepfather from 2003 to 2011, and refers to Leonardo DiCaprio as 'Uncle Leo' (seen with Kate and dad Jim in 2001)

Some in the industry who have worked with both mother and daughter have also suggested that Mia has learned a lot from Kate and benefitted immensely from having the Reader star as a 'source of support' (seen at 2023 BAFTAs together)

And it has clearly paid off, with Mia already having several award wins under her belt ahead of landing a coveted lead role in The Phoenician Scheme opposite acting titans like Benicio del Toro, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Benedict Cumberbatch (seen in film with Benicio)

And she's said that Kate has been very supportive of her career and has been invaluable in preparing her for the difficulties that come with the job.

She told The Times: 'She was very, very encouraging of me doing it on my own and for myself, having the experiences being mine and mine alone.

'But she always - I mean, always - emphasised the hard work that goes into it and the effort that needs to go into it'.

Some in the industry who have worked with both mother and daughter have also suggested that Mia has learned a lot from Kate and benefitted immensely from having the Reader star as a 'source of support'.

Emmy-winning costume designer Kate Carin worked on 1998's Hideous Kinky with a then 22-year-old Kate and then on The Buccaneers when Mia was the exact same age.

In an interview with Hello! in 2023, she praised Mia's talents, but also pointed out the similarities between her and her mum, admitting being a nepo baby was both a 'blessing and a curse'.

She said: 'I think it's a blessing and a curse to be the daughter of somebody as well-known as Kate, but Mia is magical. I feel as though she's got the whole world ahead of her.'

While the designer also acknowledged how ideal Kate is as a role model for an aspiring actress, saying: 'Mia is going through what Kate went through at that age and I guess she'd be a great source of support.

Mia is the latest actress with star-studded heritage to push back against the narrative that she received a helping hand in the industry due to her famous parents (seen with Kate in 2023)

In February, she scored the Breakout Artist Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival UK & IE Honours 2025 in London (seen)

'I dont know if its nature or nurture, but that girl is professional through and through, and Kate is professional through and through. Kate likes to have great fun but knows when shes got to be taken seriously, and Mia was the same: excellent fun.'

And it has clearly paid off, with Mia already having several award wins under her belt ahead of landing a coveted lead role in The Phoenician Scheme opposite acting titans like Benicio del Toro, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Benedict Cumberbatch.

In February, she scored the Breakout Artist Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival UK and won the same prize on Saturday at the Variety and Golden Globes Breakthrough Artists Party during Cannes Film Festival.

In her acceptance speech she shared a diary entry than she wrote 12 years ago, as a teenager, which read: 'Watching Moonrise Kingdom again, bloody love this film. Would love to work with Wes Anderson one day', and reflected: 'It sort of happened'.

It stands as an early sign she is following her mother's path, after Kate received her first Oscar nomination at just 20 years old for Sense and Sensibility.

She went on to receive a staggering seven nods in total, with a win for Best Actress in 2009 for The Reader, alongside five BAFTAs, two Emmys, five Golden Globes and a Grammy.

However, Kate herself has also insisted that Mia hasn't benefitted from having an award-winning actress and a film director as parents.

In 2021, the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind star claimed that by having a different surname to her, Mia's acting successes are all on her own merit.

In 2021, the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind star claimed that by having a different surname to her, Mia's acting successes are all on her own merit (pictured left in 2010 and Mia pictured right in 2023)

However, others have pointed out that Kate herself was brought up in a family of actors, with her father and both older and younger sisters all also being actors, as well as her maternal grandparents (pictured with father Roger and mother Sally in 2009)

Speaking on Lorraine, she said: 'Mia is 20 and acting. Shes away now in the Czech Republic about to start on a TV series over there. I think I knew it was coming, I always suspected. And then a few years ago she turned around and said, Id like to give it a go...

'Whats great for her is she has a different surname so she slipped under the radar and the people who cast her didnt know she was my daughter and that was important for her self-esteem of course'.

However, others have pointed out that Kate herself was brought up in a family of actors, with her father and both older and younger sisters all also being actors, as well as her maternal grandparents - who also ran the Reading Repertory Theatre Company.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2004, she said she inherited her hard working ethic from watching her family's efforts in the industry, explaining: 'I come from a family of hard-working actors who relish it when they do go to work and take part-time jobs in between.'

And before Mia's acting ambitions were made known, Kate told SBS News in 2014 that she had wanted her kids to explore lots of different career options, rather than follow in her footsteps.

She said: 'All I ever hope is that they [her children] find lots of things they can do that they love, because then someday theyll settle on one of them having experienced lots of other things along the way. Whereas, for me, I just loved acting. I loved it and still feel that way.'
Dani Behr was one of TV's most famous faces in the 90s and a regular in lads mags before swapping it all for a glamorous life in sun-soaked LA.

The gorgeous 54-year-old is best known for hosting iconic show's like The Word and Big Breakfast but made a huge change and embarked on a career as a estate license agent and now sells million dollar mansions to the rich and famous.

Dani lives in the celebrity-favourite suburb of Bel Air with her kids, where the likes of Kim Kardashian also own homes.

Her Instagram account features glossy snaps after setting up home in Tinseltown 20 years ago to raise her children Coco, 20, and Zane, 18, as a single mum.

Her glamorous life across the pond sees her travelling regularly on a private jet and cosying up to a mystery beau, as well as enjoying time with famous friends including influencer James Charles, 26.

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Dani Behr was one of TV's most famous faces in the 90s and a regular in lads mags before swapping it all for a glamorous life in sun-soaked LA

She is best known for hosting iconic show's like The Word and Big Breakfast for swapping it all for a a real estate license and selling million dollar mansions (pictured 1995)

Alongside real estate Dani runs her own TV production company with a friend, where she's revealed she has several real estate shows in development.

She's also a regular face on reality realtor show Million Dollar Listing LA and spent a two years presenting her own podcast The Behr Essentials about life in the city.

The stunner relocated to LA in the noughties, at first spending time jetting back and forth between the UK and US while she juggled TV work in both countries.

After stints living in Costa Rica and Australia, it was after her 2014 divorce from husband Carl Harwin, that she decided to settle in LA permanently with her two young children to allow her and her ex to co-parent from the same city.

And Dani explained that debt from her divorce and her TV work drying up led her to forge a new career in real estate.

The star had experience in the industry, with her dad working in real estate and her mum as an interior designer.

On her glossy website advertising her work, Dani states that her 'love for the business dates to when she was just 11yrs old, assisting her Father before and after school at his successful London R.E Brokerage'.

The star actually bought her first property at just 16 and continued her investments throughout her '90s TV years.

Dani lives in the celebrity-favourite suburb of Bel Air with her kids, where the likes of Kim Kardashian also own homes

Her glamorous life across the pond sees her travelling regularly on a private jet and cosying up to a mystery beau

Snaps show Dani and her beau flying via private jet to Las Vegas and New York, enjoying ski trips to Aspen and whale watching at the beach

Dani (L) regularly travels in style thanks to her million dollar career

Dani boasts billionaire Kim Kardashian (pictured) as a neighbour

Speaking on White Wine Question Time in 2020, she told Kate Thornton that she made the switch full time to real estate when her on screen work dried up around the time of her divorce.

'TV here [in America] had completely changed. There wasn't really a TV market for me anymore,' she revealed.

'They don't have careers as presenters out here, like back home. You're either a news journalist or a sportscaster or a late night comedian, those were the hosts of all the shows here and I didn't fit into any of those categories.

She continued: 'What else do I know how to do? I didn't go to college. So, I was like, "I know real estate" so I thought, "OK, I'll just get my license" so I studied. You have to study and do all these exams and get your license.

Dani admitted though that it's an equally tough business to TV, pointing out: 'I've jumped out the frying pan and into the fire - I went into another commission-only business.'

'Some years you do OK and others you're like, "What am I going to do?" - especially if the market dies here.'

She continued: 'If you do big here, you do big because the commissions are higher. Last year, I showed eight different buyers properties for nine months and they all decided not to buy in the end, so I worked for free essentially for nine months.

As well as enjoying time with famous friends including influencer James Charles, 26.

Alongside real estate Dani runs her own TV production company with a friend, where she's revealed she has several real estate shows in development

She moved to Tinseltown 20 years ago to raise her children Coco, 20, and Zane, 18, as a single mum following her divorce from husband Carl Harwin

Dani explained that debt from her divorce and her TV work drying up led her to forge a new career in real estate (pictured with the late Keith Chegwin (left) and Robbie Williams (centre) on The Big Breakfast in 1995)

'Then you can just work with one person, show them one day and they go, 'Let's buy it' and that's just one day's work. It's brutal, so that's why there's only like a handful of people that really survive in it.'

Dani has proved to be a huge success in her second career with her past sales listed on her website including a $7,900,000 five bed home in LA.

While her marriage to restaurateur Carl Harwin ended in divorce, Dani, who famously dated Ryan Giggs from 1994 to 1995, is now happily loved up with a new beau.

The unnamed love interest has featured on her Instagram, with Dani documenting their love of travel on her Instagram account.

The snaps show Dani and her beau flying via private jet to Las Vegas and New York, enjoying ski trips to Aspen and whale watching at the beach.

Back in 2022 Dani made an appearance on ITV's Lorraine as a showbiz correspondent from LA and viewers were stunned by her LA make over.

The stunner was sporting her trademark blonde hair and thick-rimmed glasses and a pink top as she filled in for Ross King.

Taking to X they wrote: 'Thats The Big Breakfasts Dani Behr?! I would never have recognised her other than her voice. #lorraine.'

Dani(L) interviewing Tommy Lee and then wife Pamela Anderson on The Word in 1994

Back in 2022 Dani (R) made an appearance on ITV Lorraine as a showbiz correspondent from LA and viewers were stunned by her LA make over (pictured with with host Christine Lampard)

'With many families facing poverty do we really need Dani Behr talking about million pound mansions ?? #lorraine.'

'That's Dani Behr. #Lorraine' along with some shocked face emojis.

'Dani Behr has had some work #lorraine #gmb #ITV.'

Dani also appeared on Lorraine back in 2020 and talked about her career in real estate.

Lorraine compared her career at the time to hit Netflix series Selling Sunset.

Dani said: 'The houses are the same and the locations are the same, but the drama is more with the clients, I don't know any officers who clash like that.

'The problem with real estate is it's a feast or famine industry, it's literally you make a commission or you get nothing.

'If you don't sell a house for a year, you don't get paid for a year.'
A Hollywood nepo baby strikes again!

Desperate to ditch the silver spoons from their veneer-filled mouths, these Tinseltown toddlers somehow end up being even more insufferable than their parents.

Take Violet Affleck, the daughter of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner.

Violet, 19, has decided to atone for the sin of being born to rich, beautiful parents by doing her best Greta Thunberg impression.

In a recent essay published in the Yale Global Health Review, Violet shared her half-baked musings about climate change and the LA wildfires.

I spent the January fires in Los Angeles arguing with my mother in a hotel room, Violet writes, noting that her mother was shell-shocked, astonished at the scale of destruction.

Violet Affleck, 19, has decided to atone for the sin of being born to rich, beautiful parents by doing her best Greta Thunberg impression. (Violet is pictured with her father Ben Affleck).

I spent the January fires in Los Angeles arguing with my mother in a hotel room, Violet writes, noting that her mother was shell-shocked, astonished at the scale of destruction. (Violet is pictured with her mother Jennifer Garner at the White House in 2022).

Violet, meanwhile, was filled with exactly the ennui you might expect from a privileged, woke Gen Zer.

In fact, Violet is downright smug. You see, she knew LA would burn because she believes in climate change.

My question had not been whether the Palisades would burn but when, Violet said.

California gets wildfires?! Gosh, call her Nostradamus.

Violet goes on to casually dismiss concerns about rebuilding, suggesting its far less important than addressing global warming.

As I chatted with adults in the hotel where wed gone to escape the smoke, though, I found my position to be an uncommon one: people spoke of how long rebuilding would take, how much it would cost, and how tragically odd the whole situation had been, Violet recalls.

Unsurprisingly, the adults  who were almost certainly paying for Violets stay in the assuredly luxurious hotel room  focused on the important, immediate and controllable things: like where everyone who was displaced by the fires is going to live.

Meanwhile, the arrogant first-year college student was clearly more interested in winning a political debate against her elders.

But why should housing be a concern for Violet? Shes never had to worry her pretty little head about the thread count in her sheets, never mind where the next meal is coming from or if she will have a roof over her head.

Privileged young people seem to think that going woke will make them appear sensitive to the needs of those less fortunate. In fact, it just proves how out of touch with the average American they are.

Of course, Violet is utterly oblivious to this.

The adults Violet complains about in her essay, who were probably paying for Violets stay in the assuredly luxurious hotel room, focused on the important, immediate and controllable things during the LA fires. (Pictured: Violet with Garner and younger siblings Fin and Samuel).

With a lack of self-awareness rivalled only by her worthiness, the pious teen warns that the climate crisis will soon be impossible for even societys most insulated to ignore. As if she werent wholeheartedly one of them.

And if wildfires are inevitable, as Violet claims, then perhaps it makes more sense to ask our local and state leaders to prepare accordingly.

But nowhere in her rambling essay does Violet address the woeful mismanagement of water and fire resources by California officials and how it directly contributed to the devastation wreaked by the January blazes.

Despite promising to overhaul Californias wildfire prevention programs, Gov. Gavin Newsom failed to meet goals in the number of acres treated with fuel breaks (strategically cleared areas designed to reduce wildfires spread) or prescribed burns (in which fire is literally fought with fire with the same goal).

In fact, the 2028 presidential hopeful overstated his prevention efforts by a whopping 690%, according to CapRadio and NPRs California Newsroom.

The teenager is similarly silent about her mothers conduct during the blazes.

Nowhere in her stroppy rant does she acknowledge that Garner didnt just sit in a hotel room, stuck in an endless argument with a teen she would have been forgiven for wanting to throttle.

She participated in efforts to help Los Angeles recovery. Among other things Garner volunteered at the World Central Kitchen.

So, while Violet was feverishly tapping out a polemic that amounts to little more than a tiresome, I told you so, her mother was actually helping - dishing out dinners to displaced Angelenos.

Maybe we shouldnt expect too much wisdom from Violet and her woke warblings.

Lets face it, this first year student at Davenport College, as shes described at the end of the essay, didnt get published for her searing insights.

Despite promising to overhaul Californias wildfire prevention programs, Gov. Gavin Newsom (pictured in the Pacific Palisades during the wildfires) failed to meet goals in the number of acres treated with fuel breaks or prescribed burns.

Nowhere in her stroppy teenage rant does she acknowledge that Garner didnt just sit in a hotel room. She participated in efforts to help Los Angeles recovery. Among other things Garner volunteered at the World Central Kitchen (pictured).

Her immature musings would never have seen the light of day if she werent the daughter of two Hollywood megastars.

But thanks to the lefts obsession with climate change, we have to hear the myopic reflections of someone unqualified to comment and completely missing the point.

Perhaps if Violet left her five-star hotel room with her wealthy comrades and spoke to the people she purports to represent  those who lost everything in the fire and dont have the resources to rebuild  shed have a more informed take.

Too bad shes at Yale where she wont learn a damn thing.

As things stand, Id give as much weight to Violets views on climate change as I would to her mothers advice on credit cards.
Hocus Pocus star Vinessa Shaw's marriage to Kristopher Gifford is ending after almost ten years.

Gifford filed for divorce on Thursday and the couple's date of separation was listed as October 24, 2023, meaning they kept the breakup a secret for for nearly two years.

Vinessa's ex, with whom she shares seven-year-old son Jake, cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split, according to TMZ.

He's seeking joint legal and physical custody of their child, and did not request spousal support.

The 48-year-old actress is known in part for her role as Allison Watts in the 1993 film Hocus Pocus, which featured Bette Middler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy.

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Hocus Pocus star Vinessa Shaw's marriage to Kristopher Gifford is ending after almost ten years

Gifford filed for divorce on Thursday and the couple's date of separation was listed as October 24, 2023, meaning they kept the breakup a secret for for nearly two years; pictured in 2015

The former couple started dating in 2007, got engaged in 2008, and were married in 2017.

In addition to Hocus Pocus, Vinessa starred in Ladybugs, Eyes Wide Shut, and Ray Donovan. Her most recent role was in Prime Video's 2024 Cruel Intentions reboot.

Before the dissolution of their marriage, she regularly appeared in her husband's Instagram photos.

The blonde beauty last appeared in one of his posts was July 2023, shortly before their date of separation.

They both practice Buddhism and less than a month after they broke up, on November 12, 2023, Kristopher shared a passage that read in part, 'Indulgence and indolence produce nothing creative. Complaints and evasions reflect a cowardly spirit.'

Shaw announced that they were expecting in August 2017, and shared news of their only child's birth in March 2018.

Posting a close-up black and white photo of her son's tiny hand in hers, she revealed that her baby was born on February 20, more than two weeks after her due date.

'After a long labor with many complications, Baby Jack was finally born two and a half weeks after his due date on 2.20.2018 weighing in at 9lbs 9oz!!!' she captioned.

The proud new mom added, 'Needless to say, we are overjoyed about our new little addition! He and I went through a lot, as the plans of having a natural birth were derailed.'

The actress, 48, is known in part for her role as Allison Watts in the 1993 film Hocus Pocus; seen with co-stars Omri Kats and Vinessa Shaw

The beloved film also famously featured Bette Middler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy

Vinessa's and Kristopher share seven-year-old son Jake

Gifford is seeking joint legal and physical custody of their child, and did not request spousal support

This year on Jake's birthday she posted two photos of her son, including one of her breastfeeding him as a newborn.

She wrote on Instagram, 'This boy is SEVEN today! Jack, Im so proud of the good human youre becoming: youre funny, smart, and kind. Im sorry that I laugh too much, its just youre too funny!

'Your perspective on life is astonishing. You drop words of wisdom and then follow it up with a very boyish joke most likely about poop. I cannot wait to see what you become.

'Thank you for coming into this world and making me happier and stronger. Even physically stronger! (Hence the pic of me holding you with arms super yolked!) I will continue to keep up with your deep questions and your rough housing! Please continue to possess that deep, honest and strong YOU that you are! I love you. Happy Birthday.'
For Margot Robbie, getting from Venice to London was never going to involve easyJet.

My spies spotted the Barbie star on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, where suites cost up to 13,500 and include an on-call butler. Before arriving in London, right, she dined on caviar and played board games in silk pyjamas. And in the bar, she twirled in delight in a long black evening dress, cocktail in hand, as Sinatra classics played. Thats the way to travel!

Eagle-eyed spies spotted a woman believed to be the iconic Barbie star, seen travelling in style on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, where suites cost up to 13,500 and include an on-call butler

Before arriving in London, right, she dined on caviar and played board games in silk pyjamas. And in the bar, she twirled in delight in a long black evening dress, cocktail in hand, as Sinatra classics played. Thats the way to travel!

Sister act to dye for

Do blondes have more fun? Model and socialite Jazzy de Lisser is about to find out. The 33-year-old has bleached her hair to match that of her younger sister, Lady Lola Bute. De Lisser, a natural brunette, enlisted the moral support of Vogues contributing beauty editor Tish Weinstock as she underwent her hair transformation.

The sisters, whose mother is designer Serena Bute, launched their own clothing line last year inspired by the vibrant fashion scene of 1990s and early 2000s London.

Model and socialite Jazzy de Lisser, 33 (right), has bleached her hair to match that of her younger sister, Lady Lola Bute (left)

What a busy bee you are Penny

Sir Rod Stewart may be playing Glastonbury but wife Penny, 54, has an announcement of her own. She is giving Meghans As Ever brand a run for its money  with a line of honey. Ive been producing a lot for the family, but now we are doing it for friends too, she said at the Chelsea Flower Show, where she was pictured.

The venture started with just a few hives at her Hertfordshire mansion.

Sir Rod Stewart's wife Penny Lancaster, 54, is giving Meghans As Ever brand a run for its money  with a line of honey. Ive been producing a lot for the family, but now we are doing it for friends too, she said at the Chelsea Flower Show (pictured)

Jolly Oli ditches the L-plates

News flash! Sienna Millers boyfriend, Oli Green, has passed his driving test. Posting with pride on social media, the 28-year-old actor and model, left with Miller, wrote: Im finally an independent. First time pass. The couple had a baby girl last year. Miller, 43, is also mother to Marlowe, 12, by actor Tom Sturridge. And no one is more enthused than Miller about her boyfriends test pass. She commented WOOHOOOO!! beneath the post. Welcome to adulthood, Oli!

Sienna Millers boyfriend, 43, Oli Green, has passed his driving test. Posting with pride on social media, the 28-year-old actor and model, left with Miller, wrote: Im finally an independent. First time pass. The couple (pictured) had a baby girl last year. Miller, 43

Is Lady Delphi Primrose ready to slum it? The socialite and model, 21, tells me at the alice + olivia store launch in Chelsea this week that shell be living in a flat with eight 18-year-olds from September when she starts studying architecture at Newcastle Uni, having previously dropped out of a history of art degree. If it all gets too much for the daughter of the Earl of Rosebery, she can hop on a train to nearby Durham where boyfriend, Dominic Inglis-Jones, a former beater at Belvoir Castle, studies.

The socialite and model Lady Delphi Primrose, 21, tells me shell be living in a flat with eight 18-year-olds from September when she starts studying architecture at Newcastle Uni, having previously dropped out of a history of art degree

Hot news from the Cannes Film Festival, where my spies overheard Hollywood insiders reveal that Basic Instinct star Sharon Stone is set to appear in a new movie alongside Kevin Spacey. Her role? A judge. His role? The devil.

Meanwhile, Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix took method acting to another level on the set of his Western film Eddington by limping like his Joker character Arthur Fleck when he introduced himself to the cast and crew.

He only broke the trait when he reintroduced himself to the cast and crew at the premiere in Cannes. What a perfectionist!
Legendary Australian musician Bob 'Bongo' Starkie has revealed heartbreaking details about his cancer battle.

The 72-year-old, who shot to fame as a member of chart-topping Melbourne band Skyhooks in the 1970s, was diagnosed with aggressive leukemia.

The shock news came as Bob's band were celebrating their seminal album Living In the 70's re-entering the ARIA top ten in January.

And now Bongo is set to return to the stage to perform after cancelling his scheduled gigs in February.

This is despite battling what he calls 'side health issues', including bleeding on the brain and leg clots.

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Legendary Australian musician Bob 'Bongo' Starkie has revealed heartbreaking details about his cancer battle

On top of receiving cancer therapy, Bob also had to endure an eye operation and a bout of sepsis which led to seven days in intensive care.

In an interview with the Herald Sun, the famed guitarist paid tribute to fans who donated a whopping $25,000 via GoFundMe to help him finance his medical care.

'It has been amazing because all these people have anonymously donated all this dough,' Bob said.

'It has taken a bit of the stress and pressure off and allowed me to get rid of my credit cards and reduce my debt and just get on with things.'

Bob hit the stage on Saturday for the Legends of Countdown show on the Gold Coast.

Meanwhile, Indiana, the musician's daughter, who set up Bob's GoFundMe page described her father's recent health journey as 'pretty scary'.

She told the publication that while her dad was hospitalised for weeks he got through the experience by watching Married at First Sight and the ABCs Hard Quiz.

'He needed to have a laugh, so we would watch Hard Quiz and MAFS with him', she said.

The 72-year-old, who shot to fame as a member of chart-topping Melbourne band Skyhooks in the 1970s, was diagnosed with aggressive leukemia

It comes after Bob took to Facebook in March to reveal that his prognosis was good.

He shared a photo that showed him standing wth his daughter Indiana and fellow Aussie music legend Wilbur Wilde.

Captioning the happy snap, Bob was pleased to reveal that he is currently in remission.

'Im heading home from hospital,' Bob wrote in the post.

'Its been six weeks and a bit of a wild ride. But my blood counts are good and the Leukemia is in remission. Still a way to go.'

Skyhooks exploded onto the Aussie pop charts with their seminal 1974 debut album Living In The 70's.

The band were known for their flamboyant costumes and makeup and their lyrics which often referenced Australian places and culture.

Never a band that was afraid to court controversy, six of the album's ten tracks were banned from radio due to questionable lyric content.

Bob told the Herald Sun on Saturday that he was ready to return to the stage after battling 'side health issues' beside his cancer including sepsis, blood clots and bleeding on the brain. Pictured: Bob (centre) with his daughter Indiana and Wilbur Wilde

Despite this, the track You only Like Me Cos I'm Good In Bed was the first song played by your station Double J (later Triple J) when it debuted in January 1975.

The album went on to spend 16 weeks at the top of the Australian charts, becoming the highest-selling album by a home grown act at the time.

In 2011, the iconic album was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry.

The band went on to release four more studio albums, including 1975's Ego Is Not A Dirty Word and 1976's Straight in A Gay Gay World.

Bob's diagnosis comes after his brother Peter, also a member of Skyhooks, died in 2020 after falling off a ladder at his home in Victoria.
PR queen Roxy Jacenko has opened up about the cringeworthy moment in 2017 when she was caught on camera kissing her ex while her husband Oliver Curtis was serving prison time for insider trading.

The photos showed the 45-year-old embracing her former boyfriend, millionaire property developer Nabil Gazal, at a post dinner party at his luxury apartment.

Describing the embarrassing moment as 'stupid', Roxy said the incident led her to a personal 'reinvention'.

'I look back now, it was a hard time,' Roxy said in an interview with Sydney Confidential on Sunday.

'Oli was obviously going through what went on with him legally. I had cancer. And I did something really stupid and I will never forget it.

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Roxy Jacenko has opened up about the moment she was caught on camera kissing her ex while her husband Oliver Curtis was serving prison time for insider trading

The headlining making photos show Roxy embracing former boyfriend Nabil Gazal at a post dinner party at his luxury apartment. Pictured Roxy and husband Oliver

'But at the end of the day, what I think the important thing is  is how you reinvigorate and reinvent yourself after that. I mean, I am the queen of reinvention really.

'No matter how hard it gets, I get myself up and I keep going.'

Elsewhere in the chat, Roxy put down rumours that she has split from her husband after 13 years of marriage.

'Oli is my best friend,' she said. 'He is a good guy. He is very good with the children. Much better than me. I am not hands on, he is very hands on.

'We have been through the lowest lows, there is no doubt about it. Does he irritate me beyond comprehension  yes. But at the same time, he is a really good guy.'

Speculation that the couple have separated rose after Roxy moved back to Australia from Curtis' home-base in Singapore at the end of 2024.

Roxy is believed to be spending one week a month in Sydney.

Her notorious kiss in 2017 with her ex left the spin queen with a raft of embarrassing headlines.

Roxy has also put down rumours that she has split from her husband after 13 years of marriage

According to a photographer who witnessed the moment, Roxy and Nabil were not concerned at hiding any affection.

Fellow revellers inside the apartment could be seen looking on as the pair leant in to kiss.

Roxy declined to comment on the pictures when contacted by Daily Mail Australia at the time.

Nabil has been described as one of Roxy's more 'serious' past boyfriends, and the pair dated until 2010. However, little is known about their relationship prior to the split.

Meanwhile, Oliver and Roxy married in 2012, and are parents to daughter Pixie, 13, and son, Hunter, 10.
Richard Gere gave a rare glimpse of his youngest sons as he posed for a sweet snap along with wife Alejandra Silva on Friday.

The Pretty Woman actor, 75 - who recently moved to his wife's home country of Spain - could be seen posing outside with his family while also promoting the non-profit organization Open Arms.

The star tied the knot with the Spanish activist in 2018, and the couple share sons Alexander, six, and James, five.

Gere donned matching gray hoodies with Silva and their two sons - who had their backs turned towards the camera to show off the back of the sweatshirts.

In the caption of the post, Richard penned: 'This whole family is a proud supporter of @openarms_fund and their mission to save lives.  @alejandragere.'

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Richard Gere, 75, gave a rare glimpse of his youngest sons as he posed for a sweet snap along with wife Alejandra Silva shared on Friday; seen in April in NYC

The Pretty Woman actor could be seen posing outside with his family while also promoting the non-profit organization Open Arms

The Open Arms Foundation 'provides a home away from home at no cost for those who must travel to receive medical treatment,' per the official website.

Richard has been involved with the charity for years and back in 2019, was seen on an Open Arms rescue vessel on the Mediterranean Sea.

He helped bring supplies to the 121 migrants on board who at the time, had fled war-torn Libya.

During a past interview with The Guardian, Gere reflected on his decision to go onto the boat and offer his assistance.

'I'm inspired by Open Arms. I'm deeply committed to their point of view of the universe,' he told the outlet.

'They're dealing up close with these people, and that's where you want to get your information. [] They said it was deeply serious, not only to them, but to other rescue boats as well.'

The star continued, 'And that's when I made a very quick decision. I said: "Look, I gotta see this for myself." I jumped in a car and arrived at the Rome airport in literally five minutes.'

Gere's latest post comes not long after the star officially moved to Spain with his wife Alejandra and their children.

Richard has been involved with the charity for years and back in 2019, was seen on an Open Arms rescue vessel on the Mediterranean Sea (seen above)

Gere's latest post comes not long after the star officially moved to Spain with his wife Alejandra and their children

The Primal Fear actor is also father to son Homer, 25, whom he shares with ex-wife Carey Lowell. Silva has another son named Albert, 12, from a previous relationship.

While talking to Elle Espana earlier this year in January, Richard and Alejandra opened up about the big move.

'The truth is that you are seeing us in our momentum. We are happier than ever,' the Hollywood star expressed.

Silva also gushed, 'We are like soulmates. We have the same values, we see the world in the same way and from the first moment we felt like we have known each other for a long time. And this only happens once, if it happens at all.'

In regards to how they have all settled in Spain with their children, Alejandra stated, 'Richard is a very devoted and present father. He loves to read them stories.

'It seems like an idyllic photo, but it's true. He's a great dad. He doesn't cook. I do it, but when I cook, he plays the guitar.'

Late last year in November, Gere explained why he and his family have chosen to relocate to his wife's home country while on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.

'My wife is Spanish and she gave me about seven years here, so we're going to spend some years in Madrid with her family.'

'The truth is that you are seeing us in our momentum. We are happier than ever,' the Hollywood star expressed; couple seen in 2024 in Zurich

The star also told the late night talk show host, 'Our kids are bilingual, so they're going to flourish there.'

A few months earlier in March, Silva paid a special tribute to Richard as he celebrated his first 'Spanish Father's Day.'

She uploaded a sweet photo as the actor talked to their three youngest kids and added the caption: 'Happy 1st Spanish Father's day to the best dad of the world.'

However, last month in April - it was revealed that the couple and their children have plans to still return to the U.S.

Alejandra shared the big news while exclusively talking to DailyMail.com at the City Harvests Presents The 2025 Gala.

'For a few years [we'll live in Spain], and then come back. But we're always coming back.'

The activist added, 'We'll come back here in the summer because we have the kids at camp. We just have to balance our lives there and here.

A few months earlier in March, Silva paid a special tribute to Richard as he celebrated his first 'Spanish Father's Day'

Gere also still has projects under his belt such as the upcoming romantic comedy titled The Making Of; seen in February in Spain

'I'm with my family ... I missed them a lot. But I miss the U.S. So we come back and forth.'

Gere also still has projects under his belt such as the upcoming romantic comedy titled The Making Of.

The film - which is still in its pre-production stages - additionally stars Blake Lively, Diane Keaton and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The premise is: 'Long-married filmmakers have cast overemotional actors to portray their younger selves in the story of their great love. Unfortunately, by the time shooting begins, their fabled marriage is unraveling,' per IMDB.
Samantha Harris is pregnant with her first child.

The Australian model, 34, took to Instagram on Sunday to share a picture of an ultrasound, revealing that she is pregnant with her first baby.

'Life Lately,' she captioned the post, while tagging her husband of eleven years Luke Hunt.

The post, which has garnered over 2,600 likes, did not reveal the gender nor when the baby is due.

Fans and friends flooded the comments section of the post with support for the Aussie supermodel.

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Samantha Harris is expecting her first child with her husband of eleven years Luke Hunt. Both pictured

The Australian model, 34, took to Instagram on Sunday to share a picture of an ultrasound

'Congratulations gorgeous,' Australia's Next Top Model alum Simone Holtznagel wrote, accompanied with a love heart.

Fitness guru and podcast host Steph Claire Smith simply wrote, 'Congratulations,' as did model Jess King.

Model and actress Megan Gale penned, 'Congratulations Sammy.'

Samantha's hubby also left a comment in response to her caption, writing: 'And the rest of our lives to come'.

That model made headlines in 2014 when she famously stuck by her beau's side after he was sentenced to four years in prison.

Luke served two years behind bars for the death of a grandfather following a fatal car crash in 2012.

Sam secretly married Luke in 2014, two months before he began serving his prison sentence for his involvement in the crash that caused the death of 78-year-old grandfather Kenneth Lay.

News that the couple had married wasn't revealed until April 2016, after her husband had finished serving his prison term.

That model made headlines in 2014 when she famously stuck by her beau's side after he was sentenced to four years in prison

The former Dancing With The Stars contestant, whose mother is Aboriginal and father is German-English, has been modelling since she was 13 years of age after winning the Girlfriend Magazine Covergirl competition.

However, despite her success, Samantha has admitted in the past that she lacked mentors and opportunities during her childhood.

The 6ft model, who hails from Tweed Heads, told The Daily Telegraph: 'When I was growing up, support and education for Aboriginal kids was limited and for my mother before me it was even more so.'

'This is why I have made it my goal to commit as much time and effort to changing this for future generations,' she added.

It comes after Samantha previously took aim at a journalist for questioning if she was pregnant during a live TV cross.

'So I'm not one to usually write a post like this but this has just really rubbed me up the wrong way today,' she fumed in an Instagram post hours after the incident.

The catwalk queen explained that she was preparing to film a segment for Sunrise when her agent began talking to a journalist about her over the phone.

'I overheard the conversation asking if I'm pregnant because there's been rumours getting around for a while now that I am,' she explained.

'Needless to say I was not impressed,' she raged, adding that she found the question 'so rude'.

'Seriously, where do rumours like that come from? What are they implying? Are they trying to say I've gained weight or something??' the star continued.

'If and when I do fall pregnant it will be up to myself and my husband to whom we share that information with and if we let media know at all,' she declared.
Lila Moss is Vogue Australia's new June cover girl.

The model, who is a mirror image of her famous mum, supermodel Kate Moss, fronted the iconic publication in an array of trend-setting looks while rocking a notably Twiggy-inspired makeup look.

The 22-year-old graced the Vogue cover wearing an impressive Tiffany & Co. Schlumberger diamond necklace worth $500,000, along with a Dilara Findikoglu feathered frock.

Her freckles were on full display as she opted for an natural makeup look, while adding a pop of drama with her heavily mascaraed lash-line.

She channelled her mum in the Vogue photoshoot as she wore her blonde tresses in a messy do that fell across her shoulders.

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Lila Moss (pictured) is Vogue Australia's new June cover girl

The model, who is a mirror image of her famous mum, supermodel Kate Moss, fronted the iconic publication in an array of trend-setting looks while rocking a notably Twiggy-inspired makeup look

She channelled her mum in the Vogue photoshoot as she wore her blonde tresses in a messy do that fell across her shoulders

In one image, the blonde bombshell pouted as she wore an oversized Givenchy coat in a white hue, paired with black leather gloves.

Another photo showed Lila in a ballerina-esque Alexander McQueen dress, completed with feathers, gems and tulle, and corseted to show off the model's tiny waist.

Lila not only looks like her famous supermodel mother, it seems she dresses like her too.

Speaking to Vogue Australia, Lila revealed that she often steals things from her mum's wardrobe - as does any child.

'It is fun to go through a closet and find things you never really wear and put looks together,' she said.

Lila added: 'Sometimes I'll find something in the countryside, in my mum's wardrobe  borrowing a T-shirt  then I'll see something, and say, "Wait, can I borrow that for Glastonbury?" months in advance.'

The young model has previously admitted to walking in her mum's footsteps when it comes to her fashion choices.

From ballet pumps and waistcoats to biker jackets and transparent slip dresses, she has recreated almost every iconic Kate Moss look there is.

Speaking to Vogue Australia, Lila revealed that she often steals things from her mum's wardrobe. Pictured with mother Kate Moss

'It is fun to go through a closet and find things you never really wear and put looks together,' she said. Pictured together in January 2024

'I copy her outfits consistently,' Lila admitted in a magazine interview in 2023. '[Although] I steal mostly her bags. I can't steal her shoes, which is devastating. She's a size six. I'm a size five.'

An ever-increasing number of photographs of Lila show that it's more than her mum's handbags she's inspired by.

For last year's British Fashion Awards, she commissioned designer Nensi Dojaka to create a dress that was eerily reminiscent of her mother's infamous bias-cut Liza Bruce slip dress from 1993.

While at New York Fashion Week, she stepped out in a near-identical Saint Laurent blazer and low-cut silk top Kate had worn two years before.

Lila has been making moves in the fashion world and walked the runway at Paris Fashion Week for for Vivienne Westwood last year.

It was a successful year for Lila after she fronted campaigns for the likes of Pepe Jeans - an international denim brand based on Portobello Road in Notting Hill - which happens to be the model's favourite hangout spot.

She also starred in a campaign for the French brand Maje last year and is currently gracing the front rows of exclusive shows such as Yves Saint Laurent for Paris Fashion Week alongside her mother.

After being signed to her mother's Kate Moss Agency when she was just 15, Lila became the face of Marc Jacobs Beauty in 2018.

Lila added: 'Sometimes I'll find something in the countryside, in my mum's wardrobe  borrowing a T-shirt  then I'll see something, and say, "Wait, can I borrow that for Glastonbury?"' months in advance.' Lila is pictured at Glastonbury Music Festival in 2024

Another of Lila's looks at Glastonbury Music Festival

Kate shares Lila with her ex, CEO of Dazed Media Jefferson Hack, who she dated between 2001 and 2004. Pictured together in 2001

She went on to make her runway debut for the Italian fashion house Miu Miu in 2020, became an ambassador for YSL and made headlines when she walked the pink carpet for Victoria's Secret World Tour .

The stunner has been hit with her fair share of nepotism accusations - the most recent being when she appeared in Edward Enninful's edition of Vogue called Legendary alongside the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Victoria Beckham.

In 2021, when Lila was 19, she became the director of Grace Grove Ltd - the name of the company is a nod to The Grove, her family home in North London, which Kate sold in 2021.

Kate shares Lila with her ex, CEO of Dazed Media Jefferson Hack, who she dated between 2001 and 2004.
Kristin Davis has revealed that there's a possibility that one of Sex and the City's most beloved ex-husbands could be making a comeback.

The 60-year-old was quizzed on what characters she'd like to see appear on the spin off of the iconic 1990s and noughties series, And Just Like That, by Stellar Magazine this week.

The actress was quick to name Kyle MacLachlan, who played Trey MacDougal, the husband - and later ex-husband - of her character, Charlotte York.

MacLachlan, 66, appeared on Sex And The City between 2000 and 2002.

'I feel like there could be many scenarios where [Trey's return] could work' Kristin explained.

'I feel like in New York, you do run into people from your past pretty frequently.'

Kristin Davis (pictured) has revealed that there's a possibility that one of Sex and the City's most beloved ex-husbands could be making a comeback

The 60-year-old was quizzed on what characters she'd like to see appear on the spin off of the iconic 1990s and noughties series, And Just Like That. She named Kyle MacLachlan, who played Trey MacDougal (pictured), the husband of her character, Charlotte York

She added: 'It would totally make sense that Trey and Charlotte would be at the same events or at the same restaurants.

'I don't know if that would be enough for them to explore their relationship but it would be fun to do it, if we could'.

Trey and Charlotte had an unhappy marriage, leading to a tense divorce - but through that process, Charlotte met her soulmate, lawyer Harry Goldenblatt, played by Evan Handler, who became her second husband.

Handler continues to appear in the spin off And Just Like That as well as starring in both Sex And The City films.

The is however one storyline from Sex and the City that Kristen couldn't stand - and even tried to get out of filming it.

Davis recalled the plotline during a recent episode of her podcast Are You a Charlotte?

She explained that during the sixth season of the show, the script called for York and her on screen husband Handler to come down with a bout of bad food poisoning.

The pair were supposed to be out at a fancy dinner, enjoying dishes like French cheese, only for the both of them to then get hit with food poisoning and end up on the toilet.

'I feel like there could be many scenarios where [Trey's return] could work' Kristin explained. 'I don't know if that would be enough for them to explore their relationship but it would be fun to do it, if we could'

Trey and Charlotte had an unhappy marriage, leading to a tense divorce - but through that process, Charlotte met her soulmate, lawyer Harry Goldenblatt, played by Evan Handler (left), who became her second husband.

'I just hated that storyline so much,' Davis admitted on the podcast.

Davis disliked it so much that she even went to the episode's writers, Elisa Zuritsky and Julia Rottenberg, and questioned why they had to do this.

'They were like, "It's so funny"' Davis remembered.

'I think it was based on a story where someone went to France and had a similar experience with their decadent cheeses, which we're not used to here,' she continued.

'I didn't like that. I didn't want to lay on the floor of the bathroom with Evan in stained T-shirts. Ick.'

However, the two ended up acting out the scene, and it made the cut on the 14th episode of season six.

Sex and The City ended that season in 2004, but was revived in 2021 as the ladies returned for a spinoff, called And Just Like That, about life in their 50s.

The spinoff stars Sarah Jessica Parker Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, Kristin Davis as Charlotte York, and Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes.

Sex and The City ended that season in 2004, but was revived in 2021 as the ladies returned for a spinoff, called And Just Like That, about life in their 50s. Season three is coming this year. the Cast of And Just Like That is pictured

Samantha Jones, who was played by Kim Cattrall in the original series, did not participate in the revival.

However, it looks like there will be some new characters for fans to look forward to meeting this year, as And Just Like That is set to premiere its third season on HBO sometime this year.

During an on-stage talk at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia late last year, Parker teased some new additions to the cast.

'There is growth with new faces,' Parker said, per Variety.

'Carrie has a wonderful storyline,' she continued.

'The story takes some big swings and we fold some big ideas into those big swings. Some of the male characters are back, and there are some new men.'

She also shared that the third season took over seven months to shoot and involved 'crazy long hours.'

'It feels really big, really robust and exciting,' Parker shared.
The brotherhood between the cities of Lachin and Irpen in Azerbaijan exemplifies cooperation between the regions of our countries, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said this at a joint press conference with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Yermak on May 25, Azernews reports.

Touching on economic cooperation between the two countries, the minister emphasized that the Azerbaijan-Ukraine Business Forum and other projects could provide a significant boost to relations in this area.
Australia is certainly known for it's dangerous critters.

And actress Ana de Armas got up and lose and personal with some of the locals while filming the Ron Howard-directed thriller Eden in Queensland last year.

The tropical area is known for an array of creepy crawlies and wild beasts - among them several breeds of venomous snakes.

The Gold Coast set doubled for the Galapagos Islands, and the 37-year-old said there was a full time snake catcher on staff to catch unwelcome guests who frequently slithered onto the set.

'I remember at random times on set, people just screaming, "Snake!" and everyone running' the Ballerina star Stellar Magazine.

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Actress Ana de Armas (pictured) got up and lose and personal with some of the locals while filming the Ron Howard-directed thriller Eden in Queensland last year

'Stopping the take right away  whatever was happening, whoever was talking  we literally dropped everything and ran away, waiting for the guy to come with the stick and take the snake out.'

All was well that ended well, Ana joked, adding, 'But I think we were fine... no accidents happened!'

Ron Howard's Eden thriller stars likes of Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney and de Armas, who plays a married Austrian Baroness who turns up on the archipelago with two boyfriends.

Eden tells the stranger-than-fiction true story of lust and murder in a community of unusual folks living on The Galapagos Islands in the 1930s.

In real life, Dr Friedrich Ritter (played by Jude) and his lover Dore Strauch (Kirby) arrived on the southern, tropical island of Floreana, a former penal colony, in 1929.

They were determined to live according to philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's guide - embracing vegetarianism and physical labour - despite the unforgiving rocky, lava-encrusted environment, where fresh water was scarce.

The couple first met as Dore, then just 26, received treatment for multiple sclerosis at the Hydrotherapeutic Institute in Berlin.

With Friedrich understanding the mental stress behind her physical pain, the two quickly fell in love but were both married to other people, explained Eden Undone (2024) by author Abbott Kahler, via The Daily Mail.

The Gold Coast set doubled for the Galapagos Islands, and the 37-year-old said there was a full time snake catcher on staff to catch unwelcome guests who frequently slithered onto the set. Pictured in a scene from the film

'I remember at random times on set, people just screaming, "Snake!" and everyone running' the Ballerina star Stellar Magazine. Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby are pictured in Eden

To solve this problem, Dore came up with a brazen scheme whereby she persuaded Friedrich's wife to move in with her own husband, leaving the doctor and his younger lover free to be with one another.

But their romantic fairytale was less suburban life and more living on an uninhabited island, growing their own food, with no need for company or even clothes.

It comes after Ana seemingly gave some insight into her decision to keep tight-lipped on her new romance with Tom Cruise, during an interview with ELLE Spain.

The Blonde actress has been rumoured to be dating the Hollywood legend, 62, for months, but neither has publicly confirmed their relationship status.

When quizzed about the scrutiny into her private life, Ana admitted that she's grown more accustomed to dealing with it and accepted it came as part of the price of fame.

Alluding to her apparent determination not to confirm her and Tom's relationship status, she explained she's learned how important it is for her to have a separation between her 'public persona' and private life.

She said: 'Over the years, you get more used to it. You learn to find your corners, your privacy, your way of doing things, your lifestyle...

'I'm one of those who think there should be external boundaries, a barrier that's quite visible to others and to oneself.

It comes after Ana seemingly gave some insight into her decision to keep tight-lipped on her new romance with Tom Cruise (pictured)

'Making it clear, "This is as far as I go with my work, my public persona, what's expected of me, and what I want to share with viewers and fans." That's wonderful, and I want to do it.

'You can't let the negative side of fame upset you, because then you won't enjoy the beautiful aspects, but it's essential to separate.

'We're all people and we need that privacy, consideration, and space.

'It seems incredible to have to say it, but we've forgotten that minimum of respect for others. Sometimes we have to make an abrupt stop so others are aware of your reality, but, well, I find my way. When I want to disappear from the map, I do'.

However, Ana also admitted that the public criticism she's received over some of her past relationships has 'hurt me at times'.
Sylvia Jeffreys and Lisa Wilkinson have for years been an the centre of rumours there was a 'feud' between the two former Today show co-stars.

Both women have repeatedly denied the claims over the years, with Sylvia this week insisting she has no idea where the stories came from and she closed the chapter on the chatter once and for all.

'It's wild to me, but if anyone understands why it happens, then give us a holler. Because we would love to know' the A Current Affair host told Stellar Magazine.

The 39-year-old says she's a big believer in women holding each other up in the television industry.

'I'd love all women to support women, but I think we're being too optimistic to expect it, right? Is that a realistic thing? Because you can't just say all women will support all women' she said.

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Sylvia Jeffreys and Lisa Wilkinson have for years been an the centre of rumours there was a 'feud' between the two former Today show co-stars. Both pictured

'But I've been the beneficiary of women who've supported [me] and I've been so fortunate to have that experience.

'Most of them are among my closest friends as well, right across the media landscape.'

Lisa has also previously slammed reports she was feuding with Sylvia.

The former The Project star took to social media to address the allegations published by the Sydney Morning Herald back in 2016, which suggested the pair 'barely speak off camera'.

'As you all know @sylviajeffreys and I are great mates and love working together,' Wilkinson posted to Instagram alongside an image of herself and the blonde beauty.

Her statement continued: 'But for some bizarre reason, a journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald decided to report on supposed 'rumours of a rift' between us...

'So let me tell you here what I told him - and I quote - 'complete bull***t!'

'And when I suggested that the source that contacted him with this 'rumour' could be someone not happy with @thetodayshow now being the Number One breakfast show in the country, he agreed. But it was printed anyway.'

Both women have repeatedly denied the claims over the years, with Sylvia this week insisting she has no idea where the stories came from and she closed the chapter on the chatter once and for all

'It's wild to me, but if anyone understands why it happens, then give us a holler. Because we would love to know' the A Current Affair host said. Pictured with Peter Stefanovic

The posted continued: 'Sylvia and I couldn't enjoy working together, be more supportive, or respect each other more.

'THAT, in fact, should be the headline! But obviously that sort of good news - or the crazy idea of women supporting women - doesn't sell newspapers these days. #girlpower.'

Jeffreys quickly shared the words published by her co-host to X, previously known as Twitter, adding: 'And that is why I love working with @lisa_wilkinson.

'Nailed it. See you bright and early'.

At the time the Sydney Morning Herald's Saturday Private Sydney column reported that there had been 'rumours that their relationship had cooled off dramatically, to the point where the women barely spoke off camera', though Channel Nine was quick to deny that was the case.

A Channel Nine spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia 'they were rumours and based on no truth'.

A source close to Wilkinson and Jeffreys also denied such a 'professional rift' exists between the show's main co-host and newsreader.

Explaining they are 'good friends', one source told The Sydney Morning Herald that 'Sylvia sees Lisa as a great supporter and mentor, and Sylvia has nothing but the upmost (sic) respect for Lisa'.
Hattie Dynevor has revealed that her sister Phoebe is her 'biggest inspiration' as she gushed over her famous family.

The Waterloo Road star, 21, is the younger sister of Bridgerton star Phoebe, 30, and the daughter of Coronation Street actress Sally, 61.

She has followed in the footsteps of her family in recent years, making her own venture into acting playing Libby Guthrie in BBC's Waterloo Road.

And speaking to MailOnline at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Liverpool on Saturday, Hattie admitted that her big sister is her 'biggest inspiration'.

'They [her mum and sister] have been so supportive, we're a very supportive family,' she said. 'We're all really close as well which is so lovely. My sister is obviously my biggest inspiration and we went to Paris Fashion Week together.

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Hattie Dynevor has revealed that her sister Phoebe is her 'biggest inspiration' as she gushed over her famous family to MailOnline in Liverpool on Saturday (Seen in March)

The Waterloo Road star, 21, is the younger sister of Bridgerton star Phoebe, 30, and the daughter of Coronation Street actress Sally, 61 (Hattie and Phoebe seen in 2023)

'That was amazing. It was so incredible just to watch her, and yeah we had the best time.'

Hattie went on to dish the dirt on meeting a huge Hollywood star while at Paris Fashion Week.

'I met Emma Stone in Paris and she was so lovely,' she said. 'It was amazing to meet her.'

Hattie was born in the Trafford area of Greater Manchester and arrived into a home focused on the small screen, giving her the perfect platform to crack the industry.

She entered the public consciousness with an appearance on Lorraine alongside her father Tim in 2019 and an interview with OK! sitting beside her mother Sally, before landing her breakthrough role in Waterloo Road in April 2023.

She is well known for her role as history teacher Neil Guthrie's daughter in the classic show, entering the fray two years ago for the 13th series.

Hattie made such an impact on the school drama that she returned to play Libby in the 14th season last year.

The star also made an appearance in an episode of the ITV series Drama Queens alongside her mother Sally.

Speaking to MailOnline at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Liverpool on Saturday, Hattie admitted that her big sister is her 'biggest inspiration'

'We're all really close as well which is so lovely,' Hattie said. 'My sister is obviously my biggest inspiration and we went to Paris Fashion Week together'

Hattie was born in the Trafford area of Greater Manchester and arrived into a home focused on the small screen, giving her the perfect platform to crack the industry (Seen in February)

She has been making waves at various TV galas of late, oozing sophistication in the pink lace corseted dress at the RTS event in Manchester in November.

Waterloo Road, about a troubled comprehensive school set in Rochdale, Lancashire, helped put her sister Phoebe, 30, on the map 16 years ago when she secured the role of Siobhan Mailey.

She followed up the breakthrough with a supporting role in BBC drama Prisoners' Wives as the character Lauren, who is the daughter of a gangster.

Older sister Phoebe also impressed as Martha Cratchit in BBC series Dickensian and played Clare, Josh's Irish fiancee, in the comedy show Younger in 2017.

But her career-defining moment came in 2020 when she was cast as Daphne Bridgerton, the lead character in the opening season of Netflix's period drama Bridgerton.

She has followed in the footsteps of her family in recent years, making her own venture into acting playing Libby Guthrie in BBC's Waterloo Road (Pictured)

Hattie was seen in an interview with OK! sitting beside her mother Sally (Pictured together), before landing her breakthrough role in Waterloo Road in April 2023

She appeared again, albeit in a much smaller role, in season two, but was completely absent in season three - which she and fans lamented.

This triggered a wave of opportunities in the world of film and Phoebe played ceramicist Clarice Cliff in The Colour Room in 2021 before starring in the Bank Of Dave in 2023 alongside Rory Kinnear.

She then acted opposite Alden Ehrenreich in the thriller Fair Play which received widespread critical acclaim.

These roles have led her to hobnob with the great and the good of American show-business and Phoebe, who recently covered Porter magazine, made a fashion-forward appearance at a screening for her new film Inheritance in New York City.
A hunky 6'5 personal trainer is the first Love Island star to sign up for the the hotly-anticipated new summer series.

Londoner Aaron Buckett is rumoured to have been snapped up by ITV bosses to turn heads in the villa either as part of the 'opening line-up or as a tempting bombshell'.

The gym enthusiast already boasts thousands of followers on both his TikTok and Instagram pages, where he regularly shares clips of his gruelling workouts.

A villa source told The Sun: 'It's a fact of life that girls go crazy for a tall lad and Aaron is a man mountain.

'He's got great chat too.

'Aaron is in the mix for this year's cast but execs are still finalising whether he'll be in the opening line-up or as a tempting bombshell.'

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A hunky 6'5 personal trainer is the first Love Island star to sign up for the the hotly-anticipated new summer series

Londoner Aaron Buckett is rumoured to have been snapped up by ITV bosses to turn heads in the villa either as part of the 'opening line-up or as a tempting bombshell'

Aaron is the very first bombshell to be rumoured ahead of the new summer season - which was just announced on Monday by host Maya Jama.

The presenter, 30, gave an update which confirmed the dating show's return and sent fans wild.

A short clip, shared to Instagram, revealed Love Island would be back on screens with a new series very soon.

The video showed a letter being printed, which read: 'Attention: Love Island is coming soon. Attendance mandatory. Signed, CEO of love, Maya x'

The official Love Island account captioned the update: '100% our type on paper.'

Rushing to the comments section, fans shared their excitement and wrote: 'We will be seated!!'

Others added: 'Yes I am very excited to watch Love Island this year'; 'Lets get this party started'; 'My favourite time of year!'

Elsewhere, Love Island has confirmed exactly which show legends will be returning for its hotly-anticipated 10-year special.

'Aaron is in the mix for this year's cast but execs are still finalising whether he'll be in the opening line-up or as a tempting bombshell,' a source told The Sun

Maya Jama made a huge Love Island announcement on Monday ahead of the new series

It was revealed last month that the ITV dating show is commemorating its 10th anniversary by welcoming back a whole host of its biggest stars.

The one-off special, titled Love Island: A Decade of Love, will take on a 'Gogglebox style format' as the Islanders will revisit the show's most iconic moments.

Airing in June, the episode will feature exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes insights as fans are given the chance to catch up with some of their favourite stars.

And now, ITV has revealed exactly which Islanders will be back on screens with Dani Dyer, Curtis Pritchard and lovebirds Liam Reardon and Millie Court all set to return.

Georgia Steel will no doubt revisit her iconic 'I'm loyal' catchphrase as she will make a comeback alongside series two winners Cara De La Hoyde-Massey and Nathan Massey.

The show's other successful couples Kai Fagan and Sanam Harrinanan and Indiyah Polack and Dami Hope will also be back to give fans an update on their love stories.

Gabby Allen, who recently split from her All Stars boyfriend Casey O'Gorman, is also returning once again alongside the likes of Hannah Elizabeth, Anton Danyluk, Whitney Adebayo and Catherine Agbaje.

Lastly, Montana Brown - who welcomed her second child with fiance Mark O'Connor at the start of the year - will also be gracing screens again.

The presenter, 30, gave an update which confirmed the dating show's return and sent fans wild

A short clip, shared to Instagram, revealed Love Island would be back on screens with a new series very soon

Elsewhere, Love Island has confirmed exactly which show legends will be returning for its hotly-anticipated 10-year special. Liam Reardon and Millie Court are both set to be on the show

Gabby Allen, who recently split from her All Stars boyfriend Casey O'Gorman (pictured), is also returning once again

Creative Director Mike Spencer said of the special: 'We've had an incredible ten years of love, drama and unforgettable moments in the villa - now it's time to look back and celebrate the icons who made it all happen.

'Expect big laughs and plenty of heart as we revisit a decade of Love Island magic.'

While Paul Mortimer, Head of Reality, added: 'Love Island has become a true phenomenon over the past decade, delivering must-see TV moments every summer.

'This special offers viewers a chance to relive some of the show's most iconic moments with the Islanders who made them so memorable.'

The special will air on ITV2 and ITVX ahead of the brand new summer series, which returns to Majorca this June.

Love Island originally began in 2005 and aired for two series with celebrity contestants, before launching properly with a civilian version in 2015.
Kylie Jenner partied with her sisters Kendall Jenner and Khloe Kardashian at the launch of her latest Khy collaboration.

The party was to celebrate the collaboration with London fashion designer Dilara Findikoglu.

Kylie's family and friends stepped out to support her, including mom Kris Jenner, 69, and Hailey Bieber, 28.

The party goers also included LeBron James, Lori Harvey, Amelia Gray Hamlin and Bachelorette alum Gabby Windey.

In a video shared by Khloe on Instagram, Kris enthusiastically exclaimed, 'We're out and about.

'We finally left the opposite side of the city, and we're hanging out celebrating Kylie tonight, celebrating Khy, new launch, congratulations! We love you, Kylie.'

Kylie put on a busty display in a fire engine red bra at the event

Kylie Jenner partied with her sisters Kendall Jenner and Khloe Kardashian at the launch of her latest Khy collaboration

Kylie spoke about the collaboration with the Turkish designer in an Instagram post.

'Introducing KHY x @dilarafindikoglu. It has been a dream to partner with Dilara Findikoglu, a brand I've worn and admired for years.'

She continued, 'We developed a collection that combines femininity and sexiness with meticulous construction. I can't wait for you to see everything.

Hailey and Kendall attended the party in looks from the collaboration.

Hailey wore a taupe corset top with a square neckline and long sleeves, which she paired with a matching mini skirt.

Kendall's sheer black dress also contained corset details. The dress has sheer lace panels and a ruffled neck and long sleeves.

Kylie served up a generous helping of decolletage in a plunging red-hot bra and tan miniskirt, which she showed off in a selfie video from the car en route to the event.

Over the course of the party, her Insta Stories also offered a glimpse of her elder half-sister Khloe Kardas

The new line from Khy features a mix of wardrobe staples, basics and investment pieces.

Hailey wore a taupe corset top with a square neckline and long sleeves, which she paired with a matching mini skirt

The party was to celebrate the collaboration with London fashion designer Dilara Findikoglu

Jenner rocked a racy red bra as a top and beige miniskirt

Kylie's family and friends stepped out to support her, including mom Kris Jenner, 69, and Hailey Bieber, 28

In a video shared by Khloe on Instagram, Kris enthusiastically exclaimed, 'We're out and about'

The party goers also included LeBron James, Lori Harvey, Amelia Gray Hamlin and Bachelorette alum Gabby Windey (Pictured here)

Hailey shared a cute snap of herself with Kylie at the party on her Instagram Stories

On Saturday, Kylie shared an Instagram post celebrating Khy's new line and fans immediately noticed a major change to her appearance.

'Introducing KHY x @dilarafindikoglu.' she wrote introducing the new fashions.

'It has been a dream to partner with Dilara Findikoglu, a brand I've worn and admired for years.

'We developed a collection that combines femininity and sexiness with meticulous construction.

'I can't wait for you to see everything. Launching Wednesday 5/28 at 9AM PT exclusively on khy.com.'

In the photos, she applied makeup over her thick black eyebrows to make them disappear, giving her a spooky, otherworldly look.

But by the time of her party, the Kylie Cosmetics mogul had reverted to her usual look with her eyebrows.

Absent from the soiree was Kylie's boyfriend Timothee Chalamet who also skipping the Met Gala in favor of a night in with his guy friends.

Kris continued, 'We finally left the opposite side of the city, and we're hanging out celebrating Kylie tonight, celebrating Khy, new launch, congratulations! We love you, Kylie'

Khloe and Kylie shared some sister love at the party

An insider has shared that the couple, who were first linked in April 2023 and went public with their romance that September, are 'practically living together.'

The source dished: 'Kylies really happy and relieved they finally made their debut. It was time and she wanted to publicly support him and show how proud of him she is.'

Timothee and Kylie 'have gotten really serious, and this was a big step,' the insider explained while discussing the couple to Us Weekly.

'They are practically living together at this point, as he stays at her house often when he is not working. He has been fully integrated into her life,' shared the source.

'They are in a really good place. He makes her feel calm and confident and it is a different relationship from what she has had in the past.'
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas were a picture of pride as they celebrated their daughter Carys's graduation this weekend.

Taking to Instagram, Catherine, 55, shared a snap of the proud parents kissing Carys, 22, on both cheeks as she marked the end of her studies at Brown University in Rhode Island.

Catherine captioned the picture: 'The night before graduation!!!! We are both such proud parents right now!! Its only just begun!!'

The proud actress mum went on to share several Instagram stories on Sunday, including footage of their daughter in her graduation robes.

Catherine and Carys also held hands for a sweet moment where they kissed each other again on the cheek.

The occasion, which saw Carys obtain a degree in Film and International Relations from the prestigious Ivy League school, was also celebrated with a carrot cake.

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Catherine Zeta-Jones, 55, shared a snap of her and Michael Douglas, 80, kissing their daughter Carys, 22, on both cheeks as she marks the end of her studies at Brown University

The proud actress mum went on to share several Instagram stories on Sunday, including footage of their daughter in her graduation robes

Catherine and Michael share two children together, Carys, and her brother Dylan, 24, and they are both following in the acting footsteps of their famous parents

Catherine and Carys also held hands for a sweet moment where they kissed each other again on the cheek

The occasion, which saw Carys obtain a degree in Film and International Relations from the prestigious an Ivy League school, was also celebrated with a carrot cake

Last October Michael shared snaps with his daughter Carys as he visited her at college.

Proud Michael posted a heartwarming picture on Instagram at the time, posing with his daughter against a beautiful autumn backdrop on campus.

He captioned the post: 'Visiting my daughter Carys at school on a fall Sunday!,' alongside a heart emoji.

Carys was quick to comment as she penned: 'I had the best time with you Dadda.'

Catherine and Michael share two children together, Carys, and her brother Dylan, 24, and they are both following in the acting footsteps of their famous parents.

Acting is a prominent part of Michael's family background; he is the son of legendary actor Kirk Douglas and actress Diana Dill.

While Dylan has a short resume on IMDb, he still remains in the spotlight - he hosts Young American with Dylan Douglas, a 'Gen Z powered political talk show.'

Cary's IMDb only has four credits thus far but her work includes the short film Shell and working as a second assistant director on the short August.

Michael shares Carys and her brother Dylan with his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones

Both Dylan and Carys have already begun their own acting careers, following in the footsteps of their famous parents, pictured at the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2024

The now-graduate's latest film, another short called F*ck That Guy, headed to the PROOF Film Festival in Los Angeles and saw Spike Lee serve as an executive producer.

In 2021, Catherine revealed both Carys and Dylan are determined to get into acting.

Catherine said on The Drew Barrymore Show: 'Their love of the craft of acting is so strong that even when their brains are doing politics and history in school, their passion is acting.

'And they've never done anything professional, but they would like to go into acting.'

Carys has even been warned by her father that if she pursues a career in Hollywood she will always be referred to as 'the daughter of.'

The mother-of-two said: 'In fact one has to prove oneself more, so even with that deterrent my kids are like, 'No, sorry we still want to do it.''
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday said the opposition has been demanding that the government convene a special session of Parliament and added this would send a message of unity to entire world in India's fight against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

The support that the government has got from the country and the opposition on what should be the response post the Pahalgam terror attack is unprecedented and unconditional, Pilot said.

The Congress leader said that a unified voice would be raised against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism if a special session of Parliament is convened which will send a message of India's unity against terrorism to the world.

"We had demanded a special session of Parliament so that one voice goes out in entire world that entire India is united for country's sovereignty and integrity... and in this fight to weed out Pakistan-sponsored terror," he told a news conference here along with Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda and other Congress leaders from Haryana.

Pilot said the multi-party delegation, currently visiting different nations as part of the Centre's global diplomatic outreach to draw attention to India's fight against cross-border terrorism, especially in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, would have got even more weight to keep their views had the Parliament session been convened before they were sent.

Pilot, a former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, was addressing the media here on the sidelines of 'Jai Hind Sabha', which the Congress is organizing across India to salute the supreme valour and success of the armed forces.

These meetings will see the involvement of army veterans, party leaders and the general public, Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal had recently said in a post on X.

Referring to the Operation Sindoor, Pilot said the Congress extended full support to the government after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed to give a befitting response to the perpetrators of the cowardly incident.

"While we are all proud of our armed forces, it saddens me when some senior BJP leaders in responsible positions like Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah and Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana Ram Chander Jangra are using indecent language with regard to our brave army officers and people killed in Pahalgam attack and their families," he added.

Pilot asked whether the BJP will take any action against such leaders and remove them from their posts.

Jangra on Saturday stoked a row by saying that the tourists who came under terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam should have put up a fight and the women, who lost their husbands, should have acted like 'veerangna' (warrior women).

He claimed that the number of casualties would have been low had the tourists undergone Agniveer training and the ladies "lacked" the spirit of warrior women.

Shah came under fire after a video, which was distributed widely, showed him allegedly making objectionable remarks against Col Sofiya Qureshi, who gained nationwide prominence along with another woman officer, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, during media briefings on Operation Sindoor.

The Congress leader further said the government has not "rejected" US President Donald Trump's claim that he settled the recent conflict between India and Pakistan through trade and added that this should come "from the highest level in the Indian government".

Pilot said this is the eighth time that President Trump has claimed that he played a role in helping India and Pakistan stop hostilities.

He also demanded the government's "clarification" on the "ceasefire" announcement.

The Congress leader also said that though a "ceasefire" has been announced, the government should clarify whether it was assured that Pakistan will not carry out any misadventure in future.

Pilot said Pakistan's role in sending infiltrators and funding terrorism is well-known in the past.

"So, have any such assurances been received (from Pakistan) that such acts will not be repeated in future? The government should clarify," he said.

Referring to the ceasefire announcement, Pilot said that neither the US president, vice president or the US government used the word terrorism even once in the entire matter.

He said Pakistan-sponsored terrorism is no longer being discussed even though the world is aware of it.

The US is trying to claim credit for brokering the ceasefire, but did it assure India? These are critical questions that must be answered, he said.

When asked what more India needs to do to expose Pakistan at the global level as state-sponsor of terrorism, the Congress leader stressed the need to effectively counter the misinformation and false propaganda being peddled by Islamabad.

"I think there is enough empirical evidence to prove that Pakistan for long has been a state-sponsor of terrorism. And real key of government of Pakistan lies with the Pakistan Army and ISI. They have realised that conventionally they are no match to India, but they want to damage India with the help of China. First they sponsored terrorism in Punjab for a long time and now in Kashmir," Pilot said.

"I think we have to do a lot more because the kind of condemnation (referring to the global stage) that should have been attracted towards Pakistan has not happened. I also feel that the support we would have got -- for example we did not have outright support of Russia. Like China supported Pakistan openly. But some of our old friends and allies were not so forthcoming, that is something we have to work on diplomatically and also on backdoor channels," he added.

The Congress leader said that "we have to be far more forceful in ensuring the global community at large acknowledges that Pakistan has adopted a state policy of encouraging terrorism in Kashmir".
Shufro Rose & Co. LLC trimmed its position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,714 shares of the companys stock after selling 2,037 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company comprises 2.7% of Shufro Rose & Co. LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Shufro Rose & Co. LLCs holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $35,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LLY. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,407,908,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 100,387.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,202,215 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,016,110,000 after buying an additional 5,197,038 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,625,925 shares of the companys stock valued at $9,747,214,000 after buying an additional 2,012,129 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,730,758 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,740,272,000 after buying an additional 1,645,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,240,653,000. 82.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Hsbc Global Res cut Eli Lilly and Company from a strong-buy rating to a moderate sell rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. HSBC downgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a buy rating to a reduce rating and decreased their target price for the company from $1,150.00 to $700.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Eli Lilly and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $1,011.37.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

NYSE:LLY opened at $713.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $677.09 and a 1 year high of $972.53. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $789.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $803.19. The company has a market cap of $676.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.97, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $3.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $4.64 by ($1.30). The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.77 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 85.24% and a net margin of 23.51%. The businesss revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Eli Lilly and Companys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.82%.

Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 1,000 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.24, for a total value of $818,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,778,521.60. The trade was a 14.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile

(Free Report)

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; Jardiance, Mounjaro, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes; and Zepbound for obesity.

Further Reading

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Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:PBT  Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Saturday, May 24th, investing.com reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.0188 per share by the oil and gas producer on Friday, June 13th. This represents a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th.

Permian Basin Royalty Trust has raised its dividend payment by an average of 28.8% per year over the last three years.

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Permian Basin Royalty Trust Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of PBT stock opened at $11.21 on Friday. Permian Basin Royalty Trust has a 12 month low of $8.01 and a 12 month high of $14.26. The company has a market cap of $522.49 million, a PE ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 0.56. The businesss 50 day moving average is $9.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Permian Basin Royalty Trust ( NYSE:PBT Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $3.07 million for the quarter. Permian Basin Royalty Trust had a net margin of 96.32% and a return on equity of 17,811.24%.

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Permian Basin Royalty Trust from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Permian Basin Royalty Trust

About Permian Basin Royalty Trust

(Get Free Report)

Permian Basin Royalty Trust, an express trust, holds royalty interests in various oil and gas properties in the United States. The company holds a 75% net overriding royalty interest in the Waddell Ranch properties, including Dune, Sand Hills (Judkins), Sand Hills (McKnight), Sand Hills (Tubb), University-Waddell (Devonian) and Waddell fields in Crane County, Texas.

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Shufro Rose & Co. LLC trimmed its position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM  Free Report) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 57,901 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after selling 3,258 shares during the period. Shufro Rose & Co. LLCs holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $6,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of XOM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,936,737,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 43,983,110 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $4,731,263,000 after buying an additional 5,538,694 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 1,524.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,445,922 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $585,818,000 after buying an additional 5,110,603 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 35,662,602 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $3,836,226,000 after buying an additional 4,140,046 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,017,358 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $4,950,087,000 after buying an additional 2,998,892 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Exxon Mobil Price Performance

XOM opened at $103.11 on Friday. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12-month low of $97.80 and a 12-month high of $126.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $108.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.33. The company has a market capitalization of $444.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.51.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

Exxon Mobil ( NYSE:XOM Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.03. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 9.63%. The business had revenue of $83.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.06 EPS. The businesss revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Exxon Mobils payout ratio is 52.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Thursday. Argus upgraded Exxon Mobil to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $141.00 to $138.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $125.50.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on XOM

Exxon Mobil Company Profile

(Free Report)

Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas.

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Leading Northern Ireland-based private healthcare provider JACE Medical is proud to announce its expansion into the Republic of Ireland with the opening of a new state-of-the-art diagnostic and medical assessment centre in Letterkenny.

The new facility will provide a comprehensive range of medical diagnostics and blood testing services, making high-quality private healthcare more accessible to individuals and organisations across the northwest of Ireland.

This expansion marks a major milestone for JACE Medical, which has been a trusted name in private healthcare across Northern Ireland since its founding in 2010 by Consultant Anaesthetist, Dr John T Doherty.

READ NEXT: Politicians coming together to publicly endorse the North West Anti-Racism Charter

Commenting on the expansion, Doctor Doherty said: Expanding into the Republic of Ireland is an exciting and natural progression for JACE. We are proud of our reputation for clinical excellence, innovation, and patient-focused care to date and look forward to bringing it to the people of Letterkenny and the wider Donegal area.

Our goal has always been to make high-quality medical services more accessible, and this new centre allows us to offer timely, reliable diagnostic and assessment support to individuals, families, and businesses across the region.

With over a decade of experience serving the public, NHS, and private clients in Northern Ireland, we understand the importance of fast, accurate results and compassionate care. This expansion reflects our commitment to meeting healthcare needs on both sides of the border and were excited to become part of the healthcare landscape in the Republic of Ireland.
Home care provider, Dovida, has announced plans to hire up to 60 caregivers in Louth. The organisation, which has been providing care to ageing adults in Ireland since 2005, recently rebranded from Home Instead and now intends to increase capacity in the sector and expand its service offerings across the county.

The roles will be a combination of full and part-time positions, offering what the company say are "competitive rates of pay, flexible schedules, and comprehensive, sector-leading training through the Home Care Professionals Academy."

Speaking at the launch of Dovida's Louth office, Allison Doggett, General Manager of Dovida Louth, said, We are excited about welcoming more caregivers to our team. They will help us meet the growing need for home care services in Louth and make it possible for more people to receive the support they need to live comfortably and independently at home.

Caregivers joining our team can expect comprehensive training, a dedicated local team and supportive environment as well as opportunities to grow professionally and develop a rewarding career in home care, she added.

Dovida currently provides person-centred home care services to 8,000 people across Ireland. Historically, the majority of the organisations client base consisted of people in the over-65 age group. However, Dovida now cares for clients of all ages, with 10 per cent under 65, while children under 18 make up one per cent of people cared for.

The company now provides services to support people living with an acquired brain injury, Parkinsons Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Motor Neurone Disease, as well as helping children and young adults with additional needs.

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We believe in quality home care that empowers people to live with dignity, independence, and comfort in familiar surroundings, Allison Doggett continued.

That means keeping them in their own home, connected to their family, friends and communities for as long as possible. Social interaction and companionship are crucial for maintaining good mental health and supporting those experiencing cognitive decline, particularly older people.

As an organisation with deep roots in the community, we understand the value of connection and it's fantastic to be in a position to grow our team so we can support more and more people throughout the county, Allison concluded.
Twenty-two schools from across County Louth were honoured for their outstanding environmental efforts at the Green-Schools Awards Ceremony held on Tuesday, 21st May 2025, at the Fairways Hotel, Dundalk.

Dundalk was the chosen venue for this regional celebration, welcoming schools not only from Louth but also from Fingal, Meath, and Monaghan.

Environmental Awareness Officers from these counties joined as guest speakers, warmly congratulating the students and schools on their achievements and celebrating the positive impact they are making in their communities.

A total of 78 Green Flags were presented on the day, marking a significant milestone in the regions commitment to environmental education and sustainability.

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Each school received a coveted Green Flag, a symbol of their commitment to environmental sustainability and climate action through the national Green-Schools Programme, operated by An Taisce in partnership with local authorities.

The awards celebrated achievements across a wide range of themes, including litter and waste, energy, water, biodiversity, and global citizenship. Representatives from the schools, students, teachers, and Green-Schools coordinators attended the ceremony, where they were recognised for their hard work and innovation in promoting sustainable practices within their school communities.

Held during National Biodiversity Week, this years event took on added significance by highlighting the importance of protecting and celebrating Irelands diverse natural environment.

Cllr Kevin Callan, Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council, praised the schools and their communities for their exceptional contributions, saying: Its incredibly heartening to see the commitment of our young people and schools to environmental action.

"Their achievements reflect the strong community spirit across Louth and a shared responsibility for building a more sustainable future. I congratulate every school on this well-deserved recognition.

Paula Gribben, Louth County Council Environmental Awareness Officer, also addressed the audience, highlighting the students impact: The enthusiasm and leadership shown by these young people is inspiring. They are not just the leaders of tomorrow, they are leading the way today in making Louth a greener, more sustainable place.

The Green-Schools Programme continues to empower schools to develop environmental awareness, promote active citizenship, and instil lifelong sustainable habits that reach beyond the classroom and into the wider community.

Congratulations to all 22 Louth schools for earning their Green Flags and for their continued leadership in driving positive environmental change.

The full list of Louth award winning schools are: Links II Blackrock Hub, St John Of God, Blackrock; Scoil Dairbhre; Rathcor NS; Dulargy NS, De La Salle College; Ballapousta NS; St Louis Secondary School; St Josephs National School, Dundalk; St Josephs NS, Drogheda; Redeemer Girls NS; St Malachys Girls NS; St Olivers NS, Drogheda; St Olivers National School, Dundalk; SN Muire nan Smal Cartown; SN Talamh na Manach; Tullyallen NS; Tallanstown National School; St Oliver Plunkett NS; Scoil Phadraig Naofa; Scoil Naomh Lorcan; Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal; St Marys NS.
Louth County Council is to receive funding for eight biodiversity projects in the county, it was announced today by the Government under the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Local Biodiversity Action Fund (LBAF) in 2025.

The fund was established in 2018 to assist local authorities in the implementation of actions in support of biodiversity. Almost 11 million has been granted to local authorities through the LBAF since the scheme was established. The Scheme is operated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and represents a commitment to support implementation of the Irelands 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan at community, county and regional level.

The eight projects to receive funding and the amounts they are to receive are as follows:

Building Ecological Capacity & Biodiversity Awareness - 17,629.00

Baltray Little Tern Conservancy - 31,450.00

Louth Swift Project - 5,822.40

Recording Irish mayfly  establishing conservation status - 1,228.28

Return to Nature - 14,450.00

Locally Important Biodiversity Sites  Botanical Study of the Cooley Mountains - 3,765.00

Biodiversity Enhancement of Local Authority Lands - 17,629.00

Meadow Magic: Pollinator Promotion Project - 4,717.50

Ireland's 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan, Actions For Nature, was launched in January 2024. The 4th Plan sets out Irelands vision for biodiversity, that by 2050 Biodiversity in Ireland is valued, conserved, restored and sustainably used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.

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The Plan strives for a whole of government, whole of society approach to the governance and conservation of biodiversity. The aim is to ensure that every citizen, community, business, local authority, semi-state and state agency has an awareness of biodiversity and its importance, and of the implications of its loss, while also understanding how they can act to address the biodiversity emergency as part of a renewed national effort to act for nature.

This is Irelands fourth National Biodiversity Action Plan and the first to be published on a Statutory basis, under the Wildlife Amendment Act 2023. The legislation also requires all public service bodies to integrate biodiversity into their plans, policies and programmes, and report to the Minister on progress.

The funding, which is part of a 2.9 million funding package for 262 community projects across all 31 local authorities, was announced by Minister for Housing, Heritage and Local Government James Browne TD and Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher OSullivan TD.

Commenting on the funding, Minister Browne said: Local authorities are playing an essential role in protecting our biodiversity and the Local Biodiversity Action Plan recognises that role. Through these projects, each local authority will make a unique impact on their local biodiversity, but is also part of a bigger picture across the country.

"I welcome the focus on partnership, research and best practice. I wish all of those involved the very best with the work and look forward to hearing more as they progress.

Minister OSullivan TD said: Im really impressed with the diversity of projects funded this year. The Local Biodiversity Action Fund will enable every local authority around the country to enhance their actions on biodiversity, including research and recording of our unique species, from the Irish Mayfly, Woodland Bats to barn owls, and management of precious habitats such as meadows and wetlands.

Id like to commend local authorities for stepping up their efforts to tackle Invasive Species, including Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam, which pose a real threat to our landscapes and marine environment.
Bernie Sanders has urged working people in Ireland and across the world to unite to stop the rise of oligarchy as he delivered a keynote speech in Dublin.

The 83-year-old Vermont senator used an address at the Robert Tressell Festival at Liberty Hall to criticise what he characterised as a new generation of billionaires who do not believe in government or democracy.

He also expressed concern that artificial intelligence and new technology were being used against working people, to take their jobs, rather than being harnessed to benefit workers and generate wealth across society.

He denounced President Donald Trump, describing his administration as a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires.

The independent senator, who lost out to Hillary Clinton in a bid to become the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, also accused the party of cutting ties with the working class people of the US.

Why did he (President Trump) win the support of the majority of the American people? The answer is everything to do with the fact that working class people believe that the Democratic Party no longer represents them, Mr Sanders told the event on Saturday night.

And by the way, this is not just an American phenomenon, it is happening to social democratic parties all over the world. And these parties have to make a choice  if they think they are going to survive defending a status quo which is destroying the lives of millions of workers in America and around the world, they are dead wrong.

He added: All over this world is an understanding that we are at war with an oligarchy that couldnt care less about the people in Palestine, care less about the people in Ireland, or care less about the people in the United States of America.

These oligarchs are not like the rich (of the past)  Im not a historian, but my impression is they are not like the wealthy of past generations.

The rich have always wanted tax breaks. The rich have always wanted to break unions, anti-unionism. (But) these guys are different. And the difference is they do not believe in the concept of government. They do not believe in democracy.

You know, 150 years ago there was this divine (right), the kings in Europe, the tsar in Russia, they told their the constituents that they had the right to rule, the divine right to rule.

The senator said many leading billionaires of the present day subscribed to the same theory.

They believe they are high IQ people who have developed these big technology companies, they are so smart they have created billion-dollar companies, they have the right to rule, and they dont want you or democracy or government or unions or consumer groups to get in the way, he said.

I will tell you that they are moving very, very rapidly, (with) this artificial intelligence and robotics. What they did to (US) federal employees (cutting jobs), and were seeing right now, literally, what they did to federal employees is a signal to every corporation in America  Hey, we did it. You can do it. And if your workers stand up, you tell them, they got machinery coming in, we got AI coming in, we got robotics coming, we dont need that any more.

So if we do not get our act together, if we do not raise a class consciousness which understands that that technology must be used to benefit working people, not just to make the billionaires even richer, if we dont raise the consciousness to understand that in the world we live today, there is no reason why we should be experiencing the kind of poverty and economic misery that we are.

Economic rights, as I think most people in this room know, are human rights.

People have a right to proper health care. They have a right to decent housing. They have a right to good quality education. They have a right to decent incomes. This is not a utopian vision. Were not living in the 1850s any more.

We have the technology to know how to create the wealth that we need to create a decent life for every man, woman and child. We can do it. But we cant do it unless we come together globally, unless the working class stands up and says enough is enough to the oligarchs, they are not going to have it all.

It is our world, and were going to take power and create a society that works for all of us.
Ireland must hold fast to the decency and generosity that, a decade ago, gave the country marriage equality and the Gender Recognition Act, the Taoiseach has said.

Micheal Martin spoke to The Echo 10 years after Ireland became the first country in the world to legalise marriage equality by popular vote and, two months later, the fourth country to pass a law allowing the right to gender recognition based on self-declaration.

On Friday, May 22, 2015, the front page of the then Evening Echo had a story by Ann Murphy entitled Battle for votes goes down to the wire.

Yes campaigner Valerie Mulcahy of Yes Equality Cork said the poll was about giving everybody the opportunity to get married, whether they were gay or straight.

No campaigner Kathy Sinnott of First Families First said a Yes vote would threaten all biological parents.

Tellingly, we had a front page editorial entitled Echo says YES.

This is not about them and us, we said. If we vote Yes today, there will only be us.

The next day, Saturday, we led with Yes side on brink of historic win, with Mary Smithwick writing that a turnout of up to 75% in Cork looked like the Yes side was heading for victory.

Padraig Rice, who is now Social Democrats TD for Cork South Central, and Aaron OSullivan, campaigning in 2015 for marriage equality. On the night the result came in, Padraig proposed to Aaron.

Mondays paper said it all when the results for all the Cork constituencies had been tallied.

South Central 66%, North Central 64%, East 62%, North West 58%, South West 56%.

YES YES YES YES YES!

Self-declaration

The passage, on Wednesday, July 16, 2015, of the Gender Recognition Act, providing Irish people the legal right to gender recognition based on self-declaration, did not trouble our front page, or indeed any other page.

In our defence, the acts passage does not appear to have been covered by the Irish Examiner, the Irish Independent, or The Irish Times either. Across the water, The Guardian covered the acts passing, quoting Sara Phillips, then chair of Transgender Equality Network Ireland (Teni).

This legislation marks an incredible shift in Irish society, Ms Phillips said.

This is an historic moment for the trans community in Ireland. Trans people should be the experts of our own gender identity. Self-determination is at the core of our human rights.

It is safe to say, though, that if the legislation did indeed mark a shift in Irish society, it was one which appears to have gone, at the time, broadly uncommented. Marriage equality, on the other hand, was a phenomenon which captured the political and cultural imagination.

Fianna Fail, the party founded by Eamon de Valera in 1926, might never have seemed an obvious champion of marriage equality, and indeed it was the Labour Party did that most of the early heavy lifting.

For all of that, though, Fianna Fails leader, Micheal Martin, had joined calls for a referendum on marriage equality as far back as 2012, needling Enda Kenny, then taoiseach, on the issue.

Tormented

He memorably tormented the Fine Gael leader about one occasion in July 2012 when, avoiding questions from TV3s Ursula Halligan about a possible referendum outside the National Library, the taoiseach had almost fallen over a flowerpot. The incident became a minor controversy  even gaining a gate to become flowerpotgate.

Mr Kenny would change his mind about the referendum, and in Christmas 2014 joined Corks Jerry Buttimer for a drink in Panti Bar. A month later when Leo Varadkar, then health minister, told Mr Kenny he was planning on announcing that he was gay, the taoiseach was delighted to point out that he had visited Panti Bar before Mr Varadkar could.

The referendum ultimately passed by 62% of the electorate, enshrined marriage equality in the constitution. Ireland passed the Gender Recognition Act in July 2015, providing Irish people the legal right to gender recognition based on self-declaration.

In June of 2022, when Micheal Martin was taoiseach for the first time, he said he had no time for a toxic discussion about trans people.

Id be very concerned about that and Ive watched it in the UK and we certainly dont need that kind of debate in Ireland, he told the LGBTQ+ group NFX at the time.

Last month, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, a decision which is likely to have far-reaching consequences for Britains trans community.

Positive milestones

Speaking to The Echo last week, Mr Martin said marriage equality and the Gender Recognition Act had both been positive milestones in Irish life.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said marriage equality and the Gender Recognition Act had both been positive milestones in Irish life. Picture: Moya Nolan.

They were both very good acts and we should hold fast to them, they represented a very significant progress in Ireland, and they reflected a nation and society that understood the complexity of life, that understood theres a lot of grey between the black and the white, Mr Martin said.

Theres nuance. Im not an absolutist on anything, and in that sense I have always had a problem with fundamentalism and absolutism.

But Im also very conscious of the journeys that young people go through in life, particularly young people, particularly in the gender area.

We should always be conscious of the impact of our comments, particularly in public debate, on the individual that may be going through a very lonely journey, in adolescence or going through second level school.

He said he had been speaking recently with Government chief whip Mary Butler who also serves as minister of state with responsibility for mental health.

Support

One of the higher incidences of self-harm is amongst the transgender community, and that speaks for itself.

People in that community need support, they dont need demonising, negative rhetoric on social media, they dont need a culture war.

Certainly there are issues, and people have genuine concerns, I accept that fully, but we need to have an intelligent, mature debate, talking to families impacted, talking to experts in the field in the medical world and psychology, we need to hear different views and perspectives, but we need to hear it in a respectful way, not in a provocative or dismissive way, Mr Martin said.

We have to be careful, and thats what informs my view on this.

Under assault

A decade after Irelands marriage equality referendum, hard-won LGBTQ+ rights are under assault all over the world.

Here, marriage equality for most people is now a mostly unremarkable fact of life.

However, challenges remain, and there are those who believe Ireland took a wrong turn 10 years ago with marriage equality, and with gender recognition.

Others have what Mr Martin calls genuine concerns, especially about gender recognition.

Separately, a tiny but very loud minority has spread a message of homophobia and transphobia across the country, often twinned with extreme anti-immigrant rhetoric, and sometimes accompanied by acts of intimidation and physical violence.

That message has not yet gained the sort of traction needed to make any significant electoral inroads, but many LGBTQ+ people have reported a significant rise in hate crimes, and many say they feel frightened for their safety.

That sunshine day in May, a decade ago at Dublin Castle and all around the country, when it seemed the whole world smiled for Ireland, remains still a snapshot of optimism and joy, but sometimes that bright day of hope seems a very long time ago.
As we enjoy a welcome spell of glorious sunshine across Cork County, its clear that summer has truly arrived  and with it comes a vibrant calendar of events, initiatives and opportunities that reflect the best of our community spirit and cultural pride.

In recent weeks, Ive had the honour of attending and supporting a wide range of activities that show just how diverse, inclusive, and forward-thinking our county is.

Africa Day

From the celebration of African culture through Cork County Councils Africa Day programme, to the announcement of our new Cost Rental Scheme in Midleton, to the heritage projects funded through our County Heritage Grant Scheme and the outstanding Brian Lalor Retrospective at LHQ Gallery  each tells its own story, but all share a common theme: investing in people, place, and potential.

Africa Day, marked each year around May 25, gives us all an opportunity to celebrate the richness of African cultures and the important contribution made by people of African descent throughout our communities.

Events this year range from storytelling and drumming workshops in libraries to concerts in our theatres. Performers such as Kiruu and the AHA Storytellers will bring colour, rhythm, and warmth to audiences across the county. These celebrations reflect not just diversity, but unity  and Im proud to say Cork County Council is part of that national commitment to inclusion.

New homes

While culture and celebration are vital, so too is making sure people have secure, affordable homes. Thats why Im delighted to announce the opening of applications for a new Cost Rental housing scheme in Midleton.

This development at The Fairways offers 10 high-quality, A-rated homes at rents at least 25% below the local market rate. Its designed to support individuals and families who are not eligible for social housing but still struggle to meet the cost of private rents. With these homes located close to schools, shops and services, they represent a real step forward in delivering sustainable, affordable housing.

The Mayor of the County of Cork, coincillor, Joe Carroll hosted a civic reception to honour Irish Olympic team members from Skibbereen Rowing Club, recognising their outstanding achievements and contributions to Irish sport. Pictured is Fintan McCarthy, Olympic gold medal winner at the Paris Olympics who spoke at the civic reception in County Hall.Picture: Brian Lougheed

Creativity and cultural heritage are also at the heart of what makes Cork County so special. Thats why Cork County Council is proud to host the Brian Lalor Retrospective Exhibition at the LHQ Gallery this summer.

A truly remarkable artist and writer, Brian Lalor has made an enormous contribution to Irelands artistic life. His printmaking  featuring woodcuts, etchings, and lino engravings  is rooted in Irish life, landscape, and mythology. This exhibition is not just a showcase of his talent, but a celebration of a career dedicated to creativity, culture, and connection.

Heritage

Supporting local heritage is another key priority for us, and this month we announced 52,850 in funding to 33 local projects under the 2025 County Cork Heritage Grant Scheme.

From conservation assessments and community festivals to local documentaries and historical plays, these projects span our eight Municipal Districts and reflect the pride and passion of heritage volunteers across the county.

Among the projects supported is the restoration of the train mural in Skibbereen  a vivid reminder of our rail past and an example of how history lives on in the everyday fabric of our towns.

All these initiatives  Africa Day, housing, exhibitions, and heritage  may seem quite different, but they are bound together by one thing: a shared commitment to supporting our communities. Whether through housing supports, creative expression, or cultural celebration, Cork County Council is here to make a difference.

I want to thank all those who contribute to these efforts  the volunteers, artists, performers, community workers and council staff. Your energy and enthusiasm keep County Cork vibrant and welcoming.

And as the sunshine continues, I hope everyone takes the chance to get outdoors, explore local events and enjoy all that our county has to offer this summer. From heritage trails to family festivals, exhibitions to community celebrations  its an exciting time to live in and love County Cork.
A warning has been issued by members of the Irish Coast Guard reminding swimmers to heed safety advice following repeated incidents at a popular West Cork beach.

In a post shared on social media, a spokesperson for the Old Head and Seven Heads Coast Guard said that a number of swimmers have recently found themselves in difficulty at Coolmain Beach in Kilbrittain, prompting the service to issue a call to beach-goers to take care whilst enjoying the amenity this summer.

Our unit has been made aware of a couple of incidents where swimmers have got into difficulty at Coolmain Beach, the spokesperson said.

The sand is ever shifting at Coolmain, therefore it requires extra care when swimming there, especially young children and weaker swimmers.

This is most problematic when the tide is going out as the run down the channel is at its strongest at this stage.

Please take care when swimming at Coolmain [Beach] and remember if you see someone in difficulty, call the emergency services immediately on 999 or 112 and ask for the Coast Guard.
The only thing that we have in Glounthaune is our post office, and now thats going, said Jill McMahon, the chairperson of the villages residents association, after it was confirmed to The Echo by An Post that the local post office would be closing in two weeks time.

The closure, scheduled to take place on Friday, June 6, follows the recent advertisement by An Post seeking tenders to take up post office contracts in Glounthaune and Little Island. According to the statement issued by An Post, the company advertised both contracts, but only received tenders for Little Island.

The news comes in the same week as it was confirmed that Crosshaven Post Office would be closing on May 30. Customers will now have to travel to the SuperValu Shopping Centre in Carrigaline, where that towns post office is located, to access services.

'No applications'

A spokesperson for An Post said they had re-advertised the Glounthaune Post Office contract on two occasions, but no applications were received.

We also canvassed locally, but no suitable site was found, they said.

Our efforts throughout have been centred around keeping both post offices open. This has proven impossible, but we have been able to come up with a solution that serves both communities and provides them with a sustainable service for the future.

The post office serving Little Island and Glounthaune will be located in the Centra shop on Little Island.

Ms McMahon of the Glounthaune Residents Association disputed the contention of An Post that there were no tenders for the local post office, and described Little Island as a traffic bottleneck most of the time.

She said: We have an ageing population in Glounthaune, most people walked to the post office for their pension but due to the road structure in Glounthaune, which theyve changed, thats impossible for older people to negotiate.

Difficulty

One of the issues raised by Fine Gael TD Colm Burke, of Cork North Central, and his party colleague, councillor Anthony Barry, was the difficulty in attracting people to fill vacant post office positions, given the lack of business.

Post office operators are finding it difficult to keep their heads above water, said Mr Burke, who pointed out substantial growth in terms of additional housing would be happening in the Glounthaune area in the future.

In terms of Glounthaune and Little Island, while theyre amalgamated now, there is going to be substantial growth in the population of that area, and its a pity this has occurred now.

Following the announcement made earlier during the week of the closure of Crosshaven Post Office, Cork South West TD and Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins raised his concern in regards to what he described as an overwhelming sense now among rural communities like Crosshaven that the beating hearts of our towns and villages are being crushed into silence through a slow but steady process of service withdrawal  that policy of neglect and indifference must be reversed.

Mr Collins referred to the closure of the post office in his native Goleen, which he said had a domino effect leading to the closure of other businesses in the West Cork village.
A celebration of 200 years of the Courtmacsherry lifeboat will take place over the June bank holiday weekend in the West Cork town.

The RNLI was founded by William Hillary in 1824, and the first RNLI lifeboat in Ireland was called The Plenty and arrived in Courtmacsherry in 1825.

A historical talk with Micheal Hurley, the author of the Courtmacsherry lifeboat history, Home from the Sea, will take place on the Friday night at 8pm in the community centre. Entry is free.

On the Saturday, there will be an open day from 2pm to 5pm on the all-weather Shannon class lifeboat, Val Adnams, and the Station House will be open to the public, with other sea-and-coast rescue services to attend.

Display

A display of model lifeboats will take place on the pier, as well as a sea safety talk from 7pm to 9pm in the Pier House Bar, followed by live music.

Sunday will see the unveiling of a 200th anniversary plaque by Taoiseach Micheal Martin, at 1.30pm on the pier.

A second lifeboat open day will take place on the lifeboat and at the Station House from 2pm to 5pm, the Defence Forces band will be performing on the pier at 2pm, and a fly-by will be performed by the new Irish Coast Guard fixed-wing rescue aircraft.

The highlight is at 6pm, an audio-visual performance of Courtmacsherry Rhythms in the Sacred Heart Church by the local Summer Songbook choir, plus friends. The piece was composed for Courtmacsherry lifeboat by Maire Ni Dhuibhir, whose father, the late John, was the lifeboat honorary secretary from 1962 to 1976.

Tickets for this performance are available locally at 10, from Lislevane Post Office on 023 884 0123.

Local artist Margaret ODwyer has painted Lifeboats over the Decades and donated it to Courtmacsherry Lifeboat Station for its 200th anniversary celebrations.

Limited-edition, professional museum-quality prints of the painting will be on sale over the summer.
Gardai investigating a drunken disturbance at Classis Lake ended up discovering a 23,000 stash of cannabis in the car where the men involved were drinking.

Garda Chris Daly testified at Cork Circuit Criminal that on March 12, 2021, gardai were dispatched to Classis Lake, where it was reported that a group were drinking in a white car and causing a disturbance.

Gardai approached the car with three men inside it.

Shane Murphy, of 7 Westgrove, Ballincollig, Co Cork, was arrested for drink-driving.

While the matter was being processed, a large stash of cannabis was discovered in the car.

The cannabis had a street value of 23,000.

Mr Murphy admitted holding the drugs; he took full responsibility for them, Garda Daly said.

Donal OSullivan, defence senior counsel, said the 28-year-olds plea of guilty was of value to the prosecution  particularly in view of the fact that there were three other parties in the car where the drugs were found.

He was 24 at the time and he has not been in trouble in the more than four years since, Mr OSullivan said.

He is working  and working hard  to stay out of trouble.

Judge Helen Boyle noted from the evidence that the drugs were found in two separate bags and that his role was to store it for another person, who was unnamed.

Imposing a suspended three-year sentence, Judge Boyle noted that the man had rehabilitated effectively, continued working, and had not come to the attention of gardai since the incident.
An Taoiseach Micheal Martin has defended Cork City Councils 350,000 purchase of robot trees, which have been placed indefinitely in storage following their removal.

Mr Martin said he would not be overly critical of the scheme, as initiatives are taken, people try things out, some work out, some dont work out.

The five CityTrees, three of which were installed on Patrick Street and two on the Grand Parade in August 2021, contained moss walls designed to filter pollutants from the air.

Paid for as part of a 4m funding allocation from the National Transport Authority (NTA) to Cork City Council, the robot trees, as they became known, initially cost 355,106, while maintenance between August 2022 and September 2023 cost 17,880.

A council official told The Echo the devices had not worked as well as expected because the city centre air was not highly polluted.

Storage

The units have been placed in storage, and their bases retained for seating, while students at the UCC/MTU Joint Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE) consider an alternative use for the devices.

The Taoiseach said a lot of good things had been done in Cork city centre, including its pedestrianisation.

The city council has tried a lot here, and if you recall during covid-19 it was one of the more innovative councils  it pedestrianised 18 streets in fairly quick time, so I try and be balanced, he said.

Its very easy to pick on one issue and just highlight that and get into the waste issue.

Asked whether Cork City Council might be better served by investing in real trees, he said it was doing that too, planting between 4,500 to 5,000 trees per year.

Expensive

Meanwhile, a leading sustainability activist has said the only bright side to the robot trees saga was the city had at least gained public seating, even if it was the most expensive in the country.

Jude Sherry, urban renewal expert with Anois, said she had seen no evidence that the council had learned anything from the failure of the robot trees.

The only success I can see was the creation of much-needed public seating, so its great to see them retained, Ms Sherry said.

But they must be the most expensive benches in the country  possibly even Europe  when you add in the maintenance, electricity, and water consumption over the years.
Texas could become the next US state to lay down the law with social media platforms. A Texas bill that would ban social media use for anyone under 18 recently moved past the Senate committee and is due for a vote in front of the Texas State Senate. The bill has until the state's legislative session comes to an end on June 2, leaving roughly a week for it to be approved by both the Senate and the governor.

Earlier this year, the bill passed the House committee stage and was later voted in favor of by the state's House of Representatives. If made into law, the bill would force social media platforms to verify the age of anyone setting up an account, much like how Texas passed legislation requiring websites hosting porn to implement an age verification system. On top of that, Texas' social media ban proposes to let parents delete their child's social media account, allowing the platforms 10 days to comply with the request or face a fine from the state's attorney general.

Texas isn't the only governing body interested in restricting social media access. Last year, Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, signed into law a bill that outright bans anyone under 14 from using social media and requires 14- and 15-year-olds to get parental consent to make an account or use an existing account. Notably, Texas' proposed law is much stricter than that.

On a larger scale, the US Senate introduced a bill to ban social media platforms for anyone under 13 in April 2024. After being stuck in the committee stage, Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) recently made comments that signal a potential second attempt at getting this passed.
Farms Without Farmers

In fields once reliant on human hands, machines are now plowing, planting, and harvesting without a single worker in sight. The rise of automation in agriculture is no longer theoretical  its reshaping the industry from the soil up.

From autonomous tractors to AI-powered irrigation systems, the technological shift in agriculture is accelerating. According to a 2023 report by McKinsey & Company, automation could perform up to 70% of agricultural tasks within the next two decades.

Were seeing an unprecedented transformation in farming, said Dr. Ramesh Krishnan, an agricultural robotics researcher at Wageningen University. Robots can now identify ripe fruit, avoid obstacles, and harvest more consistently than most humans.

The Technology Driving the Change

Companies like John Deere and startup Carbon Robotics are at the forefront of this revolution. Deeres autonomous 8R tractor, launched in 2022, can be operated remotely through a smartphone app, while Carbon Robotics has developed AI-driven weeders that eliminate the need for herbicides.

Meanwhile, drones and satellite imaging provide farmers with real-time data on crop health and soil conditions, enabling precision agriculture on a scale never before possible.

Benefits and Promises

Proponents argue that automation addresses multiple crises in the agricultural sector: labor shortages, climate variability, and sustainability demands. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has noted that automation can reduce pesticide use, conserve water, and increase yields.

With climate change affecting growing seasons and fewer people choosing to work in agriculture, automation isnt a luxury  its a necessity, said Teresa Mills, policy analyst at the USDA.

The Human Cost

Yet the transition is not without consequence. In rural regions, the rise of machines could displace millions of farm workers. A 2024 study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) warned that automation may exacerbate inequality unless policies are enacted to support displaced workers.

This is not just a technological shift. Its a social one, said Marco Duarte, a labor economist at the ILO. Without retraining programs and safety nets, entire communities could be left behind. ILO

What Lies Ahead

As automation spreads from industrial farms to smaller operations, governments and institutions face tough questions: How can technology serve both efficiency and equity? Should there be limits to machine-led agriculture?

Experts agree that the sector's future will likely include both machines and humans  but the balance is shifting. Automation will redefine the farmer's role, said Dr. Krishnan. It wont eliminate humans, but it will demand new skills and a very different type of labor.

Conclusion

The age of automated agriculture is already here. While the machines promise higher productivity and resilience, the impact on livelihoods, rural economies, and food systems remains uncertain. As fields become increasingly digital, the biggest challenge may not be technical  but human.
Christie Brinkley has sent her ex-husband Billy Joel well-wishes amid his battle with a brain disorder.

Christie Brinkley has broken her silence on ex-husband Billy Joel's health battle

The 71-year-old model - who has daughter Alexa Ray Joel, 39, with the 'Uptown Girl' hitmaker - hopes her former spouse has a "full and speedy recovery" and is able to return to the stage, after he was diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, which has caused problems with his hearing, vision and balance.

In a touching post, Christie penned on Instagram alongside a video of the family at a recent concert: "Dear Billy ,The whole Brinkley gang is sending you lots of love and good wishes for a full and speedy recovery . I was looking for some cute photos of you and Alexa to send you, when I came across this clip from a recent concert. It made me laugh ..but it also reminded me of all the joy you create, and all the sensational sing a longs youve lead you turn an arena of strangers into a living room full of friends as we all sway in unison .. Im sure Im speaking for everyone in that room when I say please take good care of yourself, we all want you back in that white hot spotlight ,youre OUR piano man

And were always in the mood for your melodies And we all hope youre feeling alright!

We Love You, the kids, me and an arena or two!"

The message of support came just hours after Alexa Ray said her father "continues to regain his strength".

The 76-year-old musician revealed this week that he was diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus.

A statement posted on his Instagram read: Billy Joel has announced that he will be cancelling all scheduled concerts following a recent diagnosis of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance.

Billy is currently undergoing treatment and doctors have advised that performing would have an adverse affect on his health at this time.

The statement continued: Under his doctors instructions, Billy is undergoing physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period. Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritising his health. He is grateful for the support from fans during this time and looks forward to the day when he can once again take the stage.

Billy added his own message to fans, saying: Im sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience, and thank you for understanding.

According to clevelandclinic.org: Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a condition that happens when cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside your skull and presses on your brain. This condition is most likely in people over 65. Its often treatable and sometimes even reversible.

Billy subsequently cancelled his tour, which included 17 dates in North America and England.

Alexa Ray provided an update on her Instagram: "SOUND UP. We love you and we got you, Pop!

"I just wanted to thank you all for the beautiful outpouring of love and support amid the recent news of My Fathers health diagnosis." Alexa Ray continued. "My Dad is the strongest and most resilient man Ive ever known  and hes entirely committed to making a full recovery with ongoing physical-therapy treatments as he continues to regain his strength.

"The genuine care, empathy, and concern from everyone means so much to him  it means a lot to me, too."

She concluded her post by sharing the lyrics to Billy's morbid 1993 track, 'Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)', which he penned for Alexa Ray.

She added: "Someday Well All Be Gone / But Lullabies Go On And On / They Never Die / Thats How You And I Will Be.

"The music continues All My Love, Alexa Ray."

Billy also has Della, nine, and Remy, seven, with fourth wife Alexis Roderick.
US President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview broadcast that he had found a buyer for the TikTok short-video app, whom he described...
Gaza's civil defence agency said Saturday that an Israeli strike in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed nine children of a pair of married doctors, with the Israeli army saying it was reviewing the reports.

Israel has stepped up its campaign in Gaza in recent days, drawing international criticism as well as calls to allow in more supplies after it partially eased a total blockade on aid imposed on March 2.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the agency had retrieved "the bodies of nine child martyrs, some of them charred, from the home of Dr Hamdi al-Najjar and his wife, Dr Alaa al-Najjar, all of whom were their children".

He added that Hamdi al-Najjar and another son, Adam, were also seriously wounded in the strike on Friday, and that the family was taken to Nasser Hospital. A medical source at the hospital gave Adam's age as 10 years old.

Muneer Alboursh, director general of the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, said on X that the strike happened shortly after Hamdi Al-Najjar returned home from driving his wife, a paediatric specialist, to work at the same facility.

"This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain," he said, accusing Israel of "wiping out entire families".

Footage of the aftermath released by the civil defence agency showed rescuers recovering badly burned remains from the damaged home.

Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said it had "struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure" near its troops.

"The Khan Yunis area is a dangerous warzone," it added.

"The claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review."

The army had issued an evacuation warning for the city on Monday.

The children's funeral took place at Nasser Hospital, AFP footage showed.

- Fresh strikes -

Bassal told AFP that Israeli strikes since the early hours had killed at least 15 people across Gaza as of Saturday afternoon.

He said the dead included a couple killed with their two young children in a pre-dawn strike on a house in the Amal quarter of Khan Yunis.

To the west of the city, at least five people were killed by a drone strike on a crowd of people that had gathered to wait for aid trucks, he added.

At Nasser Hospital, tearful mourners gathered Saturday around white-shrouded bodies outside.

"Suddenly, a missile from an F-16 destroyed the entire house, and all of them were civilians -- my sister, her husband and their children," said Wissam Al-Madhoun.

"What did this child do to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu?"

In a statement, the military said that over the past day the air force had struck more than 100 targets across the territory.

Israel resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire.

Gaza's health ministry said Saturday that at least 3,747 people had been killed in the territory since then, taking the war's overall toll to 53,901, mostly civilians.

- 'Attempt to sow panic' -

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said on Friday that Palestinians were enduring "the cruellest phase" of the war in Gaza, where Israel's lengthy blockade has led to widespread shortages of food and medicine.

Limited aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip restarted on Monday for the first time since March 2.

The Gaza City municipality, meanwhile, warned Saturday of "a potential large-scale water crisis" due to a lack of supplies needed to repair damaged infrastructure.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Demonstrators gathered yet again in Tel Aviv on Saturday night for their regular protest calling for the captives' freedom, carrying a giant banner that read "Save the hostages, end the war".

"We want the war to end now because we see... that the war will not lead to the release of the hostages, and that it will bring more death, more misery on both sides," demonstrator Jonathan Adereth told AFP.

Early Saturday morning, Israel's National Cyber Directorate said it had received "numerous inquiries" regarding citizens "receiving phone calls in which recordings are played featuring the voice of a hostage, sounds of explosions and screams".

Israeli media said the calls featured audio apparently taken from a video of hostage Yosef Haim Ohana published by Hamas earlier this month.

"This is an attempt to sow panic and confusion among the public," the directorate said of the calls, adding "the matter is under investigation".

bur/smw/jj
While the announcement of a film studio moving into a shuttered wood product plant in Missoulas Northside neighborhood may seem abrupt, local economic officials said it is a step forward for Montanas quietly growing film industry.

Story House, Inc., held a ribbon-cutting event last Friday at the former Roseburg Wood Products plant, which it plans to transform into a film and television production campus. The 47-acre site will include five soundstages, post-production suites, commercial workshops and a backlot of an Americana streetscape built over five to six years.

Once fully developed, the Studios at Story House Montana is expected to create 435 full-time jobs, according to the company. Story House plans to prioritize hiring veterans, Native Americans and displaced lumber and energy workers. About 85% of the jobs on a film production are blue-collar jobs, including electricians, carpenters and riggers, and the company plans to hire those locally.

Sean Higgins, Story House co-founder and CEO, said the company wants to help build a more resilient economic sector for Montana.

Were interested in real stories and real Montanans telling real stories, and making this industry work for the state for the first time ever, really, Higgins told Montana Free Press. Rather than it being an extractive industry, were looking to turn that narrative into a cultivated and export industry so that we as a state and as a people control that, and that those profits come back to this bottom line in the state of Montana.

About one year ago, Roseburg Wood Products closed its Missoula particleboard plant, affecting about 150 employees. The closure was one of the most recent in a long line of sawmill closures in western Montana over the last few decades.

Grant Kier, CEO of the Missoula Economic Partnership, said while the community lost many stable, well-paying jobs in the closure, the jobs Story House aims to create will ideally affect the local economy in the same way.

Although these industries sound really different, wood products manufacturing versus media arts manufacturing, from our perspective, they land in a similar sweet spot for the niche were trying to fill for our economy, he said.

The studio facility will provide an anchor for Montanas growing film industry and provide substantially different economic benefits than what the state has seen from large productions like the television show Yellowstone, Kier said.

What this facility helped catalyze is a movement of the industry across the state to refocus the states investment in this industry through tax credit in a way that truly benefits Montana communities, Montana companies and Montana filmmakers, he said. Because of that, products that get made here will be sold in other places and generate revenue that comes back to the state and stays in the community forever; rather than us investing in production companies that spend months here and take that investment back to another state or community and that money never returns.

The story of how a film studio ended up in Missoula starts about seven years ago in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Higgins said when he and Story House co-founder James Brown III were working on a film together in Sheridan, they learned about the local need for housing and services for veterans and the greater need for housing throughout the region.

In 2020, the two formed Story House, Inc., a real estate-backed film production company. Soon after, the company began planning Story House Village, a 240-acre housing and commercial development in Sheridan that includes homes for unhoused veterans. Higgins said Story House explored building a film studio there but turned its focus to Montana when that didnt work out.

Support from the Montana Department of Commerce and the Missoula Economic Partnership and Missoulas vibrant arts sector led Story House to the Roseburg site, Higgins said.

That community response to this opportunity is what made us choose Missoula, but Id like to think that Missoula chose us as much as anything, he said. Thats whats felt really lovely about this experience is the state understands the economics of this opportunity from a manufacturing standpoint; Missoula understands it from both a manufacturing standpoint but also the heartbeat of what this could be and what it could mean and how it fits in a greater ecosystem of economics for Missoula.

When Missoula Economic Partnership first heard of Story Houses interest in Missoula, Kier said he hoped laid-off Roseburg workers could be employed at a new facility right away. However, the timing was never going to be that storybook ending, he said.

But we really did see a good match for the pace at which Story House wanted to come into the community and grow, the skills they were looking for and  the arts and culture history of Missoula, Kier said.

Story Houses first phase of site redevelopment will include renovating buildings into five soundstages over 12 to 18 months. That work will cost about $24 million to $27 million, depending on the cost of lumber and the effects of tariffs, Higgins said.

Future phases will include 60,000 square feet of production offices, workshops, the streetscape backlot and a green screen with working trains, said Brown, the Story House co-founder and chief creative officer.

But more importantly, its a space for Montana film businesses to find their home where we can truly create a new film village, he said during the ribbon-cutting.

At the same time, the company will ramp up production in Missoula and elsewhere, Higgins said. Story House, Inc. includes an in-house production company, which controls 18 TV and film intellectual properties that it can greenlight, essentially creating a pipeline of projects for the Missoula studios, he said.

Story House is committed to producing at least one film in Missoula, for which it will hire locally and provide career training on that project, Higgins said. Other projects at the Missoula studios are likely on hold until more film tax credits are available from the state, he said.

One project will support about 120 jobs. Higgins said he hopes to hire Montanans who have retrained for the industry and those who already have filmmaking skills. Story House wants to work with the University of Montana, Montana State University, Missoula College and local high school career and technical education programs to provide job-training opportunities for students, Higgins said.

How can we start to imagine this where that training exists so that those folks can stay in Montana rather than getting on the first plane out after graduation, he said.

Story Houses goal is to have three to four projects shooting in Missoula simultaneously; the only thing inhibiting that right now is the size of the states film tax credit program, Higgins said.

In 2019, the Montana Legislature passed the Montana Economic Development Industry Advancement (MEDIA) Act, which provided $12 million annually in income tax incentives for film, television and other media productions. The incentives were set to expire in 2029.

Last week, Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 326, which extended the tax credit program through 2045, increased the credit for employing Montana veterans and tribal members, and set aside a certain amount of credits for small operations and Montana filmmakers.

Higgins said the bills provisions that prioritize Montana businesses were a huge win, but the initial proposal to increase the annual tax credit cap to $30 million was reduced to the current cap of $12 million.

Most of the available film credits are reserved through 2029, said bill sponsor Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, during a Senate committee meeting in March. While the incentive program has been successful in bringing in productions, Montana has begun losing projects to other states, he said.

Higgins, who advocated for the bill along with the Montana Media Coalition, said he hopes the credit can be increased in the future.

We hope to bring the state along in that thinking that this is a viable sector that more than pays for itself, he said. So as we invest what is up front at-risk private equity dollars, we are hoping that helps inspire what ends up being a very small rebate tax credit program on a percentage basis.

Lynn-Wood Fields, executive director of the Montana Media Coalition, said the new bill makes the tax credit program more beneficial for Montana filmmakers instead of large productions. The coalition represents about 200 Montana filmmakers, businesses and supporters of the states media industry.

These are hard-working, blue-collar jobs that we are proud of doing, but that big productions didnt always hire locally, she said. This, in turn, created housing issues by bringing in crew.

The coalition is excited that Story House plans to hire locally first, Fields said.

We have a wage issue in Montana, and higher wages mean more of us can stay, buy homes and raise our families here, she said. This is the opposite of what has been happening, and it is important that those of us living here play a part in the stories being told here.

The average film industry wage in Montana was $86,666 in 2022, compared to the overall private sector average of $54,232, according to a 2024 analysis of the film tax credit program.

Kier, with the Missoula Economic Partnership, said the organization keeps in mind the communitys top challenge of housing availability and affordability while recruiting businesses.

We take seriously the responsibility of trying to grow jobs at a pace that we can also grow our housing inventory so were not creating imbalances in the economy that lead to further escalation of housing prices or really big challenges on workforce availability, he said.

Its rare for a community of Missoulas size to see a new employer provide 100 or more jobs, but the area is not well-equipped to handle more than that at once, Kier said. Story Houses plan for growth over several years should feel organic and reflect the ability to develop talent in the community, he said.

Story House hopes to participate in the housing conversation in Missoula and potentially be involved in a housing development on the surrounding Roseburg property if that aligns with the citys plans, Higgins said.

We think its the socially responsible thing to do if were going to go out and over the next six years create 400 or more jobs, he said.

Higgins said Montana had more of an existing film industry than he expected, in part because of the Montana Media Coalition and Paramounts filming of Yellowstone and 1923 in the state. However, many students studying film are still leaving the state, and Story House hopes to bring more of those opportunities to Montana, he said.

Over the last decade, Montanas film production ecosystem has grown considerably through the MEDIA Act and the resources of the states film office, according to the tax credit program study.

From 2010 to 2019, the state saw an average of 80 productions each year, generating revenue between $2.7 and $7.8 million annually, according to a similar study completed in 2020. The tax credit program began in July 2019, and the state saw 117 productions with a total economic impact of $47.6 million from January 2019 to June 2020.

From July 2022 through mid-May 2024, 167 productions filmed in the state, spending $334 million and generating $22.2 million in tax revenue, according to the 2024 report. In Montana, the number of workers in the film industry increased from 280 in 2019 to 431 in 2022, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Kier with the Missoula Economic Partnership said the updated tax credit program and the Story House studio offer a turning point for the film industry to become more prominent in its own Montana way, rather than the perception of it rising and falling with one major production.

This is a place where young people are excited to be, to build toward a future, but its a place thats harder than ever for young people to be because its so expensive, Kier said. Its important Montana is celebrating and supporting those industries that have younger workers so they continue to be excited to live, work and play in Montana and invest their lives into this place so it continues to be a thriving place for everyone to live in the future.
President Xi Jinping recently said China is prepared to work with Germany to steer bilateral ties towards new progress and make fresh contributions to world economic growth.

In a telephonic conversation with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Xi said the strategic and global significance of China-Germany and China-European Union (EU) ties has become even more prominent as the world undergoes accelerated changes unseen in a century and the international landscape is marked by transformation and turbulence.

China is willing to maintain close high-level exchanges with Germany, respect each other's core interests and consolidate the political foundation of bilateral relations, he was cited as saying by a state-controlled media outlet.

President Xi Jinping said China is ready to work with Germany to steer bilateral ties towards new progress. In a telephonic chat with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Xi said the strategic and global significance of China-Germany and China-EU ties is more prominent now. He hoped Germany will offer more policy support, and provide conducive business environment for Chinese enterprises.

Xi said both sides should not only continue to expand the existing cooperation in traditional areas, but seek more collaboration in cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence and quantum technology, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation in areas including climate change and green development.

China hopes Germany will offer more policy support and facilitation for two-way investment, and provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises, he added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
G7 members would continue to monitor non-market policies and practices that contribute to imbalances in global trade, according to a statement issued by the grouping after the three-day meeting of its finance ministers and central bank governors concluded in Banff, Canada, recently.

G7 members comprise the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, France and Italy.

Though the statement did not mention China, but non-market policies typically refer to that countrys export subsidies and currency policies that the US administration says give it an advantage in global trade.

G7 members would continue to monitor 'non-market policies and practices' that contribute to imbalances in global trade, a statement by the grouping said after a meeting of its top finance officials concluded in Canada recently. The statement did not mention the US reciprocal tariffs, but Canadian finance minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said participants did discuss the effects of the tariffs.

We found common ground on the most pressing global issues that we face, Canadian finance minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told the closing press conference. I think it sends a very clear signal to the world ... that the G7 is united in purpose and in action.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told a global newswire that he does not think there were any major disagreements.

German finance minister Lars Klingbeil told reporters it was crucial to resolve the current trade disputes as quickly as possible, as tariffs had placed a heavy burden on the global economy.

The G7 statement did not mention the US reciprocal tariffs, but Champagne said participants did discuss the effects of the tariffs during the meeting. Were trying to enhance growth and stability. And obviously tariffs are something in that context that you cant avoid discussing, Champagne was quoted as saying.

A G7 leaders summit is scheduled for June 15-17 in the nearby mountain resort area of Kananaskis.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
CHONGQING, China, May 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The China (Chongqing)-UAE Economic and Trade Investment Promotion Conference, themed "Shared Vision, Shared Future," convened in Chongqing, bringing together over 400 delegates from government, industry, and academia. The event was co-hosted by the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development, Chongqing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, and the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in China.

Key Attendees:

UAE delegation led by the Crown Prince of Ajman

Representatives from UAE government agencies, investment institutions (100+ delegates)

Chongqing municipal departments, district officials, and enterprises (nearly 300 delegates)

Strategic Report Launch:

In recent years, Chongqing and the UAE have significantly expanded cooperation across industry, trade, and technology. The conference spotlighted the release of the Chongqing-UAE Economic and Investment Cooperation Report, a comprehensive case study collection showcasing the outcomes of collaboration between the two sides, which highlights:

Complementary Strength: High complementarity in industrial structures between the UAE and Chongqing

Shared Benefits: High dividends in China's market prospects and high-tech growth

Strategic Gateway: UAE as one of the top choices for Chongqing Smart Manufacturing's going-global

Synergy Potential: Promising results in deeper "Chongqing Smart Manufacturing-UAE Capital" integration

Investment Promotion Highlights:

UAE Side: Presentations by Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Dubai Chambers Shanghai Office, Ajman Chamber of Commerce, and Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone

Chongqing: Project showcases by Liangjiang New Area (advanced manufacturing), Yuzhong District (financial hub), and Fengjie County (eco-tourism)

12 Strategic MoUs have been signed to deepen cooperation. Among them was the Memorandum of Cooperation on Establishing Friendly Exchange Cities between Chongqing and the Emirate of Ajman, UAE. Further MoUs were signed between Chongqing and Ajman in a variety of sectors, including industry, commerce, logistics, education, and tourism.

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Education is a humanitarian lifeline for the world's most vulnerable children. Our investment in their education today is an investment in global security, economic stability and continued growth in the 21st century.

The following content is by Yasmine Sherif, Education Cannot Wait Executive Director

NEW YORK, May 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ --The challenges facing many parts of the African continent today are vast and immense. From the surge in violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to all-out-war in Sudan, years of progress are being obliterated by bombs, killings and other grave violations of international law.

The single best investment we can make in addressing these multiplying humanitarian crises is an investment in the vast potential and talents of Africa's younger generations. By investing in their education, we empower them to prevent conflicts, end extreme poverty and ensure economic development, peace and stability. Without investing in education as part of this broader vision, none of these imperatives will be materialized.

The returns on investment are significant. As noted by the World Bank, foundational learning has the potential to double the GDP per capita in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050.

Responding to the education funding gap

Many traditional donor countries have dramatically reduced humanitarian aid in the past year, with recent analysis from UNESCO revealing a concerning drop of 14% in global aid to education. Yet, we all want to see a stable and prosperous Africa - a continent that deserves no less.

Still, Africa is falling even further behind. Estimates from UNESCO indicate that, worldwide, there is a US$100 billion funding gap to reach the goal for universal education as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with US$70 billion of this gap found in sub-Saharan Africa.

Learning poverty is a concerning global trend. Nowhere is this more pressing than across Africa. Around four out of five African children cannot read or understand a simple text by age 10, according to UNESCO, and many struggle with basic numeracy skills.

Compounding challenges like conflict, climate change and forced displacement are derailing development gains and impeding access to life-saving education in humanitarian crises - an investment that is indispensable to achieve peace and economic prosperity. According to the recent global estimates study by Education Cannot Wait (ECW), about half of the world's 234 million crisis-impacted school-aged children reside in sub-Saharan Africa.

An entire generation is being left behind. "Although 75 million more African children are enrolled in school today compared to 2015, the number of out-of-school children has increased by 13.2 million to over 100 million during the same period," according to the 2025 Transforming Learning and Skills Development in Africa report.

You cannot have sustainable economic growth without stability. And you cannot achieve stability without education. Africa is a continent on the move, a continent of forced displacement as a consequence of armed and violent conflicts, as well as climate change.

"In 2020, 21 million Africans were living in another African country. Since 1990, the number of African migrants living outside of the region has more than doubled, with the growth in Europe most pronounced. In 2020, most African-born migrants living outside the region were residing in Europe (11 million), Asia (nearly 5 million) and North America (around 3 million)," according to the World Migration Report.

Our collective failure to respond to this pressing education crisis will have dire global consequences.

The situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Just look at the terrifying situation unravelling in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This region has been plagued by violence for decades, but it's gotten much, much worse in recent months.

In all, there are an estimated 3.5 million forcibly displaced children in DRC today. Millions risk unimaginable violations of their human rights, including killing, maiming, abduction and forced recruitment into armed groups. There are also unconscionable accounts of sexual violence against girls. In eastern DRC, a child is reported raped every half an hour, according to UNICEF.

How can we tolerate the magnitude and depth of young girls and boys being systematically raped and killed? "More than 79 million girls and women - over 1 in 5 - across sub-Saharan Africa have experienced rape or sexual assault before turning 18," according to UNICEF. Let's put that number in perspective. That's more than the total population of Australia and Spain combined.

For the children living in the midst of this chaos and fear, the options are limited. For girls, it's a future as a child bride, continued poverty and early pregnancies. For boys, it might look like forced recruitment into terrorist organizations and other armed groups, forced labour or migration. For the world, this means growing forced displacement and migration, deeper and more widespread insecurity across the Global South, unstable markets, unstable populations and unstable futures.

The consequences of the war in Sudan

The situation in Sudan is soul-shattering and must end now. Recent estimates indicate that 30 million people require humanitarian assistance, including 16 million children. More than 12 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan since April 2023, straining education systems, budgets and capacity in neighbouring countries.

In all, the conflict and continuing challenges - including forced displacement, climate change, poverty and other factors - have left about 16.5 million children out of school in Sudan.

Education is the solution

As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and its strategic partners are making a value proposition to increase humanitarian funding for education in Africa and beyond. In doing so, we contribute to joint programming on education, hence the broader goal of peace, stability and economic development.

There is a strong economic argument to be made. Africa is the youngest, fastest growing continent on earth - 6 out of 10 people are under the age of 25.

Within all that youth and energy lies opportunity. According to the World Bank, there is a 10% increase in hourly earnings for every extra year of schooling.

At the same time, taken at a macro-economic level, the opportunity costs are unprecedented. "This generation of students now risks losing a combined total of US$21 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value, or the equivalent of 17% of today's global GDP - a sharp rise from the 2021 estimate of a US$17 trillion loss."

The returns on investment in sub-Saharan Africa may be even more substantial, with some analyses indicating that every US$1 invested in tripling pre-primary education enrolment can generate up to US$33 in returns.

A lasting legacy

Education - as a transformative, immediate, life-saving and long-term investment -breaks cycles of poverty, displacement and conflict. Only then can we achieve peace, stability and economic development.

Deep inside us, we all agree that we can do better as a global community. We all know, instinctively, that the world would be a better place if we reduced global military spending - topping US$2.7 trillion - and instead invested in education, health, governance, infrastructure and livelihoods. We do know that we can be creative and turn vision into practical results. All it takes is investing just 0.02% (US$600 million) of this into education - and similar amounts into other sectors - which, together, provide the transformational power to build stability, spread peace and generate significant economic returns. This is not just logic. This is a legacy worth living.

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As Former White House Drug Czar Rahul Gupta revealed DEA intentional sabotage, will DEA Administrator Nominee Terrance Cole Address the Marijuana Crisis? Bureaucratic Inaction and Medical Delays Demand Accountability.

WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / May 25, 2025 / When former White House Drug Czar Rahul Gupta revealed that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had intentionally delayed marijuana rescheduling from within its own ranks, it sent shockwaves through the cannabis policy world. For MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, the federally compliant pharmaceutical company developing cannabinoid-based treatments for Huntington's disease and Multiple Sclerosis, this revelation merely confirms what they have endured for years: bureaucratic sabotage from inside the DEA.

The similarities between MMJ's stalled license application and the national rescheduling impasse are too glaring to ignore. Both involve DEA officials subverting legal processes, ignoring scientific consensus, and acting contrary to Department of Justice (DOJ) directives. And in both cases, the ultimate cost is borne by suffering patients and U.S. scientific progress.

MMJ's Seven-Year Delay: Compliance Met with Contempt

MMJ BioPharma Cultivation has followed every federal rule:

Two Investigational New Drug (IND) applications accepted by the FDA.

Orphan Drug Designation granted for its proprietary cannabinoid capsule.

DEA Schedule I Analytical Laboratory registration issued.

Yet the DEA has refused to issue a Schedule I Bulk Manufacturing License necessary to grow cannabis for clinical trials. The agency's inaction has persisted for over seven years, despite multiple inspections and full compliance.

The delay isn't based on science. It isn't based on law. It's based on unaccountable bureaucrats like DEA Deputy Assistant Administrator Thomas Prevoznik and marijuana policy administrator Matthew Strait, who wield unchecked power behind closed doors.

Echoes of the Rescheduling Crisis

Gupta's recent statement to The New York Times revealed that the DEA's internal resistance to rescheduling cannabis had torpedoed the Biden administration's efforts. Despite HHS and FDA recommendations, and Attorney General Merrick Garland's approval, DEA leadership stalled the process and raised suspect questions about the medical value of cannabis-a move critics call "rigged."

Sound familiar?

That's precisely what MMJ BioPharma Cultivation has alleged in court: that DEA officials have subverted the Controlled Substances Act and DOJ policies, intentionally obstructing the lawful drug development process.

Constitutional Violations, Ignored Directives

The Supreme Court's Axon ruling declared the DEA's Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) system unconstitutional. In line with this, DOJ formally informed courts it would no longer defend those ALJ tribunals. Yet MMJ's case was just sent back into that exact invalid hearing structure, scheduled for June 11, 2025.

This isn't mere delay. It's institutional defiance of the rule of law.

The Real Victims: Patients and Science

While DEA officials delay and deflect, patients with progressive neurological disorders continue to suffer. MMJ's therapies could offer relief, but the agency that should be enabling scientific advancement has instead become its greatest obstacle.

Meanwhile, as DEA devotes resources to sabotaging federally compliant companies, it admits in its own 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment that cartel-backed operations are thriving in legalized states, exploiting weak oversight.

"The irony is glaring," said MMJ CEO Duane Boise. "The DEA blocks lawful drug development while cartels profit. The agency is both gatekeeper and roadblock-and now, a constitutional liability."

Time for Accountability

MMJ BioPharma is calling on:

Congress to launch immediate oversight into DEA misconduct.

DOJ to enforce its own policies and halt illegal proceedings.

DEA Nominee Terrance Cole to commit to ending this sabotage and comply with judicial precedent.

"This is no longer about science or safety," Boise concluded. "This is about entrenched power, defiance of the law, and a complete abandonment of the public interest. Congress must act now."

MMJ is represented by attorney Megan Sheehan.

CONTACT:

Madison Hisey

MHisey@mmjih.com

203-231-85832

SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/healthcare-and-pharmaceutical/deas-internal-marijuana-resistance-mmj-biopharma-delays-reflect-a-wid-1031165
Gillian Anderson fears the UK's homelessness problem could get even worse.

Gillian Anderson has expressed her fears

The 56-year-old actress plays a woman facing homelessness in her new film, 'The Salt Path', and Gillian fears the problem will only get worse if the UK enters a recession.

Gillian - who was born in Chicago, but now lives in London - told Sky News: "I'm used to seeing it so much in Vancouver and California and other areas that I spent time. You don't often see it as much in the UK."

The actress believes the COVID-19 pandemic marked a turning point for the UK's homelessness problem.

She explained: "It's now becoming more and more prevalent since COVID, and the current financial situation in the country and around the world.

"It's a topic that I think will be more and more in the forefront of people's minds, particularly if we end up going into a recession."

Gillian previously insisted that she won't give up her US passport - despite living in the UK for more than two decades.

The 'X Files' star loves living in London, but she also feels proud of her American roots.

Gillian told the Guardian newspaper in 2024: "It feels like my cells are American, and my soul is British. So if you ask me to give up my American passport, I would say it doesnt feel right, no. Absolutely not. Im American.

"And if you asked me to leave living in the UK? Id say this is where Im most comfortable, understood, accepted."

Prior to that, Gillian admitted that she often slips between a British and American accent.

The actress told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "It goes back and forth because I grew up in both places, so it depends on who Im talking to.

"So usually when Im talking to Brits, it slides into British, and vice versa for American. Sometimes it's conscious because I know that somebody will be thrown by it and so I'll consciously do it.

"Even on the phone my accent will change. Part of me wishes I could control it, but I cant. I just slip into one or the other. When I moved to the States I tried hard to cling on to my British accent because it made me different."
JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 25, 2025, at the UN Global Compact (UNGC)'s Inaugural Global Business Summit in Jakarta, a total of 24 global leading solar companies including JA Solar, Jinko Solar, Tongwei, LONGi, GCL Group and other core upstream suppliers, collectively released the initiative for "Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA)".

Distinguished leaders across government, industry and academia attended the summit, including United Nations Global Compact Assistant Secretary-General and CEO Sanda Ojiambo, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee , Chairman of the National Economic Council of the Republic of Indonesia H.E. Luhut B. Pandjaitan, Founder and co-chairman of Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio, President of the China Electricity Council Bao'an Xin, Chairman of Xiamen Airlines Dong Zhao, Founder and Chairman of GCL Gongshan Zhu.

At this critical juncture of global energy transition, the solar industry, as a cornerstone of renewable energy, serves as a pivotal solution to combat climate change and achieve carbon neutrality goals. Amid rapid industry growth, leading enterprises have jointly launched this initiative to address social and environmental challenges and advance sustainable development. Committed to delivering clean energy globally, the Initiative aims to strengthen sustainability across the entire value chain - promoting green mineral sourcing from the source, protecting ecosystems and biodiversity, building an equitable society for common good, and driving inclusive growth.

Aligned with the UNGC Ten Principles and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Initiative outlines 9 actionable pathways across three pillars, advancing ESG progress across the solar value chain and promoting its positive impact on the international market.

The GSSA initiative has garnered strong endorsement from the UNGC. Meng Liu, UNGC China Representative, stated: "We commend the global solar industry, particularly Chinese photovoltaic enterprises, for their contributions to advancing the global energy transition, and we welcome the launch of this initiative. Closely aligned with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact, the Initiative underscores corporate responsibilities in environmental protection, human rights safeguards, and sound governance. We look forward to the solar industry setting an exemplary model for global sustainable development through collective action."

Jing Li, Vice President of Branding and Sustainability Officer of JA Solar, officially launched this GSSA Initiative at the event, and introduced JA Solar's newly constructed responsible supply chain strategy with the theme of "Together Towards Tomorrow", which aims to promote the multi-stakeholders along the industry's value chain to evolve towards a sustainable future.

UNGC encourages more solar companies and supply chain partners to join this initiative and jointly advance the sustainable development of the industry. To truly fulfill the summit's vision of 'Better Business, Better World: Accelerating the SDGs', the first co-signatories pledge to collaboratively develop a concrete action roadmap with stakeholder engagement, to ensure effective implementation of the Initiative.

Appendix: Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA)

As the backbone of renewable energy, the global solar sector provides consumers, industries, and society with affordable and reliable clean energy. It has made remarkable contributions to advancing global energy transition and promoting sustainable development, with immense potential yet to be realized.

On the other hand, after decades of growth, the social and environmental footprints of the solar industry, particularly the associated risks across its supply chain-have increasingly emerged. These challenges pose significant obstacles to unleashing the industry's full potential and achieving its own sustainable development.

In light of this, we, as the undersigned photovoltaic enterprises and supply chain participants, guided by the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), hereby launch the Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA). We call on all companies in the industry and its supply chains to adopt sustainability principles and strategies, and actively undertake the following actions:

I. Just Transition: Safeguarding the green ecosystems and environment

a) Reduce pollution, conserve resources, improve environmental management, implement clean production, and promote a circular economy.

b) Cut energy consumption and carbon emissions, adapt to climate change, establish science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets, and achieve net-zero emissions as soon as possible.

c) Protect biodiversity and ecosystems, promoting green mining from origins of materials, ensuring zero deforestation and no net loss of biodiversity.

II. People-Centric Development: Building an Equitable Society for Common Good

a) Respect and protect workers' fundamental rights, create gender-responsive, diverse, inclusive, safe, and healthy workplaces, and enhance employees' skills and development potential.

b) Advance responsible procurement and marketing practices, implement human rights due diligence in supply chains, improve value chain transparency, traceability, and collaborative mechanisms, and strengthen supply chain resilience.

c) Plan PV projects in alignment with local conditions, respect the rights of communities and residents, and leverage industry expertise to support community and social development.

III. Governance Enhancement: Driving Inclusive Growth

a) Optimize corporate governance structures, enhance professionalism and diversity in governance mechanisms, improve investor relations management, and protect the rights of minority shareholders.

b) Operate with integrity and compliance, oppose all forms of unfair competition practices, proactively uphold a sound market order, and foster the healthy development of the industry.

c) Strengthen internal and external oversight systems, conduct standardized information disclosure and regular tracking of progress and targets, and establish multi-channel stakeholder engagement and dialogue mechanisms.

Building on the above consensus, we will pool wisdom and resources, engage in full collaboration, and establish a concrete action roadmap with the participation and support of multi-stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the GSSA Initiative.

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The team has now begun intensive prep for the film, laying the foundation for an authentic and immersive cinematic journey read more

Mahaveer Jain and Siddharth Anands Marflix Pictures are coming together to create WHITE, an international thriller that delves deep into the life and teachings of the globally revered spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar starring Vikrant Massey in the lead role,

The team has now begun intensive prep for the film, laying the foundation for an authentic and immersive cinematic journey. As part of this preparation, Mahaveer Jain personally guided a meaningful visit to the Art of Living Ashram in Bengaluru. Vikrant Massey, who portrays Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, participated in the Happiness Program, a signature breathwork and meditation course founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar himself.

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A photograph shared from the ashram beautifully captures this serene moment, with the group dressed in simple white attire, embodying the films spiritual essence. The caption, Hearts Filled with Gratitude  Grateful for this wisdom Gurudev Sri Sri @gurudev , reflects the deep reverence and gratitude at the heart of the project.

Directed by Montoo Bassi and set to commence shooting in Colombia this July, WHITE is an ambitious and visionary endeavor from Mahaveer Jain Films and Marflix Pictures.
Produced by Supriya Yarlagadda and co-produced by Suniel Narang, Dacoits story and screenplay are written by Shaneil Deo alongside Adivi Sesh. read more

Mrunal Thakur, shared a piece of exciting news with fans. She revealed that her upcoming bilingual action -drama film Dacoits first look will be presented to the audience on Monday, May 27. In a cute video, she was seen telling her fans that her co-star Adivi Sesh has invited her to watch the first look today, May 24, however, fans will have to wait a little longer.

Mrunal Thakurs excitement for Dacoits first look was palpable. Leaving her car behind, the actor was seen running towards the studio after she was playfully denied entry after a certain point. Before Mrunal, Shruti Haasan was cast as the films female lead, where she also shot for a promo. However, their collaboration couldnt work for Haasan exited the film due to creative differences. But first, watch Mrunals video here:

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Produced by Supriya Yarlagadda and co-produced by Suniel Narang, Dacoits story and screenplay are written by Shaneil Deo alongside Adivi Sesh.

Dacoit has been simultaneously shot in Hindi and Telugu. The story follows an enraged convict seeking revenge on his former girlfriend after her betrayal.
Paresh Rawal has revealed in an interview with The Lallantop how Ajay Devgns father Veeru Devgan asked him to drink his urine for 15 days when he was injured. read more

Paresh Rawal completes 40 years in Indian cinema this year. But he has had his share of controversies despite being a fine talent. Here are the instances when he made headlines for all the wrong reasons:

Drinking his urine

Paresh Rawal has revealed in an interview with The Lallantop how Ajay Devgns father Veeru Devgan asked him to drink his urine for 15 days when he was injured.

The actor said, I did this for 15 days. 15 days later when the doctor took my X-ray, he was shocked. The doctor asked me, How did this cementing happen? He could see a white line forming. I was supposed to be discharged in 2-2.5 months, but I was discharged in 1.5 months. It was like magic.

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Rejecting Munna Bhai MBBS

Paresh also shared his strained equation with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, which also made him reject Munna Bhai MBBS  role of Dr Asthana (later played by Boman Irani) due to the producers arrogance.

He started ignoring the people he began his career with after achieving success," Paresh shared, adding, I was supposed to do Munna Bhai. We were discussing remuneration. In my mind, I wanted 15 lakh, and coincidentally, Vidhu offered exactly that. But the way he said, Ill give you 15 lakh  with arrogance  irked me. So, out of principle, I demanded 50 lakh and refused to back down."

Walking out of Hera Pheri 3

Paresh Rawals sudden exit from Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty starrer Hera Pheri 3 was a huge shocker and disappointment for fans as well as for the fraternity. While there were reports that Akshay Kumars Cape of Good Films, the producer of Hera Pheri 3, sued the actor for Rs. 25 crores for his unprofessionalism, the latest report says that Rawal has returned Rs 11 lakhs to the producers with 15% interest.

 Paresh Rawal has returned the signing amount of Rs 11 lakhs with 15% p.a. interest and also a little more money for stepping away from the series, said a source to Bollywood Hungama.
Ishaans The Perfect Couple saw him share screen space with Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, and a stellar ensemble cast, and he more than held his own read more

From Netflix royalty to a Cannes sensation, 2025 is shaping up to be the year of Ishaan Khatter - the man of the moment. Hes not just making waves - hes taking over. With standout performances across Hollywood and streaming platforms, and a standing ovation at Cannes, Ishaan has officially stepped into the global spotlight like never before.

Ishaans T_he Perfect Couple_ saw him share screen space with Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, and a stellar ensemble cast, and he more than held his own. Critics and audiences were taken aback by his powerful performance, proving that Hollywood has found a new-age Indian lead they didnt see coming. Youve never seen a young Indian man shown like this before, they said.

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Meanwhile, his role as a rebellious royal prince in The Royals has turned him into the internets newest crush. Netizens have crowned him Prince Fizzy, ruler of our hearts, while critics praise him as a sexy supernova of charm. Even Karan Johar, a connoisseur of star quality, couldnt help but acknowledge Ishaans versatility, speaking to Variety recently Karan Johar called him a chameleon. You can put him in The Royals, and hell deliver that kind of sexy boy look which is like a thirst trap and everyones national crush these days, and you put him in Homebound, and hell rip your gut out emotionally.

In Neeraj Ghaywans Homebound, Ishaans performance brought the house down at Cannes, earning him a nine-minute standing ovation. As he shared an emotional group hug with Neeraj Ghaywan, Karan Johar, Janhvi Kapoor and the films talented cast and crew - it was clear that this wasnt just a win for Ishaan, but for Indian cinema on the global stage.

For his red-carpet debut at Cannes, Ishaan stunned in a Bordeaux velvet bandhgala by Gaurav Gupta - blending desi drama with red carpet royalty. Fashion critics were obsessed, fans began manifesting a Met Gala invite, and Bollywood watched as its next global star rose before their eyes.

Adding to his growing list of achievements, Ishaan is also the only Indian male actor to be featured in the recently released Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list - cementing his status as Bollywoods best, unstoppable and here to stay.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have come to a pause. But Islamabad has received a real drubbing  its airbases have incurred massive damage and its missiles, drones and planes were downed. However, the neighbouring country doesnt see a loss; after all, they promoted their army chief, Asim Munir, to field marshal. Heres this and more in our weekly roundup read more

A man carries a portrait of Pakistani army chief General Syed Asim Munir, during a rally to express solidarity with Pakistan's armed forces, in Islamabad. This week, Munir became only the second in the country's history to be elevated to Field Marshal. AFP

Its been a busy, busy week in the world of news. A lot has happened in the past seven days, leaving a deep impact on the world.

The week gone by began with the sad and shocking news that former US President Joe Biden had been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer. The news led many to question  had he been hiding this diagnosis while in the White House? How could it be so severe so quickly? How long did he have?

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And talking about American presidents, no news cycle can be complete without Donald Trump. Its been a busy week for the US president  he unveiled the Golden Dome for America, a multilayered defence system, ambushed his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office and escalated his battle with Harvard University.

The last seven days has also been noteworthy for the Asian subcontinent. Speculation is swirling that Bangladeshs Muhammad Yunus is angry and unhappy at the current situation in the country and is threatening to resign. In the neighbouring country, Pakistan, the army chief General Asim Munir was promoted to the rank of field marshal, making him only the second in the countrys history to earn a five-star ranking.

In our weekly wrap, we look at all this and more that has unfolded.

1) The week started on a sombre note for the Bidens and the former US presidents supporters. He announced that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.

His team in a statement said that his prostate cancer is characterised by a Gleason score of 9, meaning it is a high-grade cancer.

The news led to an outpour of support for the former US president. Bidens former boss, Barack Obama, said that Biden would fight cancer with his trademark resolve and grace while Kamala Harris said that she was saddened to learn of the diagnosis.

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The diagnosis also led many to search  what is prostate cancer? What are its symptoms? How serious can it be?

If you are asking the same questions, our report has the answers.

2) For many, the big news of the week continues to be Operation Sindoor, the targeted and precise military strikes that India carried out two weeks ago. While hostilities between India and Pakistan have been temporarily paused, details keep emerging. For India, the mission was a success  the military eliminated key terror bases deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). It also caused heavy damage to the neighbouring nations airbases after Islamabad chose to launch drones and missiles at civilian and military infrastructure.

One of the biggest triumphs for India during the strikes was the taking down of the Chinese-made PL-15 missile that Islamabad fired towards India. Shortly after that, the intelligence agencies of various countries reached out to New Delhi seeking access to the debris of the missile. Amongst those who urged India for access was the Five Eyes nations as well as France and Japan. But what would they gain out of this? Read here to find out.

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Pakistans Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir salutes after laying wreath on the martyrs monument during a guard of honour ceremony at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. AFP

3) On the topic of Pakistan, heres some interesting news. The countrys army chief, General Asim Munir, received a promotion  he was elevated to the rank of field marshal, making him only the second in the country behind Mohammad Ayub Khan to receive the honour.

But one cant help note the timing of the elevation. Thats because promotions and an honour such as field marshal is normally bestowed upon when a general leads his country to victory in a war. But thats not the case for Munir, is it? The country received a severe bruising from India during Operation Sindoor  its airbases damaged and its drones and missiles neutralised by Indias defence systems.

In such circumstances, many wondered why the Shehbaz-Sharif led government chose to elevate Munir. Pakistani watchers also noted that it could be a sign of things to come  after all, the last field marshal of the country carried out a coup and established a military dictatorship.

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4) In this week, Bangladesh has also been in the news  not for a good reason, though. On Thursday (May 22), rumours began to swirl that Muhammad Yunus, the countrys interim chief, was thinking of resigning. In fact, many of his advisers rushed to his house that evening to persuade him from stepping down.

But whats the reason that the Nobel laureate was considering to put in his papers? Was it the fact that he was receiving intense criticism for not providing a proper roadmap to the elections in the country? Or is it because the tensions with Bangladesh army chief Waker uz-Zaman have further deteriorated?

Our report explores the entire situation and what Yunus resignation would mean for the troubled country.

US President Donald Trump announces his plans for the Golden Dome, a national ballistic and cruise missile defence system in the presence of Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office at the White House. AFP

5) When Pakistan rained down drones and missiles on India, it threw light on the countrys missile defence systems. And perhaps taking inspiration from that, US President Donald Trump unveiled the concept for what he calls the Golden Dome  a $175 billion sweeping missile defence programme unlike any the United States has attempted before.

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The probable weapon is expected to not only protect the country from missile threats but also have space-borne weapons capable of intercepting missiles at various stages of flight. Sounds futuristic and right out of a Star Wars movie, right?

Trump doesnt think so. He announced that it would become fully operational before the end of my term, which ends in January 2029.

But while Trump envisions a futuristic weapon to protect American soil, its not going to be easy. In fact, some think its not possible. Heres more on that here .

6) Donald Trump is often referred to as tariffs man. And after this week, one could also call the US president smackdown man. On Wednesday, the US president laid an ambush for his incoming guest, South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa. The US leader lectured Ramaphosa on false claims that White South African farmers are the victims of a genocide .

The meeting was very reminiscent of Trumps confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with many noting that Ramaphosa kept his cool and refrained from being Zelensky-ed.

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But what went down in the Oval Office between Trump and Ramaphosa? Read on to find out.

7) While we are on the topic of Trump, his administration on Thursday escalated their battle with Harvard University. The US Department of Homeland Security announced that it had revoked the ivy League institutions ability to enrol international students, delivering a sharp punishment to it for refusing to bow to the administrations policy demands.

This move is a huge blow to foreign students, namely Indians who aspire to graduate from the elite university. It leaves the nearly 788 Indians in limbo , with many scrambling to find a transfer to another university or mulling a return to India.

People attend a candlelight vigil at Lafayette Square across from the White House in Washington, DC following a shooting that left two people dead. Elias Rodriguez faces murder and other charges after allegedly gunning down two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. AFP

8) The Israel-Hamas war continues to drag on with no end in sight. And on Wednesday night, the war reverberated loudly outside of Israel when two Israel embassy staffers, who were a couple, were shot dead outside a Jewish museum in Washington, DC.

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Police identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim and also have the accused in custody. Identified as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, he shouted free, free Palestine while he was arrested. Now, investigations into his social media accounts have revealed his ideologies and beliefs. Heres what we found out.

Thats our reading list of the events from the world this week. If you want to know the latest, you can come back to this page .

PS: Matcha, that vibrant green powder, has become all the rage. Many are even replacing their morning coffee with this Japanese drink. But is it a healthier alternative to your cuppa?
Jharkhands capital Ranchi registered the states first COVID19 case of the current wave as a person who had recently returned from Mumbai tested positive for the infection, a senior health official said. read more

Jharkhand on Sunday reported its first Covid-19 case of the current wave, with a person in Ranchi testing positive after returning from Mumbai, a senior health official confirmed.

The infected person is being treated at a private hospital here, he said.

Today, we received the official confirmation of the first Covid-19 case in Ranchi of the current wave. His condition is stable and he is not showing any other complications, Ranchi Civil Surgeon Dr Prabhat Kumar told PTI.

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Kumar said that a check-up drive would be carried out in Ranchi from Monday.

An isolation ward of 20 beds is being set up in Ranchis Sadar Hospital, he added.

The man, who got infected with coronavirus, wrote on a social media platform, There are 257 confirmed Covid-19 cases in India so far, and I am one of them. On the 22nd May, while traveling from Mumbai to Ranchi, I lost consciousness during the flight. As a member of the Jharkhand Film Development Corporation Limited, I was supposed to preview some films, but due to my health, I couldnt do so, he said.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand Health Minister Irfan Ansari said the state is alert for the new variant of Covid-19 and the government is fully prepared.

Ansari said, This is a normal situation. There is no need to panic. The health department is monitoring the entire situation. The minister added that the government is waiting for the new guidelines from the central government.

The state government will immediately take necessary steps as soon as the instructions are received, Ansari said.

With inputs from PTI
The southwest monsoon arrived in Kerala on Saturday, marking an early start to Indias rainy season. It also reached parts of the Northeast ahead of schedule, according to the IMD. read more

The southwest monsoon arrived in Kerala on Saturday, eight days earlier than usual, marking the start of Indias four-month rainy season. This is the earliest onset since 2009, when it began on May 23, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Along with Kerala, the monsoon also reached parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Mizoram, where it arrived 12 days ahead of schedule.

Though it hit both Kerala and the Northeast at the same time, officials say this doesnt mean the monsoon will quickly cover the entire country.

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Normally, the southwest monsoon makes its onset over Kerala by June 1 and covers the entire country by July 8. It starts retreating from northwest India around September 17 and withdraws completely by October 15.

More from India Southwest monsoon hits Kerala early, easing heat and boosting harvest hopes

The monsoon had set in over the southern state on May 30 last year; June 8 in 2023; May 29 in 2022; June 3 in 2021; June 1 in 2020; June 8 in 2019; and May 29 in 2018, IMD data showed.

Data available since 1975 showed that the monsoon reached Kerala the earliest in 1990 (on May 19), 13 days before the usual date.

According to meteorologists, there is no direct relationship between the onset date and the total rainfall over the country during the season.

The monsoon arriving early or late in Kerala does not mean it will cover other parts of the country accordingly. It is characterised by large-scale variabilities and global, regional and local features, an IMD official said.

The IMD in April forecast above-normal cumulative rainfall in the 2025 monsoon season, ruling out the possibility of El Nino conditions, which are associated with below-normal rainfall in the Indian subcontinent.

According to the IMD, rainfall between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of the 50-year average of 87 cm is considered normal'.

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Rainfall less than 90 per cent of the long-period average is considered deficient; between 90 per cent and 95 per cent is below normal; between 105 per cent and 110 per cent is above normal; and more than 110 per cent is considered excess precipitation.

India saw 934.8 mm of rainfall in 2024, 108 per cent of the average and the highest since 2020.

In 2023, it recorded 820 mm, 94.4 per cent of the average.

In 2022, it saw 925 mm; 870 mm in 2021; and 958 mm in 2020, according to IMD data.

The monsoon is crucial for Indias agriculture sector, which supports the livelihood of about 42 per cent of the population and contributes 18.2 per cent to the countrys GDP.

It is also essential for replenishing the reservoirs critical for drinking water and power generation across the country.

With inputs from PTI.
Referring to Drone Didis as Sky Warriors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday highlighted women in villages revolutionising agriculture by flying drones, while also praising the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for scaling the worlds most difficult peak, Mount Makalu, in his monthly radio programme. read more

Refering Drone Didis as Sky warriors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday highlighted the women of the village who are flying drones, ushering in a new revolution in the agriculture sector.

Addressing the 122nd episode of Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said, Today, there are many women who are working in the fields as well as touching the heights of the sky. Yes! You heard it right; now the women of the village are flying drones as Drone Didi and ushering in a new revolution in agriculture. In Sangareddy district of Telangana, women who had to depend on others till some time ago.

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Today those very women are completing the work of spraying pesticides on 50 acres of land with the help of drones. Three hours in the morning, two hours in the evening and the work is done. Neither the scorching sun nor the danger of poisonous chemicals. The villagers have also accepted this change wholeheartedly. Now these women are not known as drone operators but as sky warriors, he added.

Notably, Namo Drone Didi is a central sector scheme aiming to empower women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs) by equipping them with drone technology to provide agricultural services.

Through this scheme, the Government of India is taking a significant step towards advancing agricultural practices while empowering women in rural areas. This initiative aligns with the governments broader goals of promoting women-led development and infusing technology into traditional sectors like agriculture. The scheme promises to revolutionise farming practices, provide a sustainable income source for SHGs, and inspire a new generation of women entrepreneurs in rural India.

Prime Minister in his monthly radio programme, also praised the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for climbing the worlds most difficult peak, Mount Makalu.

Just imagine a person is climbing snowy mountains, where it is difficult to breathe and there is danger to life at every step, and still that person is engaged in cleaning there. Something similar has been done by members of our ITBP team. Our ITBP team went to climb the worlds most difficult peak, Mount Makalu, the Prime Minister stated.

He further said that the ITBP personnel who climbed Mount Makalu also took up the task of removing the garbage lying near the peak.

But they didnt just climb the mountain; they also took up the task of removing the garbage lying near the peak! The members of this team brought down more than 150 kg of non-biodegradable waste with them, he added.

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The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) successfully scaled Mt Makalu (8,485 m), the worlds fifth highest peak, on April 19, marking the first-ever ascent of the peak by any Central Armed Police Force (CAPF).

The summit was part of ITBPs historic International Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Makalu and Mt Annapurna (8,091 m), flagged off from ITBP Headquarters in New Delhi on March 21.

This dual-peak mission, a first in the forces history, showcased ITBPs enduring legacy in high-altitude operationsLed by Deputy Commandant Anoop Kumar Negi, with Deputy Commandant Nihas Suresh as deputy leader, the 12-member expedition team was split into two groups of six.

The Makalu group recorded an 83 per cent summit success rate, with five climbers reaching the peak around 08:15 hrs on April 19. The successful summiteers included Assistant Commandant Sanjay Kumar, Head Constable (HC) Sonam Stobdan, HC Pradeep Panwar, HC Bahadur Chand, and Constable Vimal Kumar.

Meanwhile, the Annapurna team battled extreme conditions, including blizzards and whiteouts, reaching an altitude of 7,940 metersjust 150 meters shy of the summitbefore retreating safely at 14:45 hrs on the same day.

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In line with its Clean Himalaya - Save Glacier campaign, the expedition collected 150 kg of non-biodegradable waste from high-altitude camps, reinforcing ITBPs environmental commitment.

With the successful ascent of Mt Makalu, the ITBP has now scaled six of the worlds 14 eight-thousanders, including Mt Everest, Mt Kanchenjunga, Mt Dhaulagiri, Mt Lhotse, and Mt Manaslu. The force has conquered a total of 229 peaks to date, underscoring its unmatched expertise and resilience in some of the harshest terrains on earth.
By taking greater ownership of its development agenda, strengthening democratic institutions, and engaging diverse partners strategically, Africa can shape a future that is inclusive, resilient, and prosperous read more

Africa Day 2025 is celebrated annually on May 25. This date commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963 by 33 African nations, a body which transformed into the African Union (AU) in 2002. The AU now stands as a 23-year-old institution striving to realise the pan-African vision of unity, peace, and shared prosperity.

This years Africa Day offers a timely moment to reflect on emerging trends, persistent challenges, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

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Institutional Renewal and Political Transitions

One of the more promising developments in 2025 is the successful conclusion of elections for a new AU Commission. The Commission, while not fully constituted due to a lack of nominations from Central Africa, has ushered in a wave of pragmatism under its new chairperson, Mohamed Ali Yusuf, the former foreign minister of Djibouti. His appointment signals a more neutral and effective leadership, opening space for greater institutional reforms and collaboration.

Simultaneously, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), one of Africas most successful regional economic communities. ECOWAS was seen as a model for regional integration, but recent years witnessed setbacks due to military takeovers in member states. Countries such as Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso withdrew, raising questions about the unity of Africas foundational Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the future of the AUs subsidiarity principle.

Democratic Progress and Challenges

The state of democracy and governance remains mixed. In 2024, out of 17 scheduled elections, 13 were held. Of these, seven incumbents retained power while six new leaders were elected, showing both continuity and transition. Noteworthy peaceful transfers of power occurred in Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, and Senegal.

However, elections in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, and South Sudan were postponed, highlighting persistent political instability. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has raised alarm over declining participatory and democratic indicators. The Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership has not been awarded since 2020, underscoring a perceived lack of transformative leadership.

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In Southern Africa, the dominance of liberation-era parties is waning. In Namibia and South Africa, South West Africa Peoples Organisation (SWAPO) and the African National Congress (ANC) retained power but with significantly reduced mandates. In Botswana, the Botswana Democratic Party lost for the first time since independence. In Mozambique, Frente de Libertacao de Mocambique (FRELIMO) won amid accusations of electoral manipulation while facing mounting economic and social challenges. These outcomes underscore the urgency for current elites to tackle long-standing problems such as youth unemployment, inequality, and corruption.

The youth, with a median age of just 19 across the continent, are increasingly vocal. Empowered by digital tools and social media, they are pushing for accountability and change, often outside traditional political frameworks.

Security and Fragility

Security remains a critical concern in 2025. Jihadist insurgencies continue to plague the Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin, the Horn of Africa, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and northern Mozambique. Separatist movements persist in Cameroon and Mali, while Ethiopia remains in a fragile post-conflict phase after its devastating war in Tigray.

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Youth-led protests are on the rise, sometimes turning violent, as seen in Kenya and Mozambique. Unfortunately, in several instances, governments have responded with crackdowns or coups, exacerbating instability. There is an urgent need to overhaul regional and international approaches to peacebuilding, with a greater emphasis on inclusion and long-term resilience.

Climate and Development Challenges

Africa is among the most vulnerable regions to climate change. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events are threatening food security, water access, public health, and overall development. Seven of the worlds ten most climate-vulnerable countries are in Africa. Building climate resilience must be prioritised, especially in rural communities and urban slums.

Despite these challenges, there are promising economic trends. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Africa rose sharply in 2025 to $94 billion, up from $48 billion in 2023. Between 2000 and 2024, Africas global trade expanded fivefoldfrom $276 billion to $1.4 trillionwith China, India, and the EU emerging as its top trade partners. Notably, India contributed $75 billion in FDI, reflecting its growing economic footprint.

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Since 2019, Africa has been steadily shifting from aid dependence toward investment- and trade-led growth. Public-private partnerships (PPPs), rather than loan-driven projects, offer a more sustainable model for development financing.

External Engagement and Strategic Autonomy

Africas external engagements remain complex. The EUs Global Gateway Initiative, launched in 2021 with a 300 billion target (half intended for Africa), has yet to reach meaningful scale. Meanwhile, Europes hardened migration policies have placed pressure on African countries to curb irregular migration, exacerbating humanitarian pressures and regional friction.

The United States, under the Trump administration, has cut back significantly on aid, especially USAID programmes in public health. Its confrontational trade postureincluding disputes with South Africa under African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)adds to the uncertainty. The possibility of closing diplomatic missions in Africa would open the door for greater influence from other powers, notably Russia and China.

African nations prefer a balanced, non-aligned approach, but rising global polarisation threatens their strategic autonomy. While the EU remains rhetorically supportive, its economic woes may lead to further aid reductions, forcing African countries to reassess their development partnerships.

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Africa-Led Initiatives: Time for Ownership

Amid these dynamics, Africa must assert greater ownership of its development path. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the Africa CDC are two flagship initiatives that, if fully realised, can significantly boost intra-African trade and health security.

The AU must take a stronger role in managing and streamlining its partnerships. Summits with countries and regional blocs which must be better coordinated under AU leadership. Regularised summits, such as the India-Africa Forum Summit, should be revived, ensuring Africa speaks with a unified voice.

The AU must also recommit to enforcing its own decisions and ensuring compliance among member states. This includes standing firm on democratic principles, peacebuilding norms, and collective regional action.

India and Africa: A Shared Future

In 2025, India is well-positioned to strengthen its ties with Africa through a forward-looking, partnership-based approach. By focusing on sustainable development, technology transfer, and capacity building, India can contribute meaningfully to Africas transformation.

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Indias emphasis on mutual respect, South-South cooperation, and people-to-people ties resonates well with African aspirations. India and Africa share historical bonds and a common interest in a more equitable global order.

Conclusion

Africa Day 2025 is both a celebration of how far the continent has come and a reminder of the road ahead. While the African Union and its member states face serious challengesgovernance, security, climate vulnerability, and shifting geopoliticsthey also possess immense opportunities driven by youth, innovation, and global engagement.

By taking greater ownership of its development agenda, strengthening democratic institutions, and engaging diverse partners strategically, Africa can shape a future that is inclusive, resilient, and prosperous.

India, as a long-standing friend and emerging partner, stands ready to walk this journey with Africaguided by solidarity, sustainability, and shared ambition.

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.

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Sydney Sweeney has teased that season three of 'Euphoria' is "unhinged" for her character Cassie.

Sydney Sweeney is reprising her role as Cassie in season three of 'Euphoria' and teased the new episodes even 'crazier' for her character

The 27-year-old actress has teased that her "flawed" alter ego goes "crazier" in the upcoming instalment of the hit HBO teen drama.

She told Empire magazine: I have such a spot in my heart for Cassie, and I hold her really close and dear.

She is crazy. She makes so many mistakes. Shes flawed on so many levels, but she does it all from a place of love. It could be a sad version of love, as well. Its so much fun to play a character that is as crazy as she is. Sam [Levinson] is such a brilliant filmmaker to work with, because Ill read something, then Ill call him, and Im like, Lets go crazier. And hes like, Im all in. And this season is unhinged.

The second season saw Cassie get romantically involved with Maddies (Alexa Demie) abusive ex-boyfriend Nate (Jacob Elordi).

The eight-episode season will feature a time jump taking the lead characters out of high school and it is due to premiere in 2026, four years after the second season aired.

Sydney, Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Eric Dane, Jacob Elordi, Alexa Demie, Maude Apatow, and Colman Domingo will all be returning, but Algee Smith and Nika King won't be, while Dominic Fike's return has yet to be confirmed.

New series regulars will include Martha Kelly, Chloe Cherry, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Toby Wallace, while a number of guest stars have also been lined up including Sharon Stone, Rosalia, Marshawn Lynch, and Kadeem Hardison.

The cast and showrunner Sam Levinson kicked off shooting season three in Los Angeles earlier this year after a long delay.

The series is expected to mark the end of the drama.

Zendaya - who leads the cast as Rue Bennett - recently admitted she finds filming 'Euphoria' "emotionally and physically draining".

Speaking to Nicole Kidman for Variety's Actors on Actors series, she said: "You get so used to a character. It feels like a skin that you just slip on. Rue just falls into me. Im not thinking about it so much. Its just like, 'Oh, shes here now.'

The 'Babygirl' star then asked: "Do you stagger out of that experience?"

Zendaya replied: "Yes and no. While it was emotionally and physically draining, it was so rewarding. I was so proud of it. It connected with people...

"Were supposed to do another season. Ive only done two, but it feels like five. One season of 'Euphoria' is like, 'Phew!'...

"I still have my Rue scars."
Sharifs writ lies eroded even further, and Pakistan is lurching ever so close to another military dictatorship. The vexing questions on the Rawalpindi generals control over politics, economy, judiciary and even the media have now been put to rest read more

How do you deal with a problem like Pakistan? This question has vexed Indian policymakers and the political establishment for several decades. We are none the wiser despite several wars and kinetic conflicts, the latest of which took place just a few days ago. At the heart of the problem is a revisionist state where the public stays in a state of permanent suspension of disbelief, while its all-powerful military runs a rentier economy and conjures up alternative realities at will.

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Consider, for a moment, how Pakistan fared in the latest battle. We already know well enough about the 11 of the 12 key Pakistani airbases hit by Indian missile strikes, some of which are still inoperable.

It suggested a complete failure of Pakistans China-supplied air defense system. The fact that Pakistan couldnt protect its sensitive air assets, nuclear weapon storage sites or even nuclear command and control centres is a telling commentary on its incompetence. It explains why Pakistans beleaguered army chief went running to the United States seeking immediate intervention.

That the Pakistani DGMO, carrying a message of cessation of hostilities, was made to wait several hours before the Indian side even agreed to take the call on May 10 tells you who emerged with the upper hand. As the fog of war slowly lifts, the magnitude of Pakistans loss is slowly becoming clear.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has lost 20 percent of its infrastructure, including hangers, hardened air shelters (HAS), critical maintenance equipment and several of its fighter jets, such as an airborne early warning SAAB-2000 aircraft (AWACS) flying 300 km inside its own airspace. These are expensive beasts, even more so for a rickety economy like Pakistans that survives on doles.

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The SAAB Erieye-2000 flying radar was struck by Indias S-400 SAM system that was activated 11 times during the conflict. Thats not all. According to media reports quoting Indian defence sources, PAF lost one C-130 J medium lift aircraft, a JF-17 and two F-16 fighters to air-launched SCALP and BrahMos missiles. India also struck a Chinese-made LY-80 air defence system and took out the prized HQ-9 in Karachi using UAV and loitering munitions, reports Hindustan Times.

Pakistan also lost over 50 airmen, including squadron leader Usman Yusuf when Indian missiles struck Pakistans Bholari airbase at Sindh. The loss of so many lives, as well as high value assets within a span of a few hours would have demolished the swagger and sapped the confidence of any military outfit. But this is Pakistan. Its army has never lost a war. Within a few hours of the ceasefire that was agreed upon in distinctly dishonourable circumstances for the Lumber One military, the Pakistanis declared a win, sparking nationwide celebrations.

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As if at the flick of an invisible switch, Pakistan created an alternative reality where its all-powerful military not only beat back a much larger adversary, but scored an important tactical victory that further tightened the militarys grip over every aspect of Pakistans politics, society and economy.

Consider also the fact that within days of a demoralizing defeat, army chief Asim Munir was promoted to the rank of a Field Marshal, only the second military officer in Pakistans history to get the honour after General Ayub Khan in 1959. Khan, having ousted then President Iskander Mirza in 1958, helped himself to the title a year later.

With Munirs promotion, Pakistan now has two illegitimate power centres in military and civil domains. Not even Shehbaz Sharif, heavily dependent on the military for survival, believes in his own legitimacy as the prime minister. Riddled with allegations of corruption, poor governance and lack of agency, the Sharif government had become deeply unpopular. As did the military, which for the first time in several decades was facing an organic pushback from the Pakistani middle class  that threw its lot with jailed former prime minister Imran Khan  for the militarys outsized influence on Pakistans polity.

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The war with India changed everything. Battlefield reverses notwithstanding, Pakistans military was able to create an in illusion of victory in an existential battle against India, with the aid of some creative myth making.

Losses were quickly hidden, the DGISPR shaped the counter-narrative on a war footing pressing into service dubious claims, fake news, AI generated video clips and round the clock press briefings. With the aid of the Western medias discourse power that bought into Pakistani claims that Chinese-built J-10s shot down up to five Indian aircraft, including several Rafales, the narrative coup was complete.

Pakistan is now firmly under the grip of military nationalism, and the new generation of army sceptics has been bought over. The tide of popularity has swung in favour of the hitherto unpopular Munir in such a way that the jury is out on whether Munir adorned himself with the title of Field Marshal (Failed Marshal wouldve been more accurate), or whether Sharif, eager to curry favour with the new hero of the Pakistani masses, decided to be a little creative.

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Either way, as the Pakistanis celebrate their hard-earned win over India with a formal dinner with Munir as the showstopper Pakistan.

Not even the mightiest of Indias cruise or ballistic missiles may destroy Pakistan with efficacy from within the way Pakistans military can. The most popular mass leader in decades is in jail under strictest of charges and harshest of conditions. The rebellion has been snuffed out. Sharifs writ lies eroded even further, and Pakistan is lurching ever so close to another military dictatorship. The vexing questions on the Rawalpindi generals control over politics, economy, judiciary and even the media have now been put to rest. The military first claim to the poverty-stricken countrys resources finds renewed public mandate.

None can save Pakistan from its dance of death. Its embrace of instability, religious fundamentalism and the populations collective somnambulance.

The writer is Deputy Executive Editor, Firstpost. He tweets as @sreemoytalukdar. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.

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Ukraine was heavily attacked overnight, with Russia launching 298 drones and 69 missiles in a coordinated strike. Ukrainian officials reported that 12 civilians, including three children, were killed read more

(File) Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, on September 25, 2024, at UN headquarters. AP

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has slammed the international community following Russias massive overnight aerial assault on the country.

Zelenskyy criticised the US, saying Americas silence was encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Americas silence, and the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin, Zelensky said in a social media post after the overnight attacks, which killed at least 12 people.

In his post, Zelenskyy also asked the international community to impose tougher sanctions on Russia.

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Each such terrorist attack by Russia is a sufficient reason for new sanctions, he said.

Determination matters now  the determination of the United States, the determination of European countries, and all those in the world who want peace.

Massive overnight attack on Ukraine

Ukraine was heavily attacked overnight, with Russia launching 298 drones and 69 missiles in a coordinated strike. Ukrainian officials reported that 12 civilians, including three children, were killed, and 38 were injured.

The previous nights assault involved 250 drones and 14 ballistic missiles, injuring at least 15 people.

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa stated that the three children killed were siblings from the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv: Stanislav (8), Tamara (12), and Roman (17).

Kyiv and 11 other regions were hit. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko described it as a massive attack and urged people to find shelter.

My deepest condolences to the family of the children, Betsa said on social media.

In Mykolaiv, a residential building was struck, while in Odesa, emergency crews were seen extinguishing fires and rescuing people from the wreckage.

Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working. The capital is under attack by enemy UAVs. Do not neglect your safety! Stay in shelters! he warned.

EUs response

EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas called for the strongest international pressure on Russia in response to the attack.

Russia is bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine, she posted on X.

Devastating to see children among innocent victims.

Ukraine and Russia also completed the largest prisoner exchange of the war, with over 1,000 soldiers returned to their respective countries, including 303 from each side in the latest exchange.

President Zelensky shared pictures of freed Ukrainian soldiers and thanked everyone involved in securing their release.
Bangladeshs interim governments order to overhaul the powerful National Board of Revenue (NBR) has triggered widespread outrage among its workers, from rank-and-file employees to senior management. The estimated lost tax revenues due to the protests is between $122-163 million read more

Bangladeshi security forces surrounded the headquarters of the countrys national tax authority Sunday (May 25) as employees extended a two-week strike protesting controversial reforms by the interim government, reportedly costing millions in uncollected taxes every day.

The governments order to overhaul the powerful National Board of Revenue (NBR) has triggered widespread outrage among its workers, from rank-and-file employees to senior management.

Tax, customs, and VAT  all three wings will observe a complete work abstention from Monday, Joint Tax Commissioner Monalisa Saha Sushmita told journalists outside the NBR headquarters in Dhaka, where police and armed personnel had gathered.

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Bangladesh has been embroiled in turmoil since student-led protests ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, ending her 15-year tenure. The interim administration, headed by Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus, has pursued extensive government reforms aimed at curbing corruption and inefficiency.

The May 12 directive proposed dividing the influential revenue-collecting NBR into two entities, with external civil servants appointed by the government to manage the new divisions. Protesters see this move as undermining the existing authority and disrupting established practices.

Sushmita claimed the ongoing strike had severely impacted economic activity, stating, imports and exports will also be halted, and estimated lost tax revenues at between $122 million and $163 million daily since the protests began. Those figures, however, could not be independently confirmed.

The unrest poses additional challenges to Bangladeshs critical textile and garment sector, which represents approximately 80 per cent of national exports and has struggled to recover following last years political instability.

Separately on Sunday (May 25), hundreds of civil servants protested another government directive granting authorities expanded powers to dismiss public employees for disciplinary reasons.

If the government proceeds with the amended ordinance, the interim government will face severe criticism, warned Mohammad Nazrul Islam, spokesperson for the Inter-Ministerial Employees Association.

With inputs from agencies

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The court in Dhaka approved a formal complaint against eight police officers in connection with the deaths of six protestors on August 5, last year, the day Hasina fled the nation as protesters stormed her palace read more

Bangladeshs first trial of former high-ranking officials associated with Sheikh Hasinas overthrown administration got underway on Sunday before a special court, according to the chief prosecutor.

The court in Dhaka approved a formal complaint against eight police officers in connection with the deaths of six protestors on August 5, last year, the day Hasina fled the nation as protesters stormed her palace.

The eight men have been charged with crimes against humanity. Four are in detention, while four are on trial in absentia.

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The formal trial has begun, Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladeshs domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters.

The prosecution believes that this prosecution will be able to prove the crimes done by the accused, he said.

It is the first formal charge in any case related to the killings during last years student-led uprising, which ended Hasinas iron-fisted rule of 15 years.

Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasinas government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters, according to the United Nations.

The list of those facing trial includes Dhakas former police commissioner, Habibur Rahman, who is among those being tried in absentia.

Hasina also fled by helicopter to India, her old ally.

She remains in self-imposed exile, defying Dhakas extradition request to face charges of crimes against humanity.

Command responsibility

The launch of the trials of senior figures from Hasinas government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power as the South Asian nation awaits elections that the interim government has vowed will take place before June 2026.

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Islam said the eight men were accused of different responsibilities, including the most senior for superior command responsibility, some for direct orders.. (and) some for participation.

He said he was confident of a successful prosecution.

We have submitted as much evidence as required to prove crimes against humanity, both at a national and an international standard, he said.

Among that evidence, he said, was video footage of the violence, as well as voice recordings of Hasina in conversations with different people where she ordered the killing of the protesters using force and lethal weapons.

The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladeshs war for independence in 1971.

It sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death over the following years and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals.
Pakistans government is looking to convert the nations underused power generation assets into revenue-producing ventures by supporting energy-intensive operations such as AI data centres and Bitcoin mining read more

Pakistan is eyeing electricity-intensive activities like Bitcoin mining to give its struggling economy a boost. Reuters.

Pakistan will allocate 2,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the first phase of a national initiative aimed at powering Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, the Finance Ministry announced Sunday (May 25).

The move follows a recent government decision to legalize cryptocurrency, aiming to attract international investments. In March, Islamabad established the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) under the Ministry of Finance to regulate blockchain technology and digital assets.

Bilal Bin Saqib, an entrepreneur, was appointed chief adviser to the finance minister on the council.

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According to a ministry statement, the initiative seeks to use Pakistans surplus electricity generation capacity to create high-tech jobs, attract foreign direct investment, and generate additional government revenues.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb described the allocation as an essential step in Pakistans ongoing digital transformation. He said it aims to leverage excess energy to drive innovation and international investment.

Pakistan is uniquely positioned geographically and economically to serve as a global hub for data centres, the ministry stated, highlighting Pakistans potential to connect Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Since the PCC was formed, several global Bitcoin miners and data infrastructure firms have expressed interest, with many visiting Pakistan for exploratory discussions. The ministry expects increased international interest following the latest announcement.

The government intends to convert the nations underused power generation assets into revenue-producing ventures by supporting energy-intensive operations such as AI data centres and Bitcoin mining.

Bilal Bin Saqib emphasized that proper regulation and transparency could position Pakistan as a significant global player in cryptocurrency and AI technologies. He noted that the initiative could help generate foreign exchange earnings by attracting Bitcoin mining operations and potentially allowing the government to directly accumulate Bitcoin reserves.

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According to the ministry, Pakistan offers competitive advantages over regional competitors like India and Singapore due to stable and affordable energy costs. Additionally, global demand for AI data centres exceeds available supply, offering opportunities for countries with surplus energy capacity.

Pakistans digital connectivity received a recent boost with the landing of the Africa-2 Cable Project, a 45,000-kilometer submarine internet cable connecting 33 countries, significantly enhancing the nations internet infrastructure.

With over 40 million cryptocurrency users, the establishment of local AI data centres would address issues of data sovereignty, enhance cybersecurity, and improve digital service delivery, according to the ministry.

The initiative is expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs in fields such as engineering, IT, and data sciences.

This first phase is part of a broader multi-stage rollout plan. Future plans include renewable energy-powered facilities utilizing Pakistans wind, solar, and hydropower resources, strategic partnerships with international blockchain and AI firms, and the establishment of fintech and innovation hubs.

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Proposed incentives for infrastructure developers include tax holidays, customs duty exemptions, and reduced taxes, the statement added.

Pakistans combination of surplus power, strategic geographic location, advanced connectivity, renewable energy resources, and digitally engaged population positions it well to become a regional centre for Web3, AI, and digital innovation, the ministry said.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk backs liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski to succeed President Duda, but Trzaskowski is trailing in polls despite narrowly beating nationalist Karol Nawrocki by two points in the first round on May 18. read more

Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, the presidential candidate of the Civic Coalition, attends "Patriotic March" organised by the ruling party, together with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, ahead of the second round of presidential elections, in Warsaw, Poland. Reuters

Tens of thousands of people marched through Warsaw on Sunday to demonstrate their support for candidates running in next weeks hotly contested presidential election in Poland, which the government sees as critical to its democratic reform efforts.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk seeks to rally support for his choice, liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, to succeed outgoing President Andrzej Duda, a nationalist who has blocked several of his initiatives to reform the judiciary.

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All of Poland is looking at us. All of Europe is looking at us. The whole world is looking at us, Trzaskowski told supporters waving red and white Polish and European Union flags.

More from World Poland's presidential election heads to second round with unexpected contenders

Tusk swept into power in 2023 with a broad alliance of leftist and centrist parties, on a promise to undo changes made by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government that the European Union said had undermined democracy and womens and minority rights.

But Trzaskowski is struggling to secure a lead in opinion polls, after beating nationalist Karol Nawrocki by two percentage points in the first round of the election on May 18.

Nawrockis March for Poland was due to end up at Castle Square in Warsaws Old Town.

Nawrockis supporters, some wearing hats saying Poland is the most important, sang patriotic and religious songs and held up signs calling for an end to immigration.

I am Polish and so I am voting for a candidate who will guarantee our future and act as a counterbalance to the current government, said Piotr Slaby, a financial sector worker from the city of Przemysl in southeastern Poland.

Piotr Nowak, a technician from Warsaw, 41, said: We have a cosmopolitan government. They want to introduce the euro and we will lose our sovereignty.

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He is the best candidate, the most patriotic, one who can guarantee that Poland is independent and sovereign, said Jan Sulanowski, 42.

Romanian president-elect Nicusor Dan, a pro-EU centrist who is due to be sworn in on Monday in his country, also attended the Trzaskowki march. Dan pledged to work closely with Tusk and Trzaskowski to ensure Poland and the European Union remain strong.

Dans unexpected victory in a vote on May 18 over a hard-right Trump supporter was greeted with relief in Brussels and other parts of Europe, as many were concerned that his rival George Simion would have complicated EUs efforts to tackle Russias war in Ukraine.

Olivia, 20, a student who declined to give her last name, said she supported Trzaskowski above all because he wants to protect LGBTQ people and womens rights on the issue of abortion.

Trzaskowski, who is married with two children, has vowed to campaign for womens rights and legalise abortion in the predominantly Catholic country, which has a near-total ban on the procedure.

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With inputs from agencies
ASEAN foreign ministers expressed strong support for Timor-Lestes full membership in ASEAN, particularly in its efforts to fulfil the remaining criteria, Mohamad Hasan said at a news conference read more

A man walks in front of the logo of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ahead of the 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur. AFP

East Timor is one step closer to achieving its long-held desire to join the Southeast Asian regional bloc, and might become its 11th member state by October, Malaysias foreign minister said on Sunday.

Mohamad Hasan stated on the sidelines ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur that Dili has made meaningful progress in implementing a roadmap for membership.

East Timor is one of the worlds poorest countries, and there are significant doubts about its ability to contribute substantially to ASEANs development agenda.

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However, the blocs foreign ministers expressed strong support for Timor-Lestes full membership in ASEAN, particularly in its efforts to fulfil the remaining criteria, Mohamad said at a news conference, using the countrys Portuguese name.

The top Malaysian diplomat did not give details on issues still outstanding but full membership could be granted at ASEANs next regional meeting in October, chaired this year by Malaysia.

ASEAN member states will now begin undertaking their respective domestic legal procedure with a view to finalise Timor-Lestes accession process by the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in October, hopefully, Mohamad said.

East Timor is the youngest country in Southeast Asia, having gained independence from Indonesia in 2002 after 24 years of occupation.

Its president, Jose Ramos-Horta, has long campaigned for ASEAN membership and an application was first submitted by the former Portuguese colony of around 1.3 million people in 2011.

Dili was granted observer status to the regional body in 2022 but its full membership has been delayed by various challenges.

East Timor is grappling with high levels of inequality, malnourishment and unemployment and remains heavily reliant on oil, with little diversification into other sectors.

It also faces challenges in infrastructure development and human resource capacity, seen as critical for effective participation in ASEANs economic community.

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Trump stated that nearly 31 per cent of Harvards students come from other countries, and the university administration has not provided details about these students despite repeated requests from his administration read more

US President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport Royal Terminal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. AP

US President Donald Trump has intensified his criticism of Harvard University while justifying his administrations decision to prevent the university from enrolling international students.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated that nearly 31 per cent of Harvards students come from other countries, and the university administration has not provided details about these students despite repeated requests from his administration.

His renewed criticism follows a judges decision to suspend his administrations action.

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Why isnt Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their students education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that!, he wrote.

Trump added, We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isnt exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!

On Friday (May 23), a US judge blocked the Trump administrations attempt to revoke Harvard Universitys ability to enrol foreign students, increasing efforts by the White House to align academic practices with President Trumps policies.

Harvard filed a complaint in Boston federal court earlier on Friday, calling the revocation a blatant violation of the US Constitution and other federal laws, and said it had an immediate and devastating effect on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.

With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvards student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission, Harvard said.

Previously, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem informed Harvard that its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification was revoked effective immediately.

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I am writing to inform you that, effective immediately, Harvard Universitys Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked, the letter read.

In a social media post, she accused Harvard of holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.

Last month, the university filed a lawsuit against the administration over attempts to change its curriculum, admissions procedures, and hiring policies.
A late-night thunderstorm with heavy rain lashed Delhi, disrupting flights and causing waterlogging, fallen trees, and power outages across several parts of the city. read more

A thunderstorm with heavy rain hit Delhi overnight, disrupting flights, uprooting trees and power poles, and causing waterlogging in many areas.

The India Meteorological Department said wind speeds reached up to 82 kmph, and 81.2 mm of rain fell between 11:30 pm and 5:30 am.

#WATCH | Delhi: Waterlogging witnessed in Nanakpura Underpass following heavy rainfall pic.twitter.com/JQ2lag2EFX  ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

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Flight operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport were affected due to the bad weather.

As many as 49 flights were diverted from Delhis IGI Airport between 11:30 PM and 4:00 AM due to bad weather, ANI reported.

Heavy rain caused waterlogging in several parts of the city, including Minto Road, Humayun Road, and Shastri Bhawan. A car was found submerged at Minto Bridge, a spot known for flooding.

#WATCH | Delhi | A bus and a car are submerged in water in the Delhi Cantt area after heavy rains caused severe waterlogging in several parts of the National Capital pic.twitter.com/QTiB4OThIO  ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

The IMD had predicted a dust storm followed by thunderstorms and rain in Delhi and nearby states, with wind speeds of 60 to 100 kmph.

#WATCH | Severe waterlogging in parts of Delhi following heavy rainfall



(Visuals from near Dwarka Flyover) pic.twitter.com/umh8XRBlxb  ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast a dust storm followed by a thunderstorm and rainfall across the national capital and neighbouring states, with gusty winds expected to reach speeds of 60 to 100 km per hour.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted a dust storm followed by thunderstorms and rain in Delhi and nearby states, with strong winds reaching 60 to 100 kmph.

A red alert was issued for parts of Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi-NCR, warning of light to moderate rain and lightning.
The Indian all-party delegation is taking on the world to expose Pakistans misinformation campaign against Indias Operation Sindoor. During numerous interactions, the MPs sent out one clear message that terrorism will not be tolerated in India read more

Amid the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, prominent members of the Indian Parliament take on the world to dismantle the propaganda and lies spread by Islamabad about Operation Sindoor . The mission conducted by the Indian forces was in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that led to the death of 26 tourists in Kashmir, sending shockwaves across India.

During their respective addresses in different countries, the Indian MPs echoed the same sentiment: that New Delhi will not tolerate terrorism. The MPs are members of the all-party delegation formed by the government to spread Indias message worldwide.

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On Saturday, a delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor paid their respect at the 9/11 memorial after arriving in the United States. Tharoor was flanked by MP Ganti Harish Madhur, MP Shashank Mani Tripathi, MP Bhubaneswar Kalita, MP Milind Deora and former Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The delegation was also accompanied by Indias Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra.

The memorial is a tribute of remembrance, honouring the 2,977 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, at the World Trade Centre site, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Centre bombing on February 26, 1993.

We came as a reminder that terrorism is a shared problem: Tharoor

After paying his respects at the memorial, Tharoor told the media the purpose of the Indian delegations visit to the United States. It was obviously a very moving moment for us, but it was also meant to send a very strong message that we are here in a city which is bearing still the scars of that savage terrorist attack in the wake of yet another terrorist attack in our own country, the Congress MP averred.

We came both as a reminder that this is a shared problem, but also out of a spirit of solidarity with the victims, who included Indiansit is a global problemwe must fight it unitedly, he added. While interacting with prominent personalities, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey echoed Tharoors sentiment and condemned the International Monetary Funds (IMF) funding of Pakistan.

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Since the last 2-3 days, the IMF is insisting that Pakistan not divert money for anything else and use it for the cause only. We feel the IMF will do something else. It is our presumption. Our request to you is that we are here because we are facing a great problem with Pakistanwe need your support, said Dubey.

While representing India in Bahrain, BJP leader Baijayant Panda said that India will no longer be blackmailed by Pakistans nuclear bluff". Our new doctrine is, we have called their (Pakistan) nuclear bluff, we will no longer be blackmailed by their nuclear bluff.we can and will retaliate, things will never go anywhere close to being nuclear because our intention is not hostility, our intention is to extract the cost to deter them, Panda said during an interaction session in Bahrain.

During the same interactive session, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi emphasised that the terror organisations operating in Pakistan used religion to justify the killings, adding that Islam condemns terrorism. These terrorist organisations have justified killings of innocent people in India, and they have out of context quoted Quranic verseswe have to put an end to it. They have used religion to justify the killing of people. Islam condemns terrorism and the Quran has categorically stated that the killing of one innocent person is like the killing of the whole of humankind, Owaisi averred.

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Overall, the multi-party delegation comprises seven groups led by one MP each. The group was formed by the Indian government to counter global misinformation about both the Pahalgam terror attack and Indias Operation Sindoor. The group will go to different nations and emphasise Indias zero-tolerance policy on terrorism.

With inputs from agencies.
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An Israeli strike in Gazas Khan Yunis killed nine children of a married doctor couple, Gazas civil defence said Saturday. The Israeli army is investigating the reports. read more

A Palestinian man carries items he salvaged from a house targeted in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip. AFP

Gazas civil defence said on Saturday that an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis killed nine children of a married doctor couple. The Israeli army said it is checking the reports.

Israel has increased its attacks in Gaza recently, facing criticism and demands to allow more aid after partially easing a blockade that started on March 2.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said they recovered the bodies of nine children, some burned, from the home of Dr Hamdi al-Najjar and his wife, Dr Alaa al-Najjar.

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He added that Hamdi al-Najjar and another son, Adam, were also seriously wounded in the strike on Friday, and that the family was taken to Nasser Hospital. A medical source at the hospital gave Adams age as 10 years old.

Muneer Alboursh, director general of the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, said on X that the strike happened shortly after Hamdi Al-Najjar returned home from driving his wife, a paediatric specialist, to work at the same facility.

This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain, he said, accusing Israel of wiping out entire families.

Footage of the aftermath released by the civil defence agency showed rescuers recovering badly burned remains from the damaged home.

Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said it had struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure near its troops.

The Khan Yunis area is a dangerous warzone, it added.

The claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.

The army had issued an evacuation warning for the city on Monday.

With inputs from AFP
Israel also blocked the import of all food, medicine and fuel for 2 1/2 months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israels top allies. read more

A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows destroyed buildings in the nothern sector of the besieged Palestinian territory on May 22, 2025, 19 months after the war broke out between Israel and the Hamas movement. AFP Photo

Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza, including a mother and her two children sheltering in a tent, local health officials said Sunday, with no data available for a second straight day from now-inaccessible hospitals in the north.

Further details emerged of the Palestinian doctor who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday.

Gazas Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire and renewed its offensive in March, vowing to destroy Hamas and return the 58 hostages it still holds from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Hamas has said it will only release the hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

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Israel also blocked the import of all food, medicine and fuel for 2 1/2 months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israels top allies.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was visiting Israel on Sunday and was expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel has been pursuing a new plan to tightly control all aid to Gaza, which the United Nations has rejected. The executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, Cindy McCain, told CBS she has not seen evidence to support Israels claims that Hamas is responsible for the looting of aid trucks. These people are desperate, and they see a World Food Program truck coming in and they run for it, she said.

Israel also says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of much of its population of over 2 million Palestinians, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community. Experts say it would likely violate international law.

More on the killing of a doctors 9 children

The new strike on the tent housing displaced people that killed the mother and children occurred in the central city of Deir al-Balah, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. A strike in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza killed at least five, including two women and a child, according to Gazas Health Ministry.

In Fridays strike, only one of pediatrician Alaa al-Najjars 10 children survived at their home near the southern city of Khan Younis. The 11-year-old and al-Najjars husband, also a doctor, were badly hurt.

The charred remains of the children were put into a single body bag, said a fellow pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, Alaa al-Zayan.

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The home was struck minutes after Hamdi al-Najjar had driven his wife to the hospital. His brother, Ismail al-Najjar, was first to arrive at the scene.

They were innocent children," the brother said, with the youngest 7 months old. And my brother has no business with (Palestinian) factions.

Israel on Saturday said the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review. It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because it operates in densely populated areas. There was no immediate comment from the military on the latest strikes.

Also Friday in Khan Younis, two staffers of the International Committee of the Red Cross were killed when shelling struck their home, the ICRC said. Israeli strikes have killed more than 150 emergency responders from the Red Crescent and Civil Defense, most of them on duty, since the war started, according to the U.N.

This is not an endless war, Israels military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said during a visit to Khan Younis. Recent ceasefire talks in Qatar gained no ground.

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Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 people. Around a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israels 19-month offensive has killed over 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead. It does not provide figures for the number of civilians or combatants killed.

The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territorys population, often multiple times.

A missile from the Houthis

Separately, Israels military said it intercepted a missile fired by Yemens Houthi rebels on Sunday. It triggered air raid sirens in Jerusalem and other areas. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The Iran-backed Houthis have launched repeated missile attacks targeting Israel as well as international shipping in the Red Sea, portraying it as a response to Israels military campaign in Gaza. Most of the targeted ships had no relation to Israel or the conflict.

The United States halted a punishing bombing campaign against the Houthis earlier this month, saying the rebels had pledged to stop attacking ships. That informal ceasefire did not include attacks on Israel.

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Pakistani nationals Abdul Hadi Murshid, 39, and Muhammad Salman Nasir, 35, were arrested by FBI for running a years-long scam involving fake job offers and visa fraud read more

Two Pakistani men living in Texas, Abdul Hadi Murshid, 39, and Muhammad Salman Nasir, 35, have been arrested for running a years-long scam involving fake job offers and visa fraud, FBI Director Kash Patel has revealed.

They worked with a Texas law firm and a company called Reliable Ventures Inc., and now face charges like visa fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, and racketeering.

Murshid is also accused of trying to illegally gain US citizenship.

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Major arrests out of @FBIDallas. Abdul Hadi Murshid and Muhammad Salman Nasir, two individuals out of Texas who allegedly oversaw and operated a criminal enterprise circumventing American immigration laws by selling fraudulent visa applications, wrote Kash Patel on X.

Well done to our FBI teams and partners in the investigation, he added.

Major arrests out of @FBIDallas.



Abdul Hadi Murshid and Muhammad Salman Nasir  two individuals out of Texas who allegedly oversaw and operated a criminal enterprise circumventing American immigration laws by selling fraudulent visa applications.



Well done to our FBI teams and https://t.co/w7BGcbD5BY  FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) May 24, 2025

The two men allegedly made money by helping foreigners, called visa seekers, enter and stay in the US illegally.

They filed fake visa applications, lied about job offers, and misused visa programs like EB-2, EB-3, and H-1B. To make the jobs seem real, they placed fake ads in newspapers, pretending to offer jobs to Americans as required by the US Department of Labour.

After getting approval, they applied for green cards for the visa seekers. They also took money from these visa seekers and returned part of it as fake salaries to make the jobs look legitimate.

These defendants are charged with engaging in extensive measures to hide a massive, multi-year, immigration fraud scheme through which they reaped substantial personal financial gain, said Acting US Attorney Chad E Meacham, adding that pursuing criminal charges was top priority.

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FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R Joseph Rothrock added, The defendants allegedly oversaw an international criminal enterprise for years that repeatedly undermined our nations immigration laws. These laws are necessary to protect national security and safeguard the lawful immigration process.

Murshid and Nasir appeared in court on May 23, and the government wants them held in custody until their trial.

A hearing is scheduled for May 30. If found guilty, they could face up to 20 years in prison, and Murshid could lose his chance at US citizenship.
Pakistans Defence Minister Khawaja Asif accused the United States of generating war and making a profit out of the conflict amid tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad read more

Pakistans Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stirred yet another storm after he accused the United States of fulling between India and Pakistan to make profits. The video that is going viral online, shows Asif blaming United States, of prolonging tensions between the two nuclear powers on the Indian subcontinent.

The viral statement has also provoked intense debate and criticism worldwide. In the clip the Pakistani defence minister alleged that US has been at the centre of several international conflicts in the past century. Asif remarks were seems to be coming in defence of Chinas ardent support to Islamabad.

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Pakistan's Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, alleges that the United States incites conflicts between nations to profit from arms sales.



pic.twitter.com/GADso1zt8q  Sajid Yousuf Shah (@TheSkandar) May 25, 2025

In the last 100 years, Americans have generated wars. They have fought 260 wars, while China has only engaged in three, the Pakistani politician maintained. Yet, the US keeps earning money. Their military industry is a massive, well-established sector and forms a major part of their GDP. Thats why they continue to create conflicts," he added.

The tensions between India and Pakistan reached an all-time high following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 in Kashmir. New Delhi found that Pakistani nationals were involved in the attack and later launched Operation Sindoor . In the span of three days, the military escalations between India and Pakistan left the world in shock. Both nations eventually came to an understanding of a ceasefire.

Asif throws the US under the bus

This is not the first time Asif has thrown Washington, DC, under the bus. In an interview with Sky News, days after the Pahalgam terror attack, Asif admitted that Pakistan supported and fostered terror groups, claiming that the country was doing the USs dirty work '.

While Asif attempted to dodge questions about Pakistans long history of fostering terrorism, the Pakistani defence minister dug himself a hole when he blurted out that the cash-strapped nation is doing the dirty work for the West. Well, we have been doing this dirty work for the United States and West, including Britain, for 3 decades," Asif said when asked how the country supported and backed terrorist organisations in the past.

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However, he quickly backtracked on his assertion, insisting that supporting such groups was a mistake. That was a mistake, and we are suffering from that, he added, referencing the terror attacks that broke out on its soil.

The US plays from both sides: Asif

In the video, Asif referred to countries like Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Libya, stating that these nations were once prosperous but have now been devastated because of prolonged wars. These countries were once wealthy. Now they are bankrupt, he stated, indicating that American involvement contributed to their fall.

The defence minister insisted that the US plays from both sides in the war and maintains the profitability of its military-industrial complex. He described the American defence sector as an economic machine that thrives on chaos and instability.

The remarks from Asif garnered backlash online, with many pointing out Pakistans military aid and buying US defence equipment. When Pakistan needed help, it went running to hold Americas feet, and now that the ceasefire has happened, its back to blaming America," one user commented. Says the defence minister of a nation whose entire military doctrine depends on a foreign country," another user wrote.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that he hoped to strike deals for France in areas such as defence, energy and tech innovation, as he arrived in Vietnam for the start of a roughly weeklong trip in Asia. read more

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Hanoi on Sunday, kicking off a week-long tour of Asia aimed at deepening ties in defence, energy and technological innovation. This is the first visit by a French president to Vietnam in nearly a decade.

Writing on social media platform X, Macron said he was in the region to strengthen cooperation in key areas such as defence, innovation, the energy transition and cultural exchanges.

The trip reflects France and the European Unions broader effort to build stronger commercial and strategic relationships in Asia, especially amid concerns over US tariff policies under President Donald Trump.

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After Vietnam, Macron will travel to Indonesia and conclude his trip in Singapore, where he is scheduled to address the Shangri-La Dialogue  Asias premier defence summit.

Macron will present France and Europe as defenders of international cooperation and rules-based trade, at a time when other world powers such as the US under Trump and China use more coercive or predatory methods.

I am coming here to strengthen our ties in key areas  defence, innovation, the energy transition, and cultural exchanges, wrote Macron on X.

France is a reliable partner, one which believes in dialogue and co-operation, Macron also wrote on X on Sunday.
Venezuelas main opposition faction, led by Maria Corina Machado has called for a boycott. Machado argues voting would legitimise another flawed election orchestrated by Nicolas Maduros government. A smaller opposition bloc has rejected the boycott, urging people to vote as an act of resistance read more

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks as he presents a proposal to reform the constitution in a session of the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela on February 15, 2025. Reuters File

Venezuelans return to the polls on Sunday (May 25), 10 months after President Nicolas Maduro claimed a third term in a disputed election marred by violence and accusations of fraud.

The vote will decide seats in a new parliament and elect 24 state governors, amid deep political divisions and widespread distrust of the electoral process. Venezuelas main opposition faction, led by Maria Corina Machado, an engineer and former lawmaker, has called for a boycott. Machado argues voting would legitimise another flawed election orchestrated by Maduros government.

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However, a smaller opposition bloc, led by Henrique Capriles, a former presidential candidate, has rejected the boycott, urging Venezuelans to vote as an act of resistance against Maduros administration.

We must vote as an act of resistance, of struggle, said Capriles, who is seeking a parliamentary seat.

Opposition leaders arrested

Tensions intensified ahead of Sundays vote, with more than 400,000 security personnel deployed nationwide. On Friday (May 23) , opposition figure Juan Pablo Guanipa, a key ally of Machado, was arrested, accused by authorities of leading a terrorist network plotting attacks on election day.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello alleged Guanipa, a former lawmaker, was connected to approximately 50 individuals detained earlier in the week. Venezuelan officials accused these individuals of being foreign-backed mercenaries infiltrating from Colombia, prompting authorities to temporarily close the border until after the elections.

Following his arrest, Guanipas account on social media platform X posted a statement saying he had been kidnapped by the forces of Nicolas Maduros regime, but vowed to continue fighting the government.

Opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia fled into exile in Spain last year after Venezuelan authorities issued threats against him. The crackdown intensified after Julys presidential election, when Maduro declared victory without detailed official results. Opposition groups released their own tally, indicating Gonzalez Urrutia had won decisively.

Venezuelas economic crisis

Maduros claim triggered deadly street protests, further isolating Venezuela internationally. Few nations recognise Maduro as the legitimate leader, among them longstanding allies Russia and Cuba.

The economic crisis deepened recently after US President Donald Trump revoked Chevrons license to pump Venezuelan oil, severing a critical source of income for Maduros administration. Additionally, the Trump administration ended deportation protection for around 350,000 Venezuelan migrants in the US, deporting hundreds to a notorious Salvadoran prison.

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Despite escalating international pressure and economic sanctions, Maduro remains defiant. Sundays elections also mark Venezuelas first parliamentary and gubernatorial elections in the disputed, oil-rich Essequibo region, administered by Guyana but claimed by Caracas. Maduros government has threatened partial annexation, escalating regional tensions.

With inputs from agencies
Two weeks after India paused Operation Sindoor following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, New Delhi plans to rebalance troops to avoid fresh border tensions, while Pakistan also is also set to return to pre-April positions. read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Adampur airbase on Tuesday, a day after he made a speech to the nation on Operation Sindoor. Image: X/@narendramodi

Two weeks after the pause of Indias Operation Sindoor following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the military is discussing a plan to rebalance troops to prevent new border tensions, The Indian Express reported, citing sources. Meanwhile, Pakistan is also planning to revert to pre-April positions after it mobilsed troops along the international border.

This comes after a fierce standoff between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Though, Operation Sindoor remains paused, and all alerts stay at heightened levels.

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According to the report, both Indian and Pakistani armies are working on confidence-building measures and are considering reducing troops and equipment at the border within the next two weeks.

Sources said Pakistan, which carried out major reinforcements of troops and equipment over the past few weeks, will also pull them back to pre-April locations.

Unlike Pakistan, which gathered large forces and military arsenals near the international border, India did not order any large-scale troop movements or deployment of offensive forces. Only some equipment and troops were moved from their usual bases to operational positions, and they are now expected to return to their regular locations.

Restrictions eased

During Operation Sindoor , there were more troops along the border mainly because leave was cancelled and non-essential movement was restricted.

However, sources told The Indian Express that these restrictions have now been lifted. Even short-term training courses, which were temporarily cancelled, will now continue as planned.

India has directly accused Pakistan of involvement in the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam , where 26 people, mostly tourists, were brutally killed by militants linked to Pakistan-based groups.

The attack has once again brought global attention to Pakistans ongoing policy of sheltering and using terrorists as tools of state policy.

Pahalgam terror attack

In response, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror camps and infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Indias precise military response

The Indian Armed Forces conducted precision strikes on nine identified terror sites, including key hubs in Bahawalpur and Muridke, long known to house Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) bases.

Shaken by Indias offensive, Pakistan retaliated by targeting civilians across the Line of Control (LoC), further escalating tensions. Further, multiple drone attacks in the border cities were launched by Pakistan which were foiled by the Indian forces.

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In retaliation, India attacked Pakistani bases and air force stations, which suffered heavy damage from Indian strikes.

India used advanced military assets, including Rafale jets armed with SCALP missiles and AASM Hammer bombs, BrahMos cruise missiles, and loitering munitions to carry out the operation.

At a press briefing on Saturday, the Indian government said it does not seek further escalation but will firmly respond to any provocation.

During the joint briefing with the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi confirmed that India had responded to all Pakistani military actions and that the armed forces remain on high alert.
Pakistan is getting materials and technology for weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) from China, with some supplies coming through countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, and the UAE, US intelligence report has revealed read more

Pakistani military trucks carry the long range nuclear-capable surface-to-surface 'Ghauri' ballistic missile during the National Day parade in Islamabad, Pakistan, March 23, 2005. File Image/Reuters

Pakistan is upgrading its nuclear weapons with help from China , which provides both military and economic support, while still seeing India as its biggest threat, according to a new US Defence Intelligence Agency report released on Sunday (May 25).

The report says Pakistans military will likely focus on border clashes with neighbouring countries, like India, and keep modernising its nuclear arsenal in the coming year.

Pakistan is modernising its nuclear arsenal and maintaining the security of its nuclear materials and nuclear command and control. Pakistan almost certainly procures WMD applicable goods from foreign suppliers and intermediaries, the report stated.

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Pakistan regards India as an existential threat and will continue to pursue its military modernisation effort, including the development of battlefield nuclear weapons, to offset Indias conventional military advantage, it said.

Its also getting materials and technology for weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) from China, with some supplies coming through countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, and the UAE.

While China is Pakistans main supplier of military gear, their relationship has hit rough patches due to recent terrorist attacks targeting Chinese workers in Pakistan, causing growing tension between the two allies.

India views China as primary adversary

According to the intelligence report, India is focusing on strengthening its defence ties with countries in the Indian Ocean region to counter Chinas growing influence and boost its global leadership.

To achieve this, India is engaging in joint military exercises, training, arms sales, and sharing intelligence with regional partners.

The report notes that India and China have agreed to pull back troops from two remaining disputed areas along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, easing some tensions that flared up in 2020. However, the long-standing border dispute remains unresolved, as the agreement doesnt settle the issue of border demarcation.

India is also pushing its Made in India initiative to grow its domestic defence industry, reduce reliance on foreign supplies, and modernise its military.

The report highlights Indias testing of the nuclear-capable Agni-I Prime medium-range ballistic missile and the Agni-V, which can carry multiple warheads, as well as the commissioning of its second nuclear-powered submarine.

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Turkish support for Pakistani military during its tensions with India reportedly included supplying over 350 military drones and deploying operatives to assist Pakistans forces. India has lodged diplomatic protests regarding this, and Turkish businesses have been boycotted. read more

(File) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharid and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are set to meet on Sunday. Image courtesy: Embassy of Pakistan in Ankara

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold talks with Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Istanbul on Sunday (May 25), as diplomatic and economic tensions with India escalate over Ankaras recent support for Islamabad during heightened India-Pakistan hostilities.

Fahrettin Altun, Erdogans head of communications, confirmed via social media platform X that the leaders would discuss bilateral relations, regional and international issues, including the fight against terrorism.

Cumhurbaskanmz Sayn Recep Tayyip Erdogan, bugun Istanbuldaki Dolmabahce Calsma Ofisinde Pakistan Basbakan Sayn Sahbaz Serifi kabul edeceklerdir.



Sayn Cumhurbaskanmzn Sayn Serifi kabulunde, Turkiye-Pakistan ikili iliskileri cesitli vecheleriyle degerlendirilecek;  Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) May 25, 2025

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Turkeys relations with India

The meeting takes place against the backdrop of Turkeys increasingly assertive role in South Asian geopolitics. Relations with India deteriorated sharply following Turkeys overt backing of Pakistan during recent tensions stemming from the deadly April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 tourists. In retaliation, India initiated military operations dubbed Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

In response to these developments, Erdogan publicly expressed solidarity with Pakistan, praising Islamabads calm and restrained stance and echoing its call for an independent investigation into the incident. Turkish support for Pakistan reportedly included supplying over 350 military drones and deploying operatives to assist Pakistans military capabilities during the escalation. Additionally, Turkish military activities, such as a naval warship docking at Karachi port and the delivery of arms via a Turkish Air Force C-130 aircraft, have drawn sharp criticism from India.

India responded vigorously to Turkeys involvement. New Delhi lodged diplomatic protests through its Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), strongly cautioning Ankara about respecting mutual sensitivities , especially concerning terrorism-related issues.

Indian consumers and businesses launched economic boycotts of Turkish products, notably halting marble imports worth Rs 3,000 crore (approximately $360 million). India also revoked the security clearance of Turkish aviation firm Celebi and is reviewing partnerships involving IndiGo and Turkish Airlines.

With inputs from agencies
Hamas is reportedly on the verge of financial collapse amid the ongoing conflict with Israel, leading to widespread frustration among its members read more

Hamas terrorists arrive in a pick-up truck to the site of the hand over of hostage Agam Beger to the Red Cross at the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza City, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (Photo: AP)

Sources inside the Palestinian militant group Hamas have disclosed that the group is on the verge of financial collapse. According to a report by Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the ongoing conflict with Israel is severely affecting both its military capabilities and finances.

The London-based newspaper mentioned that Hamas is struggling to pay salaries due to an intense financial crisis.

Sources indicated that the militant group has only been able to pay 900 shekels (around $240 USD) over four months, leading to widespread frustration among its members.

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The financial problems are compounded by significant leadership losses due to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) targeting of Hamas leaders, creating a leadership gap within the groups governance.

IDFs campaign continues in Gaza

Additionally, Gazas civil defence agency reported Saturday (May 24) that an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis killed nine children of two married doctors. The Israeli army is currently investigating these reports.

Israel has intensified its operations in Gaza recently, facing international criticism and calls to allow more supplies after partially easing a total blockade on aid enforced on March 2.

Footage from the civil defence agency showed rescuers retrieving badly burned remains from a damaged home.

When asked about the incident, the Israeli military stated it had targeted several suspects operating from a nearby structure.

UN says more aid needed in Gaza

The United Nations warned Saturday that only a teaspoon of aid was getting in Gaza following Israels 11-week-long blockade.

The Israeli military said 107 trucks carrying flour and other foodstuffs as well as medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing point on Thursday, for a total of 305 since Monday when the blockade was relaxed.

But getting the supplies to people sheltering in tents and other makeshift accommodations has been fitful, and UN officials say at least 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed every day.

Despite the relaxation of the blockade, distribution has been hampered by looting by groups of men, some of them armed, near the city of Khan Younis, an umbrella network representing Palestinian aid groups said.

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They stole food meant for children and families suffering from severe hunger, the network said in a statement, which also condemned Israeli airstrikes on security teams protecting the trucks.

(With inputs from agencies)
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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, speaking in New York as part of a multi-party delegation, strongly criticised Pakistan for supporting terrorism and praised Indias firm yet measured response to the recent terror attack in Pahalgam. read more

Taking a sharp dig at Pakistan for backing terrorism as a matter of state policy, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, speaking in New York on Saturday, praised Indias to the Pahalgam terror attack. He is currently leading a multi-party delegation to five countries as part of Indias global outreach against terrorism under Operation Sindoor.

At the Indian Consulate, Tharoor said the Pakistan-backed attackers had targeted victims based on their religion, describing it as a clear attempt to incite communal violence.

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Emphasising the success of Operation Sindoor , he lauded the security forces for Indias targeted strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, stating that India had hit hard and hit smart.

#WATCH | New York, US: On paying tribute at 9/11 Memorial, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, " We went to the 9/11 Memorial to give out a message that New York has also suffered terror attack 20 years back and we have the same experience. We want them to understand that there is a pic.twitter.com/wOZEKQCfz3  ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

It was a group of people going around identifying the religions of individuals and killing them on that basis  clearly intended to provoke a backlash in the rest of India, as the victims were overwhelmingly Hindu, Tharoor said.

There was an extraordinary amount of unity cutting across religious and other divides in India  precisely the opposite of what the perpetrators had hoped to provoke. The message is very clear: there was a malign intent and sadly, India had no reason to doubt where it came from.

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I dont work for the government

Speaking on Indias response to the Pahalgam attack, Tharoor said, I dont work for the government, as you know  I represent an opposition party  but I personally wrote an op-ed in one of Indias leading newspapers just days after the attack, stating that the time had come to hit hard and hit smart. Im pleased to say thats exactly what India did.

#WATCH | New York, US: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, " We are not interested in warfare with Pakistan. We would much rather be left alone to grow our economy and pull our people into the world they are getting ready for in the 21st century. But, the Pakistanis sadly, we might pic.twitter.com/vkzVFk8bi3  ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2025

He added, It was obviously a very moving moment for us, but it was also intended to send a very strong message  that we are here in a city which still bears the scars of that savage terrorist attack, in the wake of yet another terrorist attack in our own country.

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Terrorism is a global issue

Speaking about the purpose of the all-party delegations visit, Tharoor explained, This visit is an opportunity. In every country, we will meet members of the executive, the legislature, think tanks, and influential foreign policy experts, while also engaging with the media and the wider public.

He highlighted the solidarity shown in Jammu and Kashmir  from politicians to civilians  in the aftermath of the attack. There was an extraordinary display of unity, cutting across religious and other divides that certain elements had sought to exploit. The message is very clear: there was a malign intent and sadly, India has no reason to doubt where it originated.

Sadly, Pakistan chose its usual path of denial. In fact, with Chinas support, it succeeded in having references to the Resistance Front removed from the UN Security Councils press statement just two days later, he added.

Tharoor underlined that India sent a clear message  it would not take terrorism lying down. It would respond. But by carrying out calculated and precise strikes on specific targets, India also signalled that this was not the beginning of a long war, but a single act of retribution. The intention was to end it there.

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The all-party delegation led by Tharoor includes Shambhavi Chaudhary (Lok Janshakti Party), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), G M Harish Balayagi (Telugu Desam Party), Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejasvi Surya, Bhubaneswar K Lata (all BJP), Mallikarjun Devda (Shiv Sena), and former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

The delegation aims to present Indias national consensus and firm stance on combating terrorism in all its forms, carrying the countrys strong message of zero tolerance to the global community during this outreach initiative.
Son has reportedly raised the concept directly with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior government figures in recent weeks, coinciding with ongoing US-Japan trade negotiations read more

US President Donald Trump (L) and SoftBank's Masayoshi Son (R) are known to be close. Reuters

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has proposed the creation of a joint sovereign wealth fund between the United States and Japan aimed at large-scale investments in technology and infrastructure projects across the US.

Discussions regarding the idea have reached high-level officials in both Washington and Tokyo, Financial Times reported citing three individuals familiar with the matter. Though no formal proposal has yet emerged, the fund could serve as a model for other nations looking to strengthen investment relationships with the US.

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Son has reportedly raised the concept directly with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior government figures in recent weeks, coinciding with ongoing US-Japan trade negotiations . Japan continues to advocate for a zero-tariff arrangement, while US negotiators have stated that tariffs will remain at a baseline of at least 10 per cent.

After a recent telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba indicated that he expects their upcoming meeting at the G7 summit in Canada in mid-June to be pivotal in advancing trade talks.

Under the proposed arrangement, the US Treasury and Japans Ministry of Finance would jointly manage and own the fund, each holding substantial stakes. The partnership could later open to additional investors, potentially even allowing ordinary citizens from both nations to participate.

An individual familiar with the discussions noted that for the fund to meet its investment goals, it would require substantial initial funding, possibly $300 billion, supplemented by significant leverage.

Officials see potential benefits in the sovereign wealth fund as it could generate new revenue streams for both governments without raising taxes. The theory is that Bessent is looking for revenue streams for the Treasury that do not involve raising taxes, and however far out this joint fund may sound, it would in theory provide that, said one individual briefed on the details. The source added that the US views this as a shift away from previous investment strategies, potentially setting a precedent for future government-to-government financial partnerships.

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Japan seeks clear governance to avoid the uncertainties associated with political decisions made in Washington, aiming for stable and transparent management of the fund.

Son, known for his close ties to President Trump , previously unveiled a $500 billion project in January dubbed Stargate, aiming to establish data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure in the US in collaboration with companies such as OpenAI and Oracle. This type of initiative could attract funding from the proposed US-Japan joint sovereign wealth fund, according to individuals familiar with Sons objectives.
Julius Malema, leader of the populist, Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), was seen chanting provocative slogans such as cut the throat of whiteness and Kill the Boer, kill the farmer, a historical anti-apartheid rallying cry in a video Trump played for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa read more

Firebrand South African politician has decided to stand by the "Kill the Boer" chant. AFP

South Africas outspoken opposition leader Julius Malema vowed Saturday (May 24) to continue using controversial chants highlighted by US President Donald Trump during a recent tense meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House.

Trump surprised Ramaphosa during their meeting on Wednesday by playing a four-minute video intended to support his contentious claim of a  white genocide  taking place in South Africa, a nation still grappling with deep racial inequalities decades after apartheid ended.

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Malema, 44, leader of the populist, Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), was prominently featured in Trumps video. He appeared wearing his partys red beret and chanting provocative slogans such as cut the throat of whiteness and Kill the Boer, kill the farmer, a historical anti-apartheid rallying cry.

Kill the Boer originated during the struggle against oppressive white-minority rule and apartheid policies. Despite repeated attempts by some groups representing white South Africans to ban the chant, courts lifted a temporary prohibition in 2010, ruling the song was historically significant rather than hate speech. Courts noted it was employed by Malema primarily as a provocative political tool.

Speaking at a regional electoral rally on Saturday, Malema defended his use of the lyrics as part of the nations heritage of struggle.

It is not my song. I did not compose this song, Malema said in televised remarks. The struggle heroes composed this song. All I am doing is defending the legacy of our struggle. Therefore, I will never stop singing it. That would be a betrayal of the struggle of our people.

Malema established the anti-capitalist and often anti-US EFF in 2013 after being expelled from the youth wing of the governing African National Congress for allegedly promoting internal divisions. His fiery rhetoric appeals to many young South Africans frustrated by persistent economic inequalities three decades after apartheids end.

During their contentious Oval Office meeting, Ramaphosa and his delegation distanced themselves from Malemas statements, emphasising that his views do not represent official South African policy.

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With inputs from AFP
Madrid will host 20 countries as well as international organisations on Sunday with the aim of stopping this war, which no longer has any goal, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told France Info radio read more

Palestinian children gather to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip. AFP

The international community should look to sanction Israel to stop the war in Gaza, Spains foreign minister said, ahead of a Madrid meeting of European and Arab nations on Sunday to urge a halt to its offensive.

Countries Israel had long counted on as allies have been adding their voices to growing international pressure after it expanded military operations against Gazas Hamas rulers, whose 2023 attack on Israel sparked the devastating war.

A two-month aid blockade has worsened shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine in the Palestinian territory, sparking fears of famine.

Aid organisations say the trickle of supplies Israel allowed to enter in recent days falls far short of needs.

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Madrid will host 20 countries as well as international organisations on Sunday with the aim of stopping this war, which no longer has any goal, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told France Info radio.

Humanitarian aid must enter Gaza massively, unimpeded, neutrally, so that it is not Israel who decides who can eat and who cannot, he said.

A previous such gathering in Madrid last year brought together countries including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as well as European nations such as Ireland and Norway that have recognised a Palestinian state.

Sundays meeting, which also includes representatives from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, will promote a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

After the European Union decided this week to review its cooperation deal with Israel, Albares said we must consider sanctions, we must do everything, consider everything to stop this war.

Hamass October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Palestinian militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israels retaliatory offensive has killed almost 54,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run Gazas health ministry.

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The move follows a Swiss NGOs request for a probe into GHFs aid plan, which the UN opposes, citing concerns over impartiality, forced displacement, and risk to thousands of people read more

Displaced Palestinian children wait to receive free food at a tent camp, amid food shortages, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

Swiss authorities said on Sunday they were exploring whether to open a legal investigation into the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organisation that plans to oversee aid distribution in the Palestinian enclave.

The move comes after a Swiss NGO submitted a request for a probe into GHFs aid plan, which the United Nations has opposed, saying it is not impartial or neutral and forces further displacement and exposes thousands of people to harm.

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The GHF, which has said it hopes to start work in Gaza by the end of May, told Reuters it strictly adheres to humanitarian principles, and that it would not support any form of forced relocation of civilians.

Israel has allowed limited aid deliveries to resume this week after having stopped all aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2.

TRIAL International, a Switzerland-based NGO, on Friday said it had filed two legal submissions asking Swiss authorities to investigate whether the Swiss-registered GHF complies with Swiss law and international humanitarian law.

The submissions were made to the Swiss Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) on May 20 and 21.

The FDFA on Sunday confirmed to Reuters that both authorities had received the submissions.

TRIAL International said it asked the Swiss FDFA to explain if the GHF had submitted a declaration, in accordance with Swiss law, to use private security companies to distribute aid, and if it had been approved by Swiss authorities.

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The FDFA told Reuters it is investigating whether such a declaration would be required for the foundation.

It said that the Federal Supervisory Board for Foundations cannot review whether foundations comply with their statutes until they start their activities.

The GHF told Reuters that though using private security firms represents a change from prior aid delivery frameworks, it would ensure aid is not diverted to Hamas or criminal organizations.
The declaration was made the day after the US officially eased sanctions on Syria, which had been in place for more than ten years read more

This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Foreign Ministry press service on May 24, 2025, shows US Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack (L) shakes hands with Syria's jihadist-turned-interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) during a meeting in Istanbul. AFP

Syrias new authorities have promised to assist the United States in locating and returning missing Americans in the war-torn nation, according to a US envoy on Sunday, in another sign of improving bilateral ties.

The declaration was made the day after the US officially eased sanctions on Syria, which had been in place for more than ten years.

Since the toppling of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December due to an Islamist-led onslaught, relations have gradually improved.

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The new Syrian government has agreed to assist the USA in locating and returning USA citizens or their remains, US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack wrote on X, describing it as a powerful step forward.

The families of Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz, and Kayla Mueller must have closure, he added, referring to American citizens who had gone missing or been killed during Syrias devastating civil war that erupted in 2011.

In August 2012, Tice was apprehended at a checkpoint while working as a freelance writer for publications such as The Washington Post and Agence France-Presse.

The Syrian-American psychologist Kamalmaz was believed to have died following his detention by the Assad regime in 2017.

Mueller was an aid worker abducted by the Islamic State group, which reported her death in February 2015, claiming she was killed in a Jordanian air strike, a claim denied by US officials.

President (Donald) Trump has made it clear that bringing home USA citizens or honoring, with dignity, their remains is a major priority everywhere, said Barrack, who also serves as the US ambassador to Turkey.

The new Syrian Government will aid us in this commitment, he added.

Americans killed by IS

A Syrian source aware of the talks between the two countries told AFP there were 11 other names on Washingtons list, all of them Syrian-Americans.

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The source added that a Qatari delegation began this month, at Washingtons request, a search mission for the remains of American hostages killed by IS.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights meanwhile said that the Qatari delegation is still searching in Aleppo province for the bodies of American citizens executed by IS.

Two US journalists, James Foley and Stephen Sotloff, were videotaped in 2014 being beheaded by a militant who spoke on camera with a British accent.

El Shafee Elsheikh, a jihadist from London, was found guilty in 2022 of hostage-taking and conspiracy to murder US citizens  Foley and Sotloff, as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.

The formal lifting of US sanctions also coincided with Syrias new authorities reshuffling their interior ministry to include fighting cross-border drug and people smuggling, as they seek to improve ties with the West.

The lifting of sanctions paves the way for reconstruction efforts in the war-torn country, where authorities are relying on foreign assistance to help foot the massive cost of rebuilding.

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Syrias foreign ministry on Saturday welcomed the US lifting of sanctions, calling the move a positive step in the right direction to reduce humanitarian and economic struggles in the country.

The sanctions relief extends to the new government on condition that Syria does not provide safe haven for terrorist organisations and ensure security for religious and ethnic minorities, the US Treasury Department said.

Trump shook hands with Syrias jihadist-turned-interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa earlier this month during a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Amid a historic prisoner exchange, Russia unleashed massive drone strikes over Kyiv and other Ukrainian territories. Meanwhile, drone strikes rattled Moscow, indicating the escalation of tensions read more

Emergency workers navigates his colleagues at the site of residential building damaged after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. File Image / AP

Amid the hopes for peace talks , Russia launched a massive drone missile attack on the Ukrainian capital overnight. Similar strikes were conducted across Ukraine in which at least 12 people, including three children, were killed and dozens injured. The attack took place after the Russian capital Moscow was attacked, indicating that the tensions between the two nations were escalating.

Russian attack on Ukraine continued through the night and well into Sunday, injuring 11 people in the Ukrainian capital. According to Sky News, the Russians also conducted drone strikes in Mykolaiv, where a residential building was hit.

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On Sunday morning, Kyivs city administration warned that the night will be difficult, urging people to remain in shelters. The citys mayor Vitaliy Klitschko described it as a massive attack. Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working. The capital is under attack by enemy UAVs. Do not neglect your safety! Stay in shelters! he said in a statement.

Fears of escalation

Before this, at least 15 people were injured in the Russian attack on Friday night. Meanwhile, Russia also claimed that it faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. The Kremlin claimed that it has intercepted and destroyed around 100 drones near Moscow and across Russias central and southern regions.

The escalations are taking place at a time when both nations are continuing with a prisoner exchange, marking a rare moment of relief in the war. However, following the Saturday strikes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of prolonging the war and called for sanctions on Russia.

Russia fills each day with horror and murder and is simply dragging out the war, he said. All of this demands a response - a strong response from the United States, from Europe, and from everyone in the world who wants this war to end, the Ukrainian president furthered.

Zelenskyy insisted that every single day gives new grounds for sanctions against Russia, he said, and each day without pressure proves the war will continue. The Ukrainain leader concluded his statement by stating that his country is ready for any form of diplomacy that delivers real results.
Ukraine faces one of its most precarious moments in the war against Russia, with President Donald Trumps threat to withdraw from peace talks emboldening Moscows aggression and raising fears of a renewed summer offensive. read more

Ukraine is bracing for what officials and soldiers anticipate will be a brutal and potentially war-altering summer offensive by Russia, a grim outlook amplified by President Donald Trumps recent threat to withdraw American support from peace talks. Kyivs alarm has deepened following Trumps direct suggestion that Ukraine and Russia should settle peace terms themselves, a move seen as emboldening Moscow and setting the stage for intensified conflict rather than de-escalation.

Escalating Russian military actions

Russian forces have been ramping up their offensive, particularly in Ukraines north-eastern regions. In Sumy Oblast, Russian troops have re-entered areas previously contested, with reports indicating the capture of villages such as Basivka and Novenke. Similarly, in the Kharkiv region, localised Russian advances have been noted, contributing to concerns about a broader strategy to establish a security buffer zone along the Ukrainian border.

The eastern front, particularly the Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka sectors, has seen heavy Russian troop concentrations. Analysts suggest that success in these areas could pave the way for Russia to occupy the entire Donetsk region, aligning with its immediate political objectives.

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Diplomatic efforts and challenges

Amid the escalating conflict, diplomatic efforts have faced significant hurdles. Ukraine has expressed willingness to accept a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire, aiming to create a window for peace negotiations

However, Russias response has been tepid, with President Vladimir Putin emphasising that any cessation of hostilities should lead to a lasting peace addressing the root causes of the conflict.

The US administrations stance has also evolved. While initially advocating for a swift resolution, recent communications suggest a shift towards encouraging Ukraine to negotiate directly with Russia. This approach has unsettled some Western allies and raised concerns about the potential implications for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Ukraines fate hangs in the balance: Can Western support save it?

Ukrainian forces now face the daunting challenge of holding their positions against a numerically superior enemy while contending with dwindling supplies of Western weapons. Military commanders acknowledge that preventing significant Russian advances this summer could be crucial in maintaining Western support, particularly in convincing sceptical politicians in Washington and European capitals that Ukraine can still prevail with continued assistance.

As both sides prepare for what may prove to be a decisive phase of the conflict, the coming months could determine whether Ukraine maintains its territorial integrity or is forced to accept a peace settlement that leaves the country partitioned and vulnerable to future Russian aggression. With so much at stake, the summer of 2025 may well become the ultimate test of Ukraines resilience and the Wests commitment to its defence.

Humanitarian impact and casualties

The human toll of the conflict continues to rise. According to the UKs Ministry of Defence, Russia has sustained approximately 160,000 casualties in the first four months of 2025 alone, marking the highest total for this period since the full-scale invasion began. Despite these losses, Russian military operations show no signs of abating.

Recent Russian aerial assaults have been among the most severe, with nearly 300 drones and 70 missiles launched over two days, resulting in civilian casualties and infrastructure damage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned these attacks and called for increased international sanctions against Russia.
The Ukrainian militarys manpower shortage has grown acute as the war drags on. Most eligible men aged 18 to 60 have either already joined, gone into hiding or attempted to flee the country illegally. With compulsory conscription in place, Ukraine has struggled to recruit enough fresh soldiers, particularly younger men who were initially largely exempt from mandatory service due to government concerns over preserving the countrys future workforce. read more

This handout photograph taken and released by Ukrainian State Emergency Service Press Service on May 25, 2025 shows firefighters operating on burning houses following Russian strike in Kyiv region, amid Russian invasion in Ukraine. AFP Photo

Ukraine is offering unprecedented incentives, including hefty cash bonuses, free education and lifestyle perks to attract Gen Z recruits to its military as it faces a deepening manpower shortage in the ongoing war with Russia, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Kyrylo Horbenko, now 19, was just 16 when he and his friends first tried to enlist. Though initially turned away for being underage, he joined the military as soon as he turned 18 in March 2023. His decision was driven not only by patriotism, but also by the Ukrainian governments new Contract 18-24 programmea voluntary initiative targeting young adults with financial and social incentives for a one-year commitment.

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Horbenkos contract includes a $24,000 signing bonus, interest-free mortgage support, and opportunities for overseas travel. These benefits surpass the earnings of many veteran soldiers and are designed to make enlistment attractive to youth wary of long-term military service.

As Ukraines war with Russia stretches into its third year, the country is grappling with dwindling numbers of eligible recruits. Most men aged 18 to 60 have either already served, gone into hiding or attempted to escape the country to avoid being drafted. Younger men had previously been largely exempt from conscription due to concerns over preserving the workforce.

The Contract 18-24 program is designed to be voluntary, offering lifestyle perks and short service periods in exchange for a year of military commitment. The initiative is marketed with TikTok-style campaigns and social media content tailored to Gen Z. Despite the buzz, uptake has been slow, with bureaucracy and family pressure deterring many.

To address this gap, the government has introduced a package of benefits for 18- to 24-year-olds willing to sign a one-year contract. Alongside the hefty signing bonus, recruits receive monthly pay of nearly $3,000about six times the national averageplus free university tuition and discounted healthcare. The recruitment campaign leverages social media platforms popular with Gen Z, including TikTok, with creative ads highlighting the financial advantages of joining.

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Despite the incentives, only around 500 young adults have signed up so far, with many deterred by bureaucratic hurdles, family pressure, or fear of combat. Older soldiers have voiced resentment over the preferential treatment of these recruits, referring to them as the millionaires due to the lucrative bonuses.

Experts and soldiers alike suggest that longer mandatory service and improved military education might better address recruitment challenges. For some Ukrainian teens, like 19-year-old Oleksandr Bahach, the urgency is clear. The bitter truth is that were losing this war, he said, citing devastating losses in Bakhmut and Avdiivka. Bahach joined after seeing an ad for the 18-24 program and now trains alongside Horbenko for Ukraines elite 25th Airborne Brigade.

With no clear end to the conflict in sight, Ukraines efforts to entice its youngest generation to take up arms reflect both the countrys dire military needs and the complex choices facing its youth.
Pentagon Press Association slammed US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth after the Department of Defence enforced new restrictions on media access read more

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth attends the annual White House Easter Egg Roll event, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 21, 2025. File Image/Reuters

Journalists covering all the news about the US military called out the Pentagon and said that they are extremely concerned by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth s constraints on press access at the Pentagon. They argued that the newest restrictions that were outlined on Friday night appeared to be a direct attack on the freedom of the press and Americas right to know what its military is doing.

According to CNN, the condemnation came from the Pentagon Press Association after Hegseth announced additional credentialing procedures for press at the Pentagon in the interest of national security. The changes were key parts of the Pentagon building off-limits to journalists unless they had an official escort.

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According to a Pentagon memo, more restrictions are likely to be imposed in the coming weeks. The Department of Defence argued that these measures are being undertaken to protect the countrys military secrets. It is pertinent to note that the Friday announcement joined the list of measures taken by the US President Donald Trumps administration.

Former news anchor who switched sides

Hegseth himself was a former Fox News host, however, he has been distancing himself from his past soon after he took his role at the Department of Defence. As soon as Hegseth took charge, some of the countrys biggest news outlets were booted from their dedicated Pentagon workspaces. Not only this, Hegseth assailed his former colleague Jennifer Griffin (Foxs national security correspondent) and other journalists.

The Pentagon argued that these measures are being taken under a media rotation program. Only smaller and explicitly pro-Trump news outlets have been getting inside access to the Trump administration. Pentagon eventually announced that the press briefing room would be closed when not in use for public briefings.

Top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, a close friend of Hegseths, has only held one press briefing to date. On Friday, Parnell argued that the access restrictions are pragmatic changes to protect operational security.

The memo outlining the restrictions said that while the department remains committed to transparency, the department is equally obligated to protect (classified intelligence) and sensitive information, the unauthorised disclosure of which could put the lives of US service members in danger.

Interestingly, in March Hegseth himself was accused of mishandling sensitive information , when he detailed the plans of US military operation in Yemen on a Signal group chat at accidentally included The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.

The Press Association condemn the view

According to CNN, the changes announced on Friday would make it more difficult for journalists to reach Hegseth. The restriction would eliminate the medias freedom to freely access press officers for the military services who are specifically hired to respond to press queries, the Pentagon Press Association pointed out.

The association represents scores of journalists who regularly cover the military. In a statement, the group maintained that it has been trying to reach out to Hegseth and his aides to keep in place a professional working relationship that has persisted for decades, but to no avail.

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The association maintained that it is puzzled about why the Defence Department is devoting such attention to restricting Pentagon media instead of engaging with it as senior leaders have long done. In the past, hegseth has denounced the media bu calling them hoax press and promoted himself by appearing on Fox opinion shows hosted by his friends.

Not only this, he enlisted right-wing content creators to increase the Defence Departments promotional efforts on social media. Mike Balsamo, the president of the National Press Club, said independent coverage of the military is in everyones interest. It keeps voters informed, strengthens democratic oversight, and sends a clear message to the world that America stands for openness and accountability, Balsamo said. Restricting access doesnt protect national security. It undermines public trust, Balsamo said.
There is significant potential to strengthen economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

Azernews reports that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said this at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

"In February 2025, political consultations were held between the two countries, and it is important to continue them regularly. Within the framework of international organizations, entities such as the UN, GUAM, and OSCE play a special role in cooperation. Unfortunately, the Russia-Ukraine war that has lasted for over three years has negatively affected our economic relations," he noted.

Jeyhun Bayramov emphasized that as a result, the trade turnover, which was $1 billion in 2021, decreased to $600 million in 2022, $350 million in 2023, and increased by 30 percent to $460 million in 2024.
An explosion occurred on a city boat in New York, killing one longtime city employee and injuring two others read more

An explosion occurred on a boat carrying raw sewage, killing a longtime city employee in New York. According to the authorities, the boat was docked on the Hudson River in New York City when the incident took place.

Another worker on the city-owned Hunts Point vessel was injured and taken to a nearby hospital, the Associated Press reported.

The explosion took place on Saturday at 10:30 am (local time) near the North River wastewater treatment plant. NYC Deputy Assistant Chief David Simms of the fire department said that another worker wounded in the incident refused medical treatment since he had minor injuries.

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The cause of the blast is under investigation. Shortly after the incident, New York Mayor Eric Adams said that criminal intent was not suspected in the case.

Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard, investigating the matter, noted that the men onboard were taking the raw sewage from the city to be treated and were performing tasks involving flame or sparks when the explosion occurred.

New York police noted that the first responders found a 59-year-old man unconscious in the river, and he was declared dead at the scene. The authorities said that the man had been a longtime employee of the citys environmental protection department.

The mayor said he was a devoted public servant who gave 33 years of service to the New York City, and our hearts go out to his family, friends, and colleagues during this painful time.

The blast also spread raw sewage over the deck of the boat and the first responders are working on the decontamination of the area.
The US military is backing off its usual talk of good governance and countering insurgencies underlying causes, instead leaning into a message that its fragile allies in Africa must be ready to stand more on their own. read more

The US military is moving away from its traditional approach on promoting good governance and addressing the root causes of insurgency in Africa. Instead, it is pushing for its African allies to take on greater responsibility for their own security.

This strategic pivot was evident during African Lion, the U.S. militarys largest joint training exercise on the continent. We need to be able to get our partners to the level of independent operations, said Gen. Michael Langley, head of U.S. Africa Command, in an interview on the exercises final day.

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Langley stressed the need for burden sharing, noting that empowering partners to manage their own security has become a key objective under former President Donald Trumps defence department.

More than 40 nations participated in the four-week exercise, which included desert-based drills such as drone operations, close-quarters combat simulations, and satellite-guided rocket launches.

While the operational elements mirrored those of previous years, the tone has notably changed. The U.S. has scaled back rhetoric that once distinguished it from Russia and China, including messaging focused on the integration of defence, diplomacy, and development, in favour of building tactical self-reliance among partner nations.

We have our set priorities now  protecting the homeland. And were also looking for other countries to contribute to some of these global instability areas, he said, referencing U.S. support for Sudan.

The shift comes as the U.S. military makes moves to build a leaner, more lethal force, including potentially cutting military leadership positions in places like Africa, where Americas rivals continue to deepen their influence.

China has launched its own expansive training program for African militaries. Russian mercenaries are recalibrating and cementing their role as security partner of choice throughout North, West and Central Africa.

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In an interview a year ago, Langley emphasized what U.S. military officials have long called a whole of government approach to countering insurgency. Even amid setbacks, he defended the U.S. approach and said force alone couldnt stabilize weak states and protect U.S. interests against the risk of violence spilling out.

Ive always professed that AFRICOM is just not a military organization, Langley said last year. He called good governance an enduring solution to a number of layered threats  whether it be desertification, whether it be crop failure from changing environments, or whether it be from violent extremist organizations.

The whole of government approach no longer occupies the same place at the center of U.S. messaging, though Langley said holistic efforts have worked in places like Ivory Coast, where development and defense had reduced attacks by jihadi groups near its volatile northern border.

But such successes arent a pattern.

Ive seen progression and Ive seen regression, said Langley, who is scheduled to exit his post later this year.

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The U.S. militarys new posture comes even though many African armies remain ill-equipped and insurgent groups expand.

We see Africa as the epicenter for both al-Qaida and Islamic State, a senior U.S. defense official said earlier this month, noting both groups had growing regional affiliates and the Islamic State group had shifted command and control to Africa. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

Africa has rarely ranked high on the Pentagons list of priorities, but the U.S. has still spent hundreds of millions of dollars on security assistance and has roughly 6,500 Africa Command personnel on the continent. In some regions, the U.S. faces direct competition from Russia and China. In others, regional affiliates of al-Qaida and the IS still require direct military action, Langley said.

The messaging shift from whole of government to more burden-sharing comes as fears grow that rising violence could spread beyond hotspots where insurgents have expanded influence and found vacuums in which they can consolidate power.

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Parts of of both East and West Africa have emerged as epicenters of violence. In 2024, more than half of the worlds terrorism victims were killed across West Africas Sahel, a vast desert territory ruled by military juntas, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. The group, which compiles yearly terrorism statistics, also found Somalia accounted for 6% of all terrorism-related deaths, making it the deadliest for terrorism in Africa outside the Sahel.

Since Trump took office, the U.S. military has escalated airstrikes in Somalia, targeting IS and al-Shabab operatives. But despite air support, Somalias army remains far from being able to maintain security on the ground, Langley acknowledged.

The Somali National Army is trying to find their way, Langley said, adding that they had regained some footing after years of setbacks. There are some things they still need on the battlefield to be very effective.

Similarly in West Africa, the notion that states could soon have the capacity to counter such threats is a distant prospect, said Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at Control Risks, a security consulting firm. Even before Western influence began to wane in the Sahel, needed military support was limited, threats remained active, and local militaries were left without the tools to confront them.

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Western powers with a presence in the Sahel have gradually scaled back their engagement, either by choice or after being pushed out by increasingly hostile governments.

Many of them do not have very strong air forces and are not able to monitor the movement of militants, especially in areas where roads are very difficult to traverse, the infrastructure is extremely poor, Ochieng, who specialises in the Sahel and Great Power competition in Africa, said.

With inputs from agencies.
The Yellow Hat movement that has taken over rural France has become a major headache for French President Emmanuel Macron, but a key to the parliament for National Rallys Marine Le Pen read more

A yellow wave is taking over rural France with farmers in the country expressing discontent with the French President Emmanuel Macron and his government. This month, hundreds gather to celebrate a landmark victory for their movement, led by Coordination Rurale Union.

The group that staged demonstrations across the country is known for its signature yellow hats and had made unprecedented gains in Februarys farming union elections. With the win, the union broke the hegemony of the establishment FNSEA in representing farmers in France and Brussels.

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According to Politico, the Coordination Rurale Union was at the forefront of recent farmers protests in France, outflanking the FNSEA with hard-hitting action, ranging from confrontations with President Emmanuel Macron to setting manure on fire in front of government buildings. However, the aggressive tactics of the group also acquired criticism for what rivals said are intimidation tactics.

How it started and its connection with the National Rally Party

According to the reportage by Politco, the movement was born 40 kilometers from Auch, in the heart of Gasscony, near the Spanish border. Serge Bousquet-Cassagne one of the key figures of the group has around 17 court appearances for actions ranging from vandalizing supermarkets to illegally constructing water basins used for irrigation.

In this country, if you dont burn cars you dont get acknowledged, he said during a conversation with Politico. Interestingly, Bousquet-Cassagne is closely associated with the French political far right, having called National Rally President Jordan Bardella their last hope.

The close association has also sparked speculations that the movement is being fueled by the right-wing party led by Marine Le Pen. Not only this, the overall farmers protests have also led to a large chunks of the French countryside swinging far right.

How Le Pens party support is swelling

After winning popularity in the industrial area of France, rural heartlands can prove to be a strong reservoir for the National Rally. The party has been trying to gain support in the region by blaming mainstream parties for failed farming policies and accusing Brussels of exposing EU markets to cheaper and inferior foreign produce.

According to the Reconquete Poll, 62 per cent of Yellow hat farmers are hard-core supporters of nationalist parties. The survey was conducted ahead of last Junes European election by research institutes Cevipof and INP Ensat.

Overall support for both the Yellow Hats union and Marine Le Pens party has surged in many parts of rural France, including in Gers, the administrative district to which Auch belongs. In last Junes snap elections, the National Rally got 35 per cent of the vote from this region.

Interestingly, that was up 15 percentage points from two years ago in a region that used to be a stronghold of the Social Democrats. Hence, in the year, the movement has become a strong asset to Le Pen and a headache to Macron.

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Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2024.
Dennis received bachelor's degrees in communication and political science with a TAG degree in Spanish from The University of Akron in Ohio. He grew up in Ohio with two sisters and two brothers, one being his fraternal twin. He and his wife have two dogs: Bacio, and Cal. Dennis currently covers natural resource and environmental issues for The Daily Sentinel
WASHINGTON, May 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A historic pivot may be underway inside the U.S. governmentone that could shift the financial burden of running the country away from working Americans and onto foreign imports and buried national assets.

Thats according to former White House and Pentagon advisor Jim Rickards, who says a plan now gaining traction in Washington would replace the IRS and income tax with tariffs.

No More Taxes on Wages?

The policy shift would eliminate income taxes for tens of millions of Americans especially those earning under $150,000 a yearending taxes on wages, tips, and Social Security payments.

Presidents goal is very simple, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed. To abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all the outsiders pay.

But Rickards says we could also rely on revenue from previously untouchable mineral wealth under U.S. federal land. The legal key to making this transition possible was the 2024 Supreme Court decision that struck down the Chevron Doctrinea ruling that stripped unelected agencies of their power to block access to Americas mineral resources.

A $150 Trillion Windfall Beneath Our Feet

What makes this plan viable, Rickards argues, is the scale of Americas untapped resource baseestimated at $150 trillion and held in regions like Texas, Alaska, and the western U.S.

These arent hypothetical numbers, Rickards says. $3.1 trillion in Nome. $7.35 trillion in Midland. $516 billion in the Salton Sea area. And thats just the beginning.

Rickards lays out the full case in a new interview , where he connects the tax overhaul, the Supreme Court ruling, and the push for a sovereign wealth fund modeled on global powers like Norway and Saudi Arabia.

About Jim Rickards

Jim Rickards is a former advisor to the CIA, U.S. Treasury, and Federal Reserve, and has counseled government leaders on systemic risk and financial warfare.
Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Securities Litigation Partner James (Josh) Wilson Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses Exceeding $75,000 In Organon To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options

If you suffered losses exceeding $75,000 in Organon between October 31, 2024 and April 30, 2025 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

[You may also click here for additional information]





NEW YORK, May 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against Organon & Co. (Organon or the Company) (NYSE: OGN) and reminds investors of the July 22, 2025 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company.

Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com.

Defendants provided investors with material information concerning Organons prioritization of its capital allocation strategy through regular, quarterly dividends. Defendants statements included, among other things, reassurance that capital allocation through the aforementioned dividends was a #1 capital allocation priority and that Organon was committed to consistent deployment of capital. Defendants provided these overwhelmingly positive statements to investors while, at the same time, disseminating materially false and misleading statements and/or concealing material adverse facts concerning the true state of the Companys priorities, particularly, related to capital allocation through quarterly dividends. Notably, Defendants concealed the high priority of Organons debt reduction strategy following the Companys acquisition of Dermavant, resulting in a 70% decrease for the regular quarterly dividend. Such statements absent these material facts caused Plaintiff and other shareholders to purchase Organons securities at artificially inflated prices.

Investors and analysts again reacted promptly to Organons revelations. The price of Organons common stock declined dramatically. From a closing market price of $12.93 per share on April 30, 2025, Organons stock price fell to $9.45 per share on May 1, 2025, a decline of more than 27% in the span of just a single day.

The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Organons conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.

To learn more about the Organon & Co. class action, go to www.faruqilaw.com/OGN or call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, on X, or on Facebook.

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4c96193e-9e8a-4e5d-878a-3e41b441e24a
For more than 15 years, Catherine Flowers has been spearheading a lonely and frustrating campaign in Alabamas Black Belt to install and improve a simple but crucial piece of infrastructure for the far-flung homes in the area: septic tanks.Her efforts began in 2002 shortly after officials in the Black Belts Lowndes County threatened to jail two dozen residents for inadequate sewage treatment, which is a misdemeanor under Alabama law. Somewhere between 40 and 90 percent of the homes in the county had a failing septic system, or none at all. The residents, who were predominantly black and poor, could not afford the thousands of dollars needed to install new underground sewage tanks. Even if they could afford them, there was no guarantee that the tanks would work in the areas dark clay soil. That soil sits on top of layers of chalk and silt that trap water and prevent it from seeping further into the ground, a huge problem for septic tanks that work by dispersing contaminated water through the ground for filtration.Even brand-new septic systems often fail in the fields of Alabama if they arent properly designed for the environment there. Systems specially built for the Black Belts geology can cost more than $6,000, twice as much as a standard septic system. The most elaborate ones go for as much as $30,000, more than the value of some of the homes they are meant to serve. With all the difficulties, many residents dont bother to install septic systems; they simply run a pipe out of their homes to a ditch nearby.The threat of arrest is only one of the many dangers that residents with failing or no septic systems can face. Untreated sewage pools in peoples yards give off a foul stench. Black water backs up into their sinks, drains and bathtubs. The exposure can have dire consequences for residents health.Flowers knows that threat firsthand: A few years ago, she was bitten by a mosquito flying over an uncovered pool of sewage in one residents yard. The next day, she broke out in a rash all over her body that didnt go away for months. The incident led Flowers to ask questions about the health effects Lowndes County residents were facing. She invited researchers from Baylor College of Medicine to look for a possible resurgence of tropical diseases in the area. They found evidence of hookworm, a disease largely eradicated in most developed countries, in more than a third of the residents they sampled.That finding brought the attention that Flowers had long been trying to attract. Reporters from, PBS NewsHour, VICE, Al Jazeera, Fox News andall came to investigate. So did a United Nations official studying extreme poverty in the United States. Far-off politicians, including New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and newly elected U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, rallied to the cause.But there was another group of people who started getting in touch with Flowers. To them, the problems associated with septic systems werent exotic stories in faraway locales; they were all-too-familiar situations right at home. Flowers started hearing from activists and community leaders from California, Kentucky, Texas and Virginia. Leaky septic tanks cause algae blooms that close beaches on New Yorks Long Island. They threaten dolphins and other aquatic wildlife in Florida. One of the striking things, Flowers says, is how many of the people affected by wastewater problems are poor or belong to historically marginalized groups. Widespread poverty and lack of political capital only make the task of addressing sanitation issues tougher. I think the problem is bigger than we realize, Flowers says. Its not just a one-off thing. Rural communities have ignored this issue for a long time. Thats important because, even if we solve the problem with Lowndes County, that doesnt solve the problem for the rest of the country.Indeed, problems associated with septic systems seem to be getting worse, and not just in rural areas. The number of systems is increasing, fed by population growth and urban sprawl. One out of 5 Americans is dependent on them. Developers regularly install septic tanks in suburban communities to avoid the cost of sewer connections. Meanwhile, septic systems installed decades ago are under stress as population swells in previously rural areas. Climate change can cause new problems, as fierce storms flood drain fields, groundwater levels rise in coastal areas and higher temperatures allow tropical diseases to flourish in exposed pools of sewage.Simply put, septic systems are getting harder to ignore. Officials at both the state and local levels must increasingly wrestle with how to safeguard individuals health and protect the environment, without saddling poor residents with the hefty costs of repairing or replacing septic systems.When Joan Rose set out to study the watersheds in her home state of Michigan a few years ago, her goal wasnt necessarily to focus on septic systems. Rose, a Michigan State University professor and one of the worlds leading hydrologists, considers herself a water detective. By studying the microbiology of water, she can tell you a lot about pollution and whether bacteria in the water came from cattle, pigs or humans.While studying 64 watersheds on Michigans Lower Peninsula, Rose found a lot of human-based pollution. She tried to pinpoint where it was originating. But the only relationship we could find, she says, was with the increasing number of septic tanks.Rose discovered that even working septic tanks werent filtering out all the pollution they were designed to keep out of lakes, streams and rivers. We used to think that once [waste] goes into a soil, we dont have a risk, she says. We realize now that there are many, many contaminants that move through the soil: viruses, nutrients and even bacteria.Unlike sewers, which whisk dirty water away through pipes to a water treatment center, septic tanks filter the water onsite. They sort the waste into three layers: scum, sludge and wastewater. Bacteria eventually break down the scum at the top of the tank, while sludge falls to the bottom. (Septic tanks have to be pumped out periodically to work properly.) The wastewater, or effluent, sits in between the scum and the sludge. It flows into underground pipes near the tank and is released into the ground in an area called the drain field. Septic systems rely on the natural filtration of the soil to eliminate the worst contaminants in the water. But most are designed to filter out only disease-causing bacteria and viruses. They arent capable of removing nitrogen or phosphates, which can wreak havoc on aquatic environments by causing algae blooms, fish kills and ocean dead zones, where most marine life cannot survive.Rose was telling Michigan residents that their septic systems werent very good at screening out bacteria. Not surprisingly, she started getting questions about how many of Michigans 1.4 million septic tanks were failing and where. But her study didnt reveal that kind of detail. In general, she believes, between 10 and 20 percent of septic tanks are failing without the owners knowledge.Michigan is the only state in the country that does not have a statewide law governing septic tanks, so the task of keeping track of them falls to the counties. That means the rules about how often or even if septic systems have to be inspected vary by county. It also means that its hard to track all the septic systems that may impact a river that flows through several counties. Advocates in Michigan have been pushing state lawmakers for at least 15 years to set up a statewide system. A huge motivator behind legislation, says Deena Bosworth, the director of governmental affairs for the Michigan Association of Counties, is that we dont know the extent of the problem.The most recent effort fell apart because the legislation would have affected the dozen or so counties that already require septic system inspections when properties are being sold. It would have prevented them from requiring inspections beyond statewide minimums, a nonstarter for counties and environmental groups. Statewide standards arent out of line, Bosworth says. But if local governments want to be more restrictive, they should be able to.Unlike in Michigan, political inaction has brought septic system contamination to crisis levels in Long Island. Suffolk County, on the eastern side of the island across the sound from Connecticut, has 1.5 million people and about 365,000 underground sewage tanks. Nearly all the tanks are leaking harmful pollutants -- especially nitrogen -- that are threatening the areas environment as well as its economy. Algae blooms have closed beaches. Nitrogen pollution has all but killed off the once-famous clamming industry. And pollution may have made the effects of Hurricane Sandy more extreme by eliminating coastal vegetation and wetlands that could have provided a natural barrier to the storm.The prevalence of septic systems in the area has stymied economic growth, because they cant handle big developments. They need space for their drain fields, which means they are usually used for small buildings next to empty land, hampering the areas ability to build dense projects. Steve Bellone, the county executive since 2012, has been trying to chip away at the long-standing problem, both by building sewers where feasible and by upgrading existing septic tanks to prevent them from leeching so many harmful chemicals into the soil.In January, voters in two parts of the county approved $360 million in sewer projects, which Bellone says will serve 6,400 parcels in some of the most ecologically sensitive areas. The key to the new construction was state and federal disaster recovery money for rebuilding after Sandy. County officials selected the projects so that they would help mitigate the impact of future disasters by restoring natural storm barriers. The marshlands, wetlands and seagrass have been devastated by the decline in water quality and pollution over the last four decades, Bellone says. This is part of the effort to remediate the pollution in the waterways by reducing nitrogen inputs.Local property owners also assumed some of the costs of building the sewer improvements. In most cases, though, installing sewer systems is prohibitively expensive for either property owners or the county. So officials are encouraging residents to switch to more advanced septic systems, which can help decrease the amount of nitrogen that gets into the ground and, eventually, into local rivers and Long Island Sound. Qualifying residents are being offered $11,000 grants to install the upgraded systems, plus low-interest loans to cover the rest of the cost. About 100 residents have already installed the new systems.Bellone says county residents have started recognizing the need for such measures. The problem with septic systems, he says, is that theyre underground. The saying out of sight, out of mind is apt here. When people buy their houses they know how old the boiler is, how old the roof is. They dont know how old their septic system is or how its working. But were really starting to see the results of septic systems: closed beaches, red tide, brown tide, fish kills.In Alabama, Flowers advocacy has brought a lot of attention to the situation in Lowndes County. The Alabama Department of Public Health is applying for federal grants to install septic systems for 100 residents in unincorporated areas on a first-come, first-served basis. Residents would pay a one-time fee of $500 or $1,000, depending on the type of septic system installed, plus a monthly fee of $20.Meanwhile, Flowers and others have been looking for new technology that could replace septic systems with an easier, cheaper way to deal with the persistent problem. Flowers has been talking with Kartik Chandran, an environmental engineering professor at Columbia University whose work focuses on how to use human waste and other wastewater to generate energy and produce agricultural fertilizers.Flowers is also turning up the heat on the state and federal governments. She joined with Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, to file a civil rights complaint against both the Lowndes County Health Department and the Alabama Department of Public Health. The complaint alleges that the government discriminated against the countys black community when it failed to abate known insanitary conditions, dismissed a credible outbreak of hookworm and failed to maintain sufficient data regarding the lack of wastewater services, despite knowledge of prior discriminatory acts regarding the high rate of insufficient onsite wastewater systems in the county. The complaint is now before the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which will determine whether to pursue an investigation of its own.Anna Sewell, a water project attorney for Earthjustice, says state and county agencies could start to address the groups concerns by informing residents about the evidence of hookworm infection and how to treat it; by helping families apply for state and federal loans to replace their septic systems; and by conducting a comprehensive survey to determine the extent of the sewage problem in Lowndes County. The bottom line, she says, is that agencies have to clean up raw sewage on the ground.Flowers is keeping her eye on the national picture, even as she hopes to deal with the local crisis. If Lowndes County can take care of the problem, she says, people in other communities might be able to learn from them. Its not just a regional issue. These crises are happening across the U.S., she says, but nobody has investigated it.
Max Verstappen's father denies rift with son

Jos Verstappen says too much is being read into his absences from the Formula 1 paddock in 2025.

Max Verstappen, Jos Verstappen, Monaco GP 2025

 Red Bull

Since Max's father became deeply embroiled in the Christian Horner scandal at Red Bull last year, his face has rarely been seen inside the Red Bull garage.

Some think the 53-year-old former F1 driver was told to keep his distance by Red Bull, while others think he may even have fallen out with his famous son.

Verstappen senior is back in the paddock in Monaco - but it's his first F1 appearance since pre-season testing in Bahrain. Sometimes it might be good that I wasn't there, the Dutchman freely admitted to De Telegraaf.

However, he insists there is nothing controversial about his absences.

People make things up, said Jos.

We talk every day, and our bond is very strong. But Max has his own life, as I do, and I don't want to be a father who interferes with everything. Over the years, I've learned that you have to let things take their own course.

Verstappen senior continued: "It was also due to my rallying, which I really enjoy. Also, my wife has health problems, so I want to be there for her too.

I think everyone also knows that I find Formula 1 a less exciting environment than it used to be, Jos added. "But the most important thing is that Max is in his place and everything is going as usual.

I don't have to be there, either. I can easily live without Formula 1.

(GMM)
Unrealistic to attract Verstappen now says Newey

Aston Martin is "pipe-dreaming" if it thinks Max Verstappen would consider swapping his Red Bull for a green car in the "short term".

Adrian Newey, Monaco GP 2025

 Aston Martin Racing

That's the view of Adrian Newey, who designed all of the quadruple world champion's title-winning cars between 2021 and 2024.

This year, however, Red Bull is having a tougher time - notably now in the absence of 66-year-old Formula 1 design genius Newey, who made the switch to Aston Martin for 2025 and beyond.

The first 'Newey' Aston Martin will only race in 2026, and on his first visit to a paddock so far this season in Monaco, the Briton admitted he has no idea whether it will be a winner.

If we're to ever attract Max, the first thing we have to do is make a fast car, Newey admitted.

"He is clearly a phenomenal talent and a supreme competitor, but there's no point in pipe-dreaming about having him in the short term.

Max takes things to a simple level, and in this particular case he will try to choose the team that he considers will have the fastest car.

Speed aside, some think another factor of critical importance to 27-year-old Verstappen when it comes to choosing his team is the freedom to do as he pleases - like testing at the Nordschleife or skipping official 'F1' movie screenings.

Sport1 asked former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld at Monaco if the sport is increasingly seeing Verstappen as a rebel .

Hard to say, the 48-year-old smiled. "But you can tell - he doesn't go with the flow. He believes in himself and questions things.

The fact that he didn't join in with Netflix because it was too fake for him speaks volumes. The important thing is that he stays grounded and continues to develop, but that's exactly what he's doing.

(GMM)
Preach against drug abuse - Interior Minister urges religious leaders

Mohammed Fugu May - 24 - 2025 , 09:57 2 minutes read

The Minister for the Interior, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, has made a passionate appeal to religious leaders to use their platforms to preach against the growing phenomenon of drug abuse.

Addressing a section of religious leaders as part of his three-day working visit to the Northern Region last Thursday, Alhaji Mubarak emphasised the crucial role the religious leaders played in shaping societal values and behaviour.

He, therefore, entreated them to join the campaign against the menace through the pulpit.

"Tamale, a city celebrated for its cultural vibrancy and industrious youth, cannot afford to let this menace erode our values or destroy our future.

As religious leaders, your influence is invaluable  preach against it," he stressed.

Working visit

The ministers call follows a recent BBC documentary that identified Tamale as a growing hub of illegal opioid abuse among the youth.

The religious leaders at the meeting

He embarked on the tour to familiarise himself with various stakeholders and assess the security situation in the region.

The visit was also aimed at fostering stronger collaboration between the ministry and key stakeholders to promote peace and development.

Skills development

In his remarks, Alhaji Mubarak further called on churches and mosques to organise skills training and mentorship initiatives for the youth who were idling to prevent them from engaging in drugs.

Community-based initiatives such as counselling and rehabilitation programmes can play a crucial role in addressing drug abuse and promoting peacebuilding, the minister said, adding that strengthening law enforcement agencies was key to nipping the illegal drug trade in the bud.

For his part, a Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr Dr Wilfred A. Agana, commended the ministry for engaging religious leaders in the fight against social vices.

We are always ready to partner with the ministry to address disturbing issues, particularly in the Northern Region," he said.

The Chairman of the Northern Regional Muslim Council, Sheikh Alhassan Abukari Issah, also pledged the support of the Muslim community in the campaign to end drug abuse.

Writer's email: [email protected]
Next article: Nurses and teachers from Ghana to work in Jamaica under new agreement

Ghanas in-camera justice system eroding transparency which should not be sacrificed for administrative convenience  Prof Appiagyei-Atua

Mohammed Ali May - 25 - 2025 , 10:13 2 minutes read

An Associate Professor of Law at the University of Ghana, Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, has criticised the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, describing them as symptomatic of deeper constitutional and institutional weaknesses.

Speaking on Joy FMs Newsfile programme on Saturday, [May 25, 2025] Prof. Appiagyei-Atua argued that holding the hearings in camera is undermining public trust in the judiciary.

He added that the current constitutional framework allows for political interference in judicial accountability processes.

This in-camera provision was meant to protect dignity, not to conceal proceedings, he said. Yet, the public has a right to know how their Chief Justice is being judged. We are sacrificing transparency for what, administrative convenience?

Under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, disciplinary proceedings against justices of the superior courts are conducted by a committee appointed by the President following a petition.

Prof. Appiagyei-Atua contended that this arrangement has been altered to serve political interests, with the executive exerting undue influence.

The executives hand is clear in this process, he said. When the President selects the committee and the Attorney-Generals office is involved at every stage, this ceases to be about judicial accountability. It becomes purely political. I have studied judicial processes across Africa, this is a clear erosion of the separation of powers.

He criticised the structure of the removal process, where judges are required to judge their own colleague, saying it damages both judicial independence and public perception of fairness.

The whole architecture is flawed, Prof. Appiagyei-Atua said. How can judges sit in judgment over a colleague from the same institution? Even the perception alone weakens judicial independence.

He linked these procedural issues to broader constitutional weaknesses, asserting that the impeachment crisis reflects long-standing systemic problems rather than an isolated incident. He urged for thorough constitutional reforms.

We have debated constitutional reform for decades, he noted. The 1992 Constitution is like patching an old car when what we need is a new engine. Issues such as Article 71 and this impeachment process are just symptoms of systemic failure.

Prof. Appiagyei-Atuas remarks come amid widespread public debate about transparency, legal propriety, and the future of judicial independence in Ghana following the impeachment proceedings.

He called on civil society, the legal profession, and political leaders to prioritise constitutional reform, warning that failure to do so will further erode trust in the countrys democratic institutions.

Ghanaians are watching. If we do not address these foundational problems, we will continue to face crises like this, only worse, he said.
Next article: Police arrest man for unlawful possession of firearms in Adoagyiri

Murder of Aflao Mobile Money vendor: One more suspect arrested

Alberto Mario Noretti May - 24 - 2025 , 21:40 2 minutes read

The police last Sunday (May 18, 2025) arrested another person in connection with the robbery and murder of a mobile money vendor, Christopher Ahordor, in Aflao on April 28 this year.

The suspect, Happy Sewordor, 65, is believed to be the father of one of the earlier arrested suspects, Michael Sewordor.

His arrest brings the total number of suspects nabbed in the case so far to eight.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Felix Danku, the Head of the Volta Region Police Public Affairs Unit, said the police retrieved four single-barrel cap guns, one locally manufactured pistol, 14 AAA and one BB empty cartridges, a quantity of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp, and substances believed to be Tramadol from the suspects room in Aflao.

He said the suspect allegedly collected the items from one of the houses belonging to his son, Michael.

Meanwhile, DSP Danku said the man is currently in custody assisting with investigations.

On May 12, the Police Anti-Armed Robbery Unit in Accra arrested three suspects in connection with the case.

Hadi Sulley, 22; Ewe Abraham, 25; and Eric Dordzinu, 25, were subsequently handed over to the police in the Volta Region.

These suspects, along with three othersKorku Agboda, Utsuku Onyeso, and Michael Sewordorwho were arrested earlier, are all in prison custody, according to DSP Danku.

He added that one suspect, Atsu Agbagla, had been granted police enquiry bail to assist with investigations.
Next article: Walewale: Two jailed five years each for stealing Immigration officers firearms

Police arrest man for unlawful possession of firearms in Adoagyiri

Jemima Okang Addae May - 24 - 2025 , 20:48 1 minute read

The Eastern South Regional Police Command has arrested a man in Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Eastern Region, for unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.

The suspect, Abdul Rauf Salami, was apprehended on Thursday, May 23, 2025, at 9:30 pm, during a police operation targeting all entry and exit points in the township. The exercise forms part of efforts to clamp down on recent disturbances in the area.

A police statement said exhibits retrieved from the suspect included two pump-action guns, 64 rounds of AA ammunition, a cutlass, a knife, and an ammunition vest.

Salami is currently in police custody, assisting with investigations and is expected to be arraigned before the court.

The police reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the safety and security of residents in Adoagyiri, urging the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity.

They also assured that no stone would be left unturned and promised to provide further updates as investigations progress.

Read the full statement below;
Next article: Bawumia back on the road as NPP's 'Thank You Tour' resumes in Eastern Region

CJs case: Judges on committee may be called as witnesses  Former Deputy A-G Tuah-Yeboah

Mohammed Ali Politics May - 25 - 2025 , 09:08 3 minutes read

A former deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, has supported Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoos decision to challenge the composition of the committee inquiring into the petitions asking that she should be removed from office.

He described her request for certain judges to recuse themselves as both legally and ethically justified.

Speaking on Joy FMs Newsfile programme on Saturday [May 25, 2025], Mr Tuah Yeboah explained that if a committee member was involved in decisions cited as grounds for the Chief Justices removal, it would be reasonable for her to raise objections based on fairness and potential bias.

He added that in such cases, the Chief Justice might need to call those judges as witnesses in her defence. This, he said, would create a clear conflict of interest if they remained on the committee adjudicating her case.

Whatever the CJ says, that she may want to call Justice X as her witness in that matter, what happens? Mr Tuah Yeboah asked. She tells you, Yes, this person is my witness in that case. So when you consider the optics and the circumstances, the CJ had no option but to go to court.

The Chief Justice last week filed an application at the Supreme Court to challenge the participation of some judges in the disciplinary proceedings against her.

The suit follows concerns that some committee members had previously sat on cases now cited as justification for her removal.

Mr Tuah Yeboah said the Chief Justice is within her constitutional rights to seek clarity or redress from the courts.

If you go to the chiefs palace and there is a matter before the chief, and the chief has empaneled other chiefs, you have a right to raise an objection to any of them sitting on your matter, he said.

Similarly, in this case, the CJ is saying some judges took part in decisions forming the basis for her removal. That makes her concerns legitimate.

The former Deputy Attorney-General also cautioned against viewing the Chief Justices legal strategy as an attempt to delay the process, as some critics suggest. Instead, he said it reflects an effort to uphold due process and protect the integrity of the proceedings.

The CJ, as a citizen, has the right under the Constitution to vindicate any concerns by going to court, he added. She has every right to challenge each step along the way.

Mr Tuah Yeboah said such legal channels must be preserved and respected, especially when the matter involves the head of the judiciary.
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Sony doesnt make many phones these days, but the models it does release are like nothing else on the market. With the Sony Xperia 1 VII the company has fixed some of the issues that fans complain about, but many still remain.



Sony Xperia 1 VII

The Mark 7 promises 4 OS updates. After that, you wont have the latest Android, but you will have a secure phone with patches for two more years. Thats much better than the Mark 6, which only got 3 OS updates and one extra year of security patches.

That longevity is important because the Xperia 1 VII costs a whopping 1,400/1,500 in the UK and Europe and that is only with 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage. Asia will get a 512GB variant, North America might not get the phone at all.

Sony Xperia 1 VII 5G

These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. 256GB 12GB RAM  1,499.00  1,399.00 Show all prices

Yes, storage is expandable, but microSD cards are slower than internal storage and high resolution video at high frame rates (the phone does up to 4K @ 120fps) will be a pain to transfer from a slow memory card.

Speaking of video, we were hoping for better results. Also, the new ultra-wide camera is great and delivered some great shots, but the telephoto camera still has flaws  despite being the only one with proper optical zoom.



The Xperia 1 VII has features you wont find on many (any?) flagships

Besides the microSD slot, the Xperia 1 VII stands out with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a two-stage shutter key. However, battery life is worse than last year and charging is quite slow. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is fast, but poor cooling significantly impacts sustained performance.

Read our review and watch our video review for more details. Before we ask for your thoughts on the phone, lets introduce the competition.

With a 1,500 price tag, the Sony is up against the very best models from Xiaomi, Oppo, vivo, Apple, Google, Samsung and everyone else, really. And these Pro and Ultra phones are cheaper than the Sony.



Xiaomi 15 Ultra  Oppo Find X8 Pro  vivo X200 Pro



Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max  Google Pixel 9 Pro XL  Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Of course, if you still use wired headphones or want to carry a few terabytes of data with you or want to use your phone as an external monitor for a Sony camera, theres only one phone that can do all that  the Sony Xperia 1 VII. Its a rather specific niche, but its a niche likely to attract people with spending money.

So, what do you think  would you buy the Sony Xperia 1 VII or has Sony completely lost the plot?
Attorney General Douglas Moylan said delays in reimbursing attorneys for one-way tickets they purchased to come and work on Guam are hampering overall operations of the Office of the Attorney General.

For the second time in three months, Moylan has sought assistance from Sen. Telo Taitague, chairwoman of the legislative oversight committee on justice, about it.

He told the senator that an agency under the governor, the Department of Administration, is slow-walking monies that are already part of the AGs office budget. The actions are signs of retaliation, he said.

Moylan and Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero have butted heads on various issues, and the most recent battle involves the reimbursements.

DOA has failed miserably, not only preventing us from operating, but disparaging the faith and credit of the AGs Office in our reputations with vendors that this AG pays his bills on time, and operates under budget, said Moylan.

He said the AGs office is actively asking the Legislature to support and protect Guams main chief law enforcer against select obstructionists and saboteurs who are running DOA like their personal bank accounts.

Unfortunately, this is the low level of operations that we must deal with to represent our client, who are the taxpaying and law-abiding Guam residents, Moylan added.

Adelup spokesperson Krystal Paco-San Agustin said the governors office is not aware of any delays in processing travel reimbursements for new attorneys.

We understand, however, that DOA has declined to register a number of OAG contracts that were not submitted to the governor for approval as required by Guam law. The requirement of the governors signature is currently at issue in the Dignity Project litigation, Paco-San Agustin said. We understand further that a number of factors could result in reimbursement delays for any agency, including failure to provide the required documentation.

Taitague sent a letter to Department of Administration Director Edward Birn just after the close of business Friday. She had not yet received a response, and given the time, would not expect one until this coming week.

This is not the first time my office has reached out on this matter. As reflected in my previous letter regarding 646 reported payment delays and issues regarding (Financial Management Information System) entries, vendor payments, and contract registration, the pattern of administrative bottlenecks continues to pose operational risks that require immediate attention, Taitague wrote.
Guam Education Board member and former Sen. Judith Guthertz recommends placing the Guam Department of Education under the administrative purview of Guam Community College as GDOE faces collapsing federal support and systemic challenges.

Guthertz called for immediate structural changes to address what she believed was a lack of urgency within GDOE.

Ive been thinking about the department and our employees at all levels since I came on the board, and Ive been very frustrated about the pace of things and the challenges and the difficulties, Guthertz said during a Tuesday board meeting.

She warned of the growing pressure on the entire government of Guam amid shrinking resources, and urged action without relying on federal aid.

We are seeing our funding collapse. Im not blaming anybody. Im worried for our Legislature because theyre going to be pushed against the wall for this entire government to figure out how are we going to continue? Guthertz said. My personal position is we have to plan this government now without federal funds. Stop waiting for the money. Stop waiting for the approval because were probably not going to get what we asked for, and we have to move forward on our own volition and find the solutions.

She announced that she had drafted a formal proposal to shift administrative control of GDOE to GCC, stating she had not consulted anyone but believed it offered a realistic path to improve operations and student outcomes.

Its a proposal to place the Guam Department of Education under the administrative purview of Guam Community College, she said. Our two missions really do align. We need help in our administrative operations. We need help in our financial management. We need help to enhance our student learning and preparation for skills for life and for higher education.

She praised GCCs performance and capacity to lead.

GCC has done a wonderful job at this level. If we start our initiation with GCC, and if you read this proposal, I think you will find merit in it, she said. It doesnt have to be forever, but we need help now.

The proposal also includes a draft resolution for the Legislature and the governor to support and explore the administrative shift.

Included here, Ive even written a resolution which would go to the Legislature and the governor, asking for them to join with us in that united effort to look at the possibilities from such an arrangement, Guthertz said. If we join hands and work with GCC, the leadership there, we can improve our school system quickly and be able to achieve that mission.

Guthertz argued the current model is failing in core areas and requires immediate reconsideration.

We need a new model, a model that will enhance our areas where we are not performing well in these areas, student outcomes, financial management, administrative operations, she said.

Guthertz called for the issue to be placed on the next board agenda for discussion.

She went on to acknowledge and praise GCC President Mary Okada and her role in finance meetings, crediting her leadership and expertise.

We have our finance meetings. Mary chairs our finance meetings. She is tremendous. She knows all the facets of finance, but we only recommend it, Guthertz said. We have no power to direct, to require, to demand. All we can do is advise, and that has to change.

She concluded by stating her proposal reflects a personal commitment to reform, regardless of who implements it.

It doesnt necessarily have to be this board that will be part of this effort. Im not possessive of being a board member. What I want to see is the best for our school system, and I dont see this model working that we have. Its not working, and we have to correct it, Guthertz said. We have to do something outside the box. This is certainly outside the box, and I know it will work.

Guam Education Board Chairman Angel Sablan and other members plan to bring up the state of emergency proposal at a future meeting, with Sablan confirming that copies of the proposal will be circulated ahead of time.

This comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Educations denial of GDOEs request for more time to spend $108.8 million in American Rescue Plan funds intended for school repairs and air conditioning upgrades.

This decision was outlined in a May 8 letter signed by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Education Hayley B. Sanon. It followed a sudden acceleration of the spending deadline by Trump-era appointee Education Secretary Linda McMahon to March 28, 2025, shortening the original March 2026 deadline established by the Biden administration.

Sanon stated that GDOE failed to adequately demonstrate how the proposed projects would mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on students education, deeming them inconsistent with federal priorities.

GDOE has 30 days to appeal the decision and is exploring legal options, although Guam is not part of a similar federal lawsuit that recently blocked the clawback of ARP funds in 15 states and Washington, D.C.

This funding setback comes as GDOE is already facing criticism for failing to use $27 million in federal education grants on time.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said tapping Guam Homeland Security Advisor Esther Aguigui to temporarily lead the Office of Civil Defense aligns with the existing workflow at GHS-OCD.

Longtime Civil Defense Administrator Charles Esteves is on military orders, and is going through legal process in connection with a charge of assaulting a Guam woman in a Washington, D.C. hotel room this past March. Esteves will voluntarily fly to DC for a scheduled May 30 hearing.

Leon Guerrero said the selection of Aguigui as the acting OCD head was based on operational alignment with her existing role at Homeland Security.

Because shes the head now of the Guam Homeland Security. Esther is the Guam Homeland Security advisor, so its just aligned with the flow of the work, the governor said.

The governor appointed Aguigui to temporarily head OCD until further notice.

Well, because hes not there, hes on military orders, so shes (Aguigui) now acting, the governor told the Pacific Daily News Thursday. Somebody has to oversee the OCD so shes now overseeing the OCD.

Esteves, who is also a lieutenant colonel in the Guam Army National Guard, was on military training until May 25.

Leon Guerrero declined to comment on Esteves ongoing case.

The allegations against Esteves include physical abuse, threats, and concerns about his mental health.

Court documents stated that before the assault charge was filed in D.C., the woman had filed for a protective order in Guam. She alleges Esteves had threatened to kill her and her family.

The Superior Court of Guam issued a temporary protection order on April 7, barring Esteves from contact with the woman or her child, and required him to surrender his firearms.

The OCD has faced separate scrutiny over its management of federal grants and overtime pay, raising concerns about leadership and accountability within the agency.
From digitalization to combating undervaluation and environmental crimes, the 27th Annual Conference of the Oceania Customs Organization held on Guam last week set strategic directions.

The May 19 to 23 conference on Guam under the theme Driving efficiency, security and sustainability: Strengthening customs in the Pacific, brought together heads of customs administrations from 24 OCO member countries and territories, along with international partners and stakeholders.

After five days of productive discussions, the OCO conference concluded with concrete outcomes that will guide customs modernization and cooperation across the Pacific region in the coming years.

Key conference outcomes include:

1. Expanded membership: The admission of Tokelau as the 24th OCO member, strengthening the organizations regional coverage and collective capacity.

2. Gender equality commitment: The signing of the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Declaration, committing members to promoting diversity and womens leadership in customs administrations.

3. Digital transformation roadmap: The adoption of a regional framework for customs digitalization, including guidelines for system interoperability and data sharing protocols.

4. Operation Domino II: The launch of a collaborative initiative to combat undervaluation in regional trade through enhanced data analytics and information sharing.

5. Green customs initiative: A commitment to strengthening customs role in environmental protection, including measures to combat illegal wildlife trade and monitor waste shipments.

6. Professional standards framework: The approval of the OCO Professional Standards Framework to enhance training and capacity building for customs officials region-wide.

7. Leadership transition: The appointment of chief executive officer of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service, Udit Singh, as the new OCO Steering Committee chair for 2025-2026, succeeding Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency Director Ike Peredo.

The outcomes of this conference reflect our shared commitment to modernizing customs operations while addressing the unique challenges of our region, Nancy T. Oraka, head of the OCO Secretariat, said. The initiatives agreed upon this week will enhance our collective ability to facilitate legitimate trade, secure our borders, and contribute to sustainable development across the Pacific.

Singh, newly-appointed OCO Steering Committee chair, emphasized the importance of implementation.

The true measure of this conferences success will be how effectively we translate these commitments into action, Singh said. I am confident that with the continued dedication of our members and the support of our partners, we will make significant progress in the coming year.

Participants expressed appreciation to the government of Guam and GCQA for their hospitality and excellent organization of the event.

Conference participants also confirmed Fiji as the venue for the 28th OCO Annual Conference in 2026, with Kiribati set to host in 2027, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 2028.

The OCO, established in 1986, serves as the primary regional body for customs administrations in the Pacific, facilitating cooperation, capacity building, and harmonization of customs procedures across its membership of 24 countries and territories.
Republic of Palau President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. on Sunday delivered a moving commencement address for the record-breaking 375 University of Guam graduates, urging them to stand up against the proposed 2026 budget cuts to TRIO education programs that serve nearly a million students.

We must stand up for TRIO, for equity, for every student striving for a better future, Whipps said during UOGs Fanomnakan (Spring) 2025 Commencement Ceremony.

TRIO is not an acronym. It refers to the three original programs formed under Title IV of the U.S. Higher Education Act and created the Student Support Services, Upward Bound, and Educational Talent Search programs.

Of the record-breaking 375 graduates at UOG this semester, 320 earned their bachelors degrees and 55 earned their masters degrees.

Whipps tied national education policy directly to the UOG community, where TRIO programs such as Upward Bound and Student Support Services have helped generations of students.

As a TRIO alumnus himself, Whipps recognized two other leaders from Palau who began as TRIO Upward Bound students and now direct programs at UOG.

They started as TRIO Upward Bound students in Palau. Today, they lead others, just as they were uplifted, he said. TRIO changed their lives. It changed mine, too.

Whipps honored UOGs Class of 2025 for their perseverance.

Today, we not only celebrate your academic achievements, but the commencement, the commitment, the perseverance and the sacrifice that you brought to this moment, he said.

He framed his message around faith, quoting Romans 8:28, and urged students to anchor their lives in spiritual purpose.

When you put God first, when you make him the CEO of your life, everything changes, he said. God always provides.

Personal history

The Palau president recalled his fathers hardshipslosing both parents, leaving school, selling fish to support his family, and surviving burns over 65% of his bodyto demonstrate resilience and faith.

He dug out houses so he could earn a few dollars to come to school here in Guam. He drove a taxi in Washington, D.C. to get through college, and he sold fish in front of Palau High School to take care of his family, Whipps said.

Whipps recounted his own path from graduate school and special assistant to the Palauan president to business owner, senator, and now head of state.

He shared his graduate school application: Palau is a young developing nation. I plan to return home to help build our nation to the best of my abilities, including possibly becoming president one day.

He shared candidly about facing prejudice.

I was bullied as a child for being too white in Palau, and then I went to California to grad school, and I was too brown. But even as president, criticism is constant, he said.

As senator, he said he pushed for transparency, universal health care, and raised the minimum wage 16 years after his father introduced the bill in 1997.

Weve tackled COVID, reformed our tax system after 27 years of debate, timely negotiated and doubled Compact financial assistance, diversified and have grown our economy by a record 12% in 2024, Whipps said.

Since taking office as president of Palau in 2021, Whipps said Palaus economy has grown by 12% in 2024, minimum wage increased by 40% with an additional 10% increase set for October, and $100 million in ocean conservation funding has been secured from the Bezos Earth Fund, with $20 million already deployed.

Whipps used symbols from Palauan culture, surgeonfish, stingrays, sharks, angelfish, and architecture like the low doors of the bai or the traditional mens meeting house to convey values of humility and respect.

The doors of the bai are low and small and require you to bow when you enter, to remind you to be humble and respectful, he said.

Climate change

Turning to climate change, he called for collective Pacific action to keep global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius. He praised UOGs Center for Island Sustainability and Green Growth hubs led by Austin Shelton.

He described how Pacific nations united at the COP28 in 2023 to commit to managing 100% of their exclusive economic zones, creating the largest marine-managed area in the world, larger than the continent of Africa.

We may be small in size and in population, but with vision and principle, we can lead and we can change the world, he said.

Graduation is just the beginning

Whipps called the ceremony a beginning, not an end.

Graduates, your education has prepared you to be agents of change, champions of what is good and right, he said. Embrace that role with courage, humility and a deep sense of responsibility.

He told graduates that their degrees are not just for their own success but for their people.

Use your education to uplift your people, strengthen your nations and build a more just and sustainable Pacific, the Palau president said.

Whipps called for responsibility and unity, quoting a Palauan proverb: A single coconut frond breaks easily, but when its bundled together, that bundle is unbreakable.

He also quoted the lyrics from the song, We Are the World by USA for Africa, reminding graduates that their purpose extends beyond personal success.

Life is not about making a living. Its about making a difference, he said. Remember, put God first. Live humbly. Be good stewards. Give back. Dream boldly. Take risks. Never forget where you come from. Never stop learning and never say never. Your family, your community and your country are counting on you.

Thank you

Nicole Jean Poquiz Pineda, one of two valedictorians of UOGs Class of 2025, urged graduates to move beyond surviving and to thrive in their futures, families, and communities.

She reflected on her university journey, emphasizing service, connection, and purpose. Pineda credited professors, friends, and family for their support.

To my professors at the College of Natural and Applied Sciences and the biology program, thank you for igniting my passion for science and challenging me to never stop learning, she said. To my friends and biology cohorts, thank you for making the growing semesters fun and bearable. To my best friends, thank you for always reminding me that Im never alone, being my cheerleaders and always lending a shoulder to cry on.

She thanked her parents.

Thank you for your unconditional love and support, which has been my foundation. I hope I make you proud, and I will continue to strive to do so. Most importantly, thank you to the Lord for His grace that sustained my efforts, opened doors of opportunity and connected me to amazing people along my path.

She celebrated the historic size of the graduating class.

To my fellow graduates, we did it! By the end of the night, not only will we be earning our degrees, but we will be making history as the largest graduating class of the University of Guam, she said.

Pineda challenged her fellow graduates.

To my fellow graduatesas you venture onto your next chapter in life, I challenge you to set goals, not just to survive, but to thrive, she said. Thrive for your future, thrive for your family, thrive for the island and for our people. Dedicate your skills and expertise and you will be a blessing and make a lasting impact on others.




Haiti - Economy : Strategic visits of Prime Minister to the Northeast





Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime recently toured the Northeast department, including two strategic visits : the Caracol Industrial Park and the CODEVI industrial complex in Ouanaminthe. This tour is part of the Government's efforts to stimulate employment, strengthen energy infrastructure, and promote regional development.



At the Caracol Industrial Park, the Prime Minister visited the power plant, which is a vital infrastructure for the region. https://www.haitilibre.com/article-43638-haiticaracol-the-only-region-of-haiti-with-reliable-electricity-24/7.html This power plant not only powers the Park's facilities, but also provides electricity to several neighboring communities. It represents an essential lever for improving access to energy, fostering the emergence of small local businesses, and strengthening the quality of life for the populations of the Northeast.



The second leg of his tour took the Head of Government to the industrial park of the Industrial Development Company (CODEVI), located in the Ouanaminthe free trade zone in Haiti. He met with Dominican businessman Fernando Capellan, President of "Groupe M" and CODEVI.



The Prime Minister reaffirmed his Government's commitment to supporting industrial free trade zones and preserving the achievements of the Haitian textile sector. He emphasized that his administration is working tirelessly to renew the Haitian Hemisphere Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act and the Haitian Economic Lift Program (HELP), a U.S. legislative mechanism that guarantees preferential access to the U.S. market for Haitian textile products. Maintaining these laws is crucial for the survival of thousands of jobs and the international competitiveness of the national industry.



CODEVI currently employs 16,000 people directly (95% Haitian). A true economic pillar of the border area, CODEVI embodies the importance of binational economic cooperation and inclusive industrial development. This growth model, centered on the creation of sustainable jobs, contributes not only to economic stability but also to the social cohesion of local communities and relations with the Dominican Republic.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Economy : The Ministry of Commerce is banking on Haitian entrepreneurs despite the crisis





James Monazard, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, reiterates his commitment to entrepreneurship and the economic recovery of the Greater South region and is committed to Haitian entrepreneurs despite the crisis. True to his mission to support and assist the private business sector, the Minister of Commerce and Industry has supported the Greater South Chamber of Commerce (CCGS) in implementing its activities aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship and fostering economic recovery in the region, while promoting private investment.



Following a request from the CCGS, the Ministry agreed to provide technical and logistical support.



Minister Monazard also wishes to emphasize that despite the current situation in the country, he in no way questions his commitment to the country's entrepreneurs who are working so hard to meet the needs of their clients.



He calls on everyone's willingness, understanding, and good faith to maintain a climate of constructive dialogue. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (MCI) remains convinced that it is in a spirit of listening and partnership that effective solutions can be implemented for the benefit of regional and national economic development.



It should be noted that, since his inauguration, Minister James Monazard has worked tirelessly to facilitate the implementation of the Ministry's various initiatives, despite the country's difficult socioeconomic and political climate. Among the initiatives relaunched are: the Youth Entrepreneurship Support Program (PAPEJ) and the women's entrepreneurship program, https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-44863-haiti-economy-official-launch-of-the-2nd-cohort-of-the-entrepreneurship-support-program.html ; The shoemaking/tailoring support program, the Integrated Business Development Program (PIDE) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-44293-haiti-notice-micro-industrial-park-projects-call-for-expressions-of-interest.html , etc...



These relaunches demonstrate the Ministry's commitment to revitalizing the national economy through concrete, inclusive actions focused on growth sectors.



The Minister reiterates his commitment to working, in collaboration with all stakeholders, for sustainable and balanced economic growth for the benefit of all regions of the country.



IH/ iciHaiti


















Germany is not as hostile to AI and technology as is often claimed. This is claimed by none other than ChatGPT developer OpenAI, which is opening an office in Munich in view of the opportunities this could bring. The office was inaugurated this week  however, the celebration did not take place at the secret location itself, but at the Deutsches Museum.

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Internal evaluations by the Californian tech company apparently raise hopes of flourishing business: not only do most of ChatGPT's paying European subscribers come from Germany. Germany also ranks in the top three worldwide in terms of paying corporate customers outside the USA, and in terms of the number of developers using the API, Germany ranks second behind the USA. The company does not provide concrete figures that would allow an independent comparison or classification.

Thanks to its talent, Germany could even become a European AI pioneer and take on a leading role, Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap wooed the invited guests: "Germany is known worldwide for technical excellence and industrial innovation  it is therefore only logical that the country should play a leading role in the introduction of AI." In particular, OpenAI sees enormous potential in working with local developers and corporate and industrial customers, as well as its proximity to the clusters of excellence at the Technical University of Munich.

At the opening ceremony to mark the opening of the OpenAI office in Munich, COO Brad Lightcap praises Germany as an AI location. (Image: HILLWIRE)

Customer consulting, not research

OpenAI employs 2,000 people in 12 offices worldwide. More than 650 of them work in research. There are already European offices in Paris, Brussels, Dublin, London and Zurich. The Munich branch currently consists of ten employees who act as contacts for business customers and provide support in the implementation of specific projects. The local experts are primarily there to help with conceptual or fundamental questions; for example, whether and how an idea could be realized or how to catch the (inevitable) errors of the statistical system in practice in order to limit the damage. Munich is not planned as a research and development location. In this respect, the AI forge seems to prefer Zurich; it poached the machine learning experts Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai from Google Deepmind for its branch there.

The time to establish small local teams and to find out what makes customers tick in the various markets is favorable in two respects. For OpenAI, 2025 is set to be the year of AI agents that automate processes in companies. The existing ChatGPT function Deep Research, which independently researches topics by analyzing Internet sources, interacting with them and, if necessary, obtaining additional information from the user or writing Python scripts, provides a foretaste of this. At the moment, companies mainly use ChatGPT for simpler tasks such as customer support. With the introduction of agents, AI developers are positioning their models for more complex processes.

The EU is also paving the way. Last year, the European AI Regulation (AI Act) came into force. It regulates the handling of machine learning systems and in particular the basic models (General Purpose AI, GPAI), which include the speech and image generators  ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity et cetera  as well as their multimodal and agentic enhancements. The final version of the Code of Practice for these GPAIs, which sets out mandatory guidelines for the implementation of such systems, is currently being drafted. The code of practice will be published at the end of May and will be binding from August 2.

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These guidelines are particularly important for small and medium-sized companies without a large compliance department in order to stay on the safe side legally with AI-controlled processes. Once the final version is available, some German companies that have held back up to now could well initiate more complex AI projects. Product manager Nick Turley told heise online that he is committed to complying with European regulations. Corporate customers can explicitly choose servers with a German or European location and have their company data processed in such a way that it does not flow back into the system for training or other purposes; currently in Microsoft data centers, as Turley explains.

Human welfare versus business

However, the company also needs to build trust, and for this it will have to be measured more by deeds than words. Developing "general artificial intelligence for the benefit of mankind"  OpenAI continues to carry this leitmotif before it. In the past, however, the promised good cause sanctified some means that were perhaps okay as long as OpenAI was a research start-up and its users did not use ChatGPT commercially: among other things, training the networks with copyrighted material. In addition, the usual business models of US tech companies, which are based on growth and displacement, promote the formation of monopolies or oligopolies and therefore tend to work against the good of society. The "good of humanity" does not come about automatically. It has to be fought for, shaped and defended against covetousness again and again  sometimes with the help of AI, sometimes against it.

(atr)

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.
The planned legislation would allow employers to offer fixed-term contracts of up to one year without providing a specific reason. Under current law, a valid justification, such as temporary cover for a permanent employee, is required.

The Finnish governments proposal to ease the use of fixed-term employment contracts has triggered strong criticism from employee organisations, who warn of growing job insecurity and increased risk of discrimination, particularly against women.

According to the government, the reform is intended to lower the threshold for hiring and improve employment levels.

The tripartite working group preparing the proposal, which includes government, employer, and employee representatives, is nearing the end of its mandate. However, sources indicate the group is unlikely to reach consensus.

Ville Kopra, labour market director at the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava), said the current system works well and sees no justification for change.

Fixed-term contracts are already more common in Finland than the EU average. The current model allows their use where there is a reason. Removing the requirement for justification will bring more harm than benefit, Kopra said.

He expressed concern that the government had not adequately considered the risks to vulnerable groups.

Discrimination disproportionately affects those in fixed-term roles, typically younger women. Increasing the use of fixed-term contracts will increase the risk of pregnancy-related discrimination, he said.

According to Statistics Finland, fixed-term contracts are more common among women. In 2023, 19 percent of female wage earners and 14 percent of men were in fixed-term jobs. The largest age group seeking permanent work while on fixed-term contracts was 2534.

Kopra warned that the policy could also lead young people to delay starting families.

A lack of job continuity makes it harder to plan for children, he said.

Employer representatives have defended the proposal. Anne Kiiski, head of labour market negotiations at the Commission for Local and Regional Government Employers (KT), said the reform supports employment and responds to real-life needs.

Fixed-term contracts can also benefit employees. Students, for instance, often want short-term summer jobs, she said.

Kiiski argued that Finnish labour law already protects those on family leave.

I dont see how this would increase discrimination. Labour legislation provides strong protection for pregnant employees and those returning from leave, she said.

The reform is expected to include safeguards to prevent contract chaining, where employers repeatedly renew fixed-term contracts to avoid granting permanent status.

One way to avoid chaining might be to limit the no-reason contract to a single use per employee, Kopra suggested.

He added that the change might be more appropriate if limited to companies hiring their first employee, but the current proposal applies to all employers.

KT warned against increasing administrative burdens for employers, which it said would deter hiring.

The government intends to send the draft law out for public consultation in summer.

HT
The Department of Homeland Security said the restrictions respond to what it describes as the universitys promotion of antisemitism and its ties to the Chinese Communist Party. The department also accused Harvard of fostering campus violence.

Former President Donald Trump has escalated his confrontation with elite academic institutions by blocking foreign enrolments at Harvard University and freezing nearly 2 billion in federal funding.

The university rejected the allegations and filed lawsuits against the administration. It called the actions illegal and politically motivated retaliation.

The funding freeze came weeks after Harvard refused to meet federal demands to reform its policies on diversity and political activism. The administration has also pressured other leading US universities to dismantle diversity programmes and tighten screening processes for foreign students.

Matti Parpala, chair of the Harvard Club of Finland, said the actions represent an unprecedented level of pressure on universities.

Harvard has taken a public stance against the administration, which is significant, he said.

Parpala said the measures contradict the Make America Great Again slogan and could weaken the countrys scientific leadership.

If Trump manages to undermine universities' ability to attract top talent, it might backfire badly on the US, he told Yle.

The Harvard Club of Finland represents around 150 Finnish alumni and former visiting scholars, including former President Tarja Halonen.

Maria Linden, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, described the row as part of a wider cultural conflict.

At its core, this is about values, she said.

Linden said US universities encourage critical thinking, which often conflicts with authoritarian worldviews. She said many conservative voters believe higher education turns students into liberals.

This is a broader attack on what universities represent, masked as a campaign against antisemitism, she said.

Linden added that the campaign risks long-term damage to the USs soft power, by reducing its appeal as a destination for international talent.

Soft power is about cultural and academic influence. These measures weaken it, she said.

She pointed to Canada as a potential beneficiary if top researchers and students seek alternatives to the United States.

Ilkka Niemela, rector of Aalto University in Finland, said Trumps policies have already made it harder for international institutions to access US research funding.

The new terms have been so difficult that we havent been able to apply anymore, Niemela said.

He noted that reduced US appeal might benefit other countries, including Finland.

Niemela said Aaltos recent recruitment for an AI research project attracted an unexpected number of strong international candidates, possibly because researchers are reconsidering the US.

Still, he downplayed the risk of long-term damage to science.

Science corrects itself. It always finds a way forward, he said.

Harvard, founded in 1636, is the oldest university in the United States and has long ranked among the top institutions in the world.

Eight US presidents studied there, including John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Harvard alumni also include current and former leaders from several UN member states.

The university has produced numerous Nobel laureates. Many of them, like a significant share of US Nobel Prize winners overall, have been immigrants.

HT
Swiss authorities have confirmed that five skiers were found dead on Rimpfischhorn mountain near the alpine resort of Zermatt.

Police launched a search operation on Saturday after climbers reported finding skis near the summit of the 4,199-metre peak, which lies close to the Italian border.

A helicopter crew dispatched to the area quickly located the bodies, according to a statement issued by police on Sunday.
A MAN from Binfield Heath played a Second World War veteran during VE Day celebrations in London.

Harri Douglas, 25, was 100-year-old Mervyn Kersh as a young soldier returning to present day London in a video that was screened in Piccadilly Circus.

It was overlaid with celebratory archive footage following the moments Victory in Europe was declared by Winston Churchill in 1945.

Mr Douglas watched it back while stood behind Mr Kersh, who joined the army aged 18 and served in the Ordnance Corps. Mr Kersh, from London, landed on the Gold Beach in Normandy three days after D-Day. His unit was responsible for setting up vehicle parks and providing transport to frontline units.

He witnessed the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp, and saw the survivors, many still wearing striped prison uniforms.

Mr Douglas, who has had no formal acting training, was approached after producers contacted him on the casting platform StarNow because he had the right look for the part. He dressed in a replica military uniform with war badges stitched on to show those Mr Kersh would have worn, which Mr Douglas said was overwhelming and heavier than he had anticipated.

Mr Douglas, a painter and decorator, said: It was purely based on me being a soldier from 1945 coming to present day and being absolutely amazed by what London is like now compared to 80 years ago.

Speaking in Mervyns words, if we didnt go to war and succeed, London wouldnt look like London now. Originally, it was just supposed to be me in a couple of snippets here and there, but the producers changed the plan and ended up using me for a fair chunk of the video, which was quite a shock.

Mr Douglas, who studied sport and exercise at The Henley College, got into acting when he was about 18. He was an extra in Masters of the Air, a Second World War drama released for Apple TV in January this year.

Mr Douglas said it was a privilege playing Mervyn. I got to speak to his daughter Lynne, who showed me a photo of Mervyn when he was 19 and they said they had done such a good job choosing me because I looked just like how she would have pictured him. The family were very happy that I was able to recreate such a personal memory for them.

The film concludes with a shot of Mr Douglas and Mr Kersh saluting to one another.
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1,000 years on, Darb Zubaydah still serves travelers to Makkah

Extending approximately 1,400 kilometers, Darb Zubaydah or Zubaydah Trail has facilitated Hajj pilgrimages and travel across barren deserts, exemplifying the engineering brilliance that distinguished Islamic civilization in organizing infrastructure to serve humanity.

Sunday May 25, 2025 10:17 PM , Mohammad Abdullah Faizee

Rafha: Darb Zubaydah, one of the most prominent historical roads in the Arabian Peninsula, evolved from an ancient trade route into a major Islamic-era Hajj route stretching from Kufa in Iraq through northern Saudi Arabia to Makkah, passing near Rafha in Northern Borders Region.

Extending approximately 1,400 kilometers, the road has facilitated Hajj pilgrimages and travel across barren deserts, exemplifying the engineering brilliance that distinguished Islamic civilization in organizing infrastructure to serve humanity.

Darb Zubaydah reached its peak during the era of the first Abbasid Caliphate, becoming one of the most important Hajj and trade routes of the time.

Naming of the Trail

Named after Queen Zubaydah, the grand-daughter of Caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur and wife of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, who famously financed much of its infrastructure, the road became known for its carefully planned stations, rest stops, and water collection systems.

The idea for establishing the trail came after Queen Zubaydah experienced great hardships on her journey to perform Hajj in the year 176 AH. She then ordered the construction of rest areas and ponds along the routes of valleys in a well-organized manner that helped collect rainwater, streams, and runoff within water canals.

Along its length, successive stations were established to support travelers. Ingeniously designed ponds were built in carefully selected locations and spaced at planned intervals to collect water for pilgrims.

Source of Water in Desert

In addition, deep wells were dug to provide reliable water supply. These stations also served as rest and safety points, offering essential resources that helped alleviate the hardships of traveling through the harsh desert environment.

The road was lined with flags  stone markers shaped like cones, placed at specific distances to indicate the route. These flags, constructed from stones of varying sizes, were usually erected near water sources and crossroads to guide pilgrims and travelers.

The road also featured mile markers engraved on stones to show distances, with each marker spaced approximately 12 miles (24 km) apart. Flags were typically positioned in the middle of the route and raised to make them easily visible from a distance.

These markers demonstrated the precision of the routes organization and the carefully planned distances designed to assist pilgrims and travelers.

Engineering Features

Darb Zubaydah possesses significant historical and engineering features that require preservation and documentation.

One of the oldest route to Makkah, Zubaydah Trail not only represents an ancient means of transportation, but also demonstrates a high level of awareness in serving pilgrims and organizing desert routes.

Some of the ponds still retain pure water to this day, reflecting the quality and durability of their construction.

UNESCO World Heritage Bid

Saudi Arabia in 2022 submitted Darb Zubaydah to be included in UNESCO World Heritage List.

The road that connected Makkah to the Iraqi cities of Kufa and Baghdad during the Abbasid period is known as the Darb Zubaydah (Zubaydahs trail) after Zubaydah bint Jafar, wife of the Abbasid Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, who supported charitable works on the numerous stations along the trail. It was the most important hajj route during the Abbasid Caliphate, between 750 to 850 CE, a period renowned as a golden age of Muslim civilization, UNESCO writes in introduction to Darb Zubaydah.

The Abbasid Caliphate  which reigned over a vast empire stretching from North Africa to the western borders of China from the late 8th to early 10th centuries  acted as the decisive trigger of the development and full exploitation of the routes potential, UNESCO wrote.

UNESCO further highlighted how building on the Darb Zubaydah also became a means for powerful and wealthy individuals to compete in charity. Rest houses, wells and cisterns were named after their sponsors, fostering a real competition among wealthy donors.

In the century after her death, many shelters, hostels, wells, and reservoirs on the Kufa-Makkah road were known by the name Zubaydah or Umm Ja`far, amply indicating the extent of her constructions and renovations, and the sheer number of these stations likely explains how the whole network of roads was given her name, UNESCO wrote.

[Mohammad Abdullah Faizee is Staff Writer at ummid.com. With inputs from Saudi Press Agency (SPA)]

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Watch: 4 Muslim youth brutally beaten in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh

In yet another brutal case of mob lynching, four Muslim youth were stripped and brutally beaten in Harduaganj town of Aligarh District in Uttar Pradesh, India

Sunday May 25, 2025 8:10 PM , ummid.com News Network

[Video grab of the incident]

Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh): In yet another brutal case of mob lynching, four Muslim youth were stripped and brutally beaten in Harduaganj town of Aligarh District in Uttar Pradesh, India.

The incident occurred Saturday May 24, 2025.

According to the local media reports, the 4 Muslim youth were stripped and brutally beaten by over 300 people who also set their vehicle on fire.

Victims Identified

The victims have been identified as Aqeel (35), Nadeem (32), Aqeel (43) and Arbaaz (38). They are being treated at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

The villagers suspected that the Muslim youth were carrying cattle meat. Slaughtering and transportation of cattle meat are banned in Uttar Pradesh.

However, reports have now emerged that the meat the Muslim youth were carrying was not of the banned animals and were legally procured from Al Tabarak Frozen Foods PVT LTD. The victims also had with them a valid gate pass and other documents issued by the company, local media reported.

It is also reported that the case is not of illegal meat transportation but of extortion. Also, in the video shared online some policemen are seen on the spot while the mob was beating the Muslim youth.

Watch Video

Warning: Disturbing video, violence



In UP's Aligarh, four men transporting meat in a container were accosted and brutally assaulted by a mob in Harduaganj area area. All four were stripped partially naked and assaulted by the mob in the middle of a busy road with police present pic.twitter.com/rvVXCxrAyk  Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) May 24, 2025

FIR Registered

The UP Police has registered a case on unnamed persons. Further investigation in the case is underway.

"On receiving the information, senior officers and local police immediately rushed to the spot. Four peoplem who were beaten by the public were rescued from the spot and admitted to the hospital for medical treatment", Superintendent of Police (Rural) Amrit Jain told media.

"Further investigation on the allegations is uderway. A veterinary doctor was also called on the spot for sampling of the meat.

"A case has been registered at Harduaganj Police Station. Whatever facts will come to light during the course of investigation, arrest and legal action will be taken", he said.

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by Rafael Newman

On September 29, 1978, Albino Luciani, who had been elected Pope John Paul I just 33 days earlier, on August 26, 1978, was found dead in his bed, his death likely due to a heart attack. Luciani had succeeded Paul VI, who was himself preceded by John XXIIIthe two Popes were commemorated in their short-lived successors double-barreled appellationand would be followed on October 16, 1978, by John Paul II.

I was 14 years old at the time and had recently begun studying ancient languages, so the Latin pronouncements from the Vatican press office aroused my exhibitionist adolescent spirit. This, combined with the salience of a solemnly pronounced Year of Three Popes, which echoed a similarly multiple interregnum in Roman imperial history; a perverse will to deflate overblown expressions of gravity, my own included; and a natural tendency to pomposity and sententiousness, all inspired me to write a poem:

Paulum sed magnopere

Pro Papa Ioanne Paulo Primo Now the golden hammer has struck,

The pastors ghost is lost.

Oh, his great gain is our bad luck,

Ere the tomb of the VIth is mossd. Oh, thou blessd and humble man

Who in thy bare feet stand:

Cleanse our rude souls and spirits fan

With calm empowerd hand. Why art thou gone so soon from here?

Why was thy term so small?

And why is one who was so dear

Held tight in heavens thrall?

Not long afterwards, my father, himself a published poet and novelist and in those days a professor of creative writing at the University of British Columbia, asked what I had been up to recently. I passed on to him some of the verses I had been setting down in my journal, among them my poem on the death of John Paul I. He responded, along with words of cautious praise for other of my efforts, in surprise at my having found something so admirable in the late Pope that I had been moved to write him this encomium.

I was mortified. Had my father not realized that my poem was a send-up? Did he really think that, having raised me in an agnostic version of his parents Jewish traditiontogether with my mother, an atheist Freudian and secular rationalist who had been sent to Anglican girls school by her socialist German parentshe had somehow managed to produce a tiny Catholic? Could he not discern the mockery in my cod archaicisms? Did he truly believe me capable of such fawning sincerity? Had he not understood the irreverent pun in my Latin title?

I should, I suppose, have simply been grateful to my poet father for not pointing out the obvious: that I had written something, whether in jest or in earnest, trite and mediocre.

This early foray of mine into simulated hagiography was called to mind by recent events, in particular by the effusive, broadly disseminated, liberal praise for the newly elected Pope Leo XIV and the cautious hopes for a progressive papacy (whatever that might mean in present circumstances), including from some unlikely quarters, with the authors of commendations identifying themselves variously as atheist or Jewish. Then there were too the laudatory obituaries of the deceased Pope Francis, most of them, in the spirit of De mortuis nil nisi bonum, eliding the ways in which Jorge Mario Bergoglio might have disappointed the similar hopes once placed in his tenure. Meanwhile, all the praise for Francis prompted Tariq Ali to repost Colm Toibins 2021 critical assessment of Bergoglios relationship with the Argentine military junta, an essay Ali called The only obit worth reading.

And there were also voices of dissent in the general chorus of welcome for Leo XIV: would he really be as reformist as all that? Had he not been overly moderate in his condemnation of child abuse in the Church? Could he resist the conservative call of his compatriot Catholics and emerge as a proper counterpole to the other, more notorious American leader of the moment? Had his long sojourn in Peru genuinely softened the chauvinism of his native culture?

All of these paeans and polemics now reminded me of 1978, when the death of The Smiling Pope gave rise to Cold War conspiracy theories, while his Polish-born successor moved the Catholic center of gravity from the Eurocommunist Mediterranean to the grimmer environs of the Iron Curtain. Perhaps my dad, whose own father had been born in one of the early modern iterations of Poland but had inculcated in his son a visceral contempt for that country, which he considered a cradle of anti-Semitism, was sorry to see the keys of Saint Peter pass to a scion of that hated quondam homeland; perhaps he was ready to join me in what he thought was my sincere grief at the death of the last Italian pope.

Or perhaps what my father was responding to in the poemalbeit subconsciously, if not with the same degree of self-ignorance in which its author had composed itwas its allegorical potential as the expression of a rather more complex, more personal emotion. In August of 1978, the month of Paul VIs death and John Paul Is election, my siblings and I had left our home in suburban British Columbia to join our mother in her life with a new partner in Toronto. And with that home we also left our father, who had been living separately from us for the past six years but who had shared custody of me, my younger brother and sister as we grew from young childhood to early adolescence.

Our parting from dad at Vancouver International Airport in late August, after a special valedictory summer spent with him (instead of the weekend visits that had punctuated the last years), was awful: mostly because he was plainly weeping as he sent us off to the departure gate. His tears were an utterly unfamiliar sight, and quite devastating. I was filled with sorrow at leaving him, and racked with guilt in the knowledge that I would be taking up residence with a stepfather (for all that none of this was my choosing). So I am not surprised, looking back across the intervening decades, that I was prepared to be moved by the death of one Popeone Papaand his replacement with another. Or that I immediately channeled these uncomfortable feelings into a sardonic artifact.

Nor am I surprised now by the magnetic attraction the papacy exerts, including over those beyond its confessional jurisdiction. The ideal of the Pope as a benevolent, forgiving, unconditionally loving, universalist, non-sexual fatherhowever much a fantasy that may always have been, not merely since the 16th centuryanswers a powerful need, despite (or perhaps on account of) the systemic violence of the real existing patriarchal order.

It was there for me, in 1978, as I moved from one paternal regime to another, and was confronted by the challenge of maintaining both simultaneously. And it is there for me still today, oddly, in the absence of both stepfather and fathergone in 2019 and 2024, respectivelyand as I move from being a young father myself, to a father in late middle age, with the prospect of becoming a grandfather growing ever more realistic.

Especially since, by a trick of providence, versions of the name Francis have been handed down for generations on my mothers side of the familyher father, my German grandfather, was Franz; her own name is Frances; my middle name is Francis; and we gave our younger daughter Fanny as a middle namewhile Leo was my Jewish grandfathers goyishe name.

And finally, in a world currently beset by such hideously malevolent, transactional, unforgiving, vengeful, rapacious, tribalist fathersNetanyahu, Putin, Trumpit is unsurprising that I should feel the same need as so many others: to vest my hopes for the future in yet another idealized avatar of the Papa from whom I was once compelled to take my leave.